Tag Archives: order fulfillment for independent publishers

What Am I Getting Myself Into?

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“The value of many men and books rests solely on their faculty for compelling all to speak out the most hidden and intimate things.” ~ Friedrich Nietzshe

How many times have you had a book in your hands ready to buy, but then put it back on the store shelf because you didn’t know if you would like it or not? I don’t know about you, but I have done that frequently! The text on the back or inside flap covers gives us a glimpse into what the book is all about but sometimes that is just not enough. With just a little more insight into the book, perhaps you would be pushed over the edge into buying!

Guess what? Like movie trailers, which tease us into seeing a film, many independent publishers are now offering book trailers for the books they are selling on-line. I like that idea! For me, one extra flash of information about the book helps me discern whether to buy or  not.

Have you as an independent publisher put a book trailer on your list of ways to market your book? It may be the very thing that will grab the attention of a potential buyer and turn interest into action! As consumers, whether we are purchasing clothes, shoes, a book or a film, we all  want to know whether it “fits” prior to purchasing.

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Weekend Indie Publishing News

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One of the best on-line guides to what is happening in the publishing world that I know of is the Southern Review of Books!

http://www.anvilpub.net/southern_review_of_books.com

This on-line resource is choked full of breaking news on books, trade shows, book fairs, book festivals, seminars  for authors, publishers and micropresses. Check it out, and subscribe!

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Guess who is featured in the March 2010 American Artist Magazine?  Artist Nancy Guzik! The March issue will be hitting magazine stands on January 26 and I have heard from one artist, that his issue has already arrived via subscription! The article features Nancy Guzik’s portraits and still life paintings and she shares her personal artistic journey with readers.  Don’t miss this important issue!  www.interweave.com.

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Is This Just for Me?

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“All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.”~ Albert Einstein

Isn’t it funny how chance and timing lead to opportunity? We all have situations from time to  time that work out perfectly in our favor, in very unexpected ways.

This Saturday (tomorrow) is a perfect example of what I am referring to! My plans were to drive to Denver to drop my son and his college roommate off at the airport so they can  return back to school. My plans got even better when I received a telephone call this morning from a Colorado Independent Publisher Association member asking me if I would like to attend their Saturday meeting. www.cipabooks.com.

Perfect! I will be driving right by the site of the meeting just in time! Any opportunity to network with this group of publishing professionals is a great one! And to make it even more worthwhile, the speaker of the morning will be Brian Jud. The program will be The Buck Starts Here – How You Can Sell More Books in Special Markets!  He is also author of Beyond the Bookstore. Is this not just what I blogged about yesterday???

Turn down the chance to learn all I possibly can about this subject matter? No way!! Not when the timing is this perfect!!

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Opportunities Lead to Choices

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“You just don’t luck into things as much as you’d like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it is friendships or opportunities.” ~ Barbara Bush

Over the past years, I have made a concerted effort to stop living in the “what if” frame of mind, at least from a negative point of view. I have decided we are all better off if we look at “what if” from a perspective of opportunity and possibility, instead.

Have you ever stopped to think how e-commerce (on-line, internet selling) has opened up a whole new world of possibilities?  Orders can be placed from all reaches of the globe. Such are the advantages of e-commerce.

Independent publishing lends itself quite naturally to  niche publishing and social media marketing provides great opportunities for reaching those niche markets. A war historian in the U.S. can publish a book on WWI or WWII and a history buff in Europe seeking out the lastest book to add to his collection, will order with little regard of where it is being shipped from.

You will need to figure out how to get the order to your customer, in far off reaches of the world, the most reliable and economical way possible. Global shipping means a conundrum of options with customs forms to match! Each country has it’s own regulations to deal with, too.

Don’t be caught unprepared! Knowing how to get the order across the globe so that it does not go astray, can be part of the battle, too. When contracting with an order fulfillment company, of all questions, ask whether they ship worldwide. It matters!

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Being Caught Unprepared

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“All speech, written or spoken, is a dead language, until it finds a willing and prepared hearer.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Well, I have done it now. I do not mean this statement in a bad way, because I am happy to support a great cause. I have jumped in with all two feet and committed to something that may be beyond my expertise. I have volunteered to cook a dish for an International Dinner which is proposed to be in early March to benefit the Macedonian Mission for Humanity.  This worthy non-profit is hosting the dinner along with the Culture Club of the Steamboat Springs High School to raise money to ship a container of medical supplies from the USA to Macedonia. The medical supplies are needed for children’s hospitals in Macedonia, and the alternative would be for all of the no longer needed supplies to end up in America’s landfills.

As I have mentioned in my blog writing before, I am a comfort food junkie, so for me to commit to cooking a dish with international flair is a stretch! I will have to dig deep. Deep into all the international cookbooks at the Bud Werner Library, to see what recipe I can find that I can handle. Thankfully, I have some weeks to prepare.

I guess I could even call on my brother-in-law, a chef who has worked at some of the most impressive restaurants and a few embassies in Washington, DC and the Capital district. His recipe book might be a little too complicated for me, though.

This town is filled with all kinds of talent – good writers, good Artists, good restaurants, good cooks. Perhaps there are others that would like to join me in supporting the International Dinner and can rustle up some good international flavors and foods to donate to the cause. I challenge you and don’t forget to stay posted for more information on this event! It is a win-win cause, and the MMH could use all of your support, by attending the dinner or by bringing a dish to share. It is all about community sharing and the children in Macedonia are waiting!

Hungry yet?

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I’ve Got to Crow!

