Logical Expressions Blog

If last year stunk for you writing-wise, it may have been for one or more of these reasons: lack of ideas, lack of motivation, lack of time. This article explores a few possible solutions to these problems, based on my experience: Blasting Though Writer's Block - How to Get Back Into the Writing Groove Let us all hope that it is the first of many more articles to come. Enjoy! Technorati Tags: publishize,logical expressions,writing,books,author,susan daffron

It feels like a long time since I've sent out the Publishize newsletter because we switched the dates around due to the Self-Publishers Online Conference. As an aside, if you attended SPOC, please fill out our survey. (We sent the link to you in SPOC News.) We need your help to make SPOC 2011 even better. Although attending a conference like SPOC can help you move forward, we've found that many people still feel "stuck" in their book publishing journey and need help getting unstuck. So we're starting up self-publishing training classes. If there's an aspect of...

As you might imagine, we've been busy with preparations for the Self-Publishers Online Conference, which will be held May 12-14. I've been talking with speakers and sending out press releases. It's a ton of fun getting to spend time with such cool "book people." As I've mentioned, you can attend the conference live for free, but if you want recordings or CDs, you need to upgrade your registration to a paid pass. If that's something you're interested in, be aware that our early bird discount ends in 2 days on April 30. On a totally non-work related...

This week, we have been busy with various promotional efforts relating to the Self-Publishers Online Conference. It's only a month away now, and I sent out the first 2010 edition of SPOC News yesterday. I hope you'll all mark your calendars for May 12-14! Plus, I'm pleased to report that when you register, you'll also get a discount on book promotion services from our new sponsor Send2Press. I've used their services to send out press releases about our own books, and of all the services I've used, they have offered the best online exposure. (I've gotten a ton of...

I'm excited to report that although it snowed and hailed yesterday, crocuses are sprouting in my garden. (Just don't tell the local fauna that the salad bar is open.) Today's article is about that annoying negative voice in your mind that complains, doubts, and basically chatters way too much about bad things that have happened in the past and bad things that could happen in the future. Whether you call it the "inner critic," subconscious, or the bad bully upstairs, sometimes you have to tell it to just shut up. Choose to Become a Book Author...

Happy Saint Patty's day everyone. It's been a great day here! On a personal note, I'm adopting a fluffy white dog from a rescue group, so I'll be driving out to pick her up. (Road trip!) We are SO excited. And the as-yet-to-be named dog is SO cute! James and I are also fired up about a writing retreat for book authors that we've decided to do this fall. I wrote up some initial information on the event that we've dubbed the Cabin in the Woods Writing Retreat. Check it out here: Cabin in the Woods Writing...

As noted in this week's Publishize newsletter article, I've been distracted from work by life events, but I still have been lining up speakers for the second annual Self-Publishers Online Conference (SPOC) which will be held May 12-14, 2010. Like last year, there is NO cost to attend the virtual event live, and you can learn from the comfort of your home or office. I haven't gotten to updating the SPOC site yet, but I can report that confirmed speakers include: Dan Poynter – author of the Self Publishing Manual ...

After the last newsletter, I received some nice comments saying, it was okay to switch Publishize to every other week. It's turned out to be a particularly good thing because the last couple weeks have been harsh for reasons unrelated to work. I'm exhausted. This week’s Publishize article answers the question, "What is a book packager?" Using a book packager can be a good option for busy self-publishers. Enjoy! What is a Book Packager? by Susan C. Daffron A book packager or book producer helps a publishing company with the...

Today, I'm making a command decision. At the beginning of the year, I thought about switching the frequency of the Publishize newsletter from weekly to every other week. But in January, I sort of kept writing it every week because I'd had a couple weeks off in December and was in the mood to write again. Now, I've decided it's time to make the break. Next Wednesday, you won't receive this newsletter. I have vast amounts of writing I need to do in preparation for a new project we're launching. And I have a bunch of work to...

This week's Publishize article is about a topic that I've been avoiding: discounts. I've had a number of people ask me loads of questions on this topic for one major reason: it's incredibly confusing. I tried to make it as clear as I could, but it's difficult to explain. If you have more questions, let me know. Enjoy! The Wacky World of Discounts by Susan C. Daffron Although it's confusing, understanding how discounts work is big part of the money matters in publishing. Technorati Tags: publishize,book publishing,discounts,amazon.com,lightning source,books,book store,susan daffron,logical expressions

I was reading a magazine article about happiness and it said the most content people take pleasure in little things. According to experts, having tons of money and an expensive car aren't what make people happy. It's the little day-to-day stuff. Since it's January and the gray weather in many parts of the country is bringing people down, here are five things that made me happy today: 1. The sound of my husband's laugh and his big grin when he was amused by something dopey I said while we were doing dishes this morning. 2. The sight of...

