For all your health e-solutions
- Do you want to harness the commercial power of online?
- Do you need help pulling all your ideas into a coherent vision?
- Do you want to create exciting, interactive digital content?
With over 10 years experience publishing groundbreaking titles and an eye for the next big thing I can help you maximise your opportunities.
Boost your bottom line and turn your great ideas into reality!
Author websites
Your website provides a fantastic calling card and opportunity to boost your profile, increase book sales and make money. But just like a book jacket you will only have a few seconds to convince people to stay and explore. I work with excellent web designers but also know your market inside out and we can make sure your promises stand out.
We can give your website a commercial makeover or start from scratch. I have been closely following the online self-help world for a number of years and so I know what works. But in addition to a great structure I bring my editorial experience to your content. Just like the best books, the most successful websites connect with visitors as individuals. There are masses of faceless information sites ‘out there’. The time is now perfect to provide fantastic content with personality and high editorial quality.
Drop me a line if you need a new website or a web makeover. Prices for new websites start at £750 and include all the features you need to get started online, are created with room for future development in mind and you can update the site yourself to keep the content timely and relevant.
Examples of excellent author websites
David Co is the website for David Allen, author of Getting Things Done. It’s a perfect example of the ‘funnel’ concept:
- Free articles, podcast and newsletter. Crucially you have to sign up and opt in to access even the free stuff... so that David can gently market to you!
- Books, audio and organisational stationary, the inexpensive option
- GTD system for $79, the medium option
- Interactive online course, slightly more expensive
- Seminars and corporate training, the expensive option where you get direct access to David
- One-to-one, uber expensive
Simply Recipes shows how a non celebrity chef can make it big online. Elise Bauer started a blog of her family’s and friends’ recipes. She then learnt how to take gorgeous photographs of those recipes and her site is gaining real momentum. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Simply Recipes book in the US charts in the not-too-distant future.
Real Age is the website for the You: An Owner’s Manual doctors. It’s free to sign up because they are now such a big brand that the site drives continued book sales and the extremely high profile of the authors. What I really like is that all the books are supported by the interactive site in clever ways. The brand is very cohesive and strong as a result.
Seth Godin's website is simple but perfectly formed because it has all the information it needs, it's ultra easy to sign up to Seth's brilliant blog and it always flags his latest book on the homepage.
There is an exciting opportunity for self help to lead the way in interactive publishing. I always had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind while a book publisher and member of the low attention generation… once you’ve read the book, what next? What’s going to keep you on track and not just put the book back on the shelf to collect dust?
Paul McKenna was very clever and just a tiny bit lucky when he put audio CDs in his books, lucky because his form of self help, NLP, is perfect for audio, but clever because he gave the reader an extra tool where all they had to do was sit back and listen!
The digital publisher Waterfront did something rather amazing for health books, and in particular diet books, a few years back. They took the massive bestseller The South Beach Diet and turned it into an online plan, offering masses of extra content for a monthly subscription. If you have a book or course or expert knowledge that could turn into a ‘how to’ programme online then let's explore this opportunity. I'm even creating my own online health club and will be launching Spring 2010 to show you that if I can do it then anything is possible!
Digital publishing is also a very good home for niche content. It’s getting increasingly difficult to break new authors and make the financial numbers work. But people go online for answers to every conceivable question and if you are or know the answer then your content has potential.
Here are a few more ideas to show what’s possible.
- A trusted expert or brand creates a fresh approach to a website for parents – an ultra simple question and answer set up that takes seconds to navigate
- A premium priced e-book version for a guide to presentation skills that includes a video seminar and individual videos for the practical exercises
- Sleep easy iphone app
- An e-book on getting organised that is delivered in daily or weekly chapters to keep the reader on track
- A backlist health bible is edited into a number of smaller e-books
Examples
Rouxbe an online cookery school
Precision Nutrition a niche but very successful nutrition programme
Taste Book pick your favourite recipes for your personal cookbook
Bridal Boot Camp get in shape for the big day!
It’s difficult to focus on digital publishing projects when you have your own book to write or a list of new books to publish each year. If you’d love to explore a particular project or brainstorm your list then do get in touch. I’m interested both in partnering with individuals or publishers but I’m also happy to work in a freelance capacity as your project manager working with your digital team. Happily, I bridge editorial and digital, so that digital content has a strong editorial purpose while also working within the technology and being delivered in the right way for the online market.
Brands
- Books add value to the right brands
- Online branded content drives traffic
- Think of the PR
"Kate is great. Telling our story was a tricky thing to get right, but she understood us and our brand so well that we were able to focus on making our book as good as possible. She gave us great advice and clear direction – we'll always be grateful."
Dan Germain, Head of Creative, innocent
Books
People keep books. If your brand has something really interesting to offer a reader, whether in the form of recipes, history or a great story, then books are surprisingly good value to produce and offer fantastic value to the customer. Here are just a few ideas to get you thinking.
- Your lovely food product as the common ingredient in a branded recipe book
- Your company history in book form for a significant anniversary
- A book about the health benefits of your product
Self Help Central can put such books together for you from start to finish. You might want to write the book yourself or we can commission the perfect writer to match your style and tone. Likewise you might want your team to design the book and we will simply set it up for you, or we will follow your initial ideas. Self Help Central works with a leading commercial book design company responsible for many bestsellers. If your book has trade potential we can also link you with the right publisher.
Online branded content
Think about something extra special your website could include that would drive traffic and bring repeat visits. A chain of gyms might create a series of workouts for their members to download or a protein powder might offer a complete guide to nutrition in weekly instalments. We can help you put such a project together, either working with your own web team or creating the site for you.
The health and wellbeing market is exciting, dynamic and rich in opportunities for branded editorial content. Contact me for more information.
- Could your charity raise funds through a book?
- Why not cut through all the confusing information out there and give people a book they can trust?
Raising funds
A book can be an excellent way to raise profile and bring in funds. Is there a celebrity angle you can capitalise on or an amazing story? I can help you create a fantastic proposal to take to publishers and if you need help putting the book together I can find the perfect writers, the perfect celebrities and experts. Think of me as your project manager.
Definitive guides
People keep books, so if there is information that you want people to have to hand and to keep for reference then books are a surprisingly good value medium. For example there is a movement building empowering people to take a little more responsibility for their own health. Books could form an important part of that strategy.
Organisations contain a wealth of excellent information, and books are an excellent way to get that information across. Contact me for more information.