Think of Location Location Location, SuperNanny, The Choir, Grow Your Own Drugs, The Apprentice, Grand Designs, How Clean is Your House, You are What You Eat and The House of Tiny Tearaways, to name but a few. They all needed new experts when they were devised – and so will many future shows.

Find the right experts and combine them with a great format and everyone’s a winner: the broadcaster, the viewer and the experts, of course. Because being a TV expert raises your profile, increases your income and gives you the chance to help and/or inspire a huge number of people. But how does the TV industry find new experts? And could you be one?

These are some of the questions that will be answered at the ‘Could you be a TV Expert?’ seminars, the first of which will be on Thursday, 18 March from 5-6pm at the Soho Theatre in Central London (21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE)

The seminars will be hosted by Claire Richmond, series producer of some of TV’s most popular shows – including BBC’s Changing Rooms, Ready Steady Cook & Don’t Get Done Get Dom – and founder of www.findaTVexpert.com, the online database of experts for members of the media on the hunt for new talent.

”Being a TV expert isn’t a privilege that’s bestowed on an elite few,” says Richmond. “It’s an opportunity that’s available to all experts. But a lot of experts don’t realize that their knowledge, their passion or the projects they’re working on could be exactly what the TV industry is looking for. And many don’t know how to approach the TV industry. These seminars will shed valuable light on that,” adds Richmond.

The “Could you be a TV expert?” seminars will give experts an insight into:

- The importance of experts on  TV – and why the industry is always on the hunt for them

- What makes a good TV expert – and could you be one?

- The kind of experts the TV industry is currently looking for

- How the TV industry finds experts / How experts can promote themselves to the TV industry

- The programme making process

”The TV industry finds new experts in many ways,” says Richmond. “If you’re lucky you might be in the right place at the right time – it’s how Jamie Oliver got his break – but the more pro-active you are and the more structured your approach, the better. Joining findaTVexpert is one way of getting on the TV industry’s radar but there are others. And these seminars will help potential new TV experts understand the process.”

Tickets cost £25 and must be purchased in advance. For more information or to book your place, call or email Claire Richmond directly: claire@findatvexpert.com / 020 8742 2541. Experts who can’t make the 18th of March can reserve a place now for Wednesday, 28th April or Thursday, 3 June 2010.

A passionate advocate of constant learning and personal reinvention, Barbara, was keen to talk to Debbie Jenkins about what’s involved in becoming a successful author.

As Barbara’s main focus is on helping people get their dreams back and gaining the courage to make them come true, Debbie shares tips to help all those people who feel they “have a book in them” to write, get published and enjoy commercial success as an author.

Tune In & Catch Up Here…

Larry Winget Interview: Part 1

Larry Winget Interview: Part 2

Jeremy Holland is an American expat from Los Angeles living in Barcelona. Arriving in 2002 with a blanket, a laptop and just enough Spanish to order a beer, he set out to make a new life in his adoptive home where he continues to live and speak the language more or less – the city and its people inspiring a collection of short stories From Barcelona Vol. 1. He is also a regular contributor to the leading online expatriate news paper Expatica.com and a short story of his can be found in the inaugural edition of Barcelona INK.

Tell us about your book?

From Barcelona is a collection of ten short stories inspired by the jewel of the Mediterranean and the capital of Catalunya – Barcelona.

In a bit more detail, it’s a contemporary collection of short stories inspired by Barcelona, its history, its legends and its people including: First Impressions: Exploring the metro, Las Ramblas and the labyrinthine alleys of the Barrio Gotico you go in search of an elusive Spanish beauty in a white dress and meet a gruff book seller who introduces you to the legend behind the city. Senyor Jordi i el Drac: In this quirky retelling of the classic story of Saint George, an old knight and his squire battle a bat-winged beast, saving a village and a princess, on their way from to the kingdom of Barcelona where their friend, Don Quixote, awaits. A Book for A Rose: Meet Johnny – a long term American expat who wonders if it will be the first Sant Jordi the sun doesn’t shine – and Elena – the Spanish beauty who breaks his heart, giving him something more valuable than romance in the process. CSI Barcelona: The death of an English man has Dr. Josep Caldet searching for the killer. His investigation uncovers a hidden underworld that lurks beneath the beautiful city as he discovers the price some are willing to pay to live in Barcelona. Running the Gauntlet: A motley crew of locals and expats decide to take back Barcelona’s streets from the pickpockets and thieves. They grab a drink or two along the way, in some of the city’s most famous bars, before the night ends with a bang. The Crypt of Colonia Güell: Barcelona’s most famous architect, Antoni Gaudí, is being crushed by his designs for La Sagrada Familia until his benefactor, Eusebio Güell, offers him a commission that challenges their friendship. Barcelona Gothic: Based on true events, Urquinaona 4 is a mysterious building located in the famed L’Eixample district of the city where its newest tenant, Alex, soon discovers that the cheap rent and great room comes at a terrifying price.

