Tools and Trade Secrets for Aspiring Writers
The New York Times recently carried an article about the novel sales strategy of science-fiction writer PJ Haarsma: he’s tied his new book for young readers into a new video game that he himself created. The article is the second in a new series investigating how authors are tapping the internet to sell [...]
The announcement today by the Publisher’s Weekly email newsletter simply takes my breath away. That doesn’t happen very often.
Thriller novelist Clyde Ford has just published his fifth novel Precious Cargo. In a publishing breakthrough, Ford has devised a way to take the reader direct from the book to the actual scenes he’s describing, [...]
Added to the offerings at Amazon this month is a remarkably low-priced [$5.99] guide to self-publishing:
Top Self Publish Firms: How Writers Get Published, sell More Books, and Rise to the Top and Make Money Working from Home with the Best Print On Demand Self-Publishing Companies.
While I haven’t read it myself, the book has already [...]
I’ve come across several very interesting items on the web this week.
MediaBistro Video-on-Demand re Blogging
For $15, MediaBistro offers a brief series of videos from top-level bloggers about their online experiences. MediaBistro is evolving into one of the best sources of online training for writers. I spent hundreds of dollars to actually attend one [...]
DailyLit, launched in May 2007 and offering its 1000th title last July, has identified an unusual audience: busy people who have time to read email, but never enough time to sit down with a book.
Publisher’s Weekly mentions the company today in its regular email newsletter, announcing that books by Tom Peters will be [...]
I love Amazon.
Now that I’ve ceated a purchase history, the company computers occasionally send me recommendations for additional reading, based on my previous purchases. That’s how I learned about Natalie Goldberg’s latest book Old Friend from Far Away about writing memoirs. I smiled when I realized that I had already savored her Writing [...]
I have previously reported the purchase of Audible.com by Amazon. Now linked into the mix is AudioFile, “the magazine for people who love audiobooks.” Now we are beginning to see the results. They are impressive.
AudioFile is establishing itself as a major hub of information. The magazine is available both online and in print. You [...]
Hmmm, maybe Amazon’s constellation of companies is aiming toward another new sales strategy. Earlier today I wrote about the Audible IndieFirst early publication program. An hour later, I read in the Publisher’s Weekly email newsletter about another early publication strategy, somewhat differently deployed: 2000 copies of a new book about Obama and [...]
As you may recall, Audible, the net’s premier source of audio books and magazines, has been bought by Amazon, with the attendent promise of a much broadened reach. Audible has now announced a new program that may be very appealing to new writers.
It’s called IndieFirst. Here’s Audible’s description of the service:
Audible is excited [...]
Over the weekend, the major blog Lifehacker, with hundreds of thousands of readers, issued an alarming post “Avoid Laptop Seizure On International Trips.” The post has prompted dozens and dozens of comments, some detailing strategies to follow, others decrying the policy.
As a writer with practical concerns, I take a somewhat different tack. I [...]