International Author Tips | Author Spotlight with Raj Sundarason

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be an international author selling books in the United States? Or just what it's like to write a book and publish it and market it to the world? In today's fabulous Author Spotlight coming at us from a beach house in Sri Lanka, that is just what author Raj Sundarsan is talking with us about. If you're wondering what it's like to be an international author, then this video is for you. Hi there, I'm Julie, the book broad, three time author, multi award winning and overall number one Amazon best selling authority and the founder of Book Launchers, which is where we have the absolute pleasure of working with brilliant authors like Raj. So without a single second wasted. Raj, please introduce yourself.

I'm Raj Sundarasan and I'm the award winning author of the DAPP Strategy, which is a self published book which was done in collaboration with the team at Book Launchers. It sounds funny saying award winning, but apparently it's true and twice over, so I'm still getting used to that. What it's worth.

Raj wrote this book because he saw a huge challenge with organizations. He was working with. Their employees, their customers and their vendors were all struggling because they weren't getting the value from their digital transformation programs. They were spending tens of thousands of dollars for these programs and just not getting benefit. And it was impacting the thousands of employees and even going further, making people lose meaning in their work. So it was a deeply expensive problem in so many ways. And Raj has an approach to help these organization and some of his friends and colleagues challenged him to put it on paper. Smart friends and colleagues, I have to say, but even smarter, Raj listened. So who is this book for?

If you're involved in a digital transformation program and you're struggling to get the payback that you thought you would, as Julie says, maybe this book is for you. And feel free to connect with me and have a read because there's a playbook there. So it's not just story narrative, but there is a playbook on what to do.

What Raj meant to say is if you're involved in a digital transformation program and you're struggling, then this book is for you. It takes a bit of practice to own that for you. Okay, so the heart of this video is about being an international author. What's that like versus writing a book for the market that you actually live in? So I asked Raj and here's what he had to say.

You know, it'd be either easy or extremely difficult. I can just tell you it's been a great learning experience, and I continue to learn the intricacies of the publishing business. I don't claim to know an awful lot, but what I can tell you, it is not as straightforward as many people think. And as you go international, those complexities grow exponentially. Think about, you know, setting up a publishing company. How is that different from a normal company? Think about ISBN numbers. Think about, hey, if I've got a copy, what do I do? Well, in Singapore, I had to make sure the National Library had a copy of it because they control the ISBN numbers and so, you know, they review everything. So think about that as you go through. You know, Amazon in the UK is very different from the Amazon in the us which is very different from the Amazon in Australia. And each country, as you go through, has also, you know, a different cultural nuance. Whether, you know, they prefer to engage, you know, whether it's on Instagram, whether it's on LinkedIn, whether it's on Twitter, it's just very, very different. You just gotta be prepared to understand that, you know, there is no such thing as one size fits all.

Okay, I know. He just dropped a whole bunch of stuff right there. The big thing to look into for your country if you're not in the US or Canada is how your country handles ISBNs. In Canada, the government gives you ISBNs and. But you have to give them copies for their archives. Singapore, which is Raj's home country, was similar, and I've shared before, but Amazon is not the same in every country, and you're not always even getting distribution to international Amazon sites through kdp, which is an Amazon company. Historically, Amazon ca, which is Canada's Amazon, was actually best accessed for authors through Ingram's distribution service. That's changed a bit now, but things are always different. And you should expect to spend a bit of time checking the country listings where you have an audience and making sure everything looks like it should during pre sale, especially to catch any issues and try to correct them before you launch. We always recommend our clients have 6 weeks in pre sale, but anyone outside of the US is smart to give themselves 8 or even 10 weeks so all the catalogs can populate and be corrected if there's issues. Okay, so one thing Raj does really well is use metaphors. And the cool thing about metaphors is that most of the time they carry well from market to market and will help people understand and visualize your message and often even remember it. So let's hear Raj explain.

