This Week in the Blogs, September 9 – 15, 2017

by Shelley Sturgeon | Sep 17, 2017

Table of Contents

By Shelley Sturgeon

Can you believe that September is already passed the halfway mark? Where has the year gone? We’re nearly through the third quarter of the year! Are you on schedule with your writing and self-publishing projects? If you’ve missed any of our posts, or would like to refer back to them, for help with your projects, you can access them here by topic.

Jane Friedman on Jane Friedman
What’s More Important: Author Websites or Social Media?
“I’ve taught countless conference sessions and webinars about author platform development, content strategy, marketing and promotion, and long-term best business practices. Hands down, the No. 1 thing I’m questioned about is social media—by the unpublished writers, advanced writers, and well-established career authors.”

Big Al on Indies Unlimited
But You Promised to Review My Book
“The reality is that once this has happened, there isn’t a whole lot you can do. It doesn’t matter whether the “reviewer” is a scam artist looking for inventory to sell at his or her local used bookstore, or a well-meaning reviewer who didn’t follow through.”

Chris Syme on Social Media Just For Writers
5 Reasons Why You Should Be a Social Media Minimalist
“There’s something inside all of us that says when we do less, we get less in return. More work means more return, right? Not when it comes to marketing. Especially not when it comes to social media. In marketing, it pays to be a minimalist.”

Sandra Beckwith on Build Book Buzz
Quirky October holidays offer book promotion possibilities
“One of the easiest ways to promote your book is to link it to events, seasonal occasions, and holidays.”

Amron Gravett on Self-Publishing Advice Center
5 FAQs about Indexing: Why Indie Authors of Non-fiction Need Indexes And How to Create an Effective Index
“If you are publishing a non-fiction book (such as a biography, history book, or guidebook) without an index, then your book lacks one of the most important reference and sales tools available.”

Do you know a school or institution that needs a professional-grade darkroom?

A close friend of mine who has been a fine photographer for many years has switched to digital cameras and printing, and is now planning to close his darkroom.

Yes, it’s big (and this is not quite the exact model, but you get the idea)

Being a very generous and civic-minded fellow, he would prefer to donate the entire set of darkroom equipment—all top quality and in excellent working condition—to an institution who can make use of it.

Here’s a list of the equipment included:

Durst 138s 5″ x 7″ enlarger with a CLS 1000 head that can print both B&W and Color

2 Schneider Componon S enlarging lenses: 210mm for 5″ x 7″ and 100mm for 2-1/4″ negatives
Glass and glassless negative carriers 35mm to 5″ x 7″

16″X20″ Saunders easel
Saunders digital timer ET-500
Omega Grain Focus magnifier
Thomas Duplex safe light
Trays for processing
“The Print Washer” archival print washer 11″ x 14″
11″ x 14″ & 8″ x 10″ hardwood contact printing frames

If this sounds interesting to you, please use my contact form to let me know and I’ll pass your message along to my friend. Here’s the link: Contact Form

Important: The equipment is located in Portland, Oregon.

Self-Publishing News You Can Use

By Amy Collins

Ingram offering two great promo codes to help you save money on uploads and printing

If you have uploads to do at IngramSpark but don’t love the idea of paying the upload fees, IngramSpark has good news. Use code SPARK17 at checkout to have the fees waived.

For those of you wanting to print multiple copies for use through the end of the year? IngramSpark is offering a 5% discount on all US based printing jobs between 50-1000 copies. Use Code STOCKUP17 for orders placed before Oct 31, 2017.