Logical Expressions Blog

We often get questions from authors who are concerned about book and e-book piracy. They hear about how the big publishers are struggling with this issue, and they wonder how they can possibly protect their intellectual property if the big boys are having so much difficulty. Our Authors Should Fight Obscurity, Not Piracy article addresses these concerns. The article explains why: Fighting doesn't work You have the advantage in the marketplace Pirates may be doing you a favor If you have concerns about piracy, you should read the article and gain some peace of mind. As always,...

If you're like me, you never cared much for the idea of those "free writing" exercises that have you keep a journal or set a timer and write "anything" for a period of time. If you are going to spend time writing, you want to be something you can use in an article or book. But free writing doesn't have to produce useless content. You can use the "Self Interview" free writing exercise to warm up your writing muscles and produce usable content at the same time. The Self Interview free writing exercise is simple: Envision your reader...

One of the benefits of putting on the Self-Publishers Online Conference, is that we get to hear publishing advice from the other experts who speak at the event. Like attendees, we're still learning everything we can about book publishing and marketing. After this year's conference, we sat down and mapped out a plan for our next book, based on what we learned at SPOC. Instead of writing books and then publishing a blog or article site, we're doing the articles and blog first. Today, I'm pleased to say, we have the first glimmers of our upcoming TechnoHomesteaders book....

My wife and I self-publish our books through our company Logical Expressions. We've published 10 books so far using our Publishize method to sell books print-on-demand through our own online store and other online retailers like Amazon.com. We recently decided it was time to get our books out into the market in digital form. Susie and I are both rather technical, so the idea of creating e-books was not particularly daunting. We selected one book (Susan's Funds to the Rescue), and started working on it with the ultimate goal of creating a Kindle version. Here was the original plan when we started: ...

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...

Because we had at least one person who wanted to upgrade her SPOC pass today, but couldn't, we're leaving the registration link and site log-in open through May 31.

The third day of SPOC focused on turning your book into a business with a complete product line. If you joined us, you listened to some big names in the writing and publishing world. Here are a few gems from what they shared, and in case you missed a call, how you can get the audio downloads or CDs.

The second day of SPOC was chock full of helpful ideas for promoting your book to the world. If you joined us, you listened to some big names in the writing and publishing world. Here are a few gems from what they shared, a preview of what's coming tomorrow, 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.

The first day of SPOC was a whirlwind of information. If you joined us, you listened to some big names in the writing and publishing world. Here are a few gems from what they shared, a preview of what's coming tomorrow on Promotion Day, 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.

Here is a short run-down of the agenda for DAY 3, which is all about turning your book into a business. Friday May 14, 2010

Here is a short run-down of the agenda for DAY 2 - Promotion Day, which is all about building a relationship with your target market and ideal readership. Thurday May 13, 2010

Here is a short run-down of the agenda for DAY 1 - Writing & Publishing Day, a day dedicated to showing you how to write and produce a finished book from your manuscript. Wednesday May 12, 2010

Happy Cinco de Mayo! We're happy because on today's dog walk through the forest, we found our first morel mushrooms of the season. We plan to invite them to dinner. I'm sending out this newsletter a week early because I may or may not get one out next week. Next Wednesday is the first day of the Self-Publishers Online Conference! As you might imagine, I'm a little nervous about SPOC. I'm quietly hoping everything will go the way it's supposed to and people will love it. But I'll be honest; putting on an event like this...

It's hard to believe, but after all this preparation, the Self-Publishers Online Conference is next week! All the excitement got me thinking about my own book-publishing journey. I like to joke that it only took 10 years to self-publish my first book. Maybe you can relate to this ;-) In 1996, I read a bunch of self-publishing books and became completely overwhelmed. I had piles of notes, no idea how to write the book, even less clue where to get it printed, and zero money for my first print run. A mere 10 years later in 2006,...

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...

It's only 15 days and counting until the Self-Publishers Online Conference and there's been a lot going on! SPOC Behind the Scenes If this is your first time attending SPOC, I encourage you to check out our new "Behind the Login" page, which shows you how SPOC differs from a typical "telesummit." http://leiurl.com/?spocinside Whether you have opted for a Basic (no charge) pass or upgraded to a paid one, your login gives you access to the private area of the SPOC Web site. There you'll find pages for each seminar, so you can...

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...

We just sent out the first press release about the Self-Publishers Online Conference, which will be held May 12-14, 2010. Like last year, the conference is free to attend live. If you want serious quality self-publisher education, you don’t want to miss it! You can register at the SPOC site at http://www.SelfPublishersOnlineConference.com   Authors and Self-Publishers Learn the Latest in the Business of Book Publishing from 15 Experts at Virtual Conference Online Conference to Be Held May 12-14, 2010 SANDPOINT, Idaho - The second annual Self-Publishers Online Conference (SPOC) gives entrepreneurial writers,...

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

Yesterday, amidst great fanfare, Steve Jobs released the iPad. You might think that as an author, avid reader, and book publisher, I'd be wildly excited about this new gadget. Do I view the iPad as the "future" of publishing? No. Like many techie devices, it has been saddled with an utterly stupid name. Yo Steve, what were you thinking? The feminine protection jokes made at least 79 circuits around the Internet mere hours after the announcement. Beyond the name, I find I have a problem with hoopla-laden technology launches. It feels like déjà vu all over...

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...

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for a Great 2010 from All of Us Here at Logical Expressions, Inc. Thank you for reading our Publishize newsletter and this blog. Our regular article-filled newsletters will return the week of January 4th. In the meantime, if you get tired of eating and watching televised sports over the next few weeks, here are a couple of goofy videos for your amusement. "Cami Card Outtakes" - from our many holiday card photo sessions (like the one above): http://leiurl.com/?HCyt ...

