Ian Lamont's Blog, page 6

LinkedIn In 30 Minutes gets a complete refresh

Publisher i30 Media is pleased to announce a completely revised second edition of its top-selling LinkedIn book, LinkedIn In 30 Minutes. Written by author Angela Rose (bio), the new title explores the basics of setting up an effective LinkedIn profile, best practices forcultivating a network, and how to useLinkedIn to find a job.

[image error]LinkedIn In 30 Minutes (2nd Edition) also explores the updated LinkedIn interface. Since the first edition of the guide was released in 2013, LinkedIn has streamline...

A new edition of our top-selling Twitter tutorial

[image error]For the first time in its short history, In 30 Minutes guides is releasing a third edition of a book. It’s titled Twitter In 30 Minutes (3rd Edition): How to connect with interesting people, write great tweets, and find information that’s relevant to you. The first edition of the Twitter tutorial was only published in 2013, while the second edition was released in 2014, with thousands of copies (including the paperback edition and ebook formats such as the Kindle and Apple iBooks) having been...

Five pieces of advice for aspiring authors

Goodreads recently prompted me to share some advice about writing to aspiringauthors. Although Ido not write fiction, I have been a nonfiction writerfor years as a journalist (1994-2010), blogger (2002-present), and author of“how to”books (2012-present). I am going to share five pieces of advice for aspiring authors, which may be useful to fiction writers as well as nonfiction authors.

Make time to write. It doesn’t have to be long–an hour in the evening two or three times per week is fine–b...

A new In 30 Minutes book about the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S

I’m pleased to announce the release of iPhone 6 & iPhone 6S In 30 Minutes: The unofficial guide to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S, including basic setup, easy iOS tweaks, and time-saving tips. This is a special book for i30 Media, as I will describe in the following blog post.

First things first: It’s safe to say that the four devices that make up the iPhone 6 family (and iOS 9) are the most innovative iPhone models since the iPhone 4/4S. With the new phones, Apple has moved beyond Steve Jobs’ emphasis on small and simple that defined all previous generations of the iPhone. The new phones have large screens and enable some advanced technical and UI features, such as 3D Touch and “Live Photos” in the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus models as well as a more sophisticated Apple Wallet experience.

However, with the additional features comes additional complexity—and that’s where iPhone 6 & iPhone 6S In 30 Minutes comes in. The learning curve for people coming from Android or older iPhone models can be steep. For people who have never used an iPhone (or owned an older model), features such as Dictation, Maps, Touch ID, 3D Touch, Apple Wallet, and various camera modes are not readily apparent unless someone sits down and explains how they work. ...

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A new In 30 Minutes book about the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S

I’m pleased to announce the release of iPhone 6 & iPhone 6S In 30 Minutes: The unofficial guide to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S, including basic setup, easy iOS tweaks, and time-saving tips. This is a special book for i30 Media, as I will describe in the following blog post.

First things first: It’s safe to say that the four devices that make up the iPhone 6 family (and iOS 9) are the most innovative iPhone models since the iPhone 4/4S. With the new phones, Apple has moved beyond Steve Jobs’ em...

Draft introduction to Lean Media In 30 Minutes - your feedback needed!

This post will of interest to Goodreads community members who are authors or employees of media industries such as news, broadcasting, music, video, film, advertising, gaming, etc. I am seeking feedback on this and other chapters, so please take a look at the Lean Media website to see some of the other chapters and leave your comments!

What do The Huffington Post, The Simpsons, Minecraft, and Led Zeppelin’s second album have in common?

All of them started as low-cost media experiments. The creators had varying degrees of experience, but were generally quite talented and creative. The Huffington Post started out as a small blog-based site and news aggregator, leveraging the celebrity network of co-founder Ariana Huffington for content. The Simpsons began as a short animated clip shown during the commercial breaks of another comedy show on the upstart Fox Network. Minecraft was created in 2009 by a Swedish game programmer, Markus “Notch” Persson, as a part-time project. Led Zeppelin II was recorded over a six-month period in 1969 while the British rock band toured North America.

When the creators and producers launched these experiments, there was no guarantee of success. But when they initially released their songs and clips and articles to the public, they paid close attention to what audiences liked — and didn’t like. This feedback could be incorporated into subsequent releases, and could even help drive marketing and business decisions.

