Writing Quote – Proverb
It’s My Birthday
To celebrate my birthday, I’m giving you a 31% discount off my popular “Publish Your eBook Blueprint Home Study Course”
Just head over to the detail page and enter the code
birthday
But hurry, the big birthday discount is only available until Friday!
Saturday Editing Tip: Affect vs. Effect
As part of my Assisted Self-Publishing services, I offer a round of comprehensive editing. This editing covers grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Here’s a quick grammar tip for your Saturday!
Affect vs. Effect
I’m sure that every English teacher everywhere has a catchy way of remembering the difference between affect & effect. But, when I was in school, it wasn’t considered “in vogue” to diagram sentences, focus on parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, etc), and spend much time on those little nuances of grammar that I’ll use my whole life long. Like the difference between affect and effect.
Previewing Your eBook: A Cautionary Tale
In my “Publish Your eBook Blueprint: Home Study” course, I really get on a soap box about using the preview functions every time you publish an eBook.
You wouldn’t publish a book, or even an article, without proofreading it for grammar and spelling errors, right? The preview functions work the same way.
Now, here’s where I differ from just about every other how-to teacher out there. I tell my students they need to check every single link in their (clickable) Table of Contents. Don’t do the first few links, assume that since they work, all the links will work. But I take my instructions on previewing one step further:
Look at every single page.
Yep, every single page. Is that a huge PITA (pain in the a$$) for large manuscripts? Yep! Do I care? Nope!
Book Bonuses: Staying On Track
I received an email from a client last week asking my opinion on adding additional content into her book project. Her manuscript is nearly done and she wanted my advice on adding in some additional chapters with resources, tips, and a “plan” to follow.
I suggested against it.
Oh! Did I surprise you? Let me explain:
In the industry where she works (health coaching) it is a very common practice to add several bonuses to the main offer. The thought is that you’ll come for the meat of the topic (main offering) but stay for the potatoes, salad and dessert (bonuses).
However, in the book publishing world, this approach often backfires. Your reader purchased your book for a very specific reason; they were looking for a very specific solution. Offering them more than what they came for usually doesn’t scream “BONUS INFO! This author really knows her stuff!” It says: “This author couldn’t figure out how to stay on topic!”
Featured in “Happier Healthier Women” Magazine
I’m jazzed to tell you I’ve been published as a Featured Expert for the launch of a brand new online publication: Happier Healthier Women.
My article titled “Dreams in the Drawer: The Story of Pastarelli Got Out” is featured under the Personal Growth category, along with eight other experts in their respective fields covering the following topics:
- Money Matters
- Mind-Body-Spirit
- Parenting
- Nutrition
- Relationships
I invite you to subscribe today to this free online magazine by visiting www.HappierHealthierWomen.com, read my article (it starts on page 20) and let me know your thoughts!
Amazon Matchbook – Discounted Kindle Version Of Print Book
Introducing “Kindle MatchBook”: Soon Customers Will Be Able to Purchase Kindle Editions of Print Books Purchased from Amazon—Past, Present and Future—for $2.99 or Less
Over 10,000 books already enrolled from authors such as Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Blake Crouch, James Rollins, Jodi Picoult, Neil Gaiman, Marcus Sakey, Wally Lamb, Jo Nesbo, Neal Stephenson, and J.A. Jance, among many others
Today’s announcement is also a call to all authors and publishers to enroll their books in Kindle MatchBook—offering customers great value while adding a new revenue stream
Kindle MatchBook is the latest in a series of customer benefits exclusive to the Amazon ecosystem of digital content
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep. 3, 2013– (NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon today introduced Kindle MatchBook, a new benefit that gives customers the option to buy—for $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free—the Kindle edition of print books they have purchased new from Amazon. Print purchases all the way back to 1995—when Amazon first opened its online bookstore—will qualify once a publisher enrolls a title in Kindle MatchBook. Over 10,000 books will already be available when Kindle MatchBook launches in October, including best sellers like I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch, with many more titles to be added over time. Customers can learn more by visiting www.amazon.com/kindlematchbook.