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Book trade news from Book2book16 May 2012 | 7:06 am -
Why 50 Shades of Grey Makes Agent Lives Harder
Pub Rants10 May 2012 | 7:51 pmSTATUS: The appointment schedule is firming up! Get ready for some posts on what editors will be looking for in 2012.What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? THIS IS IT by Kenny LogginsIt's pretty simple. We agents go to conferences and really drive home the fact that writers need to master their craft. Wow us with masterfully written opening pages. Stop butchering the English language. Then a work comes along and blows that advice out of the water. Readers have called 50 Shades of Grey any number of things: campy, fun, spirited, hilarious, worth the money, a fast read.But well written… -
Fridays With Agent Kristin: Episode 7 - What is A Plot Catalyst?
Pub Rants4 May 2012 | 5:42 pmSTATUS: TGIF! I actually had a great work week. Yes, I need to read some stuff over the weekend but I'm feeling almost caught up. This means I'm forgetting something huge I'm sure. What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? YELLOW by ColdplayOkay, so I taped this segment a couple of weeks ago. I'm particularly fond of how I start with "good morning."Oh well, the content is still good. In honor of the first video webinar I did (which tackled how to craft the query letter pitch paragraph in your novel), I thought I'd give some tips for those who couldn't attend. When I teach writers… -
20+ funny cartoons and pictures about ebooks, ereaders and digital reading
Password Incorrect Blog10 May 2012 | 11:32 amE-books are with us for over 40 years, but they’ve become a part of our daily life in the recent months rather than years. Electronic books, as well as digital reading and publishing, become a mainstream topic. As a result we can expect more fun and trivia stuff about them. Here is a selection of the funniest cartoons we’ve come across the web as well as created ourselves. Still, the major source of fun is coming from a natural need to embrace the uncertainty. What e-books can’t do is still what mostly makes us laugh. We will be updating the list frequently, so if you find… -
The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey
Knopf Doubleday » Knopf15 May 2012 | 12:42 pmAn automaton, a man and a woman who can never meet, two stories of love—all are brought to incandescent life in this hauntingly moving novel from one of the finest writers of our time. London 2010: Catherine Gehrig, conservator at the Swinburne museum, learns of the sudden death of her colleague and lover of thirteen years. As the mistress of a married man, she must struggle to keep the depth of her anguish to herself. The one other person who knows Catherine’s secret—her boss—arranges for her to be given a special project away from prying eyes in the museum’s Annexe. Usually…
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Knopf Doubleday » Knopf
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The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey
15 May 2012 | 12:42 pmAn automaton, a man and a woman who can never meet, two stories of love—all are brought to incandescent life in this hauntingly moving novel from one of the finest writers of our time. London 2010: Catherine Gehrig, conservator at the Swinburne museum, learns of the sudden death of her colleague and lover of thirteen years. As the mistress of a married man, she must struggle to keep the depth of her anguish to herself. The one other person who knows Catherine’s secret—her boss—arranges for her to be given a special project away from prying eyes in the museum’s Annexe. Usually… -
The Undertow by Jo Baker
15 May 2012 | 12:36 pmThe American debut of an enthralling new voice: a vivid, indelibly told work of fiction that follows four generations of a family against the backdrop of a tumultuous century—a novel about inheritance, about fate and passion, and about what it means to truly break free of the past. This is the story of the Hastings family—their secrets, their loves and losses, dreams and heartbreaks—captured in a seamless series of individual moments that span the years between the First World War and the present. The novel opens in 1914 as William, a young factory worker, spends one last evening at… -
Aerogrammes by Tania James
15 May 2012 | 12:28 pm“By turns rib-shakingly funny and poignant, pinwheeling and wise . . . Proof that the short story is joyfully, promiscuously, thrillingly alive.” —Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! From the highly acclaimed author of Atlas of Unknowns (“Dazzling . . . One of the most exciting debut novels since Zadie Smith’s White Teeth”—San Francisco Chronicle; “An astonishment of a debut”—Junot Díaz), a bravura collection of short stories set in locales as varied as London, Sierra Leone, and the American Midwest that captures the yearning and dislocation of young men and women… -
Video: Bishop Gene Robinson on Legalizing Gay Marriage
10 May 2012 | 5:12 pmBishop Gene Robinson (God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage, coming from Knopf in September) sat down with us on Tuesday to talk about marriage equality, just one day before President Obama’s historic statement backing the legalization of same-sex marriages. You can see for yourself what he had to say in our video below. -
Book a Literary Escape for Your Mom
9 May 2012 | 12:57 pmThis Mother’s Day, take your mom somewhere special: to the wilderness of the Pacific Crest Trail, to Darcy’s magnificent estate at Pemberley, to the villages of Bangladesh. Best of all, the ticket is one she can use again and again. And while you’re buying a gift for mom, enter to win a shopping spree for yourself! (To be awarded after Mother’s Day) a Rafflecopter giveaway Death Comes to Pemberley Written by P. D. James Join Elizabeth and Darcy at their magnificent estate at Pemberley. Their patrician idyll is shattered when Lydia, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister,…
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Yahoo! Finance: Publishing - Books Industry News
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Pearson buys certification provider Certiport
16 May 2012 | 11:12 am -
US crude oil supplies grow by 2.1 million barrels
16 May 2012 | 9:58 am -
Pearson VUE Acquires Certiport
16 May 2012 | 9:07 am -
Pearson VUE Acquires Certiport
16 May 2012 | 9:06 am[PR Newswire] - MINNEAPOLIS, May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Pearson VUE, the computer-based testing arm of Pearson, today announced the acquisition of Certiport, a leading provider of performance-based certification exams ... -
Chart of the Day: McGraw Hill
16 May 2012 | 8:45 am
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800 CEO Read
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Jack Covert Selects – The Good Food Revolution
10 May 2012 | 5:49 pmTweet The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities by Will Allen, Gotham Books, 272 pages, $26.00, Hardcover, May 2012, ISBN 9781592407101 For an average-sized book, there is a lot within this one. From the title, one might expect sociological research on trends in organic food, or an analysis of a health food business and how they became successful. While it certainly has traces of those things, it is so much more. This book is by and about a man named Will Allen, who grew up around farming, played professional basketball, managed a chain of restaurants, was an… -
Jack Covert Selects – The Reinventors
10 May 2012 | 5:43 pmTweet The Reinventors: How Extraordinary Companies Pursue Radical Continuous Change by Jason Jennings, Portfolio, 256page, $26.95, May 2012, ISBN 9781591844235 The once vital Main Streets of America are all but out of business, boarded up or filled with antique stores shopping the delights and detritus of another era. Jason Jennings visits the main street of his own abandoned hometown at the beginning of The Reinventors to use it as a metaphor for “what will happen to you, your job, and your business unless you become a reinventor completely committed to constant radical change and… -
Jack Covert Selects – How Will You Measure Your Life?
10 May 2012 | 5:38 pmTweet How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen, James Allworth & Karen Dillon, Harper Business, 240 pages, $25.99, Hardcover, May 2012, ISBN 9780062102416 Clayton Christensen is a business theorist who, in 1997, wrote the renowned Innovator’s Dilemma which introduced the idea that most well-established companies are overtaken not by behemoth competitors but by “disruptive” innovations that rise up and cut down giants in part because the giants were oblivious to the threat, and/or unable to invest in new emerging technologies. Christensen is also a dedicated professor… -
LeaveSmarter: Stephen Shapiro
10 May 2012 | 4:09 pmTweetYesterday, Stephen Shapiro was in town for our private LeaveSmarter event, sponsored by BMO Harris/M&I Bank and Whyte Hirschboek Dudek. His talked focused on ideas from his recent book, and 800-CEO-READ Business Book Award winner for 2011, Best Practices Are Stupid: 40 Ways to Out-Innovate the Competition. According to Shapiro, the main problems we have with being innovative, is how we think about things, the kind of questions we ask, and what we already know about the challenges we face. Here’s a clip from his talk that gives examples of this: Following this, Shapiro… -
ChangeThis: Issue 94
9 May 2012 | 4:43 pmTweet Unleashing the Creative Reservoir: The Rise of the Creative Class, Revisited by Richard Florida “A new social compact—a Creative Compact—can turn our Creative Economy into a just and Creative Society, in which prosperity is widely shared. While driven and shaped by economic logic, the key institutions and initiatives of the future will be shaped, as they always have, by human agency.” Build This: Your Culturematic Laboratory by Grant McCracken “Ruled by pragmatism and play, your laboratory is fast becoming the place you come to look out into the future. This the bridge from…
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GalleyCat
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Zombie-Based Learning on Kickstarter
16 May 2012 | 9:09 amDavid Hunter has raised more than $6,800 for his zombie-based learning project, “Geography Taught in Zombie Apocalypse.” Above, we’ve embedded a video about the Kickstarter project–what do you think? Here’s more about the project: “I love geography, and I love zombies. I believe that students can learn important educational concepts through the lens of their interests. I’ve chosen to combine geography and zombies because I don’t think it is a natural connection. By building this project, we can show that learning can be done through far out scenarios, or even… -
Aaron Sorkin to Write Film Adaptation of Steve Jobs Bio
16 May 2012 | 7:47 amSony Pictures Entertainment will adapt Walter Isaacson‘s bestselling biography of Steve Jobs, with The Social Network screenwriter Aaron Sorkin writing on the script. Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal had this statement: “Jobs’ story is unique: he was one of the most revolutionary and influential men not just of our time but of all time. There is no writer working in Hollywood today who is more capable of capturing such an extraordinary life for the screen than Aaron Sorkin; in his hands, we’re confident that the film will be everything that Jobs himself… -
Literary Groups Defend ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’
16 May 2012 | 7:23 amComparing Fifty Shades of Grey to Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Fear of Flying, prominent literary groups criticized the Brevard County Public Library system for refusing to carry E. L. James‘ racy novel. The National Coalition Against Censorship circulated the letter, getting signatures from the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, Association of American Publishers, PEN American Center, American Society of Journalists and Authors and The Independent Book Publishers Association. Follow this PDF link to read the letter. Here’s an excerpt: The idea that… -
This Week on the mediabistro.com Job Board: TASCHEN, Apress, Angry Robot Books
16 May 2012 | 7:23 amThis week, TASCHEN is hiring a public relations manager, while Apress needs a managing coordinating editor. Angry Robot Books is on the hunt for a U.S. sales and marketing manager, and Guideposts is seeking an editor of series fiction. Get all the details below, and find more just-posted publishing gigs on mediabistro.com. Public Relations Manager TASCHEN (New York, NY) Managing Coordinating Editor Apress (New York, NY) U.S. Sales and Marketing Manager Angry Robot Books (New York, NY) Editor, Series Fiction Guideposts (New York, NY) Digital Marketing Associate RosettaBooks (New York, NY) For… -
Michael Dirda Answers Questions on Reddit
16 May 2012 | 6:37 amWhat is the worst book you’ve ever read? Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic and author Michael Dirda held an epic “Ask Me Anything” interview at Reddit, fielding questions online from readers about self-publishing, Amazon and the worst books he ever reviewed. At one point, he talked about the worst book he’d ever read. Check it out: “Judith Krantz‘s Dazzle. Even the sex in the book was boilerplate, a totally meretricious work. John Sutherland–a distinguished English authority on the novel and the best seller–once included Dazzle in his list of…
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Publishing News
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J.Lo tops Forbes power celebrity list
16 May 2012 | 12:41 pmJennifer Lopez has topped the annual Forbes list of the 100 most powerful celebrities in the world, taking over from fellow pop singer Lady Gaga and beating out media mogul Oprah Winfrey. -
Lennon's killer transferred to another NY prison
16 May 2012 | 8:27 amIn this 1975 file photo, Mark David Chapman is seen at Fort Chaffee near Fort Smith, Ark. -
Top US Commander in Afghanistan Reportedly Leaving for Europe
16 May 2012 | 8:27 amGen. John Allen is reportedly leaving his post as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. -
U.S. may freeze assets to boost Yemen transition: report
16 May 2012 | 4:12 amPresident Barack Obama plans to give the Treasury Department authority on Wednesday to freeze U.S.-based assets of anyone who "obstructs" implementation of the Washington-backed political transition in Yemen, the Washington Post reported late on Tuesday. -
Report: Murder suspect tried suicide earlier
16 May 2012 | 12:02 amAuthorities say a man who hanged himself in a San Diego County jail cell attempted suicide earlier and spent a month in a psychiatric ward.
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Commercial Printing News
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The "Moneyball" Connection
16 May 2012 | 12:01 pmIt took about an hour, but we finally got our first "Moneyball" reference at OMMA RTB. -
Top 5 Companies in the Commercial Printing Industry With the Lowest...
