Unexpected Opportunities

Over the summer, my plate was filled with client work and other projects. I was maxed out mentally and physically. My rule was, “If you’re not on my schedule, you’re not getting on my schedule.” So, of course, that meant unexpected emails kept hitting my inbox that I had to deal with.
 
One of them was a note from the publisher of my latest book, The Legal Side of Blogging for Lawyers.  They informed me that they weren’t going to carry it in their catalog anymore, and I had a few weeks to decide whether I wanted to purchase any of the remaining 310 copies of my book they had in their warehouse, otherwise they would be scrapped.
 
I was not in a frame of mind to make a major business decision, so I reached out to three friends, all fellow published authors, about what I should do.
Friend #1 said buy them all.
Friend #2 said don’t buy more than 20 copies.
Friend #3 said have a plan for what you’re going to do if you buy any books.
 
Friend #3’s advice was probably the most sage. I negotiated a better price and bought all 310 copies of my book, for several reasons.

1. I like this book. It’s my favorite one that I’ve written to date. Its information is still salient for anyone who is involved in social media or content marketing.
2. I have no plans to write the next book on this topic of at least a year.  Without this book, there would be a void in the marketplace for quality information on internet law.
3. By purchasing these books, I can turn around and make them more accessible to a broader audience. When you work with a publisher, one of the things you don’t control is the price. My publisher’s target audience is lawyers, and they price their books for people who don’t mind paying $80 for a 200-page book. By selling them myself, I can select a price that is more reasonable, and comparable to other books for content marketers. (I’m only charging $17.99 until November 1st.)

The most important lesson I took from this experience is a reminder to ask for help. It will be there if you look for it. Since I’m a fan of paying it forward, please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you.

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

It’s the best holiday of the year! If Rosie was a one-eyed dog when I adopted her, I would have changed her name to “Pirate.” If you want to see how she talks, check out her Instagram today.
 
Rosie became a pirate pup when she lost an eye to glaucoma in 2015. We go to her puppy ophthalmologist periodically to get her eye pressure checked. (Anything above 20 is bad; anything above 40 is painful.) Most glaucoma dogs are blind within a year, so we’ve been lucky. She’s also on 6 drugs to maintain her sight. Her doctor recently increased the dose of 2 of her drugs from twice a day to 3 times a day after her pressure spiked at 38. As a result, I changed my schedule to work a lot more from home when she doesn’t come of the office with me.

Answering Your Burning Questions

I’m glad to see you’re taking advantage of your exclusive access to me by sending me your questions through the survey that’s only available through this newsletter: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6LBLGXF. Everyone’s questions that I got since the last newsletter were answered in the latest batch of Question of the Day videos I recorded for my YouTube channel, and I answered all your questions first.
 
This survey is the place for you to ask any questions or tell me anything you want, and I could be use your submission in an upcoming blog post, question of the day video, or in a future edition of this newsletter. I hope your enjoying this!
 
Onward and upward!
Ruth