Better With Age

: The Ultimate Guide to Brain Training

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Pub Date 16 Mar 2016 | Archive Date 07 May 2016

Description

Offering a whole new approach to “use it or lose it,” Better with Age moves way beyond crossword puzzles, Sudoku, or computer games. With over 70 color illustrations, this compact, no-nonsense book describes a proven strategy for boosting brain performance.

Award-winning author and brain coach Phyllis Strupp puts theory into practice by using real-life stories to show what neuroplasticity looks like at all ages. Tools, tips, and techniques from her years of teaching—all presented with her trademark warmth and humor—demystify the science and encourage a lifestyle of brain-building habits.

No prior knowledge of neuroscience is necessary. A glossary and a list of resources (publications, research articles and studies, and web sites) equip the reader for further learning. A comprehensive index enables quick review of important concepts.





Offering a whole new approach to “use it or lose it,” Better with Age moves way beyond crossword puzzles, Sudoku, or computer games. With over 70 color illustrations, this compact, no-nonsense book...


Advance Praise

Better With Age: The Ultimate Guide to Brain Training

978-0-9746727-1-7 $24.95

As people live longer and as bodies continue to break down with age, quality of life becomes more important for present and future generations, especially with the specter of Alzheimer's becoming more and more prevalent. While there is no current prevention or cure for dementia, Better with Age offers some self-help approaches that can help strengthen the brain.

But first, a disclaimer: readers who expect to be spoon-fed routines might be disappointed to learn that, especially in this case, self-help emphasizes self. There is no path to transformation that doesn't take place without reader participation; no pat and easy answers; and many routines that require an active, ongoing participation in exercises and approaches that strengthen brain functions.

Those with a 'can-do' attitude who seek concrete ideas for such exercises will find Better with Age is firmly rooted in the latest brain research and takes the 'training' ideas of physical therapy into brain-strengthening areas. Readers should thus be prepared to invest a minimum of 15 minutes a day to following the program provided, and should have sufficient motivation and ability to follow directions and document results.

Chapters provide overviews of how the brain changes with age, how it develops different strengths at different ages, and how to 'rebalance' the brain's thought processes to improve short- and long-term memory and provide the positive conditioning that leads it to choose better paths.

With its discussions of psychology, physiology, and brain research, approaches to retraining are reinforced by concrete research and facts. The result is a practical, applicable handbook requiring neither reader familiarity with brain research and cognitive theory nor complex routines. All that's needed is a commitment to changing lifestyles just a little to make brain exercise as important as physical fitness. This audience will find Better with Age offers an approach that is concrete, actionable, and easy to follow.

D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review


Better With Age: The Ultimate Guide to Brain Training

978-0-9746727-1-7 $24.95

As people live longer and as bodies continue to break down with age, quality of life becomes more...


Marketing Plan

“Better with Age: The Ultimate Guide to Brain Training”

Book Marketing Plan

July 1, 2015-June 30, 2016

Introduction / Summary

“Better with Age: The Ultimate Guide to Brain Training” is a beautifully designed book with high production values on a hot topic: how to protect brain health over age 50. The target audience is baby boomer women and their aging parents. The size and affluence of this group, coupled with a high concern about cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s, make this an attractive book-buying market segment.

The award-winning author and brain coach, who also has an MBA in finance, has been teaching at Arizona retirement communities, private communities, and faith communities for 8 years. She has extensive contacts for scheduling book events for back-of-the-room sales. The marketing strategy is to build buzz about the book through direct sales, reader reviews on Amazon, and search engine optimization for those interested in brain training.

Target Market

1. Baby boomer women who are interested in mind-body-spirit wellness and want a practical book with color, humor, science, self-assessments, and stories. This book will demystify neuroplasticity science and provide these women with the tools and resources they need to make lifestyle changes to protect brain health. The “worried well” and those who have had a parent with Alzheimer’s will especially be receptive.

2. Baby boomer men who have retired and want to “fix” the hole in their lives (as in the movie “The Intern”). This book will guide them toward a meaning and purpose plan built around something other than working and providing for family. Married, socially- engaged men who have a life outside of work and are concerned about vitality will be more interested than others.

3. Residents of the east and west coasts of the U.S., as well as in English-speaking countries such as Canada and Australia.

