At Chicago Author Solutions (a division of Eckhartz Press), we stay on top of happenings/trends in the publishing world to help out busy writers who are spending their time doing what they should be doing: writing.
1. How to Be Creative (Tips from Picasso, Einstein, Stephen King)
You can always learn from the greats. This was in a recent issue of Time Magazine.
2. How to Gain Followers on Instagram
Instagram is a very visual social media, so it’s not perfect for all authors. For authors of more visually-oriented books, however, it’s a must. This article has some good tips about how to increase your instagram presence.
3. Amazon to put final nail in B&N coffin?
Interesting note. Barnes and Noble has lost approx 60% of it’s value in the last 6 months. They have 76 million shares outstanding at approx $7.40 share. This means that the company is valued at about $600 million, while Amazon is worth approx $250 Billion dollars. Amazon could buy (or initiate a hostile take over) B & K with .2 % asset allocation. Tick tock, Barnes and Noble. Now Amazon is launching retail outlets too.
4. Kindle cracks down on e-book quality
For those of you who don’t follow the whole Kindle world, there’s a movement that tracks free e-books and promotes them. Many Kindle readers used to sniff at paying anything at all for an e-book because so many of them were free. Ah, but you get what you pay for, don’t you? The quality was often horrible. Not just content-wise, but also formatting-wise. Authors tried to do it themselves to save money and made lots and lots of mistakes. It’s gotten so bad that amazon has been forced to crack down.
5. A great interview with Adam McKay, the man who transformed “The Big Short” into a motion picture
The Big Short is a great book by Michael Lewis. It’s now also a great film. Adam McCay is the man who transformed it into a movie, and this feature in the Washington Post is a great read.
6. Monkey in the Middle
People have been laughing at Dobie Maxwell his entire life. He has been a professional entertainer since 1985 appearing on stage, radio and television all over North America. He has also become one of the top teachers and mentors in the field with his “Maxwell Method of Standup Comedy” course which has helped a wide variety of people from all walks of life to find the funny in their own life’s journey. Eckhartz Press is thrilled to be releasing his incredible memoirs.
