I spent two days last week at the Millionaire Authors Bootcamp organised by Stephanie Hale. I’ve been to a couple of these events now, the first was on Internet Marketing. They’re either free or cheap to attend and there’s always a host of valuable information on offer. These events are sometimes called a “pitch fest” as the speakers tout for business, offering their workshops & expertise at lower rates than usual, and it’s the first few who sign up who get the real deals and bumper bonuses.
Jupiter, planet of opportunity and publishing, entered Gemini, the sign of communication, on June 11th 2012, the day after the author event, which featured all aspects of publishing, including advice on e-books, self publishing, selling and promoting. Jupiter remains in Gemini until June 26th 2012 and listening to the speakers last weekend, it’s obvious that it’s becoming increasingly trendy to have a book published, and it’s proposed there will be a staggering 6 million books listed on Amazon by the end of the year.
This fits the symbolism of Jupiter in Gemini beautifully; Jupiter expands what it touches and here we have an explosion of books, millions of voices all over the world who want to be heard. We all seem to be experts on something and with the rise of self-publishing, print on demand, e-books and the fast-track route to selling books on Amazon Kindle, new possibilities are opening up aside from the traditional agent-to-publisher-to-bookstore method.
Today’s New Moon is also in Gemini (exact at 15:02 GMT), so if you want to get in on the act, you couldn’t pick a better time to do so. The New Moon is the perfect time to make a fresh start, begin a new project or set intentions, and Gemini is the sign of writing.
There are, coincidentally, twice as many Gemini writers as other signs. Some notable examples are Thomas Hardy (June 2 1840), Arthur Conan Doyle (May 22 1859), Dorothy Sayers (June 13 1893), Ian Fleming (May 28 1908), Harold Robbins (May 21 1916), Joyce Carol Oates (June 16 1938), Raymond Carver (May 25 1938), Margaret Drabble ( June 5 1939) and Salman Rushdie (June 19 1947).
Some sobering advice received at Bootcamp was that 93% of all books written never sell more than 500 copies and that a book’s success is currently dependent on 5% writing and 95% marketing. Still, if you do have a strong desire to pen the next best-seller and earn yourself a fortune, then start writing today but don’t forget to work on your elevator pitch, create your author platform and work out how to attract a dedicated fan base.
Jupiter’s nothing if not optimistic and hopeful so I for one will be sitting down and calling forth the New Moon in Gemini to start a new writing project. Watch this space…
[photo from flickr.com]