ON AGAIN, OFF AGAIN AT BORDERS

NOW B&N IS SIGNALLING A POSSIBLE TAKEOVER 

Following the Borders saga is a bit like driving to an unknown destination without a road map. Amidst announcements that it is considering selling the company—or at least part of it—the book retailer mounts new prototype stores at a considerable cost and entices readers with new customer-comfort programs. 

All of that change occurs despite the fact its shares plummeted almost 70% over the past year. Losses in 2007 reached $157 million. After a 2% drop in recent quarterly sales, the company states on March 20 that it is considering selling out. 

Along comes Barnes and Noble to add some additional spice to the mix. The Wall Street Journal reports that B&N has put together an advisory group to study a possible purchase of its competitor. That’s followed by a statement by one of B&N’s top officials that the company will “certainly take a good look” at a potential deal. On May 22, all the speculation is confirmed by B&N CEO Steve Riggio in a meeting with analysts. 

The Journal also reports that 30 potential buyers are signing confidentiality agreement to study Borders’ financial picture. That could throw a monkey wrench into the possibility of sliding the B&N deal past Federal antitrust regulators. 

Meanwhile a very recent Borders statement didn’t do a thing to clear the air. It announced, ”The company is in the midst of the strategic alternatives process and has not engaged in substantive discussions regarding any specific transaction to date.” That gobbledygook certainly helps us to understand where this sitcom is going.

STUDY SHOWS E-MAIL IS STILL TOP PICK

DESPITE MORE GLAMOROUS COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA 

Although  social networking  and other newcomers to the digital communications world dominate the headlines, trusty e-mail remains the preferred choice of 67% of respondents to a survey conducted by Ipsos for Habeas, an online reputation management company. Habeas called itself the “E-mail Trust Authority.” 

Study results also show that an overwhelming majority of web users want greater control over the matter that pops up on their screens. They want increased ability to manage ads, promotions, newsletters and other content, and want to be able to grant opt-in/out permission. The one-way control of information flow may become a thing of the past. 

Falling far below e-mail in respondents’ communications preferences were video conferencing at 19%, instant messaging at 17% and text messaging at 12%. Pop-up ads received a 75% negative rating and 55% disliked receiving a barrage of e-mails on a daily basis. 

Habeas CEO Des Cahill was quoted in a ClickZNetwork article as saying, “Businesses that treat customers as a way to make a quick buck are not going to be trusted, and will have a severe impact on brand and business.”  Sage advice for any of us who promote our books on the Web. 

Charlie’s Choice

Weekly Tips to Help You Write,

Publish & Promote Your Work 

May 28, 2008 

HIT THE BULLSEYE WHEN YOU

WRITE FOR A NICHE MARKET 

      Big isn’t necessarily better. Reaching a smaller market of readers with a strong interest in your topic can be far more productive and less costly than promoting to a mass market that includes people who have little or no interest in what you are offering. 

      Take as an example the niche I carved out for my web site and for The Writer Within You, my latest book. My prime targets are retirees and other seniors who hope to become published authors. Few 20-year-olds will respond, although the techniques of writing are the same whether you are 16 or 60.  

      I knew there were literally hundreds of informative books on writing. Research demonstrated there were almost none targeted to seniors. However, I was aware of the Gallup study that reported 81% of mature American adults long to write a book. I aimed my book at this important demographic. The result: we’re in second printing after only a few months and the book has won Best of the Year awards from five organizations. 

Become an Expert in Your Niche 

      In publicist Bill Stoller’s informative newsletter Free Publicity, TV reporter Jeff Crilley advises writers to become experts in their topic as they seek a better response from journalists. “What makes them experts?” he asks and answers, “They’re on TV. When the news crowns you with the title ‘expert’ you are one.” 

      By concentrating on your niche—writing articles, sending out news releases, speaking publicly—you will soon be invited to appear on radio, TV and in the print press and obtain that coveted recognition. The message: don’t try to be all things to all people.  You are a specialist. Be proud of it. 

      You have heard the word “branding,” I am sure. Although we’re not cattle (albeit a few crass publishers think we are), we authors try hard to “brand” ourselves as experts in a specific field. Accomplishing this, means that print, radio and TV journalists will seek us out for comment on an issue, for backgrounding or if you’re lucky enough even for a formal interview.  

      The process begins when you publish either a book or enough articles to impress others that you really know what you’re talking about. It is up to you to get the word out through all of the methods of publicizing and promoting your writing that we have talked about in other columns. (If you need help or a refresher on branding yourself, click on the ”About Us” page of my web site www.retirement-writing.com and select the article on branding in the blue right hand column.

