Steven Savage's Blog, page 43

The Responsibility of Print

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I have a thing for books in print.

Sure I have a Kindle. Sure I read ebooks in various forms. But most of the time, I order books in print.

Sure there’s the practical reasons. No technical glitches. No screen problems. I can read it in the bathtub without worrying about dropping several hundred dollars of technology into the bathwater. A book on paper doesn’t crash during an update.

But there...

Self-Publishing: Where To Start

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

This question has come up among my friends and my writing groups – when you want to self-publish where do you start. It’s overwhelming – not because there’s not advice, there’s too much.

There’s advice on what to do. When to publish. What format to use. How to market. Everyone has advice, and there’s so much of it, for many people it’s overwhelming.

So I’d like to talk how to start with self-p...

Method Second

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I love productivity methods. “Getting Things Done” inspired me to become more organized, and I developed my time-management methods using Agile. I strongly encourage people to find productivity systems and build their owns.

I also recommend you change them up when they don’t work.

This is something people forget a lot when talking about personal productivity. There’s always advice about what t...

Creative Resources 7/9/2019

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I haven’t posted one of these in a few months, so here’s the latest roundup of creative resources! I’ve added a few here and there, plus some game development tools.

Art Sources

Free

Pixabay – A source for art that is free as well as royalty-free. There’s a lot here, and much of it is professional.Unsplash – A source for photos that are free as well as royalty-free. The quality is very high.

R...

Steve’s Update 7/8/2019

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Just a quick warning, I may switch up these updates. I’m changing my organizational process, and that changes my statuses and such.

So what have I done since last time? Way With Worlds: The news book is progressing nicely.Seventh Sanctum Book: I sent it off to prereaders. I hope to have it out end of November.Sequel to “A Bridge To The Quiet Planet:” I’ve started plotting this, and it’s coming...

So Much Help It’s Impossible

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I was at a recent meetup of current and future self-published authors, and we were discussing what people needed to learn. The discussion was fascinating, fun, and involved some great pastries. However, our dialogue also brought up something I hadn’t noticed.

Self-publishing is easier than ever, and there’s so much advice people get lost.

There are articles and advice everywhere, some of it qu...

You’re Doing It Wrong

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I hurt my back recently – nothing big – but I did need some physical therapy. It’s been going great, but then the therapist told me something that blew my mind – I was walking wrong.

This news was a bit stunning, as I’ve been walking for decades and figured by now I was pretty good at it. But apparently, the way I was carrying myself wasn’t helping my back and made things worse. It was weird,...

Creating A Great Work

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Recently Serdar and I were discussing what made Great works of art, literature, and anime.  We quickly got to the point of realizing that the idea there’s some checklist to create the Great Works is an illusion.  There’s no roadmap for Greatness, despite many failed attempts to create one.

(We left the exact definition of Great ambiguous in our discussion.  I think of Greatness as influential,...

Steve’s Update 6/25/2019

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Well this update is ALMOST on time, so good job me.

So what have I done since last time? Way With Worlds: I’ve started the News book! This one is going to be interesting – but I have only just started it. Having trouble getting back into the rhythm, probably due to my office moving.Seventh Sanctum Book: Made it through the first round of edits!Other: Not too much else to report this time. What...

Steve’s Marketing Advice June 2019

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

It’s the latest update of my Marketing Tips!  As always, I keep updating these every few months.

The Core Principle: The Web Of Connections

To promote yourself your various activities, giveaways, social media, and so on need to connect and reinforce each other.  If a new book comes out, promote it on your website and give away a few copies in your newsletter.  If you’re speaking on art, give o...