…From Barcelona offers a fresh and unique literary perspective on this popular Catalan city, while fulfilling the interested visitor’s desire for information about places to go and things to see.

You invented a new genre – City Lit – tell us what that means?

City-lit makes the city the focal point of the book by using fiction to describe the place, people and life. It’s been done before but usually in novel form. However, I thought using the short story format offered the reader a more varied and interesting perspective while requiring less commitment. The goal of this book is to entertain, inform and inspire you to live and breathe your own Barcelona adventure.

Who should read your book?

Obviously anyone interested in Barcelona, whether you’re planning to visit or have been here before or are contemplating living here.  And, I hope for anyone who enjoys entertaining fiction.

Why did you write your book?

To be published. An editor mentioned once that after an author’s name, the second most important aspect of a book for the reader is location. And I thought, no one knows me but I live in Barcelona and millions come here every year.  I also figured if the book is successful enough, it could provide a template for aspiring writers in other locations.

With hindsight, what one thing do you wish you knew when you started out writing your book?

I don’ really do hindsight, which isn’t to say lessons weren’t learned. They mostly had to do with the writing process, settling on a grammar / punctuation standard, different literary techniques etc.

What was the most challenging part in going from book idea to getting published?

As a first time author, the submission process is really key.  I recommend after your fifth draft investing money in your book by contacting an editor on Linked-In or another website to critique it. Then be creative in who you send it to. Location and city-lit is an example. Try to avoid the whole agent – major publisher paradigm.

What’s next for you? Other books?

Right now, the marketing of “From Barcelona” is my main focus. The articles in the publishing academy and the ebooks provide a great template for making a name for the book and yourself in the process, even for fiction writers.  But I also enjoy writing and have a few ideas. Maybe a short story collection called “Booze.”

Is there anything else you want to tell people?

Persistence is important but so is knowing when to let go. If your first idea isn’t successful, don’t keep at it – think of another one.

Contact Details & A Special Offer

You can contact Jeremy at www.frombarcelona.com where you can read more at his blog.

He is also offering a free PDF  of his book for anyone interested in providing a review and then a free signed hard copy for those who actually post a review on Amazon or one of the sites.

Buy Jeremy’s Book

• Buy the print book (UK)
• Buy the print book (International)

An epiphany, a cakewalk, your ebook strategy and why you should use a compass. Peter Bowerman from the Wellfed Writer and the Wellfed Self-Publisher shares his method of self-publishing and becoming a well-fed writer with AuthorShock’s Debbie Jenkins.

Listen to the audio with visuals here…

In 1993, after a 15-year career in sales and marketing, Bowerman turned his sights to freelance commercial writing. With no industry experience, no previous paid writing experience and no writing background, he built a commercial freelancing business in Atlanta, Georgia from fantasy to full-time in less than four months.

His corporate client list has included The Coca-Cola Company, MCI, BellSouth, IBM, UPS, Holiday Inn, Cingular Wireless, DuPont, American Express, Mercedes-Benz, The Discovery Channel, Junior Achievement, Georgia-Pacific, The Cartoon Network, the CDC, The American Heart Association and many others.

He has published over 250 articles and editorials, leads seminars on writing and is a professional coach on both commercial freelancing business start-up and self-publishing.

Transcript from audio interview between Peter Bowerman and Debbie Jenkins of AuthorShock.com

Your books are brilliant, down to earth, sensible and funny. Do you think it’s important to “be yourself” when you write? Why?

