David Cole has been in book publishing for almost 30 years. He has been involved in every aspect of the industry including stints in editing, production, publicity, marketing and management. In this interview, learn what David looks for before signing an author to a book deal.

How long have you been in the publishing industry?

Since the mid-1970s.

What is the name of your company?

Bay Tree Publishing

What genres do you publish?

We focus on nonfiction in the areas of business, psychology, health, and the environment. We also work with memoirs and recently published our first work of fiction.

What does a manuscript have to contain to be considered?

We look for intelligent writing that gets beneath the surface of a topic. We are also attracted to works that make difficult subjects more understandable for readers without a specialized background.

Do you work with first time authors?

Yes. For most of our authors, we are publishing a first book, though many have already published other kinds of works such as newspaper and magazine or journal articles.

Do the authors you publish have to meet a certain criteria?

Authors must be committed to marketing their work. A good book proposal should contain a solid, realistic marketing plan. Beyond that, we would like to see evidence that an author is truly committed to following through on that plan. Do you write regularly for a periodical? Do you blog? Do you have an established audience online or in print? These are all indications that you are serious, not just about a particular book, but about communicating with readers.

Do you work with authors directly or must they have an agent?

Since we don’t offer advances, we rarely work with agents.

Do you evaluate the competition to ensure that the manuscript can be marketed and advertised as a unique stand alone title?

Evaluating the competition is an essential component of every publishing decision. If there are already ten or a hundred books established in the market that address an issue or need, bringing out another will only be successful if it is twice as good as those already available. If it is only ten percent better, it is unlikely to gain market share unless the author is either famous or engaged in very aggressive self-promotion.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Good writing is essential, but passion sells. From a publisher’s point of view, the best author is already famous. Since Bay Tree is too small to attract famous authors, we look for those who are on fire to reach an audience and who are already actively pursuing that goal. These are the authors who will most benefit from our expertise and who will be of the greatest value to us.

For more information on David Cole and Bay Tree Publishing visit http://www.baytreepublish.com/

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Julie Barnes is a Freelance Writer focusing on her passion of entrepreneurship. Julie published “So You Want to Start a Business…Now What?” in December 2009. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at http://www.onewhowrites.com.

Copyright © 2010 Julie Barnes and One Who Writes

Elaine Bliss is best known for her feminine graphics, illustrations and brand identities; Elaine has been using her artistic ability to create feminine and French inspired designs since she graduated from Lancaster Tech in Pennsylvania, with a certificate in commercial art. In this interview, learn how Elaine utilizes Etsy as an artist to generate more revenue into her business.

What brought you to become an Etsy shop owner?

Probably the same reason I used eBay for a while, the traffic. Their SEO (search engine optimization) is phenomenal. They also cater to artists which very few places do. I love that. I purposely avoid any place that calls artist and designers “Artisans”. It`s just not that same.

How do you market your business?

I mainly twitter and blog. Facebook had just become one of those indispensable tools and I have a fan page. Even though I have my family as friends, I keep it 99% professional. I try not to rant or post my opinions. But I share lots of tidbits to my “art” and home life. It helps humanize you and make sales.

How has social networking helped your business? What have you found works best for your store?

It`s had to “socialize” in order to make the sale. Takes time away from designing at my studio. So I automate my “socializing” with services like Ping.FM, Tweetdeck and Twaitter. Social networking does have the advantage of making your brand so personal; your clients will always know the owner of your store. There is no middle man or any degree of separation. The connections are deeper; therefore you stride harder to make your client happy. They in return, come back and buy. It`s a win-win.

What is your favorite part of being an Etsy store owner?

I would have to say that sense of “small community” even though they are huge. You can always get an email from their support team. It is very organized, so everyone feels like they have a special place.

What are some of the ways that you find Etsy helps in your success as a store owner?

I like how they showcase other artist that have quit their day job and made it on Etsy. They share their tips and motivate you to keep going. Secondly, their seller newsletters are full of information. They even have a manual of Etsy`s best practices and the best ways to sell.

What advice would you give new Etsians just starting out?

Be YOU. Having a unique vision and an unique product makes you money and it`s rewarded. You have no idea how many times I have seen the marketplace get crowded with the same things over and over. Tight competition helps no one. Originality is always the best marketing strategy there is. Also, don`t give up! It took me a few months to get a sale. However, if you are thinking about opening a store, do it just before a holiday. You are almost guaranteed a sale and it gets you motivated to do more.

How did you come up with your shop name?