Sometimes you have to write an article to answer a question you get repeatedly. This week’s Publishize newsletter article is one of those. As many of you know, I'm the president of a non-profit organization called the Small Publishers Artists and Writers Network (SPAWN), which offers information and resources for people working in publishing. Our members are publishers, authors, designers, or other creative pros. This week's article "Are You Really Self-Publishing or Not?" is based on a lot of rather lively conversations that have been going on in the SPAWN member discussion forum. After trying to explain...

I hope everyone had a great holiday season. We had a lot of fun, but also spent a lot of time doing business and marketing planning. In the process, we thought a lot about what worked and didn't work in 2009. Upon reflection, I realized that the people I most enjoyed working with all have one thing in common: they love books. And going to publishing conferences is fun because everyone there actually reads. It seems insane to me, but not everyone who wants to create a book actually reads books. Obviously, I do not have that...

When the temperature is in the single digits, the mantra on the daily hound walkie is "no dawdling." We are out there marching through the forest in the freezing cold to get something done, not to sniff random things, wander aimlessly, or goof off. When it's freezing, you gotta get the All Furry Team out there and get back inside as quickly as possible. I touch on this type of single-minded focus in this week's article. To write a book, sometimes you just need to get out there and get it done. Enjoy! How to...

Today is Thanksgiving here in the U.S., and this week, I've been thinking about the many things I'm thankful for that make me happy right now. Sure they're small, but here in no particular order is stuff that made me smile this week. 1. Flannel sheets. After spending 2 weeks in Arizona, crawling into non-flannel sheets the night we returned caused a screech of frozen agony. It was time to switch to flannel in such a big way. 2. James' artisan bread-baking hobby. (Well and James himself too, but that goes without saying.) The smell of baking bread...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Tomorrow I'm doing two free "sneak peak" webinars for Best Friends Animal Society. Mine are called "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Fundraisers" and they are based on information in my book Funds to the Rescue: 101 Fundraising Ideas for Humane and Animal Rescue Groups. You can read more about the Webinars and access links to sign up here: http://network.bestfriends.org/golocal/lasvegas/news.aspx?pID=12876. This webinar and the speaking opportunity at Best Friend's upcoming No More Homeless Pets Conference in October came about because of book marketing activities that I performed literally months ago. The value of marketing consistently over...

Today, I’m writing this later than usual. We had a serious need to can 50 cups worth of veggies before it was too late. We now have 23 pints of food that we'll be eating for months to come. When the garden is in power produce mode, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. This week's article talks about coming up with writing ideas. Enjoy! Finding Topic Ideas for Your Blog, Articles, or Even Your Book by Susan C. Daffron When you are trying to figure out what to write, don't worry about what...

Sometimes you realize that the right time to do something is right NOW. This morning, even though I had about 100 work-related things to do, I realized I couldn't put off harvesting my basil and my garlic. You know fall is approaching when the basil starts to get weird, and you have to just rip out the plants. It was a harvest it, or lose it moment. Many heads of garlic are now hanging in the woodshed curing (drying). I also spent a peaceful half-hour sitting in my garden de-stemming the basil. The leaves spent most of the day...

For those who have been wondering about all my nerdy comments on Facebook lately, at long last I feel comfortable revealing what the "Big Web Site" project is. I'm now the President of the Small Publishers Artists and Writers Network (SPAWN), which you can find online at http://www.spawn.org/. I've been a member for years, and I'm thrilled to be working with such a great group of creative professionals. Redoing the Web site was my first task for SPAWN, and it's mostly done. I haven't quite finished the private member area stuff yet or implemented the new ecommerce store,...

Even though it's only Wednesday as I’m writing, this week has been one of those emotional roller coaster weeks with extreme highs and lows. I started off by committing a serious "reply to all" email faux pas. (Yes, admit it, you've done it too!) Then on Monday, I had not one, not two, but three clients with technical traumas. One person had a "meltdown;" another professed to be "going insane" dealing with a printer. However, I resolved them all, so by Tuesday, I was riding high and feeling like a techno-goddess. That high continued through my NAPRP teleseminar...