If you’re boring and dull then being yourself isn’t beneficial. If you have a fun personality make sure it comes out. As a result of injecting personality the readability of my books is a strong suit. Lots of readers have mentioned it over the years – they say my books are good and memorable. Be engaging, have fun and let it come out in your writing. There’s a tendency for people to write in a stilted or wooden way. People say they feel like they’re sitting across from me having a coffee with when they read my books, they feel connected. People have called me up over the years with questions, they say they feel like they know me because of the books. If you’re not able to inject a personality then you should find a ghost writer to help you with your tone. Writing with personality makes the process more fun. Helps you connect with your readership – be quirky, fun, interesting! When people read my books they get an insight into my personality and beliefs – a broader perspective.

Your books focus on helping people become professional freelance writers and self-publishers. What do you think is the biggest stumbling block on the way to becoming a professional?

It took me just 4.5 months to get established as a writer. And this is for someone who started out with no writing background, training nor experience. Writing was paying all my bills in less than 4 months

1. Must realise, this isn’t a cakewalk, it’s hard work. It’s a little difficult and people need to understand that any business that can make you upto $250 dollars an hour isn’t gonna be easy. If it were everyone would be doing it! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The arena of freelance commercial (companies who pay you to write for them) writing is one of the most accessible and lucrative arenas. There’s more money from companies than from publications like magazines.
2. People sometimes get intimidated by the big name companies. Don’t put them on a pedestal, respect them,but don’t be afraid. If you’re smart and can think strategically it’s not hard to write and make a difference for big companies.
3. Don’t think you don’t have the personality for this business. If you’re a creative person you may think you need to be all salesy. And there is an adjustment needed, but it’s not that difficult. Commercial freelancing or self-publishing successfully it’s far more about a process than an aptitude or a personality. It’s about the things you have to do, not have to be.

What are the 3 most important things a professional writer needs to understand about the business?

• Understand the vastness of the field. Writing for businesses has 3 arenas:

1. B2C – what we see, adverts, brochures etc
2. B2B – huge arena, getting a message out to customers, marketing materials
3. Internal – communication with employees – newsletters, training material, reports etc…

• Understand WHY companies hire freelancers. For example: hiring companies don’t have to pay salary and benefits, they buy the skills they need when they need them, they get a fresh outside perspective without assumptions, and access to a wide range of talent.

• Budding commercial freelancers need to understand the mindset of the person hiring them – they are probably overworked, overextended, they don’t want to spend time looking for a writer. Fortune favours those who get themselves out there. Make sure you leverage past experience – even if you don’t have a wide writing experience, you may know the industry, the vernacular etc.

You offer additional ebooks when people buy your books from your website. Why?

Ebook strategy, in particular for Peter’s Self-Publishing books:

1. I incentivise people with a free ebook from my website so they buy from my site instead of other sources (makes me a higher margin)
2. I created companion ebooks that go along with the hardcopy – the print book is $20, a toolbook is $20 if they buy with the book or $30 if they buy separately, also there’s a timeline tool $8 if they buy with the book or $15 separately. Also I offer the ebook version of the main book. 2/3 of people will buy one/more or all of the ebooks. This ups the profit margin by about 20-25%.
3. If you are considering writing a How To book what can you add that people will be prepared to pay more for?
4. For the print book 5000 units cost $12000-$13000, I broke even after 45 days of releasing the book due to the e-book strategy.

What one thing do you wish you knew when you started out in publishing?

Self-publishing is a lot of work, I have been told my The Well Fed Self Publisher http://www.wellfedsp.com book is a great game plan to follow. Go step by step and build the book, go through the processes. It takes time and money, if you have no money then doing self-publishing the way I describe isn’t for you.

I had an epiphany recently and wrote an article – contact me for it if you want to read more, it’s called: The Number 1 Book Marketing Strategy Of All Is… TO WRITE A REALLY GOOD BOOK!

