Episode 264: Debra Eckerling – Navigating the Path from Idea to Publication: Insights on Writing, Publishing, and Achieving Book Goals

Debra Eckerling  00:00

You build this business, you know things. It’s just a matter of getting focused and getting the ideas out of your head in a way that makes sense. 

Intro  00:09

Welcome to the Making Sales Social Podcast featuring the Top Voices in Sales, Marketing, and Business. Join Brynne Tillman and me, Bob Woods, as we each bring you the best tips and strategies our guests are teaching their clients so you can leverage them for your own virtual and social selling. Enjoy the show! 

Brynne Tillman  00:34

Hello and welcome back to making sales social. I am so excited today I have a new friend that I should have been friends with for a very, very long time. But it took Viveka von Rosen to introduce us to finally become friends. Her name is Debra Eckerling. I adore her. She is the Author of “Your Goal Guide” And creator of “The DEB Methods” System of goal setting simplified. 

She’s a consultant, and she’s a workshop leader. DEB offers personal and professional planning, content development event strategy and team building for executives, entrepreneurs, consultants, teams, and I’m sure anyone that wants anything, Deb can do it. She’s also the host of the gold chat live, AKA the DEB show. And the taste buds with Deb podcast. Oh my gosh, Welcome, Deb. I’m so happy you’re here.

 Debra Eckerling  01:32

I’m so happy I am here and again, a shout out. And thanks to them for me as well. Because you know, some people, you’re just destined to me, it just takes a little bit longer.

Brynne Tillman  01:39

Yeah, at first, I was like, “Why did it take so long.” And I thought you know what it took so long for us to be here now. And it’s fine. It’s the way it’s supposed to be. And it’s just the beginning. And I’m excited in the beginning, I get to introduce you to the making sales, social podcast, listener community. So we’re really, really excited to be here. I’m going to jump into all kinds of questions. But before I do, we ask everyone one question at the top of the show. What does making sales social mean to you? 

Debra Eckerling  02:13

Uh, this, you know, it’s all about the relationships. Somebody asked me, well, people ask me all the time what my favorite form of networking is, and I just say it’s my show. So for Gold Hat Live, every Monday, I bring in three guests, and we dive into the topic of the week, and unless it’s on purpose, they don’t know each other. So it’s a way to introduce them to each other in every way to their communities. It’s a great way to stay in touch. And you never know what will come out of that conversation.

Brynne Tillman  02:40

Yeah, I love that. And it’s so much fun when you’ve got different voices on a topic, and it’s such a great way to bond on a topic. And what ends up happening in your show, I think, is not only do your listeners learn more, but your panelists learn more too.

Debra Eckerling  02:58

Exactly. And I have had occasion to have three people who do the exact same thing. But they’re completely different personalities. And someone who’s a client for one is not going to be a client for the other two. So it’s just a good way to bring people together. And one of one of my joys is if I see one of them interview another one of them on their show, you know, I see them collaborate beyond meeting on my show. He brings me joy.

Brynne Tillman  03:26

Yeah, that’s the ultimate networker that makes you the ultimate connector. And I love that. Well, one of the things that you do is you really help people launch their book, right, from idea to publication. And so I think that this is huge. And there are so many speakers out there, trainers out there, thought leaders out there, CEOs that have done great things, entrepreneurs that have incredible ideas, yet, they just don’t know how to get started. Why? 

Debra Eckerling  03:59

Exactly what you just said, I mean, their brains are going a mile a minute, they know all these things. And it takes time and energy and focus to write a book, but what people don’t realize is, it can actually be easy, oh, I’m probably gonna get pushed back for that one. You, you build this business, you know, things. 

It’s just a matter of getting focused and getting the ideas out of your head in a way that makes sense. And that starts with the book proposal. I am like this huge fan, whether you’re going to publish independently and going the traditional route, you need to have a book proposal because that is what’s going to give you focus, and it’s going to help you get that book out of your head and onto the page. 

