On June 16 at the Makery Coworking Space on Bank Street in New Milford, Alemany and Gerber will conduct an interactive 90-min workshop based on “Publish with Purpose,” with attendees working through some of the exercises in the book.
Emerald Lake Books has helped dozens of writers publish and market their books. They have worked with authors who aspire to share their story with the world and those who are business owners hoping to build their business by finding new customers and growing their brand.
Founded by Tara R. Alemany and co-owned with art director Mark Gerber, this hybrid publishing company is based in Sherman and has developed a unique blend of business coaching and publishing that enables its authors to achieve specific goals for their book, their business and their readers.
Now Alemany has written a thought-provoking book based on the methodology they employ with their authors.
“Publish with Purpose: A Goal-Oriented Approach to Publishing Success” is Alemany’s seventh book. Released in April, it has already received influential endorsements, as well as a 5-star review from Readers’ Favorite and two awards from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association.
The book provides narrative, case studies and exercises that help authors understand their readers’ expectations so they can create an experience that is significant. It also teaches writers how to use their book as a platform to grow their business, even if their business is solely as a professional writer. But the secret ingredient to the methodology is to get authors thinking about the overall impact they want their book to have on readers and the communities they participate in.
On June 16 at the Makery Coworking Space on Bank Street in New Milford, Alemany and Gerber will conduct an interactive 90-min workshop based on “Publish with Purpose,” with attendees working through some of the exercises in the book. The workshop will begin at 6 p.m and tickets are $25.
“I hope ‘Publish with Purpose’ demonstrates how our approach makes us different from other publishers,” Alemany says. “The framework we’ve developed consistently helps our authors succeed in the ways that are most important to them.”
Emerald Lake Books has published books by authors who are novelists and writers who wish to influence public discourse, as well as many business owners who have used their book to promote their brand and widen their market.
“Publish with Purpose” reflects the unique blend of business coaching and publishing that Emerald Lake Books has developed to enable its authors to generate specific goals for their book, their business and their readers. It provides exercises authors can complete before, during or after writing. For instance, a “Dear Reader” exercise helps identify the audience the writer wants to reach, what those readers are looking for, and how the book will deliver on its promises.
Another exercise, the “Dear Author” exercise, results in what Alemany calls “a verbal vision board.”
“The author sits down and pretends it’s 18 months in the future. They are looking back at all that has been accomplished since the book was released, without any of the pressure of figuring out how it all happened. This enables them to envision what’s possible, what they want most, and what they are surprised by because they hadn’t consciously thought about it before,” Alemany says. “Both exercises are very emotional experiences because you are no longer thinking about your book. Instead, you’re thinking about the impact your book is going to have. And we want the time they invested in writing to be beneficial for them. It’s what makes all the effort and frustration of writing and marketing a book worthwhile.”
The exercise concludes by highlighting all the accomplishments and then choosing the three options the author most wants to achieve. These selections then enable the author to create a marketing plan that aims at achieving those specific outcomes.
“As you accomplish your goals, you can go back and pick others from the list,” Alemany says. “But we don’t recommend pursuing more than three at once.”
“Like any process,” Gerber says, “the value authors receive from the exercises increases with the amount of effort they put in. When somebody writes their letter, it’s the first version. Then Tara points out what works and what needs improvement. Tara’s questions are always extremely perceptive, and they drive you to your best thoughts.”
Of course, Alemany completed all the exercises in “Publish with Purpose” before she began the manuscript for her own book.
“My ideal reader is the ideal author we want to work with” Alemany says. “For us, it’s not just about putting good books out there. We want to work with authors -- as cliché as it sounds -- who are changing lives. We’re looking for positive people who want to entertain, excite or engage people through their books. And that’s who I wrote this book for.”