Category: articles

12 little things that publishers should know

OnThese are question answers from grizzled veterans during the opening Q-A part of the BAIPA meeting in Novato (near San Francisco) on 7/12. BAIPA is the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association, meeting in Novato the second Saturday of every month. Unfortunately, I didn’t write down who said what, so there goes the source! (But I’ve […]

Monday July 21st, 2014 in articles, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, newsletter writing, niche marketing, niche publishing, Nook, open publishing, pre-testing, product development, proofreading, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords | Comments Off

Emceeing: full sample script, 7/4/2014

OnSince we’ve received many requests for completed Barbershop scripts, as formats or models for similar club or organization presentations, here is the July 4, 2014, program at the Marin County (California) Fair. (The live rendition is on You Tube, though the sound capture is fairly poor, being an outside show [in a tent] and surrounded […]

Monday July 7th, 2014 in articles, Barbershopping, emceeing, keynoting, MC, Seminaring, speaking | Comments Off

Non-fiction books should shout with benefits and authority

OnWhat do you want your book to do? Probably (1) get bought–or at least read; (2) make you money; (3) if self-published, get snagged by a “big house” and do more of [1] and [2]; (4) establish you as an “expert” or “authority” in its topic field; (5) get potential readers to want to know […]

Monday June 2nd, 2014 in ancillary publishing, article selling, article writing, articles, Blurb, book title, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, empire building, fiction, freelance articles, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, Nook, proofreading, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, writing | Comments Off

The easiest and best way to organize a seminar (#9 of 15)

OnSince seminars are offered about everything from stuffing sausages to unstuffing fatties, it is difficult to devise a master format for contents and organization that will work for all. Let’s share some steps and guidelines, though, that apply to most. Like making certain that what you promise in your title and description is what you […]

Wednesday May 21st, 2014 in articles, back-of-the-room sales, booking seminars, corporate seminars, editing, emceeing, finding a seminar subject, first draft, hospital seminars, kinds of seminars, markets for seminars, pricing seminars, public speaking, school seminars, second draft, self-sponsored seminars, seminar attendees, seminar descriptrion, seminar feasibility study, seminar guidelines, seminar income, seminar locations, seminar promotion, seminar sponsors, seminar title, seminar workbooks, Seminaring, setting appropariate seminar times, speaking | Comments Off

Giving your own very profitable seminars (#6 of 15 )

OnLet’s see how offering seminars on your own differs from offering seminars with academic sponsorship, where you give up about 40-50% of the gross income paid by attendees in exchange for the school listing your title and description in a catalog, providing a room, and giving very little additional promotion. Nobody else must approve where […]

Wednesday April 30th, 2014 in ancillary publishing, articles, back-of-the-room sales, booking seminars, corporate seminars, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, finding a seminar subject, hospital seminars, introductions, keynoting, kinds of seminars, markets for seminars, MC, pricing seminars, public speaking, school seminars, self-publishing, self-sponsored seminars, seminar attendees, seminar descriptrion, seminar feasibility study, seminar guidelines, seminar income, seminar locations, seminar promotion, seminar sponsors, seminar title, seminar workbooks, Seminaring, setting appropariate seminar times, speaking, webmarketing | Comments Off

Writers: ideas for creating top-selling nonfiction books

OnI think of top-selling two ways. The most obvious is to sell more copies of your book than any other book like it in the market. If you sell 10,000 copies of the book, you outsold a person who sold 5,000. Duh. The less obvious way is to measure the effectiveness of your book’s sale. […]

Monday April 21st, 2014 in articles, Blurb, book title, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, empire building, fiction, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, niche marketing, niche publishing, Nook, open publishing, pre-testing, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, speaking, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off

Offering seminars through college extended education programs (#5)

OnFor more than 30 years I offered 2000+ seminars, workshops, and conferences in California, with more than half given at the California State University system (now CSU, formerly CSUC). Since I spoke at all but four of the 23 campuses then, let me focus on that structure to explain how one can get booked by […]

Tuesday April 15th, 2014 in articles | Comments Off

CHIROPRACTORS: Write and Publish Your Own Book

On There’s a straightforward, reliable way to earn at least $50,000 developing a niche book for a specialization, like chiropractic that I use in this how-to, step-by-step guide called Chiropractors: Write and Publish Your Own Niche Book (Start with a $50,000 buying base!). It starts with a pretest that will cost $550-750 or so to […]

Friday April 4th, 2014 in articles, book title, corporate seminars, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, empire building, finding a seminar subject, Lightning Source, LSI, niche marketing, niche publishing, open publishing, pre-testing, product development, public speaking, publishing, self-publishing, self-sponsored seminars, small publishers, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off

Humor: How and how much can you use in freelance articles?

OnSometimes (actually, often) absolutely none. No joke: even provoking a smile by a touch of word play will release you to the path of penury. The editor won’t buy it, and she probably won’t look at future queries from you either! Why? Because either the topic (death, disaster, rape, and so on) won’t allow it […]

Friday March 21st, 2014 in article selling, article writing, articles, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, newsletter writing, publishing, query letters for humor writing, travel writing, writing | Comments Off

When giving seminars, where do do-it-yourselfers fit in?

OnThis is #4 of our 15-blog series about “How to Set Up and Market Your Own Seminar.” More details at www.gordonburgett.com or glburgett@aol.com. In the nine-classification list of seminars/workshops described in blog #3 (DEFINING SEMINARS), where does the do-it-yourselfer fit in? And in which of the nine categories is it best to first offer your […]

Thursday March 20th, 2014 in articles, back-of-the-room sales, booking seminars, corporate seminars, emceeing, finding a seminar subject, hospital seminars, introductions, keynoting, kinds of seminars, markets for seminars, MC, pricing seminars, public speaking, school seminars, self-sponsored seminars, seminar attendees, seminar descriptrion, seminar feasibility study, seminar guidelines, seminar income, seminar locations, seminar promotion, seminar sponsors, seminar title, seminar workbooks, Seminaring, setting appropariate seminar times, speaking | Comments Off