Brynne Tillman  04:43

Interesting. So I would not think and this is what I’m learning too. I would think that the proposal would come after the books written not prior, but you’re saying the proposal is like the first step.

Debra Eckerling  04:57

Yes, it is it No, the first step is to read We focus on your mission. So you mentioned before, I created the debt method system of goal setting simplified. And depth stands for determine your mission. Explore your options, readings from your path. And in the wide world of goals. Yes, you need to use that system. It works for it. I can layer it on anything. But you also need to layer it on books. 

What is your mission for the book? What do you hope to accomplish? What makes you unique? What do you need to get out in the world? So that’s where we start. And you get your ideas out there in out there, not even on the page yet, but really do some date some knee time. Okay, I have all this information, what am I going to focus on? What is my first book because there’s always, if you’ve got one book idea, you’ve got a tonne of book ideas, and especially if you’re looking to publish traditionally, you want. 

Okay, this is the first book in the series. But I also have these ideas that I’m going a little too in the weeds. So let me reel myself back in. Once you’ve got that idea, you do the proposal, because any nonfiction book is sold by book proposal, you will write a sample chapter. But it starts with what is the overview? Who are you? What is your marketing plan? What are your comps? What is in the book? And sample chapters? 

I mean, there’s more to it. But that’s like the basics, that’s the guts to go into it. What is this idea you have? Why are you the person to bring it out in the world? And what is your plan to market it once you get out there, whether you want a traditional publisher self publish, you need that information anyway to write your book. So why not have it in a format that’s going to be your guide your roadmap to getting bogged down?

Brynne Tillman  06:53

So I love it. And, you know, most folks don’t understand the difference between self-publishing and traditional publishing and the pros and cons. Can you give us a quick overview?

Debra Eckerling  07:05

I will try. Let me start with what is the same for both, okay, the same for both is you need something unique that speaks to you that’s in your voice. That is it, that you radiate? When you talk about it, I mean, asked me about goals, and I’m gonna, you know, smile amount wide. Because I’ve been working on it so long. And I know all these things that are going to help others reach their goals, and I have this information to share. 

So it starts with that see that inspiration that love, because when you love what you do, it shows, when you don’t love what you do, it really shows. So it starts with that, that bright spot, that thing that you are overjoyed to share. The other thing that’s the same is marketing, even though you traditionally publish, you will have to do a lot of the marketing on your book. So that is true, whether you’re self published, or published traditionally, because you want to get your words out there. 

And unless you’re a big fancy name, with a big publishing company, odds are or you want to hire a publicist, you can do that as well. But you’re going to have to get in the weeds as well, which isn’t a bad thing. You know it especially well in this industry. And if you’re a lover of LinkedIn, you know the power of LinkedIn, you want to promote your book, it’s not it’s not it’s not a problem. It’s something that you want to do. 

But even if you’re published, traditionally, you still need a marketing plan that you’re going to do. And that’s part of what’s going to sell the book is saying, you know, “I will do these activities in concert with whatever is played by the publisher.” So those are the big similarities. differences, you sell publish on your own. You’re doing everything. So it is the tax, the idea. The drafts, the development, the distribution, and there are hacks around all of it. My first two books, purple pencil adventures, and write on blogging. 

They’re doing tips to create, write and promote your blog. My first two I purposely self published as ebooks only. The first one was, I was coaching people to write books. Someone say, “Hey, I’ve been trying for years to get my book done. Can you help me?” We got it done in three months. So as I was getting more book clients, I needed to write a book, I felt it was important for me. And at one point, I was coaching someone’s daughter in writing because she wasn’t getting enough creativity at school. 

Imagine that. And I’m like, you know, I’m doing this that you know, I do what we all do. I might as well start a blog. So I started a writing prompt blog. And that made sense for me to haul everything together to do my first book. The second one, right on blogging, I was on this, I did a presentation on blogging, I’m like, “I want you to write this as a book.” And I did it within a crowd source and I use lots of examples. And it only made sense to do it as an ebook. 

