Logical Expressions Blog

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 have been picking strawberries from my garden. Picking organically grown strawberries right from your very own patch is one of life's most joyful summer experiences. In much more nerdy news, we've updated the  Self-Publishers Online Conference Web site with information about how you can get the entire 2009 conference on CD or as individual downloadable audios. Check out the product information on the SPOC 2009 page at: http://www.selfpublishersonlineconference.com/spoc2009.aspx I'd be the first one to tell you that putting on a conference like SPOC was a lot of work, much like publishing...

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...

Today on my way into town, I met the UPS man who handed me the proof of my tenth book Funds to the Rescue: 101 Fundraising Ideas for Humane and Animal Rescue Groups. I haven't given it a really thorough once over yet, but it looks good so far. I think tomorrow I can log into Lightning Source, approve the proof, and put the book into production. Yay! I've just about finished the Web site for the book, so by the time it's available on Amazon, the Web site should be ready too. The basics are done, but...

At the moment, we are having a thunderstorm, which means the Big Dog is panting furiously. He really doesn't like storms. I confess that I don't either. Between storms and distractions, it's been one of those low-concentration days for me. I had hoped to send my book off to the printer, but it was not in the cards. As Scarlett O'Hara pointed out, "tomorrow is another day." Along the same lines, this week's newsletter is about meeting deadlines even when you're not having a stellar day. Enjoy! 5 Easy Ways to Jump Start Your...

Today, I drove down to our local organic farm and picked up our first CSA of the season. For those who don't know, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You buy a "share" of a farm's produce. I can report that the yummy food from our CSA is one of the best things about summer. Tonight, I'm lobbying for a salad made from some fine organically-grown leafies to accompany dinner. When you are a member of a CSA, you also learn where your food comes from and how much work it is to produce. It gives you a new...

This week, the weather has been beautiful. I love this time of year. The last two weekends we've taken our kayaks out on the "big lake" (Lake Pend Oreille), and it's been great fun paddling around, watching wildlife, and soaking up lots of sun. When it's this nice, I confess it is really challenging to sit down and write much of anything. Even now, I'd rather be sitting on the back screened-in deck sipping a cold drink and listening to forest sounds. In fact, that sounds so good, I think I'll just go do that after sending this out. ...

There was a small delay in writing this week's newsletter, since I just completed the canine "neat feet" program. For those who don't have hairy dogs, breeds like golden retrievers and Samoyeds have huge tufts of fur that grow out of the bottom of their feet. At this time of year, all that footie fur collects sticky cottonwood seed pods and pine tree pitch. Obviously, walking around with forest junk attached to your feet is uncomfortable for the dogs, so they spend a lot of time chewing on their feet. This afternoon, I decided it was time...

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...

Greetings from all of us at SPOC world headquarters ;-) The conference wrapped up with loads of information about how to take your book and build your business, info-products, speaking career--all to make more revenue. If you joined us, you heard some big name gurus of the writing and publishing world giving the "how-to's" for getting your message out there--lucratively.  Here are a few gems of what they shared, plus, in case you missed a call, how you can get...

Greetings from all of us at SPOC world headquarters ;-) The second day of our conference, "Promotion Day," brought more gems and insights. If you joined us, you heard some big name gurus of the writing and publishing world giving the "how-to's" for marketing and promoting your book. Here are a few gems of what they shared, a preview of what's coming today on "Platform Day," plus, in case you missed a call, how you can get the audio downloads, CDs...

Greetings from all of us at SPOC world headquarters ;-) What an amazing first day of our online conference we had! If you joined us, you listened to some big name gurus of the writing and publishing world. Here are a few gems of what they shared, plus, in case you missed a call, how you can get the audio downloads, CDs plus other must-have items for the soon-to-be author. ** Dan Poynter - "Confirming Subjects & Finding Markets" How to research your subject matter and draft your marketing plan ...

