I've experienced a number of power outages the last couple years (interestingly, more so in the last two years than the rest of my life so far), and it got me thinking about e-books. … [Read more...] about Power Outages and Print Books
Musings
What Self-Publishing and Internet Marketing Have in Common
For those of you who don't know, ClickBank is an affiliate marketing website. People can sign up to either sell their information products, or to promote products and receive a cut of the sale. Recently I was looking through ClickBank's site, and I stumbled across their tips for Internet marketers. Many of their tips can also be directly applied to self-published authors, or … [Read more...] about What Self-Publishing and Internet Marketing Have in Common
Featured: Write or Read
My startup Write or Read, which will help self-publishers become more successful by giving them insights into who reads their books and why they like them, is featured on FounderDating! Click here to read it. Also we're launching the alpha soon, so stay tuned for updates! … [Read more...] about Featured: Write or Read
Starting a Business
At the eLuminate crowdfunding conference, I had the pleasure of listening to Sandi Webster, the co-founder of Consultants 2 Go. She offered some great advice for people starting their own businesses. … [Read more...] about Starting a Business
New Ways of Storytelling
Technology is exciting, and it makes it possible to find innovative ways to tell stories. I've found a few companies/sites that are experimenting with the way people share their stories. Cowbird: lets you tell stories that fit in to one word categories via pictures of videos. FacebookStories: shows off interesting ways people use Facebook. Javascript book review: … [Read more...] about New Ways of Storytelling
The $100 Tablet Project
The $100 Tablet Project is a crowdfunding project on Indie Go-Go by a 6th-grade science teacher in Berkeley, CA. The goal is to get $3,000 to buy 30 $100 tablets to use in his classroom, allowing him to use more technology to teach. It sounds like a great idea--check it out! … [Read more...] about The $100 Tablet Project
Your Best Just Got Better
Last night I went to a Meetup that featured Jason Womack, author of Your Best Just Got Better. It was a great event, full of positive energy, and I ended up learning a lot. … [Read more...] about Your Best Just Got Better
Pinterest Pins (an update)
A few weeks ago, I posted some tips I had learned about gaining traction on Pinterest. So now I'm going to follow up with a few of my observations, based on my personal experience: fashion pins are the most likely pins to go viral using hashtags can help, but it depends on the tags you use Pinterest doesn't like when you add shortened links (such as bit.ly) I … [Read more...] about Pinterest Pins (an update)
11 Tips for Writing
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, by Ildar Sagdejev Author Colson Whitehead wrote an article in the New York Times outlining 11 rules on the art of writing. Among them include showing AND telling, write what you know, and of course, don't worry much about rules. Read the full list here. … [Read more...] about 11 Tips for Writing
Northside Festival: Music, Film, Art, Entrepreneurship
Yesterday was the first day of Brooklyn's Northside Festival, which brings together music, film, art, and entrepreneurship. I went mainly for the entrepreneurship panels, and I learned a lot of technology and gamification. … [Read more...] about Northside Festival: Music, Film, Art, Entrepreneurship
The Hunger Games + Beanie Babies
Epic video of the Hunger Games portrayed by beanie babies. This is almost as good as the movie and book--but I might be biased because I used to own all of the beanie babies in the video. Find out more about the group who made the video on their Facebook page. … [Read more...] about The Hunger Games + Beanie Babies
Fiction and Neuroscience
Recent studies show that reading fiction makes people more empathetic and better able to read others. It's called "theory of the mind." Read all about the benefits of fiction here. … [Read more...] about Fiction and Neuroscience
Take my survey! (please)
If you read my blog, then you know that I'm a grad student at NYU, in the publishing program. I'm in my last semester of the program, and to graduate I need to complete a capstone project. If you have 5 free minutes (really, it only takes 2), please fill out my survey. I'm doing research for a potential subscription self-publishing website. Here's the … [Read more...] about Take my survey! (please)
Women Entrepreneurs Festival 2012
More and more women are becoming entrepreneurs. To support and celebrate them, the ITP program at NYU's Tisch School for the Arts hosts an annual Women's Entrepreneur Festival, also known as WE. WE 12 kicked off on a Tuesday with an introduction by Mary Schmidt Campbell and a key note address from Arianna Huffington. She's actually pretty funny and more down to earth than I … [Read more...] about Women Entrepreneurs Festival 2012
Garden District Book Shop
Over winter break I went to New Orleans with my family for the first time. While leisurely strolling around the Garden District we stumbled upon the Garden District Book Shop, a small but beautiful indie bookstore with loads of signed books. Browsing bookstores always reminds me why I wanted to go into the publishing business. So many books! So many great stories begging … [Read more...] about Garden District Book Shop