Mindjet’s MindManager, a mind mapping software program, makes it easy to set-up a realistic writing schedule for your book and pace your writing, so you can finish your manuscript on time. You can use the same map used to plan and display your book’s table of contents to schedule your writing. With MindManager’s Task Info command, in just minutes you can add starting dates and completion dates to each chapter.

To add starting and completion dates to a chapter, click the Task Info tool in the MindManager Toolbar. This reveals the Task Info pane where you can enter starting dates and deadlines for each chapter, as well as visually indicate your progress as you work on each chapter.

If you’re not already a MindManager user, visit the Mindjet web site, where you can download MindManager 7.0 Pro for a 21-day free trial.

MindManager maps play an important role at Published & Profitable, where members profit from the insights of authors who have sold millions of books and where you can find dozens of mind maps to study and mind map templates for planning, writing, promoting, and profiting from your book.

Click here to review a partial list of mind map templates at Published & Profitable.

If lack of time is keeping you from finishing your book and enjoying the benefits that it can bring to you, check out my latest Published & Profitable illustrated feature, Use a Google Calendar to Find the Time to Write Your Book, recently added to the members area.

You’ll find detailed step-by-step instructions for using a Google Calendar to plan your day around your book. You’ll learn how to set up your calendar and schedule short working sessions that can continue until your book is complete. Topics include adding events and repeating events in coming weeks and months.

All too often, books go unwritten that could have changed their author’s lives. What got in the way of the author’s success was not a lack of ability or the lack of the market’s need for the book. What kept the book from appearing was the way everyday concerns got in the way of the author carving out short blocks of time–as short as 30 minutes–to devote to the book.

Planning your day’s activities around your a few, relatively short, daily writing sessions, however, even the busiest author can find time to plan, write, promote, and profit from a book.

Brian A. Klems, online managing editor at Writer’s Digest, named award-winning author Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s blog, Sharing with Writers to the Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites in 2008. Carolyn’s website was mentioned on page 54 of the June, 2008, issue.

In addition to her recent Published & Profitable interview, which Published & Profitable members can access here, Carolyn Howard-Johnson has appeared on TV and hundreds of radio stations nationwide. She is also is an instructor for UCLA Extension’s Writers’ Program.

Her book The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won’t was named USA Book News’ Best Professional Book and earned the Book Publicists of Southern California’s Irwin award and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success winner of USA Book News Award and the New Generation Indie Award for Marketing.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s blogs and website can be found at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor, The New Book Review, and How to Do It Frugally.

Join other Published and Profitable friends and members on Friday, July 11, when I interview Thom Scott, internet marketing coach, as he discusses the launch of Bob Burg’s latest book, The Go-Giver: A Little Business Story about a Powerful Idea.

Thom Scott is Bob Burg’s business partner and director of online marketing. Bob Burg’s earlier books, including Endless Referrals, have sold over 250,000 copies, and The Go-Giver is driving Bob’s total books in print even higher. Bob Burg is a member of Published & Profitable’s Editorial Board.

During this exclusive Published & Profitable interview, I’ll be asking Thom to describe the goals, strategies, and techniques used to launch Bob’s book–or any new book. You’ll learn what to focus on when planning and promoting the launch of your book, and what specific events to put into place as your book is being written. This interview presents a rare opportunity to learn by peeking behind the scenes of a successful nonfiction book launch.

All Published & Profitable friends and members are invited to attend. After the call, Published & Profitable members will be able to access the call 24/7. The live interview takes place Friday, July 11, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 Noon EST.

To attend:

Call: 218-486-1616
PIN 513391#

Mastermind groups permit authors to share their expertise by working closely with group members who may be located around the country or around the world. Mindjet Connect, a new online mind mapping service offered by Mindjet, permits a new level of sharing and collaboration based on a new, interactive, way of sharing content, ideas, and tools between authors and their mastermind groups. “Brainstorming” and “joint problem solving” are taken to a new level when conducted in a Mindjet Connect environment.

Here are a few of the highlights of the Mindjet Connect:

• Online collaboration. Author mastermind groups can now meet online, with all members having shared, equal, access to the mind maps being discussed. Instead of just the leader being able to create or edit a map. With Mindjet Connect, each participant can add content and comments in real time during a meeting. Each participant’s contributions becomes immediately visible to the entire group.
• Shared workspaces. Authors can post mind maps and relevant documents to a secure, shared, online environment. This allows authors and mastermind members 24/7 access to mind maps and supporting files. Authors can post templates or assignments, and later review–at any time–the contributions and progress of individual mastermind members. Mastermind group members can use MindManager’s Review feature to add and track comments.
• Multiple levels of file security. Individual files can be protected with differing levels of access by mastermind group members. When appropriate, files can be “checked out,” preventing simultaneous access by more than one individual at a time. When appropriate, files can be copied and downloaded to the mastermind group member’s individual computers. Members can also upload files, like drafts of a book, to the workspace for review by the entire group.
• Chat, messaging, and instant meeting features. Online messages allows the author to respond to individual queries and questions during the meetings. Meetings can be scheduled in advance, or instantly set up.
• Flexibility. Authors can create a single mastermind group, or several groups for specialized purposes. When appropriate, groups can accommodate up to 150 members. As groups grow larger, map co-editing can be limited to a small number of “panelists.”
• Easy, efficient administration. Authors can easily set up groups and distribute documents to one location, eliminating the hassles and uncertainties involved with e-mailing numerous files and attachments. With Mindjet Connect, all files uploaded to a single location, where they can be accessed or downloaded by members at any time.

