Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Around the Publishing World (March 1)

At Chicago Author Solutions (a division of Eckhartz Press), we stay on top of happenings/trends in the publishing world to help out busy writers who are spending their time doing what they should be doing: writing.

1. From the Librarian Hall of Fame
No, there isn't actually a librarian hall of fame, but if there were, this 60-year library veteran would be in there.

2. Building your author platform
Great advice in this piece, including this little tidbit: "As old fashioned as email is, it is still by a very long way, the most powerful means of getting your message out. To be really blunt, 100 Facebook posts do not even come close to having the same affect as one well written and targeted email." TRUTH.

3. Diversity in publishing
Hollywood isn't the only place that has an issue here. Good piece by the Creative Penn.

4. Four Mindsets That Could Doom Your Social Media Marketing Efforts
Both ends of the spectrum are tackled here. Don't be an "I'm everywhere" or an "I'm nowhere". You need a good balance.

5. Seven Traits of the Social Writer
We particularly endorse the first one: "Embrace proactivity. If you have never written a blog post, never Tweeted or made a YouTube video, now is the time to learn. Old dogs can learn new tricks. See a post as a short article you have been asked to write, a Tweet as a link to something interesting and a YouTube video as a chance to talk."

6. The "Monkey in the Middle" Book Release Party
Eckhartz Press' very own Dobie Maxwell is hosting a free party at Zanies Comedy Club in Chicago (on Wells Street) on March 14th at 8:30pm. Comedy...and a book! You can't beat it.