16 May 2012 | 7:42 amMay 16, 2012 News Watch via COMTEX) -- Below are the three companies in the Commercial Printing industry with the lowest projected earnings growth. -
Quad/Graphics Revenue Drops in Q1 2012
15 May 2012 | 8:22 pmBinding & Finishing, Mailing / Postal & Fulfillment Business Management & Strategic Planning Digital Printing Human Resources Package Printing Processes & Technology Paper & Substrates, Inks & Coatings Print Production & Color/Quality Control Printing Processes & Technology Sales & Marketing Special Reports & Market Research , Quad/Graphics ... (more) -
Quad donates stone signs to village
15 May 2012 | 4:12 pmVillage of Sussex - Village trustees have tentatively approved the design, construction and installation of two stone welcome signs. -
BRIEF-Tiger Global Management takes stake in W. R. Grace & Co
15 May 2012 | 12:08 pmTiger Global Management: * Tiger global management dissolves share stake in Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd * Tiger global management dissolves share stake in Everest Re Group Ltd * Tiger global management dissolves share stake in Heckmann Corp * Tiger global management dissolves share stake in Harry Winston Diamond Corp * Tiger global management ... (more)
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Packt Publishing Technical & IT Book and eBook Store | Feed
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Workflow
11 May 2012 | 3:39 amIn this article by Andy Penver, we will cover the following: Introducing Workflow Builder Installing the database objects Creating an advanced queue Building a workflow Creating a business event Viewing a workflow status and monitoring progress Adding a function Creating a lookup Creating a subprocess Sending notifications and processing responses Calling an API -
Troubleshooting with Intuit Quickbooks
8 May 2012 | 5:33 amThis article by Jaime Campbell, CPA, MBA, CTT, MCT, author of Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise Edition 12.0 Cookbook for Experts illuminates a number of accounting errors that are common in QuickBooks files, and enables you to resolve them.You will examine a number of accounting errors that are common in QuickBooks files, and enables you to be powerful and efficient in resolving them. In this article, we will cover the following recipes: Clearing stale undeposited funds Adjusting cash basis receivables or payables balances Writing off stale receivables Writing off stale payables Balancing the… -
Become a Drush expert by exploring Packt's latest Drush User’s Guide
2 May 2012 | 7:31 amDrush is a command line shell and scripting interface for Drupal. It is not a module, and does not participate in the usage statistics system at drupal.org and was originally developed by Arto for Drupal 4.7 in May 2007. Drush User's Guide will help a user to be more productive and efficient in building and maintaining their Drupal sites. Majority of tasks like building and maintaining a website can be achieved with a single Drush command. Users can learn how to install Drush on different systems, and download and install a full Drupal site in seconds. -
Packt Microsoft Carnival
30 Apr 2012 | 5:36 amPlug into the adventure and get a chance to win a year’s free access to all books on PacktLib. Enter the Microsoft Carnival competition below. -
Master Drupal Views using Packt's latest Drupal 7 Views Cookbook
27 Apr 2012 | 5:05 amDrupal Views module provides a flexible method for Drupal site designers to control how lists and tables of content, users, taxonomy terms and other data are presented. This tool is essentially a smart query builder that, given enough information, can build the proper query, execute it, and display the results.
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Yahoo! Finance: Publishing - Newspapers Industry News
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McClatchy Holds 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders
16 May 2012 | 12:31 pm[PR Newswire] - SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The McClatchy Company (NYSE-MNI) shareholders today elected 11 directors to one-year terms, ratified the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company's ... -
1-Star Stocks Poised to Plunge: The New York Times?
16 May 2012 | 8:53 am -
McClatchy Names Elaine Lintecum As Vice President, Finance And Chief Financial Officer And Announces Other Leadership Changes
16 May 2012 | 8:00 am[PR Newswire] - SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The McClatchy Company (MNI) today named Elaine Lintecum as vice president, finance and chief financial officer, effective immediately.Lintecum, 56, ... -
CareerBuilder.ca Survey: How well do Canadian workers know their Senior Leadership?
16 May 2012 | 6:01 am -
Employers in Manufacturing, Hospitality and Retail Drive Increase in Summer Hiring, According to CareerBuilder's Annual Job Forecast
16 May 2012 | 4:30 am
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GalleyCat
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Zombie-Based Learning on Kickstarter
16 May 2012 | 9:09 amDavid Hunter has raised more than $6,800 for his zombie-based learning project, “Geography Taught in Zombie Apocalypse.” Above, we’ve embedded a video about the Kickstarter project–what do you think? Here’s more about the project: “I love geography, and I love zombies. I believe that students can learn important educational concepts through the lens of their interests. I’ve chosen to combine geography and zombies because I don’t think it is a natural connection. By building this project, we can show that learning can be done through far out scenarios, or even… -
Aaron Sorkin to Write Film Adaptation of Steve Jobs Bio
16 May 2012 | 7:47 amSony Pictures Entertainment will adapt Walter Isaacson‘s bestselling biography of Steve Jobs, with The Social Network screenwriter Aaron Sorkin writing on the script. Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal had this statement: “Jobs’ story is unique: he was one of the most revolutionary and influential men not just of our time but of all time. There is no writer working in Hollywood today who is more capable of capturing such an extraordinary life for the screen than Aaron Sorkin; in his hands, we’re confident that the film will be everything that Jobs himself… -
Literary Groups Defend ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’
16 May 2012 | 7:23 amComparing Fifty Shades of Grey to Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Fear of Flying, prominent literary groups criticized the Brevard County Public Library system for refusing to carry E. L. James‘ racy novel. The National Coalition Against Censorship circulated the letter, getting signatures from the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, Association of American Publishers, PEN American Center, American Society of Journalists and Authors and The Independent Book Publishers Association. Follow this PDF link to read the letter. Here’s an excerpt: The idea that… -
This Week on the mediabistro.com Job Board: TASCHEN, Apress, Angry Robot Books
16 May 2012 | 7:23 amThis week, TASCHEN is hiring a public relations manager, while Apress needs a managing coordinating editor. Angry Robot Books is on the hunt for a U.S. sales and marketing manager, and Guideposts is seeking an editor of series fiction. Get all the details below, and find more just-posted publishing gigs on mediabistro.com. Public Relations Manager TASCHEN (New York, NY) Managing Coordinating Editor Apress (New York, NY) U.S. Sales and Marketing Manager Angry Robot Books (New York, NY) Editor, Series Fiction Guideposts (New York, NY) Digital Marketing Associate RosettaBooks (New York, NY) For… -
Michael Dirda Answers Questions on Reddit
16 May 2012 | 6:37 amWhat is the worst book you’ve ever read? Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic and author Michael Dirda held an epic “Ask Me Anything” interview at Reddit, fielding questions online from readers about self-publishing, Amazon and the worst books he ever reviewed. At one point, he talked about the worst book he’d ever read. Check it out: “Judith Krantz‘s Dazzle. Even the sex in the book was boilerplate, a totally meretricious work. John Sutherland–a distinguished English authority on the novel and the best seller–once included Dazzle in his list of…
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Pub Rants
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Why 50 Shades of Grey Makes Agent Lives Harder
10 May 2012 | 7:51 pmSTATUS: The appointment schedule is firming up! Get ready for some posts on what editors will be looking for in 2012.What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? THIS IS IT by Kenny LogginsIt's pretty simple. We agents go to conferences and really drive home the fact that writers need to master their craft. Wow us with masterfully written opening pages. Stop butchering the English language. Then a work comes along and blows that advice out of the water. Readers have called 50 Shades of Grey any number of things: campy, fun, spirited, hilarious, worth the money, a fast read.But well written… -
Fridays With Agent Kristin: Episode 7 - What is A Plot Catalyst?
4 May 2012 | 5:42 pmSTATUS: TGIF! I actually had a great work week. Yes, I need to read some stuff over the weekend but I'm feeling almost caught up. This means I'm forgetting something huge I'm sure. What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? YELLOW by ColdplayOkay, so I taped this segment a couple of weeks ago. I'm particularly fond of how I start with "good morning."Oh well, the content is still good. In honor of the first video webinar I did (which tackled how to craft the query letter pitch paragraph in your novel), I thought I'd give some tips for those who couldn't attend. When I teach writers… -
A Sad But Celebratory Day!
2 May 2012 | 5:56 pmSTATUS: Mixed day! I feel like I'm still catching up on emails. What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? REALIZE by Colbie CaillatIt had to happen eventually. Today Jamie Ford is not on the New York Times bestseller list--ending our phenomenal run of 130 consecutive weeks on the list. That is two and half years without dropping off. Wow. Just wow. Maybe I shouldn't be having a blog entry announcing this fact but you know what, Jamie? It's an incredible achievement no matter how I talk about it. So I raise a glass of champagne to you and your wonderful debut novel: Hotel On The Corner Of… -
The Concern Is Perhaps Premature
1 May 2012 | 8:08 pmSTATUS: All my Texas blog readers, Kristin Callihan's FIRELIGHT is going to be included in the romance round-up on Good Morning Texas tomorrow, Wed. May 2. Station WFAA-TV channel 8. It's the ABC affiliate in Dallas/Fort Worth. How cool is that. I wish I could tune in. What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? DOMINO DANCING by Pet Shop BoysWhen I was at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference last week, I had a writer rush up to me in a panic to ask a question. She was incredibly worried that she had not established her social media platform for her novel yet. If her release date was in 4… -
Why Don't We Take on Any Old Thing If We Think It Will Sell?
28 Apr 2012 | 1:28 pmSTATUS: Will I or will I not catch this cold? Verdict is still out although I stayed home the last two days hoping that would tilt it in favor of the "will not."What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? AIN'T NO SUNSHINE by Bill WithersSelling a book is not the same as selling a widget--at least for me (although I do know any number of agents who treat it that way and take on a whole lot of projects, throw them out there on submission, and hope maybe 2 out of 5 will stick). On Facebook I mentioned that I had recently seen a sale for a project that I read all the way through but in the end…
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Book trade news from Book2book
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Philipp Keel Succeeds His Late Father As Publisher Of Diogenes Verlag
16 May 2012 | 7:44 am -
Reading Book Spines . . .
16 May 2012 | 7:06 am -
Bank of England warns of 'storm from Europe' as growth forecast is cut
16 May 2012 | 6:46 am -
All Is Well With Honno
16 May 2012 | 6:38 am -
Steve Jobs: 'The publishers are actually going to withhold their books from Amazon'
16 May 2012 | 6:37 am
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Joe Wikert's Publishing 2020 Blog
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Another Missed Opportunity for Rich Content
14 May 2012 | 9:57 amI recently finished reading a terrific ebook. It's about the 1975 World Series between the Reds and the Red Sox and the title is Game Six. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed reading Game Six there was something missing. I remember watching that series, just like I watched every postseason baseball game growing up. The image of Carlton Fisk willing his game winning drive to stay fair is iconic. I can almost see Luis Tiant's herky-jerky windup and Bernie Carbo hitting that earlier homerun to tie the game up. I say "almost" though, because 1975 was a long time ago and my… -
B&N's Nook with GlowLight: Why I Still Use an eInk eReader
7 May 2012 | 9:17 amMy new eInk reader, B&N's Nook with GlowLight, arrived last Thursday. I'm winding down my use of a Kindle Touch and wanted to move to another ebook retailer's platform going forward. This, of course, is a major headache since I've already bought dozens of DRM-protected ebooks from Amazon. I figure I'll read the last couple I bought on my Kindle and all future purchases will be from B&N...until some other device catches my eye. :-) So what do I think of the Nook with GlowLight? It's just like my Kindle Touch, but with a built-in light. That pretty much… -
B&N and Microsoft: Why It's Not About Ebooks
30 Apr 2012 | 5:45 pmMicrosoft's $300 million investment in B&N's digital business is about more than ebooks. Much more. Or at least I hope so. Success in this venture will not be measured by sales of ebooks. Microsoft should instead use this as an opportunity to create an end-to-end consumer experience that rivals Apple's and has the advertising income potential to make Google jealous. But how will that happen by investing in the distant #2 player in the ereader space? Microsoft has spent billions over the years as it repositions itself from the makers of Windows and Office into a much broader… -
BookAnd: A Social, Virtual Bookstore
30 Apr 2012 | 10:38 amI must be more of a visual person than I'd like to admit. After all, I use Goodreads to store and share my book reviews/recommendations but I don't use it much to discover what my friends recommend. My behavior is largely because Goodreads is a list-based service and it doesn't offer an immersive experience. Don't take that the wrong way though...I still like Goodreads! I've also heard plenty of skeptics who say reading/books and social don't mix, reading is a solitary activity, etc. That's true at times, but when it comes to discoverability there's no… -
What if DRM Goes Away?
