Logical Expressions Blog

November is my least favorite month of the year. It is the time of my "November Pout" which is my cranky way of welcoming (not!) the onset of winter. Although I do enjoy the change of seasons here, I like winter going into spring a lot better than fall going into winter. When it's gray and dreary, I find it more difficult to retain perspective.

As this week's article points out, when you have the blues (or in my case a "November Pout") it's a good time to focus on what you have, instead of what you don't have.

Enjoy!

Figure Out What's Important to YOU

by Susan C. Daffron

Comparing yourself to other people's definition of "success" is a sure way to make yourself unhappy; instead think about what makes YOU happy

This week's article is by James Byrd, aka the "logical half" of Logical Expressions, Inc. After avoiding "the ebook thing" for ages, I finally delegated ebook creation to him. As a programmer, James loves researching nerdy stuff and distilling it down to something that actually makes sense. So far he has converted one book to Kindle format and uploaded it to Amazon. It may be available by the time you read this newsletter. We're probably going to hold off on uploading anything other than Kindle for a while because we need more ISBNs. We've read from reliable sources that ISBNs are supposed to drop dramatically in price after the first of the year, so it's worth waiting.

In the article, James talks about a few of the current "flavors" of ebooks and why they matter.

Enjoy!

So Many Ebook Formats; So Little Time

by James H. Byrd

Converting your print book to an ebook takes effort, but which ebook formats are worth the time?

We did a survey recently and a large percentage of the respondents said they dream of writing a book, but they haven't. They used phrases like "I've been meaning to for so long" or "I've wanted to for years." It seems like there's a lot of talk and no action among aspiring authors. Why is that?

This week's article explores why people don't actually do the things they say they want to do.

Enjoy!

Why Don't People Do The Things They Say They Want to Do?

by Susan C. Daffron

Whether you want to travel or be a book author, how can you be "too busy" to follow your dream?

As noted in the article, I have returned from my latest trip. Never in my life have I done back-to-back traveling like this before. Let me just say that air travel is not as much fun as it used to be.

Even though getting there (and back) was not half the fun, my experience at the No More Homeless Pets Conference and the subsequent visit to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary  was incredible. (I'm even in the closing video - http://video.bestfriends.org/media/p/1347.aspx)

I realize it has nothing to do with publishing, but if you are an animal lover and happen to be in Utah, you really should stop by the sanctuary. It's amazing and inspiring ;-)

What does relate to publishing is that I was invited to speak at the conference because of my book. I also exhibited at the conference, and I sold OUT of my book. It was a whirlwind of activity with people handing money over so quickly, I could barely record the sales in my ledger. Yes, speaking really does help your book sales!

If you are thinking about speaking about your book, I've shared a few tips on preparing for a presentation in the article.

Enjoy!

Practice a Presentation Even When You Can't Practice

by Susan C. Daffron

A few tips for practicing your presentation even when you are busy and on the road

I often wonder if I worry too much. As a consumer myself, I want our customers to be happy purchasing the things we produce. I've had enough buyer's remorse in my life that I don't want to inflict it on anyone else.

Obviously, not every client we've ever had loves us, since people don't always get along. However, we do try to represent the products we sell accurately. I think that is why we've only had two product returns in the five years our online storefront has existed. In both cases, people simply didn't read the text explaining what the product was.

You hear the term "truth in advertising" a lot, but I think truth should go beyond just advertising. Truth in marketing is important.

Enjoy!

Embrace Truth in Marketing

by Susan C. Daffron

People don't like being manipulated; by telling the truth you stand out from all the online snake oil salesmen

Right now, I'm listening to the peaceful sound of canines snoring on the floor next to my chair. Apparently, one dog is having a groovy dream, given all the little woofs and paw wiggles.

Today's rainy-day tranquility has only been interrupted by the occasional phone call. I had a great time talking to a client, but other than that, today's calls have been annoying B2B telemarketer calls. So in addition to the writing advice below, I offer you my husband's best writing productivity tip:

"Don't answer the phone."

Although I have a difficult time not answering the phone, he's right. I schedule all my client calls and really should not answer the phone. In fact, I've turned off the ringer, so I won't even know when it rings. (Welcome to voice mail Mr. Telemarketer!)

Enjoy!

Moods are for Cattle, Not Writing

by Susan C. Daffron

Excuses for not writing often relate to one of two problems: priorities or perfectionism

Fall is definitely here. We shut down the garden, and I've been taking dogs to the veterinarian for their fall checkups. (So far, everything seems fine with the all-furry team!) In the midst of all this activity, we've also been plotting out activities for next year. I'm pleased to report that the Small Publishers Artists and Writers Network (SPAWN) will be a sponsor of the Self-Publishers Online Conference in May. Yes, SPOC 2010 is coming! You can keep up with all the details by signing up for SPOC News at:
http://www.SelfPublishersOnlineConference.com/

In related news, I also heard from "Mr. Publishing" Dan Poynter. He has agreed to do the keynote on the first day of SPOC: May 12, 2010. He'll be talking about "Book Publishing Opportunities: Past, Present and Future." Given that Dan travels 6,000 miles every week, I'm thrilled that he's able to fit SPOC into his busy schedule again this year.

We're committed to self-publisher education and helping aspiring authors make good choices about their books. One of the things that came through in the comments about the conference last year was how "blessedly devoid of hype" and sales fluff the presentations were. Just like last year, we plan to pack a lot of content into three days.

Casting a critical eye at hyped-up programs also happens to be the subject of this week's article.

Enjoy!

Write a Book the Fast and Easy Way

by Susan C. Daffron

When it comes to book publishing, it's time to get real about what fast and easy really mean

Today, I'm thinking about reading. I got a shipment of books from Amazon this afternoon, and now I'm in a hurry to get this done so I can dig into my new cache of books and learn.

People underestimate the power of simply reading books. Actually having the patience to sit down and read a book cover-to-cover is a tremendous and often under-appreciated competitive advantage in business.

"Read books!" is also the first advice I give to aspiring writers and publishers. Countless written resources about entrepreneurship and publishing are available that cost nothing or next to nothing, as noted in this week's article.

Enjoy!

How to Set Up a Home Publishing Business

by Susan C. Daffron

Publishing is an ideal home-based business, but you need to answer some key questions first

I've been spending a lot of time dealing with email related to the Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network (SPAWN) Web site. As I've mentioned, I'm now the president of the association and I recently rebuilt the Web site at www.spawn.org. Another little piece of the fall-out related to the massive Web site overhaul was discovering problems with the newsletter lists. So I moved them all over to AWeber, which is the email autoresponder service I use for this Publishize newsletter as well.

In any case, I've spent a lot of time explaining to people why this switch was necessary. A while ago I wrote an article on how to get your ezine delivered, which covers this topic in more depth. I thought about sending it out as a newsletter, but the problem is that it is filled with words that would trigger everyone's email filters. If you don't know what I mean, that's exactly why you should read the article. After all, if no one ever gets your newsletter, what's the point?

Enjoy!

Get Your Ezine Delivered

by Susan C. Daffron

Thanks to spam, getting email where it needs to go has become increasingly difficult.

Today, I'll be brief because I feel icky. I think I'm getting a cold. We've had three sets of houseguests in the last month and one of them infected James with a germ. He, in turn, seems to have infected me.

Anyway, since I was not exactly inspired to write, I looked back at an old Publishize survey, which indicated many of you are interested in copywriting. And thus the subject of this week's article was born!

Enjoy!

How to Write Copy for Your Book Website

by Susan C. Daffron

A few tips for writing copy about your book, whether you plan to use it online or offline