Does Writing Novels Make Sense, Moneywise? Are you scared that if you write a novel, you’ll automatically slip into the “starving artist” stereotype, begging for noodle money whilst upsetting the guy who owns the basement you have to live in? If so, you’re not alone. In a totally-bad but sadly still persistent habit I’ve built,…
Quickest Business Idea, Easiest Business Idea, Best Business Idea Let’s rewind the clock back to this post, where I basically threw out the idea that you can have a business that’s quick to set up, easy to run and immensely profitable. Sorry if I killed some dreams there. The problem with that post is that…
Black Hat Marketing The following is an unhinged rant about why you should avoid shady business practices on the internet. There’s no doubt that you can get ahead temporarily by resorting to black hat marketing techniques, but few understand the potential long-term consequences of those quick paydays. I intended to create a compelling argument, but…
Should Self-Published Books Be Cheap? I’ve been writing a mini-series on misconceptions about self-publishing. Here’s the picture that started it all: From that, I got a list of key misconceptions about self-publishing. Here they are: Self-published books have poor covers or no covers They contain no editing or poor editing Price competition –…
How Copywriting Can Save Your Political Career It’s the general election in the UK. On previous occasions, I’ve written about how the various campaigns are using marketing techniques and tricks. Copywriting and learning about sales can help you to see between the lines and make better decisions. Unfortunately, the various campaigns for this election have…
Self-Publishing and Editing Yesterday I started having a look at misconceptions involving self-publishing. It was started by this topic I found on Reddit: I’m going through a list of the five self-publishing misconceptions in this week’s post. Those are: Self-published books have poor covers or no covers They contain no editing or poor editing…
Is Direct Marketing The Only Way? A few weeks back, there was a furore over at Reddit’s entrepreneur section. A direct response copywriter had outspokenly decried general advertising as a scam and direct marketing as the one true way. You can read the ensuing argument at this link. The thread – and subsequent retaliations –…
Self-Publishing Misconceptions: Self-Published Books Have Poor Covers? I was browsing Reddit for topic ideas. Since I’ve been on a publishing kick over recent weeks, I went to the writing forums. Here’s an interesting set of misconceptions about self-publishing: In the next few articles, I’ll address some of these misconceptions and give you in real…
Non-Disclosure and Non-Compete Agreements For Freelance Articles? This article is going to be vaguely rant-driven, but there’re lessons contained within for freelancers and potential hiring people alike. Basically, a few weeks back, I had a potential client come to me and ask me to do some freelance work. That’s all great… except he wouldn’t tell…
How I Failed NaNoWriMo …Again The following article is part confessional, part advice and part weird-motivational rant about fiction writing. Somebody asked me a while back about my NaNoWriMo project, which I failed to update. Not wanting to be one of those guys who says he’ll do something then quietly never mentions it again, I…