Writing a Killer Book and Keeping the Copyright With Eric Delabarre

Mar 7, 2019

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Eric DelaBarre is a director, writer, producer and NY Times Best Selling author. He has worked with iconic movie studios and Dick Wolf on Law & Order. He knows content production from the concept stage to post production. He has extensive experience in book publishing and content creation.

In this episode, Eric shares how he began writing in the movie and television industry. We talk about how he transitioned to writing books, and we talk about the best way to make money writing books. Eric shares marketing tips and the importance of writing a killer book. Along with why you want to own your copyright.

You can find Eric here:

Ask Loral Saltwater Taffy @EricDelaBarre on Twitter Eric DelaBarre on Facebook Eric DelaBarre on Instagram

Show Notes

[01:37] Writing is the execution of a thought and being able to download your thoughts and put them into a sentence structure.
[02:42] Eric became a writer in college. He didn't take his first English class until he was a junior. He left college early to work with Dick Wolf who was one of the greatest television producers and writers of all time.
[02:51] Learning how to write for television and arcs and beats and how to extrapolate a story is very difficult.
[03:36] Writing for television is a great way to have multiple streams of income.
[05:12] Writing a movie script can be very lucrative.
[06:40] People always go to movies even when the economy dips.
[07:33] The best way to make money selling books.
[08:15] The best way to make money in the book business is to write a killer book.
[08:41] Eric wrote a book for kids called Saltwater Taffy.
[09:08] It's also hard to get an agent these days.
[09:26] There has to be an overall narrative to the story of a book even a nonfiction book.
[10:39] Chicken Soup for the Soul was turned down 140 times.
[11:30] Writing is about 10% of the job the other 90% is marketing. You have to have a plan to roll things out.
[13:19] Eric got turned down by every publisher and distributor in town for his book Saltwater Taffy. He sent out a killer package that included a marketing plan and got a call from what is now Ingram Content Group.
[14:02] You need to take a step back and ask what makes your book special.
[15:09] Everybody wants to sell their book to a publisher. Now the channels of distribution are wide open.
[16:03] With a traditional publisher the advance is usually all the money you will ever see.
[16:58] If your book doesn't jump off the shelf, it gets pulled from bookstores.
[17:40] The best way is to own your copyright and your intellectual property. You need to own the title.
[20:26] Celebrities have a lot of books coming out right now. Being famous makes the marketing much easier. They use a cross-marketing strategy.
[24:25] Online marketing ninja tricks. Eric made a bookmark for Saltwater Taffy. He gave these out when he spoke, and he gave them away online.
[26:33] Sell a million books to one company. You have to be smart.

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