Last week was a modern-day duet. This week we can enjoy the artistry of Chico and Harpo Marx playing a duet on the same piano (from the 1941 movie “The Big Store”). The tune they are playing is “Mama Eu Quero” made famous by Carmen Miranda the year before. What fun!
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A New Perspective
When I run errands, I park in the lot’s equivalent of the North Pole, so my car doesn’t get dinged. I walk quickly, with swagger and purpose. I learned to do this in my twenties under the advice of security types who said women can deter attacks against themselves by adopting this attitude. I stride everywhere, thinking nothing of how far I need to walk. I whip around impediments. When I took care …
Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
“Where do you get your ideas?” This question was reportedly posed to Stephen King at a writers conference in New England. His answer may seem harsh, but it’s illuminating: “If you have to ask, don’t become a writer.” Most working writers have little trouble coming up with ideas. In fact, most have more ideas for writing projects than they could possibly complete in a lifetime. Ideas can come from …
040 What Authors Need to Know About Book Metadata
Sometimes in publishing it’s not what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you don’t know you don’t know. One thing a lot of authors don’t know to even ask about is metadata. Hold on to your horses, ladies and gentlemen, because today we are going to nerd out about metadata with Joshua Tallent. Joshua is a metadata nerd who got his start in publishing making ebooks for a …
040 What Authors Need to Know About Book Metadata
Sometimes in publishing it’s not what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you don’t know you don’t know. One thing a lot of authors don’t know to even ask about is metadata. Hold on to your horses, ladies and gentlemen, because today we are going to nerd out about metadata with […]
You can listen to this episode 040 What Authors Need to Know About Book Metadata on Christian …
Origins of Labor Day
Today the U.S. celebrates Labor Day as a national holiday. For many of us, it used to mark the end of summer and the day before the first day of school. But with many schools starting the year in August, that has been lost. I suspect few don’t know what Labor Day represents other than just a day to go shopping or simply a day off work. I found some material on the official US Department of …
Fun Fridays – August 30, 2019
The sheer delight of this duet is fun to watch. Classical pianist Lang Lang and jazz pianist Jon Baptiste sit down and improvise for two minutes on a very familiar piece of music. Enjoy! HT: Trissina Kear
Focus on Your Fans
Over the years, I’ve been disappointed by a few people I felt should have supported me, but didn’t. They never shared my happiness in victory so I never shared my defeats with them. They weren’t always too mean; but in times of my successes they might say something like, “You must be so proud.” Folks, a person saying this isn’t proud of you. They’re saying you must be proud of yourself. There’s no …
You Need a Backup Strategy
Years ago, I was writing on deadline (when am I not?). My work-in-progress was about sixty percent complete when my computer screen went blank. At first, I blamed it on my son. Even when he was in grade school, he was better with computers than I was. He knew it. I knew it. And one day when I fired up my computer for a full day of writing, the startup screen appeared and then disappeared. Shut …
039 – Book Proposals Tips & Tricks With Chad Allen
Chad Allen is a writer, speaker, editor, and writing coach. A 20-year publishing professional, he has worked with such bestselling authors as Michael Hyatt and Mark Batterson. He is the creator of Book Proposal Academy, an online course and mentoring and community hub for writers. Questions: What is a book proposal? What is Pub Board? How to Get A Publishing Board To Buy Your Book …