3 Key Factors for Successfully Self-Publishing a Health Care Textbook

I came across an interesting article on self-publishing the other day, and it got me thinking about the future of self-publishing in health care education.

The article mentions the huge success of E.L. James' book, Fifty Shades of Grey. The book was self-published and then "picked up by Random House and became the fastest-selling paperback of all time, propelling James to the top of the Forbes list of highest-earning authors in 2013."

We see very few successful self-published health care texts or references. One of the most successful of those ventures has been the Clinical Practitioners Pocket Guide to Respiratory Care, by Dana Oakes. He worked extremely hard for that success and continues to do so today.

So it's possible to succeed, but the odds are stacked heavily against it.

I think that going forward there will be three key factors for success for a self-published author of a health care textbook or reference book.

1. Keep it Niche. Topics designed for markets underserved by medium- and large-size publishers will have a leg up for authors looking to self-publish.
2. Promote heavily on social media. The successful self-publisher will make effective use many of the various social media outlets available today, including Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Authors who use Amazon's self-publishing app will also be able to sell the book on the site.
3. Spend the money for a good copyeditor. Errors will kill any self-published book before it ever has a chance to grab the market. Hire an experienced copyeditor to go over your manuscript with a fine-tooth comb and then again with a bristle brush. You'll be glad you did.

One last piece of advice, if I may.

Don't self-publish.

Work hard to find the right publisher for your particular product, and then, only if you've exhausted all available options, should you consider self-publishing.

Good luck!

8 Tips for Fitting Social Media into Your Already Busy Day

Many of my coworkers have asked me how I manage to fit all the things I do in social media into my workday. Sometimes I wonder myself.

But I've been doing this for a while now, and so have learned to streamline my social media work. I thought I'd take a few minutes to give you some tips for working social media into your workday. It's really not as difficult as you might think.

First please keep in mind that I use social media for work, not for personal stuff. That distinction makes a difference.

#1  Lay the groundwork first

When I first started using social media, I spent a lot of time on Twitter and Facebook. I was trying to build a base to work from, building Twitter lists and Facebook friends and fans.

If you're starting out, you'll need to do the same. No getting around it, just dig in and do it. Believe me, it'll pay off.

For great info on getting started on social media, check out this Quickstarter series.

Rome. Get it?

#2  When in Rome, check out Rome

During a typical workday, I'll check Facebook (FB) and Google+ (G+), my two main sites, first thing in the morning to see what has been posted overnight. The rest of the day I check those sites mostly when I'm already online for something else.

In a way I'm lucky that way, because my job requires me to do quite a bit of online research. So when I'm there I'll quickly check updates on FB and G+. If I find something I think my followers would like, I'll repost it. It doesn't take much time once you get the hang of it.

#3  Stay focused on your core goal

When you use social media for work, you need to develop and stick to a clear, compelling goal.

Take my friend Lorry Schoenly's blog at correctionalnurse.net. Her goal is simple and straightforward: "To make visible the challenging profession of nursing in a correctional environment." Her blog posts, Twitter tweets, and FB updates consistently fit that goal.

When you focus on one goal, you can skim updates more efficiently and make better use of the limited time you can spend on social media.

#4  Make use of the tools available to you

I rarely tweet directly on Twitter. Instead, I use a website called Iffft. Weird name, but great site. It allows users to set up rules (they're like macros in Word, but online), to initiate a set of functions.

For instance, I use one Iffft rule to send all my FB updates to my Twitter feed. Easy. There are thousands of these rules already created, so all you have to do is find the ones you need and go through Iffft's easy configuration steps.

Lots of people rely on social media managers like HootSuite to aggregate tweets, FB updates, LinkedIn posts, and so forth, into a single interface. I'd suggest that you try one to see if it works for you.

Basically the more social media sites you're on, the more tools you'll need to keep track of them.

#5  Use FB's scheduling function

Not long ago Facebook instituted functionality to allow users to schedule updates. Yes, it's ridiculously clunky, but it works.

Use it.

If you've got a few minutes free, make a few updates and schedule them sporadically over the next day or so. Your friends will think you're a wizard at posting great info all day long, but actually you'll be in class at the white board.

I'd very much like to see Google provide similar functionality on Google+, and I suspect at some point it will.

3 final tips

1. A little at a time.
2. In and out quickly.
3. Scan, don't read.

Now, go forth and social mediate!

Guest Post: TO POST OR NOT TO POST

A guest post from Allison Morris at OnlineClasses.Org.
Thanks, Allison!

