They held on 244 years. They continued print publication for years – long after it was a viable profit center. Finally, on Tuesday, March 13, Encyclopedia Britannica announced they would publish just one more print edition and, from that point forward, only update their online edition.

Fortunately, the company hasn’t relied on revenue from printed encyclopedias for years. Long ago, sales of educational materials to schools out-paced the company’s encyclopedia revenue by several laps. Even the online edition is making more than the print edition, now.

Encyclopedia Britannica announced they will publish only one more print edition -- then only update it online.

My first impression: that final edition is gonna sell out FAST. Collectors will snap ‘em up like crazy, . . . → Read More: R.I.P. Encyclopedia Britannica]]> by Uncle Alan

They held on 244 years. They continued print publication for years – long after it was a viable profit center. Finally, on Tuesday, March 13, Encyclopedia Britannica announced they would publish just one more print edition and, from that point forward, only update their online edition.

Fortunately, the company hasn’t relied on revenue from printed encyclopedias for years. Long ago, sales of educational materials to schools out-paced the company’s encyclopedia revenue by several laps. Even the online edition is making more than the print edition, now.

Encyclopedia Britannica announced they will publish only one more print edition -- then only update it online.

My first impression: that final edition is gonna sell out FAST. Collectors will snap ‘em up like crazy, if nothing else.

My second impression: wow. It’s hard to admit for an old-school lover of the printed word like me, but it’s also about time. After 244 years, you’d think some things would just continue like they have. Not so!

My third impression: this is solid proof of where publishing is headed. Today. Not tomorrow. Not when people fly in jetpacks and cars elevate over traffic jams. Right now. Print is going the way of vinyl records…collectors and die-hard fans are the remaining market.

When Amazon announced in May of 2011 that Kindle e-books were outselling physical books, the writing was on the wall.

The good news is there is still a way to reach the print-addicted with print-on-demand. New platforms for distribution of electronic media have also opened up faster than ever before, making it easier and easier for creators of digital content to jump in and profit.

This is also another solid reason why I’ve structured the new publishing company I just launched the way I did. If you’re at all interested in getting the “traditional publisher” treatment on all your digital content creations while enjoying self-publishing-level profits, check it out here:

CHECK OUT MY NEW Ink-U-Bator Media – Complete Details HERE!

I’ve designed my company so that anyone with a lick of common sense can easily turn out high-quality high-value digital content that I am eager to publish through my new company, and I’ll pay you 70% of everything earned selling what I publish for you. I also eliminate most of the hassle normally associated with so-called “traditional” and vanity publishers as part of the deal.

GET PUBLISHED by Ink-U-Bator Media NOW!

I’m serious as a heart attack when I say I’m eager to work with you to get you published. I have an ambitious goal of releasing five new titles per month before the end of the year, moving up to 5-10 per month as early as possible in 2013.

To meet those lofty goals, I’m forced to put out the call and work hard for you, to develop you into my next release.

I look forward to working with you to make you one of my biggest stars soon!

It’s time for a change in the publishing industry, and I’ve figured out the fastest way to bring it about. A press release is still in the works about this, but I wanted to tell you about it before the rest of the world hears.

I’ve decided to stop bitching about the state of the so-called “publishing industry” and, instead, I’ve launched my own new publishing company to lead the way. Today, I’ve launched Ink-U-Bator Media, a new publishing company focused on bringing new, exciting talent onto the new media stage under a media brand name that will quickly become recognizable for quality and value.

That “new, exciting talent” can be you, dear reader. If you’ve ever wanted to generate revenue and . . . → Read More: A New Concept In Publishing is Born!]]> by Uncle Alan

It’s time for a change in the publishing industry, and I’ve figured out the fastest way to bring it about. A press release is still in the works about this, but I wanted to tell you about it before the rest of the world hears.

I’ve decided to stop bitching about the state of the so-called “publishing industry” and, instead, I’ve launched my own new publishing company to lead the way. Today, I’ve launched Ink-U-Bator Media, a new publishing company focused on bringing new, exciting talent onto the new media stage under a media brand name that will quickly become recognizable for quality and value.

That “new, exciting talent” can be you, dear reader. If you’ve ever wanted to generate revenue and earn a living with online information publishing, Ink-U-Bator Media is the best of both worlds for you.

Ink-U-Bator Media will publish books, audios, videos, entire training courses and mobile apps on Kindle, Nook, iPad, Android, and other applicable devices and formats, plus online digital delivery. Books are also produced print-on-demand.

The company handles the bulk of the marketing with assistance from the author/producer, including Webinars, “virtual tours,” press releases, online catalog promotion and affiliate marketing programs. It also handles final editing, formatting and posting for all applicable formats.

We do all of this – and pay you, the content creator, 70% of royalties and profits earned.

I’ve put Ink-U-Bator Media together to focus on new and rising stars in the information publishing arena. For that reason, I’ve structured it so that anyone who is serious about creating information products for profit can get in a position to virtually guarantee my company will accept and publish your work.

I’ll even work with you and show you exactly how to quickly and easily put together high-quality information products people will be glad they paid to receive, then work with you to make certain the products you create meet or exceed Ink-U-Bator Media’s standards so it can be published.

I’ve set a goal of releasing a minimum of five top-quality information products a month under the Ink-U-Bator Media banner and I’m ready to work with you now to get yours into the lineup.

Check out what it’s all about here.

I was in negotiations with a talk radio network recently. We explored the possibility of producing a weekly talk show featuring Uncle Alan. We couldn’t come to terms, so the deal fell through. But, I thoroughly enjoyed talking with the President of the network about radio and its future — and about talk shows, in particular.

Before negotiations were closed down, we spent a considerable amount of time time on the phone. The guy’s obviously forgotten more than I’ll ever manage to learn about the broadcasting business and I hung on every word. Despite his 35 years in the radio business, his business model, while flawed, didn’t fit the “dinosaur industry” image so often applied to over-the-air (terrestrial) radio.

He’s covering all . . . → Read More: Tell Me A Story…]]> by Uncle Alan

I was in negotiations with a talk radio network recently. We explored the possibility of producing a weekly talk show featuring Uncle Alan. We couldn’t come to terms, so the deal fell through. But, I thoroughly enjoyed talking with the President of the network about radio and its future — and about talk shows, in particular.

Before negotiations were closed down, we spent a considerable amount of time time on the phone. The guy’s obviously forgotten more than I’ll ever manage to learn about the broadcasting business and I hung on every word. Despite his 35 years in the radio business, his business model, while flawed, didn’t fit the “dinosaur industry” image so often applied to over-the-air (terrestrial) radio.

He’s covering all his bets when it comes to maintaining a profitable radio broadcasting company, especially in the face of current trends away from terrestrial radio (and terrestrial-based television and print media), to the Internet.

