In October, creativeLIVE set out to find 6 businesses to participate live in-studio with Lewis Howes. We asked interested fans to submit a video describing their business plans and why they should be chosen to work 1-on-1 with Lewis in Seattle during “Launching an Online Business,” November 30 – December 2. The audience delivered. Due to the high volume of quality video submissions we chose 7 businesses to feature and we’re excited to have them with us next week.

Read more here: http://www.creativelive.com/blog/lewis-howes-announces-studio-audience-his-launching-online-business-workshop

Every year, more than 11,000 business books are published. If you’re a business owner or entrepreneur and an author, your book is likely among them. With that level of competition, though, how can you win the marketing war and get your book noticed? How can you reach a large audience in a short period of time and create the type of partnerships and sponsorships that will make you and your book a household name? One effective way is to partner with 800-CEO-Read, a company that specializes in promoting, marketing, and selling business books.

The beauty of 800-CEO-Read is that they are not a publisher. In fact, they really don’t care if your book is published by a traditional publisher or who that publisher is. Their only requirement is that your book is a business book and that it offers solutions to businesses and companies.

How can you sell your book on 800-CEO-Read? There are several ways that www.800CEORead.com helps authors sell books:

1.            800-CEO-Read are experts in book distribution. They will make sure your book gets to workshops, seminars, and events in the quantities you want when you want them.

2.            If you’re looking for a partner in creating bulk book sales, look no further. The 800-CEO-Read team offers respectable discounts for bulk sales, and they’ll help you or a business find a book package that works for your purposes.

3.            800-CEO-Read helps authors customize their books, providing personalized page inserts, book bands that advertise sponsors, book signing plates, cover stickers, or even CD or DVD inserts. It’s a great way to co-promote authors, sponsors, and/or businesses and a terrific motivation in creating these mutually beneficial relationships. Authors who create partnerships with businesses and corporations sell more books. These businesses purchase books in bulk quantities for their employees, clients, and customers. Being able to personalize a book by including page inserts that promote the company or book bands or stickers that include their logo strengthens the company’s brand, while making it highly likely that the company will purchase large quantities of the book.

4.            800-CEO-Read works directly with businesses, helping them find business books that correlate with their message. The team even helps companies bring authors to specific events.

5.            Authors will benefit from the effective promotion of their business book on 800-CEO-Read‘s websites, blog, and newsletter. In-depth features and reviews of books are offered to help businesses determine which books they need. In addition, 800-CEO-Read publishes the 800-CEO-Read Business Book Awards every year. These awards are open to any business book that has been published during the year in eight categories:  1) Leadership, 2) Management, 3) Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 4) Finance and Economics, 5) Marketing and Sales, 6) Personal Development, 7) Innovation and Creativity, and 8) General Business. Submitting your book for consideration for one of these awards can result in massive publicity to thousands of businesses.

As a business author, you can sell books the traditional way, via Amazon.com, on your website, and at speeches and events, or you can take your marketing efforts one level higher and let the idea experts at 800-CEO-Read help businesses find your book and unique ways to use it.

Finding the right designer for your book cover is like finding the right designer for your clothes. You want someone to design your book who connects with you, understands what you want, and who is talented in the style you want your book to convey. No matter how talented or creative, not every cover designer is able to provide you with a book cover that has you gushing with praise. There are many factors, some of which don’t have anything to do with graphic design, that will impact your relationship with a cover designer and the results you’ll get from their efforts.

There are some specific things to keep in mind when you’re choosing a book cover designer, and they are all important factors that could affect the delivery and design of your book cover. When you’re interviewing a book cover designer, pay attention to the following details and find a cover designer who is best suited for the results you want.