Well I have three shops, one after my name, which I have to be honest; I was shy about doing the blatant self promotion. 8thLove.etsy.com is the store where I sell the fun stuff I find in my treasure hunts and the name came from the 8 things I love the most, the last or 8th love is paper. Rouge Press is my latest shop and I create letterpress stationery. Rouge is red in French. I am a Francophile and this store paid homage to that. Plus red is a great feng shui color for business!

How do you brand yourself to make your shop unique?

Fortunately, I am my own graphic designer and my own worst client. I change my mind about every six months. I print all my own collateral, so I get to personalize every single detail of my operations. From my twitter account to Etsy avatar, to me it`s important to make sure everything is consistent.

Do you feel a sense of community among the Etsy shop owners?

Yes, many shop owners a willing to share tips and secrets on how they got started. Not just on the forums but by simply asking them.

How do you connect with your buyers?

Besides pretty packaging, I like to add a sample card or some letterpress hang tags. A free something is always appreciated. I also like to write a note by hand in the package or print a Merci Beau Coup note, later mailed to their home with a discount code. The latter is so cute that they always come back.

For more information about Elaine Bliss and her Esty shops visit www.ElaineBiss.Etsy.com, or www.RougePress.Etsy.com. You can also visit her main website at www.ElaineBiss.com, follow her blog at www.ElaineBiss.Blogspot.com, or for more information about her stationary visit www.FashionableStationery.com.

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Julie Barnes is a Freelance Writer focusing on her passion of entrepreneurship. Julie published “So You Want to Start a Business…Now What?” in December 2009. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at http://www.onewhowrites.com.

Copyright © 2010 Julie Barnes and One Who Writes

Joel Gotler  is a literary manager in Los Angeles who has been instrumental in numerous publishing, book to film, and TV deals. Joel has worked with James Ellroy, Dennis Lahane, Michael Connelly, and Sue Grafton. Many of his clients have won a National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize, and Academy Awards. In this interview, learn what Joel looks for when deciding to work with an author.

How long have you been in the publishing industry?

I have been a literary agent since 1976 and sold my first book to Rodale Press. Then it was called ‘Circadian Rhythms’ a non-fiction book about how the body changes during air flight.

What is the name of your company?

Intellectual Property Group.

What genres do you publish?

We agent fiction and non-fiction.

What does a manuscript have to contain to be considered?

The manuscript has to be formatted professionally and must have a real voice and must be commercial in our opinion, so that we can also market the book to film.

Do you work with first time authors?

Yes, but we get too many queries to deal with everyone who asks.

Do the authors you publish have to meet a certain criteria?

No criteria, but that their covering letter should grab our attention if it is not a writer who has been recommended.

Do you work with authors directly or must they have an agent?

We work directly with authors as the agent or literary manager.

Do you evaluate the competition to ensure that the manuscript can be marketed and advertised as a unique stand alone title?

Yes, we are on top of the market place on a daily basis here and abroad (We get the reports of what is being developed and at what stage the project is at), and in terms of what the Hollywood studios are looking for. For instance, at lunch today three executives from a major Hollywood studio said to me in unison, “No dramas!”

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Hollywood and publishing are hard, tough nuts to crack these days as there are fewer slots for new movies although there is still film development; and, the publishers don’t accept slush pile material, and they have a real economic problem dealing with first timers as well as bucking the electronic publishing trend at the same time, so how do you break in? Get your stuff read by the right person. I am a frequent guest at USC and UCLA to discuss this issue.

Some of our film clients include James Ellroy, Dennis Lahane, Michael Connelly, Sue Grafton, The Estates of John O’ Hara, James Cain, and so on. We have about 150 clients all of a status and many having won National Book Awards, Pulitzer Prizes, Nobel Prizes, Academy Awards, etc.

For more information about Joel Gotler and Intellectual Property Group visit http://www.stonevillagepictures.com/ipg/

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Julie Barnes is a Freelance Writer focusing on her passion of entrepreneurship. Julie published “So You Want to Start a Business…Now What?” in December 2009.  Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at http://www.onewhowrites.com.

Copyright © 2010 Julie Barnes and One Who Writes

Here is Tim Besse, Co-Founder and Vice President of Product and Marketing at Glassdoor.com. Tim tells us all about Glassdoor, his background and gives lots of great advice.

Can you begin by telling us about your background? Where you are from, age, college education, etc.

