For my LMU Class:
1. USA TODAY Article :: Authors Catch Fire with Self-Published e-Books
This article points up a recent story of a young girl who self-published her novel as an ebook and sold over 465,000 copies.
It’s possible to generate an income on your creativity via eBooks with aggressive social media.
2. Wall Street Journal Article :: As You May Have Read in My Book…
This article points up an interesting story about a dentist who wrote a book called “This Won’t Hurt a Bit” and has sold over 20,000 copies and created an increase in business.
Again, enhancing a mainline via a sideline.
3. Wall Street Journal Article :: Delivering ‘Decoded’ in Multiple Ways
4. Wall Street Journal Article :: ‘Product-Place Me’: A Filmmaker Finds Topic, Funds in One Well
Morgan Spurlock, the indie filmmaker behind “Super Size Me,” talked with Michelle Kung at the Sundance film festival about his latest project, “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.” The film explores product placement and advertising in films and was 100% funded through product placement. Check out Spurlock’s corporate suit.
CBS News Video :: Morgan Spurlock
Ingenious — Spurlock gets brands to fund his film about brands and product placement. I should have been filming me in action putting together the deals for my books and brands.
READ:: REWORK by software engineers — the book is a by-product of their software program. They started a blog about the process of creating and marketing their software and then turned their blog into a book which has generated over 1 million in revenue. See the book, reviews, letters from readers, 37Sginals site.
Most business books give you the same old advice: Write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you’re looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf. Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Read it and you’ll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don’t need outside investors, and why you’re better off ignoring the competition. The truth is, you need less than you think. You don’t need to be a workaholic. You don’t need to staff up. You don’t need to waste time on paperwork or meetings. You don’t even need an office. Those are all just excuses. What you really need to do is stop talking and start working. This book shows you the way. You’ll learn how to be more productive, how to get exposure without breaking the bank, and tons more counter-intuitive ideas that will inspire and provoke you. With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who#x19;s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs they hate, victims of “downsizing,” and artists who don#x19;t want to starve anymore will all find valuable guidance in these pages.
5. Wall Street Journal Article :: Facebook’s Web of Frenemies
How are you integrating “social media” into your transmedia content?
So… Facebook has 600 Million users — how can you integrate your content onto Facebook? You can post it on your Facebook page and push for “likes”. What else can you do?
LETTER TO CLASS
Dear Class:
Please see these links below:
USA TODAY Article :: Authors Catch Fire with Self-Published e-Books
READ:: REWORK by software engineers–the book is a by-product of their software program. They started a BLOG about the process of creating and marketing their software and then turned their blog into a book which has generated over 1M in revenue. You can read the book on Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?printsec=frontcover&id=U77um_h_dgcC#v=onepage&q&f=false This is a quick read–the NOW of starting a business as well as turning your creative ventures into financial successes.* I feel the concepts in this book are so important that I’m adding it to the reading list and there will be questions about it in the midterm.
About the Book:: Most business books give you the same old advice: Write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you’re looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf. Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Read it and you’ll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don’t need outside investors, and why you’re better off ignoring the competition. The truth is, you need less than you think. You don’t need to be a workaholic. You don’t need to staff up. You don’t need to waste time on paperwork or meetings. You don’t even need an office. Those are all just excuses. What you really need to do is stop talking and start working. This book shows you the way. You’ll learn how to be more productive, how to get exposure without breaking the bank, and tons more counter-intuitive ideas that will inspire and provoke you. With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs they hate, victims of “downsizing,” and artists who don’t want to starve anymore will all find valuable guidance in these pages.
*re: success: I had the pleasure and good fortune of meeting a new friend over the weekend about my works-in-progress. This man has a business he started ten years ago now valued at $8 Billion. I met him on the plane to meet Steve Wilson, CEO of FastPencil. We had a long talk about the definition of success. He sees success on three planes. There is Personal Success (balance in life), Professional Success, and Financial Success. People think that “professional success” is inclusive of “financial success” and vice versa. But that is not true. Do not confuse the two. You can have tremendous professional success and be unable to support yourself. My goal for all of you is to have all three… and to have the means to go out and be compensated for your art. I think we all know the idea of the starving artist is outdated. Even the writer Somerset Maugham (Of Human Bondage) said if you want to be writer, marry rich. I don’t mean to impress “money” on you. But I know that when I was in school, there was little to prepare us for the realities of making a living as an “artist”, today’s terms is “content creator.” So my goal for you is to THINK DIFFERENT, HONE YOUR CRAFT AS AN ARTIST*, and be SMART and CLEVER, so you may have all three successes.
Re: honing your craft as an artist — fyi, I had the fortune of seeing a private screening this past weekend of MAO’S LAST DANCER. This is a great film about honing one’s craft and a whole lot more. I highly recommend it!