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Jim Cox Report: November 2016

Dear Publisher Folk, Friends & Family:

This month I want to follow up on the theme of conducting your writing and/or publishing activities as a business where the intention is for you to make money -- hopefully enough money to support yourself so that you can go on writing and/or publishing as a career.

In today's commercial world the use of the internet and web sites to sell goods (like books) and services (like writing and publishing) is an absolute necessity. To that end you'll be happy to learn that you don't have to reinvent any wheels. There are a number of really good 'how to' books that you can use as a kind of do-it-yourself workshop to gain the expertise needed. One of the best of these is:



How to Use the Internet to Advertise, Promote, and Market Your Business or Web Site - With Little or No Money
Bruce C. Brown & Lawrence Chan
Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.
1405 S.W. 6th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34471
www.atlantic-pub.com
9781601389497, $39.95, HC, 336pp, www.amazon.com

Now in a significantly updated and expanded third edition, "How to Use the Internet to Advertise, Promote, and Market Your Business or Web Site - With Little or No Money" is specifically written for anyone who is interested in promoting his or her business and/or web site, but mus operate on a shoestring (or even no string!) budget.

This thoroughly 'user friendly' instruction manual effectively shows how to build, promote, and make money off of a web site as well as a brick and mortar store using the Internet, with minimal costs. This do-it-yourself guide shows how to generate more traffic for a web site or store with hundreds of Internet marketing methods, including many free and low-cost promotions.

Offering a comprehensive, hands-on, step-by-step guide for increasing web site traffic and traditional store traffic by using hundreds of proven tips, tools, and techniques, readers will be taught how they can target more customers to their business and optimize their web site from a marketing perspective -- including targeting campaigns, using keywords, generate free advertising, employ search-engine strategies, apply inside secrets of e-mail marketing, as well as building web communities, co-branding, auto-responders, Google advertising, banner advertising, eBay storefronts, web-design information, search-engine registration, directories.

Of special note are the inclusion of real-world examples of what strategies are succeeding and what strategies are failing.

Offering a complete course of practical and methodical instruction, "How to Use the Internet to Advertise, Promote, and Market Your Business or Web Site - With Little or No Money" is especially recommended to the attention of non-specialist general readers with no previous experience with marketing on the internet or using the internet to promote the goods and/or services offered by their established business.

While unreservedly and emphatically recommended for community and academic library Business Management instructional reference collections and supplemental studies lists, it should be noted that "How to Use the Internet to Advertise, Promote, and Market Your Business or Web Site - With Little or No Money " is also available in a paperback edition (9781601389497, $24.95).



Now on to some more current reviews of new titles that I recommend for authors and/or publishers:



The Writing/Publishing Shelf

Being Professional
Adam Coplan
Michael Wiese Productions
12400 Ventura Blvd., #1111, Studio City, CA 91604
www.mwp.com
9781615932498, $24.95, PB, 220pp, www.amazon.com

With respect to the specialized area of screen writing, "Being Professional" by Adam Coplan is a complete course of instruction under one cover. "Being Professional" teaches the ABCs of screenwriting from a practical perspective, rather than a merely theoretical or academic perspective. "Being Professional" highlights the many traps, mistakes, and pitfalls that frequently plague writers of all experience levels and shows them the difference between simply completing a script as an amateur, and taking an idea and executing the best version of it as a professional piece, worthy of industry attention. Of special note are the chapters on editing and presentation, Simply stated, "Being Professional" should be considered a mandatory study manual for anyone and every one who aspires to write a play for film, television, or theatre.

The Writer's Way, ninth edition
Jack Rawlins and Stephen Metzger
Cengage Learning, Inc.
20 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA 02210
www.cengage.com
9781285438542 $126.95 pbk / $24.99 ebook www.cengagebrain.com

Now in an updated ninth edition, The Writer's Way is a professional textbook designed especially for college writing courses. Formulated around a whole language approach, and the core principles of knowing one's audience and having a good reason to write, The Writer's Way is an intermediate to advanced guide applicable to students refining their skill in all types of writing, from academic research papers to written debates to prose fiction. "A research guide does more than list entries; it's a real instruction manual on doing research in the field. It may summarize or critique the sources it lists, review the biographical materials available, give an overview of what's being done in the field, and even suggest fruitful new lines of inquiry... If you can find a reference guide to your subject, and it isn't out-of-date, begin your research there." The Writer's Way is a superb resource for classroom use or self-study, and a "must-read" for every student seeking a college degree. It should be noted for personal reading lists that The Writer's Way is also available in an affordable ebook edition ($24.99).