1.         Examples of previous book covers.  Peruse the designer’s website and ask to see examples of different cover designs they have created. Pay attention to the style … is it professional, edgy, conservation, bold, soft and fluffy, soothing, or helter skelter? Are the color schemes appealing? Are both the title and author’s names clearly visible? Does it have a clean look or is it tightly cramped with loads of pictures or words? A good cover designer is a marketing expert who knows how to present a book cover that is attractive and captures attention. Your book can be phenomenal on the inside, but the words and message won’t mean anything if the cover is unprofessional or doesn’t mirror the author’s style or tone. Find a designer whose style closely mirrors yours and you’ll be more likely to be happy with his or her services.

2.         How does the cover designer communicate? What is the preferred mode of communication? Will you have to convey your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions via email, or will you hash out your preferences and brainstorm over the telephone? What is the waiting time for responses and inquiries? What is your initial opinion after talking with the designer for the first time? Does he or she communicate in a professional manner? Are they cordial? Do they freely offer their own ideas and concepts, with relevant information to support it? Did the designer sound serious about his trade and treat you and your project with respect? Good communication is vital if you want a book cover that pleases you and integrates your style, tone, and wishes. If you suspect a communication gap, this might not be the designer for you.

3.         Experience. Creating a book cover is an art form. It integrates color, text, and pictures in a unique way to express the personality and content of you and your book. For this reason, most book cover designers are versed in marketing and promotional copy, as well. Ask to see any samples of book covers and promo materials the designer has created. Ask if they are familiar with the technical specifications of designing a cover suitable for print. Inexperienced designers may have difficulty integrating the specifications required by printers for trim, bleed, spine width, and appropriate placement of text, photos, and bar codes.

4.         Price.  Of course, budget is always an issue, but sometimes, you do get what you pay for. It’s also true that there are experienced talented designers who offer competitive rates, just as there are unqualified do-it-yourselfer, wannabe designers who overcharge for mediocre services. A good rule of thumb is not to hire the least expensive cover designer you can find, but rather to seek to find the best cover designer that you can afford. Again, request samples of book covers they have already designed to be sure they have the skills and experience you’re seeking.

5.         Schedule.  When does the cover designer work? Is this a hobby or a full-time job for them? Do they do graphic design on the side, on the weekends or during the evenings, in addition to their full-time job? While these factors may not affect the way your book cover looks, they could affect your timeline, the turnaround time for revisions, or your ability to communicate.

6.         You. You might be the single most important component in being happy with the services provided by your book cover designer. A book cover designer cannot provide you with a book cover that will make you happy if you don’t tell the designer what you want. The more detail you provide, the better. Without your input, suggestions, wishes, and feedback, a designer must rely on guesswork and his ideas, rather than yours, to create your book cover. As a result, you can be unhappy with the work, and the designer can find himself having to start over from scratch … numerous times. Don’t frustrate your cover designer. Work with him or her. Be open about what you do want … and what you don’t want. If you don’t know what you want, spend some time browsing through bookstores or online (try Amazon.com), finding book covers that resonate with and appeal to you. Share those images with the cover designer so he/she knows where to begin or which direction to follow. It’s the best way to make sure you are on the same page and that you’ll both be happy with the final product and the relationship that you’ve established.

Finding books when you know the title is easy. On the other hand, finding out about books when you don’t know the title can be difficult. As an author, your book’s title has to be memorable, descriptive, and sometimes catchy. These same characteristics also often apply to keywords and phrases that are used in search engines, like Google. So, doesn’t it make sense to use the same concepts used in search engines to title your book?

Keywords and phrases are used in web copy to steer people to websites and to increase a website’s placement in search engine rankings. First, it’s necessary to determine the most commonly used keywords and phrases related to your particular product or service, then develop copy around those words. The more closely your keywords are aligned to the most popular ones, the more likely it is that your site will come up in an Internet search. The same concept can be used by authors to name their books. By exploring different titles, you can determine how many times that title, or something very similar, has been searched. The title with the highest search ranking will receive the most exposure on the Internet, because when people use those keywords or phrases in search engines, the results will also produce your book.

Google Adwords provides the avenue for this type of search, and it’s very simple to do. Simply go to Google Adwords (https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__c=1000000000&__u=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS) and input potential titles in the “Word or Phrase” box and then ask for results. The title with the highest number of searches is most likely to generate more visibility and sales.