23 Apr 2012 | 10:27 amTOC Latin America was held last Friday in the beautiful city of Buenos Aires. Kat Meyer, my O'Reilly colleague, and Holger Volland did a terrific job producing the event. As is so often the case with great conferences, part of the value is spending time with speakers and other attendees in between sessions and at dinner gatherings Last Thursday night I was fortunate enough to have dinner with Kat, Holger and a number of other TOC Latin America speakers. We discussed a number of interesting topics but my favorite one was asking each person this question: What happens if DRM goes away…
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Beyond the Book
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BTB #296: Free E-books Is Gluejar’s Mission
13 May 2012 | 1:00 pmIt sounds like a caper in a Wallace and Gromit movie. Liberate the e-books. But that unlikely mission is the work of Gluejar. A technologist, entrepreneur, and writer, Eric Hellman is Gluejar’s president, who became interested in technologies surrounding e-journals and libraries after 10 years at Bell Labs in physics research. “We want to offer rightsholders the opportunity to get a one-time payment in exchange for making their books into Creative Commons-licensed e-books. And the way we’re going to do this is by crowd-funding campaigns,” Hellman explains for CCC’s Chris Kenneally. -
PW’s Week Ahead 05.11.12
11 May 2012 | 1:01 amAuthors’ representatives – otherwise known as literary agents – have done some writing on their own this week. In a missive to the US Department of Justice, the board of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR) conveyed “in the strongest terms possible” its opposition to a proposed settlement with three publishers over alleged e-book price fixing. “The AAR acknowledges they have no idea whether the publishers that settled colluded or not,” PW’s Andrew Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “And, all good points aside, that’s the key issue here. If these CEOs… -
BTB #295: The Trouble With E-Book Pricing
10 May 2012 | 8:00 amConsumers are taking to e-books fast – almost as fast as they have taken to the readers and tablets where e-books live in the digital world. A February 2012 report from the Pew Research Center found that one in five US adults had read an e-book in the last year. The latest figures available from the American Association of Publishers show that year-over-year sales of adult e-book titles rose 49.4 percent in January 2012, from $66.6M to $99.5 M; children & young adult eBook climbed 475 percent over last year from just under $4M to $22M. But there is trouble in e-book Eden. News that the… -
BTB #294: E-Books – You Can’t Write Just One
6 May 2012 | 1:00 pmThe price of e-books is on many people’s minds, including the Federal Department of Justice, which recently sued Apple and three leading publishing houses. At least as much as consumers care about getting the lowest price, however, authors and publishers care about getting a fair price for their works. But when you’re the author and the publisher at the same time, how do you know you’re getting the best deal and the most sales? “What we’ve learned is that a volume of titles makes such a difference. For those of you out there who are self-published authors or for those of you out… -
PW’s Week Ahead 05.04.12
4 May 2012 | 2:21 pmThe parties returned to Judge Denny Chin’s Manhattan courtroom yesterday for motions in the Google Books Case. The search engine giant sought to remove the Authors Guild as an associational plaintiff, even as the Guild pushed for its own motion to certify the class of authors. And what about the publishers? Well, they were elsewhere, keeping busy with the burgeoning e-book market. “From the questions he asked from the bench, it certainly seems like Judge Denny Chin wants to see the Authors Guild lawsuit against Google and its library book-scanning program proceed as a class action, and…
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MediumAtLarge.net
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Jobs At Large: ReedPOP Is Hiring
14 May 2012 | 12:41 pmDo you have an inquisitive mind, an obsession with making things better, a passion for solving puzzles, and the ability to juggle multiple projects, tight deadlines, and demanding priorities? Do you want to work with the team behind New York Comic Con, PAX, and Star Wars Celebration? More importantly, do you want to work in Norwalk, CT? If you answered "yes" to all the above, we may just have the gig for you. ReedPOP will be expanding our digital capablities significantly over the coming months. Given the lack of much digital right now, I suppose "significantly" could really mean just adding… -
Star Wars At Large: First Show Store Exclusive
8 May 2012 | 12:03 pmWe've got a guy named Travis. He's behind all the exclusives at Star Wars Celebration. Some he makes himself. Some he works with partners on. We've got some 70 items overall we'll be debuting at the show, and today, we're excited to announce the first exclusive at this year's Star Wars Celebration Store, made in partnership with our friends at Sideshow Collectibles. Straight from Lucasfilm... The Star Wars Celebration Store will premiere Sideshow's 12" figure of Clone Commander Ganch, available in very limited numbers starting the first day of the show,… -
Star Wars At Large: Have Your Kids Celebration At Star Wars Celebration
8 May 2012 | 11:02 amThis summer, Star Wars Celebration invites fans everywhere to "Join The Party!" We're throwing the biggest Star Wars Party on the planet, and beyond the overall festivities, we want to offer some personal parties as well. We're right now exploring a limited number of personal birthday celebrations for younglings, and if you're a parent or guardian who'd be interested in having a birthday party for a boy or girl at Celebration, let us know. Celebration birthday parties would have a specific cost and include a private room, themed cake, party favors, character appearance, and more. -
Star Wars At Large: Joel Aron At Celebration
4 May 2012 | 11:59 amWe round out Star Wars Day with an announcement on The Clone Wars. From LFL... CG Supervisor Joel Aron will share his expertise and his inside knowledge of the hit television series The Clone Wars at Celebration VI. Aron, who draws on an exhaustive history of creating seamless digital effects for Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic has helped bring a feature film sensibility to the weekly animated adventures of The Clone Wars. Those at Celebration can hear from Aron on The Clone Wars panels with Dave Filoni, sharing both behind-the-scenes knowledge and new sneak peeks… -
Star Wars At Large: Show Us Your Collection
4 May 2012 | 11:56 amGot a Star Wars collection? Want to share it? Celebration wants to talk with you! From Lucasfilm... Each Star Wars collection is as unique as the people who assembled it. Whether your collection fills a single shelf or a full house, the Celebration VI Collecting Track will show what sets your collection apart. Maybe you have the weirdest assortment of t-shirts, or posters from every country where Star Wars movies were shown. Maybe you just have a flair for displaying your stash in ways that even non-fans can appreciate.The Celebration VI Collector Showcase is your chance to provide…
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TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics
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3 ways to use Send to Kindle for Mac app
16 May 2012 | 1:45 pmSend to Kindle for Mac is an app which lets you send personal documents from a Mac computer directly to the selected Kindle device or app, as well as archive them in your Kindle account. Thanks to this app Mac users can now add own files to Kindle much easier than to Apple’s native iBooks application. [...] -
Complete Shakespeare app – it’s free
16 May 2012 | 9:26 amFrom a tweet by @bookofjoe: Shakespeare Readdle Free This app is designed for both iPhone and iPad Shakespeare™ is a free app with the complete works of Shakespeare (41 plays, 154 sonnets and 6 poems, including doubtful works) and a searchable concordance to find the exact word or phrase you’re looking for (with “relaxed” [...] -
The Crowdfunding of eBooks: Unglue.it Formally Launches This Thursday
16 May 2012 | 9:21 amA couple of days ago we posted a link to a new interview with the Founder and CEO of GlueJar (provider of Unglue.it), Eric Hellman. Now, a blog post from lets all of us know that the Unglue.it site/database will formally launch in two days (Thursday, May 17, 2012) at Noon EDT but you can [...] -
Front-lit Kindle said to be ready by July and tablet by the holidays. Possible Nook GlowLight light-layer fragility
16 May 2012 | 9:15 amFrom Andrys Basten’s A Kindle World Blog. Here’s a snippet: The front-lit E-Ink Kindle reported by TechCrunch’s Coldewey on April 8 as in development and seen by him is now reported to be coming in July. At the time it was reported in early April, a front-lit Kindle seemed many moons away, but it could [...] -
DOJ Lawsuit Update: Where Windowing Becomes Important, by Jane Litte
16 May 2012 | 8:53 amIntroduction There are two major updates in the DOJ lawsuit. An additional 17 states have sued the publishers and Apple. Judge Denise Cote’s filed a denial of Apple, Penguin, and Macmillan’s motion to dismiss. You may want to read the Primer here if you haven’t already before going forward. States Attorneys General Amended Complaint 1) [...]
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thedigitalist.net
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Response to Tor DRM-free announcement
3 May 2012 | 11:51 amLast week Tor Books announced that it would be going DRM-free on all its ebooks over the next three months. This means that the technology which controls the use of content will be removed. For Tor authors, who are generally a tech-savvy bunch, there is a strong sense that DRM inhibits committed fans using legitimately-purchased ebooks in perfectly legal ways, like moving them from one kind of e-reader to another. For readers, DRM can be seen as an irritant which makes ebooks less portable and flexible than printed books. Already, the announcement has received extensive coverage. Here’s a… -
Tor UK ebook titles to go DRM-free
25 Apr 2012 | 7:42 amPress Release London, Wednesday 25th April 2012 Tor UK, Pan Macmillan’s science fiction and fantasy imprint, announces today that it will make its ebooks DRM-free over the next three months. “We know that this is what many Tor authors passionately want. We also understand that readers in this community feel strongly about this,” says Jeremy Trevathan, Pan Macmillan’s Fiction Publisher. This decision has been made in partnership with our sister company Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, in New York. We are consulting with our authors at the moment and… -
What the UK can still learn from US publishers
1 Mar 2012 | 11:49 amSales data suggests that the UK is now closing the gap with the US on the ebook market, but it’s still with interest that we look to how US publishers are looking to reach readers in the new digital era – what methodologies are working for them – and what appears to be on the decline. Book^2 (pronounced “Book Squared”) Camp is a free series of meetings which take place in downtown New York City and aims to collect ‘the brightest minds in Publishing and Technology (to) discuss and problem-solve what the next incarnation of the book will be.’ Following immediately after this… -
Momentum launches
15 Feb 2012 | 5:24 amPan Macmillan Australia has today launched a new digital-only imprint, Momentum. (Read the press release.) The launch list looks fantastic and many congratulations to the team, especially Joel Naoum who is leading Momentum and is very close to our hearts as he helped us setup and launch our own Bello digital imprint when he was in the UK last year. -
Rediscovering lost classics thanks to ebooks
2 Feb 2012 | 11:54 amJonathan Franzen spoke this week about the detrimental effect ebooks have on the world, claiming that serious readers will always prefer print editions and that ebooks are ‘not permanent enough’. Quoted in the Telegraph, Franzen said: “The Great Gatsby was last updated in 1924. You don’t need it to be refreshed, do you? “Maybe nobody will care about printed books 50 years from now, but I do. When I read a book, I’m handling a specific object in a specific time and place. The fact that when I take the book off the shelf it still says the same thing – that’s reassuring.
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BuzzMachine
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Creepy
8 May 2012 | 8:18 amI just reamed an ITN producer who emailed me this clip about Google seeking a patent for using background noise in audible search requests and wanted to talk to me “off the record” (why he’d offer that, I don’t know; bad reporters’ reflex) to find out what “worries” I had about privacy and security. Note well that he didn’t ask me what I thought of the technology — whether I thought it was good or bad, how I thought it could be used positively or negatively, what its potential is. No, he showed his bias clearly by asking me to tell him… -
Consumer Reports’ moral panic
3 May 2012 | 6:42 amI’m very disappointed in Consumer Reports for falling into the moral panic about privacy and social services. Today it issues a survey and a Reefer Madness report that covers no new ground, only stirs it up, over privacy and Facebook. Let me address instead the survey. In its press release, Consumer Reports says — as if we should be shocked at these numbers — that: * 39.3 million identified a family member in a profile. Do we really live in a world where it should be frightening to talk about our family? * 20.4 million included their birth date and year in their profile. And… -
Social (network) pressure
1 May 2012 | 8:08 amBy adding an organ-donation tool to Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is setting up a dynamic of social pressure for virtue. Is that always good? Now getting us to sign our drivers’ licenses so our vital bits can be harvested to save others’ lives is a moderately low-impact decision. But what about the occasional calls for folks to sign up to be tested for a marrow transplant — as in the drive for Super Amit? That’s no easy decision. Imagine tomorrow, God forbid, one of your Facebook friends needs a kidney. There’s a tool staring you in the face asking you to get tested… -
Journalism Inside®
20 Apr 2012 | 12:42 pmI wonder whether we should be teaching journalists to embed themselves and their abilities into the world rather than always making the world come to them. Thinking out loud… The other day, when Amazon peeved me by suddenly trying to sell me software — who has bought a box of software in years? — it occurred to me: After software left store shelves, demand for the programmers who make it has only grown. So why, as newspapers, magazines, and books leave shelves, is there not more demand for the journalists who make them? Companies are clamoring to hire more programmers and… -
A new BuzzMachine
16 Apr 2012 | 5:26 pmAt long last, and by popular demand (and disgust at my old design), BuzzMachine is reborn thanks to my son and webmaster, Jake. After I’d let my old design go to seed, he didn’t much like me calling him my webmaster. So he took matters into his own hands, rebuilt my WordPress installation from scratch, fixed all kinds of things I’d messed up or neglected over the years, and — best of all — gave me this wonderful new look. The image above — like the photo on the old header — is of a paper-making machine: the old origin of buzz. I’ve been…
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Eco-Libris blog
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Poets and Writers Magazine is moving to use recycled paper
11 May 2012 | 5:19 amAs you know magazines, just like books, have their own environmental issues and there's now a greater exploration of ways to reduce their carbon footprint, from using sustainable paper alternatives to eliminating the paper at all by moving to e-publishing. One of the examples for the former is Poets & Writers Magazine, an award-winning bimonthly published by the nonprofit organization Poets & Writers, Inc., which decided to use recycled paper.In the 3-minute video below Suzanne Pettypiece, Managing Editor of Poets & Writers Magazine, shares how her magazine transitioned to a body… -
Recommended book on Kickstarter: SideWalk Ritual by Scott James
28 Apr 2012 | 5:34 amKickstarter is a great place to fund interesting new products and projects, including books. Great books. So we decided we want to help spread the word on book projects we like on Kickstarter and every weekend we'll share one with you.Today's Kickstarter book isSidewalk Ritualby Scott James. Sidewalk Ritual the story of Richard, a twenty-six year old on a journey of self-discovery through the streets of San Francisco. He encounters girls, family, old friends, cupcake violence, sidewalk silence, and sex, drugs & rock and roll along the way to himself. One tree will be planted with… -
More trees? No thanks, Captain Planet!
