Writing at the Red House
“What I Didn’t Know About Book Launching” Communicator Academy Podcast - Diane Dokko Kim----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Diane’s Ministry Timeline1993 - 2003Local church leadership (e.g. KidMin, StuMin, College, FamMin, Worship Arts), deaconess, church plant team, foreign missions.2004Son diagnosed with autism. Wrecked, began journaling.2007Introduced to Kathi. Transformed by “Attitude of Gratitude,” shared AOG with 2 friends for a year.2008Developed 1st Special Needs Ministry (SNM) at Bridgeway Church.Began 11-year mentoring relationship with Joni & Friends Staffer, Debbie Lillo2009Began speaking2010Began leading Special Needs Parents Support Group at ALCF (test audience for journal/book)2011Called to write. Gifted with $2K, purchased self-publishing package.2011Began leading 2nd SNM at ALCF2012Began blogging, social media, and freelance writing (test audience for book)2014Attended 1st writing conference, Redwood Christian Writers ConferenceDeveloped 3rd SNM at NBCC.2015Attended WCCW. Awarded Jon Drury Scholarship to Mount Hermon.2016Attended Mount Hermon. Signed with agent.Stepped down from SNM. 2 weeks later at GLS, Kathi invited me to intern.2017Began Kathi Lipp, LLC internship.Agent pitched proposal, pub board at 5 houses, rejected because niche.Awarded scholarship & attended Leverage AZ. Offer from Worthy Pub.2018Unbroken Faith releases 201912+ Speaking engagements.Joined leadership team/Co-founder: Disability Ministry Conference of N. CA, launching Sept. 28.To Date~ 40 Speaking engagements.~ 40 Media appearances (e.g. podcasts, radio, TV, print/online articles)~ 4K Copies sold.Potential Interview Questions, TopicsQ. What were your biggest surprise(s) about launching a book or becoming an author?It takes a long(er) time to be “ready” to publish.You’re not just releasing a book, but launching a new business/ministry. You’re automatically also a speaker, marketer, and small business owner (entrepreneur). I stressed over writing (birthing) the book, but wasn’t prepared for what else needs to happen before and after. Publishing is a long game, like marriage or parenting. A wedding, birth day or book launch are one-time events. But staying married or raising a book-baby requires significant prep, long-term planning, and sustained effort. Some preparations (pre-publishing), I did well. Many others, I didn’t do enough to position myself better.Q. How were things different from your expectations? What was your first months/year like after launch? Wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming response to the book, or invitations to speak, write, consult, etc. Speaking and media triggered even more. Overwhelmed & drowing bc I had no infrastructure, processes, or team to help manage the influx. Still have hundreds of unanswered emails/messages/Asks.Q. What were you prepared for? What did you get right? IntangiblesSpiritual Formation, Discipleship & Character BuildingWorking on WHO I was in private, before WHAT I did in public. esp. through SN parentingServing, following, and obeying before leading/influencing.Christine Caine, “If the light that is on you is greater than the light that is IN you, that light (on you) will crush you.”Knowing my WHYRick Warren: Greatest source of pain, greatest source of ministryHoly Discontent, Calling, Mission: Specific problem I’m passionate to fix.Knowing my WHOTarget Audience Because of my own pain as a SN parent, I knew I was called to serve that particular people: families and churches struggling with disability. I knew their pain points/felt needs, and lack of resources, so I created whatever they needed. I never planned to be a writer.Seth Godin, “Smallest viable audience.”Secondary Audience(s)Serve them just as well as your primary audience! Examples: Publishing teams, event planners, admin assistants, media/production crew.) Valuable advice from Kathi/CA and Amy Carroll.Key RelationshipsImmediate Circles: Support and buy-in from Family, Church, & Friends who knew me, outside of what I do, and speak truth & accountability.Coaches/Mentors, Sponsors/Patrons & Supporters/Early AdoptersCollaborators, Colleagues, PeersMentees, ApprenticesTangiblesBuilt Platform = Serving AudienceFor ten years, I just did whatever God put in front of me (consulting, writing, speaking, blogging, social media, whatever.) I had no idea where this was going. When I met my agent, I apologized for my small platform (i.e. blog subscribers). She corrected me: I’d been building an audience for 10 years. By then, they knew what to expect from me (brand, voice, unique value-add.) EndorsementsBy the time I published, I’d become a Go To Person for my niche.20+ endorsements in queue bc I’d already been serving for years, for free.Studied The Biz, CraftLearned a TON about writing, publishing, blogging, speaking/presenting, marketing, municator Academy!Rachelle Gardner blog31 Days to getting an agentWriting Conferences: Redwood Christian, WCCW, Mount Hermon, Leverage.Internship: Kathi Lipp, LLCMarketing: I expected to self-pub. Was prepared to do everything myself esp. as first-time author with a niche topic/book.WebsiteHired a professional designer (Angela Bouma) to redo my website a year in advance.Professional website was my saving grace (bookings, inquiries), bc I lacked other assets (e.g. speaker packet, media kit, etc.)Q. What were some of your favorite, most helpful resources?(Detailed in freebie/download, “New Author Recommended Resources”)Q. What weren’t you prepared for? What do you wish you’d done better?SkillsLaunch Teams I wish I’d been part of a few before I leading my own. I had no idea what I was doing bc never had the experience.How to go PROTransitioning from “mug and hug” to paid professional.Pricing myself as a speaker, consultant/coach and freelance writer. I did everything for free or honorarium before. Now people were asking me, ”How much for you to do X for us?” I had no idea how to respond. Standard pricing, packages/tiers, negotiating contracts, pitching/networking new opportunities, etc.