There are 900 million social media users plugged into Facebook alone, and nearly 500 million of them log into the social network every single day. In fact, in just one day on Facebook, 250 million photos are uploaded, and 532 million statuses are updated. And that doesn’t even count the millions of tweets sent, tumblrs updated, and instagrams snapped.

With so much personal content constantly being uploaded to the web, it’s no small wonder that so many recruiters and would-be employers are turning to various social networking platforms to determine the personalities of prospective hires. If you’re working toward your online degree, chances are you hope to one day apply for, interview at, and ultimately secure a great job.

The first step to preparing for that future job, however, is to stay forward-thinking in the types of things you post, tweet, and otherwise put up online. In the information age, when everything about a person is available for scrutiny, the fact of the matter is that one incriminating photo or post can make or break the way people perceive you in the future. And even if your social media habits don’t have an immediate impact on your employment dreams, the laws of social media etiquette dictate that sometimes, people need to think before they overshare.

The following infographic provides a handy flowchart to determine the ever-increasingly important question: To post, or not to post?

5 Tips for Health Care Professionals Using Facebook

More and more health care professionals, students, and faculty are using Facebook to gather and share information.

I encourage my authors to get on Facebook too (and also Google+, but I'll address only Facebook here, because Google+ is such a different experience), to help get the word out about their book and to interact with the markets they serve.

The more health care professionals using Facebook, the better. Their posts can increase our knowledge of  health care trends and research and encourage a sense of shared community.

However, just as Facebook can help health care professionals, so can it hurt them.

Here are five tips for using Facebook safely and effectively.

#1  Post links and information your Facebook friends will most likely appreciate.

Posting a link to results from a new study or commenting on a news article you've found informative make for great posts for other health care professionals. To help all your friends decide which posts are right for them, try to include a kind of pointer in your post.

For instance, if a post deals with, say, pediatric emergencies, you might preface the post with something like, "For my friends interested in pediatrics..."

Pointing out the "market" for the post helps your friends concentrate on the most appropriate posts for them.

#2  Post as a professional.

You're a professional or working to become one, so post that way. Even if you post principally for your friends and co-workers, be professional.

You just never know who will read a post ... or when.

Be kind, courteous, articulate. No profanity, no nastiness, no personal criticisms.

Do right by your profession, and Facebook will treat you well. Do wrong, and it will at some point bite you in the buttocks.

#3  Post images wisely.

Be aware that any photo, illustration, graph, or any other type of image you've created and subsequently post to Facebook immediately becomes the property of Facebook. It's not yours anymore.

If that photo you post belonged originally to someone else — say, your hospital or doctor's office — and you didn't have permission to post it, you would be guilty of copyright infringement.

Along those same lines, never "tag" someone in an image without their permission, even if it's a close friend or a co-worker you know well. That person may very well resent having their face identified to people they don't know.

Facebooking should never interfere with friendships.

#4  Use e-mail, not Facebook, for private matters.

I can't tell you the number of times I've seen highly personal information posted on someone's Facebook wall rather than as a message. (The following quotations are fake but similar to many I've seen.)

• "My mother is having surgery to remove her uterus tomorrow at Main City Center Hospital. I hope everything goes well."
• "Jane Doe, I'm heading over to the Bel-Air Lounge for a few drinks. Want to join me?"
• "I'm looking for a babysitter for this Saturday night to go to a party. Know anyone who can do it?"

Seriously? First, does everyone on your Friends list need to know about your mother? Has she said it's okay to tell the world?

Remember, every single thing you post to your wall or on your friend's wall belongs to the world.

And so on, and so on, and so on.

You might think that post is going only to your friends, but you would be wrong. That's how posts on Facebook, videos on YouTube, and tons of other pieces of content posted to a social media site "go viral."

You post to your wall, and a friends reads it. And then one of their friends reads it. And so on. And so on. And so on.

Stick to e-mail, or at the  least a Facebook message.

#5  Handle taboo topics carefully.

It's funny, but for some reason Facebook seems to bring out the worst in people. People often feel quite free to bring up topics they would never bring up at a party, such as politics, religion, gay marriage, or similar hot-button issues.

But on Facebook, they're fair game. If you're a health professional, and certainly if you're a student in a health professions program, please choose your issues and comments wisely.

I say that not because of the standard reason, that a current or future employer might see the post and fire you or not hire you, though that's a good reason too. I say it also so you can avoid alienating the very people you're trying to communicate with.

Case in point. The recent happenings with the Chick-fil-A chain prompted a huge number of posts from people on all sides of the issue.