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“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Some months ago, someone came to me with a book of poetry that had been published by print on demand. The poet admitted that because the book was still in rough development, she only had three copies made to show to a few people who were supporting her efforts. She was still playing around with a few things such as back cover text. When she was satisfied, she would have a larger number printed. Ah, the benefits of print on demand and the Northshire Bookstore www.Northshire.com!

After much discussion regarding the back cover, she said “I have won a few poetry awards, but I have decided that I want the back cover text to tell what in my life inspired me to write these poems.” My response to that was “great, but you need to promote yourself as a poet by mentioning your poetry awards – we all have to crow about ourselves. Self promotion is such a necessary part of a writer’s success!”

As I reflect on our conversation, this morning, it has come to me how difficult it is to promote  ourselves as bloggers. Clearly, blog writing is not for self promotion.

In my blog writing during the holidays, I neglected to mention a competition – the Blog Off II hosted by www.communitymarketingblog.com. There were bloggers from six countries and it was a great educational experience for all! To give you a little insider information – I was one of the finalists.  Oops, I’ve slipped. Pardon me, I just had to have one quick moment in the sun!

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Who is on Your List?

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“If we were all like angels, the world would be a heavenly place.” ~ Author Unknown

Are you a list maker? Not all of us are, but I have always been. I make lists of things to do, books to read, movies to see, friends to call, bills to pay.  They all keep me going in the right direction and organized. For businesses, database lists are essential and they take real effort to update and maintain.

The other day, I decided to start a new list. One I have never thought of making before. It is a collection of angels! I read an article in the newspaper about a new kind of angel that I have never heard of before. The subject of the article was micro-nutrients that are added to our food – things like iodine, zinc, vitamin-A, folic acid, and other vitamins. Without these supplements to food, children in many countries suffer from heart-breaking defects. There are groups such as Project Healthy Children, Helen Keller International and Vitamin Angels who give aid to countries that are deficient in providing essential vitamins and other micro-nutrients. A variety of these essentials are only about 30 cents per person per year. Yet, many countries do not have the resources to invest.

I am going to put Vitamin Angels right at the top of my list along with book angels, providing books to needy children and film angels, investors in films. All are important contributors to physical health or cultural well-being.

Is there a non-profit organization or individual that you would like to add to our list of angels? Perhaps we are missing some one!

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Are You a Dinosaur?

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“The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you have been.” ~ Madeline L’Engle

As most little boys are, my son was completely obsessed and consumed with dinosaurs when he was 4. One day, as I sat on the floor building Legos with him, he looked up at me and asked, oh so seriously, “who came first, his grandmother and grandfather or the dinosaurs?” This tickled me because even now, I think of my parents as being young and young at heart. At the time, his grandparents had just turned 60 and were hardly an ancient species. But – it is all relative!

Business trends have undergone vast changes in the past few years. All companies are looking for less expensive and more far reaching ways of marketing and reaching their client base.

Enter — E-Marketing! Social networking is no longer just what our kids spend their time on. Smart companies have also jumped on the bandwagon! It is a whole new way of reaching potential clients, communicating with existing clients and learning more about what your client base wants and needs.

Staying stuck in habits of the past, serve companies no good! Resisting current trends will only leave a company lagging behind.  Is your business doing all that it can to stay current? Or is it becoming a dinosaur?

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The Winds of Change

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“The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being.” ~ Lech Walesa

I am of the belief that in order to change the world for the better, all of us as human beings need to join hands within communities and between communities to inspire change. In my opinion, a change in values needs to happen on a familial level, political level, community level and within the workplace. When folks with the same moral compass share beliefs and convictions, and join forces to get a job done, change can happen.

Over the past year, I have increased my participation in community involvement. And you know what? It feels good! I have found support from others in all kinds of ways that I have not expected. It has kept me focused on positive things rather than the daily sobering news of our country and our world.

Through one of my social media networks, a question was posed to all of us that share the network. It read “Is your glass half empty or half full?”  The response has been a revelation! Regardless of the news of rising gas prices, real estate foreclosures, terrorist threats, companies going bankrupt, very few persons have stated their glass is half empty! These are the folks that I want on my side!

I choose to believe that the positive responses that have come out of this question are a result of steadfast belief in our fellow man to bring about change! However, without active participation, words mean nothing. We need to move from rhetoric into action. It would benefit us all!

Think! If there was one single thing that you could change to make your own world better, what would it be? Share it with us! I bet there are others that feel the same way you do. Let’s see!

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Order in the Court

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“Good order is the foundation of all good things.” ~ Edmund Burke

Before the holidays, I was feeling stuck in the snow. I had decisions to make, tasks to accomplish, unsolved business to attend to. All things that had me feeling bogged down.

It is difficult to move into a New Year with unfinished business, whether it is in your personal life or business life. Indecision only brings delays!

What a freeing feeling it is when we finally make decisions, right or wrong! What power we give to ourselves when we step out of indecision. Making a decision paves the way for movement, change and growth. It puts us one step closer to our goals!

You will notice, that as of today, we have put into place some changes in the appearance of our blogsite. It improves functionality of the site for our readers and positions us for exciting changes in the future. Stay tuned, as things develop!

For our independent publishing clients, if you are stopped in your tracks and unable to finish a project, no need to struggle. There are freelance publishing professionals that can help you with every step along the way. If there are decisions that you have put off making, be brave! It is all part of being independent – you can make your own decisions regarding what is best for your own publishing business. Use those freedoms to bring the results and outcome you have been striving for!

Clear the way for success – act now!

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