by Alvin Ramirez May 24, 2012
In this episode of Book Journeys Radio, Angela Lauria was joined by Sallie Felton, life coach and radio talk show host, to discuss her book “If I’m So Smart, Why Can’t I Get Rid of this Clutter? Tools to Finally Get It Done”. Sallie and Angela have a close working relationship, with Sallie’s book being published by Angela’s Journey Grrl Publishing. Sallie has also written a few other books, including one in which she had a chapter published along with some self-help luminaries like Stephen Covey, Deepak Chopra, Dr. John Gray, and Jack Canfield.
Sallie kicked off the interview by telling the story of the time Angela approached her to write a book. Angela gave her four months to produce a 60,000-word manuscript; she managed to cobble together her notes from over several years to form half of the content. She revealed that the idea for her book came during a radio show she was hosting one New Year’s Eve. After hearing the resolutions from her callers, she announced her own resolutions, which then became the seeds of her book.
Sallie also revealed her personal style for dealing with writer’s block. She said that she considers writer‘s block to be her– and everyone else’s — inner critic. Sallie deals with it by first, writing from her and her clients’ experiences, then, by sitting back and taking stock of what she has done so far. She writes down her observations and reads them aloud; this affirmation gives her confidence to push through with her writing. She considers it an asset that her writing style is easy to read and touches people.
During the course of the interview, Sallie also gave some tips and pointers in dealing with the technical side of things, especially in regard to doing her book launch. She detailed the different activities related to her book launch, such as sharing on social networks in order to generate interest in people and building on curiosity in order to make a sale. She also went on cable TV appearances and gave copies as well as donated copies of her book to public libraries. She stresses that it is important for an author to become known and get promoted, adding that one of the things she did was partner with a national outreach organization that works in Third World countries.
Since her book launch was coordinated by a professional that she knew from her radio show, Sallie had relatively less trouble going through the different activities related to it. Her coordinator also let Sallie in on some tricks and secrets in working with Amazon when it comes to selling books. Sallie considers working with her coordinator as money well spent, and advises to think of it this way: What time would you have to commit to doing a launch? If you are the one handling your launch, what part of your business are you not focused on?
On the other hand, Sallie wished that she had kept a more careful eye on how well her book performed on Amazon, especially in terms of its analytic tracking. She adds, however, that anyone could do it, but it will take a significant amount of time. Sallie also observed that the best thing that writing a book has given her is that it has given her credibility to speak on the subject. This credibility allowed her to build up a strong platform to share her message.
Listen to the Sallie Felton interview on BlogTalkRadio
DOWNLOAD Book Journeys Author Interview-Sallie Felton-May 24 2012
Alvin has a deep passion for the publishing industry. He combines his extensive knowledge of the field with his talent for engaging storytelling to create insightful and informative content. Alvin’s writings often delve into the latest trends and challenges in publishing, providing valuable perspectives for both industry professionals and aspiring authors.