Don’t be Dead in the Water! Rise to the Top.

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Great race, great strategy and great performance all the way through.” ~ Michael Schmacher

Have you noticed that kids born after the 1980’s have a fifth sense? Using the computer comes as naturally to them as breathing. Their minds are geared and wired differently than the brains of people in generations who came before them. No way do they fulfill their need for information about a company, product or service by going to a phone book! “What’s that,” they say. 

Businesses that sell a product or service that do not have a great internet presence, are dead in the water! If your market happens to be youth, it is even more important to stay in out in front of them, by being visible on the internet.  Your market will not find you any other way. The younger generation is our future, and they do not read signs, browse phone books or visit information booths looking for products and services, how could they? Their eyes never leave their computers, i-phones and whatever other digital devices they may possess! They are obsessed!

Is e-marketing and e-commerce is a foreign language to you? There are professionals that can help. Contact a company that specializes in e-marketing and e-commerce for independent publishers. Fulfill the needs of your customers by sharing the same space as they do – the internet. They will come find you in that space, so put your marketing efforts there!

For more information on the latest marketing strategies that 88% of marketers are now using, please visit http://bit.ly/aUSFE9.

 

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A Change in Landscape

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“I think one of our main strengths lies in being adaptable, hitting smart, things like that.” ~ Franklin Brightwater

You are business owner. So, have you noticed how the landscape has changed? If not, you had better take heed! It is not a change in scenery due to seasonal weather. I am referring to the marketing landscape. It has stepped from an old season to a new season. One that now includes focus on e-marketing (internet marketing). 

Did you know that 88% of marketers are now using social media marketing as part of their overall strategy?  It is for good reason! Internet marketing generates increased exposure for business, brings awareness to your brand, improves search engine rankings, and helps to generate qualified leads. 

How about you? You are in business to stay in business, and that means changing with the landscape, too. It doesn’t mean you need to do completely away with the old marketing strategies of print advertising, direct mail and face to face selling, it means adding a new dimension to the landscape. 

The principles of internet marketing are the same whether you are selling a product or service. Visibility on the internet is the name of the game! If your business needs help in becoming more visible, do exactly what you always do in this day and age of the internet when you are looking for information, search it! Look for an e-marketing company for independent publishers. They can paint a new marketing landscape for you. One that includes e-marketing!

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Reading in the Boat

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“Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich~ Henry Miller 

Count me in! The City of Steamboat Springs, CO is embarking on an all-city reading program. One of the classics of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, will be the subject of much discussion over the coming weeks. Added to the already jam-packed schedule of events at the Bud Werner Library will be an official 50th birthday party kickoff with cake and tea, a scavenger hunt to find 10 free copies strategically placed throughout the city, discussions and a culminating event which will include the screening of a documentary about this book, with filmmaker Mary McDonagh Murphy in attendance. 

My first reading of this classic was in high school, and it has been on my list for decades  for books I MUST READ AGAIN. Here is my chance! With age, wisdom and a better appreciation for good literature, I can’t help but think my second time through will be even more rewarding than the first. 

People in communities travel in the same circles, and many of this city’s citizens will be in the same company – with Atticus, Scout and Boo! Want to learn more about our city’s One Book Steamboat program? Please visit http://onebooksteamboat.wordpress.com and while you are at it, check out www.steamboatlibrary.org, too.

  

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Weekend Indie Publisher News

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Have you written a book designed to improve daily living? The Living Now Book Awards are coming up and the first deadline has gone by. The sooner you submit your book, the lower the cost to enter your book into the competition, so all of you enter now!

Basic Information:

This contest is designed to reward authors for new publications that helps improve quality of life and how to live fulfilling lifestyles. 

Categories include:

  • Fitness
  • Travel
  • Cooking
  • Entertaining
  • Self Improvement
  • Animals/Pets
  • Green Living
  • Spirituality/Enlightment
  • Family    
  • AND MORE!! 

Next submission deadline and fee – now until November 20,  $85 per title,   After November 21st , $95 per title

                                                          Final Deadline February 21st

For more information – please visit http://www.livingnowawards.com/index.php 

Good Luck! Book awards are a sure -fire way to increase your visibility as an author and for your book!

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Old Concept, New Location

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“The thing I would encourage you to do is go where your love is. Go where your heart tells you to go.” ~ Bill Billachick 

Are you one of the many who has been traditionally published but for one reason or another wish to do things a little differently this time around? Perhaps you are disillusioned by the way the integrity of your writing can be changed by your publisher. Maybe you are interested in being more directly involved with the sales and marketing aspect of your publication. Is it that you would like to earn a higher percentage on your sales or do you wish to find out for yourself why, according to Bowker, independent publishing grew a whopping 181 percent between 2008 and 2009? All of these are good reasons for making a switch. 

One of the most valuable skills you will need to know as an independent publisher is how to reach communities of people, through social media marketing, who will purchase your book. 

Although the concept of social media marketing may sound “new age”, it really is an old concept, in a new setting. Instead of locating people that share the same interests as you do at church, at PTA meetings, in gyms, in bars, at knitting clubs or through fraternal organizations – you meet them over the internet and communicate with those like minded people. By building relationships, you will locate potential buyers. 

Don’t know where to start? Help is readily available. Search the internet for  e-commerce and e-marketing for independent publishers. Professionals can assist you in becoming more visible over the internet, which will increase the potential for sales of your independently published book all over the world.

