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- Hate to Write? 3 Ways to Start Enjoying It
- What to Write When an Employee Dies
- 5 Ways to Get Your Email Read, Remembered and Responded To
- Six Tips for Writing in Easy Reading Season
- 12 Ways to Plug the Email Productivity Drain
- Two Questions to Ask Before You Start Writing
- 6 Ways to Aim Your Arrow for the Heart
- 6 Ways to Become an Idea Machine
- 3 Reasons Why You Need to Improve Your Writing Skills
- Get Personal With Your Holiday Greetings: 3 Tips
Posts Tagged ‘writing advice’
Sue, I can’t do your question justice on Twitter so I’m answering here. I know I could have emailed or picked up the phone, and enjoyed chatting, but I think many other people are asking the same question. So here goes.
Yes. Publish in print, probably at Createspace. Like Kindle, where you’re working, it’s owned by Amazon, though don’t expect a smoothly functioning publishing family. And remember kerning and that other stuff you learned in your print days.
Lots of people still prefer print. Many reviewers will accept print only. You can sell them at speaking events. Friends, family members and business associates will feel so special when the postman delivers a gift-wrapped book that they’ll write a nice review. Which reminds me, Sue…
As you’re soon to find out, you need reviews to create buzz. Goodreads and some other book sites will do giveaways to generate reviews, but only if you pick up the cost of mailing and print.
Reviews without mailing costs?
That can be expensive. Danny Iny, fellow Canadian who recently published Engagement from Scratch, told Problogger readers he spent $2,000 on stamps. Among other frenetic activities, he offered a free PDF download, in exchange for an email address he can market more products to.
Although I have another list of people I know, or want to know, to mail print copies to, I’m concentrating on free e-copies. Unfortunately for you, Kindle does not allow that. That’s one of the reasons I also published the e-book with Smashwords. I have a free, limited-time download, coupon code BC25Q.
Fortunately, selling higher-margin products to people who read my book is not part of my strategy, though I wish I could remind them about a review. But then, our books are so fabulous readers will be seized with an uncontrollable urge to rave, right?
More than Kindle
Of course, the other reason I published with Smashwords was the need to offer different versions for different e-readers and manage various etailers. With Seth Godin blogging for them and their author enticements, Kindle is trying to own the e-market. But let’s not kid ourselves. There are many players out here. It’s too early to pick a winner.
With Google also trying to own everything, you’d think they would be quick off the mark with e-books. But no. When I checked out Google Books today, I laughed when I saw their book “programme.” That’s how Brits and some colonials spell it. Most Canadians, except art galleries, museums, librarians and other snobs, prefer the leaner American “program.”
I was listed because Google had found my Createspace link, though no cover image. No Kindle or Smashwords. No Amazon.com or Amazon.ca reviews. I added more info and will check back later. But clearly they are not at the head of the pack.
Change takes time
On their forum, people sending in print books for digitizing asked if they would have them returned. The fact that people who see the advantage of e-books but don’t have ePub or PDF of the manuscript just shows you we have one foot still firmly planted in the past.
We keep hearing comparisons to Gutenberg, when books jumped from hand-written to machine-printed. But at that time, there was only one inventor of the printing press. Even then, the transition took decades.
Today, we have many contenders. And many media. As lawyers now state in contracts “media invented or yet-to-be-invented.”
So start with Kindle. Publish in print. And be prepared for anything.
I received lots of compliments on my PowerPoint-video hybrid promoting my book. These came mostly from people who share my discomfort with appearing on video, disdain for staring-into-webcam clips and tight budget.
Although they’re comfortable with PowerPoint, they want to post more places, with animation and music. So video it is. Or should I say pideo.
I’m not pretending that Learn to Write Like You Talk Only Better in 1 Minute is top-notch. I’ll do better on the pideo I’m planning on how to make a pideo. In the meantime, let me share what I’ve learned. And please, share your pideos and pideo tips with me.
10 steps
1. Think about what your community would most like to learn from you.
2. Break down the process into a few simple steps.
3. Plan your slides, something like this:
1 A catchy yet informative title
2-4 The problem
5-10 The solution
11 Learn more, which is your sales pitch.
4. Reduce the text on your slides to as few words as possible. Think about the kinds of pictures that could better convey your ideas. Show me; don’t tell me.
5. Search for images in your personal archive, stock photo sites and through an advanced search, in Creative Commons, on Flickr.com.
6. Create one helluva PowerPoint presentation. Don’t worry about transitions, which won’t convert to the video, but apply some animation to add action.
7. Save the presentation as a Windows Media Video, or the Mac equivalent.
8. Search for free or inexpensive music. As with the photos, expect to spend lots of fun time choosing the best for your pideo.
9. Add the music and other effects with Windows Movie Maker.
10. Post and publicize on YouTube, your site and as many places as you can.
You can read Write Like You Talk Only Better on an iPad, Kobo, Sony and other readers. Check it out. Would-be authors, stay tuned for a post about the joys of publishing with Smashwords.
My post on alternatives to that weary word awesome was featured in today’s most-popular edition of Ragan Daily Headlines. This holiday is getting more awesome, I mean amazing, all the time. Enjoy it again.
People keep using this word when they’re too lazy to think of a more original one or want to look cool. Learn some alternatives or share some of your own.
Join the movement against punctuation overuse and abuse. Here’s how.
Storytelling is hot, but too many people start at the beginning, leave out the messy parts and fail to tap into the magic. Try this instead.
Forget all those rules you learned at school. Take aim at the big ones that still matter.
Spellcheck can’t help if you confuse two words with similar sounds but different spellings. Here are the big ones to avoid.
People get so hung up on debating irrelevant rules such as serial commas that they forget the whole point of writing is to understand each other. My rant.