25 Apr 2012 | 8:26 pmIf you haven't seen yet Don Cheadle as Captain Planet, this is your chance! I saw it (and Cheadle) first on the Sustainable Operations Summit in New York last week and thought it's funny as hell :)Yours,Raz @ Eco-LibrisPlant a tree for every book you read! -
Want to celebrate Earth Day? Just say No to Amazon.com!
22 Apr 2012 | 6:29 amThere are many ways to celebrate Earth Day and the merrier the better. We are celebrating it this year in a collaboration with Lulu in a special Earth Day contest, and we also participate in the Earth Day Network's A Billion of Acts of Green! campaign. But today we wanted to share with you another action which we believe is valuable, effective, important and appropriate for Earth Day:Say NO to Amazon.com. In other words, don't buy there anything today.You're probably asking yourself why avoiding Amazon.com is a demonstration of a commitment to mother earth? The short answer is that while… -
Better World Books presents their top 10 green books
20 Apr 2012 | 11:56 amWith Earth Day right around the corner, the good folks at Better World Books thought it was a great time of year to release their top 10 green books:1. Natural Capitalism2. The Lorax 3. An Inconvenient Truth 4. Silent Spring5. Moral Ground6. The Better World Shopping Guide7. Hot, Flat and Crowded 2.08. Farm City9. The Responsibility Revolution10. The Great Paper CaperIf you’re not familiar, Better World Books collects and sells books online to donate books and fund literacy initiatives worldwide. With more than 8 million new and used titles in stock, it’s a self-sustaining,…
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Peachpit Press :: Blogs
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Blog :: Mac Productivity: Quick Scripts and Workflows - Creating Quick Notes
6 May 2012 | 7:00 pmIt's 9AM and your boss is on the phone. She's rattling off important info you need for your 9:30AM conference call. Quick! You need somewhere to take notes. Sure, you could use your email client - Mail and Outlbook both include note features. Or, you could use on of the 50,000 note taking apps you've downloaded. Better yet, why not use that handy Automator Service workflow you created? You know, the one that automatically creates RTF notes into a Quick Notes folder, names them with the current date and time, and opens them in TextEdit so you can… -
Blog :: Live Twitterview with Nancy Lyons and Meghan Wilker
2 May 2012 | 7:00 pmJoin authors Nancy Lyons and Meghan Wilker for a lively Twitterview about interactive project management on May 10. -
Blog :: Live Twitterview with John Welch
2 May 2012 | 7:00 pmJoin author John Welch for a fun and informative Twitterview about iOS device management. -
Blog :: Live Twitterview with Michael Clark
2 May 2012 | 7:00 pmJoin photographer and author Michael Clark for a lively Twitterview about his adventures as a professional photographer and his advice for others looking to go pro. -
Blog :: Colby Brown Twitterview Transcript
30 Apr 2012 | 7:00 pmOn May 1st, Colby Brown joined us for a lively Twitterview about how photographers can use Google+ to build a following and connect with other photogs and customers. Relive the magic with this transcript.
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Thad McIlroy - Future Of Publishing
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Amazon Strikes Again at Barnes & Noble
8 May 2012 | 4:40 pm“How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? – Proverbs 1:22 This afternoon Amazon once again reminded us that Barnes & Noble doesn’t have a prayer in hell of blocking its way. But, I hear you saying, today’s announcement from Amazon has nothing to do with ebooks or with publishing. The press release leads off: Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announced new managed services for Windows developers with the worldwide launch of Amazon Relational Database Services (Amazon RDS) for Microsoft… -
Oh Yes, About That Lawsuit…
1 May 2012 | 5:29 amI mention in my previous post about Microsoft’s just-announced investment in Barnes & Noble’s Newco the benefit Microsoft gained by using the skeletal deal structure as a vehicle to settle its outstanding patent litigation with Barnes & Noble. I know that Microsoft gained in part because the press release states that the two companies “settled their patent litigation.” To merely settle patent litigation gives you no idea of who the winner is; the settlement can take myriad forms. However the sentence in the press release continues “moving forward, Barnes & Noble and… -
Barnes & Noble Marries Microsoft
1 May 2012 | 1:49 amThe deal announced this morning between Barnes & Noble and Microsoft is one of the more curious tech deals of the past decade. It’s weird because it begs us to condemn it: two losers stumbling to the altar without bridesmaids or witnesses. Wait, there’s not even an altar: this is a city hall marriage; the certificate duly issued, the newlyweds declining to spend even their wedding night in the same bed. Worse still it’s a marriage of the Hatfields and the McCoys. They were feuding something nasty, and if they hadn’t exchanged vows they were about to exchange bullets. OK. Enough of… -
Facebook is Running Scared
25 Apr 2012 | 10:04 amThere’s an excellent article in the London Financial Times that’s the best I’ve yet seen describing the real challenge facing Facebook and by simple extension the Internet, as it exists today. Called Facebook is Scared of the Internet, journalist John Gapper characterizes the $1 billion purchase of Instagram not as any sort of long-term planning but simply as a defensive move: Zuckerberg bought Instagram to “eliminate the threat to Facebook.” We’ve now had a couple of weeks to try to get our minds around the notion that we live on the same planet with a… -
Barnes & Noble: The Analysts Speak, Part 1
17 Apr 2012 | 6:28 amAs part of the research for my study of Barnes & Noble, Stripping Covers off The Hunger Games: How 7 Billionaires are Deciding the Future of Book Publishing in America, I considered the wise views of the Wall Street analysts who have the task of following the company and forecasting its fate on the financial markets. I grouped them as “Positive” or “Negative” — most seemed to fall on one side of the fence or the other. I began my coverage with early 2011. Today I report on the boosters, showing their ratings and comments wherever possible. Tomorrow I’ll…
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Michael Hyatt’s Blog
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#012: The 5 Marks of Authentic Leadership [Podcast]
16 May 2012 | 4:00 amIn this podcast episode, I talk the essence of authentic leadership. What is it? Is it simply influence or is it something more. I have always been fascinated by this topic. Perhaps because I enjoy creating models that try to explain something people want to know about. Click to Listen Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in browser | Download Episode Outline In the last few weeks, I have been interviewed several times: at the Chick-fil-A Leadercast, the Catalyst Dallas Conference, and then a couple of interviews for my new book, Platform. Because I my blog is mostly about leadership, the… -
4 Ways Supervisors Frustrate Their Employees—Are You Guilty?
15 May 2012 | 4:00 amWhen I first became President of Thomas Nelson, I began hosting an event called “Pizza with the Prez.” Once a month I invited a different workgroup to have lunch with me—without their supervisor being present. Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/J-Elgaard This event provided an opportunity for me to get unfiltered feedback. It was one of my favorite activities. It also proved to be one of the most productive. It confirmed what I thought was true: The further you move up the chain-of-command, the less likely it is you will get the truth. Information is often filtered,… -
3 Characteristics of the New Marketing
14 May 2012 | 4:00 amEvery morning while getting dressed I have The Today Show playing in the bathroom. I enjoy catching up on the news and getting the forecast for the day’s weather. At least until the commercials come on. It’s not that I am opposed to advertising per se. I’m not. I understand that television producers have to monetize their content. What I object to is the fact that these commercials—especially the ones from car dealers—are several decibels louder than the program itself. Evidently, the pitch man thinks he can bludgeon me into submission by yelling at me. This is… -
Special Discount for Upcoming SCORRE Conference [Announcement]
12 May 2012 | 4:00 amSpecial Discount for Upcoming SCORRE Conference The next SCORRE Conference will be held in Vail, Colorado, October 17–20, 2012. We will begin the official promotion next week. However, we are making a special, pre-promotion offer to my readers. (That’s you!) Here’s the deal: If you register any time before Monday, May 14th at 5:00 p.m. CDT, we will give you another $200 off the regular price. Don’t miss this opportunity. This is your chance to take your speaking and communication skills to the next level. To take advantage of this special offer, register with the coupon code HYATT. -
Andy Andrews Interviews Me About Platform [Podcast]
11 May 2012 | 7:00 pm“Andy Andrews Interviews Me About Platform” by Andy Andrews Listen to this podcast on my website… In the Loop05/11/2012 In this podcast, bestselling author Andy Andrews and host, Andy Traub, interview me about my new book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World.
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Mequoda Daily » Articles
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Your Email Marketing Campaigns Are Doomed…
16 May 2012 | 3:00 amIf you aren’t able to catch your audience’s attention Depending on the sources you believe, people spend between 2.6 and 30 seconds on the email you send them. Hopefully your efforts are able to create more engagement than these reported numbers. However, a lot of engagement through email isn’t always the case. People receive dozens of email messages each day. Some of these are information-based or deal-based, while others are purely promotional pieces aiming to create a sale. With the time spent on email, your communications are doomed unless they can stand out and provide real value. -
An Email Copywriter’s Look at the Email Feedback Loop
16 May 2012 | 2:00 amUnderstanding how email feedback loops work will help email copywriters and email marketers present better content An email feedback loop exists between email marketers and the recipients. And since email copywriters often assist email marketers, it’s important for email copywriters to understand how email feedback loops work. To begin, let’s take a look at how an email feedback loop works. The process begins as the email copywriter and email marketer create an email newsletter or some form of promotional piece. The email is sent to their list and a recipient opens it. If the user is… -
Using Video in Conjunction with Email Marketing
16 May 2012 | 1:00 amEmail marketing is used by 78% of marketers. Similarly, email newsletters are used by 59% of marketers. These stats were reported by eMarketer, and they came from a survey from Chief Marketer, which was released in late April. Out of all the marketing efforts listed, email marketing and email newsletters were used the most. The popularity of email marketing is clear. Marketers and consumers both use the medium. And as opportunities develop, email marketing takes on new potential. One such opportunity is using email to share video content. Since videos are rarely, if ever, placed directly in… -
Are Your Editors Likable?