People wanted to speak out, let their friends know their opinion, promote their "cause," and otherwise put forward their thoughts and feelings on the topic. But how many of their Facebook friends disagreed? How many felt hurt or anger at those posts?

Most likely far more than the Facebooker knows.

Now, posting opinions is part of what social media is all about. But if you're a health care professional, you have an additional obligation to put forward rationed and reasoned opinions.

Rightly or wrongly, impassioned or inflammatory posts can be seen by superiors, colleagues, and patients as being indicative of how you handle yourself as a professional.

Don't let Facebook dismantle what you've worked so hard to build — your reputation as a professional.

Where Social Media and Public Schools Meet

The New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) has drawn an interesting line in the sand with social media. The department released a set of social media guidelines this week that lay out a line faculty, staff, and students can't cross.

There are two fundamental guidelines:

1. Teachers can have their personal Facebook, Google+, Twitter, or other social media pages, but they can't interact on those sites with students. They call this use "Personal Social Media."
2. Teachers can interact with students using social media but must do so through the Department's own sites. They term this "Professional Social Media."

The guidelines also require that DOE employees behave professionally regardless of whether they're using personal or professional social media.

On face value, I like the core message about remaining professional regardless of what social media you're using. Yes, teachers should do whatever they can to keep their professional life separate from their personal life, if only because their students need their own space too.

But the guidelines fall short in addressing student-to-teacher interaction. What if a student follows his teacher's Twitter feed? Can the teacher be disciplined?

I also fear the effects of making faculty go through their institution's social media managers whenever they want to use the media for their classes. Kinda goes against the whole premise of social media. And education, for that matter.

I think schools need to grab social media by the horns, not shirk from it, which is what the NYC DOE's guidelines are trying to do. They're trying to walk a fence between embracing social media and ignoring it, and when you're walkin' a fence, you're bound to fall off.

Facebook, LinkedIn, or E-Mail: How to Communicate with Your Publisher

With the enormous popularity of Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and other social media  have come an increasing number of ways for people to communicate with one another.

And that's good. But not always.

I'm finding that more and more people are contact me using Facebook or LinkedIn. I don't mean first-time contacts, which is absolutely fine, the more the better. I'm talking about people I've been consistently doing business with using social media to contact me instead of e-mail. And on weekends too.

Nuh-uhn.

Here are my Four Rules of Engagement for business communications in social media.

Rule #1: Keep typical business hours.

l'm not a fan of business contacts who try to message me on Facebook after business hours. It's bad enough they're using Facebook to communicate during business hours, much less after.

You might have time only at night to communicate with a publisher because you work at your regular job during the day, but I work during the day too. That's my time to communicate with business contacts.

Nighttime, that's mine. If you want to contact me after hours, please use e-mail.

Rule #2: Use e-mail for anything important.

It's no accident that e-mail continues to thrive even with all the other ways to contact people. It works.

If you e-mail me, I can always go back later and find the e-mail, usually pretty quickly. That's important for lots and lots of reasons, not the least of which is to remind me what I said.

I might be able to find a particular message on Facebook, Google+, or LinkedIn, but it will take me waaay longer. Those sites just aren't made for archiving messages. They do archive them, but they don't make it easy to use the archive.

Rule #3: If you start with social media, move to e-mail as soon as possible.

Sometimes the only way you can find a publisher, or we can find you, is through social media. And that's peachy keen.

But get off social media as soon as you can and use e-mail.

See Rule #2.

Rule #4: Use e-mail.

Did I say anything yet about how you should use e-mail for business correspondence with a publisher?

I did?

Oh, good. Use e-mail.

Or, you know, that thing with the cord. The, um, whatchacallit? Oh, right.

A phone.

5 Time Management Tips for Authors

Too busy to write? Your schedule so packed that there just isn't enough time?

I hear you. When you work full-time and write part-time, as so many textbook authors do, finding time to write can be difficult. I find, though, that it's not so much the lack of time as it is the misuse of existing time.

I mean, if there's always room for Jello, there's always time for writing.

Here are a few ideas to help you find that missing time to do what you love doing.