I’d like to share some insights I picked up during those discussions.

Build Your Media Business To Last

Terrestrial radio broadcasts we all pick up with a simple antenna are quickly becoming a thing of the past, in favor of satellite and “on-demand” Internet podcasts.

The president of this radio network understands that the terrestrial radio broadcasts we all pick up with a simple antenna are fading, in favor of satellite and “on-demand” Internet podcasts. His company currently has terrestrial-based talk shows and short features on the air on more than 1,000 terrestrial radio stations, reaching more than 3.5 million people. But, he’s also put together shows that are delivered as online podcasts. The online shows are promoted on the company’s over-the-air programs, to drive traffic and build up the audience, and they are monetized with sponsors and/or subscriptions to newsletters from the hosts, books, etc.

The network has 40-50 talk shows online at any given time.

For now, the president of this company looks at his online shows as their “AAA” tream – a training arena for potential hits that can be moved to their over-the-air line-up. But, they also pursue sponsors and other revenue streams for them. Shows that never make the move can be profitable enough to warrant continued production for regular online airing.

I like this approach!

The way this company has been structured, it doesn’t matter what happens to terrestrial radio — he’ll profit. As long as things stay the way they are today, he can keep building his “AAA” team, finding the occasional diamonds he can move over to terrestrial broadcasting while he builds the profits of his online offerings.

If things continue to trend downward for terrestrial radio (which it will – and he knows it), he’s got multiple shows with a following and sponsors or other profit centers already built in, so he just continues building that side of things.

In other words, the man works in radio broadcasting, not terrestrial radio broadcasting. There’s a huge difference between the two.

The point? He’s a specialist. He’s a master of broadcast radio. But, he’s not pinning his future or the future of his company on a particular method of delivery or one profit model. He’s not letting his own vision of “how radio ought to be” get in his way.

He’s built his broadcasting company to last, to weather the storms of change. I believe he’s poised to profit, whatever happens.

This is exactly how you need to build your online media business.

The Voice Within

During one of our conversations, this radio network owner revealed his love for the medium. He talked of the power of radio and, especially, of podcasts. And he described it as one of the most personal mediums in existence.

When people listen to online podcasts and audio, a huge percentage of them listen with ear buds.

When people listen to online podcasts, he said, a huge percentage of them listen with ear buds. This puts the voices the listener is hearing on the show directly inside the heads of their audience!

“You become a part of their body, Alan,” he said. “A part of their internal systems, able to capture their attention in ways that simply aren’t possible with any other medium.”

This is important stuff to consider. It underscores the value of creating audio programs and, in particular, podcasts, as an important part of any products you create – especially promotional products.

Thanks to that perspective, I can now see that giving podcasts away, to pull in prospects for your products, is still an excellent way to slip inside your prospects and whisper sweet nothings that make them want to buy. Posting podcasts on your blogs and in your email newsletters allows you to better get inside your audience and become a part of their internal conversation, branding you and forming that much-desired bond with them faster and better than almost any other medium can.

What They All Really Want

But – the network President said something else even MORE important to me, something that cements the deal and makes the impact truly irresistible.

“So,” he said. “There you are, directly inside their head. Whether it’s just you talking or you talking to other people, you’re a part of them. And — you know what they all want? You know what they’re all asking for?”

He paused a bit for effect. I could almost hear him bending closer to speak into the phone.

“They’re all saying, ‘Tell me a story, Alan. Tell me a story and I’ll listen.’”

Tell me a story.

We all love a story. A good story captivates us and pulls us in, making almost any message virtually irresistible. This is true of podcasts – in spades. It’s also true of any sales copy or product description or information product you produce.

Books without stories – even nonfiction – are never as effective.

Tell a good story and make them a part of whatever information you produce. More people will find it memorable and enjoyable. Good stories in training materials such as courses and workshops actually make people learn better.

Whatever information you’re working to produce, ask yourself: “what story can I tell that ties into this? How can I fashion my message into a story?”

It’s the perfect example of show, don’t tell.

Your stories don’t have to be classically-structured pieces. Just a good opening, climax and conclusion is good. Treat each story like a one-act play. Consider the person consuming your information. What would catch their interest and feel like a fun story to them, while providing you with an opportunity to make a point, teach a lesson or otherwise get them to eagerly consume your information and enjoy the process?

Got a product you want to sell? Tell the story about how you found that product and tried it out. Keep the plot moving forward by telling your prospects your own experiences trying it out. Maybe provide some stories from other customers who have put what you want to sell to use.

Develop a good story-telling style, whether you’re writing, speaking on stage, doing an audio presentation or conducting a board meeting.

Stories about people who have found unique uses for your product, uses that your prospects might not have thought of on their own, are especially powerful sales tools. Work the benefits of what you’re selling into the storyline and they’ll be remembered.

But – what I really got from the radio broadcasting expert I talked to was the idea that, for many of your listeners, you need to remember that you’re literally inside their head, t

Develop a good story-telling style, whether you’re writing, speaking on stage, doing an audio presentation or conducting a board meeting, and you’ll have no problem directly relating to people quickly.

If it’s audio you’re using, remember a lot of people will listen with headphones or ear buds, putting you inside them when you speak. Talk more like you’re a part of them and you realize it. Rather than interview someone, try conversing with them. This makes the listener, on ear buds and headphones, feel more like someone who is sitting right at a table with you, fortunate to have the opportunity to listen in.

Fortunately, reading great fiction is a superb way to learn storytelling technique. Start studying the story lines in top-flight movies and TV series, if nothing else, and you’ll get some benefit – but reading is best.

This one fun step makes story-telling a lot easier, more fun and more profitable!

It appears Congress has been educated. The recent outpouring of protest against the proposed tight-fisted SOPA and PIPA bills has led to the evaporation of virtually all support for both pieces of legislation. Even co-signers pulled back, finding the law unsupportable in its current form.

The recent outpouring of protest against the proposed tight-fisted SOPA and PIPA bills has led to the evaporation of virtually all support for both pieces of legislation.

Forget the outrageous reality that any member of Congress would co-sponsor a bill before thoroughly reading and understanding it. That’s a battle for another day. Just make note of every “co-sponsor” of either of these bills — whether they ultimately withdrew their support or not. Realize they obviously sponsored . . . → Read More: I Am NOT Anonymous!]]> by Uncle Alan

It appears Congress has been educated. The recent outpouring of protest against the proposed tight-fisted SOPA and PIPA bills has led to the evaporation of virtually all support for both pieces of legislation. Even co-signers pulled back, finding the law unsupportable in its current form.

The recent outpouring of protest against the proposed tight-fisted SOPA and PIPA bills has led to the evaporation of virtually all support for both pieces of legislation.

