Posts
Saturday, December 24, 2011
The Kindle Approach
If you are a writer/author type, you can't afford not to take notice of amazon.com's Kindle reader. Yes, there are other readers--Nook iPad Sony--but Kindle has something the others don't have right now: Captive Audience.
It's not captive in the Apple way, either. Some folks did some thinking on this one. There is a free lending library. You can sign up to have your book offered for free at their discretion. Hugh?
Free? They choose? What kinda **** is that? Yes, writers write because they love to write or have to write but royalties are nice. In some cases, very nice. But FREE?
Why would you sign up for free? You have to be a bit of an advertising person to get the concept. The benefit is exposure. Yes, you will lose sales but in this day of high marketing cost, you may never have gotten the sale anyway if you don't have enough money to play the game.
There is downward price pressure on books today. Plus, half of the audience isn't reading books these days. That half is mostly men, of course. And people want to look "techie." People want to be "in." That hasn't changed since Jack Mitchell took me to lunch in New York and taught me the advertising facts of life.
So, let's do the free Kindle thing. What can you expect? First of all, you can't do any worse than you are doing in the marketplace and you just might do a lot better by developing "fans." If you have other books, you can cross-sell those books in the back of your "free" Kindle book. "If you liked this book, you may also like yada..." That's what sold me.
Plus, I want a chance and you don't often get that chance today. Book tours are expensive and, at least from my experience, don't generate a lot of sales anyway.
The big sellers today are books from conservative talk show hosts. Savage promotes himself all of the time on his show as one of the greatest writers of all time. He may be but he doesn't have to pay for the advertising time he takes on his show to make himself rich. (I don't think the stations get a piece of the action, either.) Rush and Hannity did the same thing. After all, if your show goes..."as I said in my book (Title)...you are likely to sell some books.
They have a captive audience that is "tuned in" to what they are saying and are very likely to be "tuned in" to what they are writing. If a writer was to buy that amount of radio time, he or she might make the big time if the audience is right, but the cost would be out of sight.
If you are going to be a successful audience, you need a captive audience of your own. You can develop it through paid advertising and promotion or you can develop it for free. That's why the Kindle model looks good to me. Screw paperback print-on-demand. Screw snooty agents and publishers. Write your book. Edit it. Edit it again. Then, publish it on Kindle.
You will see your book in hours, not months. Millions of others have an opportunity to also see it in hours. Some of the millions will bite on the free idea. Some will become your fans. Some of those fans will write reviews about your work that can attract people interested in buying your book. Some will buy. And slowly, but effectively, you just might become a successful writer for free.
Not a bad deal.
It's not captive in the Apple way, either. Some folks did some thinking on this one. There is a free lending library. You can sign up to have your book offered for free at their discretion. Hugh?
Free? They choose? What kinda **** is that? Yes, writers write because they love to write or have to write but royalties are nice. In some cases, very nice. But FREE?
Why would you sign up for free? You have to be a bit of an advertising person to get the concept. The benefit is exposure. Yes, you will lose sales but in this day of high marketing cost, you may never have gotten the sale anyway if you don't have enough money to play the game.
There is downward price pressure on books today. Plus, half of the audience isn't reading books these days. That half is mostly men, of course. And people want to look "techie." People want to be "in." That hasn't changed since Jack Mitchell took me to lunch in New York and taught me the advertising facts of life.
So, let's do the free Kindle thing. What can you expect? First of all, you can't do any worse than you are doing in the marketplace and you just might do a lot better by developing "fans." If you have other books, you can cross-sell those books in the back of your "free" Kindle book. "If you liked this book, you may also like yada..." That's what sold me.
Plus, I want a chance and you don't often get that chance today. Book tours are expensive and, at least from my experience, don't generate a lot of sales anyway.
The big sellers today are books from conservative talk show hosts. Savage promotes himself all of the time on his show as one of the greatest writers of all time. He may be but he doesn't have to pay for the advertising time he takes on his show to make himself rich. (I don't think the stations get a piece of the action, either.) Rush and Hannity did the same thing. After all, if your show goes..."as I said in my book (Title)...you are likely to sell some books.