15 May 2012 | 3:00 am“We learn best—and change—from hearing stories that strike a chord within us…Those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies and for themselves,” says John Kotter, Harvard Business School professor and author of Leading Change. Your editors are the leaders of your brand, and thus, they tell stories. As editors of a marketing blog, it’d be easy for us at Mequoda to shout numbers and research quotes all day long. Thankfully, we “do all our own stunts” as they say, so every bit of marketing… -
How I Developed Analytical Editorial Skills
15 May 2012 | 2:30 amThere was a time when I approached being an online editor purely from a journalistic standpoint. My background, comprised of editorial and marketing experience, allowed me to focus on the ways I was communicating to my audience – yet I was unsure of the impact I was really having. This issue is similar to a problem many editors and writers have: a lack of objectivity with their art form. We’ve all experienced it. You create a piece you absolutely love, and feel connected to, but it just doesn’t reach the amount of people you expected. Then I learned about two important elements related…
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WritersDigest.com
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How to Find Great Writing Ideas
16 May 2012 | 10:57 amIn the search for story-worthy ideas, most writers are sidelined by occasional bouts of creative myopia. When it sets in—when your field of inspiration narrows—it’s easy to convince yourself that your luck has run out and all the good ideas are taken. But finding exceptional writing ideas isn’t a matter of luck. Waiting passively for creativity to strike won’t put words on the page, either. The secret to cultivating writing inspiration is to go out and hunt it down—in unexpected places. “Curiosity, attention, a little bravado, and a willingness to break routines lead to great… -
Don’t D-Y-I “Do-Yourself-In” with a D-I-Y Mentality
16 May 2012 | 9:20 amby Rob Eagar I am one of the few original self-publishing success stories. And, I did it way before the advent of e-books, Amazon, and social media. Over 10 years ago, I left corporate America as a sales executive to pursue what seemed like a ridiculous dream to write a book. I had no publishing contacts, no name recognition, and no desire to wait two years to get published. So, I chose the D-I-Y “do-it-yourself” approach. I worked tirelessly on my manuscript for a year. Then, I hired my own editor, page layout designer, graphic artist, and printing company. Long story short, I… -
Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 175 (Dessert Poems)
16 May 2012 | 6:58 amFor this week’s prompt, write a dessert poem. The poem can be titled as a dessert. The main characters could be eating or waiting for dessert. Or dessert could just be hinted at in the poem. Of course, I’m expecting a variety of desserts to be mentioned. Happy poeming! Here’s my attempt at a dessert poem: “Strawberry Cheesecake” Most pictures don’t do the real thing justice, but there you are–in your airbrushed glory– smiling straight into the camera (some lucky photographer who got to say, “smile,” in person) with your hair… -
Writing Scenes: Stepping Forward, Falling Back
15 May 2012 | 7:09 pmAuthor of The Breakout Novelist, Donald Maass, discusses writing scenes in today’s tip of the day. He explains the importance of setting goals for each scene with an example from George R.R. Martin’s book, A Storm of Swords. Most instruction in writing scenes begins with this sound advice: Send your character into the scene with a goal. Well, duh. You would be surprised, though, how many middle scenes in how many manuscripts seem to have no particular reason for a character to go somewhere, see someone, find something out, or avoid something. What do they want? Working that out is… -
How I Got My Agent: Gretchen Berg
15 May 2012 | 1:54 pm“How I Got My Agent” is a recurring feature on the GLA blog. Some tales are of long roads and many setbacks, while others are of good luck and quick signings. If you have a literary agent and would be interested in writing a short guest column for this GLA blog, e-mail me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com and we’ll talk specifics. GIVEAWAY: Gretchen is excited to give away a free copy of her book to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before. Gretchen Berg is an…
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Self-Publishing Review
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Review: The Shadows Touch by R. Scott VanKirk
15 May 2012 | 2:57 pmThe Shadows Touch, by R. Scott VanKirk, is the sequel to the fantasy novel, The Dryad’s Kiss. The opening pages of The Shadows Touch picks up right where the first novel left off. I had the privilege of reviewing the first novel and I enjoyed it immensely so with great anticipation I opened to the first page of the sequel. Ian Finn Mortgenstern’s, the hero in the first novel, life has not improved much since we last saw him in The Dryad’s Kiss. His father is residing in the mental institution, Shady Oaks, and so is his best friend’s sister, Jen. And Finn feels responsible for… -
Review: The Dryad’s Kiss by R. Scott VanKirk
10 May 2012 | 2:56 pmThey built the mound layer by layer, with each layer accepting more of the bones of the fallen. Finally, on top, facing the south and east, they interred the remains of Wahkoceethee the Eagle and Sheshepukwa the Cougar. They buried the fallen warriors with ceremonies of respect and thanks along with their totems. When Anakthepeuke the Rattlesnake died, he would be buried facing the west and the strongest of them all, Mactequeta Bear, in turn would be buried facing the terrible north. They would take their totems with them so their spirits could tap the power of their totems in death to… -
Review: Eyes Behind Belligerence by K.P. Kollenborn
3 May 2012 | 1:54 pmEyes Behind Belligerence by K.P. Kollenborn is an ambitious book about complex subjects. The Yoshimura and Hamaguchi families of Bainbridge Island, off the coast of Washington, endure the bigotry of the 1940s and are forced into the Manzanar Internment Camp, but their stories transcend any location. Eyes Behind Belligerence is essentially a story of families and how they come to terms with loss — whether of people, life as they knew it, or the ability to make their own choices. Americans whose ancestry is not Japanese may look at Japanese-American families and see homogeneity. The… -
The God Within by Martine Racine
29 Apr 2012 | 12:52 pmAuthor Martine Racine is a Jungian psychoanalyst and ordained minister. In The God Within, she describes how the divine lives in all of us. Racine posits that our center of power, creativity, and morality doesn’t come from extrinsic sources. Rather, they reside in our being and are tapped into when we feel from our hearts. All of the destruction in the world, according to Racine, comes from the unhealthy imbalance of putting too much emphasis on the mind. The mind is a tool that should be used only through the guidance of heart because our heart is what is connected to our inner god. Our… -
Review: Murder Takes Time by Giacomo Giammatteo
26 Apr 2012 | 3:40 pmWhat would you do if you thought one of your two best friends from childhood was wanted for murder and you were the cop in charge of the investigation? Would you be able to put your feelings aside and do your job? In Giacomo Giammatteo’s debut novel, Murder Takes Time, he explores the power of friendship and honor. Right from the start, the reader is thrown into the bloody world of mobsters. The opening pages depict a horrific killing. The murder scene is not for the faint-hearted. At first I was uncomfortable. But fear not, this is not a novel that centers primarily on acts of…
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FishbowlLA
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KCET’s Your Turn to Care Lands National Syndication Deal
16 May 2012 | 6:54 amKCET is back on the national radar for the first time since going rogue and breaking away from the PBS umbrella. The station just announced that Your Turn to Care, hosted by Holly Robinson Peete, has landed a national syndication deal with American Public Television–the first major syndication deal of KCET’s solo era. The show, which focuses on the true life stories of baby boomers caring for elderly family members, will be seen on more than 70 stations throughout the country. New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media. -
The Coachella 2013 Lineup According to Funny or Die
16 May 2012 | 6:45 amThe always funny folks over at Funny or Die “leaked” their version of the Coachella 2013 lineup. I’m looking forward to hearing Vodka in a Water Bottle and Waiting Until You Get Back to the Hotel to Poop tear it up next year in Indio. New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media. -
Judge to Entourage Plaintiff Johnny Bananas: You Slipped Up
16 May 2012 | 6:00 amThe lawsuit was laughable from the start. MTV The Real World: Key West participant John Devenanzio claimed that an animated-show-within-a-show plotline of HBO’s Entourage, featuring Kevin Dillon’s character Johnny Drama as the voice of monkee Johnny Bananas, caused him emotional distress. Creative distress, maybe. But as it merited to be, THR Esq. contributor Matthew Belloni reports today that a New York judge mercifully threw out this nicked nickname claim last week. Albeit on a technicality: The episodes in question started airing on Aug. 15, 2010, and Devenanzio didn’t bring… -
San Diego CityBeat is Losing Writers Fast
16 May 2012 | 5:29 amA little while ago we wrote about how the San Diego CityBeat was hitting some hard financial times, and was soliciting donations from readers to keep it afloat. Doesn’t look like that effort is going too well, because the paper is shedding writers. Last week, after four years with the CityBeat, columnist Enrique Limon penned his final piece for the paper. At times, I’ve felt as if my tenure at CityBeat has played out like low-budg version of The Devil Wears Prada (“a million girls would kill for your job” is one of my many mantras). So, with my love not just for alt-media, but… -
Did the LA Weekly Get Manny Pacquiao Barred from The Grove?
16 May 2012 | 5:25 amPart-time Los Angeles resident Manny Pacquiao might have to find a new place to spend his free time when he’s in town. The Filipino boxer and politician was barred from The Grove and the television show Extra after the shopping center was tipped off to a quote Pacquiao reportedly told the Examiner, saying that gay men “must be put to death.” Well, that’s if you listen to the LA Weekly, who took the original article out of context and tipped off The Grove owner Rick Caruso. This is what the Examiner article originally said: Pacquiao’s directive for Obama…
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Personanondata
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Georgia On My Mind: Fair Use, Digital Availability & Reasonable Pricing
14 May 2012 | 9:32 amIn April 2008, three publishers Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Sage, filed suit against Georgia State University (GSU) for copyright infringement. The Publishers charged that university officials had facilitated and encouraged the posting of the publishers' works on university websites and, consequently, made this copyright material available for students without compensation to the publisher. While only three publishers were part of the suit, the case has been closely watched by both sides in the case: The three publishers being generally representative… -
Help the Guy Out
12 May 2012 | 6:29 pmI didn't know this still worked. Dear Friend, How are you today? My name is Mr. Derek Josh Eric, an Executive Auditor and head of computing department here in United Kingdom. This mail is very confidential. I want to transfer Fifteen Million Pounds Sterling (15,000,000.00 GBP), that belongs to my Late client, He is a Director and owner of Petrochemical Service from Australia. He died since 1998 without a will. Base on my investigation, I found out that no one is aware of this account. However, I need your assistance and cooperation towards this. I want you to provide an empty bank account… -
Shining Star of Hong Kong Harbor
11 May 2012 | 12:30 amThis image from September 1969 as the family was in the process of heading from Bangkok to new digs in Auckland, New Zealand. No trip to Hong Kong even now should be complete without at least one trip over the harbor on one of the famous Star ferries. Still ridiculously cheap, it's the only way to take in the city skyline and all the hustle and bustle on the water. I am fairly certain that housing has spread mostly up and over that ridge in the background. Another weekly image from my archive. Click on it to make it larger. In addition to the images I've posted on Flickr and… -
Blog Feed Reset
10 May 2012 | 8:05 amApparently, my feedburner RSS feed went wonky about a month ago and since I don't use the feed I didn't notice. I wondered why a few people mentioned I had been lazy over the past few weeks. Now I know. So, if you are paying attention to this post you will probably also see a month's worth of 'new' blog posts. Here are the posts in summary: MediaWeek (V4, N19): HuffPo's Aggregation Model, Espresso Books, FT on the state of Publishing +More Kabul Chevelle 1973 Corporate Data Strategy and The Chief Data Officer Some Soft Nooky MediaWeek (V4, N18): Cloud Education, Navigating… -
MediaWeek (V4, N19): HuffPo's Aggregation Model, Espresso Books, FT on the state of Publishing +More
7 May 2012 | 6:48 pmFrom the Columbia Journalism Review a long review of how Huff Po came to define the news aggregation 'business' (CJR) Before its purchase by AOL in February 2011, HuffPost was not a property that had produced much in the way of revenue; it had posted a profit only in the year before the sale—the amount has never been disclosed—on a modest $30 million in revenue. Aside from scoops from its estimable Washington bureau, it did little in the way of breaking stories, the industry’s traditional pathway to recognition. Huffington Post, which had mastered search-engine optimization and was…
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Editors Only
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Voice Makes It Interesting
29 Apr 2012 | 9:07 pmReleasing the "you" in your writing. By Peter P. Jacobi For some months, I've thought it is... -
Goodbye, Table of Contents
29 Apr 2012 | 9:07 pmHello to à la carte magazine content? By Meredith L. Dias Could the concept of a magazine... -
The Fog Index
29 Apr 2012 | 9:07 pmAssessing the Fog index of a Time.com article. This month, we assess a sample from Time.com (" -
Women's Magazine Content and YouTube
29 Apr 2012 | 9:07 pmIn the news: Video magazine content is making a splash on YouTube. A recent Mashable.com article asks a...
