Self Publishing Today and the long hot summer…

Posted on August 11, 2009 by Ray Robinson

Sorry… the post header reads like the title of a bad beach novel, I know, but I couldn’t resist. THIS post is pretty much a nothing post other than a general ‘here’s what I’m looking to accomplish going forward’ with the blog. I’m sure many folks out there (especially parents) found the summer to be busier than the rest of the year. What happened to the ‘lazy days of summer’ that we used to know (for those of usover 40 or so…).

Anyway – I’m back in the mode of getting content back on to the site in a regular manner – matter of fact an interesting article is coming later today comparing Google Book Search results to Google PPC results… it’s very surprising to me (and I run both systems for Dog Ear Publishing).

Over the next few posts I’ll be covering a number of (hopefully) relevent topics to all of you, including self-publishing with ‘green’ in mind (not money… though it is part of the equation), social marketing for self published authors (it is turning out to be harder, less focused, and with softer results than we all thought… unless you follow some very simple rules…), expanding markets for self published books beyond US borders (UK distribution, the Espresso Book Machine, Canadian markets), and the change face of search marketing for self published books (Bing may just change the game…)

Thanks for reading – and as always I’d love to hear from you either directly or in comment

Ray Robinson

rayr@dogearpublishing.net

Filed under: self publishing, Self-publishing blogs | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

The First Real Post – or – publishing blogs everyone should read

Posted on January 11, 2008 by Ray Robinson

Welcome to the first real blog post in Self Publishing Today – my first foray into the blog-osphere…

If you are involved in publishing or self-publishing any kind of content, there are lots of blogs you should be reading because the folks who write them are pretty darn brilliant – two of my top, daily-read, blogs are these

Tim O’Reilly – of O’Reilly and Associates, a purveyor of great knowledge that happens to be one of the amazing innovators in the publishing industry – has a blog here that discusses an amazing array of topics relevant to authors and publishers alike. To get a good sense of why you should read this blog, take a look at the introduction :

“Technology is transforming publishing. From the way ideas are generated to the packaging of information to the delivery of products, the industry is in the midst of a sea change. We’ve always considered O’Reilly as much of a technology company as a publisher, a belief that’s led us to develop information products such as GNN (the first commercial website), Safari Books Online, and the Tools of Change for Publishing conference. As publishers seek a new equilibrium in our networked world, we aim to be both a catalyst and chronicler of what has inevitably been called Publishing 2.0. “

Wow – can’t get more appropriate than that, can you? Even if you can’t go to New York, spend some time digging around O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing conference site here.

Joe Wikert’s Publishing 2020 blog – my second most read publishing blog (and a new one to my list). Here VP and Executive Publisher for John Wiley, Joe Wikert, takes on all sorts of topics in the publishing and self-publishing industry. His widely varied posts range from book reviews to discussions of music. Most of them have a common theme centered around the creation, delivery, and consumption of content – whether it be via web, traditional publisher or self-published author. Visiting this blog is not just interesting in and of itself, but Wikert spends lots of time dissecting OTHER resources in the industry and pointing his readers is very valuable directions. For a guy from the ‘traditional’ publishing fold he is extraordinarily open minded when it comes to other publishing models.

Filed under: Joe Wikert, Self-publishing blogs, Tim O'Reilly | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

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