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E-mail Publishing

July 14, 2009 by Roy Johnson

complete guide to electronic publishing on a budget

Lots of people now have websites, but are they reaching lots of customers? In the main – no. And the reason? Well, how does anybody know a site exists? Why should they go there when there are lots of others doing the same thing? And who’s got the time anyway? Chris Pirillo argues that e-mail can be a more effective way of reaching customers than the Web. And he might be right. Many people pin all their hopes on a few HTML pages stuck up on a server (which he describes as being like opening a hamburger stand in a dead-end street). On the other hand, almost everybody reads their e-mail, so why not use it as a vehicle for publishing instead?

Some of the more popular e-mail newsletters have 200-400,000 regular subscribers. He outlines the possibilities – discussion groups, bulletins, and announcement lists – but it’s the free e-mail newsletter which is at the heart of this book. He takes you through all the technicalities of how to run one. ISP registration; mailing programs; list management software [it’s still possible to do most of this free, by the way] subscribing and unsubscribing; and how to deal with bounced messages and address changes. The approach is direct, there’s a reassuring tone, and his advice is based on first-hand experience – which follows the very practical approach of these guides from TopFloor.

This is most definitely not a get-rich-quick manual. In fact many of the successful ventures he describes don’t make any money from their newsletters – though they might from associated activity, such as consultancies and advertising. In fact the odd thing, as he observes, is that there might be a case for creating a website which compliments a newsletter.

The latter part of the book is a series of essays by other successful newsletter entrepreneurs: Peter Kent, founder of TopFloor publishing; Adam Boettiger who describes running a discussion list; Fred Langa who bravely reveals the nightmare of running a list during a series of recursive mailbounce loops; and Randy Cassingham, who made his newsletter This Is True into a full time job:

Everybody thought I was crazy; they didn’t see how I could make money by giving my column away for free over the Internet. I replied that I ought to be able to quit my day job in two years, and then went home that night an expanded my notes into a business plan. That plan has remained virtually unchanged and, virtually two years to the day later, I quit my day job, moved to Colorado, and went to work full time on This is True.

There are also several useful appendices: list service providers (Lyris is the current favourite); mailing list software (LISTSERV, Majordomo); resources for electronic publishing; e-mail programs; mailing list e-mail commands (such as unsubscribing and requesting a weekly digest of messages); and fifty golden tips for e-mail publishers.

He’s gung-ho, but doesn’t hide the fact that it’s all a lot of hard work. However, if you follow his instructions, you could be up and running in a few days. But what happens if your newsletter is so successful that the technical management of it becomes a pain? Answer – subscribe to a list management service. He gives a comprehensive list of questions a potential subscriber should be prepared to ask in making a selection.

So although the book appears to be targeted on a small audience, it is one which might expand rapidly as soon as people wake up to the fact that e-mail is what he calls the ‘undiscovered form of electronic commerce’. This is an excellent addition to the best-selling series of TopFloor’s ‘Poor Richard’ guides to digital enterprise.

Buy the book at Amazon UK

Buy the book at Amazon US

Chris Pirillo, Poor Richard’s E-mail Publishing: Creating Newsletters, Bulletins, Discussion Groups, and Other Powerful Communication Tools, Colorado: TopFloor, 1999, pp.334, ISBN: 0966103254

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ePublishing and eBooks

October 2, 2009 by Roy Johnson

a selection of resources reviewed

One rapidly expanding opportunity for writers using the Internet is the creation of eBooks. These have the advantage that they can be written, stored, and sent electronically. ePublishing is available for whatever you wish; it doesn’t cost much; you can start small; there are no printing, storage, or postage costs; and you can control the whole process from your back bedroom.

eBooks can be read on desktop computers, but many people prefer to use laptops, eBook readers, or PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) such as the Palm Pilot. Other people print off the pages and read from the conventional page. So you’ve got to be prepared to supply your text in a number of different formats if you want to reach all audiences.

