My co-author, Mikal Belicove, and I are developing a new website to help promote our book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook. The site is still under development, but you can check it out at FacebookIdiot.com.

Instead of using our photos on the site, we agreed to use avatars. Seems a bit odd to me, because Facebook is all about using actual depictions, but okay. I ordered my avatar from MyCaricature.com.

All I had to do was submit a couple digital photos, instructions on how I wanted my avatar to look, and $59.99. After a couple minor adjustments (which I was not charged for even after offering to pay extra for them), I was presented with the final rendition in high resolution. Below are the photo I submitted and the final result (both in low-res versions).

Awesome work, I think. If you’re going to get an avatar or caricature done, I highly recommend MyCaricature.com. Please tell Victor that Joe Kraynak sent you.

I recently received a Facebook message from Abnoos Moslehi, a translator in Iran who has read Bipolar Disorder For Dummies, which I co-authored with Dr. Candida Fink. Abnoos wants to translate the book into Farsi. Following is her letter of introduction, posted with her permission:

Dear Mr. Kraynak,

I was once diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder II, in Iran, my home country, where there was and is no information resource on this disorder.

I am not sure where I first saw your book , but it was the first real/complete thing I read about my condition and it has been helping me a lot.

Due to lack of information in this field I have been thinking of translating this book into Farsi and somehow hopefully get it published in Iran. It is a huge task and being a BP, I can’t tell you whether it’s one of those highs or not!

Iran doesn’t follow the Copy Right law and basically it is OK to translate anything from anyone and publish it without their permission. However I’d like to make sure that this is OK for you, it really does matter to me that if I get it on the market, it should be decent by all means.

Thank you for your time,

Abnoos

Abnoos found me on Facebook via the Bipolar Disorder For Dummies Facebook Page I set up and co-host with Dr. Fink.

I am currently working on putting Abnoos in touch with the Wiley’s associate manager of international rights who has informed me that Wiley has a For Dummies partner in Persia that might be helpful in making the Farsi translation possible.

I also told her about my Slovenian friend Darja Budja, the translator for the Slovene edition of Bipolar Disorder For Dummies, who rallied a bipolar support group in her country that teamed up with the publisher and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to help finance her efforts in translating the book and getting it published and distributed.

I find it intriguing how the Internet, including Facebook, helps to facilitate global connections and make things happen. Of course, ultimately the driving force is comprised of the individuals who make it happen, but technology often provides the introductions and infrastructure necessary get people connected and support their collaborative efforts.

I’m hoping this all comes together and I’ll see Abnoos’ Farsi edition of the book next year.

Twenty years ago, all you had to do to be a successful author was write a good book on a topic of interest to consumers. The publisher would get it into the bookstores, people would buy it, and all you had to do was run to the bank to deposit your royalty checks. (You had to run to the bank, because in those days they didn’t have direct deposit.)

Now, even before you write the book, the publisher wants to know what you can do to help market it. The two most important sections of any book proposal have nothing to do with the book title, description, author bio, or table of contents. The two most important sections are “Market Analysis” and “Author Platform.” Publishers want to know who’s going to buy the book and how you are going to sell it.

Just prior to the publication of Take the Mic and Stage a Poetry Slam, my coauthor (Marc Kelly Smith) and I received an author questionnaire from the publisher, Sourcebooks. It was 11 pages long, six of which consisted of marketing questions. I think we each spent two days filling out our forms and another day editing out the profanities inspired by the dullness of it all.

The marketing folks at Sourcebooks wanted to know whether we had blogs or websites we could use to market the book, whether we knew of any other Slam poetry blogs or sites that would help us spread the word, our media contacts, the organizations we belonged to, schools we graduated from, any seminars we might be involved in, special events, and so on. They seemed more interested not in what we knew but who we knew… or, more precisely, who knew us.