I’m originally from Ohio where I attended and earned my bachelor’s degree from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Prior to co-founding Glassdoor.com, I worked with Expedia where I helped launch early stage businesses, including Expedia’s telesales and private label businesses as well as its online luxury offering, Classic Custom Vacations. However, my most recent role at Expedia was the director of product management and online marketing for the Asia Pacific division of Expedia. In this role, I developed new markets in Australia, Japan, and China, and assumed general management responsibility of the Hotels.com business in Asia.

When did you begin to develop your idea for Glassdoor.com? What gave you the idea to do this? What do you compare the site to if anything?

The idea of Glassdoor.com began in the summer of 2007, when my co-founder Robert Hohman (CEO of Glassdoor) was busy taking time off after having left his position as president of Hotwire.com. His long-time friend Rich Barton called up with an interesting question:

“What would happen if someone left the unedited employee survey for the whole company on the printer and it got posted to the Web?”

The two had previously worked together at Microsoft and then Expedia, which Rich founded in 1994. Expedia ultimately transformed travel by opening up information once available only to travel agents and insiders. Rich then went on to transform real estate with the launch of Zillow.com, allowing anyone to find and research home values from their personal computer.

Robert and Rich contemplated why it’s so difficult to find helpful information about jobs and workplaces. Robert called on me and we expanded the survey concept to include salary details down to the job level and CEO approval ratings, just like politician approval ratings. And thus, Glassdoor was born to deliver new transparency to an incredibly important part of our lives — our work.

To give you a comparison, think of Glassdoor.com as the TripAdvisor or Yelp of jobs and workplaces that uses employee-generated content to provide a free inside look at companies from those who know best – employees.

How did you go about taking Glassdoor.com to where it is today?

We worked on appealing to an individual’s curiosity – There’s always a natural curiosity around the competitiveness of compensation and finding out what others think. Through media relations and word of mouth , we have been able to virally spread the word about Glassdoor so as to show that there are answers out there to questions specific to one’s job title, workplace and even geographic location.

The site definitely seems to get a lot of traffic. What do you recommend to other entrepreneurs who are just starting out and trying to get their site exposure?

Learn from what others have done before you. We have had the benefit of learning from the experiences of members of our Board. For example, Stephen Kaufer (Board Member, Trip Advisor founder and CEO) has been extremely helpful in sharing his lessons learned from building the largest travel community in the world. In addition, we have spent time with other executives at some of the largest community / UGC driven services out there to help us think through the ways on which to build up site exposure. We also continue to hire community experts from local companies like Yahoo! /Flickr.

How do you see Glassdoor.com in the future?

This is a good question as it depends a lot on the needs of the employee and employer. Our goal is to continually improve upon Glassdoor so that it changes the existing paradigm to bring more transparency to the workplace to help people make critical choices about their career.

Are there any ventures you plan on pursuing after Glassdoor.com?

I’m fortunate that I have a job that I love and see plenty of potential in the future in which I can help to make Glassdoor a better career and workplace community.

How has your life changed since you started the site?

Well first I now live in the Bay Area whereas before I lived in Seattle and so I have had the chance to experience a new environment. In addition, I have been exposed to advantages and drawbacks that many individuals share when it comes to their work and careers. With this, I have been able to see that with transparency comes understanding and opportunity.

Can you tell us what inspires you?

In terms of Glassdoor, I am inspired all the time by the feedback and community engagement within the site. It’s a really exciting time for Glassdoor and feel fortunate to have the opportunity to help other people by giving them the tools and resources to make more informed decisions that impact the workplace and their careers.

What are your hobbies and interests outside of work?

I really enjoy traveling with my wife, Wendy, and we also like to get out into nature for a hike when the weather permits. When at home, you’ll probably find me curled up with a John Grisham novel unless a good football game is on TV. I’ve also been known to enjoy a nice bottle of wine now and then.

Do you have any experiences, advice, or anything else that you would like to share?

Don’t be afraid to take a chance if you are willing to work hard at an option that may seem more risky. I walked away from a secure job at Expedia with a good steady paycheck to try my hand at a start-up (Glassdoor). When we began last year, I was investing in the company rather than being paid to work there, but the opportunity to do this was something I knew I could believe in and in turn something that I could put my heart and mind into.

Thanks for taking time to do this great interview Tim!

Be sure to check out our review of Glassdoor.com

“NeedInstructions.com is the world’s most popular place to find clear instructions on how to do just about everything, as well as help you obtain missing instructions and manuals.”  This is how Christopher Evans, the Founder and CEO, breaks down his site.