What if your titles don’t produce the search results that you hoped? In that case, you might want to rewrite your book title so it correlates to commonly used keywords in your niche. Do some experimenting and find the keywords or phrases that people are using to find information in your industry, and then use those keywords or phrases in your book title. The results are the same as inputting in a title, but in this case, you’re working backwards, finding a keyword and developing a title around it—rather than developing a title and then determining how popular it is.

This strategy to boost the power of a book title has been used by many bestselling authors, including Tim Ferris, author of The Four-Hour Work Week. Initially, Ferris was leaning toward naming his book “Drug Dealing for Fun and Profit.” However, it was market research to see which title performed the best in search engine results that changed the title to one that has sold millions of books.

Below you’ll find a screenshot of the Google Adwords page, which shows just how simple it is to conduct this type of research. By tweaking potential titles and/or narrowing your search to include different categories, you’ll find a combination that produces the best results. When your book’s title or subtitle uses these words or phrases, it will be included in searches for a target audience that is already interested in finding information related to it. The best way to sell books is to receive massive exposure—with Google Adwords and a bestselling book title, you’ll receive it.

Register for the Bestseller Author Spotlight here.

 Nothing But the Truth So Help Me God

Nothing But the Truth So Help Me God: 51 Women Reveal the Power of Positive Female Connection is a compelling collection of essays and art by women from completely different walks of life; everything from famous authors and entrepreneurs to nannies and aspiring artists.

The contributors to this book include: Amie Penwell, Ana Hays, Andrea Drugay, Aspen Baker, Caitlin McCaffrey, Carol Pott, Chieko Murasugi, Christine Arylo, Christine Bronstein, Cristina Robinson, Colleen Joyce, Dana King, Deborah Santana, Diane Tober, PHD., Dominique Browning, Eileen Chao, Hyla Molander, Janine Kovac, Jen Siraganian, Jessica Buchleitner, Joanie Wynn, Joy Nordestrom, Joyce Maynard, Judy Zimola, Kim Shannon, Kimberly Pinkson, Kristin Gerbert, Laura Fenamore, Leila Radan, Liesl Gerntholtz, Lenore Perry, Lissa Rankin, Lone Morch, Margaret Kathrein, Marie Drake, Medea Bern, Mickey Nelson, Mimi Towle, Monica Michelle, Nancy Calef, Rebecca Lubin, Sarah Manyika, Shasta Nelson, Susan Noyes, Susan Schneider, Tamara Holland, Tracy McGhee, Vick Nelson, Victoria Loren Miller, Violet Blue, and Yvonne Latty. Book Editors include Christine Bronstein and Carol Pott.

Author: Christine Bronstein

Christine Bronstein is the founder of www.abandofwives.com a social network and information website for women. She was CEO of one of the few women run, venture backed health and fitness companies in the nation for 8 years and president of a child-welfare foundation for 3 years. She is a graduate of Columbia/UC-Berkeley executive MBA program and a member of the honor society Beta Gamma Sigma.

Chris is married to Bay Area journalist Phil Bronstein and mother of three.

60 Seconds

In 60 Seconds, Switch Video Founder and CEO Andrew Angus explains how to tell your company’s story. In this book you will discover how to simplify your company’s story, how to use the dual coding theory, and how to better connect with your audience.

Author: Andrew Angus

Andrew Angus is the founder and CEO of Switch Video. Andrew was there at the beginning of the explainer video era. Now, a few years and over 300 videos later, Andrew’s passion is still for providing Switch Video’s clients with exceptional service, processes and a product they can be proud of.

Andrew is a leader in the explainer video industry. He spearheads the movement to integrate brain science and web metrics into the production of animated explainer videos. Switch Video’s explainer videos aren’t just cute, funny and entertaining – they’re proven effective marketing tools used by companies worldwide.

