Do you think the only way to become  a celebrity is to be a rock star, TV personality or have a Hollywood mega box-office hit? Think again!

Over the last decade, a new kind of celebrity has emerged—the expert celebrity. These are people who are absolutely at the top of their professions, and they find a way to use the media to offer their expertise to their audiences.

Join us when VIP Author Talks hosts guest Marsha Friedman, owner of EMSI, a public relations firm, and author of Celebritize Yourself. Marsha will reveal how authors can follow in the footsteps of celebrity experts such as Martha Stewart, Bob Vila, Suze Orman and Rachel Ray.

During this teleclass, you will learn:

• Why becoming an expert celebrity is an effective strategy for authors
• The qualifications or background necessary to become an expert celebrity
• The first step to gaining expert celebrity
• The 5 questions you must ask yourself before putting pen to paper

Have a question on a topic not listed? Write it down now for the live Q&A at the end of the call.

Mark your calendar right now to join us for this informative teleclass!

Topic: Celebritize Yourself!

When: Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Time: 8:00pm Eastern Time (7pm Central, 6pm Mountain, 5pm Pacific).

How to Register:

VIP Authors Inner Circle Members: You are already registered. Log on to the Members-Only page for call-in details. The audio recording of the class will be posted to the members page within 24 hours after the event.

Non-Members: Not a member yet, but want to hear the class? The monthly VIP Author Talks teleclass is free to members, but you can pay for the class only and sample the membership benefits before joining.

Tuition for non-members: $14.95 (includes mp3 recording download). Call-in details for the class will be sent after purchase is made. You will also receive the mp3 audio recording after the class, in case you miss the call or want to review the material again. Click Pay Now button below and receive your call-in details for the class by email:

Speaker Bio:

Marsha Friedman doesn’t like sitting still. As a prominent business woman, she has run her pay for performance public relations firm successfully through prosperity and adversity, ironically having one of her best revenue years in the midst of the 2009 recession. As a publicity expert, she recently debuted her new book, Celebritize Yourself, and began a national media tour.

VIP Author Talks with Shelley Lieber

Your mother may have told that “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” but people do it all the time. And, you don’t have to be an publishing industry expert to spot a poorly done, unprofessional cover that screams “self-published.” Most people can tell immediately if the book looks like it is worth picking up in a bookstore, or clicking the “Buy” button on a web page.

Join Shelley Lieber as she shares the experts’ secrets and tips about how to:

• Get endorsements for your front and back cover
• Write copy that will invite interest and sell the book
• Decide whether to use a graphic, illustration or photo on your front cover
• Hire the professionals you need to get the job done right
• Combine all the elements (design, copy, graphics) for a winning look

Have a question on a topic not listed? Write it down now for the live Q&A at the end of the call.

Mark your calendar right now to join us for this informative teleclass!

Topic: How Many Experts Does It Take to Create a Winning Book Cover?

When: Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Time: 8:00pm Eastern Time (7pm Central, 6pm Mountain, 5pm Pacific).

How to Register:

VIP Authors Inner Circle Members: You are already registered. Log on to the Members-Only page for call-in details. The audio recording of the class will be posted to the members page within 24 hours after the event.

Non-Members: Not a member yet, but want to hear the class? The monthly VIP Author Talks teleclass is free to members, but you can pay for the class only and sample the membership benefits before joining.

Tuition for non-members: $14.99 (includes mp3 recording download). Call-in details for the class will be sent after purchase is made. You will also receive the mp3 audio recording after the class, in case you miss the call or want to review the material again. Click Pay Now button below and receive your call-in details for the class by email:

VIP Authors who want to write a book in 2010 will be off to a great start after our first VIP Author Talks of the year! Our guest is Stephanie Gunning, a publishing strategist and former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell. She’s mastered the art of transforming powerful ideas into marketable books and her Get a Book Deal™ program is designed to help writers get started on the road to success in as little as 60 to 90 days.

During this class, you will learn:

• How to set a powerful intention for your book
• The stages to get from idea to bookstore shelf
• Why you absolutely must draft a book proposal
• Tools from brain science to support your creativity
• Spiritual techniques to support your creativity
• Where & how coaching can be an assistance

Have a question on a topic not listed? Write it down now for the live Q&A at the end of the call.