I’m not knocking Sourcebooks. It’s that way in all publishing houses and it’s the way you sell more books. In addition, Sourcebooks invests significant resources in helping authors market their books. I’m just sharing some insight into what first-time authors or people who want to get published should expect. Being a successful author is no longer just a matter of knowing something of value and being able to write about it. Having a solid author platform in place is equally, if not more, important:

• High profile in your field
• Plenty of contacts in your field who can help spread the word
• Popular website or blog
• Media contacts
• Well-stocked email address book
• Regular seminar presentations with lots of attendees
• Popular video clips on YouTube
• Active presence in field-related social or professional networks, online and off
• Regular articles in publications, print or electronic, where the target audience seeks information

Having your own publicist, a marketing kit, and a history of appearing in the media, especially on high-profile TV broadcasts, helps, too. In other words, having celebrity status in your field of expertise can pretty much guarantee that your book will be published and you’ll get a decent advance.

If you want to be a successful author tomorrow, start building your platform today.

I team up with experts to write about topics I know little or nothing about, so the marketing I do to promote the books usually has little impact. Unlike my coauthors, I lack the credentials and expertise to speak with a voice of authority on most topics we cover, and except for my mom, nobody’s going to show up for a Joe Kraynak book signing at the local Barnes and Noble.

Still, I try to contribute to in my small way to promote the books I coauthor. In this post, I share my “secrets” with anyone out there who may be able to make better use of them – especially my coauthors.

Register Your Own Domain

For about $10/year, you can register your own domain and then use it for your website and email. Take some time choosing a domain name that’s easy for people to remember and will give you a strong brand presence.

I register all my domain names through Bluehost, where all my sites are hosted, as well.

Tip: Create a Bluehost account before registering your domain name, so you can get the domain registration for free. If you already paid your hosting fee and Bluehost charges you an extra $10 for the domain registration, contact them to have the fee credited back to your account.

Build a Combination Website/Blog

A combination website/blog functions as your online base of operations. Once this is in place, you can branch out to other areas, including Amazon (if you’ve authored a book), Facebook, and Twitter more efficiently. Instead of posting individually to each one, you can set up feeds to automatically transfer content from your site to these other venues. To build a combination website/blog, I use the following tools:

• Bluehost for actually hosting the site. Cost: $6.95/month if you sign up for a couple years, but your $10 annual domain registration is free for as long as you keep using Bluehost.
• WordPress blogging platform, which is free. You can install it from the Bluehost Control Panel, making installation and setup a snap.
• Thesis – a commercial theme for WordPress that makes it easier (not necessarily easy) to customize the site design and includes tools to help with SEO (search engine optimization). Cost: $87 last I checked.
• WordPress plugins to add features to the blog and improve its performance. Plugins I use include Google XML Sitemaps (for SEO); Askimet, Peter’s Custom Anti-Spam, and Simple Trackback Violation (to keep spammers at bay), and Secure and Accessible PHP Contact Form (so people can contact me via email and I don’t have to stick my actual email address on the site). Cost: Most plugin developers ask for donations.

Create a Separate Page for Each Book

If you launched a site to promote your books, create a separate page for each book, describing the book’s content and providing links to various online bookstores where people can order the book.

Blog Regularly

Blog two to three times a week for maximum effect. This makes your site a bigger target for search engines and keeps people engaged.

Tip: Keep your blog focused on a single topic to send a clear message to visitors and search engines that your site is the place to go for information about your specialty. If you want to establish yourself as an expert in several areas, create a separate site for each. (Because I dabble in so many areas, I don’t follow this rule myself, but I still think it’s a good one.)

Create a Google Profile

Create a Google Profile and include a link to your site.

Tip: If you have a business listing on Google, make sure it’s up-to-date and includes your site address.

Add Your Site to Other Online Profiles

If you belong to any organizations that allow you to add yourself to a directory or create a profile, take advantage of it, make sure your information is complete and up-to-date, and be sure to include your site address.

Google Yourself

Google your name or business name, and check at least the first page of listings to make sure any information about you on the Web is accurate. Take any steps possible to provide complete and accurate information to the source.

