Up Close And Personal With Shel Horowitz.
February 24, 2012 
18 Comments
Hello Shel, and welcome to Authopublisher.com. It’s nice to have you with us. You are a self published author, tell us what your book is called and what is it about?
Four of my eight books are self-published, most recently Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers. And three of my traditionally published books are revisions/expansions/updates of books I originally self-published. My most recent book, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green, was an update of Principled Profit, a book I originally self-published in 2003.
Tell us a little bit about your writing process? What methods do you use to write and how did you make it through the grueling process of writing your book?
I take it in manageable chunks. When I’m actively writing a book, I typically work one to two hours a day on it, five days a week, for about six months. And I still find time to do the copywriting and marketing consulting for clients, promote my writing and speaking, and all the rest.
Explain to us the process you took to get your book published, from formatting your manuscript to preparing it for print all the way to getting an ISBN and the book cover design.
Because I’m a book coach, I know where to turn for services. So, to ensure that my book is top quality, I hire the same editors and designers that I hire for my publishing consulting clients. Of course, by the time I turn the Word file over to an editor, I’ve gone through it several times, and it’s in pretty good shape—but I still have an editor go over it.
And then it goes to the designer. The last time I tried to do my own design was in 1995. While it was a big improvement over my first self-published book that I’d designed in 1985, it really wasn’t up to the standards of modern book design. So for the more recent self-published books, I’ve brought in people who are as skilled with laying out a book as I am in writing one.
Did you use the services of a book coach or a self publishing company to help you though the process or did you do it yourself? Tell us about your experiences.
I am a book coach. If I weren’t one, I would have hired one, because I think it makes a huge difference in the quality and marketability of the finished work—and because I know that I often save my clients a good deal of money over vendors they might have found on their own.
What would you do differently with the publishing of your next book?
On my most recent self-published book, I went for a cover design that echoed the cover of a book I had published traditionally; I saw them as a series. I never liked the cover I ended up with, and in retrospect, I’d have worked harder to make sure the designer had something that was not only an echo of the other book, but much more visually appealing in its own right.
How did you market your book? Can you share some of your creative/non-conventional ways/secrets on how you sold your book?
I market through a wide range of methods, including forming marketing partnerships with people who reach a good audience for me, getting media publicity (143 press mentions in 2011, 131 in 2010), social media, public speaking, and more.
Share with us the different platforms you use to sell your book (bookstores, signing, affiliate programs, website etc.).
Websites (about a dozen), speeches, trade shows (book industry, green/eco, and marketing/PR/writing/publishing) social media, traditional media.
Do you use social media in book promotion, and if so, which platforms work best for you? Can you share some tricks you got making it work for you?
I’ve been doing social media since 1995—that is not a typo. These days, I primarily focus on Twitter and LinkedIn. On LinkedIn, much of my participation is through the groups feature. One specific thing I did on social media for book promotion was to be the featured guest on a Profnet ConnectChat—which had the unexpected bonus of getting my book cover flashed on a Times Square billboard (you can see a picture of this at <http://greenandprofitable.com/contact/media-room/>.)
Care to share some numbers? How many books have you sold to date?
My numbers are low, but that is in part because I see my books as doorways to consulting, copywriting, book shepherding, and speaking opportunities. So I care more about selling to the RIGHT people than I do about how many units I sell.
How was your book initially received? Has it been reviewed? What was your response to the reviews?
The most recent six of my eight books have all been quite favorably reviewed, both by professional reviewers (including one book each in Publishers Weekly (a self-published title) and Library Journal (traditional publisher) and by people posting on my books’ Amazon pages. Five of those, along with my very first book (published back in 1980), have won awards and/or been resold to foreign publishers.
How do you handle negative feedback from critics?
I experience almost none of it. I can remember exactly one negative review out of my eight books, and I did politely respond to the writer in a public post on the review page, pointing out where I felt she missed the mark, and where I did fulfill the promises made on the cover (which she felt I had not done).
Where are some of the places where you sell your book besides through book distributors, your website, book stores etc.
Anywhere I can. Beyond the list I mentioned earlier, I should mention special sales. For Principled Profit, a book I self-published in 2003, I worked out a bulk sale with a major corporation that paid for the entire production run, sold republication rights to publishers in India and Mexico, and then contracted with a domestic publisher to resell the rights and create a revised, updated edition—for which I brought in a celebrity co-author (Jay Levinson) and his celebrity brand (Guerrilla Marketing). And then I had to get rid of the remaining inventory before the new version came out, so I scrounged a deep-discount bulk sale that pretty much covered my printing cost for those units.
Do have any future projects you’d like to tell us about?
