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6/14/13: The Writing Edge for Business Writers

Jun 142013

This week I’m pointing you to pieces on book marketing, writing a good blog post quickly, the future of digital publishing, and rising tablet ownership.

From Fast Company: Your Indie, DIY Guide To Creative Book Marketing
“Co.Create contributor and novelist Jennifer Miller talks to self-starting writers about their bootstrapped marketing campaigns–and chronicles her own adventures as an author-entrepreneur (while also marketing her book–see what she did there?).”

From Enchanting Marketing: How to Write a Good Blog Post Super-Fast (and the Joy of Slow-Blogging
“Writing blog posts super-fast is like baking bread in a breadmaker. You follow an automatic process with known ingredients”

From Digital Book World: Mobile, Data and Content Are Key to Winning the Future of Digital Publishing
“It’s important to note that though there is an obvious need for publishers to provide content in ebook format to fulfill consumer demand; consumers are still buying print books as well as ebooks. However, focus needs to shift towards developing digital portfolio and devote resources to bring next-generation interactive experience to multiple mobile devices.”

From Digital Book World: Third of Americans Now Own Tablets
“Some 34% of U.S. adults now own a tablet computer, like an iPad, Samsung Galaxy or Amazon Kindle Fire, according to the latest numbers from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.”
Becky Robinson is my go-to friend and expert for launching business books. Every week, she publishes a book launch tip on her blog. This week’s tip is TIP

Sources I Check Regularly

I find the posts and articles that I share with you on The Writer’s Edge in many places. But there are a few that provide insightful pieces again and again. Here they are.

The CopyBlogger Blog

Problogger

Digital Book World

Tools of Change for Publishing

jeffbullas.com

Becky Robinson’s Weaving Influence

6/7/13: The Writing Edge for Business Writers

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Jun 072013

This week I’m pointing you to pieces on making ebooks best sellers, Google hangouts, how Sonia Simone writes, and why Google+ is essential for authors.

From the NY Times: One-Day Deals Making E-Books Brief Best Sellers
“Flash sales have taken hold in the book business, helping older books soar from the backlist to the best-seller list”

From ProBlogger: Google Hangouts: Turning Bloggers into Broadcasters
“Blogging no longer has to be a text based conversation. Google+ has allowed bloggers to become broadcasters, adding a visual component to each blog post, and all you need to become a “Blogcaster” is a webcam, an internet connection, and Google+.”

From Kelton Reid: Here’s How Sonia Simone Writes
“Sonia Simone is a true original, a prolific author, educator, and speaker who has written countless well-chosen words for Copyblogger (I consulted a team of experts, and we literally couldn’t count them all).”

From Dana Lynn Smith: Why Google Plus is Essential for Authors
“Google Plus combines many of the features of Facebook (personal profiles, business pages, groups/communities) and Twitter (add people to lists called “circles” and follow them). An additional feature with potential for authors is “hangouts” where you can do live video chats. More importantly, data from Google Plus is being integrated into Google’s search engine, which means that your activity there could have an influence on the amount of traffic that flows to your website through search results. Google Plus pages are even showing up in search results, so remember to make your profile keyword rich.”

Sources I Check Regularly

I find the posts and articles that I share with you on The Writer’s Edge in many places. But there are a few that provide insightful pieces again and again. Here they are.

The CopyBlogger Blog

Problogger

Digital Book World

Tools of Change for Publishing

jeffbullas.com

Becky Robinson’s Weaving Influence

5/31/13: The Writing Edge for Business Writers

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May 312013

This week I’m pointing you to pieces on compelling first lines, getting your writing done, promoting your blog posts, and asking your friends to help promote your book.

From Kelly Diels-Rostant: On Hamburgers and Hooks: How to Effortlessly FIND (Not Write) Your Compelling First Line
“So let me tell you where your blog post beef is: it’s the best, most quotable line of your piece, and I promise you it’s already there. Really, it’s there. You already wrote it. It’s just in the wrong place.”

From Zen Habits: The 7-Step Method to Find Focus for Writing
“Why is it so hard to focus on writing for most people? Or other creative work, for that matter?”

From Samuel Pustea: 50 Ways to Promote and Market your Blog Posts
“it’s just time to roll up the sleeves and build traffic one marketing tactic at a time. It will involve some social media marketing, old fashioned blogger networking and also understanding the nuances of Google.”

From Sandra Beckwith: 7 Ways Friends Can Support Your Book (and How To Ask For Their Help)
“I recently read an article that detailed seven ways people could support their author friends. It was well-done and offered the type of specific information I’m always looking for, but honestly, it felt a little . . . well . . . self-centered. I mean, really, am I supposed to expect my friends to ask me how they can promote my book? Or, worse, am I self-absorbed enough to think that my friends are using Google to find ways they can support my book marketing?”