1. 60-Minute No Social Session. Give yourself a period of 1 hour when you're not checking Facebook, Twitter, Google+, e-mails, texts, or any other form of electronically enhanced social contact and spend it at the computer, writing.
2. Tap on the Timer. When you decide you're going to spend the next hour writing, set a timer. Use the one on your stove or microwave, if you're near the kitchen, or your phone, computer, or even — go figure — an actual alarm clock. Set it for 60 minutes, and don't stop working until the buzzer goes off.
3. "Sign" Into My Writing Time. Announce to your friends and family that if you don't answer your phone or respond to texts right away, it's because you're having a My Writing Time session. Tell your children, spouse, or anyone else in earshot that, hey, don't bug me, I'm having My Writing Time for the next hour. Then put up a sign that says My Writing Time: Go Away!
4. DVR That 'Downton Abbey.' If you simply cannot miss the latest episode of "Downton Abbey," "Family Guy," or "Dancing with the Stars," tape it. Record it on your DVR or TiVo. If you don't have one, make recording arrangements with a friend who does.
5. Win a Writing Prize. Make an agreement with your spouse, partner, children, or someone really important to you that if you actually do writing work for an hour at least five days a week, you'll go somewhere or do something nice as a "prize." Maybe you'll order takeout and eat it in front of the television. Maybe you'll go to a restaurant for dinner. Maybe you'll take a day off from cooking. It's like being on a diet. You can't do it 24/7/365, you've got to take some time off once in awhile.

The real key, though, is to make writing an actual, living priority. If you're looking for ways to stay on track, if you're reading this blog, even, to find the right tip for you to keep writing, it's really because you haven't made writing a priority.

When you can do that, when you make writing a true priority, you won't need any of these tips and tricks. You'll just need a computer and a place to write, and that's a lovely place to be.

Happy writing!

Three Interesting Trends in Facebook Postings

Over the last, I would say, two years I've noted a marked change in the kinds of individual postings I typically see on my Facebook page and profile. I'm not talking posts from businesses, well-known bloggers, or celebrities; I'm talking purely about posts from everyday people.

My follower list is quite varied but consists primarily of entry-level through graduate-level healthcare faculty, students, and practitioners. It's not a universal sampling, for sure, but the consistency of the changes and the many other Facebook profiles I visit everyday lead me to think the changes are probably more widespread than just on my twiddly little accounts.

I used to see many more posts about news-related events, but now I'm seeing posts that fall into one of three categories. Let's take them one at a time.

Trend #1: More fractional updates

Mostly I see what I'm going to call fractional updates, little details about what someone is doing or thinking about at that moment. I'm talking about these kinds of posts (actual posts taken from my profile):

• "I feel so blah"


• "well we have moved on from THAT movie to the Wiggles..Idk which is worse! gonna go scrub the carpets, that 'grounds guy' got some great stuff and it got out some mystery stains...but it smells really bad"


• "I got this at an estate sale this past weekend. It's a French Provincial Chiffarobe. Love it!"

Fractional updates were once Twitter's domain, not Facebook's. But I'm seeing a reversal of that trend, where Facebook has become the preferred means of distributing information about the details of everyday life.

Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that kind of post, they serve a distinct purpose for the poster and, sometimes, I think, for the postee. (I'm not sure those are actual terms, but I think you get the idea.)

QUERY: Is Facebook the best place for fractional updates? Are there too many of these tidbits showing up on your wall?

Trend #2: More spiritual declarations

I'm seeing many more wall posts lately from people declaring their love of God, asking for prayers for friends or loved ones, or reciting psalms or other religious quotations. Examples include:

• "I thank god everyday for all the wonderful people that I have In my life ! God is good"


• "fear not my child I'm with you always I feel every pain and every tear I see I know how to care for what belongs to me ~ God"


• "I personally believe in Jesus Christ. One Facebooker has challenged all believers to put this on their wall. The bible says, if you deny Me in front of your peers, I will deny you in front of My Father. This is a simple test. If you are not afraid to show it, re-post this. I'm proud I did."

Not a thing wrong with these kinds of posts either, but it seems more and more people are declaring their spiritual inclincations [sic] more outwardly than ever. I'm not entirely sure Facebook is the best medium for them, but it's being used that way nonetheless.

QUERY: What do you think about using Facebook for spiritual declarations?

Trend #3: More private messages

More and more I see Facebook posts, open to the world, that really should be messages. I find this trend rather alarming. People have become so comfortable posting to Facebook from wherever they are that they seem to have forgotten that everyone sees wall posts, not just a single, targeted person.

Here are some actual posts from my wall that fall into the Private Message category:

• "NAME, you have been in my thoughts all week, but most especially this hardest of days for you. For whatever small measure of comfort this can bring you, please know that we love you, and treasure you as a member of our family."


• "Ok, so wanna meet up this week? Or next weekend? Let me know what days are good for you. I can either visit you or you can visit me :D"


• "NAME, I have a doctor's appointment in the hospital tonight at 8. Is it okay to stop by for a couple minutes? I have some books for you. :)"

This is the most interesting trend, and to me it's a bit disturbing. First, I'm guessing that many people don't know that if they post something on someone else's wall, that any mutual friends can also see the posting. Second, it strikes me that people have (unknowingly?) expanded their comfort zone to include a medium open to, essentially, the world, and I'm not at all sure that's a good thing.