If you write a really good book (topical, relevant, detailed, real world, information, spells things out, fun and lighthearted to make it easily and enjoyable, that’s packaged well) – you will recruit an army of unofficial sales people who will be singing your praises. Your goal is to make your book better than it has to be to make your marketing so much easier. Lots of people write books that just aren’t that good. They struggle to pump up the promotion. A book that just isn’t that good won’t get word of mouth. Do everything in your power to write a good book – you have 100% control over that outcome.

What’s next for you?

I never plan things out nor set goals.

I recommend a book called: Goal Free Living – this is how I live my life. A chapter called “Use a compass not a map” sums it up – know the general direction, but not the exact route. Using a compass you look up – using a map you look down and miss things along the way. Everything unfolds organically, at the right time for me.

I’m also doing more teleseminars and group coaching. I revamped my website http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ have a look at the cartoon.

I discovered something cool – commercial writing/self-publishing – it gives me the lifestyle I desire. I wrote the books because I thinks other people would love this lifestyle too. Take a first step and see where it leads.

Contact & Free Downloads

• The Well Fed Self Publisher by Peter Bowerman: http://www.wellfedsp.com
• The Well Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman: http://www.wellfedwriter.com

Peter has generously offered 2 ebooks, which you can claim for free here.

• The Big Banquet – Loads of excellent articles from The Well Fed Epublisher – 169 page download
• SelfPublishing TimeLine – Checklist that Peter uses for his publishing method

Our plan is to help 200 people become wealthy authors in the early part of 2010 and so with that in mind – numbers on the launch are extremely limited.

We’ve also got our faculty and friends to provide exclusive launch bonuses making the gift pool for this launch really special and valuable to authors at all stages on their writing and publishing journey.

I won’t bother you by repeating all the details in this post though because you can find out more (until Friday 18th) here… www.publishingacademy.com/launch

Rintu Basu is the author of The Persuasion Skills Black Book, the owner of The NLP Company and one of our very valued faculty members over at the PublishingAcademy.com

The NLP Company was founded in 2006 by Rintu( who is a leading authority on NLP and Hypnosis) to deliver results focused, pragmatic, training and coaching solutions. Having been studying Accelerated Learning, Hypnosis and NLP from the age of sixteen Rintu has applied these tools to his own professional development. Rintu has been successfully delivering high quality training and coaching business solutions since 1996 before choosing to specialise in NLP and Hypnosis in 1999.

Tell us about your book – what makes your book different from other books in the same genre?

There are a lot of NLP and Persuasion and Hypnotic language books out there. The book I’ve written is very practical, applications based and instead of giving you the whole range of language patterns, I start with simple ideas and build upon them.  I came away from my NLP practitioner course with loads of good ideas and huge amounts of language patterns, and rapidly realised I didn’t know how to actually use them. It took me lots of trial and effort, experimentation and playing, to work out how to put these sequences together in a meaningful way. To make it sound normal and also to make me more persuasive – ie putting it together in a way that created results.

What I wanted when I created this book was to take you through the process step by step – taking core ideas and building from them into very powerful and persuasive stuff – in small, short steps.

Who should read your book?

I wrote the Persuasion Skills Blackbook for several people. For those people who didn’t want to go through the whole rigmarole of going on an NLP practitioner course, or hypnosis course and then working out how to apply the skills – so it’s for those people who wanted to learn some persuasion skills and put them into practice. Other people who should read the book are those who have done their NLP Prac and Master Prac courses and now have all of these language patterns etc, so I wanted to write them a book that started with small basic styrucrtire and then build in complexity so they can use these patterns in normal every day situations.

Why did you write your book?

I didn’t realise I was writing a book at the start. The original concept was to write 10 lessons to give away on my website, so people would subscribe to them and I could market to them – I wanted opt-in subscribers. At the end of writing them I realised I had written a whole book.

What are the 3 key messages your book helps people understand?

If there were just 2-3 things I would like people to get from my book then it’s that persuasive language patterns are very straightforward, but you do need to take a few minutes every single day to practice. And more importantly, practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect! You can get so much more just by spending 10 minutes a day concentrating on really good practice. In summary:

1. It’s easy and fun.
2. You need to practice for a few minutes every day.
3. You need to do the right kind of practice – fun, enjoyable and you’re building the foundations.

With hindsight, what one thing do you wish you knew when you started out writing your book?