Sources I Check Regularly

I find the posts and articles that I share with you on The Writer’s Edge in many places. But there are a few that provide insightful pieces again and again. Here they are.

The CopyBlogger Blog

Problogger

Digital Book World

Tools of Change for Publishing

jeffbullas.com

Becky Robinson’s Weaving Influence

5/24/13: The Writing Edge for Business Writers

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May 242013

This week I’m pointing you to pieces on getting started in podcasting, content curation tools, and how Austin Kleon writes.

From Michael Hyatt: The Easiest Way to Get Started Podcasting

“Because of the success of my own podcast, I am often asked, “So how can I get started podcasting?” I have a very short answer to that question.”

From Michael Statford: 4 Time Saving Content Curation Tools

“Content curation services, which had been one of the choice tools of marketing experts for some time now, are finally entering the mainstream.”

From Kelton Reid: Here’s How Austin Kleon Writes

“In this installment of The Writer Files, Austin shares his method of “productive procrastination,” the difference between little writing and Big Writing, the importance of finding the right readers, and his secret of productivity.”

Sources I Check Regularly

I find the posts and articles that I share with you on The Writer’s Edge in many places. But there are a few that provide insightful pieces again and again. Here they are.

The CopyBlogger Blog

Problogger

Digital Book World

Tools of Change for Publishing

jeffbullas.com

Becky Robinson’s Weaving Influence

5/17/13: The Writing Edge for Business Writers

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May 172013

This week I’m pointing you to pieces on building a relationship with your audience, digital book signings, the Ten Commandments of Twitter, and five must-have apps for writers.

From CopyBlogger: 5 Ways to Bond with Your Blog’s Audience
“Today I’m sharing five tips to engage with your readers, make them feel at home, and to turn your blog into a nice and warm get-together.”

From Digital Book World: Build Digital Relationships with Consumers
“Ebook signings are powerful marketing tools. That’s because they create an immediate connection between the reader and the author, allowing for exponential social media and word-of-mouth banter—the sort that helps to sell books. And, “this kind of engagement allows authors and readers to create bonds that are much stronger and more interactive than ever was possible with paper book signatures,” writes Beth Bacon, a DBW expert blogger and children’s digital publisher.”

From Jeff Bullas: The 10 Commandments of Twitter
“The real power of Twitter is that you can build a follower base that allows you to share a focused stream of content that adds value to your followers daily lives. There are no fancy Facebook “Edgerank” algorithms to throttle your tweets and choke your content distribution. Its pure and wild. I like that. FromSo what are some fundamental principles that you should embrace if you want Twitter to work for you?”

From Duolit: 5 Must-Have Apps For On-The-Go Authors
“What I really want to share with you is how much time I’ve been able to save with my marketing efforts by using a handful of awesome (and free) apps on my iPhone (don’t worry, they’re available for Droids, too).”

Sources I Check Regularly

I find the posts and articles that I share with you on The Writer’s Edge in many places. But there are a few that provide insightful pieces again and again. Here they are.

The CopyBlogger Blog

Problogger

Digital Book World

Tools of Change for Publishing

jeffbullas.com

Becky Robinson’s Weaving Influence

Advice from the Masters: John Pierce

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May 152013

John Pierce wrote several books for the popular market, including science and science fiction. . Most of them are forgotten. They’re not the reason I’m sharing his advice.

Pierce was a star engineer who worked at Bell Labs in the 1950s and 1960s. He received several awards including the IEEE Edison Medal for “his pioneer work and leadership in satellite communications and for his stimulus and contributions to electron optics, travelling wave tube theory, and the control of noise in electron streams.” He also gets credit for coming up with the name “transistor.”

The following advice was intended for engineers, but if you want to write a book, you should pay attention.

“There’s a difference, you see, in thinking idly about something, and in setting out to do something. You begin to see what the problems are when you set out to do things.”

Want more? Check out the complete list of Advice from the Masters posts.

5/10/13: The Writing Edge for Business Writers

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May 102013

You’re a businessperson. You may not think of yourself as a writer, but you know that writing well can boost your results and your career. Naturally, you want to do better. Here are some recent blog posts and articles that might help. This week I’m pointing you to pieces on ebook prices, improving your writing, and promoting your book.

From Digital Book World: Self-Published Authors Seeing the Wisdom of Higher Ebook Prices
“Last year at this time, the most popular price point for self-published authors using the Smashwords distribution platform was $0.99; this year it’s $2.99, according to analysis by Smashwords. This data dovetails what we’ve seen at Digital Book World through tracking price in the DBW Ebook Best-Seller list. It used to be that the self-published titles that made the list were mostly priced at $0.99 and $1.99. Now, we’re seeing $2.99 and $3.99 emerge as more popular price points.”