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...

This week, I set up our first holiday promotion, well, ever. A friend called it an "an advent calendar of savings" which I thought was a cool description. If you missed the email, check out the SUNsational Winter Solstice Holiday Countdown on this page: http://leiurl.com/?sol Meanwhile, I also completely gutted and redesigned the home page of the Logical Expressions Web site. Dealing with the Cascading Style Sheets involved in the process made me utterly cranky, but all was not lost. My foul humor inspired this week's article, since every time I think of the movie Say Anything...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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. ...

Well, not yet, but we're getting there. Earlier this week, my wife Susan and I were guests on a teleseminar hosted by Gina Bell of Networking Masters International. The topic was about lessons learned from putting on a virtual event. It was an interesting "round table" call with two other professionals where we all shared the things we did right and the things we'd do differently. I thought I'd share more about the subject here. We have experience in this area because we hosted the Self-Publishers Online Conference (SPOC 2009) last May using software I developed for the...

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...

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 ;-) SPOC, the Self-Publishers Online Conference, is a virtual online publishing conference that starts next week. It features presentations by Dan Poynter, Michael Port, Peter Bowerman and other publishing experts. If you haven’t officially registered for the conference, you can here: http://www.selfpublishersonlineconference.com Click the Register button in the upper right-hand side. When you register, you will see that you can choose from several options. Attending live is free. If you want more goodies you can read about the paid options on the Attendees page. After you’ve...

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...

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...

The publishing industry is on the precipice of huge changes. Every aspect of delivering content is going digital, from the moment the author puts hands to keyboard to the moment the reader sees the published words. Advancing technology drives many of these changes. In some cases, a company must adopt new technology to remain competitive or to remain compatible with the rest of the industry. In other cases, it is the end users who demand a change in the way information is delivered to them, as we see happening with mobile devices. Most established industries adopt technology slowly....

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...

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)...

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...

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...

Some things require a bit of patience... Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for a Great 2009 from All of Us Here at Logical Expressions, Inc. and the National Association of Pet Rescue Professionals Here's hoping you and yours enjoy a wonderful holiday season. See you in 2009 ;-)    ~ Susan Daffron and James Byrd Technorati Tags: daffron,logical expressions,james h. byrd,cami,happy hound,holiday,christmas,antlers

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...

James and I will be participating in a free teleseminar with Donna Kozik, where we will explain the information you MUST include on your book's Web site. Ideally, you should put up a Web site before you have even finished your book. In fact, our Publishize site was up for at least 6 months before we released the book. In fact, almost as soon as I got the domain name, I put up a site. Even a simple site with basic information is better than nothing because you can link to it and give the search engines time...

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...

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:...

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...

Over the years, I have saved many of the emails we receive through the contact forms on our various Web sites. In addition to our main Logical Expressions site, all of our article sites (The Publishize Newsletter, Computor Companion magazine, Logical Tips, Pet Tails etc., have comment forms that appear on the article pages. I receive contact form emails from at least one of our sites almost every day. Most of them are from happy people who have solved a problem thanks to one of our articles. If there's such a thing as karma, we have points...

This week, I discovered that the online version of the Redbook article (with me and my photo in it) has appeared online. You can check it out here: http://www.redbookmag.com/your/letting-intuition-guide-you The article is called "Trust Your Gut. Change Your Life." The description is: "Tap into the power of your intuition to make your dreams happen. Learn how these five women used theirs to change their lives." My story is on page 2 of the online version: "Listening to her gut led to...A life-changing move" The article goes on to describe how 14 years ago, James and...

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...

Last week, we selected the winner of our Dazzling Dogs Writing Contest. Maureen Lee won a license for IdeaWeaver for her story called "Scouting for Bashful," which involved Girl Scouts and a dog named Bashful. In the story, the 13-year old protagonist gets a lot more than just a box of Thin Mints; she got a new furry friend. Unfortunately, we didn't get enough stories that we loved to compile into a book (we need a minimum of 20). But we plan to run the contest again another time in the hopes that we can inspire more...

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...

All of you folks who have been busily downloading IdeaWeaver so you can enter our writing contest have just FIVE days left to get your contest entries to us. You can read more about the contest and submit your entry here: Dazzling Dogs Contest Entry Form We've gotten some cool entries already, which is ample proof that I'm not the only one likes to tell tales about my goofy dogs. It's FREE, after all. And you might just get published too   ;-) Technorati Tags: ideaweaver,writing contest,dogs,writing software,pets,logicalexpressions

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...

Hi, this is James, VP of Logical Expressions. Are you working on a book project and having trouble getting it organized? Or maybe you are having problems getting started because, well, you don't know where to start. Using Microsoft Word to write a book can be an exercise in frustration. It is an excellent word processor, but while you are in the creative phase of crafting your book, layout and formatting concerns just get in the way. What if you were able to just pour out your ideas as you think of them, knowing...

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

There's an interview with me on the Virtual Woman's Day blog, which is owned by the Women's eCommerce Association (WECAI). The blog's tagline is "Where Women Connect Virtually to Share Their Stories, Promote Their Products and Make New Friends." You can read the interview with me at this link: eMonday Woman Interview with Susan Daffron (Among other things, you'll find out why we moved to Idaho and about the inordinate number of books I have sitting on my nightstand!) Technorati Tags: web business success,online business,business,daffron,marketing,idaho,logical expressions,ecommerce,wecai

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

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

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...