Creating E-books
Chris Van Buren and Jeff Cogswell address all these issues, and provide you with all the information you need to make a start. They include a survey of the e-publishing business; planning and creating an e-book; getting the book published; finance and copyright; and a selection of personal success stories. One of the more interesting features of the advice they give is that it’s suitable either for individuals with just one book to market, or for people who might wish to set up as publishers, ready to promote several titles. As usual with the excellent Topfloor ‘Poor Richard’ series, every chapter is packed with recommendations for online resources – many of which are low-budget or free.

You can market your own eBooks, but a very popular alternative is to place titles with distributors like Fatbrain and split the proceeds. There are also electronic versions of conventional publishers who will pay you royalties up to fifty percent.

The Internet Writer’s Handbook
This is a detailed guide to publishers of the two formats which are most digital – e-zines and e-books. It’s in the form of an international A-Z listing of the best websites for writers to target, with full contact details for all websites listed. It offers plenty of detail on how to submit your work , how much publishers will pay, and even how they are most likely to respond. The topics these publishers cover range from poetry and fiction, through non-fiction writing, to specialist publications.

Email Publishing
It’s quickly apparent to most writers that this system means that self-publication is an attractive option. In fact Chris Pirillo argues that email publishing can be much more effective than the Web. How is this? Well, he describes publishing via a web site as “like opening a hamburger stand in a dead-end street”. Not many people will pass by, and even fewer are likely to make a purchase.

On the other hand, almost everybody reads their e-mail, so why not use it as a vehicle for publishing instead? Some of the more popular e-mail newsletters have up to 400,000 regular subscribers. In he outlines all the possibilities – discussion groups, bulletins, and announcement lists – but it’s the free e-mail newsletter which is at the heart of this book. He takes you through all the technicalities of how to run one.

This can be used to promote your writing – or even as a hot and direct form of journalism if you are a non-fiction writer. And this guy knows whereof he speaks. He publishes several email newsletters every day, draws down revenue from advertisers, and earns a living from it.

Publish your writing

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Publicity, Newsletters and Press Releases

May 22, 2009 by Roy Johnson

beginner’s practical guide to promotional writing skills

Oxford University Press have just brought out a series of short beginner’s manuals on communication skills. Their emphasis is on compact, no-nonsense advice directly related to issues of everyday life. Alison Baverstock’s guide shows you how to generate effective publicity and promotional writing skills through careful writing. It’s aimed at anyone who needs to publicise an event, an organisation, or a cause – whether it’s a big commercial business or just your own hobby. She starts from the position that the written word is powerful and important, and that different standards of correctness or informality are required depending on the medium – be it email, letters, press releases, or company reports.

Next comes what she calls ‘promotional writing’ – copy which is trying to persuade, sell something, or convince readers. Her advice is to avoid jargon, and to choose short, clear expression, rather than writing which is striving to impress. You should check your grammar, and avoid the common pitfalls of weak writing – such as split infinitives, misplaced apostrophes, and inconsistent tenses.

She shows how to write press releases to gain publicity, and how to angle a story to make it more appealing. The secret is to make clear distinctions between different media, and she gives plenty of examples, showing how to contact people to advantage in a way that’s more likely to get your story accepted.

The general advice is quite logical. You need to make your appeal for attention attractive, accurate, and functionally effective. This means going into a lot of detail and being rigorous about names, phone numbers, and contact details.

On newsletters she emphasises the importance of the relationship with subscribers. As a newsletter editor myself, I was interested to see that she places maximum importance on the interest of the reader, not on the writer or editor. Obviously, the newsletter should be interesting, and she explains a number of strategies for hooking the reader’s attention.

There are also lots of excellent tips along the way, and examples of good and bad practice based on real-life situations. This guide will be of use to anybody who wants to engage with the world of public writing.

Buy the book at Amazon UK

Buy the book at Amazon US

Alison Baverstock, Publicity, Newsletters and Press Releases, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp.98, ISBN: 0198603843

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complete guide to electronic publishing on a budget

a selection of resources reviewed

beginner’s practical guide to promotional writing skills

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