I talk about the digital transformation journey being A metamorphosis. And when you start talking about a metamorphosis, people like, well, you know, you can go through lengthy pages of descriptions and you know, it's almost like a word dump. But you know how I tried to convey that is we're trying to move from being a caterpillar to who is a pesky worm who is eating and destroying crops to a majestic butterfly. You know, that's that transformation from that worm to this majestic two winged butterfly that will fly majestically from flower to flower, cross pollinating. Right. So one destroys, one creates. And that's really trying to get across that, that point. Then the second example that I try to use is something that people can really relate to. So in the book I talk about the baby user. I talk about how you take a baby user from crawling to walking to running. So people, when they walk around say, I can relate to that. So I think if you're going to write something, find a way to paint a picture that people can hold on to and they can take away with them and say go.

I think that is such a universal tip for all authors. And it reminds me of an editor I had way back in my early days writing for a newsletter called early to Rise. I would often write articles for them that were really short, like 150 to 200 words long. So my editor really pushed me to make sure that not a single word was wasted. I could never say things like look. I had to say glance or stare. I couldn't say walk. I had to describe it with sprint or plod or trumble. Is trumble a word? I don't know. All right. The question you have asked me to ask our authors when they do these author spotlights is what has your experience working with book launchers been like? And do you have any advice for other people considering working with us? Raj, take it away.

So look, I'm still with them. I have, I think, been with book launchers for over a year. I can tell you that I would never have published this book without the help of, of Chad, Nicole, Shane, Jacqueline, Lauren, Roy, and they all had to put up with my nonsense. I have a strong opinion about certain things, but they worked with me with my project. They had the additional challenge of having to go into the unknown and they did. I was based in Singapore. I think you have time zones, you have culture, personality, all these things come into play. But I think it's important to appreciate that everyone you work with has your books interests at heart. I think that is one thing that does come out really loud and clear. I have to tell you, Chad, the cheesemonger from Kansas, brilliant lifesaver, you know, amazing. You know, some days I didn't want. I just didn't feel like writing. So we just click record and we just talk about. About a topic. And before I knew it, he churned something out to me, sent it through to me, and then I got stuck into it, and we got into a rhythm. And I think that's important, finding that rhythm and finding that balance and finding that comfort with your support writer, because when you can, then you'll really make progress. And then you go through the editing process, which can be quite brutal at times. But, you know, I think it's a rite of passage for everybody, and Chad was there to make sure, you know, I didn't fall over. I think every writer, every author will need to go through this. But remember, you know, it's your book, and, you know, all they're interested in, all book watchers is interested, is trying to create or find that best representation of your book.

Okay, I had to keep that part in about Chad, not just because Chad is as awesome as Raj says, but also because Raj hit on so many challenges authors face. Not feeling like doing the work, feeling stuck or feeling overwhelmed, or just really needing someone who makes the writing feel effortless at times. And our writing support does that. But Raj also has another tip I want to share with you all about doing podcasts. Raj wants to get into speaking, and now that the world is more open again, that will happen. But in the meantime, and as an international author, you'll find yourself doing a lot of podcast interviews. What's that mean? Well, this is a great perspective.

I've done a ton of podcasts, and it helps you refine your message, and I think that's really, really important. And just think as you're doing that, tailor everything. Tailor everything to the audience. Tailor everything to your host. Not about you, but your host. Because then you find different angles and different perspectives that your book may serve. And, you know, don't get disheartened, because the seeds that you sow today are going to bear fruit may not be in the next two weeks or two months. Right. But they will bear fruit. So, you know, stick at it.

All right, it's time for my personal favorite question. Raj, what's been the biggest surprise to you when you became an author?

I think the fact that people want to buy the book. I mean, it shipped to 30 cities around the world, and that's, you know, humbling. And, you know, there are really no words, but I have to say I was really, really surprised. It's amazing. I've got people posting images of the book. I think I've seen images in Sydney, Frankfurt, London, Toronto, Amsterdam, some places in Spain. And you know, it's really cool to see that movements need time to incubate and if anything that's really inspiring to me as an author.

Seeing your book in reader's hands is the best and it's even better when they're all over the world. How cool is that? Want to connect with Raj? Head on over to his website dappstrategist.com and you'll find his book and a form to fill out to work with him, media and more. Smash that thumbs up button to say thanks to Raj and feel free to post a comment or question for him below. And then head right over to this video on ISBN because you might be wondering about those things now. Or Visit this video YouTube thinks you must see. Both will be fabulous and I can't wait to see you there.