Logical Expressions Blog

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 the National Association of Pet Rescue Professionals, but I'm sure it would have helped!)

Take a look at http://www.smartwomenbook.com to read more about the book. You'll also find that she has assembled a big list of free bonuses. These bonuses are in line with Sheri’s overall mission to help women! And you'll see my bonus right at the top of the list. You get our free reports:

"The Nine Lives of Content: How to Turn Just One Idea into Multiple Products That Promote Your Expertise" This report gives you real-world examples of how you can reuse your content effectively, along with a list of 27 ideas for how you can reuse and recycle everything you create.

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!)" This report explains the seven steps to self-publish a print book the low-cost way. It's the same process we went through here at Logical Expressions to produce 8 books in less than 18 months!

The deal is that if you purchase Sheri’s book today, June 25th, 2008 at http://www.smartwomenbook.com, you will get thousands of dollars worth of bonuses for women and by women. In addition to our reports, you'll see great stuff from Elizabeth Hagen, Stefanie Hartman, Gina Bell, Lisa Manyon, and other very smart women.

Of course, the bonuses are just the icing on the cake. Like I said, the book itself is incredibly valuable for anyone who wants to create a membership-based business!

I hope you can take a moment today to check out Sheri’s book and the many “women only” bonuses (including mine!) at http://www.smartwomenbook.com.

By James Byrd

Yesterday was apparently a busy day in blogdom. My RSS reader (I use RSS Bandit for those who wonder about these things) was filled with new entries from several of the bloggers I monitor. Two were of particular interest.

Seth Godin wrote about his thoughts on the Kindle:

Seth Godin's Kindle Blog Entry

Dr. Lynn Osterkamp (the Populist Publisher) wrote about the wastefulness of the current book returns system in the publishing industry:

Dr. Lynn Osterkamp's Blog Entry on Book Returns

When you put these two topics together, it gets you thinking. Suppose the Kindle really is the future of reading? The waste involved in the physical book returns system would vanish. Would you even be able to return a book that you electronically downloaded? How would that affect book sales?

I have to say that there won't be a Kindle in this house any time soon. For one thing the pricing of the device itself ($360) and of the books ($10 each) is outrageous. For another, its fancy new delivery system depends upon cellular technology. We barely get a cell signal at our house, and even then, only if we stand on the back deck in just the right place. When it's 10 degrees outside, I'm not much interested in walking onto the deck to find and acquire a book.

Finally, books have to be specifically converted to Kindle format. That means you can only get a limited number of titles right now, and pretty much only the new stuff. Sure, more books will be converted over time, but only after the device proves itself. And if it proves itself, competitors will start to appear and we'll have some kind of formatting standards war. Either that, or publishers will just have to produce their books in multiple formats. Ah, the joys of technology.

So what does all this mean to the book industry? Here are a few ideas (some are in progress now) based on electronic reading devices becoming popular and the returns system being eliminated:

• Say goodbye to the mom and pop bookstore. They are already dropping like flies because the Big Box stores in the book industry are destroying their profitability. Electronic book delivery will eat into their market further, and the inability to return books will make it even more impossible to compete with the Big Box stores.
• The antiquated and ridiculously wasteful returns system will go away, even for physical books. It is already being eroded by print-on-demand books when the publisher has decided to not allow returns. Even if returns are allowed in some way with electronic books, the return won't require the transport and disposition of a physical book.
• Brick-and-mortar sales of physical books will be relegated to Big Box stores that will adopt the Wal*Mart attitude and carry nothing but the books that are more or less guaranteed to sell. Remainders (unsold books) will eventually be sold off to a wholesaler, and you'll probably see a slight increase in the number of those "warehouse" book stores that sell books no one wants at a high discount. Small booksellers will only survive in tight niche markets where they offer a variety of titles on a particular subject, but carry as few as possible in stock.
• Strong Kindle competitors will appear, which will drive down the price of the devices and the books.
• The standards community will cry out for a standard digital book format that will take years to appear and end up being based on what Amazon (or more likely, Microsoft!) was doing anyway.
• Right now, Amazon has a huge advantage with regard to selling physical books. Their massive sales, inventory, and delivery system took years to become profitable. Their advantage will disappear along with the barriers-to-entry in selling books online when the books go digital. Suddenly, Amazon will have lots of competitors who had to spend way less money to get started.
• Protection of copyright through Digital Rights Management will become a hot issue for authors and publishers trying to protect their profits. The big book publishers will find themselves in the same boat as the big record companies.
• Non-fiction books will become modular. This is something authors should be thinking about now. Just as iTunes lets you download just one song from an album (unless it's a song you really want, then you have to buy the whole album of course), readers will want the option of buying just a portion of a book that relates to the specific problem they are trying to solve. O'Reilly's Safari web site is leading the charge on this concept.

I could keep going, but I think you get the idea.

Self-publishers are at a tremendous advantage as the industry evolves because we can react instantly to whatever happens. For us, the technology is just a tool. The service providers we rely upon are the ones who have the hard job. You need me to publish my book in a new format? Fine. I'll have it for you later today.

Seth Godin posted a blog entry on June 16, 2008 called Superheroes. The message was inspirational because it talks about perseverance and how long it can take to become an "overnight success." Here's the link if you want to read it for yourself.