Mark your calendar right now to join us for the VIP Author Talks with Stephanie Gunning. Here are the details:

Class*: VIP Author Talks with Stephanie Gunning

Topic: How to Get a Book Deal

When: Wednesday, January 27 at 8:00pm Eastern Time (7pm Central, 6pm Mountain, 5pm Pacific).

Registration for this event is closed. The audio recording of the teleclass is available for download on the VIP Authors Members-Only page. To review all member benefits or join now, click here>>>

*The presentation is free to attend, but long distance charges may apply. Please note that anyone may call in and listen, but the audio recording will only be available to VIP Author Inner Circle members. If you are not yet a member and would like a recording of this call, find out more about all the benefits of VIP Author Inner Circle membership here>>

Speaker Bio:

Stephanie Gunning is one of the most sought-after nonfiction writers in the publishing industry and a well-regarded book proposal coach. She is the coauthor or ghostwriter of (at last count) 22 published books. Her essays have been featured in well-known anthologies compiled by Arielle Ford and Doreen Virtue.

She has worked with numerous bestselling authors, including Hale Dwoskin, Gregg Braden, Ruby Payne, Thomas Moore, Stephen Mitchell, Marlo Morgan, and Ruth Montgomery, to name a few.

“Build your platform” was the advice most often given to writers by agents, editors and publishers in the past 10 years. The idea was to establish a waiting market for your work  by connecting to your audience via email, newsletters, speaking engagements, media appearances and so on.

Today the platform concept has been extended to incorporate a more personal connection between you and your audience, and the more appropriate description is to “build community.” The word community implies “interaction” and “communication” with others who have common interests or goals. Social media such as blogs, podcasts, videos and social networking sites can bring you in direct contact with your readers and enable two-way conversations.

Nancy Mills may have started the trend several years ago when she created The Spirited Woman, a woman’s empowerment community on the Internet, long before the term “build your community” was ever uttered. The Spirited Woman community that Nancy began with only a newsletter to a small list of women today includes a website, newsletter, blog, mastermind groups, events plus much more and serves thousands of women globally.

Don’t miss VIP Author Talks with guest Nancy Mills on Wednesday, October 28, when Nancy will share how she grew her list (& business) and reveal the strategies authors can use right now to build their own communities of loyal readers.

On this call you will learn:

• The tools Nancy Mills used to build The Spirited Woman
• Why authors must build communities and lead their “tribes”
• The best resources authors can use to build their communities
• Whether to go it alone or use a team to build your community
• What else authors must do to effectively communicate with their audiences
• What strategies authors can employ to stand out in a crowded genre or marketplace

Have a question on a topic not listed? Write it down now for the live Q&A at the end of the call.

Mark your calendar right now to join us for the VIP Author Member Event on Wednesday, October 28 at 8:00pm Eastern Time.

How To Register for This Event:

If you are not an VIP Authors Inner Circle member yet, find out more about  Membership Benefits here>>

If you are already a member, you can find the call-in number on your Members-Only  page. If you no longer have this information, please e-mail us at support@vipauthors.com.

Speaker Bio:
Nancy Mills is the founder of The Spirited Woman, a leading women’s empowerment community, the publisher of the international Spirited Woman Blogger Team. She is known for being a creative out-of-the-box marketing expert. She also mentors women in her “Nancy’s Inner Circle” program. On a more personal note, through her Tales of Downtown blog, she loves to write about her adventures living in a loft in downtown Los Angeles. That blog is gaining quite a local following.

Myths & Reality: Where’s the Money?

Every writer wants to know how to get paid for his or her work. If anyone knows where writers can find markets (and money) for their writing, it’s C. Hope Clark, founder and editor of FundsForWriters.com.

During this class, Hope will reveal how you can earn income from these “funding streams”:

• Grants: Arts commissions, Foundations/Nonprofits, Conferences
  Retreats, Fellowships
• Contests: Scams, Entry fees, Boosts to publication
• Freelance Markets: Queries and pitches, finding paying markets, what to avoid
• Jobs: Freelance, Fulltime, government positions, be a reporter
• Plus, tips on being a writer: pride and promotion!

Have a question on a topic not listed? Write it down now for the live Q&A at the end of the call.

Mark your calendar right now to join us for the VIP Author Member Event on Wednesday, September 23 at 8:00pm Eastern Time.