      On her excellent web site www.writersweekly.com, expert freelancer Nancy Hendrickson asks, “Do you wonder if niche writing and marketing is an effective way to build your income?”  Her answer is very simple and direct. “Yes it is. In fact, some writers make a career in specialized markets. Publishers have a product to sell, just like every other industry. They know the demographics of their target industry and they know the types of articles which will keep a loyal readership.” Nancy has gone a step further and branded herself as an expert in three subjects with great success. 
 

A Boon to Retirees 

      While niche writing is highly productive for every author, it is a perfect way for retirees to launch their writing activities. You approach the effort with a substantial background. Lots of knowledge accumulated over the years you served in your business, profession or other career. At last retirement affords you the time to tap into that background and fulfill your long-held dreams of writing. 

      Of course, it is essential that you regularly update your knowledge, for few fields ever remain static. Change occurs, and if you are to become an expert in the subject, you had better keep up with every new trend.  

      As I have pointed out in several of the recent columns, trade magazines in the field of your expertise are hungry for informative articles. Specialty book publishers too are always on the hunt for qualified new writers who can turn out meaningful books.  

      This is a wonderful way to maintain contact for those of you who miss your association with the field to which you devoted so many years of your life. You are able to call on your former associates for guidance and for quotes as needed. You are able to jump start your new career as a writer by using the contacts and the knowledge you have developed. So retire and write. It makes a great deal of sense. 

Selecting a Niche 

      Of course, you certainly don’t have to be retired to use niche writing as a door opener to your new career as an author. Call upon your own experiences at home, at work, as a hobbyist, perhaps as a fully-informed sports spectator or even a participant. The possibilities are all around you. They simply require you to open your eyes and your mind to find them. 

      Dan Schlossberg, a highly successful New Jersey author, some years ago turned his passion for baseball into a specialty that has yielded 34 books on the game plus endless numbers of articles. Dan’s web site is entitled www.baseballguru.com.  

The Age of Specialization 

      All of what I have tried to explain here makes sense when you realize that the world of books and magazines has changed. Among the most popular categories of non fiction books are self-help and those that deal with a specific interest. The magazine world is shifting too. Mass circulation magazines are slipping, while highly targeted publications are on the rise. 

      My own alma mater, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, recently announced additions to its curriculum that highlighted specialized writing.

      Wikipedia, the immensely popular digital encyclopedia, defines niche marketing as “a business that focuses on a niche market addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers. A niche market may be thought of as a narrowly defined group of potential customers.”

      I am certain you have heard the word “keywords” time and again. We’ve talked about them here on earlier Charlie’s Choices. These are the key to specialization on the Web. No tool is more effective in helping you target your niche than the Web. Search Engine Optimization is all about reaching out to members of your chosen audience and offering them the specific content they seek.

      Don’t let this important trend pass you by. Get specialized. Brand yourself and see your article and book sales soar.

      Next we’ll take a special look at the many different aspects of one of the most important categories of non fiction—business writing, also frequently called commercial writing. It’s a broad categories that contains a number of specific niches…and very lucrative.

Until next week, Keep Writing. 

HOW IS THIS FOR

THE QUOTE OF THE WEEK? 

Speaking at a Microsoft sponsored conference, former CEO of Disney Michael Eisner offered this lofty analysis: 

“The salacious and the stupid have been traditionally the avant garde and the advance guard of the more high-minded and definitely more profitable fare. The Internet will be no different. You Tube is celebrated as a completely revolutionary concept – and it is.  

“The ability of anyone, anywhere to create and distribute short form entertainment that can be seen by anyone else, anywhere else, is an extraordinary development. But in many ways, You Tube is very old news. It is to the Internet what the nickelodeon was to the movies – a very preliminary installment of what is to come.” 

How is that for perplexing pontification? Is Eisner’s head still in Disney’s world of fantasies? 

IN A SURPRISE MOVE,

MICROSOFT IS SHUTTING DOWN LIVE SEARCH 

The book world was caught by surprise by Microsoft’s sudden announcement that is it ending both Live Search Books and Live Search Academic. The much discussed (and controversial) digitizing and indexing program will be integrated into general search results.  

Microsoft was quoted in Publishers Weekly as explaining, “Based on our experience, we foresee that the best way for a search engine to make book content available will be by crawling content repositories created by book publishers and libraries.”  

To date, Live Search has digitized 750,000 books and indexed 80 million articles from scholarly journals. Both the library scanning and the in-copyright book programs have been ended. Publishers will be given digital copies of their scanned books. 