And to write any book, I’m gonna say it, it’s simpler, then dealing with distribution, because you could just, you know, upload it to Kindle. And wherever else you want to, and you’re good to go. So the other thing with self publishing is, because you’re doing everything yourself, you need to not do everything yourself. 

So you need to hire to have professional cover artist in someone to do unless you want to go through the weeds and do the formatting yourself. Editor, development editor, which is mostly what I do regular editor, copy editor, whatever it is, to make the book look as professional as possible. Because it’s going to show, you know, in we’re we’re judgy, you know, well, you know.

Brynne Tillman  11:21

Yeah, I have to tell you, I got a book off of Amazon that looks, I did not look to see what self published or traditional published, it was hardcover. So for whatever reason, I expected it to have been traditional published, because usually, with self publishing, it’s a softcover book, like, rarely do I see that. So I expected I started reading this, and it’s by a pretty prominent person. 

And there were so many grammatical errors and typos and things that I realized there is no that and I went back and it was self published. Now, I’m not judging, I’m just saying there is a difference. And had he hired an editor or hired, you know, me, maybe he did or not, I don’t know. But I wouldn’t hire that Editor again, if he did. You know, it was obvious. So I think part of going through traditional process is you get a lot of eyes on the book. 

Debra Eckerling  12:23

You have a lot of eyes on the book, but you still have your eyes on the book, you know, when your goal guide came out, and it went through their editorial process, I still want the weekend, before the edits were due on the final galley, my mom and I were going through it with a fine tooth comb. And you still even when something has been added in, you’re still going to find banks. 

But I also tell people, you know, if you find errors after it’s out, you know, tell me later, don’t tell me. Because it’s inevitable. We are human. That’s true. So yes, there are way more eyeballs on it. So if you want to self publish, it’s 20 years ago, when vanity press because that’s what we call that Ben was starting out, people were publishing anything and everything under the sun because they could, and it was too horrible because people were not taking the time. 

Now, there’s so many resources out there. There’s no excuse to not have, let’s see how many negatives I can put in a sentence. There’s no excuse not to have a professional product. If you’re presenting to a company, you want it to spell check to hypo tech reviewed five different times. It’s the same thing with your book. Now the step in between traditional and itself and traditional I was going backwards is a hybrid. 

And these are companies some if you’re going to go that route, I highly advise you to do your research, get testimonials, see, get references for it, but then you will. Some of them require a submission process. And then they will invite you to hybrid with them. Others will take your money and publish those are the ones that you need to be a little bit more careful about in the thing with those it’s paid to play. So you were paying them but then you don’t have to deal with all of the nuts and bolts of distribution. 

They usually have a marketing person you can bet most hybrid publishers and I have nothing against them if that’s your solution. They will have editors for hire marketing upsells everything, you know, audiobooks, even in some cases, and if you are in a rush and want to get your book out, bring one exactly. And then traditional publishing. That’s the one that’s the biggest differences time but also their resources, their energy. 

And that process is you write the book proposal and you if you’re lucky enough, you have an agent, and then your agent, so you’re submitting to agents, you get an agent, your agent is submitting to publishers. And it’s time, everything takes time. And so every publisher works a little bit differently. Some do advance of some don’t might, with my book, it was I met my agent spring of 2018, he sent out two batches. And at the end of that year, there was interest from my publisher. And we went back and forth in, I believe, March or April, it was official, and then I wrote my book in three months. So big. 

And so we went back and forth with a book proposal, tweaking it. First thing we changed was the title and my agent weren’t he’s like it was called the Dead method, because it does that method. Exactly. And the first question my publisher asked was, Are you open to changing my title? And I said, Not only am I open to it, I knew that was going to be your first question. So that’s the other reason why, especially for nonfiction, the book proposal is so important, because it’s that flexibility, you are putting your idea out there in a way that is like a presentation style. 