Forget the outrageous reality that any member of Congress would co-sponsor a bill before thoroughly reading and understanding it. That’s a battle for another day. Just make note of every “co-sponsor” of either of these bills — whether they ultimately withdrew their support or not. Realize they obviously sponsored a bill they didn’t really understand and that could only be because the bill’s most ardent supporters, those who would most benefit from the bill’s passage, have very deep pockets.

Now you know how easily your Senators and Congressmen can be bought. Vote them out at your first opportunity. It’s your only currency to use against the influence of major corporate supporters.

Right now, focus on the fact that both the House and Senate have pushed their matching antipiracy legislation to the back burner. I consider this as major win. However, keep in mind the bills weren’t “killed.” The Senate and House have only declared that further action on them has been “postponed.”

For some reason (hint above), they still feel a strong need to keep both bills on the table for possible future action. I don’t trust any of them.

Meanwhile, Anonymous, the decentralized Internet agitators credited with creating and driving the Internet-wide “blackout” that brought much-needed attention to the SOPA and PIPA issue, has released a list of their related demands.

I see a lot of great ideas. Some, however, reflect an apparent lack of understanding of the value of intellectual property rights to creators of intellectual property.

Reading through the list, I see a lot of great ideas. Some, however, reflect an apparent lack of understanding of the value of intellectual property rights to creators of intellectual property. I found myself fist-pumping the air and shouting “yeah!” often, but, just about as often, I found myself wincing and muttering, “that’s just wrong-headed.”

It’s obvious to me that Anonymous’ list of demands was created by people who are, mostly, not profitable owners of intellectual rights themselves. They can’t seem to differentiate between a free and open Internet and the role that intellectual property ownership plays in the commercial growth of the market for the arts. A healthy free access to that market for creators and consumers ensures that the mega­-corps remain a secondary channel, with influence that is weakening by the day.

I’m not clear from these demands how they could all possibly be met and still ensure that any artist or creator of intellectual property could eat and pay bills to continue creating. Sure – some artists create merely from their passion for art. But a lot of others depend on their art to survive and continue creating.

I’m a solid proponent of freedom of the press. I’m in favor of extending the meaning of “the press” to cover all of the Internet. It’s long overdue. And I’m definitely against SOPA/FIFA. But, I’m also definitely NOT in the “anonymous” column. I’m afraid, if all their demands were met, some would effectively cancel other important protections that help home-based one-person operations out and do more harm than good in the process.

Maybe it would be helpful if I go through the list of Anonymous’ demands and explain my views on each one.

First, we have the preamble, which I appreciate and agree with. Naming their proclamation “Bright, and Clear: The Future of Free Speech,” Anonymous states the overview of their demands, focusing on the goals it hopes to accomplish:

Bright, and Clear: The Future of Free Speech

===============================================

A rallying cry on the occassion of the Web's first mass blackout

As we watch the web go dark today in protest against the SOPA/PIPA
censorship bills, let's take a moment and reflect on why this fight
is so important. We may have learned that free speech is what makes
America great, or instinctively resist attempts at silencing our
voices. But these are abstract principles, divorced from the real
world and our daily lives.

Free speech is the foundation of a free society. We can have the vote
all we want. We can donate money wherever we want. But unless we're
able to talk to each other and figure out collectively _what_ we want,
those things don't matter.

We believe a healthy society doesn't allow its artists, musicians and
other creators to starve. The copyright industry has been justly
criticized for abusing the political process in a desperate attempt
to maintain its role as a cultural gatekeeper, a business model made
obsolete by a digital age of free copies. But the RIAA, MPAA & IFPI
deserve our opprobrium for making enormous profits while often
leaving the very artists it claims to represent *poorer* than they
would be as independents.[1] While the public may have greater access
to the few artists deemed sufficiently marketable to gain mass media
promotion, fewer and fewer of us are making art and music in our own
lives.

It's time we make a stand for a better world - not merely take
rearguard actions to preserve a status quo that is _already_ failing
us. Accordingly, we present the following list of demands:

I agree. It’s been too long now that mega-corporate media interests still maintain a stranglehold on what we’re offered as consumers of the arts. The power that the Internet grants to all artists and consumers is eroding that grip day by day, thankfully. Keeping access open and easily available to all is definitely a cause worth fighting for.

It’s also not surprising that the large corporate copyright owners would do all they could, utilizing all the financial and legal power they can muster, to defend what they perceive as the theft of the work they sell. They should pay their artists better, absolutely. Their structure will erode entirely if they continue locking creators out. If they ever hope to survive the overwhelming power the Internet grants to consumers and independent artists, they’ll have to make changes and continue changing, to maintain any relevancy they might be able to maintain.

But, they will also naturally want more for themselves now, that being the nature of most larger corporate entities with stockholders to satisfy, so many of them will probably continue to buck modern technology all along the way.

Still, the mega-corps clearly went overboard trying to push their SOPA/FIFA junk down our throats and we need to remain vigilant in resisting their obviously desperate attempts.

* We call on national legislatures to not only reject ACTA efforts to
globalize the American intellectual property regime, but to abolish
the WIPO.

OK. I’ll admit I had to look both of these up, to see what they were for sure. I’d heard of WIPO, but ACTA was new to me. They both might be new to you, too.

ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a voluntary measure that would better establish a framework for worldwide action against counterfeit goods and copyright infringement on the Internet.  WIPO is The World Intellectual Property Organization, one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations, created in 1967 “to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world”.

These two groups have also taken positions that overstep their bounds. My problem is that we need some form of protection for the rights of intellectual property holders. Without it, less artists would be supported and their contributions to the enjoyment and understanding of our lives would diminish because what they do is harder to monetized.

A better goal here, it seems to me, would be to dismantle the giants or remove their chokehold on the gateway completely – and the Internet’s already clearly doing that on its own, over time.

* We demand the elimination of the DMCA's registration requirement
for qualification under the "safe harbor" provision. It's absurd that
a website owner needs to mail in a form and pay a $100+ fee to the
government to register a contact for copyright violations. A web page
at a standard location (a la robots.txt) should suffice.

I would love to see this. It’s far too similar to the Better Business Bureau’s peer pressure extortion for my taste.

 * We expect courts to apply penalties just as severe to
rightsholders who issue abusive takedown notices as those applied to
copyright violators.

I could get behind this, on its merit alone. It should be the right of anyone accused of copyright violation to counter-sue the rights holder if those rights are not ultimately upheld.

 * No more Jammie Thomases. Any penalties for copyright infringement
must be sane and reasonable and not based unsubstantiated,
outlandish claims of harm.

Jammie Thomas is a Minnesota woman found liable for copyright infringement because she uploaded 24 songs to the Web in 2010. Although the original judgment against Thomas was lowered from a stupidly outrageious $1.5 million to $54,000, a deep study of the case reveals a lot of questions about the actual value of any actual loss that might have been sustained as a result of her actions. But – who defines “sane and reasonable” here?

