by Will Viharo
“Scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” Wait, scratch that - at least when it comes to struggling independent bookstores and struggling independent authors. One would assume each always supports the other in the common cause of attracting that most precious of endangered species: paying readers. But in far too many cases, that would be an incorrect assumption.
by Ben Allen, Guest Contributor
Just a few years ago, immersive virtual reality tech was a concept left to sci-fi books and novels. Yet, with the successes of Oculus and other tech developers, this is no longer a concept that may pay off in the future. The technology is here and people are already making content utilizing it.
by Will Viharo
“The first one is free” is the oldest hook in the book when it comes to promoting any product, the idea being to get your customers “addicted” by offering a taste of what’s in store for them if they plunk down some cash for the privilege of a steady supply. This adage can also apply to literature of any kind. But there are many ways to induce incentive for readers buy the whole cow after they’ve only sipped that milk. Just be careful not to sour their taste buds, alienate their palettes, or fill them up too soon in the process…
by Mary C Long
The Avengers movie is out and everyone is dying to see it, but New York Times film critic, A.O. Scott has a review that may surprise you. He not only roundly criticizes the movie, he takes aim at the folks going to see it too.
by Kim Niemi
In 2010, Mashable reported that Morgan Stanley issued an 87-page report declaring, “the mobile web will be bigger than desktop Internet use by 2015.” Fast forward to 2015, and that's exactly where we are – mobile web really rules.
by Will Viharo
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and the commercialization of that most elusive of emotions – love – is in full swing. For many, sad to say, their personal failure at romance is rudely illuminated during this “holiday” season. Others are too cynical to admit that there is even such a thing as “true love,” having been burned once too often, now willfully “free.” For writers, though, the love of their craft knows now such limits, unbound to any particular designation, even if it often feels unrequited…
by Will Viharo
Once upon a time, my major New York agent (Marilyn Marlow of Curtis Brown, Ltd.) actually advised me once to “just give up” after she tried unsuccessfully pitching my various manuscripts to publishers around the Big, Apathetic Apple. It wasn’t because she thought I was a bad writer. It was because, she told me, she had witnessed that strategy actually result in success for more than one other frustrated author. This was nearly thirty years ago. Needless to say, I still haven’t taken her advice. Maybe it’s about time I did… by Mary C Long Trying to decide what you want to go to (or back to) college for? How about social media? If you want to become a community manager it makes sense! Or maybe you want to be a data analyst? Either way – these programs have you covered!
by Kim Niemi
We hear a lot about optimization these days, on all fronts – landing pages, mobile vs. desktop, SEO… but what about link optimization? Worrying about internal link structure might seem like a low priority, with everything else that could make your list – but actually, you need to get this right. Here’s why. Internal links, for those less well-versed, are the ones that link to other pages and posts within a single website. To put it more technically, “the source domain and target domain are the same” (thanks, Kissmetrics!). So everything in your navigation menu falls under this category, but you want to think beyond that for best results. |
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