Rittenhouse Writers: Reflections on a Fiction Workshop
James Rahan
Paul Dry Books
1700 Sansom Street, Suite 700, Philadelphia, PA 19103-5214
www.pauldrybooks.com
9781589881129, $20.00, PB, 275pp, www.amazon.com

James Rahn has led the Rittenhouse Writers' Group since he founded it in 1988, making it one of America's longest-running independent fiction workshops. Hundreds of writers and would-be writers have sought out the group for its remarkable level of instruction and collaboration. "Rittenhouse Writers: Reflections on a Fiction Workshop" is Rahn's personal memoir of the workshop and how his own evolution as both a teacher and a writer (as well as a son, husband, and father) has been intertwined with the establishment and growth of the RWG. In addition, Rahn includes ten short stories written by current and former members of the workshop. These short stories include "On Fire" by Gwen Florio; "Mother—6/7 Months" by Romnesh Lamba; "Moon Penitent" by Diane McKinney-Whetstone; "The Last Confession" by Tom Teti; "Ivory Is Wrong About Me" by Caren Litvin; "The Conference Rat" by Samantha Gillison; "Dropping a Line into the Murky Chop" by Saral Waldorf; "What She Missed" by Lisa Paparone; "Kingdom of the Sun" by Alice Schell; and "The Letters of Hon. Crawford G. Bolton III" by Daniel R. Biddle. An impressively written, informative and insightful read, "Rittenhouse Writers: Reflections on a Fiction Workshop" is very highly recommended for community and academic library Literary Studies collections, and have a great deal of special interest for all aspiring authors and writer workshop providers. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Rittenhouse Writers: Reflections on a Fiction Workshop" is also available in a Kindle format ($9.99).



Here is "The Midwest Book Review Postage Stamp Hall Of Fame & Appreciation" roster of well-wishers and supporters. These are the generous folk who decided to say 'thank you' and 'support the cause' that is the Midwest Book Review by donating postage stamps this past month:

Thomas Berry -- "2050"
Steven Fuchs -- "Soyusblue"
Lucian Leonte -- "The Migrant"
Jackie Kingon -- "Sherlock Mars"
Dan Chadburn -- "Beyond Words"
Daniel Chadburn -- "Beyond Words"
Alan Britt -- "Lost Among The Hours"
Marian D. Schwartz -- "Sara Barefield"
Sally Sockwell -- "Aunt Betty Horns In"
Lynda Stephenson -- "Still Marching On"
Annie Campbell -- "The Whore Next Door"
Mitchell Charles -- "The Kingdom of Oceana"
Gary J. Quinn -- "Moral Education in America"
Phaeton Publishing
Red Feather Publishing
Three Points Publishing
American Nutritional Counseling, LLC
Jeanna Kunce -- Windhill Books
Rachel Semlyen -- Royal Fireworks Press
Rosemary Bensko -- Insubordinate Books
Mary White Packer -- Meadow Lane Press
Elizabeth Waldman Frazier -- Waldmania!

In lieu of (or in addition to!) postage stamp donations, we also accept PayPal gifts of support to our postage stamp fund for what we try to accomplish in behalf of the small press community. Simply log onto your PayPal account and direct your kindness (in any amount and at your discretion) to the Midwest Book Review at:

SupportMBR [at] aol.com

(The @ is replaced by "[at]" in the above email address, in an attempt to avoid email-harvesting spambots.)

If you have postage stamps to donate, or if you have a book you'd like considered for review, then send those postage stamps (always appreciated, never required), or a published copy of that book (no galleys, uncorrected proofs, or Advance Reading Copies), accompanied by a cover letter and some form of publicity release to my attention at the address below.

All of the previous issues of the "Jim Cox Report" are archived on the Midwest Book Review website at www.midwestbookreview.com/bookbiz/jimcox.htm. If you'd like to receive the "Jim Cox Report" directly (and for free), just send me an email asking to be signed up for it.

So until next time -- goodbye, good luck, and good reading!

Jim Cox
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI, 53575
http://www.midwestbookreview.com


James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
e-mail: mwbookrevw@aol.com
http://www.midwestbookreview.com


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