I’ve noticed that nothing gets fingers pointing, phones ringing, keyboard clicking, and inboxes flaming faster than errors found after a piece of writing is published. It’s bad enough if it happens on a Web site where it can be quickly fixed, but when it happens in printed material, especially in books, it’s even worse.

There are few things I’ve learned from helping so many authors get agents and I have developed what I like to call the “10 Deadly Sins”. Commit any of these sins in your query letter and you can kiss your shot at getting an agent goodbye.

I am sure you have heard about salespeople earning $200-300k, a million or even more. Do you think this sales person is better than you are? They are not much different from you; they are not geniuses or impeccable experts in their field.

Remember the childhood story of the Emperor who paraded around in his underwear but the royal subjects were too afraid to say anything until one day a small child blurted out “the emperor has no clothes.” Well I am a long way from being a small child but I am going to blurt out for all to hear, “Bookstore distribution is the publishing’s emperor who has no clothes.”

The demise of Biblio Distribution has some lessons for seasoned and rookie authors and publishers alike. That’s why I’ve written the following open letter to the president of Biblio’s parent company, National Book Network (NBN), a company that continues to try to drag down with it some of the small publishers formerly associated with Biblio.

The ultimate objective is to close the sale on your first visit with a buyer. However, this is unlikely to happen, particularly for a large order. The negotiating process begins when you try to close the sale and the buyer disagrees with, or objects to one or more of your terms or conditions. Start the negotiating process by asking questions. Find out as much as you can about the other side’s concerns (do not refer to them as objections). Why did the buyer not accept your initial proposal? How far apart are your positions? If close, can you split the difference

(Part 1) Not sure where to start with your cold calling campaign? Not sure who you should be calling or where to find great leads? Never fear. Leads are everywhere and you can find them easily and inexpensively