Add a Signature to Outgoing Email Messages

Promote your site via email by adding a signature to the bottom of all outgoing email messages. You can use any text editor to create an HTML-coded signature file, something like this:


<strong>Your Name</strong><br />
Blurb about yourself and what you do. <br />
Phone: 555.555.5555<br />
Email: <a href="mailto:yourname@yourdomain.com">YourName@yourdomain.com</a><br />
Website: <a href="http://yourdomain.com">YourWebsiteName.com</a>


Save the file to your hard drive, and then add it to your email program. In Outlook Express, you click Tools, Options, and then click the Signatures tab to access options for adding a signature. Your email program will then insert the signature at the end of your outgoing email messages either automatically or only when you choose to include the signature. (Sorry, but too many email programs are out there for me to provide detailed instructions for all of them.) Your signature will look something like this:

Your Name
Blurb about yourself and what you do.
Phone: 555.555.5555
Email: YourName@yourdomain.com
Website: YourWebsiteName.com

Join Amazon’s Author Central

With Author Central, you can stake a claim on Amazon by posting your mug shot and bio. You can also set up an RSS feed to pull entries from your blog onto your Author Central page. Cost: Free, but you must provide contact information for your publisher so Amazon can verify you’re an author.

Send Review Copies of Your Book

Positive reviews and ratings go a long way. Send out review copies of your books. Here are some tips to get a better return on your efforts:

• Identify influential reviewers, if possible. Solicit a review from a big-name in the industry. Think of industry groups, publications, support groups, and other organizations where people are likely to share information about your book with one another, and then try to contact the leaders of those organizations.
• Contact prospective reviewers first via email or phone to let the person know when you’re sending the book.
• Include a letter with each book you send out expressing your appreciation for the review and requesting specifically that the person post a review on Amazon.com in addition to whatever publications the person has access to, such as the organization’s newsletter. (Even if your readers ultimately buy the book elsewhere, they’re likely to check Amazon’s book reviews before making a purchase decision.)
• Ask the reviewer to email you a copy of the review along with permission to post the review on your website. After posting the review on your website, email the reviewer with a link to the review and your sincere thanks.

Create a Facebook Fan Page

If you have a Facebook account, you can create a Facebook Fan Page to promote yourself or a book you’ve written. Don’t worry, it’s free. Just login to Facebook, head to the bottom of the screen, click Advertising, click Pages, click Create a Page, and follow the onscreen instructions. Be sure to include a picture of whatever you’re promoting.

Where’s my Fan Page?!
After creating a Fan Page, you may wonder how to get back to it to edit it or change settings. The easiest way is to pull up your Profile, click the Info tab, scroll to the bottom, and click link to your Fan Page.

Feed Blog Posts to Your Fan Page

Now that you have a page, populate it with content or nobody will care to look at it. The good news is that since you already have a blog, all you need to do is create a feed to pull posts from your blog onto your page. To set up a feed, open your page, click Edit Page (below the photo box), Edit, Import a Blog (under Notes Settings), and follow the onscreen instructions.

Promote Your Fan Page

You have a Fan Page, great, but nobody knows about it. To attract fans and enlist them in spreading the good word about you, promote your Fan Page:

• Become your own fan. Access your page and click the Become a Fan button (to the right of the Page title). This notifies your Facebook Friends, via their Newsfeeds, that the Fan Page exists and you’re a Fan of it.
• Invite your Friends. Send a Message to your Friends you think will be interested in the Page.
• Link your Page to Twitter. Open a Twitter account (see the following section), and link your Fan Page to Twitter. This way, whenever you post something to your Fan Page, or a new blog post is fed to the Page, Facebook can “tweet” it for you!
• Place a Fan Box or Page Badge on your website/blog. Open your Page and click Promote with a Fan Box (below the photo box). Click Fan Box or Page Badges and follow the instructions. This gives you a code you can copy and paste into the code for your website/blog to display the badge of box.
• Place a Share icon on your website or blog. Facebook can provide you with a Share icon for your blog, so people can click the Share icon on your blog to share your posts with their Facebook Friends. However, if you’re using WordPress, consider using a plugin instead, like Add to Any: Share/Bookmark/Email Button, which enables users to share your posts via email, Facebook, Twitter, Digg, or a host of other social media sites.

Give your Page its own vanity URL. As soon as your Page has a certain number of Fans (the minimum number seems to be a moving target), go to facebook.com/username and claim a vanity URL &ndash a Web page address that more clearly and simply reflects the Page title.

Tweet About It on Twitter

Twitter is another popular social media venue where you should establish a presence.