All of NeedInstructions information has been uploaded by their members.  They have many categories for users to choose from.  You can find anything from a 1999 Ford Explorer Owner’s Guide to a How To on safely bathing a cat!  We highly recommend the business section, which consists of some great How To’s.  One are we look forward to seeing more of is How To’s on web design.  Web Design is definitely a hot topic and individuals are always looking for some helpful How To’s.  NeedInstructions is rapidly growing and has immense potential.  Christopher Evans is on a mission and his experience and persistence is driving him closer each day.

We were fortunate enough to interview Christopher Evans.  He sounds off about his background, motivation, future, the lowdown on NeedInstructions! Thanks for taking the time to do this Christopher.

Can you begin by telling us about your background? Where you are from, age, college education, etc.

Pretty much you can say I am from everywhere. Growing up I was an Army brat and traveled around the world, so I never really had a set to place to call home. Currently, I am 27 years old, holding a MBA in Accounting/Finance from Regis University and a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from SUNY Farmingdale.

I have extensive management, ecommerce, and technical consulting experience. I have held many technical & management responsibilities. I worked for many big firms such as JPMorgan&Chase, Marsh & McLennan, Accenture, and IBM. My experience in ecommerce stems from over two years of strategy consulting in the consultant world. In addition to my ecommerce background, I have 4 years of experience in data warehousing and data modeling.

When did you begin to develop your idea for NeedInstructions.com? What motivated you to pursue making NeedInstructions.com a reality?

I had the idea for NeedInstructions.com in 2006. I got the idea for the site after a particularly frustrating experience when purchasing a large product that had to be assembled. After purchasing the product I found out there where no instructions included. While not finding any instructions on the product I decided to visit the company’s web-site to see if I could find the instruction I needed to assemble the product. After spending an hour searching the company’s web-site and the World Wide Web without finding anything, the idea of NeedInstructions.com came to me.

Did you receive any help in making the site? What steps did you have to take?

Originally when I first started to create NeedInstructions.com, I was trying to do everything myself, such as the coding, design, and business. Whatever it was, you name it, I was doing it myself. After a while I realized I couldn’t do everything on my own, and I needed help. I figured it was in my best interest and NeedInstructions.com’s to hire a development team to create the site for me while I focus on more of the business aspect.

Initially when I decided it was time to hire an outside firm to help with the development of the site, I already had the basic design and usability of the site. So it made my job a lot easier hiring a web development team to help me bring NeedInstructions.com to life.

Where do you want to take NeedInstructions.com? What do you see in its future?

I want NeedInstructions.com to be the number one site for instructions, manuals, and how to’s around the world. I would like to see NeedInstructions.com partner with many big companies such as Sony, GE, Maytag, and Ikea so that NeedInstructions.com can store and offer their instructions, manuals, and user guides to the public, so that these companies can focus more on there products and leave the instructions to NeedInstructions.com.

Are there any ventures you plan on pursuing after Need Instructions LLC?

As of now, my main focus is to continue keep the public aware of NeedInstructions.com.

How has your life changed since you started the site?

I’m working a lot more. Beginning a startup you will come to realize your day starts off at 8 am and doesn’t end till no later then 1 am or in until the job is done.

What inspires you? What do you recommend to fellow entrepreneurs?

I would have to say that my wife inspires me to succeed. Family is very important in any initiative one takes. Without my wife’s support and love, I don’t believe I would be as far as I am today.

My recommendation to any entrepreneur would to be always be humble and never think you’re above anyone. What I mean by this, is just because you’re a CEO or the boss of your own company you should continue to treat people how you would want to be treated. As they say, “Happy employees generate better returns,” I hold that statement to be true. I also recommend entrepreneurs to constantly network with others. Networking is very important to jump starting any business. And lastly, always double and triple check everything. No job is too big or too small for a CEO or business owner to check over.

What are your hobbies and interests outside of your work life?

Besides from creating my own how to’s on NeedInstructions.com, I love to cook and to spend time with my wife.

Do you have any experiences, advice, or anything else that you would like to share?

Whatever you do in life always give it your all. I know so many people that have started their own business or website and wouldn’t put there all into it and then come to find out down the line it failed and they don’t know why. Starting up a business or website is never easy. You should know this will take up a lot of your time. Also know and understand your target base and users. Lastly, it is always important do your research before initiating anything.

Awesome interview Christopher!  We all wish you the best of luck.

This was definitely very inspiring with a lot of great advice.
Enjoy this entrepreneurs and really take it all in.