I think one thing that would have been worth knowing when I started was to actually know I was writing a book!

No, I’ll change that – if I’d known I was writing a book I would have been probably too scared to write the book. If you are scared have a look at publishingacademy.com

If I had known I was writing a book I would probably have done things a bit differently, probably being more effective in how I put the whole thing together in terms of looking at the pace and speed, and maybe written for a more defined target market.

If I had know I was writing a book I would have been scared and wouldn’t have realised how easily you can write a book. Now that I’ve done it the once I’m planning for several more books because it’s easy for you to see just how easy it is to  write a book once you’ve done it.

What was the most challenging part in going from book idea to getting published?

Before I’d written a book I would have said the most challenging part was the actual writing of it. Now that I’ve written a book I’ve realised that the writing is actually really easy. I think that if you know your subject and the subject of your book, writing a very comprehensive book should take about a fortnight, less than 14 days. I’ve proven that already, because I’ve written a product for the PublishingAcademy.com (that’s the size of a book) in a weekend. I’m planning to write 2 more books this year and I expect to have the whole manuscripts written within a week. The content isn’t an issue. Before I started writing I worried about running out of ideas and was challenged by that. So, the reality now is that the difficult part of writing the book is about defining the market beforehand and doing all the marketing activity that keeps a book selling.

What’s the most effective method you’ve found for promoting your book?

I use a whole lot of channels – one that’s effective for me is writing articles and writing for my blog. I write a lot, consistently and regularly. I have a new article on my blog at least once per week. It’s a great way to keep in touch with people who have read your book.  When you get to looking at the PublishingAcademy and the Wealthy Author you’ll recognise is that writing and publishing the book is only the first step and that you need to develop back-end products that you can sell people who love your material. My blog is a great way to keep in contact with customers and people who’ve read the book and to entice them to buy more expensive products off the back-end.

It’s also a great way of hooking in new customers – I write articles for a number of different levels – for people who have already read the book and want new material, for enticing new customers. I also write for guest blogs and article submission sites (they provide backlinks to my website and drive traffic).

I write articles because it’s effective and because I really enjoy doing it.

How do you use social media in your marketing of your book and your NLP practice?

I’ve been playing with social media for the last 6 months. The 3 key ones are:

1. Facebook – where I have a fanpage
2. Twitter
3. Linkedin – much more of a business focus

You can find me at all of these – it’s challenging to keep adding content to all 3 – but there’s technology to update them all. For example, my blog appears on all of these sites and on amazon. And also BusinessBalls.

Now, what I realised is that the audience on each of these sites is different. It means that fundamentally you need to send different messages at different frequencies to all of these sites. I’m playing with all sorts of interesting ways of providing the right content to each site – it’s actually quite fun.

What’s the best thing about being a published author?

I suppose the best thing about being a published authors is the amount of doors that are being opened. I’m being contacted from people all over the wolrd due to the fact they’ve picked up my book and read it. The big thing for me is it’s about the money – I can spend the entire day lying in bed watching telly or reading books and knowing there’s a product out there making me money whilst I’m watching Dr Who! That’s terrific, and I want more of that so I’m gonna write more books.

What’s next for you? Other books?

I’ve got several more books – using persuasion skills in interview situations, another for sales, marketing, management, leadership. I want to write all of those, so for the next year for me it’s selling and marketing these books in the Blackbooks range. I’ve also got ideas for some bigger products, that are all about video and audio material, I’m collecting the video content by running seminars. All coming back to my first love of face to face training – so even though I like lying in bed, next year is going to be really busy for me!

Is there anything else you want to tell people?

I want to leave you with 2 things:

1. First is about writing a book. Go and investigate the possibility at the Wealthy Author or PublishingAcademy. In 6 months you can go from idea to book, then you’ll have a residual source of income, it’ll open doors for you and increase your street cred.
2. Go and learn some NLP and hypnotic persuasion skills – you’ll get far better results than not knowing them – and they’re really easy to learn. So go ahead and have fun.