 * The Department of Justice must begin an anti-trust investigation
into the copyright industry, with a specific focus on collusion
between rightsholders and ISPs in monitoring Internet users, and
payola and cross ownership with mass media.

I seriously doubt any collusion would be found. I don’t think ISPs necessarily liked the legislation. I can’t imagine one liking it. They could have been strong-armed by the very nature of the law itself, thinking if they don’t back it and it passes, they’ll look like supporters of piracy and make themselves targets. Otherwise, it’s not a bad demand – I just doubt it would be fruitful.

 * We demand an end to sales of radio frequencies into private hands.
We hold that spectrum is a form of speech - it rightly belongs to the
people and is not the government's to auction off to begin with.

OK, but I’m a little confused. I thought this was all about Internet free speech. I don’t think we’d do well with totally uncontrolled frequencies. Chaos could ensue, with tiny stations overstomping bigger and vice-versa until only the owners of the strongest transmitters controlled the airwaves – unless, of course, everyone’s online and no one’s listening to radio anyway. Then it might be ok to turn the spectrum of frequencies over to everyone, CB-style, and see what boils up.

 * We demand that ISPs stop interfering with file sharing via
BitTorrent or any other protocol.

I don’t support sharing of any copyrighted information without permission of the holder of the copyright. I do know these sites facilitated other file sharing. But, I also know they are favorites among the commercial product traders. I don’t think it should be the ISP’s job to interfere with any activity on their services, however. They should be service providers, pure and simple, not law enforcement.

 * We recognize a right of total ownership, not merely licensing, of
products we have purchased and a right to tinker and modify them as
we see fit. The Library of Congress should not be determining the
acceptable boundaries of technology.

This takes me back to my point about copyright ownership. Why would people invest millions in creating software and physical products if someone else can take that invention, add one simple change, and claim it as their own, too? I’m not sure I see the incentive to create anything practical if there is no profit in it. We could seriously hurt future development of important products and services with this “total ownership” idea.

This one seems more likely a matter for the market itself to resolve. If a competitor has a similar product and allows public tinkering, which is their choice, then it could have a sales advantage over the other product. Some would play better in the open market while others would remain profitable only if controlled. Doesn’t the creator of the product control it? Isn’t it adding another layer of oppression to say you must do anything with your product that you created, including forbidding others to copy it or use it in other creations, if you wish something different?

 * We reject the principle of contributory infringement entirely. While there may be bad uses, there is no bad code.

All right. I see no problem with that. It’s usually an extremely “grey” area anyway.

 * We expect legislators and judges to make efforts to educate
themselves about the technologies they oversee, and to call on and
respect the opinions of technical experts when necessary. The
Internet makes nerds of us all.

Yes! Absolutely, Yes! I whole-heartedly agree with this demand and feel there need be no further discussion. They need to do it or we vote them out on that basis alone.

 * All research receiving any public funding, directly or indirectly,
must be placed in the public domain upon publication.

I could get behind this, if “any public funding, directly or indirectly” was better defined. Does “any” include donations to private foundations? I realize these can be tax-deductible but, not always. And that whole “indirectly” thing can get really hairy when it comes to proving a case in court. Otherwise, it might be just as good cutting the tax deduction for certain donations to foundations that fund research projects with potential commercial applications, making it clear that tax-deductible dollars that produce any works or research much result in public domain publication of said work? Just need more clarity here and it could be a meaningful demand worth meeting.

 * For the sake of innovation and competitiveness, the US Patent & Trade
Office must immediately cease issuing software and business method
patents, and declare all such existing patents null and void. We
unequivocally reject any patents on mathematical formulas and genes
or other naturally-occurring substances (human or otherwise).

I’m not sure how this would help ensure innovation if applied to creations other than business methods. Software, it seems, is like a book. It needs protection of some form, to ensure that programmers are properly compensated for the effort of their creation of code that is unique to them. I’ve never been in favor of business processes themselves being patentable. And – I thought it was already nearly impossible to patent anything naturally occurring that couldn’t be synthesized. This one gets half a clap.

 * Copyright and patent terms must be reduced to reasonable lengths
(two and five years from the time of creation, respectively). Works
should only be eligible for the length of protection in the effect
when created - the continuing extension of terms to protect Disney's
ownership of Mickey Mouse must cease.

No, no and no. Here I stand up for the creator of intellectual property. Creators have rights, too, or the arts won’t grow. I see a novel or play, poem or blog post as an asset of the person who created it. Creators should be able to release their works through any open channel available to them without interference from major corporations who would rather control everything. But, what those creators build is no different in my eyes than a home built by a carpenter.

Once created and copyrighted, even intellectual property should become tangible property and property owners have rights. Two and five years from the time of creation is unreasonable. Novels can take longer to create than Anonymous’ proposed copyright would protect them following their completion. I liked the old 28 years renewable once for another 28 years, before the “new” copyright law came into effect that bases copyright on the lifetime of the creator. But, copyright must be long enough to enable artists and writers and creators of all kinds to build a body of work that continues to generate revenue that increases as the body of work grows.

A lot of artists starve at first because they haven’t yet built up a solid portfolio of works pulling in royalties, performance fees, or other compensation. Those royalty and performance fees, over time, build a career and ensure us that we have full-time working artists and creators developing more for us to enjoy. Yank away their copyright protection so soon, and a lot more will continue to starve. Less will want to even bother.

 * We recognize a broad right of "fair use" as essential to a vibrant
and creative culture. We will remix, sample, mash up, translate,
perform, parody and otherwise create derivative works as we see fit.

Again I have to give a partial clap for this one. Fair use is already clearly defined and has been for a long while. You can’t simply “recognize a broad right” and expect that right to extend into the courts without changing the law as it stands. You have to be very careful when it comes to “sampling, mashing up, translating, performing, remixing or otherwise” other people’s copyrighted works. Work to change these laws and broaden fair use – yes. Simply declaring a different standard isn’t good enough, I’m afraid.

 * Courts must accord bloggers the same rights as mainstream reporters.
The right to a free press originally meant a literal, physical printing
press - not membership in some government sanctioned elite. Blogs are
the modern day digital equivalent.

Yes, yes yes! The courts, other media, public officials – everyone working with the public, all need to realize that bloggers are media. Now. Good or bad, blogs are just digital printing presses carrying a message that can be seen by more people than you would ever imagine, almost everywhere, instantly. Free and available to everyone with a message to send.

