Tag Archives: Writing

“Freshly Pressed” Insider’s Report

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Being “Freshly Pressed” is the best thing that can happen to a blogger, short of going viral. (But it doesn’t put you in a class with Adrianna Huffington or Matt Drudge.) Human beings thrive on recognition and affirmation.

Freshly Pressed  focused my attention. It prompted some overdue housekeeping around the blog, clean-up and improvements that are hopefully invisible to the reader.

It also reminded me of the largeness of the digital world. One little blog is like a star in a galaxy, or sand on a beach. Though insignificant in the grand scheme of things, one blog can shine light in the darkness, or  — like a grain of sand — irritate the complacent and powerful.

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Anne Tyler’s Excellent Paragraph(s)

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ANNE TYLER

I know, I know. I’ve bogged down in two treacherous subjects. Politics (boring) and economics (more so).  This political-economic obsession can only lead to dystopia, which is a particularly virulent strain of paranoia. Dystopia-paranoia flu is spreading quickly. Scientists worry about a pandemic.

There’s no known cure, but a good novel about human beings and their foibles couldn’t hurt. (You might also try a bowl of chicken soup.) If it’s foibles you want, Anne Tyler is the leading specialist. As Exhibit A, I submit the following paragraph from her latest book, The Beginner’s Goodbye.

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A Blog By Any Other Name Is Still A Blog

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BLOGGING TIP NO. 101. NO MATTER THE TITLE OR CONTENT OF YOUR BLOG, YOU CAN GET MORE ‘HITS’ BY INCLUDING A PHOTO OF YOUR CAT. HERE SHE IS, LOLA, THE BLACK CAT WITH THE LONGEST WHITE WHISKERS IN THE WORLD. Photo by Lola’s personal staff photographer.

Thanks for reminding me! Yes, besides changing the blog theme (the appearance of the blog), I’ve also fiddled with the name. Again! The old theme, in case you’re wondering, was called “Twenty-Ten,” and the new theme is “Chunk.” Both are great themes, available free on WordPress.com.

When I started this blog back in 2009, I thought I had a great name: “Life After Sixty.”  I was going to focus on — you guessed it — the life and times of those of us who’ve passed the big SIX-OH, with special attention to living simply and cheaply frugally after age 60.

Before long, I started writing more and more about dysfunctional politics and economic meltdown. (I know, “Boring”). I had this inspiration for a new name: “Dispatches from ConsterNation”  It sounded like a cool name. Catchy. Maybe it was just a phase I was going through. At least it was better than “Boring.”

Now, I’ve shifted the focus again. The revolution in publishing — the surge of Indie publishing and Ebooks — fascinates me.   Continue reading →

The Black Swan And The Ebooks Marketplace

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The Black Swan effect, which I’ve written about before, might be the single most consequential concept of the 21st century. Just my opinion. If you’re interested in the phenomenon, you could read all about it in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s book, The Black Swan. Subtitle: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.

Mr. Taleb suggests that most of the important events in history are Black Swan events, for example, the 09-11-2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. For my other previous posts on Black Swans, click here and here.

Many events of lesser importance, which nonetheless have momentous effects on nations, industries, and individuals, may also be Black Swans.

As Mr. Taleb explains, a bestselling book is a perfect example of a Black Swan, because it’s impossible to predict in advance which book will be a bestseller.   Continue reading →

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Is this a great time to be a writer, or what?
The title to this repost from David Gaughran’s blog tells exactly what the post is about, and the body of the post gives all the details about direct selling. No need for further comment from me. But I do have a question.
QUESTION: WordPress.com from the beginning has been almost fanatically opposed to advertising by bloggers. (Sorry WordPress, that’s my ONLY criticism of WordPress.com, which is by far the best blogging platform for me.) I believe WordPress.com has probably always made an exception for selling one’s own handmade goods (I might be wrong about that), and I guess handmade goods might include one’s own handwritten books. My question, David, is how is WordPress.com responding to this sudden surge in blogging by Ebook authors? Was WordPress.com OK with your recent sale of 99-cent books? I gather that you and many others are Amazon affiliates, and possibly affiliates of other booksellers as well. Do you think WordPress.com might crack down on this?
BTW, I tried switching my blog over to WordPress.org a few years ago, to gain more freedom, but found the technical hassle not worth the benefit. These days, WordPress will handle all the technical details of the switch for a fee, so it’s much easier now if you want to pay the fee.

— John Hayden

The Write It Forward Author Marketing Plan

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A fellow writer-blogger asked about marketing. Viola! I immediately happened upon a highly informative piece posted today by Jen Talty over at Bob Mayer’s Blog, “Write It Forward.”   Continue reading →

Ebook and Indie Book Self-Publishing Services, Confusing Choices

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I’ve run across a handy chart comparing the leading Indie Ebook self-publishing services. It provides royalty rates for each service, but beware: Some services are free, but keep a percentage of the author’s gross sales. Others charge fees.

You might also want to start by reading the post, “Digital Book World Self-Publishing Guide,” which is very concise, but probably doesn’t include any new information. The accompanying chart, which I found most helpful, is here.  

I broke through the 50,000-word barrier on my WIP (that’s Work in Progress, for the uninitiated) a few days ago.   Continue reading →

Writing My First Ebook, A Work In Progress

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WORLD HEADQUARTERS OF ‘CONSTERNATION,’ THE BLOGGING, WRITING, AND EBOOK PUBLISHING CONGLOMERATE. Note the unfinished manuscript and miscellaneous research piled on the desk at the bottom left; various diabetes testing stuff on the top shelf, with the dictionary; a bunch of unpaid bills in envelopes on the shelf at top center; a few reference books and family photos on the same shelf to the right; and last but not least, my trusty but obsolete Apple laptop, sitting on a pile of phone books.

Hello again, patient readers. Yes, I’m guilty of neglecting this poor blog. My other blog is a virtual orphan.

My excuse: I started writing an Ebook around the first of November, and the project is about to consume me. Progress has been slower than my unrealistic expectations. I’ve been working almost constantly, sometimes forgetting to eat. Living and working in the same one-room apartment is not the ideal situation. It’s easy to lose perspective and hard to self-regulate. On the other hand, it helps me keep focused on the book.

To answer the obvious question: It’s a work of fiction, approaching novel length. It doesn’t fall into any particular genre. I’m hoping it will be a fast-moving, suspenseful story of political and economic crisis. That’s all I’m going to say about that for now.

Writing a book is more daunting than I thought.

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Ebook and Indie Book Revolution Is Reflected in Blogs

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English: Latest Kindle (2011) showing Esperant...

Image via Wikipedia

Greetings, patient readers and friends. Yes, I’ve been neglecting ConsterNation while I work on writing an e-book. Thankfully, the end is in sight.

E-books might be the new blogging. Writers flocked to blogging when it became popular about six years ago, and now writers are flocking to e-books. I’m not suggesting that e-books will replace blogging. I’m sure that won’t happen. However, I think e-books have already affected the evolution of the blogosphere. At the height of the blogging craze, many of the most successful and popular blogs were blogs about blogging. Many gurus offered advice on blogging, and some even suggested that a lot of money could be made in blogging, if one followed their advice.

Something similar is happening now with blogs about e-book publishing.  Continue reading →