Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content
ConsortiumInfo.org
Search
Sponsored by Gesmer Updegrove
  • Blog
  • About
  • Guide
  • SSO List
  • Meta Library
  • Newsletter

The Standards Blog

What’s happening in the world of consortia, standards,
and open source software

The Standards Blog tracks and explains the way standards and open source software impact business, society, and the future. This site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a technology law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. GU is an internationally recognized leader in creating and representing the organizations that create and promote standards and open source software. The opinions expressed in The Standards Blog are those of the authors alone, and not necessarily those of GU. Please see the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for this site, which appear here. You can find a summary of our services here. To learn how GU can help you, contact: Andrew Updegrove

Post navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Guest Post: This Is Why Self-Publishing Authors Should Work With Designers

3/26/2016

This article is by Ellie Martin. You can find Ellie's web site here. 169th page of the Peer-Codex. Public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and hu:User:Data destroyerWhen one thinks of a good book, it’s quite rare that the first thing that comes to mind is the book’s design. Why would it? It’s generally agreed that a good book is all about the words on the page and the power of the story between the two covers. It makes sense, then, that an author’s main focus is on the content of the book. The story is and rightly should be any serious author’s number one priority, but it should not be the only priority.

So, How’s That Election Work’n Out for Ya?

2/21/2016

Or so we might hear Sarah Palin taunt a liberal. Just about every other pundit in the media, however, continues to scratch their heads in wonder, asking themselves, “Can this many people really, I mean really, be voting for Donald Trump?!?  Well, if they had taken the time to read a recently released thriller by an unknown political satirist, they’d know that the answer could be, well, maybe not.

 

Lafayette Deception: What’s Really Happening in New Hampshire Today?

2/09/2016

Courtesy Alexius Horatius/Wikimedia Commons - Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.So far, the 2016 US presidential election has borne an eerie similarity to the plot of my book, The Lafayette Campaign, A Tale of Deception and Elections. Totally improbable candidates have shot to the top of the polls, and then succeeded in the Iowa caucuses. Which raises an interesting question: would you rather think that an election could be hacked, or that Americans really would vote in droves for someone like Donald Trump? If that’s too depressing a question to confront, you can escape from that disquieting reality for a few minutes by seeing how the New Hampshire primary unfolds in my book instead. Here goes.    

Indie Author Meets Animal Farm

1/31/2016

There’s a heart-warming story in the New York Times this morning that tells the tale of a brand new independent author with a flair for marketing who not only turns her first erotic novel into a best seller, but goes on to start her own imprint and build similar success for equally talented Indie authors who don’t have that special marketing gene. Great! you say? Well, maybe not so great.  Read on.

Does Discount Book Promotion Work?

1/18/2016

It seems as if more and more entrepreneurs are jumping into the book promotion e-newsletter business. The good news is that there are many services to choose from. Predictably, the bad news is that most produce few sales, and sometimes none at all. As with almost everything else in the self-publishing world, there’s no convenient source to consult to find out what works, and what doesn’t. In this post, I’ll provide the results of my own experiences as a starting point for others to work from. I’ll also provide advice on how to choose the services that may work best for you, and how to get accepted by the most competitive services.

Branding (and Re-Branding) for Authors

12/27/2015

Public Domain, courtesy Royal Armoury, Stockholm and Wikimedia CommonsThe desirability (or even the concept) of establishing a brand may not come naturally to many authors. Branding may appear to have nothing to do with authorship, or seem to cheapen the author's craft, or represent an intimidating task to carry out - or perhaps even all of the above. But for non-fiction writers, and particularly genre authors, a brand is an important and unique tool to forge and to hone.

How to Build (and not Build) an Author Site

12/06/2015

Courtesy Oregon State Transportation Department/Wikimedia Commons - Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. 	When I released my first book four years ago, I wasn’t convinced I needed an author site. After all, an Amazon Author Page includes most of the basic elements needed to establish a web presence, and it’s free to boot. I decided to build one a simple WordPress one anyway for the experience I’d gain in doing so, and now it’s time for a major rebuild. Here’s why.

A Happy Birthday Book Review

11/09/2015

Courtesy Elmar/Wikimedia Commons - Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.Notching another year in the metaphorical – and rapidly diminishing - stick measuring one's life is not exactly a celebratory event. In fact, it's right up there with performing your morning check in to confirm that you haven't sold any books. Again. But every now and then, someone you don't know leaves you a really nice review, and that can make your day.

Do Free Book Promotions Work? (Part II)

10/25/2015

Courtesy Wikipedia CommonsTwo and a half weeks ago, I posted a report on the initial results of a free copy promotion I ran, using four of the more effective book newsletter services. That campaign was successful in the near term, resulting in 4,360 downloads of my second book. In the conclusions, I noted:  

I’ll need to collect further data before I can report back on whether a trial of this scale, duration and impact had the desired effect. The real test will be whether a week from now my base line of sales and page reads steps up from the base line before the sale.

And the answer is?… [drum roll]…No on sales, yes on reads. For the details, read on. As before, I’ll include specific figures and detailed sales charts.

Do Free Book Promotions Work? (Part I)

10/07/2015

Courtesy Rugby471/Wikimedia Commons - Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic licenseFor years now, the prevailing wisdom in self-publishing has been that periodically pricing a book at free for a few days is a great way to build an audience. More recently, many authors are reporting that giving away thousands of free copies of a book has almost no ongoing positive impact on sales. Which review reflects reality?

The evolving consensus seems to be that while massive giveaways worked well in the past, they don't work now. Multiple authors have reported that their giveaways have resulted in few, if any, reviews, and also that it was difficult to ascribe many (and sometimes any) downstream sales as a result of their free promotions.

  1. «
  2. 1
  3. ...
  4. 5
  5. 6
  6. 7
  7. 8
  8. 9
  9. 10
  10. 11
  11. ...
  12. 76
  13. Next »

Post navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Contributors

avatar for Andy UpdegroveAndy Updegrove
avatar for Russ SchlossbachRuss Schlossbach
avatar for Lee GesmerLee Gesmer

subscribe to the
standards blog


Subscribe to the RSS feed

Gesmer Updegrove

This site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a technology law firm internationally known for forming and representing more than 230 consortia and foundations that create and promote standards and open source software. You can find a summary of our services here. To learn how GU can help you, contact: Andrew Updegrove

Categories

  • Alexandria Project
  • China
  • Cyber Thriller
  • Cybersecurity
  • General News
  • Intellectual Property Rights
  • Intellectual Propery
  • Lafayette Deception
  • Laws, Regulations and Litigation
  • Linux
  • Microsoft
  • Monday Witness
  • ODF vs. OOXML: War of the Words (an eBook)
  • On the Media
  • Open Source
  • Open Source/Open Standards
  • OpenDocument and OOXML
  • Self-Publishing
  • Semantic & NextGen Web
  • Standards and Society
  • Uncategorized
  • Wilderness Journal
  • Wireless
  • WSIS/Internet Governance

Newsletter Signup Form

Subscribe to
the standards blog
Gesmer Updegrove
  • Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Sitemap