These are all examples of what I call lean media. The people behind these works may not have known it at the time, but the way they went about creating products using relatively low-cost, iterative development cycles based on audience feedback is one of the most effective ways to build media products that people like.

What is lean media? It’s an approach to creating media content that emphasizes low-cost production, careful observation/measurement of audience feedback, and fast iteration. Properly incubated and carefully scaled, lean media products can attract loyal audiences and grow into successful products and brands. We will take a look at many such examples in this book, and impart best practices which you can use to develop new content, brands, and experiences for your audiences.

It should be noted that while the people and teams cited above went on to enjoy great success, but lean media methods don’t have to be for superstars or blockbuster releases. Some creators are thinking of niche audiences, or products that have a short shelf-life. Further, such development projects can take place in a variety of environments, from fringe artists and producers working out of their basements, to experienced media professionals employed by established companies. All kinds of people and organizations can leverage lean media techniques to create exciting new products which resonate with audiences and boost bottom lines.

To leave a comment or read some of the chapters from Lean Media In 30 Minutes, please visit the Lean Media website.

What should independent authors do about Kindle Unlimited and other predatory platforms?

This post originally started out as a comment on Mark Coker’s blog post about the demise of Oyster, but it has actually been brewing for a long time, since the launch of the Scribd and Oyster ebook subscription services and the appearance of Amazon’s predatory Kindle Unlimited subscription plan. I've decided to expand my thoughts on the In 30 Minutes blog and seek feedback from writers.

I have long thought that in the battle of the platform marketplaces and their business plans, the content creators — whether they be musicians, filmmakers, or authors — seldom get a seat at the table. We have seen this happen with Spotify, where artists get scraps while the platform owners and investors (including the big music publishers) grab money and control. Following the launch of the Oyster and Scribd ebook subscription plans, I wrote:

"As for the venture-funded book subscription services, I’ve taken a look at Scribd and read some of the recent news about Oyster, too. I find it very telling that Scribd.com heavily promotes unlimited books for readers, and offers resources for publishers and partners, yet there isn’t a single page in their support section that explains to authors what they will be getting from the service. Clearly, authors are not a priority."

Although Mark Coker was eventually able to get a reasonable rate from Scribd and Oyster for authors participating in his Smashwords distribution service, it was overshadowed once Amazon decided to jump in with the Kindle Unlimited subscription plan. It's cheap, fully integrated with the Kindle, and absolutely terrible for most participating authors. Just like the $10 buffet at the local Chinese restaurant, the cheap, all-you-can-eat subscription plan that Amazon launched requires cheap stuff in order to work. It’s great for readers, it’s great for Amazon, but for the authors and content creators? Not so great. Authors who participate (via Amazon's KDP Select self-publishing service) are getting crumbs in the form of a per-page reading rate that is the same for all ebooks. In the long run KU is terrible for authors, except for a tiny minority who can achieve scale. This will reduce the size of the pie and leave a lot of talented authors struggling or even giving up. ...

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Turn off Twitter notifications on your phone (with screenshots)

One of the top complaints we hear from readers of In 30 Minutes guides concerns social media notifications. The networks want to do everything they can to get people coming back, so new accounts are mercilessly bombarded with friend requests, recommended accounts to follow, promotions, and much more. Twitter is particularly bad when it comes to notifications because there are so many possibilities that aren’t seen in other networks, such as retweets and being added to a list. In addition, so...

What should independent authors do about Kindle Unlimited and other predatory platforms?

This post originally started out as a comment on Mark Coker’s blog post about the demise of Oyster, but it has actually been brewing for a long time, since the launch of the Scribd and Oyster ebook subscription services and the appearance of Amazon’s predatory Kindle Unlimited subscription plan. I’ve decided to expand my thoughts on the In 30 Minutes blog and seek feedback from writers.

I have long thought that in the battle of the platform marketplaces and their business plans, the content...

The iPhone 6S aggravates missing photo archive features in iCloud

Apple recently announced the latest iPhone model, the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S+. I have closely followed the news, not only because I have written about Apple for years, but also because I am preparing a new book, titled iPhone 6 & 6S In 30 Minuteswhich covers all iPhone 6 models running iOS 9.

A lot of the media attention around the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus has concerned the powerful new cameras, the ability to shoot 4K video, and Live Photos. These look like amazing features, but as othe...