One of the things I learnt as an author is what I was prepared to do to achieve that author status. This is very important because it will help with the lesson when we look at self-publishing (I've successfully done both.) Having worked very closely with my publishers for nearly 2 years I do not claim to be a top expert on this subject, however, I can give you my personal experience and viewpoint (which features heavily in the lesson that looks at what a publisher wants - still vital for you to learn if you wish to self publish and sell books.)

Publishers have their own agendas (of course) and for you to work with a publisher you will need to ask yourself these questions?

1. Am I prepared to write a book to a specific length?
2. Am I prepared to be dictated to on by the look and branding of my book?
3. Am I prepared to adjust my style of writing?
4. Will I accept that some content won't feature in my book?
5. Am I prepared to be guided by a publisher on the direction of my book?
6. Am I prepared to waive my control over where my book is sold?
7. Am I prepared to be accountable to a publisher on sales and results of this book?

Publishers will also have genre's and specific topics that they will wish to cover. By understanding this you can tailor your proposal to the right publishers and have a higher chance of getting accepted.

On a personal note, I was asked to change the title of my book because WH Smith's had shown an interest in my book. Originally it was called "Fight the Fear - How to beat your negative mindset and win at work." This suited me better because the majority of my coaching clients were in business. However, being prepared to change the title to "Fight the Fear - How to beat your negative mindset and win in life." has worked very well for me. And one of the reasons for this is that I was prepared to accept that I would adjust my own marketing strategy so that I was not just speaking to an audience of business owners, and that I was going to work hard to speak powerfully in my marketing to communicate with a wide audience. This is not something that may work for everyone, however, remember my original goal was to be able to work in a way that would look after my health and bring me new clients. And thus this alteration didn't impact on this if anything it has helped greatly leading to whole new areas of specialism and new audiences of coaching clients, courses and books too.

ACTION; What am I prepared to accept or sacrifice to become an author?

This is important for the lessons where we look at self-publishing and working with Publishers.