Home Team

HOME TEAM is the homeowner’s insider guide to a “happily-ever-after” remodeling or renovation project. By following Kevin Balestrieri’s Four Cs: Connect, Communicate, Check Off, and Complete, you will learn to speak the language of your home team—your architect, designer, and contractor— minimizing miscommunications and maximizing the success of your project.

Author: Kevin Balestrieri

With more than 18 years in the construction industry, Kevin Balestrieri is a master carpenter and knows the importance of experienced trades. With an undergraduate degree in business communication from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a certificate in Construction management, Kevin is a licensed General Contractor that specializes in distinguished custom residential and commercial construction. Providing, individualized attention to detail to create the highest quality projects while exceeding customer expectation.

The Barefoot Spirit

The Barefoot Spirit is a guidebook for anyone in business and a great read for everyone who loves a rags-to-riches story. Filled with many eye-openers, including:

•How Michael and Bonnie used worthy cause marketing to create one of the most recognized brands in the world
•Why they never spent a dime on traditional advertising
•The surprising advantages of being small and broke
•How creating a fun, yet hardworking culture kicks productivity into high gear
•How handling mistakes the right way saves essential business relationships
•Why attitude and determination trumps knowledge and experience
“The Barefoot Spirit” is the story of a little winery that broke all the rules…
and left its footprints all over the industry.

When Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey started Barefoot Wines in their laundry room in 1985, they had no idea what they were doing. They had no money or experience, but they made up for that with creativity, resourcefulness, guts and grit. By the time they sold the brand in 2005, they’d won a ton of awards and helped transform an entire industry from stuffy and intimidating to fun, casual, and socially aware.

The Barefoot Spirit is no dry business textbook. The lessons are cheerfully woven inside a 20-year story that’s inspiring, amazing and entertaining. It’s a case study, an idea book, an uncommon peek behind the curtain of the wine business and a snapshot of the American spirit West Coast style.

Author: Michael Houlihan

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey started the largest single wine label in the country in the laundry room of their rented Sonoma county farmhouse. They had no money and no knowledge of the wine industry but used out-of-the-box thinking, positive company culture and worthy cause marketing to make Barefoot Wine  a national best seller! and they did it without advertising!. The Barefoot Spirit is a business adventure story with an uncommon peak behind the scenes at the wine industry – and what it take to be a success in any business. Today they are highly sought after consultants helping start-ups to fortune 500s. They are Key Note Speakers, Published Authors, Bloggers, Teachers, webinar seminar leaders. They are frequent Guests on TV and Radio.Their articles have been published in Time, Entrepreneur, and countless other  business and trade publications. They bill themselves as Entrepreneurial Cheerleaders and Worthy Cause Matchmakers. Tonight we are happy to have Michael with us to share some thoughts (and some Champagne, thank you very much!) on The Barefoot Spirit!

What’s Your Price?

When Brandon Wade, a skinny and geeky Asian guy, moved to the US to study at MIT over 20 years ago, he was extremely shy with women. Brandon had never been kissed until the age of 21, and his love life was a constant struggle because he didn’t have the social skills of a pickup artist or the muscular physique of an athlete. Like the millions of guys who are seen standing lonely and awkwardly in the corners of every bar, nightclub or party, little did Brandon know that later in life he would embark on an amazing journey to date some of the most beautiful women in the world and eventually end up finding love.

This book is about Brandon’s invention – WhatsYourPrice.com – a website where men like him, successful but shy with women, can make cash offers for the chance to go out on a first date with some of the most beautiful women in the world—some of whom they never thought they’d have a chance with. But don’t judge the website by its cover. It’s time to take a deeper look into the countless numbers of people who have found love, romance or companionship because they were willing to try this new approach…

Author: Brandon Wade

My name is Brandon Wade. I’m a serial internet entrepreneur, and the author of a few books on dating, and social networking. I am also the founder of a number of online dating websites including the world’s largest sugar daddy dating website (SeekingArrangement.com), a leading millionaire matchmaking website (SeekingMillionaire.com, an innovative online dating and first date marketplace where singles can bid for a first date (WhatsYourPrice.com), and more recently the world’s first travel dating website where attractive singles can travel with generous free (MissTravel.com).