They have a captive audience that is "tuned in" to what they are saying and are very likely to be "tuned in" to what they are writing. If a writer was to buy that amount of radio time, he or she might make the big time if the audience is right, but the cost would be out of sight.
If you are going to be a successful audience, you need a captive audience of your own. You can develop it through paid advertising and promotion or you can develop it for free. That's why the Kindle model looks good to me. Screw paperback print-on-demand. Screw snooty agents and publishers. Write your book. Edit it. Edit it again. Then, publish it on Kindle.
You will see your book in hours, not months. Millions of others have an opportunity to also see it in hours. Some of the millions will bite on the free idea. Some will become your fans. Some of those fans will write reviews about your work that can attract people interested in buying your book. Some will buy. And slowly, but effectively, you just might become a successful writer for free.
Not a bad deal.
Friday, August 5, 2011
So they got it fixed.
I am one of the folks who has really lost faith in the system.
No, I am not a Tea Party guy. I am just an American guy and I am sick of it. The President says tax the corporate jet owners because they don't pay their fair share. How about your friendly neighborhood drug dealer? Why don't we switch to a flat tax and some sales tax and get rid of the income tax?
The answer is simple. Welfare. We are paying an army of tax preparation services and tax lawyers to help us figure out the tax code. That's welfare. If we scrapped the tax code for a flat tax plus sales tax, an army of IRS people would be out of work (does backflip). That's welfare.
Best of all, there would be no more April 15. There would be no more phoney "refunds." There would be no more class warfare. All Americans would pay some tax at some time. Mr. drug dealer included.
And let's not forget the spending side. We have a system that encourages spending. We cannot account for billions in Iraq and that other sewer. Why? The answer is there is no penalty. Why not? Why shouldn't people who handle our money be accountable for it or go to jail for stealing it? Bankers take note. We bailed them out and not one of them went to jail? Why not? Where is the IRS on this one?
One of my favorite things is a commercial from The Scooter Store. The old bag tells you she didn't have to pay a penny for her scooter. Medicare paid for it. Why? It's a little car. Why should she not have to pay something for her little car? How many obese people are riding around in these things because Medicare sees a disability rather than an exercise issue? If you want to ride around, fine. Pay your fair share.
And right after that commercial, we have a string of commercials from law firms telling you they can get you a Social Security check if Social Security has denied your claim. We have other law firms telling you that they can cut your tax bill down to nothing because they have experienced and former IRS people on staff. What are their records in this area? Where is the Federal Trade Commission? Do you think we may have too many lawyers in this country who are driving the cost of everything right through the roof?
Don't give me the "they protect society from evil corporations" argument. Remember John Edwards? Maybe we should close law schools for ten years and thin out the greedy herd. After all, what other profession gets a third to half of the settlement as a fee? Why do we allow that? Why doesn't the losing side have to pay for the winning side's legal fees like the British do?
My title was "so they got it fixed." Noper. They didn't. But here are some things that will get the ball rolling:
1. Get rid of the tax code and replace it with a flat tax and a national sales tax so even the drug dealer pays.
2. If you have the power to spend the people's money, you have the responsibility to account for it.
3. Medicare should not be in the scooter business.
4. Lawyers should be paid like the rest of us.
5. When it comes to trials, the loser pays.
PS- If you really want to save the country, don't elect any more lawyers to government positions. We need people who can come up with solutions rather than ones who spend the day perfecting political smokescreens.
No, I am not a Tea Party guy. I am just an American guy and I am sick of it. The President says tax the corporate jet owners because they don't pay their fair share. How about your friendly neighborhood drug dealer? Why don't we switch to a flat tax and some sales tax and get rid of the income tax?
The answer is simple. Welfare. We are paying an army of tax preparation services and tax lawyers to help us figure out the tax code. That's welfare. If we scrapped the tax code for a flat tax plus sales tax, an army of IRS people would be out of work (does backflip). That's welfare.
Best of all, there would be no more April 15. There would be no more phoney "refunds." There would be no more class warfare. All Americans would pay some tax at some time. Mr. drug dealer included.
And let's not forget the spending side. We have a system that encourages spending. We cannot account for billions in Iraq and that other sewer. Why? The answer is there is no penalty. Why not? Why shouldn't people who handle our money be accountable for it or go to jail for stealing it? Bankers take note. We bailed them out and not one of them went to jail? Why not? Where is the IRS on this one?
