Okay, show of hands. Who else is sick and tired of so-called gurus telling you making money online is easy, and all you have to do is follow a few simple steps to become a millionaire? You know it’s not… Read More

Okay, show of hands. Who else is sick and tired of so-called gurus telling you making money online is easy, and all you have to do is follow a few simple steps to become a millionaire? You know it’s not… Read More

One way enterprising authors can level the playing field for their book marketing is to enlist the help of better-known, more-established figures in their field. How do you do that? By getting people to read (or scan) your book and… Read More

Like it or not, we care about what others think about us. And we care about their opinions on other things as well, including the books they read. As someone who is looking to get your work published, it is… Read More

Like it or not, we care about what others think about us. And we care about their opinions on other things as well, including the books they read. As someone who is looking to get your work published, it is… Read More

Thousands of content creators are getting more targeted search traffic to their sites, their ideas, and their businesses by doing one thing — using our Scribe SEO software. Here’s what just a handful of them are saying about Scribe: I… Read More

What’s that? You didn’t realize you had an enemy? Don’t tell me you’re unfamiliar with that procrastinating self-destructive demon that’s thwarted so many of your best efforts. You know, that troll standing on the bridge between your actual life and… Read More

I get a lot of questions from writers and self-publishers in my inbox. Some days I think my job is answering emails except that it doesn’t pay very well. But let’s face it, I like being helpful. Lately I’ve been… Read More

Where do you begin? I wondered that as a fresh-faced, new copywriter, staring at the blank page and a phone that wouldn’t ring. There was so much information online — and I didn’t know where to start. Today I offer… Read More

Composition is a discipline; it forces us to think. If you want to ‘get in touch with your feelings,’ fine — talk to yourself; we all do. But, if you want to communicate with another thinking human being, get in… Read More

It’s almost exactly ten weeks since I decided to take the plunge into my blog archives to see if I could wrestle an actual book from its depths. If you’ve followed along, you’ve seen me take these steps: Find ways… Read More

Ever wonder why some businesses get press and some don’t? Getting a mainstream media outlet to pay attention to your business seems like an impossible-to-solve mystery. You might see your competitors spouting a diatribe that you know for a fact… Read More

When you’re launching and marketing your book it can be essential to get attention from the media. It may be big media, niche market media, trade magazines, book reviewers, book bloggers, talent bookers or any number of other representatives of… Read More

The practice of guest posting—writing articles for other people’s blogs—has become one of the most frequently recommended methods of bringing new readers to your own blog or website. Bloggers have written lots of articles about guest blogging and there are… Read More

About a month ago I asked a small group of authors, marketers and bloggers if they would endorse my new book, A Self-Publisher’s Companion. I had in mind a number of uses for these testimonials, if I was lucky… Read More

The 2011 edition of the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA) all-day workshop, the Get Published! Institute, found a new home in downtown Oakland this year amidst the beautifully preserved Victorians of Preservation Park. A good sized crowd of about… Read More

This weekend is the annual all-day workshop run by the (San Francisco) Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA). This year the event has moved out of Marin County, where it has traditionally been held, to Nile Hall in Preservation Park,… Read More

I was amazed. Jaw-on-the-floor astounded. I’d been imagining what it would feel like for a long time, and truly believed if I put my mind to the task and nose to the grindstone, it was sure to happen. But the… Read More

A long long time ago, around the 5th century BC in Ancient Greece, there were a bunch of hip kids called the Sophists who loved to talk. Actually, not just talk. They loved teaching people how to debate and come… Read More

When something doesn’t smell or taste right to you, what do you do? You tell your friends around you to smell or taste it to see if they agree. They hesitantly comply and either confirm or deny your position. A… Read More

Well, if you put one foot in front of the other and just keep going, eventually you get to your destination. I set out to create a book quickly. I wanted it to be a book that would be readable,… Read More

At some point in your life, you’ve had one. I’ve had one. Everyone’s had one. I’m talking, of course, about a really awkward, torturous, embarrassing first date. You misread a cue and leaned forward for a kiss when your date… Read More

For some people, if a topic interests them, they are quite content to immerse themselves in extensive online articles that are otherwise indistinguishable from print content. Most Web site visitors, however, have a different set of expectations when they read… Read More

As a freelance copywriter, I’ve put together a nice portfolio of major corporate clients, ranging from Bay State Gas to Pizzeria Uno. And I found most of them in a rather unusual way. I didn’t use SEO or pay-per-click. I… Read More

Publishing has traditionally been a slow process. Sometimes authors are surprised to learn that it may take one and a half to two years before their book is published by a traditional publisher. You can certainly improve on that pace… Read More

Robert wrote yesterday about David Mamet’s advice on dramatic tension, the key element that drives every compelling story. But there’s another element that’s critical to story, and it’s particularly important when you’re telling a story that intends to persuade. Whether… Read More

Email subscribers are the lifeblood of the online business. We all know we need them, and we all have specific ideas about how to capture them. Ethical bribes, free eBooks, special reports, pop-up forms, Internet radio shows. But if you… Read More

I’ve been down on news releases before on this blog, but only because I think there are better options for securing publicity. That doesn’t mean you should ditch news releases all together. There are other benefits to writing and distributing… Read More

Case Study: Unmaking War, Remaking Men: How Empathy Can Reshape Our Politics, Our Soldiers and Ourselves by Kathleen Barry Design brief: Create a complete book design for the important launch of a new imprint. Constraints: None. The author was committed… Read More

You know you’re right, right? Everyone should fall in line and accept what you know in your heart to be true. Sorry, that’s not how people work. So much of persuasive writing comes down to proof. And so many… Read More

This is another addition to our ongoing series of tutorials and case studies on landing pages that work. Baolin Liu wants to help fellow office workers stay strong and fit, both in and out of the office. He’s developed an… Read More