How To Register for This Event:

If you are not an VIP Authors Inner Circle member yet, find out more about  Membership Benefits here>>

If you are already a member, you can find the call-in number on your Members-Only  page. If you no longer have this information, please e-mail us at support@vipauthors.com.

Speaker Bio:

C. Hope Clark is founder of FundsforWriters.com, an online resource for writers seeking grants, contests, markets or jobs. The nine-year-old site has almost a million hits per month and has received the Writer’s Digest 101 Best Web Sites for Writers designation for each of its nine years of existence. Hope’s newsletters reach over 26,000 readers. She’s published nonfiction in commercial magazines and websites. She also writes mystery fiction, and her Carolina Slade series is in the hands of an agent, making the rounds of New York publishers. The highlight of her career will be publishing that series and proving how diligence and practice can pay for writers.

Ebooks are hot, hot, hot! It’s the biggest buzz in publishing today because digital books represent the fastest (and perhaps only) growing segment of the industry. Publishers and authors aren’t asking if they should publish an ebook anymore; they’re asking when they should publish the ebook–with the print editiion, before or after?

Are you still sitting on the sidelines, wondering how to get on top of this burgeoning publishing trend, which is quickly becoming the standard? Well, now’s your chance to ask the expert.

On Wednesday, August 5, at 2:00pm ET, The Wordy Woman will interview guest Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, during an all-new teleclass “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Publishing Digital Books.” Mark is a popular speaker on the topic, serving on panels and making presentations at industry events all over the country.

During this teleclass you will learn:

* What an ebook is, what it’s not and why it’s hot
* If ebooks will lead to the death–or rebirth–of print books
* What DRM is and if it’s necessary
* What you need to know about formatting an ebook
* How to get your book on Kindle, iPhone and other ereaders
* How to price your ebook
* Plus, whatever else you want to ask!

Don’t miss this exclusive opportunity to learn from Mark during a free class and ask your questions! Recently,  120 participants at Mark’s teleclass at IBPA University paid $49 - $69 to attend. This really is a one-time chance to learn from a digital publisher and ask questions live at no cost to you.*

Class: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Publishing Digital Books

Date: Wednesday, August 5

Time: 2:00 pm to 3:30pm Eastern (1pm Central, 12pm Mountain, 11am Pacific)

Sign up below to receive the teleclass call-in information:

*The presentation is free to attend, but long distance charges may apply. Please note that anyone may call in and listen, but the audio recording will only be available to VIP Author Inner Circle members. If you are not yet a member and would like a recording of this call, find out more about all the benefits of VIP Author Inner Circle membership here>>

Web 2.0 has transformed the internet and there are so many tools and strategies authors can use now to turbo-charge their writing, online sales and build their author platform.

Joanna Penn launched the free Author 2.0 Blueprint as a no-cost resource to help authors understand how the Internet has changed publishing, and how authors must change too if they are to be successful. You can download it here prior to the call.

If you are ready for a comprehensive plan to help you write, publish and sell your books online, don’t miss this VIP Author Talks with guest Joanna Penn!

During this teleclass, you will learn:

• How publishing is changing and why it is a great time to be an author
• What freemium is and how authors have the advantage over others on the Internet
• How the Author 2.0 model works to bring people to your site
• How to build your online platform
• How your online brand is important for creating raving fans for your work
• What specific tools and websites you can use right now so you can get started immediately

This class will give you tons of information that you can use right now to build your online platform!

Register now for:

Free Class*: “How to Use Web 2.0 to Write, Publish, Sell & Promote Your Book”

Date: Wednesday, August 26

Time: 8pm to 9m Eastern (7pm Central, 6pm Mountain, 5pm Pacific)

Download: Get your free Author 2.0 Blueprint before the call here>>

*The presentation will last one hour and is free to attend, but long distance charges may apply. Please note that anyone may call in and listen, but the audio recording will only be available to VIP Author Inner Circle members. If you are not yet a member and would like a recording of this call, find out more about all the benefits of VIP Author Inner Circle membership here>>>

There’s no doubt that social media is changing the way authors publish and sell their work. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, GoodReads, Red Room and many more are probably some of the Internet sites you’ve heard about or may even be using. However, there is an art to social networking, and learning the strategies of leveraging these powerful tools can mean the difference between money in your bank account and wasting hours of time on useless online chatter.

