Doing a Survey Using Google Forms

GoogleDrive create formIn a previous post I discussed various methods of conducting a survey on your website and a different post even conducted an extensive survey. Finally, here is the promised tutorial on how to do your own survey using Google Forms, the same method as was used in the survey we conducted.

While you can do this by the seat of your pants, if the survey you’re planning is going to have a lot of questions, especially if the answer to some questions is going to determine whether or not to ask follow up questions, it might make sense to rough out the survey, either on paper (maybe index cards) or in a word processor where you can easily rearrange. However, we’re going to fly by the seat of our pants today. Continue reading “Doing a Survey Using Google Forms”

Amazon Marketing Services for KDP Select Titles

Amazon Marketing Services LogoAmazon rolled out a new advertising option in the last few days and, as with all things Amazon related, it set the author blogosphere abuzz. If you have published books through Amazon’s KDP Select program, when you go to your KDP bookshelf, you should see a link that says “Promote and Advertise.”

Amazon advertising IU1

If you are interested in giving this new option a whirl, click that button and you will be taken to a page that looks like this: Continue reading “Amazon Marketing Services for KDP Select Titles”

Facebook’s Call to Action Button

facebook logoPerhaps in an effort to convince small businesses that Facebook fan pages aren’t useless unless they buy an ad (whoops – did I say that with my outside voice?), Facebook has instituted a new feature: a Call to Action button.

In marketing-speak, a call to action is the question or suggestion that gets you to do what the salesperson wants you to do: fill out a survey, sign up for a mailing list, buy a product, and so on. That’s exactly what this button does – and you get to pick what you want it to do. Continue reading “Facebook’s Call to Action Button”

Pressbooks: another formatting resource for Indie writers

Pressbooks LogoI recently mentioned using Pressbooks to format books in my post about memoirs. It occurred to me that I had yet to wax lyrical about this great website. So, this month I’m going to give you a guided tour.

I found Pressbooks.com a few years ago, when I wanted to generate epub and mobi files of a book that would never see a formal distribution channel. My client just wanted to be able to place files on a website for readers to download free of charge. At the time it was a new site, still in beta, and those of us who used it chatted back and forth with the developers occasionally. I found them charming, clever and helpful; I remain fond of the site as a result.

These days it’s pukka, with paid services, distribution channels and a string of glowing reviews from small publishers. Although it now goes way beyond simple ebook production, you can still access the services completely free. Who would want to though, and why? Continue reading “Pressbooks: another formatting resource for Indie writers”