So here I am, sitting at my desk and scanning Facebook when I should be doing … well, just about anything else. My to-do list is long and only going to get longer if I don’t knock a few items off of it. Then I see the post. In big white letters on a red background is the message “Have you seen me?” Under that is a picture of a teenage girl. Below that is a line with a single word, “MISSING” screaming at me in red. A few more details (“blah, blah, blah”) are outlined after that. I start thinking: Continue reading “Missing? Don’t Market Your Book This Way”
Author: Big Al
Big Al (who insists he only has one name, like Cher, Sting, and Madonna) spends his days writing computer programs that are full of typos, homonym errors, and incorrect verb usage.
During his evenings, he writes reviews of indie books for BigAl’s Books and Pals and has recently taken over The IndieView, a website founded by indie author Simon Royle as a resource for indie authors, indie reviewers, and those who read either.
Book Reviews: Can You Quote Me on That?
I heard a rumor that some authors were wondering about the rules regarding quoting reviews of their books. Whether you’re doing this in a tweet, a post on Facebook or your blog, or using the quote as a blurb in an advertisement or on the back cover of a paper book, the same basic rules apply. The considerations fall into two groups: those that are legal issues and those that are more a matter of etiquette. Continue reading “Book Reviews: Can You Quote Me on That?”
Book Advertising: Not So Wonderful Anymore
About four years ago I told you about an organization called Project Wonderful that was an alternative to Google Adsense for selling advertising space on your blog or website. (Yeah, I’m amazed I’ve been around for four years, too.) It continued to work well for me after that post. Unfortunately, last month I received an email announcing that they were shutting down. I found part of their explanation disconcerting, for its more far-reaching implications, assuming they’re correct. This excerpt is the part that got me thinking. Continue reading “Book Advertising: Not So Wonderful Anymore”
Where Are Amazon Book Reviews Going?
If you’ve read this article from Nate Hoffelder at The Digital Reader or any of the other articles going around, threads on forums, or whispers in the gossip mill, you might be under the impression that Amazon is doing something different with reviews, specifically those reviews that are written by people who didn’t buy the product being reviewed from Amazon. There is enough smoke for me to assume there must be a bit of a fire. But from what I can tell, there isn’t any reason to panic. Here’s my take. Continue reading “Where Are Amazon Book Reviews Going?”