Some of you may remember that author Shel Horowitz spoke at our Self-Publishers Online Conference in May. The other day, Shel told me about a great deal he's offering on his book Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First. This self-published book is actually the basis of a new book he's working on for a traditional publisher (Wiley) called Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green, which he is co-authoring with Jay Conrad Levinson. The new book will contain quite a bit of information from Principled Profit. Once the new book comes out, Shel is prohibited by contract from selling Principled Profit...

This week, I'm slowly recovering from my 10-day vacation/conference on the East Coast. Everything went incredibly well. The airlines and weather gods cooperated and everything went off without a hitch. (Those of you on Facebook can check out pics of everything from wild horses to the henna tattoo I got at the Ocean City boardwalk.) At the conference, someone who purchased my new book Funds to the Rescue on the first day of the show told me the next day that she'd "stayed up all night" reading it. A couple of people also came up to our booth...

This week, if all goes well, I will be hanging out on a beach somewhere by the time you read this. Through the magic of modern technology, I set the blog up early to post while I'm on vacation. This week's article gives you a few simple tips to avoid ugly documents. The world has too many ugly documents already (many of which I've had to fix), so please don't add to the problem. Enjoy!    - Susan Daffron 5 Document Design "Don'ts" to Avoid by Susan C. Daffron The ultimate goal of...

One of the highlights of my day today was talking to someone about fundraising. Every week, I interview someone from an animal rescue group for my radio show. This week I talked to someone from a small dog rescue in California. After the recording was over, we talked about fundraising for ages. Of course, I had a lot to say since I've just written a book on the subject (Funds to the Rescue). I loved sharing ideas about fun and easy ways she could raise more money for her group. After all, that's exactly why I wrote the book. ...

This week, I took a drive down south to Spirit Lake for a photo shoot with Cami the Wooly White Dog. If you're on Facebook, "friend" me and then you can check out a few of the pictures from the shoot. Cami has quite an expressive and occasionally hilarious face:  http://www.facebook.com/susandaffron. In other news, James just returned from a bike ride down to the mail box and brought back a package for me from the Apex Awards. It turns out Publishize won an Award of Excellence in the Books & Ebooks category. This award is the second one...

This week, we have been doing things related to the end of the Self-Publishers Online Conference. I've sent out many emails and am getting the artwork and audios together for the fulfillment house for those who purchased CDs. If you were able to attend, you know it was an amazing 3-day publishing education. If you were there, I'd appreciate it if you could fill out our quick survey when you get a chance. We'd like to know what you thought, since we do plan to run the conference again next year. In other news, on Friday I...

Today, I'm working on a lot of stuff for the Self-Publishers Online Conference, which is next week. I've been busily setting up pages for the Exhibit Hall, testing conference call providers, and telling other people about it. I'll be honest, I'm really tired and I've had a sinus headache all day. Bleh. We all have bad days sometimes. Acknowledging that sometimes work and being in business can be difficult happens to be the subject of this week's article. Enjoy! Key to Success #10: Don't Give Up! by Susan C. Daffron Accept the fact that...

Today's newsletter topic is rather timely since I just returned from a trip. In addition to attending a business conference, I also spent some quality time with my sister and father. We had a lot of fun. I even got carded at the Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. (It was kind of dark I guess.) In honor of my sister's birthday, I also baked her a Boston Cream Pie (which I assume she is still enjoying, since it was rather a large cake). More proof that life is about a lot more than business. I encourage you...

I'm getting ready to fly off to Baltimore tomorrow for the Bliss Factor conference. One of the downsides of rural life is that we are 1.5 hours from the airport. So I have to leave here at 3:30 am to catch my morning flight out of Spokane. I'm thinking traffic will be light at least. In other news, we've uploaded new pages to the  Self Publishers Online Conference site with information about speakers we've lined up so far. After I get back we need to go through more speaker proposals, but I can tell you right now, it's going...

This week's big news is that registration for the Self-Publishers Online Conference is now open. So a big nerdy yay to James for making it happen! Check it out at: http://www.selfpublishersonlineconference.com/ As you can see, the conference is free to attend. (There are paid options too if you want downloads and other goodies like bling from vendors.) We already have 5 speakers lined up for sure and have a few "maybes" out there too. We also have been talking to a lot of businesses in the publishing industry about exhibiting--everyone from printers to book designers. It's exciting! ...

