Reality Bytes

Our book is going to be filled with Reality Bytes. Short snippets of useful information created by noted, industry leaders who already serve the entrepreneurial community. Our team has reached out to a number of these leaders, requesting them to join our "revolution" and help other business owners through our new book.

Check out a sample Reality Byte from noted author, speaker, and business professional, John Jantsch, who wrote Duct Tape Marketing.

Click on the link to see a sample Reality Byte.

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Trying to Push It Over The Goal Line

The final manuscript editing was completed and graphics were inserted in the correct position in the appropriate chapters. We will make one final review to make sure that grammar errors are caught and book flows constantly.

This includes figure numbers, tabbing, and punctuation. It is important we catch as many of these errors BEFORE they are sent to the designer, since it's easier to make (and track) corrections in a WORD document as opposed to a designed page. The big issue is page flow. If we have lots of corrections after the book is designed it can make lots of work later on.

We are then sending the completed manuscript to our designer along with a separate file of "Reality Bytes." These 3rd party contributions will offer an outside expert's observations, tips and advice.

Our designer will fit these pieces in after the text is initially flowed into the design template. The initial book is expected to have 160 pages. Our book template sample will be done on Monday. After this manuscript is complete, this will be merged with the template.

We expect 2 weeks of back and forth corrections and we'll be done . Our editor is working on the flaps and back cover.

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We sold 112 books!

Great news....we received an email (actually it was our partner Steve, but we consider him part of our team) from a buyer asking how many copies of our NEW BOOK she should order. Steve suggested 1 carton per DC(distribution center). Since she had four DCs...look at me, talking about DCs, like we are a professional in the book business. That translated into 112 books.

WOW! We sold 112 books!

Since all books are returnable, you never what to overstock and it only takes a few days to replenish. Building a relationship with your buyer is important. Ingram will be a principal distributor for both online and retail book stores until we establish demand for the book.

For example, when a person orders the book from Amazon, BN.com or local Border's store, orders are placed through Ingram. They ship fast and (books arrive to retailers in just a few days). Once Amazon starts selling they will place a stocking order for quicker shipment.

The key to book success is to drive book demand. Having you book in stores is important but nothing is more critical then sell-thru. We will focus on demand first and distribution will follow with little effort. Of course, we will implement the strategies we teach in the Reality Marketing Revolution. I am attaching a screen shot of the summary order for the viewing pleasure of our blog readers. Click the image to view it in full size.

Bar Code

We are on our path to providing our “fans” a real book that you can buy in the store or online via Amazon, to do that you need a bar code. Once a book has an ISBN number assigned a bar code for the book is ordered. I mentioned this in the April 3rd post.

We ordered our bar code from a sister company of Bowker at www.createbarcodes.com. They are inexpensive, costing around $10.00 and the files are sent within a minute to the designer to be added the book cover. A correct bar code is critical. All bookstores and distributors keep track of a title by scanning it. Our unique bar code is shown here.

More later as we are in the final stages of editing.

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The Mechanics of Getting A Book to Market

Our book has been added to two key databases Bowker's Books in Print and Ingram Book Group. Bowker is only a database of books in print. Ingram maintains a database and also will act as the main distributor for our title.

Bowker's Books In Print® database offers valuable information on more than 6 million U.S. book, audio book, and video titles, as well as another 10 million international titles, making it the industry’s largest bibliographic database. Available in print, CD, and Web formats, this indispensable resource for booksellers, publishers, and librarians also offers: reviews; tables of content; full-text previews; cover images; author biographies; awards information; annotations; and much more.

Ingram Book Group is the world's largest wholesale distributor of books and audio books to booksellers, librarians, and specialty retailers. When an order is placed by a bookstore or online retailer like Amazon.com and BN.com they order books directly from Ingram and handle shipping.

If you've ever gone to a store and placed an order for a book that was not in stock, you may have found it only takes a day or two to have it available. This is possible because Ingram responds by offering quick shipment to individual stores. You also will notice that if you ever do a Google search on a book it will list a number of other stores and "affiliate" sites where the book can be ordered. Most of these orders are processed through Ingram.

Within a couple of weeks a Google search of "Reality Marketing" will display multiple locations where books can be ordered. Not only will it help us sell more books, it will help us build our Reality Marketing brand. Although our publisher will not be able to tell who is ordering, they can see total book demand (orders) and warehouse inventory results in real-time. Square 2 Marketing - We help entrepreneurs

Now What?

Now that we have a cover, what next?

Well the first thing you need is an ISBN Number. Guess what, we have an ISBN number! It's 0-9802118-2-4. An ISBN number is a 10-digit number that uniquely identifies books and book-like products published internationally.

The purpose of the ISBN is to establish and identify one title or edition of a title from one specific publisher and is unique to that edition, allowing for more efficient marketing of products by booksellers, libraries, universities, wholesalers and distributors.

You will notice the ISBN number on the back of books. It is printed as a number and as a bar code. Think of it as the book's "serial number." All books need an ISBN number ISBN numbers are not that expensive. When purchased in blocks of at least 10, they are under $30 each. You get your own at http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/us/secureapp.asp

You buy them individually from authorized agents at a cost of between $55 and $129 each For example, http://www.aardvarkglobalpublishing.com/isbn_numbers.php

Our ISBN number, cover image and book specifications (size, page count, book type pricing etc.) will be submitted to book databases including Books in Print and our publishers prime distributor Ingram Book Company. Stay tuned, it’s all happening so quickly.

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