One of my favorite things is a commercial from The Scooter Store. The old bag tells you she didn't have to pay a penny for her scooter. Medicare paid for it. Why? It's a little car. Why should she not have to pay something for her little car? How many obese people are riding around in these things because Medicare sees a disability rather than an exercise issue? If you want to ride around, fine. Pay your fair share.
And right after that commercial, we have a string of commercials from law firms telling you they can get you a Social Security check if Social Security has denied your claim. We have other law firms telling you that they can cut your tax bill down to nothing because they have experienced and former IRS people on staff. What are their records in this area? Where is the Federal Trade Commission? Do you think we may have too many lawyers in this country who are driving the cost of everything right through the roof?
Don't give me the "they protect society from evil corporations" argument. Remember John Edwards? Maybe we should close law schools for ten years and thin out the greedy herd. After all, what other profession gets a third to half of the settlement as a fee? Why do we allow that? Why doesn't the losing side have to pay for the winning side's legal fees like the British do?
My title was "so they got it fixed." Noper. They didn't. But here are some things that will get the ball rolling:
1. Get rid of the tax code and replace it with a flat tax and a national sales tax so even the drug dealer pays.
2. If you have the power to spend the people's money, you have the responsibility to account for it.
3. Medicare should not be in the scooter business.
4. Lawyers should be paid like the rest of us.
5. When it comes to trials, the loser pays.
PS- If you really want to save the country, don't elect any more lawyers to government positions. We need people who can come up with solutions rather than ones who spend the day perfecting political smokescreens.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
The End of America?
I never thought I would ever consider such an idea but I am. Maybe I should just turn off the news and press on but I am still a teenager from the 1960's.
What the hell has happened? Why can't we seem to turn it around? Why can't those fools in Washington see it?
The reason is simple. They don't want to. They are far Left and far right and for most of us, far away. That's what bothers me. They don't see the possibility of a revolution. Yes, I think it is possible.
When you have tons of people getting assistance for doing nothing and the rest of the people paying for it and getting nowhere, there is a problem. Driven people are not interested in being driven down and out. I read an opinion story in our local paper from a tenured professor about how our city doesn't do enough for the homeless. Are you kidding? Before you start spending more of the private sector's money, maybe the do-gooder professor types should leave a key under the mat and write their address on a piece of cardboard and leave it downtown where the homeless hang out?
Us will eventually have enough of them and that's where the revolution will happen. People will reach a point where they are tired of working to pay off people who don't work. We have traded a work ethic for a gimme ethic and that's why we have a problem. It is easier to receive than to give.
There is no way to save the country unless we start to recognize that problem. There are people getting a free ride who are very capable of paying society back. There are people getting a free ride that are causing most of the problems because of drugs and alcohol problems. They need to deal with their CHOICES. We don't need to give them a check so they can go buy more drugs and alcohol. Enough alreay!
There are hard working people who have come here illegally. They need to be identified and a sound path developed to allow them to come and work as long as they are not breaking our laws and not putting a citizen--even a teenage citizen--out of work.
I have been battling the IRS for almost a year. I asked them for an accounting of what they think I owed them, what I have paid them, and what the bottom line is. They keep sending me a form letter that they apologize but they are researching the problem and are very busy. Do you suppose they are busy auditing the drug dealers or the homeless guys at any Wal-Mart who are making tax-free livings?
But we won't get to those main street solutions because we get nothing but political blither from our elected leaders. Most of them are lawyers who are expertly trained in how not to give a straight answer and as long as they can get all of those benefits that we know about, and all of those benefits that we don't know about, we will get what we are getting.
Unless there is a revolution. You still don't think it can happen?
What the hell has happened? Why can't we seem to turn it around? Why can't those fools in Washington see it?
The reason is simple. They don't want to. They are far Left and far right and for most of us, far away. That's what bothers me. They don't see the possibility of a revolution. Yes, I think it is possible.