Today, I'm not feeling well, so I'll be brief. I'm having one of those days where everything seems extra difficult, particularly writing, so typos are undoubtedly inevitable. My apologies. However, tomorrow after I've had a good night's sleep, I'll be ready for our first Publishize Teleseminar, which is called "How to Set Up a Book Launch Campaign for Your Book." This topic was the one most requested by all of you in our mini-survey. To get notification of our Teleseminars, sign up for the free Logical Expressions newsletter at http://newsletter.logicalexpressions.com. If you've got questions on what's...

A big "thank you" to everyone who answered last week's 2-question survey. The teleseminar topic winner is "How to Set Up a Book Launch Campaign for Your Book." The teleseminar will be held on Thursday March 19 at 10 am Pacific time, so mark your calendar. (We'll send out call in information before the call.) We also got some great feedback from Publishize readers on other topics that are troubling them. Since we're only going to do one teleseminar a month, I thought I'd address some of the topics as articles too. A couple of people had comments...

Over the weekend, James and I did what we call "big picture thinking." We talked about a number of ways we can better serve our clients. One thing we decided is to start doing free monthly teleseminars just for readers of this newsletter. Publishing is a lot of work and people learn in different ways. So for those of you who like to listen and ask questions, here's your big chance to talk to us. The first teleseminar is on Thursday March 19 at 10 am Pacific time, so mark your calendar. (We'll send out call in information before the...

During the winter, it's incredibly quiet outside because most of the birds fly south or go into hiding. Whatever they do, they stop making noise. Over the last couple of days, even though it's been dreary and gray, I've been starting to think that the worst of winter may be behind us. The avian forest dwellers are starting to tweet and chirp again. When the birdies are happy, it makes me happy. This week's article is more about business than publishing, but something I'm constantly trying to explain to aspiring self-publishers is that publishing is not all about...

In addition to never having to worry about being laid off, a cool thing about working for yourself is that you can declare your birthday a corporate holiday. So tomorrow, Logical Expressions is closed because we're celebrating. (Regarding being laid off, this morning James quipped, "why would I lay off myself?) Tomorrow will probably be a completely computer-free day. James has talked of maybe making homemade bagels. We'll see. All I know is that it will be a day of doing pretty much whatever I want, which is as it should be. (Hey, if you can't do whatever you...

I heard from my editor that she will be done copyediting my next book in the next couple of days. Somehow, in between various client projects, I need to fit in layout and cover design for my own book (number 10). With help from the very cool folks participating in the 90 Day Book Challenge, I have finalized the title. It will be called Funds to the Rescue: 101 Fundraising Ideas for Humane and Animal Rescue Groups. Speaking of the 90 Day Book Challenge, we had a few people ask if they could sign up late. The answer is...

Here in the backwoods, it's been cold. I know it's January and it's supposed to be cold, but I have to say that the ice situation on our driveway is getting me down. Yesterday, I drove down to the mailbox (which is about 1/2 mile away) because it was busy blizzarding. On my way back, I almost got stuck halfway up our driveway. How embarrassing. Our driveway is not steep or long. My car is all-wheel drive, so normally it can get through almost anything. However, yesterday about 4 inches of snow was sitting on top of a...

As some of you know, I've been doing a lot of teleseminars in these first few weeks of January. We did ones called: Get Your Book Done (with Donna Kozik) Sneak Peek into Book Coaching (with Lisa Manyon) Why Becoming a Book Author Can Change Your Life (with Gina Bell) All of them talk about our 90 Day Book Challenge which starts on Monday. If you are thinking about writing a book, this course is a great opportunity to make it happen. (If you have questions, don't be shy...ask me)...

I hope you all had a great holiday season. We mostly watched it snow. In fact, it has pretty much snowed non-stop for several weeks. Fortunately for us, we're snuggled up in our nice warm house which has a very pointy roof, so it won't collapse under the snow load. (The recent rain on top of the snow has caused a number of buildings to collapse in this area.) Since we haven't exactly been getting out much (except to snowshoe on our forest trails with our dogs), we've been busy plotting out plans for 2009. One of them...

Today, I found out that Hope Clark of Funds for Writers fame selected me for the "Honest Scrap Award." I did a Google search on it and I'm not sure where it started, but the idea is that you share honest bits of information about yourself. The award has two components. You have to first list 10 honest things about yourself (and make them interesting), and second present the award to seven other bloggers. Here are 10 honest things about me: 1. I have a treadle sewing machine and enjoy sewing on it more than...

