There is a difference! I’ve been calling it automated tweets all this time, but what I really mean to say is scheduled tweets. Even if it’s recurring scheduled tweets.
Automated tweets are just automation in the absence of human engagement. Automated tweets are those that repeat at regular intervals, with no interaction, mentions, replies or anything else in between.
Scheduled tweets, are different. I schedule many of my tweets and even RTs in order to spread them out. I’m still present and active online, but I use the schedule feature as a courtesy to my followers so they don’t feel as if I’m dumping tweet after tweet into their stream. I also try to spread things out so that my followers who aren’t presently online might also see my tweets at a later time and also when I’m unavailable. This doesn’t mean I’m not socially interacting and engaging people. It doesn’t mean I’m not checking in regularly.
I’ve been using TweetAdder for a couple of years now, but lately I’ve had nothing but trouble with the scheduled tweets. The other parts of it still work great, but my biggest use for it is scheduled tweets, as that’s what drives people to my blog(s). I even write about it and recommend it in my book Publishing & Marketing Realities for the Emerging Author.
I don’t recommend it anymore. I’m currently searching for a better way to schedule recurring tweets, as part of my four-fold Twitter approach, but the second edition of my book won’t be recommending TweetAdder. In fact, so much has changed in the last year in social networking and in the publishing industry, that I’ll have to jump on the second edition very, very soon.
Disclaimer, I’m not a fan of Lulu.com for reasons I’ll outline in a future blog. One of the main ones is that CreateSpace does the same thing, does it better, and offers more for the emerging author.
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The growing popularity if self-publishing has people wondering how it will affect the publishing industry as a whole. Lulu.com is a site specifically for self-publishers, and it is quickly attracting attention. They allow prospective authors to publish their work for others to purchase online. When a customer buys the book, Lulu.com takes care of the rest, including printing the book and mailing it to the customer. All they require is 20% of the profit. With the growing number of people wanting to write a book, it gives hope to those who would have a small chance of being published otherwise, and this online site requires a much smaller cut of the sale than typical publishers. These large publishing companies will also usually require some kind of upfront fee before they publish a book, but Lulu.com doesn’t require anything if your book doesn’t sell. Read the rest of this entry »
Later this month, sources claim that Apple won’t be talking about the latest techno-gadget they made before everyone else. They’re known for their cutting-edge technology, quality products, and elitist pricing, but this month’s Apple event won’t focus on any of that. This month, they’re talking eBooks and eBook Publishing through their iBook platform.
Yay!
See the reports on TechCrunch and in The Telegraph. Also in The Telegraph, a report on how Apple might have entered into an illegal agreement over eBook pricing with some of the NY Big Boys. This a fallout of what happened with Amazon in 2010 when the “agency model” was forced upon them after Apple teamed up with the Big Boys to set their own eBook prices. This is why you sometimes pay as much (if not more) than the paperback/hardback version for an eBook by one of the Big Boys.
I’ve said it before myself. NY Big Boy Publishers are only hurting themselves (well, along with their readers and their authors, I suppose) with their stance on eBooks. Here is an interesting blog post on the subject of DRM by author Charlie Stross: “Cutting Their Own Throats”
Excerpt:
The corporate drive for DRM is motivated by the fear of ebook piracy. But aside from piracy, the biggest ebook-related threat to the Big Six is called Amazon.com. Until 2008, ebooks were a tiny market segment, under 1% and easily overlooked; but in 2009 ebook sales began to rise exponentially, and ebooks now account for over 20% of all fiction sales. In some areas ebooks are up to 40% of the market and rising rapidly. (I am not making that last figure up: I’m speaking from my own sales figures.) And Amazon have got 80% of the ebook retail market.
For various reasons the major publishers don’t sell direct to the public themselves — they go via external retail channels. Of these channels, Amazon is the 500kg gorilla of internet sales. Amazon has ruthlessly used its near monopoly of online sales to exert monopsony buying pressure against suppliers, forcing the likes of Holtzbrinck or Penguin or Hachette to give them a deep discount on ebooks. In the past they have de-listed publishers’ paper editions during negotiations, chopping their sales off at the knees in an attempt to force them to grant favourable sales terms. When Amazon extract deeper discounts from their suppliers, they pass some of the discount on to the public — this expands their monopoly position on the retail side by undercutting their rivals. It’s good for customers in the short term, but it’s not good for anyone in the long run: they’re sweating their suppliers, all the way back down the supply chain (read: to authors like me) and sooner or later they’ll put their suppliers out of business.