When you have tons of people getting assistance for doing nothing and the rest of the people paying for it and getting nowhere, there is a problem. Driven people are not interested in being driven down and out. I read an opinion story in our local paper from a tenured professor about how our city doesn't do enough for the homeless. Are you kidding? Before you start spending more of the private sector's money, maybe the do-gooder professor types should leave a key under the mat and write their address on a piece of cardboard and leave it downtown where the homeless hang out?
Us will eventually have enough of them and that's where the revolution will happen. People will reach a point where they are tired of working to pay off people who don't work. We have traded a work ethic for a gimme ethic and that's why we have a problem. It is easier to receive than to give.
There is no way to save the country unless we start to recognize that problem. There are people getting a free ride who are very capable of paying society back. There are people getting a free ride that are causing most of the problems because of drugs and alcohol problems. They need to deal with their CHOICES. We don't need to give them a check so they can go buy more drugs and alcohol. Enough alreay!
There are hard working people who have come here illegally. They need to be identified and a sound path developed to allow them to come and work as long as they are not breaking our laws and not putting a citizen--even a teenage citizen--out of work.
I have been battling the IRS for almost a year. I asked them for an accounting of what they think I owed them, what I have paid them, and what the bottom line is. They keep sending me a form letter that they apologize but they are researching the problem and are very busy. Do you suppose they are busy auditing the drug dealers or the homeless guys at any Wal-Mart who are making tax-free livings?
But we won't get to those main street solutions because we get nothing but political blither from our elected leaders. Most of them are lawyers who are expertly trained in how not to give a straight answer and as long as they can get all of those benefits that we know about, and all of those benefits that we don't know about, we will get what we are getting.
Unless there is a revolution. You still don't think it can happen?
Saturday, February 19, 2011
He didn't want money
That was a first. A guy walked up to me yesterday at MacDonald's. I go there to get a cup of coffee when I am driving. When a young guy approaches you, it is usually for money. He was a young guy about 25 or so. He had "meandering" tattoos which is usually a sign of prison rather than the artsy tattoo parlors on O Street. I was all set for the money hit.
"Hey, are you driving that van outside?" he asked. I was. "There is a sign on it that says you need drivers. Is that true?" he asked. It was. "Well, I am living under a bridge and I need a job. I have a wife a two kids."
They were sitting at a nearby table sharing some fries. We are talking little kids here. One was a baby. I asked him if he knew about the Peoples City Mission a couple of blocks away. He did. The wife and the two kids were staying there but he was banned when he was twenty. So much for forgiveness, huh. He is doing time under a bridge in Nebraska. Thank God the winter is mostly gone.
They key point here is the guy didn't ask me for money. He asked me for a job. I called my boss and put them on the phone together. Maybe they can work something out.
He didn't have a phone. So many people worry that they don't have the latest iPhone and here is a guy, under a bridge in Nebraska, in winter, without as much as a signal.
Clearly, this kid messed up big time when he was a younger boy but now the man is trying to find a way out for his family. I hope my company gives him a chance. The driving job is not the greatest of jobs but hopefully he will get his chance. There are so many people out there trying to go the scam route that I really took notice of this kid. And his worried wife. And the two little kids.
Can you imagine?
"Hey, are you driving that van outside?" he asked. I was. "There is a sign on it that says you need drivers. Is that true?" he asked. It was. "Well, I am living under a bridge and I need a job. I have a wife a two kids."
They were sitting at a nearby table sharing some fries. We are talking little kids here. One was a baby. I asked him if he knew about the Peoples City Mission a couple of blocks away. He did. The wife and the two kids were staying there but he was banned when he was twenty. So much for forgiveness, huh. He is doing time under a bridge in Nebraska. Thank God the winter is mostly gone.
They key point here is the guy didn't ask me for money. He asked me for a job. I called my boss and put them on the phone together. Maybe they can work something out.
He didn't have a phone. So many people worry that they don't have the latest iPhone and here is a guy, under a bridge in Nebraska, in winter, without as much as a signal.
Clearly, this kid messed up big time when he was a younger boy but now the man is trying to find a way out for his family. I hope my company gives him a chance. The driving job is not the greatest of jobs but hopefully he will get his chance. There are so many people out there trying to go the scam route that I really took notice of this kid. And his worried wife. And the two little kids.
Can you imagine?
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