A blogger is just as privileged and protected by the First Amendment right of freedom of speech and of the press as any other journalist. They’re often considerably less hampered by corporate self interests and, more often than not, they’re also unreasonably tenacious in digging out the truth we need to know. This should be encouraged as it is this kind of open, accessible, instant, widespread communication that makes it much harder for administrations and mega-corps conglomerate interest groups to attack our other rights and freedoms without us knowing about it. Right on! Solid!

And that was how the list ended. Except for this wrap-up and call-to-arms:

We call upon all freedom loving Internauts to join us. We further call
upon our legislators, bureaucrats and the media & telecommunications
industries to immediately begin implementing our demands. The future of
free speech is bright, and clear - either stand with us or get out of
the way.

I’m a freedom-loving Internaut, but I can’t join. Yet.

With some further clarification, I could get behind Anonymous’ list of demands. As it stands, there are a lot of great ideas and suggestions in them. Unfortunately, there is also too much potential for harm in the opposite direction in some.

I won’t stand in the way of Anonymous’ efforts to push this agenda. But I won’t help, either. I’d rather see something more balanced crafted, so creativity continues to be rewarded and the control of the mega-conglomerates is further eroded at the same time.

These are almost it, but almost is still not good enough.

I received a truly satisfying email from one of my Ink-U-Bator MasterMind members just the other day. In all fairness, Kelly Thomas has worked with me before – in the riginal E-publishing Business System mastermind I conducted a few years ago. He achieved “Hemingway” status by completing the system and putting it into action.

It seems it stuck with him!

Ink-U-Bator MasterMind member Kelly Thomas is a computer technician, photographer, and also an accomplished info-preneur, running a successful online real estate listing service in his area for several years.

Kelly has now joined the new Ink-U-Bator MasterMind Forum. He’s a photographer who’s also an accomplished info-preneur, running a successful online real estate listing service in his area for several years.

Otherwise, . . . → Read More: Press Release Power…]]> by Uncle Alan

I received a truly satisfying email from one of my Ink-U-Bator MasterMind members just the other day. In all fairness, Kelly Thomas has worked with me before – in the riginal E-publishing Business System mastermind I conducted a few years ago. He achieved “Hemingway” status by completing the system and putting it into action.

It seems it stuck with him!

Ink-U-Bator MasterMind member Kelly Thomas is a computer technician, photographer, and also an accomplished info-preneur, running a successful online real estate listing service in his area for several years.

Kelly has now joined the new Ink-U-Bator MasterMind Forum. He’s a photographer who’s also an accomplished info-preneur, running a successful online real estate listing service in his area for several years.

Otherwise, I assure you Kelly’s a regular guy. He’s fun to be with, married to a charming wife who’s far too good to be hanging around with his sort (sorry, Kelly – couldn’t resist the jab, but you know you married UP … facts are facts).

Kelly’s email to me was related to something I teach all the time — using press releases to get local and regional attention for your online business. Especially tying press releases to major news events, for maximum impact.

Kelly decided to jump into the online protest against the proposed SOPA/PIPA anti-piracy legislation.

Kelly decided he would black out his Website, www.sihometours.com, joining the Internet-wide blackout protest that swept the Web, demanding an end to the SOPA/PIPA anti-piracy legislation.

But, he didn’t just black out his site. Instead, Kelly reached out to local media to announce his intentions and spread the word.

Here’s what he wrote me:

Woo! I eMailed it around. Got a call just before lunch today.
Did an interview and made the local news at BOTH 5 and 6pm. I'd
imagine there will be a segment ran in the morning also. I'm so
excited I might take my site down NOW!

Someone new has liked my facebook page already.

Riches are starting to arrive.

(actually, they used LOTS of beautiful screen shots of my site. )

I'll send a link to the video if it ever goes online.

Thanks teaching me about PR, Uncle Alan.

/kelly thomas

Media Consultant and Owner of SIHomeTours.com

Kelly took an important step here and helped two causes in the process. He helped spread the word about the dangers of SOPA and PIPA, and he gave his action a lot more impact by announcing it to the press.

Free publicity for his business was an additional benefit.

Kelly joked, in a later response:

“…I’m thinking I should shut down my site more often, like every day! ”

I can’t think of a better reason to recommend that you consider putting press releases to work for your online business soon. Look beyond using press releases as little more than keyword-laden SEO bait and backlinks. Give them a try for what they were originally created to do – reaching the media to get your message out.

Look for something newsworthy to which you can tie a special promotion or feature on your blog or Website. Then announce it to your local and regional media with a simple press release.

The process is amazingly simple and the results can be huge.

Check out my piece on SOPA here.

Kelly sent his press release via email. I recommend you also consider looking up the FAX numbers and mailing addresses of all the media in your three-county area. Call each one and ask for the name of the specific editor, columnist or producer responsible for covering news in your genre. Then send your press release addressed directly to that person.

It’s much tougher getting the attention of the national media than it is your local and regional press. Use them! The fact that you live in their area gives you an advantage over a lot of larger national companies who may be competing with you for their attention. Use that advantage!

Would you agree that working directly with people like Kelly and me would be valuable to your future as an info-publisher? Consider joining us in the Info-Publishing and Marketing Portal Ink-U-Bator MasterMind Forum. Kelly’s a member, along with 49 other highly-motivated info-preneurs. Get all the details and jump on board, if you like what you see.

The MasterMind is so cool, I’m writing some press releases about it right now!

I’ve long held that real SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is all about quality. Quality information real people want to read, not information created around an intentional set of keywords that honestly match what real people would enter to find what you’ve put together for them. Genuine back links from other real sites who like what you publish and want to tell their visitors about you or feature what your work.

Not a bunch of fake Websites pointing at your site.

Now Google has once again swept all the attempts to manufacture rankings under the rug, changing their search ranking algorithm completely – again.

Sadly, they did it for all the wrong reasons, but the effect is the same.

What Google’s done is . . . → Read More: The Day SEO Tricks Died — AGAIN]]> by Uncle Alan

I’ve long held that real SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is all about quality. Quality information real people want to read, not information created around an intentional set of keywords that honestly match what real people would enter to find what you’ve put together for them. Genuine back links from other real sites who like what you publish and want to tell their visitors about you or feature what your work.

Not a bunch of fake Websites pointing at your site.

Now Google has once again swept all the attempts to manufacture rankings under the rug, changing their search ranking algorithm completely – again.

Sadly, they did it for all the wrong reasons, but the effect is the same.

What Google’s done is to blend photos, comments and news posted on their Google+ social network into the search results you now see when you type in a search. According to a quote in the Los Angeles Times, Google Fellow Amit Singhal said the idea is to make you the center of your search experience.

I disagree. I think it’s more an attempt on Google’s part to force more people to use its Google+ social network, which is in direct competition with Facebook. Google+ has grown astonishingly fast, but it’s still a far cry from Facebook’s 800+ million users.