Anyway, my point is that the Big Six’s pig-headed insistence on DRM on ebooks is handing Amazon a stick with which to beat them harder.
New York is still making stupid decisions when it comes to eBooks. They’ve pulled their eBooks from Amazon’s Lending Library. Also, a look at the huge scare around eBook Pirates. Is it really anything to worry about?
Considering how profoundly it’s changed our lives, it’s small wonder that high tech has infiltrated the furthest reaches of society, and beyond. Consider the vampire. Once resigned to roaming the shadows in search of victims, save for the occasional flight of fancy in the form of a bat, these denizens of the dark no longer have to rely purely on pot luck for their dinners. There are at least 10 technologies that vampires can use to lure their prey:
Text messaging – Silently, with mere swipes of his touch pad, the vampire’s intended is made aware of his intentions: I vant to meet you for dinner, my dah-ling.
Email – Gather a mailing list from the Red Cross, and send out a forward to an entire contact list. Sit back and wait for the dinner bell to ring.
Facebook – What could be better than a whole network of tender necks at one’s beck and call, providing updates of their every move?
Instant Messaging – For one-on-one engagements with his prey, the 21st century vampire can keep in touch on his desktop and visper sveet nothings all night long.
Forums – Goth and vampire sites would be a good start, of course. The modern-day vampire will now be part spirit, part animal, and part troll.
YouTube – It’s hard to beat a well-produced video presentation for promoting yourself. Add a smooth techno or death metal track to add some bite, and you’re good to go. Bwahaha.
Twitter – Imagine that.Technology that now makes it possible for a bat to tweet. Make those 140 characters count, #Count. Those retweets will be like echoes in the night.
Chat Rooms – Pick a group, or start your own, and strike up a little conversation with someone on your bloody buddy list.
Search Engine Listing – Let them know how they can find a dashing, dapper, debonair, dentally-challenged dude. Yes, that’s right. We’re talking about Googling ghouls.
Reality TV – Vampirettes, anyone? Or Who Wants to Marry a Bloodthirsty Beast That Sleeps All Day and Goes Out All Night? Have we got a contestant for you.
Early last month, Amazon introduced their KDP Select Program for Kindle authors. This is a way to earn added royalties, use added promotional tools for your title, and get prime visibility on Amazon.com. Through KDP Select, Amazon Prime members can read any KDP Select Kindle eBook for free through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
From Amazon:
KDP Select is a new option that features a $6 million annual fund dedicated to independent authors and publishers. If you choose to make a book exclusive to the Kindle Store for at least 90 days, the book is eligible to be included in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library and you can earn a share of the fund based on how frequently the book is borrowed. In addition, by choosing KDP Select, you will have access to a new set of promotional tools, starting with the option to offer enrolled books free to readers for up to 5 days every 90 days. Authors and publishers can enroll a single title, their whole catalog or anything in between within KDP Select. Read the rest of this entry »
Award-winning author of the Rowan of the Wood YA fantasy series. Helps emerging authors feel successful by educating them about the publishing industry and marketing their book. Available to speak about writing, publishing, and marketing to your writer's group, library, event, or other organization. Needs copious amounts of dark chocolate, frothy mochas, and loving attention.
Later this month, sources claim that Apple won’t be talking about the latest techno-gadget they made before everyone else. They’re known for their cutting-edge technology, quality products, and elitist pricing, but this month’s Apple event won’t focus on any of that. This month, they’re talking eBooks and eBook Publishing through their iBook platform.
Considering how profoundly it’s changed our lives, it’s small wonder that high tech has infiltrated the furthest reaches of society, and beyond. Consider the vampire. Once resigned to roaming the shadows in search of victims, save for the occasional flight of fancy in the form of a bat, these denizens of the dark no longer have to rely purely on pot luck for their dinners. There are at least 10 technologies that vampires can use to lure their prey:
Early last month, Amazon introduced their KDP Select Program for Kindle authors. This is a way to earn added royalties, use added promotional tools for your title, and get 