Adam Gilad (Author of What’s Your Price)

Emmy-Nominated Producer, Screenwriter, Author and Entrepreneur, Adam Gilad leads a community for over 50,000 men and women on their quest to create love and an inspired life. He has written guidebooks for effective online dating, www.DeepOnlineAttraction.com for men, and www.TheRightManOnline.com for women. His blogs can be found at www.ApproachConnectInspire.com for men, www.TheRightManForever.com for women. He is the host of www.TheStateofDating.com for both men and women. He is the father of two sons.

My Parent Plan

For parents, it’s a daunting task to effectively coordinate your family’s daily schedule between work, home, school, childcare, sports, hobbies, community projects, friends, family and everything else in our busy lives. This book uses business-based project planning concepts in developing your own “Parent Plan”. The result is a step by step guide to organize your family’s schedule and commitments through a practical approach to coordinating priorities and activities inside and outside your home.

Author: Beth Blecherman

With three young boys (and a fabulous TechDad) in the home, Beth Blecherman transitioned from her position as Senior Manager and Consultant at Deloitte to Family Manager for the Blecherman household. As the boys grew, Beth re-engaged her consulting career, using social media to discuss and speak on family technology. She is now applying her years of consulting, technology, and family management to help other families use project management and priority setting to create their own “Parent (PROJECT) Plan.”

Beth Blecherman’s personal blog, TechMamas.com, and her social media channels, including Twitter @TechMama, Google+, YouTube, and Facebook. Beth has contributed family tech posts or articles to multiple websites, including CoolMomTech.com, LaptopMag.com, and Mashable.com. She presented at numerous conferences (including SXSW, BlogHer, Web2.0 and CES) and has been on many lists including Time 140 Best Twitter Feeds, PC Magazines Twitter Top 100, Working Mother.com List of Most Powerful Moms in Social Media and Forbes Top 100 Website for Women.

Star Walk

In Star Walk, model coach Charleston Pierce shares how your walk can help you boost your confidence and tap into your own inner power. Your star walk will take you anywhere you want to go, while it attracts people who want to march with you.

Author: Charleston Pierce

Charleston Pierce is a San Francisco native from the Bay View District, and the eldest son of 14 siblings. He began his modeling career in the late 80′s as one of Jimmie Grimme’s models. He later signed on with Stars Model Management and has been with them since. Charleston attributes his people skills to his family and his artistic vision and production expertise to over 20 in the entertainment industry.

Working with the likes of industry greats such as Jimmie Grimmes, Larry Hashbarger, Joe Montana, Tyra Banks, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Cindy Crawford, to name a few, Mr. Pierce’s career spans almost two decades and has included countless appearances in national billboard campaigns, print advertising spots, commercials, fashion shows, movies as well as a long and thriving modeling career.

In San Francisco, Charleston is most well known for his dynamic presence on the runway in the Macy’s Passport annual fashion shows. In recent years, Macy’s Passport, impressed with his expertise, tapped Charleston to work as their model coach and runway trainer. He also took on the honored role of training the member/models in the Junior League of San Francisco’s 82nd annual fashion show fundraiser. He was further honored by being nominated as a 2008 Man of the Year Candidate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Much of Charleston’s recent notoriety can be attributed to the 2007 launch of “Charleston Presents” – an exciting series of fashion, music and entertainment events that focus on promoting local designers, supporting charities and breathing new life into the San Francisco fashion scene.

Embracing Defiance

As human beings, our deepest desire is to feel understood, respected, valued for who we are and not how others expect us to be– this holds true especially for teens who often feel repressed by expectations of parents and demands from peers. Sensing that they have no say and lacking the proper communication skills they resort to “acting out” in defiant ways.

Rather than resorting to clichés like, “they’ll grow out of it,” Embracing Defiance: Helping Your Child Express Their Unique Voice while Keeping Your Sanity shows parents how to embrace what they naturally want to repel by uncovering the hidden benefits of defiance, identifying where it actually comes from, and what both teens and parents alike can do about it.

