Author Archive
Dealing with the Realities of the Digital Age
Posted by: | CommentsRecently, my Facebook account was hacked–or something. Still not sure what happened, but apparently some or all of my FB friends got an invitation from me (ostensibly) to attend an event on how to hack Facebook! (If you received that, my apology, though I hate that I’m apologizing for something I didn’t do.)
I was so angry I was tempted to close down my account completely. Then a friend told me that you can’t really do that. That probably accounts for why I have two FB accounts. A few years ago, FB shut me down, inexplicably. Or so I thought. I opened a new account, then discovered the old one was somehow apparently resurrected. Not the kind of resurrection I celebrated yesterday!)
My friend also said the hacker likely can still use my account. How scary is that? (That’s it for my Facebook rant. I promise you, I won’t go further. I’ve done that before.)
What I do want to remind you of is Read More→
Seth Godin’s New Publishing Model
Posted by: | CommentsI just downloaded a free ebook onto my Kindle, because Seth Godin is recommending it: Do the Work. I recommend you read it, because everything Steven Pressfield says is relevant to anyone who wants to be an author.
I also recommend it because to get the free ebook, you need to subscribe to Seth’s blog, The Domino Project, where you’ll find information on this new publishing approach is and how it works.
His stated goals:
- To reinvent the way books are created when the middleman is made less important.
- To reinvent the way books are purchased when the tribe is known and embraced.
- To reinvent the way books are read when the alternatives are so much easier to find.
- To find and leverage great ideas and great authors, bringing them to readers who need them.
Read the rest of his article to understand why he believes change must happen in publishing, and how he plans to fix the problems.
Will Seth Godin change the face of publishing? Look at his partners so far: Amazon for distribution, sponsors like GE for his marketing. Look at his model: partnering, spreading ideas, reaching his audience, solving problems.
What do you think?
How NOT to Lose Your Facebook Friends
Posted by: | CommentsI guess there’s no getting around having a Facebook account these days, but what I hate about Facebook is the way they change things and don’t say much about it. Like we have all this time to figure out the changes and what to do about them to 1) make Facebook work for us (especially if we’re using it for business, as I try to), and b) protect our privacy.
(I have friends who refuse to have anything to do with FB because of this. Yes, Facebook is so big that if it were a country, it would be somewhere between the third and fifth largest country–I’ve heard both figures–but dos that mean my life has to be dictated by their whims? Okay, rant over.)
So here’s the latest, and my thanks go out to Kathryn Rich Bonner who wrote this, and to Curtis Lundgren for letting me know about it. Read More→
Three Steps to Making Money Online
Posted by: | CommentsThis post is by one of my mentors, Jimmy D. Brown. I have much of what Jimmy teaches because 1) it’s meaty information–no fluff; 2) it’s very doable–just follow what he says; 3) it always works! Here he gives 3 steps to making money online, and offers resources (once you take these steps) for making it happen.
One of the hardest things you'll ever face as a someone doing business online is this: getting your first sale.
Seriously, that's the great difficulty. Once you figure out how to get that sale it's simply a matter of duplicating the process an infinite amount of
times to continue producing additional sales.
To be sure, you will test, tweak and completely change your tactics over time, but the fundamental process remains constant.
Making money online is all about connecting your offer with a buyer. That's what it takes to make money: getting customers for something
that earns you money.
The question is…
How?
Three tiny letters. One syllable. One small word. One BIG question. How? How can I get customers who buy what I'm selling?
That's what I want to answer today. The process is the same for us all. There are three steps... Read More→
Two Ways to Get a Publisher to Notice You
Posted by: | CommentsGiven the state of publishing today, there are really only two ways to get a traditional publisher to notice you and offer you a contract.
One is to publish it your way and make it a bestseller. That is what happened with Dr. Alex Loyd’s The Healing Code, which was published by http://www.best-self-publishing-company.com and within weeks had made it to #1 in 8 categories on amazon.con. That got the attention of a top literary agent, who sold it to Hachette for a very nice sum. On February 15, 2011, less than a year after it was first published, the book is being relaunched with great backing by the publisher.
The other way to attract a top agent and traditional publisher is to Read More→
Best Seller Formula, Boiled Down
Posted by: | CommentsI‘ve been thinking a lot about what went into the success of Dr. Alex Loyd’s The Healing Code–or any best-selling book, for that matter.
Of course, there are many factors that all contribute, but I think I’ve boiled it down to one essential.
Do this, and your book will succeed.
Here it is: Read More→
Writing Rituals of Acclaimed Authors
Posted by: | CommentsHow do you get inspired to write?
One of my subscribers, Kate Rothwell, sent me a link to the article, “20 Acclaimed Authors and Their Unique Writing Rituals” and I thought you’d like to read it as well.
After you’ve read the article, post what your favorite writing ritual is, either yours or one of the ones you read on the blog. Before you submit it, copy it, come back here and paste it here as well as a comment. (Tip: it’s double exposure for you–links to your site from both sites.)
Though I don’t do it just before writing, I write “morning pages” every single morning, similar to what Yeats did. (Though I don’t claim or look for any supernatural inspiration; it’s more of a “mind dump” to clear the junk out.) I believe this practice of writing morning pages is one of the reasons why I never have writer’s block. Ever.
The other reasons are because of a couple of other techniques I learned years ago. I talked about them all in my class, “Writing Secrets Revealed.” You can learn more here. If you too took up these simple practices, I believe you will come to find writing about as natural as breathing. (And even more enjoyable.)
