Review: Author and Get Rich: How to Write a Money-Making Book in Only 12 Hours (2007), Glen Dietzel

OK, let's deal with that 12 hours first. You are not going to write any book of considerable complexity that explains your business system in 12 hours. What Dietzel is talking about here is the actually writing time, if you write fast too, but you have to do leg work first: pre-writing, planning, organizing, drafting.

To a great extent, some pretty basic stuff here. If you don't write, never have written, don't know how to generate ideas, have writer's block or any of the above, this is the book for you. But there's more . . .

A&GR has some good points but, after all, it is just a book, or as the marketing world describes it (also the author, Glen Dietzel) a brochure or business card (no one gets rich writing books). It is Dietzel's business card--first in the line of products that works as a foundation for re-purposing and profit building. He tells you that your book will build a business (as Dietzel has) and the repurposed or reworked material in the book will be made into CD's, DVD's, work books, classes, seminars, and so on.

That's the other part of the book or beyond the book. But let's get back to the book, shall we? (Did I say book enough here? No? OK. Book. Book. Book. ;=) )

Let's take a look at the marketing of the book to get an idea as to how successful aspects of marketing work and how some of the contemporary ideas expressed by Dietzel and others like Dan Kennedy (super marketing guru) and Alex Mandossian (top freelance direct marketer [infomercials: QVC, HSN), teleseminar, virtual book tour, and podcast guru) play out. If you've read a lot, you'll see Kennedy's, Mandosian's and the hands of others (Mark Victor Hansen, Napoleon Hill, et. al) all over this book.

To promote, it is best to get others to say good stuff about you than you. A Dan Kennedy supported approach. So Dietzel has done this in droves: over 20 pages of blurbs open the book! Dan Kennedy has said the more the merrier. Don't be afraid of too many supportive blurbs. However, on one of his teleseminars on web page testing, it was discovered that a sales page without blurbs did better than the same sales page with. Go figure. Maybe the age of "If you've got big-name supporters, I'll buy" is coming to a close. I know I, like many, now ignore this often overused ploy. Nevertheless, onto the book . . .

Dietzel begins by defining what an Entrepreneurial Author is to get your head into the game with clear definitions, what a marketing funnel is (yeah, you're a writer but to be successful with your book ya gotta know how to market, just ask Robert Kiyosaki--was a big advertiser in RTIR [Radio Television Interview Report)], and Dietzel promotes, promotes, promotes his stuff. As any good marketer should. Lots of it found free on the Internet, leading up to his $5000 course, which you need in order to become successful at marketing your book, of course.

He's got a free get-your-head-right CD set, attached to a free 3 month trial to weekly "life-enhancing lessons" after which you'll pay $19 / month. But you can cancel any time. But this IS required reading / studying for success CAN'T HAPPEN if you don't have enough of you working right, meaning, that there's a lot of bad habits, thinking that needs to be nipped in the bud to take it to the next level. Very important! However, I think Dietzel, like Tony Robbins and other motivators, don't dedicate enough time to this highly important issue. For example, Tony Robbins mentions how only about 10% of those who buy his tapes listen to them. But he doesn't even say how many make them a life habit? Maybe 1% of the 10% who listen all the way through. So few are not doing because of deeper issues mere motivational or NLP techniques won't improve upon. But that's another topic.

Let's look at more of A&GR . . .

Dietzel does tell you how to generate ideas, free up time from you schedule to write, the importance of niche marketing, how to pick your niche--a good niche, how to prepare your mind and recognize your expertise, how to move from your comfort zone to a mindset of success, the authors mindset, creating a knowledge-based information business, goal setting and accomplishing, and so on.

To summarize, Dietzel does a good job of presenting some of the necessary information one needs to achieve the proper mindset to write and obtain success, what an info. business entails, some contemporary marketing issues--how to do so through the power of the Internet, and so on. But this has all been covered before by other gurus. And if you're motivated, know of the contemporary business environment, know how to write, then why buy this book. Ahhhhh, here's where it gets interesting.

Dietzel's biggest advantage is his connections ("how to gain instant access to a NY publisher) and experience. He's been there so you, the neophyte promoter of your e-book, don't have to waste time re-inventing the wheel.

And THIS is why you should buy the book (get the free stuff if you like) and sign up for his class. Of course, there's the discounted version ($400) but as Dietzel tells you, best not to waste your time with it because you need to speak to us to get things right the first time. Don't waste your time or money get the high ticket item. Good marketing, eh? Right.

Overall, it's pretty good. But if you're business savy, know how to write (or at least can generate ideas in a consistent and disciplined manor--don't need hand holding), get motivated, most of the basics Dietzel talks about, then it's best just to go to awakentheauthorwithin dot com and sign up for an authoring program. And you may want to apply for a scholarship and get $2500 off Dietzel's Basic Authoring for Business Profit class.

Good Authoring!!!