Whether you’re just a beginner or an avid user, you’ll want to listen in on the next VIP Author Talks with our guest, Warren Whitlock, co-author of “The Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online.”

Some of the topics we’ll cover on the call include:

• What is Twitter and what make it so powerful for your business?
• How to create and setup an effective Twitter profile
• Tips on how to build a following on Twitter
• The art of tweeting and starting a real conversation

Class*: How Social Media is Changing the Way Authors Publish & Sell their Work

Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Time: 8:00pm to 9:00pm Eastern (7pm Central, 6pm, Mountain, 5pm Pacific)

Have a question on a topic not listed here? There will be an open Q&A at the end of the call. You really don’t want to miss this event, so register right now, because “seating” is limited to 99 for this class.

*The presentation will last one hour and is free to attend, but long distance charges may apply. Please note that anyone may call in and listen, but the audio recording will only be available to VIP Author Inner Circle members. If you are not yet a member and would like a recording of this call, find out more about all the benefits of VIP Author Inner Circle membership here>>>

Amid the (seemingly) endless talk of declining book sales, book store closings and industry layoffs lies a glimmer of good news. The digital segment of the industry is experiencing growth–the fastest growth (percentage-wise) within the industry.

So what is a digital book? How do you create one? Can you take your print book and turn it into an ebook? Do you need a specially prepared file? Where do you sell ebooks? How can you get your book on Kindle, iPhone and Sony eReader?

If you’re thinking about turning your manuscript or book into digital form (and you should be), don’t miss the next VIP Author Talks with guest Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords.com, a site for creating and selling digital books.

Topic: How to Publish Digital Books

Date: Wednesday, June 24

Time: 8pm - 9pm Eastern ( 7pm Central, 6pm Mountain, 5pm Pacific)

During this tele-class you will learn:

• What an ebook is and what it is not
• Why ebooks are cool
• How ebooks “fit” into the publishing landscape
• Why you should care
• Why multi-formats are best for ebook delivery
• And much more

Have a question on a topic not listed here? There will be an open Q&A at the end of the call. You really don’t want to miss this event, so register right now, because “seating” is limited to 99 for this class.

*The presentation will last one hour and is free to attend, but long distance charges may apply. Please note that anyone may call in and listen, but the audio recording will only be available to VIP Author Inner Circle members. If you are not yet a member and would like a recording of this call, find out more about all the benefits of VIP Author Inner Circle membership here>>>

What’s in a name? “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” wrote the bard William Shakespeare. However, when applied to the name of your book–your book title–suddenly a name becomes very important. The title you select for your book, website and blog, back-end materials such as seminars, workshops, and headlines for press releases and other marketing material can be a make-or-break success factor

No matter what stage of the writing process you are in, you don’t want to miss the next VIP Author Talks when guest Roger C. Parker presents, “Choosing the Right Title: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Committing to a Book Title.”

Roger is the “32 Million Dollar Author” whose 38 books have sold 1.6 million copies around the world. His books include the original “Microsoft Office for Window for Dummies” and “Looking Good in Print: A Guide to Basic Design for Desktop Publishing,” praised by the New York Times as, “The one book to buy when you’re buying only one.”

In this presentation, you will learn:

• Why titles are so important
• 10 essentials of a successful title
• Why titles alone are not enough to ensure success
• Tips for researching the competition online
• 10 questions to ask yourself when reviewing your final title choices
• How to find help at the last minute
• How to adapt your title into a winning URL if your first choice is taken
• How the title resonates through marketing and back-end products

PLUS: Roger will also share:

• How he got his first book contract
• What he learned from his first big success
• What’s changed and what hasn’t

This is a don’t-miss event for anyone writing anything! Mark your calendar now for this free event*. Here’s how to get on the call:

What: VIP Author Talks with Guest Roger C Parker

Topic: Choosing the Right Title: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Committing to a Book Title

When: Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 8:00pm to 9:00pm Eastern (7:00pm Central, 6:00pm Mountain, 5:00pm Pacific)

Call-In Details: To get on the call, please dial 1 (218) 339-4600, and enter Access Code 992777# when prompted.

*The presentation will last one hour and is free to attend, but long distance charges may apply. Please note that anyone may call in and listen, but the audio recording will only be available to VIP Author Inner Circle members. If you are not yet a member and would like a recording of this call, find out more about all the benefits of VIP Author Inner Circle membership here>>>