Thanks to everyone who participated in the book launch for Publishize last week. We sold a bunch of books! In fact, we sold WAY more autographed copies that I was expecting, so I actually ran out of books here and had to wait for another order to arrive from the printer. Fortunately, people were incredibly nice when I wrote them and said their book might not make it to them by Christmas. I just mailed out a bunch today and am out again. So I'm waiting for yet another book order to arrive from Lightning Source (our printer)....

As promised, here's the information about the special book promotion that is happening today only - December 11, 2008. The book is my ninth book and it's called Publishize: How to Quickly and Affordably Self-Publish a Book that Promotes Your Expertise.  As many of you know, I self-published 8 books in less than 18 months. Publishize is filled with all my best self-publishing secrets and online book marketing tips. Today only we are offering free shipping on the book and a slew of bonuses from many people in the publishing and business world. You'll find audio and print bonuses...

This week's article is about how we are doing the Publishize book launch. FYI, today is the big day. I'll be blogging later with more information, but basically, we'll be offering free shipping on the book and a slew of bonuses from many people in the publishing and business world. I've collected audio and print bonuses from Marcia Yudkin, Shel Horowitz, Fern Reiss, Sheri McConnell, and a bunch of other people. Check out http://www.publishize.com/ today December 11 and you'll see the incredible list of freebies folks are offering for people who buy the book. I'd like to say a huge...

While I was at the PubWest publishing show in November, I was interviewed by Chris Kenneally about my book writing process, IdeaWeaver, and of course, our new book Publishize: How to Quickly and Affordably Self-Publish a Book That Promotes Your Expertise. You can listen here: BTB #73: Advice for Accidental Authors Susan Daffron shares "provocative and insightful advice on what it takes to make a publisher out of an author during at break at the annual PubWest Conference. Technorati Tags: susan daffron,pubwest,ideaweaver,publishize,book publishing,self-publishing,authors,logical expressions

Today, we had a great preview call with our friend Donna Kozik for a new program we're offering together called "Promote a Book in a Weekend" on December 13 and 14. In one weekend, participants will get our help in creating a custom Web site for their book (or upcoming book), which they can later modify themselves, just like a blog. The "virtual" event combines our Self-Publisher Book Web Site with a lot of copywriting help, advice, and moral support, so people get the site DONE. Although we'll be talking books on the weekend of the...

On Monday, I mailed out copies of Publishize to all the great people who provided endorsements for the book, and of course, family and friends who get copies of all our books. (Yes, Dad, it's in the mail!) It was a big postal event, and it's a good thing a nice man held the door open for me as I lumbered in with my heavy bags full of books. In other news, I just found out that an Associated Press story that mentions our weird 1996 Thanksgiving is online. Here's a link from one of the papers that picked...

As I mentioned last week, I went to the PubWest publishing conference in Portland. On the first day, the keynote speaker was John Ingram. As many of you know, Ingram is the largest book wholesaler in the world, and John is the Vice Chairman of Ingram Industries Inc. and serves as Chairman of Ingram Book Group, Lightning Source Inc., and Ingram Digital Group. Anyway, Lightning Source (aka LSI) is the printer I use. LSI is also John Ingram's "baby." In the early days, he says LSI was referred to as "John's Cute Idea." Of course, now many years and...

Today I'm headed down to the PubWest publishing conference which is being held in Portland, Oregon. I'll also get to see two of my cousins, which is great because they are extremely cool women. Of course, I'll have some of the very first copies of my new Publishize book on hand too ;-) At this point, I'm really looking forward to driving far far away from my computer, because yesterday, I spent an extraordinary amount of time dealing with problem Word documents for a client. Let's just say that today's article is extremely appropriate for these folks. Big...

The proof has arrived. I just need to log into Lightning Source and approve it, since the book looks great. All my agonizing and reviewing printouts has paid off. I'm thrilled ;-) Sagittarius, we has arrived... (Extra credit points for anyone who knows what song that is from. Other than James that is.) Technorati Tags: publishize,book,publishing,daffron,logical expressions,self-publishing

Today, I was hoping to receive the proof copy of my Publishize book, but it turns out it's somewhere between here and La Vergne, Tennessee. Big sigh. They say patience is a virtue, right? Anyway, the good news is that apparently my files worked perfectly, so all is well with the printer. We like that!  Although I generally hate working on the weekend, I did spend quite a bit of my Sunday dealing with final printouts and changes to the book so I can attest to the fact that really getting a book out the door requires focus.  ...

