Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 138
October 13, 2014
One Top Rank Author Who Isn’t Fighting Amazon . . .
The 66th Frankfurt Book Fair is over…
I’m sure there were many comments, on stage and off, about how Amazon is ruining the literary world.
I’ll bet there were any number of arguments about the worth or threat of Amazon.
There was an article in a recent Publishers Weekly that led with this sentence:
“At a standing room only session at the Frankfurt Book Fair, bestselling Brazilian author Paulo Coelho had a message for publishers: Embrace change. And, lower your e-book prices.”
This is quite a diffe...
October 9, 2014
Friday Poll ~ Should All Writers Blog?
Before we get to this week’s poll, here are the results from last week—Protecting Creative Ideas:
Image Courtesy of Mikhail Popov ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/hoboton
37.5% voted for “Proper Copyright”.
And, the “Other” category had the same percentage, with these specific answers:
“Don’t talk about the ideas you want to copyright if you want to protect them.”
“A mixture, protect your novels, but some writings are just for fun.”
“I write in social media sites and through text message.”
“Don’t...
Can Experimental Psychology Help A Writer?
Many writers attribute their abilities to metaphysical “muses”.
Image Courtesy of cecilia picco ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/chux
Many claim that nothing but massive research will give them their raw materials.
Far too many cling to what other writers tell them to do…
Perhaps, if you don’t have a clear conception of where writing ability comes from, you might listen toexperimental psychologist Steven Pinker.
From his Bio:
“Much of his initial research was in visual cognition, the ability to...
October 8, 2014
4 Gems from This Writer’s Bookmark Bin
I gather lots of bookmarks, from scanning the news and other sources; and, every so often, I package a few up and share them…
Image courtesy of miguel ugalde ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/ugaldew
Today, I’ll share about hanging out at a famous writer’s home, tips on keeping a writer’s notebook, a writing summer camp for youth, and asylum for persecuted writers.
>>> From KQED Arts is Stay at the Homes of Your Favorite Writers, Thanks to Airbnb:
Do you want to stay at the home ofJohn Steinbec...
October 7, 2014
“The Queen, my lord, is dead.”
Shakespeare obviously holds a high rank in the literary world.
Image Courtesy of ralu home ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/ralu
Even ifShakespeare wasn’tShakespeare but some other person, that person holds high rank.
Something else obvious—that person’s writing can bore many people and has inspired many more…
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I’ve been holding on to an article since April and today seemed like the right time to share it.
It appeared in Poynter.
It was written by Roy Peter Clark,writer, editor, writing instru...
October 6, 2014
So You Want To Be A Successful Writer… ~ Oh, My…
Image from http://www.roblox.com/AT-DAWN-WE-RIDE-item?id=53071466
Last year I wrote the article Bad Advice for Writers = Most Advice forWriters.
If you want to be a successful writer you should go read that article.
It begins by telling you that most books sell less than 500 copies.
Then, it explores a range of motivations for being a writer that don’t include making a lot of money.
Still, there’s more opportunity these days to make money as a writer—it just takes an incredible amount of work and...
October 2, 2014
Friday Poll ~ Protecting Creative Ideas
As always, first come the results of last week’s Poll—What Do You Write On?
Image courtesy of Chris Baker ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/immrchris
Coming out clearly on top was “Computer”.
Second place was led by “Back and Forth – Computer/Paper”
Second place also included these “Other” votes:
“depends on my mood, dude”
“whatever’s handy in the moment”
“mostly computer, sometimes paper”
Third place had a tie between “Paper Only” and “Paper First, Then Computer”.
So…
This week’s poll is to register...
Amazon Reveals Its New Path To Being Published
Back in September I quoted a source who said that Amazon had an “unnamed project” that would bring “a crowd approach to the acquisition of new titles using a voting system that ranks new books based on crowd favorites.”
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I’ve received more information from Amazon but I suggest, if your interested, that yousubscribe to get more details from Amazon:
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Amazon’s Email:
Dear Author,
Thanks for subscribing to receive updates on Amazon’s new publishing program! We’re excited to announce t...
October 1, 2014
46 Top Websites to Promote Your Book for FREE
Promoting A Book? Check out this article :-)
Originally posted on Savvy Writers & e-Books online:
Stand out Against Thousands of Books
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Added June 23, 2013:
Dear Reader: This list of websites, which we compiled in March 2012, grew in the meantime to almost 100. Please visit our two new blog posts with even more possibilities to announce your work for free:
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/50-web-links-to-let-your-book-go-viral/
September 30, 2014
Are Libraries Still “Relevant”?
I’ve written 30 posts tagged with the word “Library”.
Image Courtesy of Holger Dieterich ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/holger
That word can mean many things to different folks…
Does it mean “Research”, “Reading”, “Using a Computer”, “Socializing”, “Having an Adventure”?
And, for You, is a library“Significant”, “Applicable”, “Appropriate”, and “Suitable”?
Perhaps the interview with Sari Feldman,executive director of the Cuyahoga County Public Libraryandpresident-elect of the American Library...