Contact Rintu

You can find out more about Rintu, follow him and learn from him at the following places:

• The NLP Company
• Facebook
• The Publishing Academy

Buy Rintu’s Book

After a successful career in the motor industry, Scott set up his own company and decided to fulfill his lifelong ambition to write a book. Using his knowledge and experience of the motor trade, he wrote “All Buyers Are Liars: Exposing The Closely Guarded Secrets of Elite Car Sales Professionals” to demonstrate the sales process used within the motor trade and advise other sales people and car buyers of a very successful sales structure.

Tell us about your book – what makes your book different from other books in the same genre?

My book, All Buyers Are Liars: Exposing The Closely Guarded Secrets of Elite Car Sales Professionals, is predominantly about the car sales industry in the UK, starting from as soon as the customer walks through the door to the completion of the sale. It digs into the internal politics of a franchise dealership. The lies that are given and taken from salespeople and customers. A general buyers guide! And of course hints and tips all through the book.

Who should read your book?

Anyone in the car business will benefit from reading the book, from learning about buying signals, customer behaviour, etc. Customers will also benefit by having the information they need to get the best deal.

Why did you write your book?

I wrote the book because after 10 years in the trade my frustration was that the customers didn’t understand the process they were being led through. The majority of people don’t realise that when they walk through the door there are certain steps the salespeople take to get them to buy a car. the customer has their own agenda. The customer doesn’t understand why the salespeople won’t do what they want. This is where confusion occurs. The salespeople get frustrated if they can’t go through the sales process.

What are the 3 key messages your book helps people understand?

1. Buyers can understand the sales process that’s used in the motor industry
2. Establish the lies between the customer and buyer!
3. A behind the scenes outlook on a franchise dealer. Reading the book will show you how dealership life is spent.

With hindsight, what one thing do you wish you knew when you started out writing your book?

I wish I’d been more disciplined in writing the book. It took me 5.5 months to write the book (40,000 words). I didn’t have a set amount of words per day. In the future I would be more disciplined and write a set figure per week to try and speed things up.

What was the most challenging part in going from book idea to getting published?

The most challenging part is the minefield as regards to publishers – after some initial research I found 3 main publishing models:

1. Self-publishing – downside – there’s a cost and there’s no judgement. I wanted to get it published on the basis that someone with experience would read my synopsis and agree it’s a good idea and acknowledge it was good enough to publish.
2. Co-publishing – where you get 5000 printed off and you share the cost of that print – damage limitation to the publishers.
3. Mainstream publishing – where they pay for the books, do the design, design a cover, do the editing and everything else. For them to judge it and agree it was good enough.

I decided to go for a mainstream publisher and chose Lean Marketing Press – they were quick to respond to all my concerns, their royalty scheme is fantastic. Now the book is out it’s proved right. More than happy!

What’s the best thing about being a published author?

The best thing is creating a work deemed to be of a certain standard and now it’s published I can leave that as a legacy. I’m extremely proud of that!

What’s next for you? Other books?

I’d like to write 1 book per year – I think that’s easily achievable.

Is there anything else you want to tell people?

I’ve also started a company called So Presentable – we’re a sales consultancy. We’ll gain and retain customers for our clients. From prospecting their existing database, creating a blog, sorting out email addresses, making the company more visual, improving their systems,doing presentations on powerpoint – if you need more get in touch at SoPresentable.co.uk.

Contact Scott

• http://allbuyersareliars.co.uk
• http://sopresentable.co.uk/

Buy Scott’s Book

• Buy the print book (UK)
• Buy the print book (International)

Tom is an author and poet who mentors other authors how to unleash their books inside. His 30 year career in the broadcasting and Internet industries has given him considerable commercial acumen as well as a deep appreciation and understanding of advanced technologies.  He has a knack for making these both simple to understand and empowering for others.

He has now redirected his business skills to deliver both innovation and inspiration for budding and established authors. Via a set of simple, elegant and thought provoking techniques, Tom can transform your world view forever and help unleash the creativity inside you.

Briefly tell us about all your books.

100 Years of Ermintrude is a trilogy of poetic, intertwining life stories, each written in 33 stanzas. It is available in print and is just about to be delivered as an iPhone app.

Blocks tackles the root cause of writer’s blocks, that they are life blocks.

What makes your book, Blocks, different from other books in the same genre?