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somersault
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Brand Owners Must Build Social Media Skills
16 May 2012 | 10:58 amAs reported in the study Demystifying Social Media (#mcksocial) by Roxane Divol (@rdivol), David Edelman (@davidedelman), and Hugo Sarrazin (@HugoSarrazin) in McKinsey Quarterly (@McKQuarterly) (YouTube channel), brand owners seeking to make the most of social media must learn to “monitor,” “respond,” “amplify,” and “lead” on these sites.· Monitoring brand buzz is the core function of social media as it applies throughout the purchasing decision… -
10 Principles for Communicating Christians
15 May 2012 | 6:11 amThis article in Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) by Kent Annan (@kentannan) draws organizational communication lessons from a recent social justice viral video. He says, “We can all keep striving to better understand how to work toward justice not only with our actions, but also with how we tell people's stories. Jesus' so-called Golden Rule should serve as the overarching guide: ‘You should treat people in the same way that you want people to treat you’ (Matt. 7:12 CEB).” His 6 principles are: 1. People need a clear, compelling next step.... -
Tablets Fuel New Habits
14 May 2012 | 2:30 pmConsumers who own tablets are adopting new communications habits, but are also making fewer visits to stores, according to multimarket research. InMobi (@inmobi), the mobile advertising network, and Mobext (@mobext), the agency run by Havas, polled 8,400 people in India, France, South Korea, the UK, and US, finding 69% of tablet owners shopped via the devices in the 30 days before the survey. · Over 20% of tablet early adopters claim to have made less trips to brick-and-mortar stores after obtaining the device. A third of people yet to… -
iPad E-Reading Market Share Stagnates as Tablet E-Reading Rises
13 May 2012 | 4:22 pmAccording to an analysis by Digital Book World (@DigiBookWorld) editorial director Jeremy Greenfield (@JDGsaid) of a new study from the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), some 25% of all people who read ebooks are now reading on tablets (as opposed to dedicated e-readers), up from under 20% at the end of 2011. An industry insider says, as tablets put pressure on sales of dedicated e-readers, prices of the e-ink devices could drop until they hit zero. Read this in full. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
3D Advertising for a 3D Movie
13 May 2012 | 1:55 pmHere’s an example of innovative advertising! Serviceplan Germany built a giant, hand-cranked 3-dimensional organ out of 20,000 LEGO bricks to help promote the 3D version of the Star Wars movie. The instrument toured Germany in January, complete with a QR code. Very creative and true to the brand. Have fun watching. Bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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Book Marketing Strategies and Tips For Authors
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Make Your Mark at a Book Industry Trade Show By Steve Piacente
25 Apr 2012 | 9:30 amOur guest today is Steve Piacente, author of Bella and its forthcoming prequel, Bootlicker. He has been a news and sports writer and is now the deputy communications director at a federal agency in Washington, D.C. He also teaches journalism classes at American University. In today's post, Steve will discuss how to have a successful book industry trade show appearance. Steve is also hosting a free webinar on Wednesday, May 2nd called, 10 Ways to Shine at a Book Industry Trade Show. To read more about this webinar and to sign up now, visit http://bit.ly/tradshowz2 Make Your Mark at a Book… -
The Secret To Overnight Book Marketing Success By Jim F. Kukral
9 Apr 2012 | 6:00 amSince I've archived the blog, it's continued to get healthy traffic. I've also received requests from authors and book marketing experts who expressed interest in providing guest posts. I've decided to continue to publish guest posts as they come in. If you'd like to submit a post to this blog, check out the Guest Post FAQs page of the blog. Today, author and CEO of the book marketing agency Digital Book Launch, Jim F. Kukral, will discuss the secret to overnight book marketing success. Be sure to check out the links to his books and his websites throughout the post. The Secret To… -
Over 500 Post From Great Authors And Experts
19 Jan 2012 | 11:24 pmThree years ago, I started Marketing Tips For Authors and I have met a ton of wonderful authors, authors-to-be, and book marketing experts. I have had the privilege of inviting talented authors to submit guest posts. Some were best selling authors like Jerry Jenkins (Do-It-Yourself Marketing), others were authors who had their first book pending publication. I also had a number of talented book marketing experts freely share their knowledge. They wrote on things like how to sell more book, how to use social media in your book marketing plan, and a host of other evergreen articles that still… -
eBook Marketing: What Goes Around Comes Around By James Moushon
6 Oct 2011 | 9:51 amToday, we have a treat as our guest author. James Moushon is an author and a pioneer in the e-publishing world. I found him through his blog and numerous guest articles and was thrilled when he agreed to share his knowledge on e-book publishing with us. When you are finished with this post, make sure you take a look at his other online writing. eBook Marketing: What Goes Around Comes Around By James Moushon To eBook authors, marketing can be a daunting task. Whether you're an indie publisher or you are using a traditional publisher, the marketing is usually left up to you. It is a digital… -
The new phone book is here! By Christopher Hudson
30 Sep 2011 | 8:54 amWe have a treat today with a new guest post by author Christopher Hudson. He will be discussing the problem that all authors face when they add their name to the big list of published authors. Undoubtedly, millions of authors find themselves in this situation. It's going to be interesting to see the comments as authors share their experience with this and how they all deal with it. The new phone book is here! By Christopher Hudson When Steve Martin's character in the movie, The Jerk, see's his name in the new phone book, he exclaims, 'I'm somebody.' That's exactly what I said when I…
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Self Publishing Coach Blog
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Marketing "Gretel's Story"
14 May 2012 | 9:09 pmThe initial inspiration for my book Gretel's Story: Finding the Way Home (CreateSpace, 2011) came from my own life experience. Like Hansel and Gretel in -
Contests and word of mouth
14 May 2012 | 12:59 pmI would say my number one marketing tip goes hand in hand with social media. Use Facebook and Twitter to get the contests out there (as well as making -
FRACTURE The Secret Enemy Saga by Virginia McKevitt
10 Apr 2012 | 5:52 pmHi Shelley, Thank you for the opportunity to talk about my book marketing strategies. First of all, I am new at this game, so reading what other authors -
YOU Are Your Best Book Marketing Tool
6 Mar 2012 | 12:13 pmMy first book was picked up by a large publishing house and I naively thought my book would be marketed and promoted widely. Instead, I was the one contacting -
Give Yourself a Deadline
14 Feb 2012 | 8:20 pmI had wanted to write a full-length nonfiction book for years, but never did it. Why? Because I was too busy writing for deadlines that other people had
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Password Incorrect Blog
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Kindle Fire gets grilled [video]
16 May 2012 | 10:19 amFor five years now we can see how things are blended, now we can also see how they’re grilled. Can You Grill It is a new YouTube series for Pork Barrel BBQ, and Kindle Fire was naturally one of the first choices. You’d better watch what you put on your grill. Via Virtual-Strategy Magazine. Read an ebook. Get one from Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble or Kobo. -
Dimensions of the most popular tablets [chart]
16 May 2012 | 9:20 amiPad dimensions / Image: Apple In the chart below you’ll find the dimensions of the most popular tablet models. This list is updated frequently. If you’d like us to add any particular model, please leave a tip in the comments below. Knowing the exact dimensions is very helpful when you’re about to buy a cover or a sleeve for the device. In the coming days we’ll publish an overview of 30+ stylish covers, cases and sleeves for most of the tablets listed below. For your convenience, the dimensions are shown in both inches and millimeters. Abbreviations are: H –… -
3 infographics on how a book is created
16 May 2012 | 2:26 amHuffPo has just shared an infographic created by Mariah Bear on how a book is born. While it’s extremely funny, it gives a clue on how much work has to be done and how many steps have to be completed to get the book published. It’s not the only infographic about the process of creating a book. If you want to get a pretty complete picture, check two other ones, published some time ago. Life Cycle of a Book is an infographic designed by Publishing Trendsetter. The process of developing a book is described here professionally and in detail. It’s good to compare it with the… -
3 ways to use Send to Kindle for Mac application [screenshots]
11 May 2012 | 11:57 amSend to Kindle for Mac is an app which lets you send personal documents from a Mac computer directly to the selected Kindle device or app, as well as archive them in your Kindle account. Thanks to this app Mac users can now add own files to Kindle much easier than to Apple’s native iBooks application. It’s either Amazon cares more for Mac users who like to read, or Apple doesn’t care well enough. In order to use Send to Kindle, Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) is required. The supported file types are: .doc, .docx, .pdf, .txt, .rtf, .jpeg (.jpg), .gif,… -
20+ funny cartoons and pictures about ebooks, ereaders and digital reading
10 May 2012 | 11:32 amE-books are with us for over 40 years, but they’ve become a part of our daily life in the recent months rather than years. Electronic books, as well as digital reading and publishing, become a mainstream topic. As a result we can expect more fun and trivia stuff about them. Here is a selection of the funniest cartoons we’ve come across the web as well as created ourselves. Still, the major source of fun is coming from a natural need to embrace the uncertainty. What e-books can’t do is still what mostly makes us laugh. We will be updating the list frequently, so if you find…
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LISNews:
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A Library is a Kind of Chapel, All Books Are Sacred
16 May 2012 | 1:08 pmAll Books Are Sacred For me, a library is a kind of chapel. Spiritual traditions are not as abstract as people think. They are not all about creeds and beliefs. They are concrete, physical, tangible and sensual. There was nothing abstract about that moment in my memory holding the heavy book painfully against my skin as I held it stiff and formal. A library is not an information center, it's a chapel for books. Your home library, as small as it might be, is also a chapel made sacred by the book itself. -
What Makes a Critic Tick? Connected Authors and the Determinants of Book Reviews
16 May 2012 | 1:07 pmWhat Makes a Critic Tick? Connected Authors and the Determinants of Book Reviews Executive Summary: The professional critic has long been heralded as the gold standard for evaluating products and services such as books, movies, and restaurants. Analyzing hundreds of book reviews from 40 different newspapers and magazines, Professor Michael Luca and coauthors Loretti Dobrescu and Alberto Motta investigate the determinants of professional reviews and then compare these to consumer reviews from Amazon.com. Key concepts include: •The data suggest that media outlets do not simply seek to isolate… -
Future of UK library secured by florist shop
16 May 2012 | 11:30 amFuture of Great Missenden library secured by florist shop The future of a Buckinghamshire library has been secured after it offered to share its building with a business. "Partnering with a local business is not only a great way of generating income for the library and keeping the library alive with potential new visitors but enables local businesses to get more involved in what matters to the community," he said. -
D.C. to cut 34 school librarians as they are a poor investment
16 May 2012 | 11:27 amD.C. to cut 34 school librarians as they are a poor investment D.C. (District of Columbia) officials plan to cut 34 librarians from staff in the 2012-2013 school year. The move is to cut costs in the Washington school system. Chancellor Kaya Henderson said: “We have invested in full-time librarians for the last three or four years and we haven't seen the kind of payoff we'd like”While noting that she is not disparaging librarians she said "We have pulled away from programs where we haven't received a return on our investment.” Apparently a payoff on investment would involve improved… -
Man Accused of Watching Porn, Stabbed in Brooklyn Public Library
16 May 2012 | 10:43 amMan Accused of Watching Porn, Stabbed in Brooklyn Public Library A 53-year-old man was stabbed multiple times in a Brooklyn public library by another man who accused him of using library computers to watch pornography, police said.
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Publishing Perspectives
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What is Your Favorite Novel About Publishing?
16 May 2012 | 2:00 amBy Edward Nawotka Today’s feature store looks at former Penguin Canada CEO and publishing star David Davidar’s Ithaca, a roman à clef about the publishing business. Though our reviewer, Vinutha Mallya found the books to be uneven and less-than-revealing, you can’t fault Davidar for one thing: he is, as the old cliche goes, writing about what he knows. Writers have often been tempted to write about the book business and the publishing world, with mixed results. We’ve had everything from The Devil Wears Prada to James Michener’s The Novel to murder mysteries (too numerous to… -
These Ithacas: On David Davidar’s “Publishing Tell-All”
16 May 2012 | 2:00 amBy Vinutha Mallya When the poster boy of Indian publishing wrote a novel about the publishing industry, expectations were bound to be high. “Ithaca is a thrilling account of international publishing,” says the blurb on the front flap of David Davidar’s book, Ithaca (Fourth Estate, 2011). The book’s title invokes the poem of the same name, by renowned Greek poet C.P. Cavafy, which addresses Odysseus during his ten-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. In this 274-page tome, the story of Litmus, an indie publishing house in London trying to stay afloat when “sweeping… -
Building a More Patriotic Nation: Regnery Announces Children’s Imprint
15 May 2012 | 9:00 pmBy Dennis Abrams “We are very determined not to make them political or partisan, but to make them positive and inspiring and to give kids a fun way to learn about American history.” Regnery Publishing’s website boasts, “When the Henry Regnery Company first opened its doors in 1947, its mission was to contribute to the rebuilding of Western civilization after World War II, publishing serious works of cultural recovery, including, as it turned out, establishing and sustaining the postwar conservative intellectual movement in America.” Now Regnery has announced an extension… -
In The News: Children’s Choice Awards, Sendak Mourned, HP for AMZN
15 May 2012 | 8:55 pmBy Dennis Abrams Kids Award Their Favorite Authors The 93rd annual Children’s Book Week got off to a rousing start with the announcement of the fifth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards in New York City on May 7th. The awards program is based on Children’s Choices, a joint project of the International Reading Association (IRA) and the Children’s Book Council since 1975. Publishers submit hundreds of titles to be evaluated and voted on by over 10,000 children. Throughout the school year, five review teams located in different regions of the United States work with their local… -
Beth Kephart on Discovering Her Passion for YA Literature
15 May 2012 | 8:48 pmAuthor Beth Kephart will speak on May 31st at PP’s Children’s Publishing Conference about what it takes to create books that connect with children and parents. More about this conference » By Dennis Abrams “I believe we have a responsibility when we write for young adults to provide something new and brilliant.” Teacher. Critic. Memoirist. Poet. National Book Award finalist. Author of such acclaimed YA novels as House of Dance, Undercover, You Are My Only and the soon-to-be-published Small Damages, which just received a starred review from PW. Beth Kephart’s entire…
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David Gaughran
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An Open Letter to the DOJ from Someone Who Actually Cares About Writers (and Readers)
15 May 2012 | 8:01 amThe leading literary agents’ organization – the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR) – penned an open letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) opposing the terms of the settlement reached with three of the publishers named in the Agency price-fixing suit. I won’t go into the details of how wrongheaded that letter was. It has already been systematically taken apart by Joe Konrath, Bob Mayer, and Dean Wesley Smith. Also worth reading are Joe Konrath’s subsequent dismantling of another open letter to the DOJ written by Simon Lipskar (a board member… -
Let’s Get Digital is Free on Amazon
8 May 2012 | 5:51 amLet’s Get Digital is free on Amazon. If you haven’t already grabbed a copy, now would be a good time. It will likely only be free for a few days, and this might well be the only free run this book goes on, so don’t miss out. If you prefer paper-based thrills, the print edition is now available from Amazon (print formatting again by the wonderful Heather Adkins). It should appear very shortly on The Book Depository and Barnes & Noble, as well as in some physical bookstores. Let’s Get Digital is only free on Amazon US, but I don’t want anyone to miss out. If… -
Was Self-Publishing The Right Decision?