Head over to twitter.com, set up an account, and start tweeting… which may be easier said than done. Tweeting is easy. Tweeting regularly isn’t, at least for people like me who think Twitter is for the birds.

If you’re not fond of tweeting, or even if you are, consider automating the process at least partially:

• Link your Facebook page to Twitter.
• Install a blog plugin that automatically tweets your blog entries.
• Use a program like Ping.fm to update all your social networking sites from one place.

Promote Your Tweets

Add something to your site to promote your presence on Twitter. This informs Twitter users that they can find you on Twitter, so they can choose to follow you and hopefully help you pass along your tweets to other users.

To obtain a Twitter widget or button for your site, head to Twitter’s home page at twitter.com, scroll to the bottom of the page, click Goodies, and follow the onscreen instructions.

Offer to Write an Article

Publishers and organizations are constantly in need of quality content for their magazines, newsletters, and websites. Identify the high-profile outlets and offer to write an article for them. Be sure to add a credit mentioning yourself, your website address, and whatever it is you’re trying to market, such as your most recent book.

Create an Amazon Associates Account

Some authors sell books on their own, collecting the money and shipping the book to readers. That’s fine, but it’s not something I do. Instead, I set up an Amazon Associates account. If someone clicks one of my links (usually to order one of my books), I earn a small commission. I haven’t earned a whole lot, but it covers my Bluehost bill and then some.

Now it’s your turn. If you have a tip or trick of your own for promoting a book or something else on the Web, please share it with me and others. And please post a comment to let me know whether you’ve found this helpful.

Mrs. Tovornik, Cecie Kraynak, Tatjana Novak, Maja Valic, Darja Budja, Joe Kraynak, Sanja Svajger (Journalist) at Book Presentation in Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 12, 2009

On August 12, I received an interesting email message via my Contact Me page. The message was from Darja Budja, who was wrapping up her translation/adaptation of Bipolar Disorder for Dummies
from English to Slovene. Darja has bipolar, hosts her own bipolar Web site at bipolarna.si, and is very involved in the bipolar community in Ljubljana (pronounced lyoo-blee-ah-nah), Slovenia. She was writing to let me know how much she loved the book Dr. Candida Fink and I had written.

As we exchanged email messages, Darja expressed a grand vision she had to promote the book – presenting the Slovene edition of Bipolar Disorder For Dummies to me, in person, in Slovenia. I thought it was a brilliant idea, but confessed I had neither the money nor the time to travel to Europe. Darja persisted, lined up the funding to cover the air fare for me and my wife, Cecie (who also has bipolar and is the inspiration for my involvement in the book), and made all the arrangements – including letting us stay in a comfortable flat owned by her husband Simon’s parents.

When the trip looked as though it was actually going to happen, I contacted David Hobson, Associate Marketing Manager at Wiley, to request some gifts for our hosts. David packed a boxful of goodies and shipped them to me pronto. They were lost in transit, but we managed to track them down the night before our departure… that’s another story.

On Thursday, October 8, we arrived in Ljubljana via Venice. Friday afternoon, we met with several of the movers and the shakers who had made the translation possible – Darja; Maja Valic of the DAM Society (a depression and anxiety organization); Peter Smole, Roman Peklaj, and Katja Jus of Saložba Pasadena (the publisher); and Emi M. Kladnik and Ana Šorc who translated Depression For Dummies.

Friday evening was the highlight of the trip for us, when we met with Darja’s bipolar support group in Ljubljana to present the book and discuss our experiences with bipolar disorder. Many wonderful people were present who were managing bipolar in their lives. Throughout the meeting, which lasted over two hours, we shared stories, tears, and plenty of laughs – when you’re dealing with bipolar, humor is an essential survival skill. We also had the pleasure of meeting the renowned and unconventional psychiatrist, Dr. Mojca, who introduced us to “the gypsy way” of overcoming obstacles.

We did two more book presentations – one in Koper (on the shores of the Adriatic Sea) and another back in Ljubljana – and Cecie and I were interviewed as part of a special report on bipolar disorder for one of the local television channels.

