You know how, when a client doesn’t pay you on time, there’s always a story attached? You know that story? Dead gramma version, cash crunch version, whatever?
Cool story, bro
Pay the Writer, GPOY edition
Category Archives: Money
Information Wants to be Invoiced
Duane Lester confronts his plagiarist
Duane Lester is a blogger. Duane Lester knows his rights. And when he found out that this Missouri paper had printed a blog post of his as an original article, verbatim and without attribution or permission, he knew just what to do. And he videoed that shit.
I know RSS stands for “really simple syndication” but it does not mean you can take anything with an RSS feed and print it, verbatim, without permission or payment, in your newspaper, no matter how podunk it may be. Blog posts are writing, covered by copyright law, and if this had been me I’d have gone considerably more ballistic to Mister Bob Bull Shit and his Lois Lane sidekick, who should really know better. Bob’s the one with the money, and she’s the one with the brains, I’d bet.
The most important comment on this youtube, which has had 48,000 views, is this one:
One relevant item in Duane’s attitude is: he never changes subject, never stops repeating that they reprinted his work w/o credit or payment, never falls for the argumentative traps of “being from somewhere”, “copies being passed around”, “40 years older” or whatever. Keeping straight to the point helps. Not being sidetracked helps. Pursuing it steadily, keeping CALM eye contact, helps. Kudos on that.
Congratulations to Duane and to SrAtoz. You give us heart!
Someone Please Explain This to Me
…preferably as though I was aged for the target market of the book.
I’ve said for some length of time that eBooks need to be approached as being a replacement (if they can be said to ‘replace’ anything) for Mass Market Paperback editions of titles. they fulfill the same approach as the Penguin or Pocket editions of any novel: get the words to the eye-bones of the readers as easily as possible. There’s no requirement for them to last forever, they’re not meant to be cherished, they aren’t supposed to survive thousands of readings un-molested. They’re meant to be read, possibly re-read, and that’s about it really.
So, based on that, eBooks are the same, except they’re able to withstand multiple readings. None the less, however, they present the words in the simplest and plainest format for the express purpose of getting words to the eye-bones of the readers.
Thus, can someone please explain why this MMP costs TWELVE dollars:
“I Shall Wear Midnight” (Discworld Novel 38), by Terry Pratchett {paperback}
…yet the eBook below costs NINETEEN dollars:
“I Shall Wear Midnight” (Discworld Novel 38), by Terry Pratchett {electronic book}
…which is actually 50¢ more than the Hardcover edition of the work in the listing above it?
Don’t blame the un-identified retailers, they’re working with the Recommended Retail Price set by the publishers, which in this case is Transworld and Corgi, who seem to be bound and determined to ensure no eBook is ever purchased by any individual in the history of man.
Authors: talk to the houses who publish your work and insist they no longer ignore the way their are slicing their own throats. Electronic bindings are not some sort of luxury, especially as one has already bought some fancy electronic goo-gaw to read the books on in the first place. They can make money through volume sold just as easily as if they locate the handful of people in the marketplace daft or rich enough to pay top dollar for the option of carrying less paper.
Selling Out: How Presales Can Make Your Book a Hit
Dear Author Arbitrageur
Who: The Shebeen Club presents author, speaker, and sales trainer Shane Gibson
What: Selling Out: How Presales Can Make Your Book a Hit
When: 7-9pm Monday, October 25th (one week later than our usual date)
Where: A private dining room upstairs at Revel Room, 238 Abbott Street just off Gastown, near the Woodward’s Building
Why: Because Shane’s latest book
How (much): $20 early-bird tickets/$25 at the door includes dinner and a glass of wine or beer
I worked as Shane’s editorial assistant on his latest book, Guerrilla Social Media Marketing (co-authored with Jay Conrad Levinson, the Guerrilla Marketing Guru) and while I was typing it up, I kept thinking what a great book it was. This is by way of disclosure, not puffery. Seems thousands of others feel the same way: the book officially sold out its first printing on September 30th; it wasn’t actually in stores until October 3rd.
That is what you call a successful book launch.
Shane is here to tell us how he and Jay did that, and teach us techniques that we can use on our own book launches, whether we’re publishers, editors, or authors. I only know one tip: 85% of life is showing up, so show up on October 25th and prepare to learn powerful tools for marketing your book from an author who’s not afraid of success! At this point, it just might be scared of him!
Shane Gibson
Shane Gibson is an international speaker and author who has addressed over 100,000 people over the past sixteen years on stages in North America, Southern Africa and South America.
Shane’s books include Sociable! How Social Media is Turning Sales and Marketing Upside Down, Closing Bigger: the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals, and his new book published by Entrepreneur Press (McGraw Hill) called Guerrilla Social Media Marketing, co-authored with Jay Conrad Levinson.
Blogging since 2002, and podcasting since 2004 Shane drives the majority of his business from social media, and social networks. He has been published in numerous publications as an authority on the topics of leadership, marketing, social media, and sales performance. Some of these publications include CMA Magazine, the Financial Post, the Globe and Mail and Profit Magazine.
7-7:30 Meet & Mingle
7:30-8 Listen and Learn
8-9 Grinning maniacally while counting on your fingers and phoning your accountant
Going Pro at Rogue! Roundup
Sylvia Taylor
Just a few (long overdue) notes from our last event, Going Pro featuring Sylvia Taylor.
- We introduced our new online registration system, which worked well. Remember: preregister and save $5.
- We moved from our old location of the Shebeen to the new one of the Everything Cafe, but at the last minute had to move from there again, because of a licensing issue. Rogue Wetbar stepped up and donated a private room (which normally costs $600) and made us a terrific custom menu. I had the halibut tacos, and they were fantastic.
- We lost two people who’d preregistered, because they went to the Everything. I have issued them refunds.
- We had one of our largest groups since the Social Media for Nonprofits night this past Spring, with 17 members showing up, including some new faces.
- It was a very engaged and enthusiastic audience, thanks to Sylvia. Her presentation on professionalism and an entrepreneurial approach to a literary career was a big hit with the attendees, several of whom whipped out their business cards to see if they passed the Sylvia test!
So, if you missed it don’t fret too much: you can always reach Sylvia, thanks to her website and contact details. And god knows, we’re sure to have her back soon!
The Shebeen Club 