QUERY: Have people become so comfortable with Facebook that they don't even notice that they're posting such messages on their wall for everyone to see? Or do they not care?

I would truly love your thoughts on these observations and queries, so comment away!

Five Reasons Why Allied Health Faculty Should Use Social Media

For the longest time I put off doing anything with Twitter. In fact, I opened an account only after a co-worker, the wonderful and prescient Kirk Pedrick, kept bugging me about it. And I hated it. Thought it was stupid. Boy, was I wrong. Not only is Twitter enormously useful—if it's used properly—so are many other social media, particularly Facebook, LinkedIn, and blogs of people in your field. (I haven't done anything with wikis yet, so I left them off my list.)

Turned out that I was using Twitter improperly. I didn't understand it and didn't give it a good enough try. Same thing with Facebook, which I initially found was fine, not bad, okay for maintaining contact with old friends, but that's about it. I saw little value for my business interests.

Wrong again. I think Facebook and Twitter both have enormous potential, not just for me, as an acquisitions editor, but the more I use them, for allied health faculty and students as well. Here are my top five reasons why.

1. Collates news you're interested in. It doesn't take much time on Twitter to realize that news pertinent to you gets to you fast, without you having to rummage through tons of newspapers, magazines, and the like. Here's an example from today. I noticed a post on Twitter about a study in England that caught my eye, a study about kids who blog, text, or use social networking websites being more confident about their writing skills. The article came from the BBC, which I never watch. But the study is interesting and directly applicable to schools everywhere, and not just for children. I believe that our college students can improve their writing skills using social media as well.


2. Now, I doubt I would have seen that article if it hadn't been for Twitter. I doubt you would have seen it either if it wasn't for this blog entry. But I saw immediately its potential impact on how we teach allied health students in our community and career colleges, and I'll bet you can see it too. Twitter. didn't keep this news to myself, of course. I "retweeted," so people who follow my tweets (those poor buggers) would see it too. And I posted the link on my business Facebook page so my friends—allied health faculty, practitioners, authors, and colleagues—could learn about it too.


3. Opens new avenues of thought. I've begun to think a bit differently now that I'm using social media. It's hard to define but I think mostly I've become more creative in my job. I've always been creative, a trait my superiors have consistent lauded, but after so many years in the publishing business I think perhaps I had begun to get stale. I kept track of trends but mostly after the trend had gained solid ground. Now I'm following trends as they happen. I'm also finding and learning things I never would have found and learned before purely as a result of being exposed to the thoughts and news posts of so many people I never would have encountered in any other setting. I think the same thing would have to ring true for other professions, particularly teaching in allied health care.


4. I'm writing again. That may not seem like much to you but it's huge for me. As an acquisitions editor I write constantly. Constantly. But I'm writing e-mails, mostly, or contract notes, a formal document we prepare for our decision-making group when we have a new book we want to publish. Contract notes are rather formulaic and require little creativity. But this blog, which I'm hoping will grow into something my authors and potential authors will find useful, helps feed my desire to write. Facebook and Twitter help feed that desire as well, while also serving what I hope will be an ever-growing circle of followers, some of whom might choose to write for me and F.A. Davis over a competitor because they've come to know me a bit and trust what I have to say.


5. It makes good business sense. I use Facebook and Twitter and write this blog to attract potential authors, find new authors and reviewers, and keep in touch with the markets I serve. Pretty straightforward, don't you think? Wouldn't it stand to reason that, say, medical assisting program directors who tweet and maintain a Facebook site or blog might attract potential new students and faculty members simply or even largely because of their presence in social media? I think it does, and I think with these media only growing in popularity, now is the time to get on the bandwagon. Give yourself time to work out the kinks, to get used to using social media, to build a content base, and to build up your cadre of friends and followers. It just makes sense.


6. It makes good pedagogical sense. According to the National School Boards' Association, social media should be adapted for use in the classroom because:

96% of students with access to the Internet build social networks.

50% of teens say they talk to their peers about schoolwork online (IM, blog or social networking sites) or via text messages.

60% indicate that they discuss education-related topics, such as college and career planning.

Your students use social media constantly. Why? Because they find it engaging, interesting, informative, and just plain fun. So why not implement the same media for pedagogical purposes? It makes absolutely NO SENSE not to.

Next blog: The Drawbacks of Social Media in Schools and How to Deal with Them