SPOC, the Self Publishers Online Conference, takes place this week and Friday, the final day of the conference, ends with a bang with speakers Michael Port, Jill Lublin, Patrick Snow, Melanie Jordan and Donna Kozik. It's free to attend the online conference - all you have to do is register here: http://www.selfpublishersonlineconference.com/ Click the Register button in the upper right-hand side. When you register, you can see that you can choose from several ...

SPOC, the Self Publishers Online Conference, takes place next week and next Thursday May 14 brings another panel of publishing experts to the calls including Shel Horowitz, Brian Jud, Sandra Beckwith, Penny Sansevieri and Carol White & Debi Flora. It's free to attend the online conference-all you have to do is register here:  http://www.selfpublishersonlineconference.com/ Click the Register button in the upper right-hand side. When you register, you can see that you can choose from several options. Attending live is free. If you want more...

SPOC, the Self Publishers Online Conference, kicks off next week on Wednesday, May 13, with an exciting slate of speakers including gurus of the industry Dan Poynter, Peter Bowerman, Matthew Bennett, Jacqueline Church Simonds and Susan Daffron & James Byrd. It's free to attend the online conference-all you have to do is register here: http://www.selfpublishersonlineconference.com/ Click the Register button in the upper right-hand side. When you register, you can see that you can choose from several options. Attending live...

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 I spent much of the day gathering head shots and updating the SPOC Web site pages with the line up of speakers. I don't think James has worked his magic on it and updated the live site yet, but in the next day or so if you visit... http://www.selfpublishersonlineconference.com/ ...you'll find that along with Dan Poynter, Sandra Beckwith, Shel Horowitz, and Brian Jud, we've now also signed up Peter Bowerman, Matthew Bennett, Debi Flora, Melanie Jordan, Jill Lublin, Michael Port, Penny Sansevieri, Jacqueline Church Simonds, Patrick Snow, and Carol White to speak. If you are...

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! ...

This week, once again I'm watching the snow fall. I told James that the big April Fool's joke here in Idaho is that it is spring. I'm still harboring hope that I really will see my garden again someday. In much better news, last week I found out that I will be leaving the snow at least for a few days in April. I won (yes, WON!) a contest to attend the Bliss Factor conference that will be held in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference focuses on how you can craft a business that helps you live a life...

Once again it is snowing. I have to say that at the end of March, I'm kind of done with snow. By April, I will have totally and completely lost my sense of humor about snow. In much better news, last week we finished the Web site for the Self-Publishers Online Conference (SPOC), which will be happening in May. We're recruiting speakers, so if there is someone you would like to hear, please let us know. You can read more about the conference and sign up for the SPOC newsletter here: http://www.selfpublishersonlineconference.com/ Today's article answers another question...

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...

I was just finishing up my notes for a teleseminar I'm doing with Linda Joy Myers today at the National Association for Memoir Writers (NAMW). Linda Joy's specialty is helping people become healed and transformed through creativity, art, and writing. I love the work she does and I'm thrilled that I've had the opportunity to get to know her. My NAMW teleseminar is called "Understanding Your Publishing Choices". Business and life are full of choices and almost invariably they relate to your goals. If you want to publish a book that will be in every bricks and mortar Barnes...

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...

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...

Hi everyone... I wanted to let you know about a call I'm doing with Gina Bell today at 1 pm (Pacific time). You can sign up here:   http://www.logicalexpressions.com/Teleseminar_gina.htm Why Becoming a Book Author Can Change Your Life: Susan Daffron talks to Gina Bell about the many ways becoming a book author can have a huge impact on your business and your life. Susan is the author of 10 books, 9 of which she self-published over the past three years. Gina and Susan...

Right now, I am happily uploading a 9MB audio file. I am thrilled to be able to do this ostensibly boring task because for the last 3 weeks or so our satellite Internet has had a BIG problem. It has been somewhat agonizing to do things like send this newsletter on our backup 26.4 dial-up connection. Today, James installed a new transmitter on our satellite dish and it seems to have solved the problem. (Or at least helped a whole lot - cross your fingers!) In other news, I'm doing a call with Lisa Manyon on Friday. If you've...

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...