My dream for decades has been to be a syndicated columnist. I have now begun self-syndication of a column called Green And Profitable, which is reaching three continents. This year, I hope to substantially grow the number of markets purchasing the column (and perhaps a sister column, Green And Practical). And yes, I fully expect these columns (along with my blog, my speaking, etc.) to generate some sales of my books.
Also, I’ve been revising and updating Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers. I intend to release it as a series of e-books for various formats, including both Kindle and Nook. I haven’t decided if I’ll do paper editions or not.
Thank you for being on Authopublisher, Shel, and I hope to hear from you again!
For more on Shel, see:
http://www.frugalmarketing.com/services.shtml.
https://www.frugalmarketing.com/cart/
Follow me on Twitter.
You gotta hustle if you’re to make your dream happen!
Another great interview! Honestly, I am not fond of reading, but I do read especially if I find the material pretty interesting. Looking forward to read one of his writings.
Beth recently posted..College Grants For Single Parents
Thanks for visiting Beth. And I have to encourage you to read more. It expands your vocabulary, knowledge of the subject you’re reading up on and will broaden your horizon. You don’t have to read books only, you can also read blogs that are on the front end of what they cover.
Ivin Viljoen recently posted..One Door CLOSED: 6 Things You Can Do When You’re Not Allowed To Do What You Love To Do.
Thanks for sharing your interview with Shel. I’ve so much about him and somehow this is my chance to know more, how he started, what encourages him to write and more. Worth my time reading. Thanks!
I’m glad you enjoyed the interview Nickson. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you’ve been somewhat inspired.
Ivin Viljoen recently posted..One Door CLOSED: 6 Things You Can Do When You’re Not Allowed To Do What You Love To Do.
I am happy to have gotten up close and personal with Shel Horowitz, I love his writing process, because according to him he manages it in chunks and this really made me think. Thanks Ivin.
Nicholle Olores recently posted..Timber Doors
Pleasure Nicole. A unique approach to your process of creation is always interesting to hear of.
Ivin Viljoen recently posted..One Door CLOSED: 6 Things You Can Do When You’re Not Allowed To Do What You Love To Do.
This is interesting! You’ve gone a long way. Your a genius Shel! Kudos!
Brenda W. Scott recently posted..Advantages of using a good quality software to unlock iPhone 3G
Thanks for the visit Brenda!
Ivin Viljoen recently posted..One Door CLOSED: 6 Things You Can Do When You’re Not Allowed To Do What You Love To Do.
For me, in order to be up close and personal with Shel Horowitz, all I need is to follow his journey in (self) creating books…
Arline recently posted..Why CD Mastering Works
Indeed! I love these interviews as they provide unique perspectives and different experiences.
Ivin Viljoen recently posted..One Door CLOSED: 6 Things You Can Do When You’re Not Allowed To Do What You Love To Do.
Hi, Theodore, it depends on whether you mean my seventh book, Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers–my book on book marketing, $24.95, http://grassrootsmarketingforauthors.com –or my eighth book, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green, $21.95, http://guerrillamarketinggoesgreen.com . Both come with nice bonuses, incidentally, though for the book marketing book, only on direct orders from me.
Ivin, thanks for a lovely interview.
Pleasure Shel. It was nice to feature you.
Ivin Viljoen recently posted..One Door CLOSED: 6 Things You Can Do When You’re Not Allowed To Do What You Love To Do.
It’s nice to catch Shel Horowitz here up close and personal. How much is his new book? I’ll try to purchase one soon.
-Theodore
Theodore E. recently posted..how to pick up girls
Hey Theo. You can probably find it on Amazon.
Ivin Viljoen recently posted..Up Close And Personal With Renee Gatz.
Great interview, I’ve just checked the blog of him as well, and I have to say that there are some interesting stuffs inside, it is really worth to read. Thanks for the nice interview and presentation4
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You’re welcome Catwoman.I’m glad you enjoy what we have to offer.
Ivin Viljoen recently posted..One Door CLOSED: 6 Things You Can Do When You’re Not Allowed To Do What You Love To Do.
Hello Ivin, great interview. I wish I had more time to read books but honestly I’m so busy marketing I can find time to do anything else. The worst part is I know I can learn from these books especially when the author is clearly so talented and knowledgeable in marketing. Thanks for sharing and I’ll be sure to Tweet this and share it with all my followers.
bbrian017 recently posted..How to improve your search engine rankings
Thanks for the visit Brian. I’m glad you like out interviews. And like you, we here also find time for little else with marketing and developing sites etc.
Ivin Viljoen recently posted..One Door CLOSED: 6 Things You Can Do When You’re Not Allowed To Do What You Love To Do.