At long last, it appears I have moved into the necessary Zen mental indexing space and am rapidly cruising along furiously adding index entries to my Publishize book. Because I'm taking it to a publishing conference in mid-November, the book has to go to the printer this week. I have received some really great endorsements for the book and I just finalized the cover. It's all looking really good. Speaking of the book, this week's article expands on a section toward the end that I wrote recently. If you would like to read the article, please use this link:...

This week, amidst quite a bit of client work, I've also been finishing the last pieces of the Publishize book puzzle. I wrote the back cover copy and spent a ton of time fiddling with the cover artwork. I made some strides, but sometimes the creative gods are not willing. It was time to just close the file and try again tomorrow. The good news is that the text of the book is complete and currently in final spousal review. It's headed to Lightning Source next week, and as you authors out there might imagine, I'm really excited....

Today was a good day. I got stopped for speeding and found out my dog has blown out her knee. Yes, it's been one of those "it's all in your perspective" days. I've been worried about my fuzzy black dog Leia. She's 12 now, so she's a bit of an oldster and when she started limping, I worried that it might be cancer. However, today I took her to the vet and learned that the problem is a torn cruciate ligament, which although not good, isn't life threatening. I'm hoping for more years with my gimpy black dog. ...

Last week, we were on vacation. It was relaxing and fun, but it's good to be back here with my canines and felines. In fact, even as I write this, my dog Tika has wedged her big gold butt up against my chair, so I can't move it. (My rolling office chair doesn't get to roll much.) I'm not sure WHY Tika thinks she needs to be quite this close to me, but she is apparently quite sure since she does this almost every day. The way your thinking can influence your actions is actually the subject of...

I've been so busy working on the Publishize BOOK, that I haven't had time to post here about some of the recent articles that have appeared in the Publishize newsletter. Here's the latest with lots of good information for all you self-publishers out there: Do a Blog Tour or Virtual Author Tour - Unlike a traditional book signing, which is generally used to increase sales, a virtual blog tour is about increasing online "buzz" about your book Enhance Your Book's Listing on Amazon - Get your book listing correct on Amazon and take advantage of the extra tools...

I'm back from my journey to Washington, D.C. Along with going to the beach, exhibiting at the Taking Action for Animals conference, and seeing my family, I got to endure the reality of air travel. Here are a few photo highlights from my trip: My sister and I walked from Fenwick Island to Bethany Beach, Delaware (and back), which according to MapQuest is 12.44 miles. These are beach umbrellas at the Sea Colony. We were able to get off the beach via the Colony, but the snotty old bat at the kiosk wouldn't let us back...

Today, my friend, Sheri McConnell is doing a book promotion for her new book called Smart Women Create Membership-Based Businesses. Sheri McConnell is the Founder and President of two national organizations, National Association of Women Writers and the International Association of Web Entrepreneurs. I know about the book because I edited it. So I'm proud to report that I'm one of the first people who actually got to read it ;-) If you are interested in creating any type of membership-based business, the book is a great overview. (Of course, it wasn't available, when I started my organization...

On Friday, I mentioned that I updated the special reports that you get when you subscribe to our Publishize newsletter. You now get two reports "The Nine Lives of Content: How to Turn Just One Idea into Multiple Products That Promote Your Expertise" and "7 Steps to Self Publishing Success: Create a Print Book that Establishes Your Credibility and Positions You as an Expert (But Doesn't Cost You a Fortune!)" One thing I forgot to mention is that I also finally compiled a complete list of all the things we give away on all our various sites. It's...

In a great flurry of writing activity this week, I finally wrote down the basics of our Publishize Book publishing system. The result is: "7 Steps to Self Publishing Success: Create a Print Book that Establishes Your Credibility and Positions You as an Expert (But Doesn't Cost You a Fortune!)" This report explains the seven steps you need to take to self-publish a print book. It's the same process we went through to produce 8 books in less than 18 months. I also updated our other special report: "The 9 Lives of Content: How to Turn Just One...

I have been sort of lax in my blogging efforts lately, but I wanted to point out that we've written a bunch of nifty Publishize articles late. Plus, my husband James Byrd has been contributing, which is great. He is the co-author of two of our books (Vegan Success and Web Business Success) and brings a different voice and perspective to the whole book writing process. Evaluating Your Print Options for Your Book Project by Susan Daffron Whether you plan to lay out the book yourself or hire out the task, take the...

After putting off redoing our Logical Expressions corporate site for quite a while, we finally bit the bullet, gutted it, and started over. The new version is online here: Logical Expressions, Inc. Corporate Site In addition to changing the design and clarifying our message, with information for people who want to: write a book, publish a book, or promote a book, the new site also has a number of new pages that better showcase all the stuff we do. Now we have pages...