Dr. Beth Halbert introduces us to the Inner Family and clearly explains how and why it continues to shape and determine our lives. This thought provoking and timely book provides 10 Keys, practical tools to navigate the emotional challenges, ones we all face, with compassion, understanding and love. Through personal stories, easy-to-follow exercises, and real world examples, Dr. Beth shows she “get’s it” by giving you the insight and information you need on how to understand your child’s—as well as your own—defiance, so that you can break out of toxic patterns, and maintain open lines of communication throughout the difficult teen years, and for a lifetime.

Author: Beth Halbert

Dr. Beth Halbert is a licensed Clinical Psychologist specializing in the empowerment of children, teenagers and adults. Because she has such a gift and a passion for transforming defiant teenage energy into personal authentic power, she has been called “”America’s Teenologist”" by Mom’s The Word Radio and various parenting groups in the Bay Area. She is the best-selling author and Mom’s Choice Award of ““Embracing Defiance: Helping Your Child Express Their UNIQUE VOICE While Keeping YOUR SANITY”" which helps parents understand the benefits of defiant behavior and transform parenting challenges into new connections. Through her national Peaceful Parenting Program™, Keynote Addresses, Newspaper Columns, Magazine Articles, and Television and Radio appearances, Dr. Beth helps families joyfully transition into and through the teen years.

Girl From the Hood Gone Good

Girl from the Hood Gone Good discusses the trials and tribulations Sanchez underwent throughout most of her life. It shares many of the tools and resources she acquired along the way as she sought and fought for the answer and key out of her chaotic situation. Her life was filled with childhood molestation, domestic violence, drinking, drugs and an overall lifestyle fueled by doses of daily insanity. She managed to persevere by going to school, attaining a higher education resulting in a Master’s Degree and receiving extended certificates and accolades. She turned to self help books, healers, counselors, psychotherapists and spiritual teachers to release the negative mindset that had bound her for decades. In this book she guides the reader into understanding how they too can begin this journey of self discovery, self awareness and healing from a pain filled past into a joy filled tomorrow.

Author: Ana Maria Sanchez

Ana Maria Sanchez holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Spiritual Guidance Counselor, Licensed Heal Your Life Workshop Facilitator and Reiki Master Healer empowering people to live the lives they deserve. She is also the best -selling author of Girl from the Hood Gone Good which discusses the trials and tribulations she underwent throughout most of her life. It shares many of the tools and resources she acquired along the way as she sought and fought for the answer and key out of her chaotic situation.

Her life was filled with childhood molestation, domestic violence, drinking, drugs and an overall lifestyle fueled by doses of daily insanity. She managed to persevere by going to school, attaining a higher education and receiving extended certificates and accolades. She turned to self help books, healers, counselors, psychotherapists and spiritual teachers to release the negative mindset that had bound her for decades.

Because of her own struggles Ana Maria’s passion is to guide others into understanding how they too can begin this journey into self love and self discovery, and begin the healing from a pain filled past into a joy filled tomorrow.

If you purchased an e-book between April 2010 and May 2012, you may be entitled to an e-book settlement payout.

Harper Collins, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster have settled an antitrust lawsuit about e-book prices. Under the proposed settlements, which should be finalized February 2013, the publishers will provide funds for a credit with the retailer or you can formally request a check.

To find out if you qualify and the latest news, go to https://ebooksagsettlements.com/ or find out more information on Amazon’s website here: www.amazon.com/help/agencyebooksettlements

We’re always interested in feedback, so please let us know what you think.

P.S. You may have friends who are authors; feel free to pass this email along to them.

No doubt, being part of the KDP select program will most likely skyrocket your Author Rank (if your book is free to KDP Select members you, of course, will have more traction.) And this may be part of the case for Kara. But only 4 hours after I took the above screen shot, her rankings went up even more – showing the power of Amazon Ranks and lists.