The project started with great deal of  ballyhoo about a new era in publishing. Much like Borders’ apparent inability to decide whether to expand or sell, this decision makes one wonder just what goes on in the hallowed private halls of these mega-companies.

SENSATIONAL GROWTH!

WIKIPEDIA TRAFFIC GROWS 8000% IN 5 YEARS 

Despite all the controversy over the accuracy of some of the info that Wikipedia publishes, the seventh most popular web site in the US must be doing something right. Traffic to the site has boomed over the past five years. The number of searchers increased by 8000%. 

That’s pretty amazing when you realize that the site survives on donations. It accepts no advertising. Officials at the site are now finding finances a bit tight and are struggling to find ways to help sustain their remarkable achievements.    

Founder Jimmy Wales and new exec director Sue Gardner oppose paid advertising. The site has experimented with a number of spinoffs that were supposed to be profitable. But that approach hasn’t worked well enough to justify the staffing expansion needed to support continued growth. With more than two million articles produced by volunteers, greater inner control is needed. 

Here’s hoping the addition of Gardner to his “think tank” will help Wales find a solution that brings in the needed bucks, but doesn’t undercut the philosophy that has made this incredible growth pattern possible. 

INDIANA’S “SEXUALLY EXPLICIT BATTLE

WILL AFFECT BOOKSTORES IN THE STATE 

The battle is escalating to squash Indiana’s law that compels every business that sells “sexually explicit” material to register with the state. This latest government attempt to control the morals of its citizens targets bookstores along with other retail and wholesale concerns. 

The ACLU charges that the law is “vague, overly broad and violates the First Amendment.” 

The latest entry into the growing cadre calling for overthrow of the law is the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Art books sold in its bookstore often contain nude images. It joins the lawsuit mounted by the ACLU, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the Association of American Publishers (AAP). 

When announcing its participation in the lawsuit, Museum Director Maxwell Anderson said, “Our role in this community is to foster tolerance for creativity, and this law is completely in opposition to that mission.”

Charlie’s Choice

Weekly Tips to Help You Write

Publish & Promote Your Work 

May 21, 2008 

TURNING YOUR RESEARCH INTO

AN ENGROSSING NONFICTION BOOK 

      It’s easy to place the facts and figures you’ve accumulated from your research on paper, but somewhat more difficult to weave that information into a narrative that captures and holds your reader’s attention.  

      The key to accomplishing this is planning… careful outlining of your book step-by-step to introduce your reader to the subject, and then carry him/her through a logical sequence of well-presented facts. The conclusion then wraps it all into a neat and understandable package.  

      You already have the basic plan for the book that we talked of two weeks ago (May 7). That provided a sense of what you wanted to say and a basic pattern for presenting it. The object then was to give you parameters for your research. Now that your heavy research is done, it’s time to take what you found and mold it into a form that is comfortable for you to present and comfortable for your readers to comprehend.    

Discovering What You Learned 

      That may seem rather like an oxymoron, but stop and think of what it means. You’ve assembled a “ton” of information from your research. Much of it will be useless; some will be significant. Do a quick run-through of what you found. Don’t dwell on your notes; just use them to refresh your memory. 

      Next set the notes aside, pour a cup of coffee or a glass of juice and find a quiet place to sit and think. Sit for a bit and ponder the notes you’ve just skimmed. On a sheet of blank paper, jot down the high points that impressed you most. Make this a sort of personal brainstorming session in which you record every thought that pops into your mind.  

      Don’t limit yourself. Don’t try and put your thoughts in any sequence and don’t discard any thought that surfaces. Let it all flow freely. 

Organizing What You Learned 

      All of those myriad facts and figures that you assembled now cry out to be organized. It can be done in a variety of ways. You can use the tried and true technique of formal outlining you learned back in school days. Or you can try something a little looser and less formal.  

      In my book The Writer Within You, I explain the approach I find most comfortable. I sort my information and assign it to specific chapters with a slug line for each. I then create the structure of my book by juggling the chapter headings to create a smooth even flow. I then can add more data and place where it is most relevant.  

      The important fact is to remember that the sequence really depends upon the type of book you are writing. A how-to book should be almost like the step-by-step instructions of an assembly kit. If you are planning a self-help work, it is critical to pose the concept and then develop each aspect. Conversely a biography, history or a true crime book requires a chronological approach. 

         The same effort must be put into each individual chapter. Sort out all of the info that relates to the chapter’s subject. Don’t be afraid of gathering far more than you need. That will help you select the most important and relevant facts. Sprinkle in a few of the germane quotes you have received from the experts you interviewed, and then add your own thoughts and the conclusions you reached from your research. 

