Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Business Of Writing Group
Like most writers, I want to spend more time writing, and focus on building a long term writing career, but I know just writing isn't enough. There is a business to writing. And if this part is ignored your successes will be limited. Off the top of my head I can think of marketing, selling, social network interactions, accounting, contracts, and negotiations. Writing something only get's you part of the way there.
The last few writing conferences I've attended have all been about the act of writing. I don't know if this is planned, or just coincidence. But I have to think the hundreds of people attending these conferences have no clearly defined plan for building a business writing. Why aren't there any panels or presentations on the business of writing? I'm creating an outline for this exact panel, and I'll pitch it to a few conferences. Must eat my own dog food. And I have a lot of great ideas to share.
Here is the kind of group I want to start or participate in. One that's not about writing, but the business of writing. The legal and technical aspects of writing. The things that will help me build a good writing business. I don't think you should have to do this alone. There are so many resources out there, but a group of people with the same interests and goals have tremendous value. Not to mention meeting other writers, and learn from their experiences.
For example, when negotiating with an agent or publisher, what are the top things you should be concerned with. Beyond money, what are authors typically offered or expected to do? What should an author expect f the agent or publisher? Pitch sessions.
I guess since it's my idea I should do more research on the subject. Find out who would be interested in participating, and more importantly sharing their insights. Once I have enough interest I will push for a public meetup for all writers to confabs learn.
Maybe there is already a group like this in my city. I just haven't found it yet. But if there is I'm looking for you.
Posting this via e-mail from Barnes and Noble.
read more...
The last few writing conferences I've attended have all been about the act of writing. I don't know if this is planned, or just coincidence. But I have to think the hundreds of people attending these conferences have no clearly defined plan for building a business writing. Why aren't there any panels or presentations on the business of writing? I'm creating an outline for this exact panel, and I'll pitch it to a few conferences. Must eat my own dog food. And I have a lot of great ideas to share.
Here is the kind of group I want to start or participate in. One that's not about writing, but the business of writing. The legal and technical aspects of writing. The things that will help me build a good writing business. I don't think you should have to do this alone. There are so many resources out there, but a group of people with the same interests and goals have tremendous value. Not to mention meeting other writers, and learn from their experiences.
For example, when negotiating with an agent or publisher, what are the top things you should be concerned with. Beyond money, what are authors typically offered or expected to do? What should an author expect f the agent or publisher? Pitch sessions.
I guess since it's my idea I should do more research on the subject. Find out who would be interested in participating, and more importantly sharing their insights. Once I have enough interest I will push for a public meetup for all writers to confabs learn.
Maybe there is already a group like this in my city. I just haven't found it yet. But if there is I'm looking for you.
Posting this via e-mail from Barnes and Noble.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
WordPress 3.1 Has A Feature List
Last week the development team for WordPress came up with a list of features/bug fixes they want to include in 3.1. As with all software, the end result may differ from this list. Check it out here.Two things I'm excited about, and really hope are implemented, is a new multi site Admin, and a configurable Dashboard. This is kind of interesting, because at WordCamp Utah 2010, Matt Mullenweg asked Adam Dunford, "if you had a magic wand, what would you change in WordPress?" His response was a cleaner, configurable dashboard. Spot on Adam.
Looks like the WP team is shooting for a mid December release, with a feature freeze in mid October. That's not too far off.
If you haven't already upgraded to WordPress 3, you should do it soon. This is a fantastic release, seems to be very stable, and the further you fall behind the more problems you will encounter.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Why iTunes Ping Will Suffer Like Google Wave
There are a few reason I think iTunes Ping will, in the long run, fail. I realize the service has only been available for a few days, but I can already see it has the same problem Google Wave had when it was released. It's not part of everyones workflow.
For one, you must have iTunes, not everyone uses iTunes. Until there is some type of web interface that allows you to connect with other, this will be a huge barrier. Two, iTunes must be running to even interact with your followers, share music taste, and invite others. Invitation? A service such as Like.fm or Blip.fm allow me to share my music tastes with anyone, regardless of the platform they are on. And that's where Ping will fail. I could be wrong, and Apple could choose to make major changes to the service, making something usable and accessible by everyone.
I would love to see Amazon come up with something open and web based to compete. Amazon could compete on several fronts, music of course, but also books, games, movies, electronics. That maybe on the roadmap for Apple, but you have to hit some type of home run out of the gate, or you suffer like Wave has.
While I hate to be a nay sayer, I don't think the Apple engineers thought this through for a first rev. Does it seem like that is becoming a reoccurring theme from Cupertino?
read more...
There are a few reason I think iTunes Ping will, in the long run, fail. I realize the service has only been available for a few days, but I can already see it has the same problem Google Wave had when it was released. It's not part of everyones workflow.For one, you must have iTunes, not everyone uses iTunes. Until there is some type of web interface that allows you to connect with other, this will be a huge barrier. Two, iTunes must be running to even interact with your followers, share music taste, and invite others. Invitation? A service such as Like.fm or Blip.fm allow me to share my music tastes with anyone, regardless of the platform they are on. And that's where Ping will fail. I could be wrong, and Apple could choose to make major changes to the service, making something usable and accessible by everyone.
I would love to see Amazon come up with something open and web based to compete. Amazon could compete on several fronts, music of course, but also books, games, movies, electronics. That maybe on the roadmap for Apple, but you have to hit some type of home run out of the gate, or you suffer like Wave has.
While I hate to be a nay sayer, I don't think the Apple engineers thought this through for a first rev. Does it seem like that is becoming a reoccurring theme from Cupertino?
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Join Me For #devchat On Twitter
I started a Twitter chat called #devchat, all about the software development business. Right now the time is every Wednesday at 7PM MST. Everyone is welcome, but I'm hoping this will be a very technical discussion. A little background on Twitter Chats here.
Please follow the Twitter user @dev_chat, and use http://TweetChat.com to follow #devchat. No need to register, but you can find more information here.
Please Tweet this, blog about it, post to Facebook, or any other resource you use to communicate with other devs. You can also follow me on Twitter by clicking the Twitter icon in the sidebar at the top.
See you on Wednesday, September 2nd, at 7PM MST.
read more...
Please follow the Twitter user @dev_chat, and use http://TweetChat.com to follow #devchat. No need to register, but you can find more information here.
Please Tweet this, blog about it, post to Facebook, or any other resource you use to communicate with other devs. You can also follow me on Twitter by clicking the Twitter icon in the sidebar at the top.
See you on Wednesday, September 2nd, at 7PM MST.
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