Archive - February, 2010

My 5-year old will change publishing

February 23, 2010 in Journal with 2 Comments

Since the introduction of the Kindle, the topic of eBooks and digital content has dominated the publishing world. As it should, because our livelihood depends on getting the big decisions right. The key question everyone is wrestling with is the when of the shift, because the if is now a foregone conclusion. It’s already happening.

I’ve been in a lot of discussions about this and, frankly, I think a good many people are looking at it sideways. They’re narrowly focused on today’s book consumer (primarily middle-aged females, statistically) and how to get them to migrate to a digital format either via the Kindle or iPad (or any of the bazillion other devices coming soon to a store near you). I think there will be a lot of migration, especially from the Millenials and Gen Xer’s, but we won’t be the tipping point.

My daughter’s kindergarten class will be. Continue Reading…

5 ways to add 5 hours to your writing day

February 19, 2010 in Journal with 13 Comments

When I first started writing, my biggest complaint was the chronic shortage of time during my day. I mean, come on, who has time to torch brain cells all day at work, be a dad and husband (or mom/wife, student, fill in the blank), pay the bills, do all the normal things that “normal” people do and still have time to slog through creating something from nothing one agonizing word at a time?

I used to think there wasn’t enough time. Truth is, I still think that on most days until I remind myself that I’m wrong. Actually, I just look at my friends who have proved me wrong time and again–people who live much “busier” lives than I do, but somehow found ways to outproduce me.

When I drilled down to how they did it, the answer became clear: they just had a better handle on their time than I did. Somehow, they squeezed more out of their 24 hours (the same 24 that I had) than I did. And it drove me crazy. I mean crazy crazy. Like, I began to suspect my friends were cyborgs crazy. Then I figured out that they weren’t and began experimenting with how to do it for myself. And I’m going to share some of these tricks with you because they just might help you reclaim hours of your day.

So, here we go. Here are a few ways to recapture your time and make it work for you instead of the other way around: Continue Reading…

February 4, 2010 in Journal with 3 Comments

“If you want to write for yourself, get a diary. If you want to write for a few friends, get a blog. But if you want to write for a lot of people, think about them a little bit. What do they like? What are their needs? A lot of people in this country go through their days numb. They need to be entertained. They need to feel something.” – James Patterson, in a recent article on NYTimes.com.