Given the fact that Slovenia is populated by only a little over 2 million people, and the first print run for the book was only 1,000 copies, I was very impressed by the promotional efforts behind this book, but wondered… why, how? I later learned that Bipolar Disorder For Dummies is the first major book on the topic in Slovene (except for a couple books for children). AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company, had agreed to purchase 250 copies of the book to distribute to psychiatrists throughout the country, along with brochures on bipolar for patients.

During our stay, we visited with Darja and Simon and their wonderful children and were treated to several tours of Ljubljana and the beautiful country of Slovenia by Darja, Maja, and their friends. It was truly a remarkable opportunity and the most rewarding and fascinating experience of my writing career.

Thanks to the DAM Society, AstraZeneca, Zalozba Pasadena, and Darja Budja and Maja Valic for their efforts and support in publishing the translation and hosting our trip and to all our new friends in Slovenia who are pitching in to promote the book and who were such gracious hosts. Thanks also to my parents, John and Adeline Kraynak, and mother-in-law, Jo Anne Howard, for their support, to PsychCentral’s John Grohol for pledging his support… and, always, to my wife, Cecie, who helped make this trip spectacular.

I just received a copy of my latest book, Loan Modification For Dummies, which I co-authored with real estate and foreclosure self-defense specialists, Ralph R. Roberts, Lois Maljak, and Paul Doroh.

While I knew we were publishing a smaller book – 9.3-by-6.1 inches and only 288 pages, rather than the standard 9-by-7.4 inches, 360-384 pages – I really didn’t fully envision the look and feel of the book until I held it in my hands. I was pleasantly surprised. The decision to take a “less is more” approach was right on target. People facing foreclosure don’t have a lot of time to trudge through a massive manual to find a solution to their problem. Loan Modification For Dummies delivers the answers as fast and straightforwardly as possible, showing homeowners how to work through their lenders to…

• Keep their home.
• Lower their monthly mortgage payment to a truly affordable level.
• Pay significantly less for their home over the life of the loan.

One of the most interesting things I learned while co-authoring this book is that leading up to the mortgage meltdown, many loan originators and lenders were involved in very irresponsible and often fraudulent practices in selling mortgage loans and getting them approved. They were approving loans for borrowers knowing full well (through their own underwriting guidelines) that the borrowers would never be able to afford the payments.

I’ve heard many people argue that borrowers should have known better – they should have known what they could and could not afford to pay on a monthly basis. However, I think it’s understandable. Many borrowers met with loan officers under the assumption that nobody in their right mind would approve a loan that the borrowers could not afford. They assumed that loan approval equated to affordability. Unfortunately, loan originators and lenders were not in their right minds – greed clouded their judgment to the point at which no checks and balances were in place to control borrowers’ desires.

Yes, people should not take out loans they can’t afford, but banks should not loan money to people they know are likely to default.

Fortunately, borrowers who can prove that loan originators or lenders acted inappropriately in selling them a loan or approving it can use any proof they have to their advantage in negotiating an affordable loan modification. In Loan Modification For Dummies, we explain the rules and regulations in place to protect borrowers, show how to audit a mortgage loan, and provide guidance on using proof of fraud or misconduct as leverage in negotiating a loan modification to save your home from foreclosure.

If you need the book, I feel sorry for your misfortune and truly hope that this book can help you overcome your setback and regain your financial footing.

For more about the book, including links for ordering a copy online, visit Loan Modification For Dummies.

If you’ve read the book, please post a comment to let me know what you think of it along with any details you’d like to share about your experience in obtaining a loan modification.

I just read an article in the recent edition of AARP Bulletin entitled “Home, Stolen Home” by Sid Kirchheimer. The article begins with the story of Teresa Bidwell, who discovered that someone had stolen her home “when the contractors she hired to make minor repairs found another crew already there.”

In Protect Yourself from Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud: Preserving the American Dream of Homeownership, a book I co-authored with Rachel Dollar and Ralph Roberts, we devote and entire chapter to this topic – Chapter 14, “Stealing Houses with Tax Deeds and Phony Deeds,” which begins with a section on how con artists use deeds to steal homes.

The trouble is that in some areas, it’s far too easy to steal a home. All you have to do is trick the owners into signing a quit claim deed that transfers ownership of the property to you and then file the document with the county register of deeds. If the homeowners won’t cooperate, con artists simply forge the signatures. If they can pass off the documents at the register of deeds office, they become the proud new owners of the property… at least until the legitimate owners can convince the courts otherwise.