Other books on writer’s block give loads of useful tips but don’t address the root cause. What happens when people start to write and get stuck is that life simply gets in the way. Old buried fears of failure and ridicule or even fear of success surface along with doubts about your talent and originality plague you and procrastination and time management issues set in.

Blocks is packed with useful techniques to help you blast through these issues and transform the way you think and operate. At the end, you will learn to love your blocks for the challenge and learnings they bring.

Who should read your book?

Writers, poets, musicians, bloggers, artists and anyone who wants to tap into unlimited inspiration and creativity.

Why did you write your book?

I wanted to show the link between writer’s block and life blocks and how our thought processes can either limit us or inspire us. There is a fine line between both states.

What are the 3 key messages your book helps people understand?

1. Learn to love your blocks
2. Most thoughts aren’t your own
3. Our minds extend far outside our brains

Why did you decide to find a publisher for your current book, Blocks, instead of self-publishing?

Although I have all the technical and commercial skills to self-publish, I want to focus on my own writings and those of my clients. Leaving the production side to someone else is a much better use of my time and talents.

What’s the most effective method you’ve found for promoting your books?

Blogging in and around the subject, getting out as a speaker at networking events and running workshops.

What’s the best thing about being a published author?

The doors it opens for you and the unexpected connections and serendipities it brings are amazing and always surprise me.

What’s next for you? Other books?

I am working on a sequel to Blocks. Once you are unblocked, there is a whole new world of opportunities you can tap into. My next book is a guide on how to evolve to a new phase of consciousness.

Is there anything else you want to tell people?

Writing a non-fiction book will give you the best business card you will ever have and change your world forever. For fiction writers, the writing process can be incredibly cathartic and inspiring. I encourage everyone who has a book trapped inside them to get out there, write a book and change your life forever – and those of your readers.

Contact Details

You can find Tom at:

• www.thebookwright.com
• www.facebook.com/thebookwright
• www.twitter.com/thebookwright
• http://uk.linkedin.com/in/thebookwright
• http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=20422

Buy his books:

• 100 Years of Ermintrude
• Blocks and get 30 days free access to The PublishingAcademy.com plus Blocks currently comes free with 6 guided MP3 visualisations
• Co-author of BusinessWise
• Editor/ghost writer for books such as Bangers and Mash, Appreciating Angels, Herstoria, Exhibit

Claire is a TV producer with 15 years of experience developing and producing terrestrial, digital and cable TV programmes. She got her big break on The Big Breakfast in 1993 and went on to series produce Changing Rooms, Ready Steady Cook and Don’t Get Done Get Dom for BBC1.  She also developed, launched & headed up digital and mobile TV channels (London TV for Visit London and Today on 3 Live for 3 mobile) and produced all number of shows for L!VETV. Finding experts and new talent was always part of her job – and the inspiration for her business: www.findatvexpert.com.

You set up findatveexpert.com in January 2008 – how’s it going so far?

I went ‘live’ on the 28^th of April 2008 so it’s been just over a year and a half now – and so far, so good. FindaTVexpert is doing exactly what it set out to do, which was to bridge the gap between the professionals and the programme makers and help ignite the creative process. More members of the media are registering to search the site every day and experts are being found and booked for interviews, screentests, series and other media opportunities. From classical, medical & witchcraft historians to psychologists, business gurus and vocal coaches – and many more.  For recent success stories, have a browse through the findaTVexpert blog: http://findaTVexpert.blogspot.com.

Your site focuses on helping media experts meet up with media opportunities. It sounds like a great idea, how important is it for an author to be considered a media expert?

What I know is this: non-fiction authors are clearly experts on their subject matter. They’re passionate about it. They’ve done the research and they’ve written the book.  And the TV industry needs inspiration, which experts often provide.  Think about it. Food, property & parenting shows; science, art & history shows; business & finance shows; health, fitness & education shows; animal, wildlife & natural history shows; news & breakfast TV shows; and even programmes on how to clean your house and tame teenage mums all have once thing in common: experts.  Find the right one and combine it with a great format and you’ve got a TV hit on your hands. So if you’re an expert you should flaunt your expertise to industry because you never know what’s going to catch the eye of a producer and set the creative wheels in motion.

