Interview with Sarah Prout: Author and entrepreneur

I met Sarah Prout through doing a compilation book, first with Inspired Spirit and then with her own first book “Sprout the Life you Love“.

The book is packed with stories and advice from business-women from all over the world. Sarah is also an entrepreneur and social networking guru. Here is the interview I did with her by email.

Can you tell us a bit about you and your book?

SPROUT THE LIFE YOU LOVE (Tales and Secrets from Female Entrepreneurs) is a book filled with stories and profiles of successful businesswomen. The idea was to present the amazing & courageous adventures of female entrepreneurs from around the world.

You wrote a compilation book – how did you get such famous people involved?

I just emailed them directly. It was so easy! I started with a long list of names of women that I admired the most and emailed them all one by one. It was amazing that the people that were perfectly suited to the project ended up being included in the final product such as Poppy King, Arielle Ford and EMMY award winner, Rhonda Britten!

Why did you decide to self-publish?

I decided to self-publish because the traditional method of getting your book to print can take years! Also many people don’t realise that you still have to do your own marketing. As a small publishing house I guess I managed to find the best team of people to outsource all of the production to. It’s all about outsourcing to create freedom!

What other business plans do you have? Why do authors need to be entrepreneurs as well?

SPROUT Publishing is just about to launch a series of information products (ebooks) that will offer various publicity opportunities for other business owners.

We’re also exploring the possibility of creating a series of seminars featuring some of the most successful women in various areas of life that can create wealth such as share trading or property investment etc.

Authors need to be entrepreneurs as well because they require the ability to fill a gap within the market. Authors need to possess a certain sparkle in order to promote their work. It definitely takes a certain level of confidence to believe in your product and encourage others to buy it.

You talk about branding in the book, and your site and book cover are gorgeous. Why is branding so important?

Thanks! I designed the cover myself actually. It took hundreds of hours of deliberation to get it right. Branding is such an important element to creating a name for yourself and your business. You want to proliferate a visual element to your presence that it easily recognizable. If you don’t have artsy flair then I would highly recommend hiring a designer to sort out colour schemes & themes for you to work with.

Another element to consider is making your branding a direct reflection of your business mission. For example, the SPROUT branding is very feminine as our main demographic is businesswomen.

You sell the book from your website – what are your main ways of marketing it?

We’re currently working on a few different distribution options to sell the book in the US. SPROUT the Life You Love (Tales and Secrets of Female Entrepreneurs) is available to purchase on the SPROUT website but will be available in certain retailers within the next 8 weeks here in Australia.

The main way we’ve been marketing the book is via social networking sites such as Twitter. It’s a great way to build some buzz around a product launch. I’ve also been invited to be a guest on LA Talk radio hosted by Sandy Grason early next month. This will be an excellent avenue to hit the US market.

Most of the authors in the book are doing their own publicity in order to gain the maximum PR benefit.

You use a number of social networking tools. Which ones do you particularly recommend for authors?

I absolutely adore Twitter! I’ve made so many fabulous connects via Twitter. http://www.twitter.com/sarahprout

Trends indicate that Twitter is set to skyrocket in 09 so my advice is to get yourself an account now J Think of it as an alternative method of list-building but with a focus on connection and adding valuable micro-content on a regular basis.

How can people get in touch with you? Can they be in one of your books?

The best way to contact me is via email. (sprout@sproutpublishing.com.au). We have another book in the SPROUT the Life You Love series planned to be released by the end of 09 and a few information products that entrepreneurs can become involved in.

The new series of eBooks from SPROUT Publishing is called ‘The Millionairess League’ and has been designed to support empowerment for businesswomen. We offer a wide range of opportunities to support the success & growth of your business:

http://www.onlineempress.com – blog for businesswomen

http://www.themillionairessleague.com – business empowerment

http://www.sproutthelifeyoulove – become a published author

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Related posts:

Twitter – what is it and why should authors use it?

Social networking and Web 2.0 sites for authors

What are the pros and cons of self-publishing?

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