Google is a multi-billion dollar success story, but they’ve experienced failure competing with YouTube. They finally had to buy the company.

Google’s first experiment with social networking, tied to gmail, was a dismal failure, too.

Today, Facebook has the user base and money to eventually make search more relevant and Google’s not about to stand by and let it happen, so they launched Google+. They know they can’t buy Facebook, so they’ve decided to tie their search results directly to Google+, forcing anyone who wants to be seen to participate in their social network or risk simply sliding to the back pages.

Any attempt at SEO "magic" is constantly going to be undone...get over it.

What we’re seeing right now is an all-out war between Google and Facebook. Google’s search results — and anyone who thought they had SEO “figured out” — are the apparent victims.

You might remember, I predicted here a while ago that Facebook was on track to turn its social network into a search engine built around what people actually like most, not algorithms that assume what is most relevant to the terms you’re searching on.

Google claims it wants to include more Facebook information in its new search results, but the company isn’t allowed by Facebook to access to the information they need – even though Microsoft’s Bing worked out a deal with Facebook to do something like this with their search engine.

Twitter Inc., in a public statement released Tuesday, January 10 (the day Google turned this feature on), mirrored my concerns: “For years, people have relied on Google to deliver the most relevant results any time they wanted to find something on the Internet,” Twitter spokesman Matt Graves said. “We’re concerned that as, a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone.”

Google points out that people can elect NOT to see the new search results by clicking an icon on the site…but I seriously doubt most people who use Google will know this or bother. Most never go past page one looking for results — why would they be aware of this option and use it, either?

I’m certain there are new ways to get “around” this latest change. But, you know as well as I do that part of that equation is going to involve setting up shop on Google+, whether you want to or not.

The writing’s clearly on the wall. ANY “fix” you try to implement will only be undone, sooner or later. A far better tactic would be to aim what you do at Google’s ultimate goal – besides bringing Facebook to its knees, which ain’t gonna’ happen: provide quality information that is truly useful to human beings searching on your topic and over-delivering on anything you offer to sell to the audience you’re building.

It’s easier today than ever before.

When I was a kid, we had three local TV stations. It was a big deal when a PBS station opened up, giving us another viewing option. My dad put a huge antenna with a rotator and signal reception booster on the roof, so we could pick up six more stations from Kansas City, about 60 miles from Topeka.

Two of those six Kansas City stations were independents. They played re-runs and old movies, like cable super stations do today. The other four were affiliated with the same “big three” networks and PBS. They usually played the same shows we got on the local stations during regular programming hours – with a fuzzier picture.

At night, . . . → Read More: You — The Next Larry King?]]> by Uncle Alan

It’s easier today than ever before.

When I was a kid, we had three local TV stations. It was a big deal when a PBS station opened up, giving us another viewing option. My dad put a huge antenna with a rotator and signal reception booster on the roof, so we could pick up six more stations from Kansas City, about 60 miles from Topeka.

Two of those six Kansas City stations were independents. They played re-runs and old movies, like cable super stations do today. The other four were affiliated with the same “big three” networks and PBS. They usually played the same shows we got on the local stations during regular programming hours – with a fuzzier picture.

At night, however, those Kansas City stations played re-runs and old movies, too, making them still worth viewing.

To make certain we continued enjoying this magnificent viewing variety, dad would drag me up on the roof with him once a year. We’d clean the terminal connections on the antenna and re-string the guy-wires, to make certain sure the antenna stayed where it was.

All for 10 “free” channels … four of them a little bit fuzzy.

For decades, the “big three” networks – CBS, ABC and NBC — held the reigns on television. PBS was a distant fourth. They decided what we watched. More importantly, they controlled who could reach out through the airwaves.

You had to have massive popular appeal (at least by their standards), or you didn’t get air time at all.

If you were to pluck me out of that reality and plop me straight into today, without the mental preparation provided by some transition time in between, I don’t know if I’d survive the overwhelm.

Today, we can choose from hundreds of channels on cable and satellite – and thousands more online. We have whole networks devoted to niche specialties such as food, animals, do-it-yourself, crime, romance and more.

There are also DVDs, DVRs, and streaming on-demand online programming that enable us to pick and choose what we watch whenever we feel like it.

Literally everything you could ever want to watch is available immediately, including entire seasons of almost every popular television series ever produced — even the classic TV series from the hey-day of the “big three.”

Now the big three of the past have become just – another three.

Where do you fit into all this?

The logjam created by the big three of the past has been broken, making it easier than ever for anyone – including you — to produce and launch your own video and audio programming.

YouTube makes it possible to record short videos and post them for viewing by literally billions of people. U-stream lets you broadcast live and attract an audience of viewers from their base of millions of users.

You can also easily record your own programming, so people can watch it whenever they want, on your own Website or on countless other video sharing sites.

Existing technology enables you to easily and cheaply launch a TV network of your own. Just plug in a webcam and start broadcasting. Or, record your programming with a simple camcorder, with your phone or with your computer. Then, upload it where the world can watch.

The low cost and ease of entry afforded by this modern “broadcasting” lets you reach out to a select audience of just a few people, on extremely specialized interest niches – or attract millions of listeners or viewers with broader topics.

It’s entirely up to you.

Big Marker (www.bigmarker.com) is completely free and enables two-way communications with up to 100 people in an online room with video, audio, live chat, presentation slides and desktop sharing capabilities that can be shared among all the attendees.

One broadcasting option I really like is live online meetings.

I’m conducting a minimum of two live online meetings per month for members of my new Ink-U-Bator MasterMind Forum. I just held the first meeting last Thursday evening, January 5, and I used a new system, called Big Marker (www.bigmarker.com), that’s completely free. I wanted to give it a spin because it enables two-way communications with up to 100 people in an online room with video, audio, live chat, presentation slides and desktop sharing capabilities that can be shared among all the attendees.

Yes – you can pull in attendees, have them on-screen with you with their video and/or chat with them on audio or in the on-screen chat box.

The only feature missing is built-in recording, which won’t be available until some time between now and the end of March. Still, it’s possible to record your events by running software like Camtasia and get by until then.

Big Marker’s simple to use. Unfortunately, that simplicity also means there are fewer options. For example, you must include live on-screen chat. There is no way to shut off or turn on specific functions of the system like I’ve seen offered by other systems.

Of course, those other systems also charged a LOT of money to use them.

I hit a couple of technical glitches with Big Marker that I hope to iron out. One was my own fault and easy to remedy. I accidentally set up the meeting so that all attendees were moderators. This caused a lot of confusion for me, the real moderator and presenter, and could prove disastrous if the mastermind group wasn’t such a cooperative bunch of great folks to meet with online.

There was also a glitch of some kind that made my live video stream drop out. When I tried refreshing my screen, to see if that would fix the video, I was logged back into the system as a normal user — not the presenter. This got my video back but, then I had no audio.

