Author Dan Brown – His Fatal Flaw Which You Should Avoid At All Costs

Yesterday I watched an interview with author Dan Brown.  You may not know him by his name, but you’ve undoubtedly heard of his books – The Divinci Code, and Angels And Demons.  His latest title, The Lost Symbol, has just been released and is now in stores.  Fifty million copies have been printed in anticipation of record breaking sales.

While I admit to never having read one of his books (though they do sound intriguing!) and not being a fan of the author (nothing against him, I just don’t have the time), there are some things which even a non-fiction booklet author, like me and you, can learn from him.

Some of these things are good – things we might want to incorporate into our own career as a writer.  But, one of these things is not good and we should do our best to avoid that one at all costs!

A Little Background On Mr. Brown And His Work

Before he became a full time writer, Dan Brown was a college English teacher.  He had a good grasp of the mechanics of writing, punctuation and grammar.  Of course, you don’t need to be an English professor to create a booklet.  In fact, thanks to editors and writers for hire, you don’t even need to know how to write! But, it’s helpful if you do.

Mr. Brown’s father was a college math professor, and his mother was a professional musician who played sacred music.  Thus, science and religion were a part of Mr. Brown’s life from a very early age, and later influenced his work.

Although he writes fiction, Dan Brown’s books do have some basis in reality.  First, his stories were based on his own background and knowledge of science and religion.  It’s always good to begin with what you know or what you’re passionate about, and work from there.

Mr. Brown also tends to write about real places, although his characters and plots are fictional.  This makes his stories believable and credible in the minds of his readers.  As a booklet author, your work will be believable and you will be credible when you present the facts related to your subject.

Good Habits Make Good Writers

Dan Brown didn’t get to be a best selling author by wishing it would happen.  He has made a committment to his career. He is at his desk, writing, by 4:00 am every morning because he knows the very early morning hours are his most productive.  But, don’t worry.  If you’re not a morning person, you can still create a booklet. Just write during your most productive hours!

Mr. Brown also likes to solve plot challenges by wearing gravity boots and hanging upside down from his ceiling.  He said he feels this shifts his perspective.

If this doesn’t sound the least bit appealing to you, you can get the same effect by doing something else that Dan Brown does.  You can take a break every now and then to refresh your mind. Once, every hour or so, Mr. Brown does push-ups or stretches to give himself a little break from writing.  You can do this too, or you can go for a short walk, or do another relaxing activity for 15 to 20 minutes.  Then, come back to your writing and you’ll find the words flow a little easier.

Dan Brown’s Fatal Flaw

For all of his good habits and his success, there is one flaw that Dan Brown seems to have.  At least, he did on his latest work, The Lost Symbol.  That flaw is that he spent six years writing his current title because he refused to call it done until he felt it was perfect. You must avoid this fatal flaw in your own work at all costs!

Some might argue that this is good – that Mr. Brown is successful because of his careful attention to detail.  Granted, he does write novels and they take longer to write than booklets do. But, six years?  That is a long time to work on a project.  Why?  Because first of all, none of us has the guarantee of time.  We like to think we will be here tomorrow, but we really can’t be sure.

And second, that’s six years of income that Dan Brown will never see from this work. Yes, it takes time to write a novel, and yes it took him time to do his research.  Perhaps he enjoys the research part of his projects so much that it’s difficult for him to quit.  That’s understandable.  I like doing research too.  One little clue leads to another, and you find answers to questions you never even thought to ask.

When you’re creating a book (or booklet) for profit, however, it makes sense to get it done.  Every day you spend on the creation of your project is a day you are not making sales. You can market your work ahead of time, but you can’t sell it until it is finished.

Dan Brown is a rich man from his past works – The Divinci Code, and Angels And Demons.  Therefore, he can afford to spend six years on his project if he wants to.  That’s his perogative.  But, most writers don’t have that luxury.  Most writers are working at day jobs to pay their rent or mortgage and keep food on the table when really, they would much rather be writing.

Writing a booklet takes very little time.  You can start writing today and have a product to sell in just a couple of weeks – even less if you’re selling e-booklets.  And if you really want to write a novel you can do that.  But, wouldn’t it be nice to have money coming in while you’re working on your lengthier project?

To your riches,

Kim

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You Don’t Have To Be A Celebrity Like Farrah Fawcett Or Michael Jackson To Make A Difference

If you’re reading this right now, then congratulations.  You’ve been given another day.  The question is, what will you do with it?

Not everyone has made it to this day.  Most notably, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, who both died yesterday.  But, they are only two of many who died yesterday.  We know about Farrah’s and Micheal’s deaths because they lived such public lives.  But, there are many people, worldwide, who died yesterday whose names we do not know.  I wonder what kind of legacy each of them left behind.

As an author you have the opportunity to help others by bringing them information they need.  Being an author gives you a kind of star status.  It’s a well known fact that the general public views authors as celebrities.  What will you do with that celebrity status?  Will you use it to help others?

If you’re reading this and you haven’t started your booklet yet, if you’ve continually put it off, now is the time to write it.