26 Apr 2012 | 12:16 pmSunday will mark a year since I first uploaded to Amazon. At the time, I was wrestling with a question that many writers are still dealing with today: should I self-publish? The argument about whether to self-publish has been debated in great detail both here and elsewhere. I don’t want to add to that general discussion today, rather I want to offer up my personal experience of self-publishing. Given that this is an anniversary of sorts, I would like to look back over the last twelve months and examine the results of that decision, and compare it with what would likely have happened had… -
Pricing, Visibilty & Experimentation
23 Apr 2012 | 12:00 pmThis blog focuses a lot on getting the basics right: a good story, cover, blurb, sample, and price. However, all of that means little if no-one is actually visiting your book page to begin with. Competitions, blog reviews, giveaways, guest blogs, interviews, presence on reader forums etc. can all bring extra traffic to your book pages, but they are very time consuming. If you want to move beyond what is essentially hand-selling your work, you need to gain visibility on Amazon, and let them do the hard work of selling your book for you (while you spend your time writing instead). Just make… -
Don’t Be Fooled: Big Publishing Hates Competition
16 Apr 2012 | 10:53 amThe reaction to the filing of the DoJ’s antitrust suit was laughable, if somewhat predictable. Among other things, the DoJ has been accused of working for Amazon – helping them to “destroy the publishing industry.” If you want to sample the mindset I’m referring to, simply visit the comments of any article on the matter in the trade press – such as this or this (although this vocal group are strangely absent from articles such as this one describing publishers’ (alleged!) attempts to cover up their actions by deleting emails). I’m not sure when…
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Digital Book World
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E-Books as Airplane Seats: What They Should Cost
16 May 2012 | 11:45 amIn the Columbia Journalism Review, Ryan Chittum makes the argument that e-books should cost more than $0.99 (What’s the right price for ebooks?): Marginal costs in the ebooks industry aren’t even really about what it costs to produce a copy. In ebooks and other digital media they’re actually about what it costs to produce the next entirely new ebook, not what it costs to send out one more copy of Harry Potter. The marginal cost to an airline, for example, of putting one more person on a plane is almost nothing, but it would go broke (or broker) if it did that. The real marginal cost… -
New Sesame App to Help Potty-Train Your Kids
16 May 2012 | 11:03 amPRESS RELEASE BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER “P”: Brought to You by the Letter “P”: New Sesame Street App Uses Games and Songs to Help Children Learn About Using the Potty Lincolnwood, IL, May 16, 2012 – Potty training with your child can be more fun when Elmo’s there to help. Publications International, Ltd. (PIL) and Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, today launched Potty Time with Elmo, an app to help children who are learning to use the potty. The app is now available in the Apple App store for a special introductory price of… -
Cadre of Christian Publishers Do Deal With Ingram’s CoreSource for Sales and Distribution
16 May 2012 | 10:33 amPRESS RELEASE: As Christian publishers develop new business models to succeed in today’s digital market, more, including David C Cook, R.H Boyd Publishing, Our Sunday Visitor, Abingdon Press, and Worthy Publishing are selecting Ingram Content Group’s CoreSource® products for the distribution, sales and management of e-books. “The audience for digital books continues to grow,” said Byron Williamson, CEO, President and Publisher, Worthy Publishing. “With Ingram’s proven CoreSource platform driving the distribution of our digital content, we have a comprehensive solution to reach… -
Barnes & Noble Tops Media E-Tail Customer Satisfaction Survey
16 May 2012 | 7:55 amPRESS RELEASE: Barnes & Noble.com Tops Customer Satisfaction Survey Barnes & Noble.com Ranked the Number One Online Retailer in Customer Satisfaction in the Book, Music and Video Category and Top 10 Online Retailer Overall in Customer Satisfaction According to ForeSee E-Retail Satisfaction Index (Spring Top 100 Edition) New York, NY – May 16, 2012 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced that Barnes & Noble.com is the number one online retailer in customer satisfaction in the Books, Music… -
New Calif.-Based E-Book Publisher Wants to Be ‘World’s Greenest Press’
16 May 2012 | 7:08 amPRESS RELEASE: New E-Book Publisher Aims To Be “World’s Greenest Press” Bitingduck Press, of Altadena, California, wants e-books to help save the environment as well as to serve local businesses. Specializing in electronic formatting of complex content and in quirky fiction, the press represents over seventy authors worldwide and is accepting submissions. Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 16, 2012 Are e-books green? Although creation of e-readers has a carbon footprint, the break-even point is at about twenty books. Since most are used for hundreds of books, e-readers are good for…
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Book Marketing Strategies and Tips For Authors
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Make Your Mark at a Book Industry Trade Show By Steve Piacente
25 Apr 2012 | 9:30 amOur guest today is Steve Piacente, author of Bella and its forthcoming prequel, Bootlicker. He has been a news and sports writer and is now the deputy communications director at a federal agency in Washington, D.C. He also teaches journalism classes at American University. In today's post, Steve will discuss how to have a successful book industry trade show appearance. Steve is also hosting a free webinar on Wednesday, May 2nd called, 10 Ways to Shine at a Book Industry Trade Show. To read more about this webinar and to sign up now, visit http://bit.ly/tradshowz2 Make Your Mark at a Book… -
The Secret To Overnight Book Marketing Success By Jim F. Kukral
9 Apr 2012 | 6:00 amSince I've archived the blog, it's continued to get healthy traffic. I've also received requests from authors and book marketing experts who expressed interest in providing guest posts. I've decided to continue to publish guest posts as they come in. If you'd like to submit a post to this blog, check out the Guest Post FAQs page of the blog. Today, author and CEO of the book marketing agency Digital Book Launch, Jim F. Kukral, will discuss the secret to overnight book marketing success. Be sure to check out the links to his books and his websites throughout the post. The Secret To… -
Over 500 Post From Great Authors And Experts
19 Jan 2012 | 11:24 pmThree years ago, I started Marketing Tips For Authors and I have met a ton of wonderful authors, authors-to-be, and book marketing experts. I have had the privilege of inviting talented authors to submit guest posts. Some were best selling authors like Jerry Jenkins (Do-It-Yourself Marketing), others were authors who had their first book pending publication. I also had a number of talented book marketing experts freely share their knowledge. They wrote on things like how to sell more book, how to use social media in your book marketing plan, and a host of other evergreen articles that still… -
eBook Marketing: What Goes Around Comes Around By James Moushon
6 Oct 2011 | 9:51 amToday, we have a treat as our guest author. James Moushon is an author and a pioneer in the e-publishing world. I found him through his blog and numerous guest articles and was thrilled when he agreed to share his knowledge on e-book publishing with us. When you are finished with this post, make sure you take a look at his other online writing. eBook Marketing: What Goes Around Comes Around By James Moushon To eBook authors, marketing can be a daunting task. Whether you're an indie publisher or you are using a traditional publisher, the marketing is usually left up to you. It is a digital… -
The new phone book is here! By Christopher Hudson
30 Sep 2011 | 8:54 amWe have a treat today with a new guest post by author Christopher Hudson. He will be discussing the problem that all authors face when they add their name to the big list of published authors. Undoubtedly, millions of authors find themselves in this situation. It's going to be interesting to see the comments as authors share their experience with this and how they all deal with it. The new phone book is here! By Christopher Hudson When Steve Martin's character in the movie, The Jerk, see's his name in the new phone book, he exclaims, 'I'm somebody.' That's exactly what I said when I…
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Book Think | Big Think
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On the Return of "Mein Kampf" to Germany
2 May 2012 | 5:21 pmThe copyright on Mein Kampf, Hitler’s infamous 700-page anti-Semitic rant, is scheduled to expire in 2015. Fearing an onslaught of neo-Nazi editions, the Bavarian state has decided to reprint the book in Germany for the first time since World War II, in a scholarly version they hope will be viewed ...Read More -
Could St. George's Day Save the Book Industry?
24 Apr 2012 | 12:45 pmWith bookstores vanishing, the Pulitzer committee skimping on Pulitzers, and the Amazon dragon twining its bright yellow coils around every publisher on Earth, the book industry finds itself in dire peril. But lo! What figure rides over the horizon? Is it...could it be... St. George? Yes ...Read More -
The Joys of Sex, Springtime, and the Song of Songs
8 Apr 2012 | 8:00 amIt’s a wonderful oddity—I hesitate to say “coincidence”—that the best erotic poem in literary history should appear smack dab in the middle of the Bible. The Song of Songs (known also as the Song of Solomon or Canticle of Canticles) is an ancient Hebrew text of uncertain date; some scholars trace ...Read More -
The New "Google Glasses" Ad: Some Version of Hell
4 Apr 2012 | 3:05 pmGoogle's "augmented reality" glasses are upon us, complete with stylish company codename ("Project Glass") and Orwellian rhetorical judo: "People I have spoken with [i.e., Google employees] who have have seen Project Glass said there is a misconception that the glasses will interfere with people ...Read More -
The Role of the Novelist: How Jonathan Franzen Won the Book Publicity Game
28 Mar 2012 | 4:01 pmI can still vividly remember reading, back in 2001, the New York Times Magazine write-up on the release of The Corrections. It began: Some days, Jonathan Franzen wrote in the dark. He did so in a spartan studio on 125th Street in East Harlem, behind soundproof walls and a window of double-paned ...Read More
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The Book Designer
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7 Ways to Mine Blog Posts into Publishable Gold
16 May 2012 | 2:01 amby Nina Amir (@NinaAmir) I wrote about Nina last April when I published Blogging and Books: 4 Questions from Nina Amir. We have a common interest in helping authors use their blogs to produce books, and this article shows just how much thought Nina has put into this subject. Enjoy it, I know I did. Most bloggers simply blog. Day in and day out, they write their posts and publish them in Cyberspace. They produce a lot of content, but as one post after another pile up in front of the last, the older ones get lost in a deep dark blog hole. There they remain. If you are like most bloggers, you… -
Book Design: Have You Checked Your Margins?
14 May 2012 | 2:01 amI just finished judging half the entries in the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA) annual Book Awards competition. This contest is open to members of BAIPA, an organization that includes many self-publishers but also small independent presses, professionals in the book industry and others. Overall, the books from indie publishers were quite good, and that wasn’t much of a surprise since they usually hire professionals or have professional publishing experience themselves. And some of the self-published books were also well done and had obviously been well thought out. -
e-Book Cover Design Awards, April 2012
13 May 2012 | 2:01 amWelcome to this edition of the e-Book Cover Design Awards. This edition is for submissions during April, 2012. Here’s what we received: 82 covers in the Fiction category 11 covers in the Nonfiction category Award Winners and Listing I’ve added comments (JF: ) to many of the entries, but not all. Thanks to everyone who participated. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think, too. Now, without any further ado, here are the winners of this month’s e-Book Cover Design Award. e-Book Cover Design Award Winner for April 2012 in…
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A Newbie's Journey into the Publishing World
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May 8 : World Red Cross Red Cresent Day
7 May 2012 | 6:55 amOn 8 May Red Cross, the organisation I’m hugely proud to be associated with, celebrates World Red Cross Red Crescent Day. It’s an international celebration to commemorate the birthday of the organisation’s founder Henri Dunant and recognises the fantastic contribution made by Red Cross people around the world. Henri Dunant was a Swiss businessman and social activist, who founded the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1863 after witnessing the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino. Dunant outlined a plan for the nations of the world to form relief societies to… -
The Good and Not So Good Marketing Strategies I’ve Used to Promote My Book
20 Mar 2012 | 8:38 pmAs a self-published author I’ve been reflecting on my journey promoting my book Olga – A Daughter’s Tale and I thought, dear reader, it might be useful to share some of the promotional strategies I’ve used to sell my book. Some have worked and some haven’t ….unfortunately!! So here goes. Bookmarks: (Paid) This was the first promo I did and was about two years ago. I delivered 500 bookmarks through letterboxes. I was full of hope and absolutely convinced people would rush to buy it!! Wrong! Bookmarks are a great promotional tool but they need to be used effectively. … -
Why I Wrote ‘Olga – A Daughter’s Tale’
4 Jan 2012 | 5:11 amUntil I got married and had my own family there was only ever my mother and me. I knew very little about my mother’s family or past because of her reluctance to talk about my father or her family in Jamaica. Consequently, growing up in Brighton, a seaside town on the south-east coast of England, I had a great sense of “not belonging” which for years caused me to feel insecure and become dysfunctional. Although Mum couldn’t afford it she was adamant that I had a good education and so sent me to private Catholic convents and to pay for my education she worked as a cook in two… -
The Power of Humanity
22 Oct 2011 | 12:33 amGo Back To Where You Came From was an Australian TV series broadcast in 2011. It was about six ordinary Australians each of whom had different opinions on Australia’s asylum seeker debate. The six Aussies had agreed to embark on a confronting 25-day journey travelling in reverse the journey that refugees and asylum seekers have taken to reach Australia. In other words they were going back to where the refugees came from. It was an epic journey, dangerous and very challenging for them physically and emotionally. In order for them to have a similar experience as the refugees and asylum… -
Mothers: The Unsung Heroes
10 Jul 2011 | 11:21 pmI read a quote recently by Bhagwan Rajneesh, an Indian spiritual teacher, who said that “The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.” IMHO Rajneesh nailed it! In the sixties (and that puts me in the category of a baby boomer!) the only resource we had was a book by a guy called Dr Spock (no not the Star Trek Spock, although honestly he might have been of more use). There was no online tutorial, manual, syllabus or Idiots Guide To Parenting. From the beginning we hit the…
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Self Publishing Advisor
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The Benefits of Self-Publishing
15 May 2012 | 6:00 amMany aspiring authors find themselves debating whether they should self-publish or attempt traditional publishing. While both methods have pros and cons, there are many benefits to self-publishing. Here are the most common benefits of this growing publishing trend. You have freedom of expression — you write your own words. You don’t have to change what you’ve written to please an editor, agent, or commercial audience. You control how your book looks — everything from the cover to the interior formatting is in your hands. You set your own price —it can be as low or as high… -
National Black Book Festival Delivers Insight, Big Names
12 May 2012 | 5:25 amFile this one under the “Great Way to Get to Know Your Audience” category. The annual National Black Book Festival promises book writers and readers alike some tremendous insights into what’s important to the African-American literary audience and the community at large. Regardless of your writing/reading style – and no matter what your ethnic or cultural background — if you’re a fan of literature or a creator of it, you should make plans to attend this year’s event, set for the second weekend of June in Dallas. Outskirts Press encourages authors to take… -
Weekly Self-Published Book Review: The Safehouse
10 May 2012 | 6:00 amBook reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if he or she doesn’t know it exists? Paired with other elements of your book promotion strategy, requesting reviews is a great way to get people talking about what you’ve written. When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us to let the community know about a great book. Here’s this week’s book review by Midwest Book Review: The Safehouse T. Thomas Ackerman Publisher: Outskirts Press ISBN:… -
How to Select a Good Title for Your Self-Published Book
8 May 2012 | 6:00 amThe title of your self-published book can impact your ability to sell it. A good title will catch readers’ attention and encourage them to buy the book, while a bad title can cost you by driving away customers. If you want to choose a good title for your self-published book, keep these tips in mind. Make it memorable. This may mean choosing something humorous, shocking, or intriguing based on the subject of your book. Make it unique. Do some research before choosing your book’s title. Visit bookstores and browse for books online. You don’t want to pick a title that is too… -
Famous Self-Published Authors: Jack Canfield and Mark Hensen
7 May 2012 | 6:00 amI’m sure you’ve read, or at least heard, of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series by Jack Canfield and Mark Hensen. According to The New Yorker, this series is the “biggest-selling non-fiction franchise in the history of American publishing” and has sold “approximately 80 million” books. These books are currently self-published by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC. This is a just another example of the success self-published books can have. If you believe in your book, self-publishing can help you share your story with the world. Don’t be…
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The Book Designer
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7 Ways to Mine Blog Posts into Publishable Gold
16 May 2012 | 2:01 amby Nina Amir (@NinaAmir) I wrote about Nina last April when I published Blogging and Books: 4 Questions from Nina Amir. We have a common interest in helping authors use their blogs to produce books, and this article shows just how much thought Nina has put into this subject. Enjoy it, I know I did. Most bloggers simply blog. Day in and day out, they write their posts and publish them in Cyberspace. They produce a lot of content, but as one post after another pile up in front of the last, the older ones get lost in a deep dark blog hole. There they remain. If you are like most bloggers, you… -
Book Design: Have You Checked Your Margins?