Fortunately, we’d already had roughly 90 minutes of excellent meeting time and, after ten minutes of trying to get my camera to function, we decided to call it a night.

There are now several similar systems starting to pop up. Big Marker’s well worth looking into, as it allows meetings with up to 100 attendees and offers a lot of capabilities. You can also conduct larger meetings, if you let the operators know ahead of time, so they can move your session to a dedicated server — still free of charge.

Meeting Burner offers a free beta running through the end of January, 2012, and promises meetings with up to 5,000 attendees, with no monthly fees or contracts.

Meeting Burner (www.meetingburner.com) is another system worth checking out. Meeting Burner offers a free beta that I believe is running through the end of January, 2012. They limit you to 25 online attendees and 50 on the phone at this time, but they’re are also promising meetings with up to 5,000 attendees, with no monthly fees or contracts. It’s all strictly pay-as-you-go. I haven’t yet seen what the rates will be – but I get the impression they’re aiming at keeping them really reasonable.

Meet Cheap (www.meetcheap.com) promises to offer low-cost Webinar hosting, too. They’re launching January 24, and promise similar features to Big Marker and Meeting Burner, for just $9.95 per month – with a $1 trial.

For added reliability, you can always go with a more expensive service, such as GoToMeeting (www.gotomeeting.com) or Instant Telesminar (www.instantteleseminar.com). These tried-and-true giants will run you $50-100 a month or more – but they’ve been rocking along for quite a long time now and their reliability is stable.

Still, lack of funds or technical knowledge is no longer an excuse. You can today easily produce your own live or recorded video and audio presentations and programs quickly and easily from the comfort of your home or office.

Meet Cheap (www.meetcheap.com) promises similar features to Big Marker and Meeting Burner, for just $9.95 per month – with a $1 trial.

You can use these presentations to pull people in from your social networks. Introduce them to you and the publishing that you do. Involve them in the creation of your next product or article by asking them what they want to see or inviting them to contribute their opinions and knowledge on-the-spot.

Record the meetings and you have new content.

The possibilities are endless.

Get your cameras and mics hooked up and give it a try. There’s nothing more powerful than inviting your Facebook and Twitter followers to hop onto a live Webinar with you to finalize that bond you’ve been building. And you can make a lot of sales from these social interactions on Webinars – or just lead your followers to the next step, which is the sales funnel.

Larry King retired a year ago last month. He left a gap in the market. Why shouldn’t you be the next Larry King and fill it?

Let me know when you have your next online meeting planned. I might just pop in and see what you’re up to!

Online publishing success, just like most marketing success, is all about traffic. You have to get enough pairs of eyeballs reading your posts and visiting your blog to gain the kind of momentum that attracts advertisers earns you money from other ads you place on your own.

You can always buy traffic, if you’ve got the money to spend and prefer spending money over making it — at least at first and possibly for a good long while as you build.

I prefer trading a bit of my time and talent to get those eyeballs, instead.

You can and should offer guest posts to other bloggers who cover your topic of interest. Offer them free of charge if they will include a . . . → Read More: “Old School” Free Traffic for Your Blog]]> by Uncle Alan

Online publishing success, just like most marketing success, is all about traffic. You have to get enough pairs of eyeballs reading your posts and visiting your blog to gain the kind of momentum that attracts advertisers earns you money from other ads you place on your own.

You can always buy traffic, if you’ve got the money to spend and prefer spending money over making it — at least at first and possibly for a good long while as you build.

I prefer trading a bit of my time and talent to get those eyeballs, instead.

You can and should offer guest posts to other bloggers who cover your topic of interest. Offer them free of charge if they will include a “resource box” at the bottom that includes a link to your blog. Avoid blogs and sites that are direct competitors of yours and focus on sites that are peripheral to your subject and you’ll get a lot of traction.

But — don’t overlook print media.

Print media is still alive and it reaching millions of readers, many you wouldn’t reach any other way

I know print media’s been taking a beating because of the huge surge in popularity of online publications like yours. However, print media is still alive and it reaches millions of readers, some of whom you won’t reach any other way. Even though people today are more and more turning to online sources for their news and information, they also still hold print in a higher regard than they do online media.

Why not write some articles for print publications in your niche and submit them to print publications that reach your target market? Let the editor know the article is free of charge, just as you would a fellow blogger. As payment, request the same resource box and link to your blog at the bottom of the article that you would ask of a blogger, in lieu of cash.

You can put these articles together fairly quickly. Just dive into past blog posts, combine two or three related posts on the same topic and you have something new to submit that’s also a great reflection of what you offer visitors to your blog.

It’s so simple and effective, it makes you wonder why you’ve never done it before now. I’ll tell you why you haven’t. It’s because it takes time and extra effort and the results aren’t immediate.

Get over it. This works – big-time!

You need to research any publications you plan to submit to. You might have to get off your chair, leave the comfort of your home or office and go to a newsstand, to actually buy the magazines or papers you plan to submit to, and spend some time studying them.

After you’ve put together an article to submit, you have to print out your article and mail it to the editor at the physical address of the publication.

And then — worst of all — you have to wait.

Tom Petty said – “And the waiting is the hardest part.”

At least, I think that’s what he said. He might have been singing about going wading, but I’m pretty sure it was waiting. I love the guy’s music, but he does mumble a bit sometimes. For the sake of this post, let’s assume he was singing about waiting.

You might have to send out five or six pieces to get one to say “yes.” And it can take a while for them to say “yes” or “no.” In fact, if you want to hear from them at all, make sure you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for them to get back to you or they might not say anything unless they accept.

Don't throw this strategy out the window just because it takes a while to see the results.

It can then take up to six weeks for a weekly publication to run your piece, if they do say “yes.” Monthly publications sometimes take 90 – 120 days.

It’s enough to make you wonder why you would bother.

Remember, print publications are hurting. Now more than ever, they’re under budget restraints, trying to make every penny count. If you send them a valuable article that fits their readership and offer it to them for free, you stand a very good chance they will accept, much better than ever before.

Ever notice how many members of even major print and broadcast media regularly feature bloggers these days? Why shouldn’t you be one of them? If they say “yes,” you’ll reach a readership that, hurting or not, would put most blogs to shame. And these are paying readers, people who actually will go through the publication and possibly read your piece.

When they do, many will visit your blog to get more, after an introduction to you in print.

Here’s a couple of tips for you:

Read each publication before you submit. Study the demographics. Who reads it? What advertisers do they have – this will tell you a lot about their readership and what they’re looking for. What other stories do they run? What story could you provide that adds to or enhances their slant?

Check the front of the publication for the editor’s name and the mailing address to reach her. Send your articles to the editor by name at that address. If there’s an email address for article submissions, fine – but I still suggest you print it out and mail it.