     Seth Godin's Superheroes Post

I found the message inspirational because we are reinventing our business and it's slow going. You sometimes wonder if you're doing the right thing because you pour a lot of effort into your offer and your marketing, but the fruits of those labors are never instantaneous. If you want the fruit, you have to wait for the tree to mature, and you can't give up on caring for the tree in the meantime.

Seth says that Superheroes have a specific attitude:

"They're restless and impatient, but, here's the cool paradox, they're also calm and patient. Patient because they realize that change takes a while. Patient because they understand that if it's worth doing, it's worth getting through the Dip. Impatient and restless, though, because they refuse to accept the status quo."

We may not be Superheroes, but our move into the publishing industry was definitely the result of impatience with the status quo and we knew it would take a while to make the transition.

The trick is to use that impatient and restless energy to further your goals, one step at a time, with the big picture in mind. It is all too easy to let the energy turn dark and bury your enthusiasm. Impatience can lead to frustration and restlessness can lead to distraction, if you don't keep yourself focused.

James Byrd

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 a rather long list, so you can check it out here:

The Big List of Stuff

Whether you are interested in pets, publishing, web business, or even cooking, you might find something interesting.

In other news, you'll see on our freebie list, that there's now also something from the Association of Web Entrepreneurs. Yes, that's new ;-)

Recently I was invited to be a Founding Partner over at the Association of Web Entrepreneurs. (I'm the Web Development Expert, and if you click the "About Us" link at the top of the page you can see my smiling face.)

At the AWE, you can get a special report called "10 Mindsets Web Entrepreneurs Must Have To Succeed" If you are ready to learn what it really takes to build an online business, let the AWE teach you how. You'll also be signed up to receive the AWE newsletter and receive information about teleseminar events.

Plus, if you've been thinking about getting our book Web Business Success: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Web Sites That Work, you'll be pleased to note that when you join the AWE, one of your membership benefits is a discount on the book.

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 Idea into Multiple Products that Promote Your Expertise." It always had examples of how you can reuse your content, but I added a new section that lists 27 ways you can reuse and recycle everything you create. Many of the 27 items include examples of ways we have reused our content ourselves.

You get both of these freebies when you subscribe to our Publishize newsletter.

If you already ARE a Publishize subscriber, just let me know and I'll email you the new stuff.

Sometimes a business is so bad, you need to tell other people, just so that they might avoid the annoyance you have experienced.

Septic tanks are something no one wants to have a problem with. A company that used to be called Krane Products and is now FBK Products capitalizes on that fact by selling a product called Septic Helper. Whether it works or not isn't really in question (there's really no way to tell, which certainly makes it an easier product to sell).

However, if you ever make the mistake of purchasing anything from this company, they will hound you forever over the phone with hard-sell telemarketing tactics. 

I found the invoice in the old Krane box in the basement. We purchased Septic Helper on January 5, 1998. I think we did another order of a "new improved" version in 2000.

Yes, that means this company has been hounding us for TEN YEARS!

We have been asked to be removed from their call list for almost ALL of that time. Clearly we haven't been removed, since they called this morning yet again. I regaled the telemarketer with a lot of colorful expletives, which didn't phase him. This makes me think he hears that type of commentary a lot.

We are on every do not call list there is. Today, after my conversation with FBK I went to my computer and filed a complaint with the:

• National Do Not Call Registry
• Florida Do Not Call Registry
• Idaho Do Not Call Registry
• Southeast Florida Better Business Bureau 

I discovered that FBK has a company rating of F and 138 Complaints filed against them.

Well, now it's 139.

Needless to say, they aren't a member of the BBB. If you have been unlucky enough to have dealings with this company, and they won't stop harassing you, I encourage you to do the same thing.

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 time to get to know your printer and their specifications

How to Record Audio Products
by Susan Daffron
Learn how to use audio to promote your book or to create companion products that complement your book

Write the Right Book
by James Byrd
Consider your return on investment before you begin a book-writing project

Jump Start Your Book with Content You Already Have
by James Byrd
Use these tips to find enough content to get a great head start on your book project

How to Beat Killer Procrastination
by Susan Daffron
Procrastination is the enemy of writers and probably the reason most books never see the light of day

Getting Set Up as a Publisher with Lightning Source
by Susan Daffron
If you are pondering short-run digital printing (or POD) no other company has the distribution advantage of Lightning Source

You can read all the back issues on the Newsletter Archive site. And of course, you can subscribe to either the newsletter or the podcast at Publishize.com

Okay, this just rocks my world. Within two weeks, Oprah decides to try veganism and in Canada, Kentucky Fried Chicken decides to offer vegan (yes VEGAN, not just vegetarian) options at the fast food chain. Yep, it's true, the 461 Canadian KFCs have agreed to sell a fake meat called "unchicken" to get PETA off their back.

Finger Lickin' Tofu: KFC Goes Vegan

Is it becoming trendy to be vegan?

After being considered a "weirdo" because of my vegan eating habits for the last 14 or 15 years, it feels odd to suddenly be in vogue.

I should send them a copy of our cookbook. Surely, KFC can do better than something called "unchicken."