      The chapter then becomes a combination of “selection” (the results you picked from your research) and “deduction” (the opinions you formed from the studies you conducted). The latter gives your book the originality that sets it apart from others than have been written on the subject. 

      You will find the words flow easily when your thoughts have been clarified and you know the road map you are to follow as you create your book. You have earned this gift because you didn’t scrimp on the preparatory steps. Ernest Hemingway once said, “Easy writing makes hard reading.” I have always believed he was cautioning young writers never to sit down to write without first planning and preparing. 

Crafting a Quality Book 

      Of course, there are a number of factors to consider when you finally attempt the actual writing. Many of these are identical to the elements we studied earlier in my columns on writing a novel. Address these five concerns, and your book will be one that you can be proud of: 

Coherence – Your book must flow, as we said earlier, with each chapter logically expanding what came before. Irrelevant matter should be discarded. Much of this can be accomplished when you return to edit what you have written. Strike out anything that is only tangential and not of help to your reader in understanding the subject you are writing about.  

Pace and Rhythm – These two factors depend directly on the category of nonfiction you are writing. In true crime, histories, even memoirs, the pace and rhythm will vary depending upon the scene you are describing and the degree of tension you are attempting to create. However, in how-to, self-help and academically-oriented books, the pace and rhythm remain quite consistent throughout the book. 

Style – Remember, as I have said so often before, your style is you and you are your style. Learn from reading other books, but don’t ever try to copy another writer. Don’t force humor where it doesn’t belong. Don’t try to be cutesy. Be yourself! 

Description – Always show, never tell. Regular readers have heard me preach this sermon time and again. (Check the April 16^th column on description.) Be specific. The beach isn’t just beautiful. Its sparkling beige sand is dotted with palm trees. When you visit a location during your preparatory research, make notes about what you see so you can describe it later. Similarly, when you interview an expert, jot down highlights about his/her, the clothing your expert wears and the setting in which you conducted the interview.  

Accuracy – Check, recheck and check your facts and figures again and again. Nothing can destroy a reader’s confidence more than discovering errors in your book. Review your notes and listen again to any interviews you taped. 

      If you follow these five basic principles and offer solid substance in your content, you will find your nonfiction work will be welcomed by editors and agents.

      Niche targeting is one of the recent trends in nonfiction writing. It is the result of a growing interest in targeting very specific audiences made possible by the computer. The growing popularity of niche targeting makes it essential that we talk about it in the next column. So be sure to join us next week again. Meanwhile, keep on writing!  
 
 

FIRST STEP ACCOMPLISHED IN

EXPANDING COPYRIGHT PROTECTION 

Congress has finally gotten the message and is moving to expand and improve copyright protection for intellectual property. By an overwhelming vote (408-11), the House of Representatives passed the Pro-Intellectual Property Act that increases criminal and civil penalties for infringements. It now goes to the Senate for action. 

The legislation also creates the new cabinet level position of copyright czar who will be responsible for coordinating the government’s various antipiracy activities. 

Pat Schroeder of the AAP also points out in an e-mail to members that an Orphan Works bill has also been introduced in both the House and Senate. While somewhat different in nature, both bills address the problem of rights when the artist dies or cannot be located. 

In the face of what’s been happening during the Bush years to the intellectual segment of our American society it’s good to know that Washington hasn’t totally turned its back on us. 
 

BLOGS KEEP “CHOGGING” ALONG

ATTRACTING STEADY GROWTH IN READERSHIP 

In its newly released report, The Blogosphere: A Mass Movement from Grass Roots, eMarketer cites some remarkable statistics. More than 22.6 million Americans created blogs last year. That number is projected to rise to more than 35 million by 2012.  

Fellow bloggers who worry about growing competition (heck it’s so big already another few million hardly matter) can take comfort from the fact that  readership of blogs is also soaring. Half of Internet users, a total pegged at 94 million by eMarketer, were blog readers in 2007. By 2012, that number is expected to soar to 145.3 million, representing 64% of the projected domestic Internet population. 

That’s a mighty long leap from the origins of the blog when essentially just techies were communicating with one another. Paul Verna, author of the eMarketer report, says, “Blogs have long since shed that mantle and tapped into the zeitgeist of American culture.” 

Verna attributes much of the growth to the “niche orientation of the blogosphere.”  That orientation also bodes well for ad spending on blogs by companies eager to target specific

niche communities. 

A tip of the hat from this newcomer to all you who have made this happen.