I think it should be at least as difficult to transfer the ownership of property as it is to change your mailing address. When you submit change of address forms, the U.S. Postal service mails you notification of the change in address request, so you have an opportunity to cancel the change if you were not the one who initiated it. Why not use the same or a similar system to verify transfer of ownership? All it would require is a call or letter to the homeowner.

Today’s edition of The New York Times carries an article by Larry Rohter entitled “Is Slam in Danger of Going Soft?” in which Rohter points out that the growing popularity of slam poetry is beginning to threaten its very existence as a subversive literary movement. Marc Kelly Smith, founder of the slam poetry movement, and the guy with whom I had the honor of co-authoring Take the Mic and Stage a Poetry Slam, is quoted throughout the piece. Here’s one short clip:

“At the beginning, this was really a grass-roots thing about people who were writing poetry for years and years and years and had no audience,” Mr. Smith said recently, just before his weekly Sunday night slam at the Green Mill. “Now there’s an audience, and people just want to write what the last guy wrote so they can get their face on TV. Well, O.K., but that’s not what people in this country, from Marc’s point of view, need. We’ve got too much of that. This show wasn’t started to crank out that kind of thing.”

All I have to say is if slam is in danger of going soft (in a watered-down, commercial way), Marc certainly isn’t. Just try to equate Poetry Slam with Poetry Jam and see what happens – it ain’t pretty. Check out Marc’s post “Slam Goes Daily,” with a clip fromThe Daily Show in which Jon Stewart questions whether anyone cares about the difference between a Poetry Jam and a Poetry Slam. The video clip itself is worth a visit.

I recently completed a new book entitled Financing Real Estate Investments For Dummies with co-authors Ralph R. Roberts and Chip Cummings. Ralph is an experienced and highly successful Realtor®, real estate investor, and homeowner advocate with whom I’ve co-authored several books, including Flipping Houses For Dummies and Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman. Chip is a certified mortgage consultant (CMC), real estate investor, and accomplished author who has written several other books on real estate investing, including Mortgage Myths and Cashing in on Pre-Foreclosures and Short Sales.

Financing Real Estate Investments For Dummies is a practical guide to scoring cash for real estate investments. Right now, credit is tight, so the usual sources for investment capital may have dried up. Here, Ralph and Chip cover the usual sources of real estate investment capital along with less common sources, such as hard-money (private) lenders.

While now may be a good time to buy real estate, it’s certainly not the best time to try to secure financing. Following the advice of two investors who’ve bought and sold real estate in good times and bad, you can broaden you search for financing and find the investment capital you need to do the deal.

Financing Real Estate Investments For Dummies shows you how to…

• Understand standard terms and concepts
• Identify the various sources of investment capital
• Gather all essential facts and figures to successfully apply for a loan
• Weigh your options — decide which type of financing is best for your circumstances and incorporate it into your real estate investing plan
• Finance residential properties — evaluate residential loan programs, navigate the loan application and processing, and handle the closing
• Invest in commercial properties — know the different property types, choose the one that meets your investment goals, and discover unique sources for financing
• Tap into unconventional sources — discover the pros and cons of “hard money,” capitalize on seller financing, partner to share risk and equity, and invest on the cheap with no-money-down deals

The book also offers…

• Real-world advice on financing without tying up all your capital
• How to get prequalified or preapproved for a loan
• Questions to ask your lender upfront
• Ways to avoid common beginner blunders
• How to protect your personal assets from investment risks
• Bargain-hunting hints for low-cost loans
• Strategies for surviving a credit crunch
• Ten pre-closing steps to ensure a hassle-free closing

Where to Order

Amazon.com

Barnes and Noble

Borders

Dummies.com

My co-author for Take the Mic and Stage a Poetry Slam, the Slam Daddy of poetry slam Marc Kelly Smith, was recently featured in a piece by Mike Thomas of the Chicago Sun Times entitled “Poetic Musings of Slam Daddy.” The Q&A is interesting and informative, whether you know nothing about slam or think you know everything. Please check it out and let me know what you think.