How did you get over the initial chicken and egg syndrome, needing experts and media companies to join you, in order to get the business going?

As anyone who has set up an online business will know, there’s a lot of ‘testing’ that needs to be done before a site goes live as different computers, browsers, servers, firewalls, etc react differently. By February 2008 we were ready to start testing so I contacted some experts I knew or had worked with and offered them a year’s free membership in exchange for their help & feedback. And I also contacted colleagues within the industry and asked them to register as members of the media to test out that side of things. And I’m glad I did because there were quite a few gremlins we needed to track down!  But we got there in the end and went live two months later with experts and members of the media on board.

What are the 3 most important things a potential media expert needs to understand about the business in order to make them of interest to the media?

1. A TV Commissioner is like a publisher: they want a hit; a successful show. They get pitched hundreds of programme ideas by numerous production companies every week and need to make sure the one they commission is going to deliver.  And this takes time. So patience is a virtue.
2. Production companies are always on the lookout for a formattable, recommissionable series – ie 10 Years Younger, How to Look Good Naked, Property Ladder, Ready Steady Cook, etc.  These are the shows where everyone wins: viewers keep tuning in which is good news for the broadcaster and the series keeps getting recommissioned which is good news for the production company and the experts. So if you have an expertise, think about how it could be formatted into a series – ie 6 x 30 minutes shows with a beginning, middle and end.  Or 6 x 30 minute shows that follow a journey that has a beginning, middle and end. Like The Choir and The Apprentice, for example.
3. Keep it simple and think in pictures.  If you have a TV idea, you have to be able to describe it in a paragraph and create a picture in the producer or commissioner’s mind. They need to ‘see’ what it would look like on TV.  And remember that the aim of TV is to entertain, inspire and inform. That’s why makeover shows, raw human emotion & drama, fish-out-of water situations, transformations, etc work so well on TV.

You produced the show “Topless Darts” – was that men or women darts players?

The dart players were all women but to help ‘address the balance’ I also pitched and produced Handy Hunks: handsome, topless men doing DIY jobs around the house. All very gratuitous and sexy.

What one thing do you wish you knew when you started out in business?

I know this is going to sound strange, but very little has come as a surprise to me. I think it’s because I wrote a very comprehensive Business Plan before I started, so I knew exactly what to expect.  I knew things would take time – and that I’d hate the admin/accounts side of things – and I knew that I’d have to ask people for advice & suggestions along the way because I wouldn’t have the answers to everything. And that’s what I’m doing. In a way it’s like producing a TV show.  You’ve got to be extremely organised – yet flexible – and able to juggle a hundred things at the same time. You’ve got to be positive and motivated – even when things aren’t going as planned – and you’ve got to believe in what you’re doing and be passionate about it. Because that’s what keeps you going and makes it all worthwhile.

I suppose the one thing that has taken me by surprise is how much writing is involved to keep findaTVexpert in people’s mind, in the press and moving up the search engines – ie weekly updates to the industry, monthly updates to the experts, PR/Mktg on twitter, regular updates on the findaTVexpert blog, press releases, responding to PR opportunities like this one, responding to journalist requests, nominating the company for start up awards and submitting all the information, etc, etc, etc!

What’s next for you?

The plan for this year was to set up partnerships with companies that offer bespoke media training (ie workshops designed to prepare experts for TV&Radio interviews and help them develop their X-Pert Factor) and short, succinct and affordable showreels. So in the words of Gordon Ramsay: “media training and showreels – DONE!”  Next year the plan is to organise monthly seminars which give experts the chance to meet members of the industry and network. And long term I want to launch the service in the US, Canada, Australian and New Zealand.

Is there anything else you want to tell people?

The X-Factor is for singers, Britain’s Got Talent is for dancers and findaTVexpert is for experts who want to showcase their passion, skills and knowledge to the TV industry. So if you’ve got it, flaunt it!

Contact Details For Claire Richmond of Findatvexpert.com

• Claire’s Profile: http://www.findatvexpert.com/profile/Expert-8690.htm
• Claire’s CV: http://www.findatvexpert.com/CV/CV-8690.htm)
• Join up as an Expert and get the benefit of Claire’s expertise.