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An Invitation Awaits You!

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“..the basis of all excellence is truth..” ~ Samuel Johnson

Do you love watching films? Do you love producing films? Then you are cordially invited! That is right, all of you can come to the New Mexico International Film Festival and submit your film, too!  Marc Leonard, Assistant Director of the New Mexico International Film Festival has extended an invitation to the world at large.  For more information on this film festival that is expected to be different than all the rest, visit www.newmexicointernationalfilmfestival.com.

See what the Land of Enchantment has to offer for high quality, thought-provoking film entertainment. The organizers of this festival promise all good things – a great audience experience, compensation for filmmakers whose films qualify for the festival’s excellence in standards, superior customer service and after the film parties that really will be after the screenings you won’t miss one moment of what you came to the film festival for!

Kickstart this event right now, by going to http://bit.ly/abaSuQ. Outstanding screens and outstanding scenes in the beautiful New Mexican landscape awaits you!  See you in Jemez Springs, New Mexico in February!

 

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Nurturing Potential

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“It helps us to all work together, because its the parent and the teacher and the child – its that triangle..”

Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools has stated that the potential is there for students to become super men and super women, if given the opportunity for a great education. Our children’s inability to progress is due to the educators ineffectiveness in fulfilling the needs of the children in the classroom. It is the adults who are failing the children. This is a blanket statement, however, we all know that there are as many good teachers as there are inadequate teachers.

Every child deserves and needs a great education. They are the future of our country and students need to be taught in a way that recognizes and builds upon their strengths and gifts,so they can become global leaders as adults.

David Guggenheim’s new film “Waiting for Superman” will be premiering in New York and L.A. on September 24. This documentary film provides an inside look at education in America, our need for equal opportunity, America’s teachers and some answers to saving schools.

As highlighted in the film, the opportunity to obtain an excellent education should not be dependent upon the chance of winning a lottery to be admitted into one of the new high performing charter public schools.

Obviously, educational institutions can not be entirely held responsible for the success of a child. Parents need to do their part, too. Expose your child to the arts, to museums, to athletics, to faith and to groups of empowering people. A child has the potential to achieve what is set before them – so set the bar high! That way, your child will know you have confidence in their abililities and that you know they can succeed! It is all about nuturing potential.

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Sharing the Word!

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Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”                 ~Mark Twain 

How coincidental is that? Today, I had planned to write a blog on the man who is known as our first American novelist – Mark Twain. He is one of the most well-known essayists and moralists in our country’s history! This morning, I had a few minutes to spare before my dentist appointment, and took the opportunity to take a little drive into an area of Steamboat Springs, CO that I had not previously taken the time to explore before. There the name was, on a street sign, Mark Twain. Was it an Avenue or Road or Lane? ! I dont know! I was so thrown off guard by this odd coincidence of having just composed, on paper, last night a blog based on  Mr. Twain that I can not remember which!   

Seeing this sign has changed the content of my blog. I was going to go on and on about the man who was born in 1835 and died in 1915 AKA Samuel Langhorne Clemens. His speculative ventures included silver mining, business and publishing.  His writings had appeal to young and old, alike. Although in he is known for his humor and wit, many of the essays he wrote in his final years were filled with his “venting” against power, corruption and greed.

Why his name should appear on a street sign in a place like Steamboat Springs, CO, I wonder. Perhaps it is just a subtle reminder to all that as we travel down the road of life  “to do the right thing.”

 

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Welcome back, Jonathan Franzen!

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“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them all.” ~Henry David Thoreau

Well, well, well – look who is back on the Oprah Book Club list – author Jonathan Franzen! In 2001,  Jonathan Franzen landed on the “O” pick list for his book “The Corrections.” Now he is fulfilling Oprah’s need for outstanding, thought provoking reading with his latest book “Freedom.

Although the Oprah Show will be coming to a close after this season, her book club will continue on. Over the years, Oprah has created quite a buzz for authors and their books. Millions of readers worldwide participated  in Oprah’s on-line book club discussing new thought leader, Eckhart Tolle’s book “A New Earth.”  For authors such as David Wroblewski, being thrust into the limelight as a first time author with his book “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” had to be a thrill. I personally flat out loved that book!

“Freedom”  will be added to my long list of  I want to read, will someday read or might read books. Perhaps I will move it ahead of the pack, to the top of my MUST read list.  That way, I won’t have to see if it was worthwhile waiting for.  I will know right away! Join me in discovering what the rage over this book is all about. Oprah promises it will be a fulfilling read!

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Weekend Indie Publisher News

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Hurry and Register! October Writers Conferences are coming up, soon! Writers Conferences are beneficial to all writers – seasoned and first time publishers! Click on the links to get all of the details of these popular conferences:

Emerald City Romance Writers – Greater Seattle Area October 1-3, 2010  www.gsrwa.org/conference.

James River Writers Conference – Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA  October 8-9,2010   http://bit.ly/bQ6Aph

Fisherman’s Wharf Conference, San Francisco, CA  October 13-17, 2010 www.fwalgonkianconferences.com.

Florida Writers Conference, Lake May, FL  October 22-24  www.floridawriters.net.

Can’t attend these conferences? You can always tune into “Cover to Cover” each and every Saturday on-line at www.wnzf.com.  There is a wealth of information free for writers and publishers on this radio show.

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