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Posts tagged: article

How to find the precise book subject that others want to buy

I particularly liked a posting by Rob Carver who suggested that writers simply talk to the ultimate buyers in their market to see what they want to read and buy. (This was part of a very interesting discussion in the Linkedin Group called Ebooks, Ebook Readers, Digital Books and Digital Content Publishing.) Getting new book [...]

Friday June 14th, 2013 in , Amazon, ancillary publishing, article, article selling, article writing, book, book writing, CreateSpace, digital publishing, e-book, Google, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, Lulu, magazine article, newspaper article, niche publishing, novel, product developer, pubit, publisher, publishing, Scribd, self-publishing, seminars, simultaneous submissions, Smashwords, speaking, writer, writing | No Comments »

Don’t pick a “must-use” title before writing your book

Never start writing a book with some title in mind that you aren’t willing to improve, change, or totally replace. When I taught college journalism, an early assignment was to have the students write a 500-word newspaper feature piece. I’d tell them to write it, then see what they had to put in print, then [...]

Sunday June 9th, 2013 in , Amazon, article, article selling, article writing, Blurb, book, book writing, CreateSpace, digital publishing, e-book, Google, Kindle, Lightning Source, Lulu, magazine article, newspaper article, niche publishing, non-fiction book, novel, pubit, publisher, publishing, Scribd, self-publishing, Smashwords, writer, writing | No Comments »

What do you do with a 5,000 to 30,000-word “book”?

Whatever your fame or literary legerdemain, a “book” like that is a size orphan. It’s too big to fit in a magazine, newsletter, or journal and too small for major publishers to even consider. Of course, you can publish it yourself. It may be too short to get a spine as a paperback at CreateSpace [...]

Tuesday January 29th, 2013 in , Amazon, ancillary publishing, article, article selling, article writing, book, book writing, CreateSpace, digital publishing, e-book, Google, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, magazine article, non-fiction book, novel, pubit, publisher, publishing, query letter, Scribd, self-publishing, simultaneous submissions, Smashwords, writer, writing | No Comments »

Interviewing famous men at the urinal

Sorry, ladies, but this is one place where male reporters have a leg up, so to speak… Don’t despair. I only interviewed one famous man, or any man, that way once, and that was by chance. But it worked, and since that was all I needed at that moment it let me dance (better said, [...]

Tuesday November 27th, 2012 in , article, article selling, article writing, editing, humor, interview, magazine article, newspaper article, quotes, research, writer, writing | No Comments »

Four ways to get magazine or newspaper interviews

Over the past 30-years, in my “Writing Travel Articles That Sell” seminar, I’d talk for about 20 minutes about interviewing. The entire process has almost completely changed during that time. First, though, why bother to interview at all? Who really cares? The editors who will hopefully buy your article (even book) care a lot. It’s [...]

Friday August 24th, 2012 in , ancillary publishing, article, article writing, book writing, e-book, editing, interview, interviewing, magazine article, newsletter, newspaper article, query letter, quotes, research, writer, writing | No Comments »

What do you do first to deduct your travel-writing trips?

Two premises: (1) you want to write and sell something about a coming trip, and (2) you want to be able to keep all of the money you earn, or at least increase your IRS tax deduction as much as you can. Good thinking—and totally legal. You are supposed to take every deduction allowed. More [...]

Monday August 20th, 2012 in , article, article selling, article writing, digital publishing, interview, magazine article, newsletter, newspaper article, publishing, query letter, quotes, reprints, research, simultaneous submissions, writer, writing | No Comments »

Resell your article again and again? Here’s the needed tool.

If you’ve had a good article in print, why not sell it again and again? To do that you need a cover letter to send to the second editor. These are full-page letters sent to editors who buy reprints (same as second rights)—usually editors who pay on publication. If you sold first rights to the [...]

Tuesday August 7th, 2012 in , article, article selling, article writing, cover letter, digital publishing, editing, first rights, magazine article, magazine reprints, newsletter, newspaper article, publishing, query letter, reprint rights, reprints, reselling articles, second rights, simultaneous submissions, writer, writing | 1 Comment »

How do you set up a magazine (or newspaper) interview?

Most of the articles you write should include at least one and often three interviews, plus of course facts, perhaps some anecdotal material, and probably some artwork (usually photos). In fact, the most persuasive items selling the article are the interviews or quotes you promise the editor in your query letter. Like a piece about [...]

Monday July 30th, 2012 in , Amazon, arranging interviews, article, article selling, article writing, book writing, digital publishing, e-book, Google, interview, magazine article, magazine interview, newsletter, newspaper article, niche publishing, non-fiction book, publisher, publishing, query letter, quotes, reprints, simultaneous submissions, writer, writing | No Comments »

Getting at least triple use from one booklet…

Two completely disconnected things happened yesterday that reminded me that if I’m going to preach empire building I should do it (and share it) too! I faithfully attend the monthly meetings of BAIPA (Bay Area Independent Publishers Assn) the second Saturday morning each month in downtown San Rafael, CA. It’s a great place to meet [...]

Friday July 27th, 2012 in , Amazon, ancillary publishing, article, article selling, article writing, audio CD, book, book writing, CreateSpace, digital publishing, e-book, Google, Kindle, Lightning Source, Lulu, magazine article, niche publishing, non-fiction book, novel, product developer, pubit, publisher, publishing, self-publishing, seminars, simultaneous submissions, Smashwords, speaker, speaking, writer, writing | No Comments »

Niche Speaking: Cash in with fewer (but more devoted) listeners

The following excerpt beginning my chapter “Niche Speaking: Cash in with Fewer (but More Devoted) Listeners” first appeared in print on July 1, 2012 in a new book called Speak More! Marketing Strategies to Get More Speaking Business. I thought you might enjoy it’s message as a blog post: When I was new to public [...]

Monday July 2nd, 2012 in , Amazon, ancillary publishing, article, article selling, article writing, book, book writing, CreateSpace, digital publishing, e-book, editing, Kindle, Lightning Source, Lulu, magazine article, pubit, publisher, publishing, Scribd, self-publishing, seminars, Smashwords, speaker, speaking, writer, writing | No Comments »

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Gordon Burgett's Blog

Empire building by writing and speaking, for writers, speakers, and publishers