Sunday, September 06, 2015

Back to Business in September!


THE PLEASURES & PERILS OF INDIE PUBLISHING:
PALA’s September Panel


September always seems to be a time of getting serious again, as summer winds down and gives way to fall. To jumpstart the efforts of indie authors and publishers out there, I have produced a September 16th panel for the Publishers Association of Los Angeles, pulling together some of the smartest authors and publishers I know. They'll be sharing their successes and smartest moves, as well the things you'll want to avoid.

Here’s the lineup:

OUR SPEAKERS

MAGGIE MARR, an indie author of 15 contemporary romance novels  www.maggiemarr.net

JANISS GARZA, President, FitCat Enterprises. After publishing her own book, she has gone on to publish other authors’ work.  www.fitcatinc.com

CAROL HOWARD JOHNSON, the author of the How-To-Do-It-Frugally series on publishing, as well as poetry and novels.  www.HowToDoItFrugally.com

GERALD EVERETT JONES, Proprietor of LaPuerta Books and Media, which has published six of his novels. Gerald also has penned more than 30 business and technical books.

Once again I'll be moderating. Looking forward to seeing some of you there!

Details below....

Write on!


ROBIN QUINN
LA book coach and book editor
25 years of making your ideas sparkle!
DATE:  Wednesday, September 16, 2015
TIME:  7:00 p.m.
LOCATION:  Veterans Memorial Building, 4117 Overland Avenue, Culver City. Corner of Overland & Culver. Parking is free on site. The parking entrance is on Culver. Meetings are on the first floor, down the hall to the left of the front doors. The PALA sign will be on the meeting room door. NOTE: Wear layered clothing. The room is usually comfortable, but the temperature may vary.
COST:  $5.00 for PALA members; $15.00 for nonmembers; $10 for IWOSC members. Advance admission can be purchased until the day before the program with PayPal on the PALA website: www.pa-la.org.
QUESTIONS:  Robin Quinn, quinnrobin@aol.com, 310-838-7098

Please follow PALA on Facebook at tinyurl.com>PALA-Facebook and Twitter at twitter.com/#!PalaPub

Please visit the PALA website for updates at www.pa-la.org.


Sunday, May 24, 2015

Summer -- Time to See If Your Website Is Working for You?



Memorial Day Weekend always feels like the start of summer for me. Last week, I picked the flowers above from the gardens around my California home. Been using grey water from dish-washing and hand-washing clothes to hydrate the plants, and it's been enough on its own. We all have to do our part out here in the Golden State during the current drought!

Is Summer a slower time of year for you? Perhaps the more leisurely pace of things will give you time to look at whether your website is doing its job. Google was very helpful when I contacted them recently to line up a speaker to explain the basics of Google Analytics. His name is Adam Singer, and he's a Google Analytics Ambassador. Singer will be flying down from Northern California to speak to the Publishers Association of Los Angeles, where I am on the Program Planning Committee and also serve as Secretary. More details on Adam and the program below. We should learn a lot of useful things about this mysterious service from someone who well understands its ins and outs.

Also working on a PALA program for September on lessons learned by successful small publishers. Stay tuned!

WHAT THE HECK 

IS GOOGLE ANALYTICS?


How to Use This Free Web Service 

to Sell More Books


WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2015
7:00 PM

Ever wonder if your website is working for you and how to improve it? At our June PALA meeting, digital marketing expert Adam Singer will explain the ins and outs of the free website analytics service called Google Analytics. You’ll see how it can help you start making better book marketing decisions.
Google Analytics can help you evaluate:
  • Whether your website template is accomplishing what you want it to do
  • Where your website visitors are coming from
  • What pages people visit, the length of their stay, and the route they take to leave the site
  • The best and worst web copy on your site
  • Other activity on your site, such as watching videos or downloading files
  • What content of yours is being shared the most on social media
  • Which social media channels make the most sense for you
In addition, Singer will discuss the reports that are available for you, which ones make the most sense as a publisher or an author, as well as how to begin analyzing them.
PALA Members' Websites Featured in Program:  Brenda Avadian of www.thecaregiversvoice.com and Eric Roth ofwww.compellingconversations.com have agreed to have their websites used as examples in this presentation.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: In addition to being a Google Analytics Ambassador, Adam Singer runs The Future Buzz, one of the most popular blogs on the web about digital marketing/PR strategies. This blog has more than 25,000 subscribers, and it can be found at thefuturebuzz.com/. He also writes an analytics column for ClickZ.com. Singer has consulted with and advised such media clients as The New York Times and PR Web on using Google Analytics for better engagement with web visitors.
MODERATOR: PALA Board Member Robin Quinn of www.writingandediting.biz .

DATE: Wednesday, June 17, 2015.
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Veterans Memorial Building, 4117 Overland Avenue, Culver City. Corner of Overland & Culver. Parking is free on site. The parking entrance is on Culver. Meetings are on the first floor, down the hall to the left of the front doors. The PALA sign will be on the meeting room door. NOTE: Wear layered clothing. The room is usually comfortable, but the temperature may vary.
COST: Free for PALA members; $10.00 for IWOSC members; $15.00 for nonmembers. Advance admission can be purchased until the day before the program with PayPal on our website: www.pa-la.org.
QUESTIONS: Sharon Goldinger, Program Chair, pplspeak@att.net, 949-581-6190.
Remember to visit our Web site for updates!

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Happy Spring 2015!



"Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn." 
~ Lewis Grizzard 
in Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You

Spring is a time of fresh starts, and that's also true for this blog. After an extended absence, I finally regained access to my blog, and I plan to start regularly posting very soon. Ah... the magic of persistence against technical difficulties. lol  That was the problem... no funny business.

In the meantime, I will share that I am still on the Planning Committee for the Publishers Association of Los Angeles -- otherwise known as PALA -- and continue to be on their board as Secretary. I'm working on a couple programs for later this year, and I should have an update on the first of these within the month.

Otherwise, I am working with two exciting spiritual authors, a young new memoirist whose writing is coming along beautifully, and I've been doing more web writing too.

Last month I also added grantwriting to my skills with a wonderful two-day workshop. 

To wrap up, recently I was driving across town to meet a friend. The city glowed in the early evening light, and I thought how I had never seen such beautiful trees and landscapes. Later I realized it was the change in time with Daylight Saving Time which had illuminated the cityscape so perfectly that day. So here's to enjoying the natural world at this time of year, and don't forget to smell the Jasmine (or whatever is available where you are!). 

Write on!

Robin
Book Coach, Editor, Writer
www.writingandediting.biz
Los Angeles, California