Inspiration and Philosophy – Page 15

Marketing Your Books in the New Age of Publishing

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

A longer diatribe about marketing your self-published book. This is a year-long class, which I’d be glad to give if y’all are interested.

Publishing is in the greatest upheaval since Gutenberg. Supporters of traditional publishing will tell you it’s the only choice, or you’re not a real author.

I’ll take the opposing view: the only rational choice, from both the artistic and commercial perspectives, is to pick yourself, own the process, and reap the rewards. Here’s why:
… more … “Marketing Your Books in the New Age of Publishing”

5 Business Lessons Nobody Taught Me (But I Sure Wish They Had)

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

New post at my personal site. It’s not writing or publishing specific, but you might still be interested in some counter-intuitive lessons I wish I hadn’t learned the hard way.

5 Business Lessons Nobody Taught Me (But I Sure Wish They Had)

Standards: Straight Jacket or Guide Posts?

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

I just read a blog post by an author claiming that Joseph Campbell’s monomyth is overused, and explained how their novel avoided it so as not to sound formulaic.

Except the only difference was, their “hero” wasn’t traditionally heroic. Otherwise, the description was nothing more than an abbreviated version of the same story humans have been telling themselves for millennia.

Being “different” by

calling yourself different
pretending that how the human mind works doesn’t apply to you and/or
being ignorant of how language works (Campbell’s “hero” has nothing to do with heroism)

is loopy, wonky, misguided, and just plain wrong.
… more … “Standards: Straight Jacket or Guide Posts?”

Who Can We Change?

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

Seth posted a great list of questions every entrepreneur should ask themselves before they launch something. We’ve already launched years ago, but I went through the exercise of answering them anyway.

He warns against the danger of tweaking the answers (or the meaning of the questions) to suit our beliefs. If it looks like I’ve done that here, call me on it.

I want Someday Box to be the place you come to gain the belief that you, yes you, can write a book. If I’m not being honest with myself, that’s not honest with you.

Here they are:
… more … “Who Can We Change?”

Learning in Public: Taking Out the Trash?

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

egg shell photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1153431 by Szabolcs Sáfár http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Safi One (possibly valid) complaint made by proponents of traditional publishing about the glut of independently published books is that it appears some folks are using independent publishing for on the job training. I know my first mystery wasn’t the quality I dream of writing your someday.

Writers hate wasting words. Each syllable is like a miniature birth. Despite the validity of Quiller-Couch’s advice, we hate to murder our darlings.

No chef wants to waste food. Ah, but cooking always involves waste: egg shells, apple cores, melon rinds, coffee grounds.
… more … “Learning in Public: Taking Out the Trash?”

Traditional Publishing as Religion

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

Religious Wars Rarely Advance Civilization: image by jorge vicente http://www.sxc.hu/profile/jmjvicente While there are a few folks tied to traditional publishing who are willing to have a conversation, more and more, I see forum conversations turn into debates laced with ad hominem attacks and vague platitudes.

It’s good to be passionate about what you believe. If something is right, it’s right, even if only under these specific circumstances.

I’ve often said that my favorite response to my writing or speaking is disagreement. When someone thinks I’m wrong and says so, respectfully and clearly, one of two things will happen:
… more … “Traditional Publishing as Religion”

Kerry Dwyer’s Ramblings in Ireland

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Joel D Canfield

I had a lovely chat with Kerry Dwyer, author of Ramblings in Ireland. Editing Kerry’s book was rare fun. Getting to know her has been even more fun. Like her book, our chat rambles a bit. We still manage to fit it into 20 minutes.

How about you? Do family and accents and childhood play a role in who and what you are today? Will they make their way into your book, as they have into Kerry’s?

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Once you fall in love with Kerry, or if you’re already in love with Ireland, go pick up a copy of this gentle witty memoir.

Do you have an accent? (Don’t we all?) What’s yours?

Money Has Nothing To Do With Writing

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Joel D Canfield

If you have a way to pay the bills while you launch yourself into writing, that’s great. If it leaves you real time for writing, even better.

Here’s a reality check for you. It’s long and of dubious interest to anyone but me. But I’m a writer; that’s what I do.
… more … “Money Has Nothing To Do With Writing”

Why I Do This

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Joel D Canfield

A friend let it slip that she, at some point, had wanted to write a book. After I wormed more details out of her it turns out she has wanted to write a book for years, but as she said, she couldn’t get unstuck. Since that’s what I do best, I gave her a call.

… more … “Why I Do This”

Why James Altucher Won’t Go Back to Traditional Publishing Even Though He Could

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Joel D Canfield

You won’t be surprised to discover that I’m a fan of independent publishing.

Some folks might be surprised to discover that James Altucher is, too, because his first 5 books were published traditionally.

… more … “Why James Altucher Won’t Go Back to Traditional Publishing Even Though He Could”