Zechariah 4:10a
My small beginnings as a runner after reading a book by Dean Karnazes
After coming out of an 80 year Babylonian exile and having the glorious temple that King Solomon built be reduced to rubble, it was now time for God’s people to rebuild a new temple where Yahweh would reside and be worshiped.
To the younger generation, this was a huge milestone. But to the “old-timers” who saw or heard firsthand stories about the glory & splendor of the previous temple, this latest edition paled in comparison. You can almost hear the chatter among the seasoned veterans, “I miss the good-ole days” or “They just don’t make em like they used to.” “You call THAT a temple?”
God had a message for Zechariah to pass along to both young and old alike…
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.” (Zech. 4:10a NLT)
Sure, this latest temple 2.0 seemed modest compared to the previous version 1.0 but God still wanted them to celebrate the fact that construction had begun. Progress was now being made. A hopeful momentum was now set in motion.
Zechariah is an invitation for us to surrender our expectations of what our books have to look like and the process that we go through to finish them. It’s also moving on from the “good ole days” and looking forward to what the Lord has ahead.
We hear all kinds of naysayers both outside and inside our heads: “Who are YOU to be writing a book?”, “My writing isn’t as good as so and so...maybe I should quit this writing thing.”, “This is simply too overwhelming for me to finish.”
One of the worst lies we can believe is that what we’re writing is insignificant and will not matter in the end. We rebuke that lie in Jesus’s name. It DOES matter!
Our books & writings may not look like much to us at times but it’s still hallowed ground that we’ve set aside to bring glory to the Lord.
So whether it’s rebuilding a temple or working on our books, we can rejoice with the Lord to see the work begin. We can also rejoice in knowing that the same God who resided in a temple made of stones now resides in these bodies of ours (1 Corinthians 6:19) thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus.
With the help of God, each of us can watch the momentum build with our small beginnings!
Book Writing Lab
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...and then create a writing plan to finish your first draft.
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One way to launch a new book is by using Amazon’s KDP Select program. This program launched in December 2011 and I first enrolled one of our books in the program in early January 2012. The program is no longer as effective as it was in 2012, but we have still seen success with our books as well as the books of other authors.
Why Free?
When you are a new author it can give you exposure to new readers. We consider it a ministry and have given away over half a million eBooks on Kindle alone.
For books that are part of a series, it may be beneficial to keep the first book in the KDP select program to gain exposure and interest in the rest of the books in your series. Also, make sure you put an excerpt of the next book in the back of your book as well as links to the books from the entire series. Many authors find this is an effective way to promote the next book in the series.
I also recommend having a call to action within your book for readers to join your email list so that those that do read your book could continue to connect with you on an ongoing basis.
You can also use your free days to get verified reviews from your reviewers. You send them a PDF copy and let them know the dates it will be free. When the book is free you ask them to download it on Kindle and post their review.
Another Option
One option is to use the KDP Select program to launch your new books and then remove them after your 90-day contract. This allows you to publish them to other eBook platforms. Draft2Digital is one option you can use to do this.
Please note, that you have to go in and choose to remove your book from the KDP Select program or else it will automatically renew. You can do this by logging into http://kdp.amazon.com, clicking the link for the bookshelf, and then clicking “info” on the right side under the column for KDP Select. There you can choose to remove the checkmark that automatically re-enrolls your book in KDP Select.
Results will Vary
Realize that your results will vary. One of the most powerful aspects of running a KDP Select promotion is the free advertising Amazon will give you afterward. For each person that downloaded your book, they have also downloaded other free books or bought other books from Amazon. Amazon then figures out which books were most likely to be bought from the same customer and will include them in the list “Customers Who Bought This Book Also Bought.” Therefore, your book starts showing up on other book pages and getting free advertising which often boosts your sales and rankings.
Things change often at Amazon, so I encourage you to do your research and decide what is best for your books.
Find out more about KDP free promotions and get our checklist of places to submit your book to here: https://www.trainingauthors.com/47-places-to-submit-your-free-kdp-promotion-for-your-kindle-ebook/
Book Writing Lab
Get your book out of your head and onto paper using our 3 proven book writing formulas
...and then create a writing plan to finish your first draft.
We just launched our brand new workshop, Book Writing Lab, and you can get in today for just $27. WooHoo!
Get started here: https://bookwritinglab.com/
Mini-Marketing Messages Kit
We have brand new templates available inside Christian Book Academy. They are called Mini-Marketing Messages Kits. Yay!
These kits will help you with your book marketing, start conversations with your audience, stay connected with your readers, get new sales for your book, and a lot more!
Join us and get access here: http://www.christianbookacademy.com/
If you have published blog posts, podcasts, videos, or have given presentations; you may already have content you can use for your book.
Take a moment to look over the content you have already created to see if you can repurpose it and include it in your book.
For example:
Here are a few of my personal examples:
The options are limitless! Don’t forget to consider the content you already have as you write.
Book Writing Lab
Get your book out of your head and onto paper using our 3 proven book writing formulas
...and then create a writing plan to finish your first draft.
We just launched our brand new workshop, Book Writing Lab, and you can get in today for just $27. WooHoo!
Get started here: https://bookwritinglab.com/
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” - Romans 15:13 (NLT)
Read John 16:20-24
We should approach our writing with relaxed, open hands, not clenched fists. When we’re open to the Spirit’s leading, a beautiful melody of words can follow.
Book Writing Lab
Get your book out of your head and onto paper using our 3 proven book writing formulas
...and then create a writing plan to finish your first draft.
We just launched our brand new workshop, Book Writing Lab, and you can get in today for just $27. WooHoo!
Get started here: https://bookwritinglab.com/