4. The book was written to be accessible to interested readers who did not attend college.

5. In addition to traditional media, the best ways to target this audience:

n Book clubs

n In-person gatherings at places familiar to them (libraries, gated communities, faith communities, professional association meetings, volunteer service organizations, senior centers)

n Bulk sales to retirement community marketing staff

n Internet/website search engine optimization

n Through their parents at retirement communities.

Market Analysis

In the U.S., neurological disorders and traumatic brain injuries across all ages have boosted public interest in brain health over the past 10 years. Hundreds of brain-oriented books are released every year. Differentiating the book for readers will be critical, both during talks and on the internet. Based on reader reviews on Amazon, there is some “brain fatigue” about neuroscience due to its theoretical, jargon-oriented nature.

The keys to success include:

1. Target groups that are already familiar with the author, through her first book and teaching at retirement and private communities over the past 8 years.

2. Target large women’s groups in the Phoenix area and on the internet that have an interest in helping working women stay sharp mentally on the job.

3. Use highly-searched brain training keywords in website content.

4. Have fun, engaging book videos (10 seconds, 30 seconds, 60 seconds) that pop up when someone scrolls over the book reviews on website.

Distribution channels include back-of-the room and personal sales by the author, Amazon, and Bookmobile/Itasca.

Competitive Analysis

Competitive offerings are books that are trying to combine neuroplasticity science with self-help. Many are written by academics that speak at conferences and have many students, colleagues, and attendees to promote to. These books tend to get reader criticisms for being heavy on the scientific theory and light on the theory-to-practice side. The books tend to be straight text without tools and color illustrations that boost reader comprehension and engagement.

Marketing Strategy

1. Build reputation of “Better with Age” as a user-friendly, fun, helpful resource for those who want a theory-to-practice approach to brain fitness. The book’s tools, color illustrations, real-life stories, discussion questions, resources, glossary, and index will distinguish the book from heady, straight-text competitors’ books that don’t engage the reader at the lifestyle level.

2. Rebrand author’s website (phyllisstrupp.info) to focus on author as a brain training expert to attract more traffic from searches. Landing page will highlight new book and provide quick book videos when viewers look at reviews.

3. Position the book as a valuable self-help resource for the potential reader and an excellent gift for loved ones at the holidays, birthday, or Mother’s Day/Father’s Day.

Product:

Title: Better with Age: The Ultimate Guide to Brain Training

Author: Phyllis Strupp

Paperback: 184 pages

Publisher: Sonoran Cross Press LLC (Publication date of March 16, 2016)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0974672718

ISBN-13: 978-0974672717

Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches

Category: Health, Fitness & Dieting


Highlights:

Award-winning author

4-color design details and over 70 illustrations throughout the book

Questions for group discussion or personal discussion at the end of each chapter

Original self-assessment tools included in the text

Back matter includes glossary, resources, and index

Professional design, editing, composition, proofreading, and indexing

Competitive offering because it does not require any knowledge of neuroscience and conveys practical information with humor, warmth, and concrete examples.

Price: List $24.95, special program price of $20 including sales tax for author events

Phone and wholesale direct sales to Ingram etc. to be handled by Itasca.

Promotion:

Public speaking, website searches, social media

Placement:

Amazon and Itasca for all other trade distribution. Personal website will include a link to Amazon. Direct sales (personal and event) will be a major focus.

Marketing Tactics / Action Plan

Book events: The author’s goal is to hold 50 book events by 3/31/16.

Book launch party: A local community event to build buzz and sales will be held in the first quarter of 2016.

Book video: Three different book videos (15 seconds, 30 seconds, 60 seconds, 90 seconds) will pop up when viewers who have landed on author’s website scroll over content and reviews. The 90-second on will also be on author’s YouTube channel.

E-tips: Monthly e-tips to a list of 400 have included book excerpts since March 2015, and will continue to have excerpts through March 2016. E-tips are posted on author’s LinkedIn and Twitter pages.

Media coverage: review requests will be solicited through pub date 3/16/16. A press release will go out one month before the publication date.

Online course: Author has approached local community college to discuss developing an online course for health and wellness students.

Postcards: 1,000 printed in March 2015, still have 500. Stickers with Itasca’s phone and website will be added by 10/31/15.

Website: re-designed for new branding around book (available 11/30/15).

Workshops: The author will hold workshops at gated and faith communities for a fee that includes book purchase.


















