Topic: Guest Blog

Extra Protection for Facebook Users

Extra Protection for Facebook Users

It’s Time to Do A Facebook Setting Checkup
Are you concerned about Facebook posts or requests? Many are. Next year is an election year and you can bet that Facebook will have hiccups.

Plus, we are getting calls and emails from our authors about Facebook and how to reduce unwanted friend requests, revealing too much information and reducing some of the oddball exposure that seems to emulate from Facebook.
 
Start with:
Go to Settings – Privacy in your FB …

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A Rookie Writer’s First Foray into Indie Publishing

A Rookie Writer’s First Foray into Indie Publishing

Becoming a new writer is incredibly scary. And when you’re about to graduate college, it’s probably even more scary. You took all your classes learning about the craft of writing, but you don’t know much about the actual business of writing and publishing. That’s me.
I’ve started writing stories ever since I was in middle school, and I’m working on a science fiction novel right now. However, I’ve had pretty much no experience with marketing my …

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Multitasking Equals Multi-switching, and Neither is Good for Authors by Jeff Davidson

Multitasking Equals Multi-switching, and Neither is Good for Authors by Jeff Davidson

Multitasking has now been touted for more than a decade as one way to stay productive in a world that requires more and more of you. The mindset of multitasking is that if you can handle two or more tasks at the same time, then by golly, it must be more productive, and certainly time saving. However, is either assertion true?

Multitasking is analogous to multi-switching. In 2012, research published in Psychology Today showed that “Multi-tasking is …

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Why We Oppose Morals Clauses in Book Contracts Jeff Davidson

Why We Oppose Morals Clauses in Book Contracts Jeff Davidson

The Authors Guild objects to publishers’ new and increasing use of so-called “morals clauses.” These contract provisions allow publishers to terminate a book contract, and in many cases even require the author to repay portions of the advance already received, if the author is accused of immoral, illegal, or publicly condemned behavior. Publishers insist they need the clauses to protect themselves in the event an author’s reputation becomes so tarnished after the book contract is …

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Selecting a Book Topic, 101 by Jeff Davidson

Selecting a Book Topic, 101 by Jeff Davidson

As the author of 67 mainstream books, one of the techniques I use to find good book topics is to identify obstacles, roadblocks, or irritations that people face. As patterns began to emerge… aha, this could be the book topic. Over the years I’ve found that if you notice as few as two people experiencing a problem in their personal lives, careers, or organizations, you have enough preliminary evidence to begin exploring the topic altogether.

New …

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Never Make Marketing Claims that Overstate Your Case by Jeff Davidson

Never Make Marketing Claims that Overstate Your Case by Jeff Davidson

The temptation among aspiring authors to embellish their marketing literature with grandiose claims is widespread. I’ve observed that newbies whose credentials are still developing sometimes are prone to make grandiose claims on self-published books such as, “The world’s leading …” “One of the most popular…” or “The #1 book on…” 
Use of absolute terminology such as best, first, most, most outstanding, and greatest are difficult to prove and generally are fallacious. Put yourself in the shoes of others. …

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Banishing Writer’s Block By Jeff Davidson

Banishing Writer’s Block By Jeff Davidson

Writer’s block is an obstacle for many authors. If writer’s block is a problem for you, the following suggestions may help you to get started:

Make an Outline of Your Ideas
Producing a one-page outline, or writing as little as ten keywords on a page, can guide me through the preparation and completion of an article. Devote a block of time to simply preparing article outlines or chronological sequences that can later serve as a useful tool …

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A Newbie Author Begins …

A Newbie Author Begins …

I grew up on fiction books, I loved seeing the adventures and worlds in them unfold and still do. Seeing the main characters, kids my own age doing incredible things, overcoming inhuman forces whether through wit or pure chance. All of it intrigued me and pulled me in.
As a child and well through my teens, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, and the Bartimaeus Trilogy dominated my imagination. I couldn’t get enough of them. When I entered …

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When Did Your Love of Reading Start?

When Did Your Love of Reading Start?

When Did Your Love of Reading Start?
No matter what age, I always remember having a book with me.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but my grandmother started me on my love for reading.

When I was four, my grandmother (I called her Mom-Mom) would babysit me as both of my parents had full-time jobs, and I was not yet in school. I would play with my toys and spend time outside, but one day …

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May UPS Go Out of Business by: Jeff Davidson

May UPS Go Out of Business by: Jeff Davidson

 One of the truly magnificent days in the life of an author, after months and months of writing, more months of production, and then months of waiting, comes when your new books are finally ready to be shipped from the publishers warehouse. 

        Publishers know how to ship books so that they will arrive in good condition. So your author copies, in pristine condition, are carefully packed at the warehouse.  Sometimes, they travel thousands of …

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