You Might Get Sued for Using that Photo! – Bloggers beware. That photo you snagged for your blog may not be yours to use. This article is a cautionary tale. (Beware, the author writes romance novels for the general market and her book covers are prominently displayed.) Our blog uses crestock.com and istockphoto.com for nearly all our photos. The licenses cost between $1 and $4 for each photo…
7 Ways to Sell Your Books on Pinterest – Beth Hayden offers some creativity!
Life Below the “Fold” – Common wisdom in home page design is to have everything important fit on the screen so readers don’t have to scroll. This article suggests otherwise. Agree or Disagree? (I think too much text is a design killer on the web. That opinion coming from a fellow who is known for writing epic length blog posts.)
Understanding the Harlequin Lawsuit – If you don’t think this lawsuit applies to you; think again. A similar suit change music contracts.
Reviewing Your Reviews – This is a tough thing to grasp for every author. Reviewers can be harsh. And even if the review is positive there is likely a negative comment or two. Nancy Mehl provides some excellent advice with this article.
Grilled Cheesus – Yes, this is real. In an October 2010 episode of the TV Show “Glee” had a poke at strange Christian products exclaiming “”It’s a Grilled Cheesus!” Then in 2011 some folks, who had been working on the idea for a couple years, raised money through KickStarter.com and actually created it. (Click here to see that they raised over $25,000) The product was found for sale on the convention floor of the ICRS (International Christian Retail Show) last week.
Great news day, Steve! I enjoyed all the links – particularly Nancy Mehl’s blog about reviewers.
As authors and copyright holders ourselves, we ought to know better, but I’ve seen authors post pictures on their blogs that still had the watermark of the company that was selling it. It’s like holding up a sign that says, “I didn’t pay for this picture.”
Whether some people read below the fold or not, it is still wise to put the most important stuff at the top.
I no longer read reviews of my books. I figure they are written for me. My e-mail address is included in every book. If they want to tell me how great I did or how terrible it is, they’ll send me an e-mail. Reviews are written for potential readers.
Grilled Cheesus: Some people go out of their way to make a joke of Christianity. I suppose I shouldn’t be upset, since it isn’t actually a picture of Jesus. It would just as easily be a picture of Herod. But still, some people think it is a picture of Jesus and it seems like we should have greater respect for the King of kings and Lord of lords than to plaster an artist’s rendition of him on our toast.
Thanks for sharing. Wanted to let you know Pinterest is spelled wrong.
Thank you. All fixed.
Interestingly I just blogged about reviewers too, over at Spec Faith. For some reason my article didn’t generate the response Nancy’s did. Interesting. 😉
Becky
You wrote an excellent piece Becky. Well done.
Recently a client’s first book began receiving reviews. Each one was like a dagger to their heart. Having never been reviewed before it was difficult for this author to hear unveiled criticism, especially from readers who did not get the book or had not actually read it fully.
Thanks for taking the time to read the article, Steve. I figure if we’re soliciting reviews (and Spec Faith is, as are many authors), then we should help readers know what a good review looks like.
I don’t understand people writing reviews when they haven’t read a book. It’s hurtful because others might still be swayed by that person’s opinion.
Whenever people talk about their reaction to reviews, I think of what Liz Curtis Higgs said a number of years ago at Mount Hermon–that the glowing review and the devastating one alike needed to be swatted away (she even took a fly swatter to them, as I recall) so they won’t hold undue influence over what an author thinks. Wise woman.
Becky
Steve, thanks again for sharing these great links with us. (You do all the hard work and all we need to do is click and read!)
Peter,
Thanks for the note. It’s nice to know these posts have some value.
Steve