“Better with Age: The Ultimate Guide to Brain Training”

Book Marketing Plan

July 1, 2015-June 30, 2016

Introduction / Summary

“Better with Age: The Ultimate Guide to Brain...



Average rating from 18 members


Featured Reviews

The Brain Explained

This is a fascinating, easy to read, book for the ordinary person who wants to know how the brain works, and would like some ideas about how to get it working even better. It has lots of clear explanations - like why we feel stress after the cause has gone, and lots of diagrams and pictures to complement the text.

At the end of each of the 7 chapters there are questions to ponder on, and at the end of the book there is a list of further resources that relate to each chapter.

There are many interesting facts/statements such as "95% of Alheimers' cases are not linked to the genes you are born with" and there are many case histories given, including some which have been in the public eye.

The main message (I got) is "Use it or Lose it", or work hard to regain/learn it. Therefore it is important to continuously train your brain. The book suggests you need work each part of your brain, and provides a few worksheets to help you understand which parts you are currently using effectively, and then offers a lot of ideas on how to get the other parts working better. There are also examples of neuroplasticity where people who have lost the use of parts of their brains, have been able to retrain other parts of their brain to take over these lost functions.

The book is clearly set out, so it is easy to refer back to particular sections of interest - helped by an extensive Index at the back. There is also a useful glossary of terms - though I (with no medical background) had no need of the glossary whilst reading the book.

A fascinating book, that I shall certainly be referring back to again and again. I'm not sure how well it would work on an e-reader, give that there are various worksheets - which once completed need cross-referencing with activity sheets. Colour is also important for the diagrams.

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This book ended up being a better read than I thought. I was worried that it would be full of "you can do it" fluff speak with no actual substance. Instead, I got a well thought out book that balances scientific knowledge with anecdotal experiences to provide some very good guidelines for readers. Better With Age is a bit more of a workbook, but the engagement questions at the end of each chapter really are good food for thought.

Strupp discusses a lot of aspects of mental health and admits when parts of the brain are still too unknown for her suggestions to be one-hundred percent true. She is even nice enough to provide a section of suggested reading for further research. The glossary at the end of the book is also helpful for those of us who can easily trip over scientific terminology.

I will not give away any of Strupp's suggestions, but I did find them to be interesting and, given my family's history with Alzheimer's, rather applicable. Strupp has done her research and has a lot of experience in this arena. So if you are worried about your long-term mental health, I highly recommend this book. I'll probably be picking up a physical copy for a couple of people I know.

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Better with age is an entertaining and informative book about how to use our brain in order to live longer and better. The author, financial representative before, brain coach now, uses a comprehensible language to guide us through the evolution of the nervous system in order to get to the most complicated structure we know: the human brain, an immense treasure we own but we don't know and use enough. It has also the extraordinary capacity of repairing and improving itself through the whole lifespan thanks to the neuroplasticity. Use it or lose it - is the leit-motiv of the book and the author explains why it is so important and how to do this. How we use our brain is our responsability and in our interest so we need a guide to do it well.

Dividing the brain in five zones that are associated with various tasks, the author explains through the Brain Portfolio Tool (a metaphore taken from the financial world) that we need to invest in all of them and to give them a chance for acting and she suggests the activities we can do to achieve this goal. A balanced activity of all zones is fundamental for good health of the brain and the body in older age. (As an artist I was somewhat surprised that crafts, drawing and sculpture are associated with parietal lobe (artisan activities) together to bicycle and horseback riding and hunting (adventure activities), while art was associated with occipital lobe).

In the same way are described the superpowers of the brain. She also tells us concrete examples of people of various age that activating them have succeed in improving his/her own life.

In the last chapter the author analyzes long-agers' behaviour and lifestyle, their social, economical and cultural environment in different high-income countries searching for a key. She also is investigating for the dramatic number of Alzheimer's cases in the USA pointing out the probably causes and so suggesting the solutions.

The book is written in a reader-friendly language, the illustrations and the layout facilitate easy reading and comprehension. Every chapter has engagement questions getting the reader personally involved.

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I was extremely excited to get a copy of this book to review. I have a fascination with how the brain so able to adapt and learn. So when I looked at the description, I knew I needed to add it to my 'to read' list.