And then you do a couple sample chapters. So they get an idea of how you write. So it’s Apple house marketing, plus placed in the marketplace, last writing. And then maybe it’s a fit, maybe it isn’t, I will tell you, between the first time and the second time my agent sent out my book, I changed one line, and the line that was added, whereas most goal setting experts tell you how to achieve your goals. Only the dead method shows you how to create that foundation for your goals that will set you up for success. So that one line saying what was different about my book, I believe, maybe different and that’s what was so eye-catching. 

Brynne Tillman  17:09

That’s huge. And that’s a big difference and doing it on your own or having a professional work with you on that. So I love that. I have two last questions for you. 

Debra Eckerling  17:19

Yeah, I did. Um, I kind of touched on it but. 

Brynne Tillman  17:24

No, no, you’re right. I mean, this is I can do all day. But we’ve got to kind of bring it in for a landing as I you know, not not that I’d love to be here all day doing this. But I’m going to first ask how people can set and achieve book writing goals?

Debra Eckerling  17:40

Okay, the first thing you need to do is go in your calendar and set a weekly appointment with yourself, or it can be twice a week, but basically, look at your life and say, What can I do, that’s not going to put the rest of my life in turmoil. And for most people, that is like an hour, once a week. But for some people, it’s 15 minutes, four times a week. And during that time, the best way to start is just start emptying out your brain, you know, start a Google document or whatever you use for writing things, and put all of your ideas for the book in one place. 

And do this over the course of a couple of weeks. Couple months. You know, I’ve met people, literally years later, they’re like, “Deb, I’m ready to write my book. Can I work with you?” which is fine, because sometimes it takes that long, sometimes it’s a night yet. But if you start today, this week, gathering loose ideas when you’re ready, when it’s time, or maybe someone’s going to approach you and say, “Where’s your book, I’ve got the right publisher for you.” Right? 

Then you take a half an hour, an hour a day, not a half an hour, a couple hours, a half a day a day, you put everything together. And you’ve got a document that you can have a conversation with someone about, I have this happen actually, I have a client who’s a food blogger, and a cookbook company approached her. And she wanted to go into she didn’t want to go in scattered. So we worked for a couple hours, we developed some ideas and she ended up one of those ideas in the book that they published.

Brynne Tillman  19:30

That’s awesome. I love that. And I’m going to just quickly say one of the things that we’ve done is we will go, we will write the chapters of the book, and then we’ll jump into zoom on our own and just talk about the topic and then you’ve got the transcript to get started then you gonna edit out the transcript. So for a non writer, that’s been pretty successful.

Debra Eckerling  19:53

Oh, yeah. Anyway, that’s going to work. Yeah, it’s going to work. My only thing which I need to underline an exclamation point is keep all of your notes in one place. Because the last thing you want to do when you’re ready, or you have a book requested of you, is look for all those little pieces of paper that we all have them. Even I have them.

Brynne Tillman  20:19

I don’t write anything down. Everything is in Google folders.  

Debra Eckerling  20:23

Everything starts here. And then it goes into a Google Doc or folder. But I love to do my first draft notes on paper. But it only works well, if you remember to type it into the documents. So everything’s in one place.

Brynne Tillman  20:38

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I love that. That’s great. So we have learned a whole lot. My last question is, if people want to get a hold of you, How would they go about doing?

Debra Eckerling  20:50

The best way to connect with me is go on LinkedIn and send a message that this is where we met. And we can go from there. You can also learn more about me at thedebmethod.com or email Deb at the debmethod.com and or you can always if you want to focus on any and all of your goals, you can grab a copy of your goal guide at your favorite place to buy books.

Brynne Tillman  21:17

I love that. Thank you so much. This has been so much fun. And I you know, I’m really excited because I know so many of our listeners would love to write a book and now they know how to get started. So thanks for being our guest. And for all of our listeners when you are out and about. Don’t forget to make your sales social.

Outro  21:40

Thanks for watching and join us again for more special guest instructors bringing you marketing sales, training and social selling strategy that will set you apart. Hit the subscribe button below to get the latest episodes from the making sales social podcast. Give this video a thumbs up and comment down below on what you want to hear from us next. You can also listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Google Play. Visit our website socialsaleslink.com For more information.