Because I'm on so many marketing and business-oriented email lists, I tend to have a good notion of what books are coming out in the business realm. Recently, Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer have been promoting a new book on Information Marketing. I surfed over to Amazon because it looked like a book that I might be interested in...until I read the reviews that is. A lot of people didn't like it, particularly folks who read a lot (like me). But imagine my surprise as I'm scrolling through reviews to find our OWN book recommended over...

As usual, we've been busy writing articles. Here are the latest ones from the Publishize newsletter. Anatomy of a Book Layout As a self-publisher, you should learn a few conventions before you lay out your book Six Key Elements of a Book Web Site To market a book online, the first thing you must have is a Web site Which Tasks Should Self-Publishers Outsource? Sometimes the best person for the job is not you, so save your sanity by outsourcing tasks you don't like or...

We've been getting a lot of subscribes to our Publishize newsletter lately. I'm finally writing down a lot of the stuff that has been in my head for the last few years about book publishing, and our Publishize readers benefit from all this hard-won knowledge. Plus, the price is right, since hey, it's a free newsletter ;-) In the last month, I've written these articles: Recycle Your Book into Multiple Products Once you have gone through the effort to develop enough knowledge and expertise to actually write a book, think about how you can reuse...

In honor of Freelance Writers week (which is this week), we are running our first writing contest! If you love dogs and love to write, this is your chance to tell us your best dog story. I know I love writing about my dogs, so I figure other people have great stories to tell too ;-) There is no entry fee; the only stipulation is that you have to use IdeaWeaver for your entry. Because the IdeaWeaver site has a free 30-day trial copy available, the cost to enter the contest is exactly $0. The winning essays will...

This week, I have been frustrated by the fact that people don't return phone calls. Frankly, I don't understand why it's such a problem. I mean, the reality of email today is that you may or may not get a response because of filters and any number of other technical snafus. But the telephone is pretty basic. With voice mail, it's not like people don't get the message. Anyway, I was thinking that I need to come up with a new voice mail message that's like a headline...full of benefits that make people want to call me back....

We've developed a lot of Web sites for small businesses over the years, and we've heard many stories of confusion and horror related to setting up a domain name for a business Web site. The confusion occurs at the beginning when the business owners are getting ready to set up their first Web site, and they are trying to figure what domain name to register and how to register it once they pick one. Some people put off this task for a surprising length of time in fear of making a mistake. Everyone seems to intuitively understand how important...

I forgot to post this last week, but this week's issue of the Publishize newsletter and podcast is on ISBNs, which seem to be a tremendous source of confusion and angst for publishers. What is an ISBN and Why Do I Need One for My Book? Enjoy ;-) Technorati Tags: publishize,publishing,isbns,isbn number,business,daffron,logical expressions

I was interviewed by Nan Russell for her Work Matters Internet radio show on WebTalkRadio.net. I am the second person on the interview, which was about how we managed to escape the city, move to the wilds of Northern Idaho, and make our business actually work from out here in the middle of nowhere. Nan is a great interviewer and I had fun talking to her. Check it out at: Work Matters Week 3 Show This link may change, but you should still be able to get to it using the Podcast link on this...

In our newsletter survey, an overwhelming percentage of people wanted more information on how to write copy. So, I decided to start with a basic truth that many copy experts seem to sort of gloss over: know thy customer. Write Compelling Copy with Your Customer in Mind Enjoy ;-)   Technorati Tags: publishize,daffron,copywriting,writing,publishing Technorati Profile

Today we packed up all the Logical Tips books that people bought during our pre-order sale and took them off to the post office. (In fact, the response was sort of overwhelming; we actually almost sold out of all the books we ordered!) Anyway, the packing and shipping process was the source of great excitement among the canine team. Our golden retriever Tika thinks these books should go in a flat-rate box. These books seem to pass the sniff test. All that packing is hard work! ...

