How would you like to improve your visibility and increase your funnel of prospects? A great way to do both of these is by writing a book. What drives your prospective customers to buy from you is trust - trust that you have the right product or service they need and trust that you can give the right expertise and support, when it comes to that product or service. Having your name on a published book gives you that instant perception in a customer's mind of being an expert or leading authority in your field. And being a published author can open doors to radio and TV talk show hosts and newspaper reporters interviewing you, not only enabling you to reach millions of people with your message, but also providing you with implicit endorsements of you as an author and expert in your field.

Writing a book is one of the most powerful marketing tools out there.

• It can get you in front of your ideal customers at a time when they have a problem, are looking for solution in your area of expertise and are ready to purchase.
• It can also open doors to new opportunities such as speaking engagements, media interviews and joint ventures.
• It can help you win bids and differentiate you from your competition.
• You can give a copy to current and former customers, thereby building greater interest in your services and products;
• You can build an array of derivative information products, such as workbooks, videos, training courses, group coaching and the like that readers of your book can purchase;
• You can re-purpose the content of your book into tweets, blog posts and articles, further increasing your visibility and improving search engine optimization (and traffic) for your website;
• If successful, it can create ongoing life-long revenue.

Interested? SkillBites has come up with a great way for you to jumpstart your new year. We are hosting a contest for professionals to complete a short book in a month - from January 4 to February 4. Imagine having a book completed with your name on it that you can give to your prospective customers, making the sales process so much easier.

Don't worry if you don't think of yourself as a writer. The interesting thing is that writing a book isn't that hard. You won't need to take a writing course; nor will you need to spend countless hours in the process. We'll give you a template to use and show you how to create a plan for your book so that it almost writes itself. You have the knowledge of your subject; we'll show you how to capture that into a book so you can leverage it to attract new customers and grow your business.

Concerned that you can't find the time to write? Fortunately, you don't have to write a long book in order to gain the benefits of being a published author. A 20 pager is sufficient to provide your reader with an appreciation of your expertise. It's much easier and quicker to write a 20 pager. If you can set aside at least 5 hours of quality time per week, you can get a good draft of your book written within a month. Given the huge benefits you could derive from that for the whole rest of the year, isn't it worth it?

Here are the details:

It's free to enter. Just fill out the entry form. We'll send you an easy template to use and a guidebook that will walk you through how to write your book. We'll send you emails during the month to check in and provide tips to help you stay on track. If you've got any questions along the way, we'll be here to answer them and provide you support.

Everyone who submits a book by February 4, 2013 that meets the criteria will receive a discount off of SkillBites' author packages, and will be eligible for a drawing, from which twenty lucky authors will receive prizes, with one author selected to receive a free Silver Author Package - a value of $497!

And the best prize of all -- everyone who completes a book will have a great marketing tool to use to grow their business. That's where the value comes in - not from the book sales, but from leveraging your book to attract prospects and grow your business. If you choose to publish your book through SkillBites, we'll even help you do that, as well as providing you with editing and marketing services, getting your book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all the other major retailers and getting it in print for you.

Contest Rules

1. Authors enter the contest by filling out the entry form. There is no charge, and authors may submit more than one book.
2. Books must be how-to's, and authors must have significant expertise in the subject matter of their book.
3. Books must be at least 4000 words (this refers to the substance of the book, and doesn't include the cover, Copyright page, Table of Contents, About the Author or testimonials).
4. Books must be original content from the author, for which the author owns the copyright. Books may not contain public license rights or public domain material.
5. Books must be submitted in the SkillBites eBook template in Word in English. Authors do not need to submit their books with the cover art or testimonials.
6. Submittals must be substantially completed drafts.
7. To be eligible for the prizes, books must be submitted electronically to info@skillbites.net by11:59 pm on February 4, 2013.
   1. All authors who submit a book that meets these rules will receive a coupon toward the purchase of a SkillBites Author Package. Coupons cannot be combined with any other offers.
   2. All authors who submit a book that meets these rules will also be entered into a drawing from which 20 authors will be selected to receive prizes.
   3. Names will be drawn and announced after we complete the review of all the submittals, which should be by the end of February. The prizes will be awarded as follows:
      1. The first 10 names drawn will receive a coupon for a free SkillBite eBook of their choice.
      2. The next 5 names drawn will receive a copy of the SkillBite entitled Book Writing and Marketing Tips: Wisdom from the Experts, a synopsis of the 2012 Author Summit, during which 15 experts in book writing and marketing shared their wisdom.
      3. The next 4 names drawn will receive a link to download the recordings from the 2012 Author Summit and a copy of Book Writing and Marketing Tips: Wisdom from the Experts.
      4. The final name drawn will receive a free Silver Author Package, valued at $497.