Visit the Mindjet Connect website where you’ll find numerous resources, including detailed description of Mindjet Connect key features, a Mindjet Connect with MindManager 7.0 Pro Quick Start Guide, plus full description of service options and prices.

If you haven’t yet discovered mind mapping, you can also download a 30-day free trials of Mindjet Connect and MindManager 7.0 Pro for Windows.

Investing 30-minutes, or less, a week choosing and reviewing topics for upcoming blog posts, authors can save time promoting their book and developing a consistently updated web presence. The key to success is to identify topics for upcoming blog posts. Identifying blog posting topics in advance helps authors put their brain on high alert, searching for relevant ideas for upcoming blog posts while the authors are performing other daily activities.

Choosing blog topics in advance also allows authors to address their market’s information needs in a proactive and orderly–as opposed to–reactive or random–fashion.

What about commenting on events in the news?
When events occur that require immediate attention, authors can either preempt the previously-chosen topic, or the authors can create 2 separate blogs; one addressing an on-going topic of interest to their market, the other addressing the time-sensitive event.

The relatively short amount of time spent choosing topics for the upcoming week will be more than offset by the time savings authors will enjoy writing their blog posts.

One of the easiest ways to write a book about a complex topic is to your ideas into the steps needed to solve a problem or achieve a goal. Organizing your book into the steps needed for success provides a framework that simplifies your task and provides the focus you need to decide what to include, and what not to include in your book. The steps also provides a clear and simple, action-oriented, title for your book. The following is a suggested organization for your book:

• First chapter. Use the first chapter to provide an overview of your topic and preview the steps to be covered in the following chapters.
• Following chapters. Devote each of the following chapters to a single step. Provide an overview of the issues involved in that step, along with hints and shortcuts.
• Last chapter. Conclude with a chapter that reviews the problem, or goal, your book addresses, and how readers will benefit from following your recommended course of action.

Benefits of the “steps” approach
The above approach helps authors avoid the possible trap of a research-heavy, “college term paper,” approach by providing a greatly simplified guide to action. This approach also helps authors come up with a simple, straightforward title for their book.

In addition, authors who choose a “6 Steps to (desired benefit” approach can add great urgency to their title by specifying how long it should take for readers to enjoy the benefits of taking the recommended steps, such as Jay Conrad Levinson and Al Lautenslager’s popular Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days book.

Published & Profitable members can learn more about choosing a title for their book by watching my Choosing a Title for Your Book 1-hour video.

In addition, the steps approach creates they rto describing how

The Dumb Little Man is a blog with weekly tips about practical life ideas that often focus on writing skills. Postings are concise, well written, and detailed enough to be helpful. One of the best recent posts was Alex Shalman’s 9 Ways to Jumpstart Your Writing Goal. Definitely worth reading and incorporating into your schedule as you start to plan, write, promote, and profit from your book.

The 9 tips are practical and well thought-out, plus I also liked Heather Armstrong’s quotation that introduced the post. Her words resonate throughout most books about writing:

Keep writing. Keep doing it and it and doing it.
Even in the moments when it’s so hurtful to
think about writing.

I would only add: keep the vision of the benefits that you and your readers are going to enjoy from your book in front of you as you plan, write, and promote your book. Think of the new opportunities your book will open up for you, and think about how many thousands of readers will be better able to solve a problem achieve a goal with the information in your book.

To help you make the most of these tips, review my previous posts about using Google’s free online calendar to assemble your day around planning, writing, promoting, and profiting from your book.

During our usual end of month coaching event, following my brief presentation of a new idea, Published & Profitable friends and members can discuss their publishing projects in a group environment. . Benefit from the experiences, insights, and perspectives of others. Learn how others have overcome, and are overcoming, the same challenges you may be facing.

NOTE: This call will be recorded and posted for Published & Profitable members.

Monday, June 30th, 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM EST
Dial in to: 218-486-1616
Use PIN: 513391#

Fear of making a mistake is one of the biggest challenges that authors face when communicating with prospective coaching and consulting clients. As Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman describe in their popular recent book, Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, the fear of loss causes many unfortunate decisions and also paralyzes many from taking action.

A fear of making an expensive mistake can get in the way of a sale, even when your prospects are already familiar with you and your ideas, such as after they have read your book.

I recently interviewed Jared Joyce, inventor of the Titan Water Bottle, for Jay Conrad Levinson’s Guerrilla Marketing Association. We discussed the concept of “draining the risk” at length. Jared discussed how he has to constantly “drain the risk” for his prospective investors. He described the various tools he has created to communicate his expertise and fiscally-responsible management style to his prospective investors.

Authors looking for ways to “drain the risk” from their prospective clients can visit Jared’s website and view samples of the “risk drainers” at his website. These include:

• The Inventor’s Timeline, which demonstrates the typical steps involved in taking a new product to market. This provides a “benchmark” which Jared uses to compare the progress of his recent invention, the Titan Water Bottle, compared to the typical inventor’s time to market.
• The Paradigm Flyer, this demonstrates his creativity as well as reinnforces his ability to stimulate ideas and provide product leadership.
• 50 Questions that Investors Will Know the Answers To after meeting with Jared Joyce and his staff. Since most investors don’t come prepared with 50 questions, he’s proving his expertise by anticipating their concerns!

Authors who think in terms of “draining their prospect’s risk” will be better-able to increase their coaching and consulting services after their book appears.