From Copyblogger: How to Immediately Become a More Productive (and Better) Writer
“You want to become a better writer. I know this because you’re reading Copyblogger. I also know that you fear becoming a better writer.This I know because you must change to become better, and to fear change is to be human. But what if I told you that you only need to change one thing — one small thing — to achieve your goal of becoming a better writer?”

Becky Robinson is my go-to friend and expert for launching business books. Every week, she publishes a book launch tip on her blog. This week’s tip is “Stay Centered.”

Sources I Check Regularly

I find the posts and articles that I share with you on The Writer’s Edge in many places. But there are a few that provide insightful pieces again and again. Here they are.

The CopyBlogger Blog

Problogger

Digital Book World

Tools of Change for Publishing

jeffbullas.com

Becky Robinson’s Weaving Influence

5/3/13: The Writing Edge for Business Writers

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May 032013

This week I’m pointing you to pieces on landing book endorsements, finding your writing voice, how Jeff Goins writes, and blogging tips from fourteen bloggers.

From Dana Lynn Smith: 8-Step Plan for Landing Book Promotion Endorsements
“Endorsements are recommendations from authors, experts or celebrities, in other words people whose opinion can influence sales of your book. These are the quotes you typically see printed on the covers and inside of books and they are sometimes referred to as /blurbs.’”

From Jeff Bullas: 7 Tips to Finding “Your” Writing Voice
“I don’t have a process or a magic potion to finding a writing voice or an expression formula but let’s have a look at what happens when you start to create, write and express yourself in an online world.”

From Kelton Reid: Here’s How Jeff Goins Writes
“Thankfully there are trailblazers — allies that arrive in times of uncertainty — our fellow writers and teachers who offer their wisdom, courage, and assistance. Jeff Goins is one of those guides, an author, award-winning blogger, and coach, who stopped by The Writer Files to share some of his battle-tested stories from his own journey as a writer.”

From ProBlogger: Do You Know These Time Saving Blogging Tips?
“When I asked these 14 bloggers about their routines I also asked if they had any tips for other busy bloggers. I’m glad I did because collectively they give some great insight below.”

Sources I Check Regularly

I find the posts and articles that I share with you on The Writer’s Edge in many places. But there are a few that provide insightful pieces again and again. Here they are.

The CopyBlogger Blog

Problogger

Digital Book World

Tools of Change for Publishing

jeffbullas.com

Becky Robinson’s Weaving Influence

Advice from the Masters: William Zinsser

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May 032013

When we grow up, most of the people who do what I do would like to be William Zinsser. For me he is not only the ultimate writing coach, but the ultimate writer about the craft of writing. The New York Times recently ran a marvelous article, ”A Writing Coach Becomes a Listener,” which included the following bit of advice.

“People read with their ears, whether they know it or not.”

There’s much more in the article as well as in Zinsser’s classic book, On Writing Well. My favorite of his books, is Writing to Learn, which inspires me every time I open it.

Want more? Check out the complete list of Advice from the Masters posts.

4/26/13: The Writing Edge for Business Writers

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Apr 262013

This week I’m pointing you to pieces on Kindle Singles, the marketing snowball, great headlines, and waiting to post.

From the NY Times: Amazon Broadens Its Terrain
“Amazon Kindle Singles is a hybrid. First, it is a store within the megastore of Amazon.com, offering a showcase of carefully selected original works of 5,000 to 30,000 words that come from an array of outside publishers as well as from in-house. Most sell for less than $2, and Mr. Blum is the final arbiter of what goes up for sale. ”

From The Savvy Book Marketer: The Book Marketing Snowball
“In today’s guest post, book marketing expert Terry Cordingley shares his wisdom on the process of book marketing. In developing your marketing plan, remember that everything you do builds your platform and momentum and moves you to the next level.”

From Michael Hyatt: Headlines That Grab Readers by the Eyeballs and Suck Them into Your Message
“This is a guest post by Ray Edwards. He is is a marketing strategist, copywriter, speaker, and author.”

From ProBlogger: Stop. Don’t post that post! 7 questions to ask before you hit publish
“This is a guest contribution by Kate Toon, an award-winning SEO and advertising copywriter.”

Sources I Check Regularly

I find the posts and articles that I share with you on The Writer’s Edge in many places. But there are a few that provide insightful pieces again and again. Here they are.

The CopyBlogger Blog

Problogger

Digital Book World

Tools of Change for Publishing

jeffbullas.com

Becky Robinson’s Weaving Influence