With the release of our new Logical Tips books, we have now published eight book ourselves (the four Logical Tips books, Happy Hound, Happy Tabby, Web Business Success, and Vegan Success.) This week's article in the Publishize newsletter offers a few reasons why we have opted to take the self-publishing route, after going about it the "traditional" way: A Few Good Reasons to Self Publish Your Book Enjoy!   Technorati Tags: web business,web business success,vegan success,vegan,pets,happy hound,happy tabby,publishize,logical tips,daffron,writing,dogs,cats,cookbook

Many people online seem to think that everything in cyberspace is just there for the taking (or more accurately the stealing). A friend of mine was outraged one time when she discovered a teacher actually had plagiarized her writing. It's no wonder kids seem to think that writing papers is basically an exercise in copy and paste. If you're a writer, your words are your livelihood, so this week's article in the Publishize Newsletter discusses issues related to copyrights. Be Careful with Your CopyrightsTechnorati tags: web business, marketing, online business, publishize, daffron, writers, writing, publishing

Periodically, I encounter something that makes my online world better. Today in a forum, I found out about Windows Live Writer. If you have a blog, it's an incredibly cool tool. You can update your blog from your desktop, so you don't have to log into your blogging software. It's fast and easy to use. Anyway, blogging is part of many people's marketing mix these days, which ties into this week's article. If you'd like to read it online, use the link below: http://newsletter.logicalexpressions.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=146 Enjoy!  Technorati Tags: web business,marketing,online business,publishize

I forgot to post about last week's Publishize article. Last week, we had a huge snowstorm, and on Monday we woke up to a power outage. Then it rained, so the 3 feet of snow we had on the ground turned into 1 foot of heavy, slushy mush. Now we have ice. Anyway, it wasn't the greatest week for getting big work done, which is why my article was so timely. We sold products while we were shoveling snow and digging out  ;-) Earn Passive Income with Information Products To subscribe to the newsletter or the podcast, check out...

This week, we got our first snow, and the canines are totally and completely thrilled. Watching them bound joyfully through the snow is good for the soul. Another thing that makes you feel good is donating old clothes to charity. This week in the Publishize newsletter and podcast, I ponder cleaning, evaluating, and recycling and how it all relates to marketing. If you'd like to read the article online, please use this link: http://newsletter.logicalexpressions.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=144 Enjoy!Technorati tags: publishize, dogs, daffron

Those who read our Publishize Newsletter via email know that this last week was filled with technological challenges. My satellite Internet went belly up and I spent a lot of time troubleshooting an email problem my assistant was having. (Yes, I DID finally figure it out!) Anyway, the fact that my computing biorhythms were clearly at a low ebb, makes it all the more amazing that this week we also launched the Publishize Your Way to Success podcast. In addition to sending out the newsletter via email, now we also have entered the realm of audio. Check out the site: Publishize Your...

We just got back from vacation in McCall, Idaho. The aspens were in full color and it was an incredibly relaxing week. We did some hiking along with a lot of eating, reading, and general goofing off. Before we left, we went to the library and filled an entire suitcase with books. I read a powerful quantity of junk novels. It was great. In any case, we're back and now having blazed through my less serious reading material, I'm trying to get back into gear by reading a few business books. This week's article in the Publishize newsletter was inspired...

In the Publishize Newsletter, I wrote an article that touches on a topic that we seem to discuss a lot. Many people wonder how we managed to move away from "the big city" to the wilds of Idaho. Setting and Achieving Big Goals It all starts with an idea. If the idea is powerful enough and it involves something you want bad enough, you start taking steps to make it happen.Technorati tags: publishize, web business, daffron

This week we added some new articles to our newsletter site. James wrote one called: Why Prioritizing is a Waste of Time ...which is based on his years working as the Internet Development Manager in charge of a $100M ecommerce site. Basically he asserts that when it comes to setting priorities, the only thing that matters is what you are going to do next. I wrote an article called How to Write When You Feel Like You Can't ...which is based on my years of wrestling with the various permutations of writer's block. The key is to figure out exactly WHAT is keeping you...

This week we sent out the first issue of our new Publishize Newsletter. The tagline is "Transform Your Words Into Dollars" and its designed for people who want to make money from their writing. The first issue has an article titled: Why Should You (or I) Write a Nonfiction Book? which answers a question I get a lot. I've now written quite a few books and I have good reasons for doing so. But writing a book is definitely not for everybody. We also put together the newsletter archive site and pulled in a bunch of relevant articles from some of our other sites. There...

As I've become involved in publishing, I've read countless statistics about how the number of books being printed rises every year. Partly the number is increasing because of new technology like short-run "print on demand" options, which make it a lot less expensive for people to publish books. The bad news is that according to a recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll, fewer people actually read. Apparently, 1 in 4 adults read NO books last year. One in Four Read No Books Last Year I have wondered for a while if readers are a dying breed. Realistically, my husband and I are some of the...