How Much Does a 99 cent E-Book Cost on Amazon? – This is a chilling story for those who think that going the self-publishing route with the Kindle is all puppies and kittens. And it makes a good case for the International nature of story telling.
Don’t Waste Your Exclamation Points! – Intended for pastors this is a reminder for all writers.
Thoughts on the Future of Book Marketing – Insightful thoughts.
Does the Internet Kill Your Productivity? – Ironic that the article about this is ON THE INTERNET.
Platform is not everything – Love, love, love this post.
Thanks very much for the mention!
Just a heads up: The second link in the post is linking to the 99 cent article.
All fixed. Thank you Blake!
That first link is very eye-opening, and doesn’t surprise me in the least. I own a Nook and am really not a fan of Amazon anymore. They have way too many questionable business practices and I’m starting to have problems with their ethics.
iLove the last link regarding Platform. The word is starting to make me itch. From a farm girl’s perspective branding is something done to livestock. It is done in one fell swoop to the whole herd. It is the owner’s way of mutilating the hide by a burn which scars forever. The edgy cartoonist Hugh McLeod says it has come down to this: “Hi, you wanna ****”. To me, he defines marketing/platforming/spam perfectly. There isn’t an opportunity to get to know a person, explore a relationship, discover mutual interests, etc. Without relationship, there is nothing to care for or about, no intimacy of spirit or friendship. A brand, a platform has only herd mentality. Herds panic/stampede/fear/stomp the sacred/crush creativity. Herds eventually get rounded up and fenced in. The slaughter house looms. They don’t see it.
There is another way. It is called a maker’s mark. Artists of every medium relish the moment when they finish the piece and leave it hidden obscurely in some corner for the recipient to find. An invitation to come into each other’s presence. The creator’s gift. A giver. A receiver. Both mutually blessed to have found each other.
Wow, I didn’t feel this rant coming on. 🙂 🙂 🙂
I also loved the last one in particular, and it couldn’t have been more timely. I’ve been fighting against the “conventional wisdom” that I need to brand myself (wow that sounds masochistic).
Kathleen’s comment made me chuckle, because my last entry made the same correlation between writer/author branding to cow branding. I really liked how she went further with creating relationships vs herding. Well said.
I love the “Platform is not everything” post, too. I’ve think I’ve been too obsessed with platform.