“Specialists earn the right to generalize,” and get paid more! (Communicator Academy, Leverage AZ)Doing Media (TV, radio, podcasts) Format, structure and ettiquette/terms/expectations of interviews are different than solo speaking (e.g. my first CFA inteview with Kathi, I prattled on and on!) I learned by trial and error that it’s helpful to ask in advance:How long is the interview? How many questions? Determines how detailed/long to spend on each question.Spec/tech requirements; Is there editing or is this one-take?Who’s the target audience? What are their interests? Tailor your answers/content to serve their needs, not your own.First-round press & early adopters position you for more opportunities... or not :(AssetsEmail ListI’d been speaking for ten years. But never thought to collect emails, until 2 years ago when ramping up to publish. I missed out on capturing 8 years of leads/early adopters.Marketing Assets Speaker packet, one-sheet, Press/Media kit. I didn’t have any of these. I was scrambling when inquiries came. Merch: Mailers, bookmarks, postcards, banners, swag, etc.Editorial CalendarLike freezing meals before the baby comes!I wish I had preloaded and scheduled for at least 1-3 months, post-launch. Blogs, social media strategy/posts, curated content, product promo strategy, etc. Overwhelmed trying to respond to reader responses, inquiries, etc that I totally let my online presence drop off, exactly when I needed it to be most robust and attractive to new audiences. I lost a timely opportunity bc I wasn’t prepared. CRM/Leads ManagementI already had a massive marketing plan bc I already knew the watering holes for my niche. But I was unprepared how to capture & track new leads/asks/inquiries/leads once I got greater exposure & invited to new markets. I wish I had a better tool/system in place, instead of flailing reactively (e.g. discovery calls, proposals, pitches/invitations for speaking, writing, media, consulting, contracts, event preps.)Back-end office systems (finance and administration)Pre-launch, I tracked income, expenses, receipts, etc on Google Docs. My CPA Chris Morris was super relieved. He said most first-time author/speakers files are a mess bc they had no sense of being a small business. I’s a ton of (retro)work and extra expense to get them organized.But I had to transition from amateur to professional = set up a business. Steep learning curve going from a shoebox/Google Docs, to legit accounting software:Business (reseller) license, Tax ID #Track sales tax for product salesProject proposals, invoices, contracts, reimbursements, mileage, write-offs,SOP’s, Processes/Checklists for negotiating bookings, setting up booktable, bulk orders, sales tax, inventory, event planning, etcI still have receipts, cash and checks piled on my desk from 6 months ago, bc I haven’t figured out the software yet!Building a Ministry TeamEveryone said I needed a team to scale. But I had no bandwidth (building the car as I drove it.)Volunteers. I had friends, early adopters & new followers offering to help. But I wasn’t organized w systems/infrastructure to deploy them.I’m working on this piece now, over a year later!Q. What were some of your SOLUTIONS (Tips and Tools)? (Detailed in freebie/download, “New Author Recommended Resources”)Q. What do you regret most? What were some of the costs/consequences of being underprepared?Stress, OverwhelmJuggling personal, professional boundaries, priorities, etc. impacted my health, family, friends, etc. esp. as a mom to SN kids.Missed Opportunities, Diminished impactEarly adopters & launch team: Couldn’t thank/appreciate them to the extent they deserved for helping me.New audiences: I didn’t get to serve the first wave well, because I lacked infrastructre and was flailing (sagging lemon tree pic. I sacrificed my first harvest :(New writers: I couldn’t support/accommodate all the Asks for endorsements, launch team, reviews, etc. And many of them helped launch me!Q. Personal/spiritual lessons gained through first-time publishing?Wrong questions: “Am I good/gifted? Am I good enough?” vs. the Right Questions: “Who do I want to help? What passion or problem do I want to fix? What’s my Holy Discontent? Then, “How do I accomplish that?” falls into place.God ordered my steps without my having to drive/manipulate it. Opportunities for writing, ministry, speaking, consulting, etc. found me. Where all this was going (The Big Picture) didn’t become clear until I connected enough dots over time + obedience = being faithful to whatever He put in front of me. Faithfulness is my job; fruitfulness is His.God doesn’t use me to get books/ministry done. He uses books/ministry to get me done (part of my discipleship & sanctification.)Q. Final takeaways?Take advantage of the obscure season! Use pre-launch obscurity, strategically and purposefully. Even Moses needed 40 years in the desert to work out the kinks = Prep for the big stuff God had in store.Know thySELFWho you are: Testimony, calling, and unique value-add.Know your Why: What problem/holy discontent are you called to fix?Know thy PEOPLETarget audience (niche). Who has God called you to serve?Tribe of mentors, peers/colleagues, and mentees“Platform building”Serving/Building up our readers vs. increasing follower counts, bookings, etc.Slow, grows. It takes longer than you think. No shortcuts (Jenn Buell). Jen Hatmaker “I wrote 9 books nobody ever read…” before she made it big.Know thy STUFFDevelop subject matter expertise (master your niche/topic)Learn the biz, craft (e.g. writing, publishing, speaking, entrepreneurship, etc.)Create your content/core message, make mistakes/test/refine (when stakes are lower), hone skills, develop your voice/style/brand, etc. Set up necessary infrastructure, systems, and processes that can support and enable fruitful ministry. ................
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