This book is a self-help book, for those who are middle-aged up. Now that doesn't count the young people out. The motto is 'use it or lose it'. We all know that is true for the rest of our body, but the unseen organ called the brain is no different. In fact, is should be our number one concern. We live in a time of high pressure and stress. We have all the world at our fingertips but should we neglect our precious brain. Before I started studying Education, I had no idea of the capabilities of our minds. As I near the end of my degree, I have become more and more interest in our potential as human beings.

This book tackles our abilities from the perspective that we need to help ourselves, especially as we age. Science now knows we can keep learning and strengthening our brains right through life. I have to agree as I see elderly people who are vibrant. When I question them, most have kept learning and held on to their hope and dreams. They have continued to 'help themselves' while continuing to grow. This book offers insight into continued growth and redevelopment of the brain. It is not a book of crossword puzzles and mind benders. It is a book of genuine growth and continued development.

The author offers insight into brain diseases like Alzheimer's and brain injuries. There is a scientific insight into this amazing part our body that we often neglect. I enjoyed the science incorporation in the book along with the examples of people who have defied the odds and restructured their brains to continue life to the fullest.

This book is for everyone. It is aimed at the more mature age groups, but I differ on this idea and would encourage all ages to read this and take on board some of the ideas presented. You are never too young to take care of your mind, after all, it makes your body move, digest, love, and speak. Start looking after the most important part of your body today. A good starting point will be reading this book; it's easy to devour and just as easy to start following the principles within.

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This book packages some good general advice in an annoying and pretentious style, and mixes it with a lot of sloppy technical science. You may find the style less annoying than I do, in which case you might gain motivation from the book's positive tone.

I think the useful information content of the book can be summed up in one short paragraph. It is important to exercise your brain as you get older, both for physical and mental health. However just as you wouldn't try to get physically fit by doing only bicep curls; you'd also do some cardio and stretching, and some exercises designed to strengthen balance and coordination; your brain exercises should encompass a range of skills, not just solving puzzles. It's important to exercise your brain in combination with all five of your senses, and also with a range of mental abilities.

So how do you get a book out of that? One way is to package it with a lot of collateral material like "engagement questions," motivational quotes, cartoons and pictures and personal stories. Some people will find these make the book fun to read, and the advice easier to accept and remember. Others will find it to be unnecessary fluff.

A less defensible way is to fill the book with semi-accurate scientific details that don't add to understanding. The author has read some popular books on brain science (some good, some not so good) and summarized them with lots of jargon but not the precision necessary to explain the science. You don't need lists of brain chemicals, accounts of neuron physiology or brain charts to understand how and why to exercise your brain. And if you want the neuroscience, you should get a good account from a scientist, such as [[ASIN:1118086864 Neuroscience For Dummies]], or a serious popular science writer, such as [[ASIN:1465416021 The Human Brain Book]]. This author is neither trained in science nor skilled at communicating complex technical information, as a result you get cocktail party brain science that isn't either practical help for improving your brain or accurate knowledge in general.

What I found most irritating about the book is things like a "warning to the reader" (complete with bright yellow icon), suggesting that anyone who doesn't like this book fears change, is unhappy to be alive, doesn't want life to improve with age, and refuses to accept wisdom from business, nature, science or religion. I didn't like the book, but I don't think any of those things are true of me. More generally, this book has that unpleasant (to me, anyway) self-help attitude of communicating a revealed truth rather than tentatively exploring a topic in which our ignorance considerably outweighs our knowledge, and relishing the thought of suffering unbelievers. The author may have switched her preaching from financial sales and religion to brain science, but the proselytizing attitude remains.

I'm well aware that the things I found annoying in this book are common in the self-help field, and obviously many people must like them, because these books sell. So you may find the book motivating and fascinating where I find it pompous and irritating. Since the core advice is good, if you like the package, by all means buy this book. But if you share my tastes, you'll have a hard time getting much benefit from this book.

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What I didn't know about the brain could fill the sky. Even after reading Phyllis Strupp's book, I still know very little, but a bit more than I did yesterday. It is fascinating. If you're interested in what goes on between your ears, then this is a must read. Be prepared to be shocked how little we use our brain power and low little we retain if we don't exercise the mind. Just like exercising the body, your brain needs to be kept fit too if it is to grow and not wither. The science included in the book is easy'ish to grasp and provides useful background information. Go on, give your brain a work out.

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This book is a informative guide for neuroscience for all that are intended as caretakers of anyone in mental decline. It is also helpful for personal knowledge for all ageing populations.

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