Include a cover letter with your article. Let the editor know you’re submitting an original article for consideration. Make sure it’s an original article. Something you’ve written uniquely for them. It can be a topic you’ve covered frequently – but it has to be original.

Let the editor know that, whatever they pay, you’re not interested. The article is free if they include your resource box as-is. Also let them know you’re offering them “first rights,” meaning they get to publish it first then, once it appears in their publication, all rights revert back to you. Then you can still run the article in your blog after it appears in print!

You could even say “as seen in…”

Just one or two articles of yours appearing in leading print publications could send you more traffic than you’ve ever seen. It’ll definitely give you a solid boost. If you’re lucky, the editor will ask for more. You could even become a regular columnist.

Weirder stuff has happened!

Try sending an article to one print publication a week for a couple of months. By the time you get around to month three, you should be hearing from some of the first you sent out. Back off to one or two a month only after the third month.

Do this diligently and I guarantee you’ll have built yourself a powerhouse traffic funnel that’ll keep pulling readers to your blog long after you DO quit submitting articles, as if you’d ever want to, once you see the results that are possible.

Good luck and keep me posted on your success!

Everything you know about publishing online can be turned into ready cash by applying your skills to helping local businesses.

Online marketers have been yammering about local business marketing for the past couple of years now. Most are going about it all wrong, but they’re essentially right when they tell you that local businesses need your help and they’re more than willing to pay you for it – if it works.

Because of all the chatter – including dozens of courses being sold by several well-meaning but misinformed marketers – local businesses are now receiving postcards, phone calls and emails from people offering to elevate their SEO and super-charge their online marketing.

It’s become an entirely new kind of spam.

But, there’s . . . → Read More: Local Publishing for Profit]]> by Uncle Alan

Everything you know about publishing online can be turned into ready cash by applying your skills to helping local businesses.

Online marketers have been yammering about local business marketing for the past couple of years now. Most are going about it all wrong, but they’re essentially right when they tell you that local businesses need your help and they’re more than willing to pay you for it – if it works.

Because of all the chatter – including dozens of courses being sold by several well-meaning but misinformed marketers – local businesses are now receiving postcards, phone calls and emails from people offering to elevate their SEO and super-charge their online marketing.

It’s become an entirely new kind of spam.

But, there’s something your local businesses do need that few if any are offering them – something you can provide them and they’ll happily pay you handsomely:

P-U-B-L-I-S-H-I-N-G

Did you think I was going to say “goldfish?”

As a publisher, you know how to put information together in a way that informs and entertains, stories that would be of interest to the prospects and customers of any business. Stories that would help local businesses attract prospects, build a list, and increase sales.

There are tons of private label rights products on the subject of pet care.

Want to help a pet shop? There are tons of private label rights products on the subject of pet care. Get some. Re-write them and put them on their Website. Or put together a free e-book they can use to sign up prospects on their list.

Beauty salons could use articles, blog posts and e-books about the effects of quality shampoos and treatments on hair – or the potential risks of doing your own perm at home.

You could interview a mechanic about the importance of routine maintenance. Or a heating and air conditioning professional about the importance of cleaning your ductwork and keeping your equipment in tip-top shape.

Publish the transcripts for them.

This is the kind of real-world help that can take businesses beyond their competition and they’ll gladly reward you for that kind of help.

Want to take it to the next step? Once you’ve published for one pet shop – why not offer similar published materials to dozens? Why not publish a newsletter that beauty salons all over the country could make their own?

The possibilities are endless and you as a publisher hold the key. Turn it into cash and you’ve got a business!

Whether you use your own blog, or post to Facebook, Twitter or some other social media platform, many of us communicate regularly online. I’ve pointed out before you can take these posts, gather them up, and easily put together a book. Twenty-six year old author, Shawn Michael Severud’s done just that. Severud has just released perdida: essays to be read while intoxicated, a collection of Jack Keroujac-esque essays the author admits are collected directly from his own blog posts on a broad variety of subjects, exactly as they were originally posted: devoid of capitalization of any words.

"perdida: essays to be read while intoxicated” is a collection of Jack Keroujac-esque essays the author admits are collected directly from his own blog . . . → Read More: Past Blog Posts Provide Fodder for Fiction]]> by Uncle Alan

Whether you use your own blog, or post to Facebook, Twitter or some other social media platform, many of us communicate regularly online. I’ve pointed out before you can take these posts, gather them up, and easily put together a book. Twenty-six year old author, Shawn Michael Severud’s done just that.
Severud has just released perdida: essays to be read while intoxicated, a collection of Jack Keroujac-esque essays the author admits are collected directly from his own blog posts on a broad variety of subjects, exactly as they were originally posted: devoid of capitalization of any words.

"perdida: essays to be read while intoxicated” is a collection of Jack Keroujac-esque essays the author admits are collected directly from his own blog posts.

“If someone is posting on their blog or updating their Facebook status, a lot of the time, they aren’t capitalizing words and are typically using little or no punctuation,” Severud said. “They know that the Internet is more of an informal setting, so they don’t bother with it. Why waste the time when you can refresh your Facebook page every twenty seconds looking for new messages and comments?”

I’m not sure how well this approach worked out – I haven’t read the book. Severud gives, a “reading” in a video press release he released that I’ve included here. To me, it’s…well…over-written a bit.

That’s just my opinion. You be the judge.

The real problem could be I was sober when I heard it. According to Severud, the subtitle of the book came about because most of what he wrote was written while intoxicated – and he feels it’s important the reader should also be intoxicated, to fully appreciate it.

“Let’s just say I think too much,” Severud said. “I write better when I think less and alcohol makes that happen, so I just thought if I wrote them that way, maybe they would be more enjoyable to read that way as well.”

I’m not usually too interested in reading when I’m intoxicated, but it kind of makes sense. It also ties into the book’s title, “Perdida”, which, in Spanish, means “lost.” According to Severud, the emotions expressed reflect an ode to being young. Elation and grief can be found not only in neighboring essays, but in neighboring sentences. It’s most definitely a glimpse into the life of a twenty-something millennial including essays about the growing pains of being a twenty-something: being in love, dealing with depression, as well as thoughts on religion, life and death, and a favorite Chinese food restaurant.

Who knows what will sell in today’s book market? The knowledge that this is a collection of essays that were all blog posts at one time makes perdida interesting, even if the subject matter doesn’t appeal to you. It’s an example of what you can do if you post often and post from your heart – whether you’re intentionally building a book or simply “letting it out” and clearing your head. Intoxicated or stone cold sober.

With all the simple ways there are to publish today, the book could just wind up a success. I think it’s a sign you might want to check your old blog now – there might be something worth publishing in a book there!