If your booklet is finished and it’s sitting, it’s time to get busy and get it into the hands of those who need it.

Time is the one asset we can’t control.  You don’t have all the time in the world.  The only time you have, and the only time you will ever have, is right now.  Farrah Fawcett knew her time was short.  She created a film to help others with cancer, and to help those whose lives have never been touched by the disease to understand what cancer does to a person.   She allowed the cameras to capture some very difficult moments – moments that anyone else probably would not have wanted on film.  It was a very courageous thing to do.  Her final legacy isn’t the tv shows or films she made, and it isn’t the posters that made her famous.  Farrah’s final legacy is one of a true desire to help others.

Micheal Jackson, however, died suddenly and as I understand it, unexpectedly.  He didn’t have any foreknowledge that the day he died would be his last day.  I wonder what he might have done differently if he had known.

The point is you need to make every moment count.  You don’t have to be a huge celebrity like Farrah or Micheal to make a difference.  As a booklet author, you can make a great difference in the life of someone else.   It doesn’t matter if the world doesn’t know who you are.  If only matters that your market knows, and that your booklet is helpful to them.

Today is here.  You’ve got right now.  How will YOU use this time?

To your riches!

Kim

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Wise Words On A Coffee Cup – You Have More Time Than You Think You Do

Yesterday a rare thing happened.  I had a little time to kill.  I had my 13 year old daughter with me, and I decided it would be nice to chat over coffee at Starbucks (hot chocolate in her case).   I enjoy sitting with my daughter in such a relaxed atmosphere.  It gives us a chance to connect – something many parents find difficult to do with their teenage children.

As I sat at the little round table listening to my daughter chat away, I noticed something was written on the back side of my coffee cup.  Upon reading these wise and revealing words, I decided to post them here for you because they tie in perfectly with a point I often try to make – that we have more time than we think we do.  Here, then, for your consideration, is what I read:

Americans spend an average of 29 hours a week watching television – which means in a typical life span we devote 13 uninterrupted years to our TV sets!  The biggest problem with mass media isn’t low quality – it’s high quality.  Cutting down just an hour a day would provide extra years of life – for music and family, exercise and reading, conversation and coffee (and writing! -me).

-Michael Medved, author of Right Turns and radio talk show host

To your riches!

Kim

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Print Is Dead? I Don’t Think So

This morning while rummaging through my email in-box I clicked on an interesting link, which led to another link and so on.  You know how it goes.  Anyway, I learned that Jeff Gomez has recently revised his book, “Print Is Dead,” and the updated version will soon be available on Amazon.

Print Is Dead Is A Printed Book

I find the title of this book a little amusing since it is only available (to my knowledge) as a printed book.  And while I agree that we are living in a digital age and there is alot of information online that we can access, sifting through that information can be a daunting task.  Ever type a keyword into Google and have a multitude of pages come up, forcing you to search through more than one page to find what you need?  I sure have.  In fact, just recently I spent an entire day searching deep into Google to pull out some information I needed.  If a book had been available on my subject I would have gladly paid the cover price so I could flip through the book.  It would have saved me a tremendous amount of time.

There Is Plenty Of Poorly Created Material Online

Here’s another thought for consideration.  Anyone and everyone can write and publish online in the form of a blog or website.  But, not everyone is good at it.  Have you read some of the material that’s out there?  I’m not talking about the content.  We all have our preferences there.  I’m talking about the spelling and grammar mistakes.  Yeesh!  I find it very disappointing to have to sift through that kind of information to get to the good stuff.  If you can’t write a sentence properly, you have no business publishing anywhere without a good editor.  Not only does putting that kind of poorly created material on the web make you look unprofessional, but it gives me the impression that you slapped the information together with little thought, which makes me wonder if the content is in error.

Five Reasons I Like Printed Books And Believe They Are Here To Stay

With all of that said, here is my case for print.  First, I enjoy reading books.  Yes, I do read some online content, but it’s easier to find what I need in books.

Second, I enjoy the bookstore experience.  It’s fun to go to my local Borders or Barnes & Noble and spend an hour or two browsing, then find something that looks like a really good read, buying it, and reading the first chapter or two over a cup of coffee at the cafe.

Third, I admit it – I read in the bathroom.  If I didn’t, I may never get the chance to start a book let alone finish one.  It’s the one place where I can be alone with no other distractions.  I can’t imagine sitting there in front of a computer!  Nor can I see myself sitting there with Kindle in hand.

Fourth, I like to earmark pages and highlight content that is of interest to me.  I can’t do that with Kindle or my computer.

Fifth, books make great gifts.  Telling someone I just bought them another book for their Kindle just isn’t the same as giving a book I know will interest them as a nicely wrapped gift.

I must admit I haven’t read Jeff’s first edition of this book, but it looks interesting.  I’m going to see if my local library has a copy.   And that is yet another reason why I don’t think print is dead.  You can’t check out electronic books.  You wanna read?  You gotta pay.

I think both print and e-books will coexist for a long, long time.  As a booklet writer, it’s a good idea to do both.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

To your riches!

Kim

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