For most of our 23 years in business, our advice to aspiring authors has pretty much been the same:
Write a great manuscript, research publishers, assemble a submissions package, send it off….and wait.
If you're one of the lucky ones, your wait will end with a contract offer. If you're like most writers, the cycle will be completed by another rejection letter. Not the most fulfilling process, but it was the only process that worked.
Until now.
We have entered a new era of publishing. And, we believe, it's nothing short of a new golden age.
Writers, the power is now in your hands. It's not about waiting anymore – it's about doing!
All the tools to write, publish and promote the children's book you've always dreamed of writing are now firmly within your grasp. Everything you need to build a successful career with book after book reaching enthusiastic young readers is available to you, without spending a fortune and without years of fruitless struggle.
This is the best time in history to be a writer — and the CBI 1-2-3 System will allow you to take complete advantage of the exciting opportunities that are out there.
WHAT IS CBI 1-2-3?
We've stripped away all the confusion, all the misconceptions and all the hype of the current publishing environment and boiled it down to the three basic things any writer must do to succeed right now. They are:
Craft a Bulletproof Manuscript
More now than ever, craft reigns supreme. The days when a publisher could turn a subpar work into a hit by sheer force of marketing dollars is over. Today's big sellers are the result of one thing: word of mouth. Parents talking to other parents. Kids talking to other kids. Bloggers championing their favorite authors and titles. The impact of this is simple to see: Bad books don't get recommended by word of mouth. Good books do.
The new model for a hit book is a slow build, a rising tide of organic buzz about a great read. It's all about the quality of the writing and the story. And that's exactly the way it should be, don't you think?
Choose Your Path to Publication
Choice = power. And you now have choices. You can still go the traditional route, submitting your manuscripts to publishers. It's as valid a way of reaching the market as it ever was. But now you can choose to opt out of that model. Self-publish, create eBooks for the Nook and Kindle, build an App for the iPhone or Android.
It's all possible, it's all eminently doable and it's all now a completely legitimate means of publishing your work and reaching millions.
No more waiting around for someone else's arbitrary decision. You have control.
Get Out There!
Whether you self-publish or get a contract from a big publisher, the reality is the same: you must learn how to market and promote yourself and your work. With the barriers to publication gone, you'll have lots of competition for the attention and dollars of your audience. That's the bad news.
The good news? Almost no one really understands how to effectively promote their books. Once you learn a few key concepts, you'll have a huge edge.
We know what you're thinking: "Arrggghhh! I'm a writer, not a salesman! I don't want to spend my time promoting myself!"
So listen up:
Marketing is just a fancy name for communication. And, as a writer, communicating is your strong suit!
We aren't talking about going door-to-door to hawk your wares. Promoting in the modern media environment is actually a whole lot of fun. Imagine blogging in the guise of one of your characters (perhaps your antagonist stops in from time to time to torment the hero in the comments section!), creating a story to send out on Twitter — 140 characters at a time, creating a fun online game for your Facebook page, visiting with a classroom full of giggling young fans….. Meeting your readers, connecting with parents, sharing yourself with the world: these aren't acts of drudgery. They're endless opportunities for joy and fulfillment!
Not a Fightin' Bookworm Yet?…..
HERE'S HOW THE CBI 1-2-3 SYSTEM WORKS
- We've organized everything into a simple, step-by-step format that makes finding exactly what you need easy and fun. You choose your path. Want to write a middle grade eBook and then create a blog to promote it? No problem, just follow the path. Crafting a chapter book that you'd like to submit to traditional publishers and then promote with school visits? Easy as 1-2-3!
- Start by visiting the home pages for each step: Crafting a Bulletproof Manuscript, Choosing Your Path to Publication and Promoting Yourself and Your Work. Then, visit the specific sections most relevant to you. Enjoy the regularly updated content, connect with your Expert Guide, hang out in the forum and you'll be well on your way to success!
- We've enlisted an All-Star cast of Expert Guides to assist you at every step along the way! Bestselling authors, publishing mavens, legendary marketers, all here to provide advice and inspiration specific to their fields of expertise.
The result? You'll have access to world-class training in the exact area you need at the exact time you need it. And you'll be in the hands of the most trusted name in children's writing — Children's Book Insider — and an amazing panel of Expert Guides.
And more is coming soon — online private critique groups, "done for you" shortcuts to make your journey easy and fast, special members-only webinars and courses, advanced levels…. and much more!
So, right now, forget what all the naysayers have told you. Stop worrying that you don't know everything you need to know about ebooks, or blogs, or apps, or social media, or what to write about. Stop believing that a successful children's writing career is beyond your reach. Because, from here on out, we've got you covered.
Welcome to CBI 1-2-3.
- PS: Oh yeah – almost forgot…..All of this is in addition to downloading a fresh copy of Children's Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children's Writers every month! The CBI 1-2-3 System is our gift to our loyal readers, and it will complement the incredible information you'll get in every new issue of CBI.(Not a CBI Subscriber? Ready to access CBI 1-2-3 and get the legendary Children's Book Insider newsletter? Click here and find out how you can do it all for about the price of a sandwich!)