Mark Coker:
Build Your Consulting Business with eBooks

Friday, January 27^th, 2012
7:30 – 10:00 AM

Location:

The Club at McInnis Park Golf Center
350 Smith Ranch Rd.
San Rafael, CA 94903

Amazon.com sold more than 1 million Kindle e-reader devices per week in December 2011 (Business Wire). Sales of the Nook reader from Barnes and Noble are up 70% over last year, and hundreds of thousands of Kobo readers have been activated every day since Christmas Eve (PR Newswire). That’s not counting all the tablets and smartphones with e-book readings apps on them. Sales of eBooks have skyrocketed, and already outstrip sales of print books in some categories.

What does this mean for consultants? For decades, consultants who publish books have landed bigger clients and better speaking engagements. What’s more, any consultant can benefit from producing an information product that provides an additional stream of income and a demonstration of her expertise. The eBook revolution lowers the barriers to publication while offering better royalties than print books and drastically reducing the production and distribution costs associated with producing physical products. Flexible pricing structures put an end to the requirement to wait until you have 50,000 words or more to publish, allowing you to be timely and topical.  

Come to the January BACN meeting to hear Mark Coker of independent eBook publisher and distributor Smashwords explain

• How to publish, distribute and sell an eBook
• How to package your smarts into a scalable, sellable eBook product
• How to leverage eBooks to attract consulting clients and drive scalable revenue
• The best practices of the most commercially successful eBook authors.

Watch this Fox News interview with Mark Coker from 2010.

About the Speaker

Mark Coker is the founder of Smashwords, the world’s largest distributor of indie ebooks.  In the last three years, Smashwords has helped over 30,000 authors around the world publish and distribute more than 90,000 ebooks.  In 2010, the Wall Street Journal named Mark one of the “Eight Stars of Self-Publishing.”  Mark is also a contributing writer for the Huffington Post, where he writes about the future of book publishing.

Prior to founding Smashwords, Mark was CEO of Dovetail Public Relations, a Silicon Valley PR firm that provided strategic communications consulting services to venture-backed technology startups for 18 years.

Creating Connections

In addition to informal networking before and after the meeting, we facilitate closer connections with the other consultants at your table. Sit with someone you don’t know! See some examples of previous Creating Connections exercises.

BACN Bits & Bytes

Sallie Goetsch will prevent a brief technology tip for the January Bits & Bytes segment.

Members’ Forum

Bring your tips and questions to share in the Members’ Forum. See some past Forum Questions here.

Reservations

Pre-register via EventBrite (credit or debit card): $35.

Deadline for advance registration is Wednesday end of day before the event. (That’s so we have time to make your name tag.)

Registration at the door by cash or check (as space permits): $40.

Food

BACN now serves a full breakfast. (Yes, there is bacon at BACN.) Please register in advance to make sure we don’t run out! Everyone gets cranky when there’s not enough coffee at 7:30 AM.

Parking

Free parking in the McInnis Park Golf Center lot.

BACN Mission: To improve practice and business development success through networking and programs for consultants.

Members of BACN are independent consultants who are interested in expanding their professional practices through effective networking and professional development programs sponsored by BACN. Attend a BACN meeting to become a member.