14 May 2012 | 2:01 amI just finished judging half the entries in the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA) annual Book Awards competition. This contest is open to members of BAIPA, an organization that includes many self-publishers but also small independent presses, professionals in the book industry and others. Overall, the books from indie publishers were quite good, and that wasn’t much of a surprise since they usually hire professionals or have professional publishing experience themselves. And some of the self-published books were also well done and had obviously been well thought out. -
e-Book Cover Design Awards, April 2012
13 May 2012 | 2:01 amWelcome to this edition of the e-Book Cover Design Awards. This edition is for submissions during April, 2012. Here’s what we received: 82 covers in the Fiction category 11 covers in the Nonfiction category Award Winners and Listing I’ve added comments (JF: ) to many of the entries, but not all. Thanks to everyone who participated. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think, too. Now, without any further ado, here are the winners of this month’s e-Book Cover Design Award. e-Book Cover Design Award Winner for April 2012 in…
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Publishing Insight & Coverage on O'Reilly Radar
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Why I can't shake my ereader
14 May 2012 | 8:00 amEreaders are now commodities — improvements are incremental at best — but the fundamental qualities of these devices still make them compelling. -
Publishing News: Another publisher ends its app fling
11 May 2012 | 1:00 pmThe publisher of MIT's Technology Review talks apps and HTML5, RWW's Antone Gonsalves reviews B&N's chances of survival, and Amazon hires Sara Nelson. -
You'll be live in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
11 May 2012 | 11:00 amThe introduction of Google+ Hangouts On Air marks the beginning of live video's disruption. Here's two reasons why this is a big deal. -
The reinvention of the bookseller
10 May 2012 | 10:00 amOnce booksellers accept the reality they can no longer just sell books, they can begin evolving into something dynamic and unique. -
Think of it like a political campaign: Baratunde Thurston's book marketing
8 May 2012 | 9:00 amMake it easy for people to help you — that's a simple but oft-overlooked concept that author Baratunde Thurston says is essential to book marketing. He shares additional marketing tips and tools in this interview.
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Folio RSS
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Los Angeles Times Shutting Down LA Magazine
16 May 2012 | 11:26 amThe Los Angeles Times is shutting down its monthly Sunday magazine, LA. The last issue will be June 3rd and the closure comes after attempts to recast the publication through frequency reductions, management shifts and editorial change-ups. -
Fairchild Fashion Media Buys Fashion Blog Curator NowManifest
15 May 2012 | 2:40 pmThis story first appears on FOLIO: sister site, minonline. -
Piano Playing Cats And Engagement Strategies For The Modern Advertising Age
15 May 2012 | 2:29 pmBuilding a cohesive brand in the digital scape. -
Society of Publication Designers Names Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine of the Year
15 May 2012 | 2:07 pm -
Time Inc.’s Money and This Old House Partner for Editorial Supplement
15 May 2012 | 12:28 pm
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Ashly Lorenzana
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5 Online Marketplaces Where Freelance Writers Can Sell PLR Content
14 May 2012 | 1:01 pmAs you may have noticed, I’ve been blogging a lot about PLR content recently. I have also just launched my very own PLR store, but it’s currently under construction. Although there is only one package of private label rights content for sale at the moment, I wanted to make sure everyone knows that I’m already working on my next package of articles about online dating and getting your ex back. If you need content for a dating site or a “going green” blog, be sure to visit the site and sign up for my newsletter while you’re there. I will be sending out… -
Moving Blog to WordPress
3 May 2012 | 10:36 amHey everyone, I am in the process of moving my website from Google Sites over to WordPress. If you’re looking for my old blog, please use this link. -
That’s So Pinteresting! Who Should be on Pinterest NOW?
12 Feb 2012 | 6:34 amIt seems like everyone in the blogosphere has shared their two cents on Pinterest, the popular new content curation app that has everyone talking. I signed up for an invitation a while back, and began exploring the site a few weeks ago. So how does Pinterest work, exactly? What is it for? You can basically think of it it as a beefed up image bookmarking site with a few unique features. Pinterest users create “pins” using a bookmarklet, which allows them to add content to their “pinboards.” However, a page must contain at least one large image or video in order to be… -
Make Money Writing Private Label Rights Article Packages
10 Feb 2012 | 6:07 amAre you a freelance writer who is looking for an additional source of passive income to keep you afloat between clients? We all know how inconsistent freelancing can be sometimes, and it’s not a good feeling when you are suddenly stressed out over paying your bills and making ends meet. Even if you are established and have several returning clients, you’re bound to have some slow times here and there, just like in any other type of work. What you need to consider is creating your own products using your freelance writing skills. One example of creating your own product is to… -
7 Ways to Start Making Money With Your Writing
2 Feb 2012 | 6:03 amWrite for content sites This one is an increasingly popular choice among freelance writers today. There are two main types of content sites that invite writers to sign up for free accounts and earn some extra money. The first type are user-generated content sites such as Squidoo, Suite101 and Hubpages. These sites allow users to write and create content on whatever topics they enjoy or want to theme their writing around. Typically, these sites generate very small amounts of ad revenue for the authors or pay a shoddy royalty rate that is hardly worth the time some writers put into their work…
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Self Publishing Team | Duolit
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Self-Publishing Success: 3 Tips to Finding Your Definition
16 May 2012 | 7:00 amsuccess (noun): 1. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors. 2. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like. Fact #1: We all have a speech prepared in the event that Oprah selects us for her book club. Fact #2: Oprah will probably never call. Fact #3: We will go on writing anyway. photo by rubendn Every one of us has an ultimate, higher-than-the-summit-of-Everest dream for our writing career. Something that would mark us as eternally successful in the eyes of all our believers and doubters alike. There’s nothing wrong with that… -
Q & A with Jesse Grillo: Diving into the Details
15 May 2012 | 7:00 amHow much research do you usually put into your writing? I’m not talking about Internet research — forget Google, Wikipedia, and MapQuest. — I’m talking about real, down deep, get your hands dirty research. The kind of exploration that really helps you get into the mindset of your characters or the surroundings of your book’s location. Research that can lead to discoveries both exciting and dangerous. That’s the kind of in-depth digging that author Jesse Grillo is doing to research his upcoming novel Gold Lined Storms. The book follows Joshua Blackwood, a… -
How Do You Define Success As an Indie Author? [Discussion]
14 May 2012 | 7:00 amIn its second weekend of release, The Avengers made over $100 million here in the US. Add that to its ridiculous total from last week, and the movie has made almost $400 million in two weeks. By any measure, I think we’d call that a success! But, what about you as an indie author? How do you measure success, both for yourself and your book? While most of us don’t expect careers or sales along the lines of those richie-riches on top of the New York Times’ Bestseller List, we would like to feel as if the time, effort and money spent publishing our work were worthwhile. -
Giving It Away [Guest Post]
11 May 2012 | 7:00 amThe followng is a guest post by Grant Piercy. Check out Grant’s previous guest post, Quoting Lyrics and Dodging Copyright Issues. Want to submit a guest post? Read our overview and drop us a line! It might interest you to know that even though I consider myself a writer and an author, I’ve never submitted a manuscript to a legacy publisher. Neither have I ever attempted to get an agent for representation. This might seem like a strange approach for a so-called writer and author, but this is the way of the world now. It’s not just the state of the publishing industry, but the state… -
Think Fast! 10 Minutes to the Perfect Elevator Pitch
9 May 2012 | 7:00 amPicture this: you’re chilling in an elevator, minding your own business, when Matt Lauer (host of the Today Show and my favorite celebrity example) hops onboard. He’s yammering away on his phone, lamenting the loss of an author guest. As the doors close, he tells the person on the other end to find a replacement quickly and hangs up. He turns toward you and catches your eye, prompting him to ask, jokingly, if you’re an author. Your heart leaps! This is your moment, your chance to make it big! You clear your throat and say, “Actually, I am an author.”…
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Color Your Life Published
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What Can You Learn About Life from a Dog?
12 May 2012 | 7:20 pmWhen Charmaine Hammond and her husband saw Toby for the first time they were smitten. They had worked through their grief over the death of their last dog, Dooks, and were ready to welcome another dog into their lives. “Look, it’s a Chesapeake Bay retriever,” Chris said, “just like the one we saw at the SPCA. His name is Toby, he’s five years old, and he’s in a rescue agency in Sherwood Park, so he’s a local.” I looked at the picture of a big, dark-brown dog with floppy ears and a white spot on his chest and felt drawn to him instantly. Who could resist a dog who smiled for… -
Writing Poetry is a Way of Figuring Things Out
7 May 2012 | 6:03 pmSarah Kay, spoken word poet and founder of Project V.O.I.C.E. says that she writes poetry to help her figure things out. Do you write poetry? Does it help you figure things out? I’m not sure what I figured out with the poems I wrote throughout my life, but I’m so happy I wrote them. Thanks to my mother, I still have the originals of my childhood poems. As I grew up I wrote about the mundane and the profane. Occasionally I was reflective. I’m sure that my poems won’t win any awards or be etched on monuments, but no matter how corny or fractured they may be, they are… -
Be an Adventurer, Not a Tourist: Starting Your Writing Journey
1 May 2012 | 2:24 amAn adventurer steps out to answer the call of her heart, never knowing for sure where the journey will take her, but willing to go all the same. A tourist insists on the sure path, worn deep by those who went before. The adventurer is willing to follow uncharted paths and make her own way. When you begin your writing journey, you begin with an itinerary, a destination, and a set of tools, but as you encounter new directions, you explore those as well. You must trust even when you’re not sure and enjoy the full spectrum of sights and sounds on your writing journey. Adventurers are people… -
Spice Up Your Book with a Recipe
30 Apr 2012 | 7:19 pmWhen you set out to write your book, you have ideas, steps, encouragement and more that you want to share. The easier you make it for the reader to grasp your key points, the better. Try adding a recipe to spice up your book. Almost any book can benefit from a recipe metaphor. All you need is a theme or objective, some ingredients and directions on how to mix them together. The beauty of recipes is that they are user friendly and we can understand them. Even a technical topic could benefit from being expressed as a recipe. Your recipe could list general ingredients. A book on happiness, for… -
What is a Book Cover?
30 Apr 2012 | 5:53 pmA book cover is the face of a story. When Chip Kidd was hired at Alfred A. Knopf, he was charged with the task of creating book covers. He gave books a face. In the video below, you will learn how a pro translates a book’s content and the author’s intent into graphic design genius. I promise that you will get inspired ideas that will help you better understand the connection between your book cover and your story. Share with me in the comments what ideas came up for you. Are you unsure about your cover? I would love to be your partner in choosing a cover that compels…
