Interesting post on the history of business cards

Thanks to Will Sherwood on LinkedIn for this link.

You missed a good event

The Self-Publishing Book Expo, October 22 in NYC, was well attended. Sessions were excellent, I’m told. But the crowd in the exhibit hall kept me pinned to my table all day, so I can’t offer any direct reports. I do know that the list of speakers included some of the major lights of independent publishing, and people came away with a lot more knowledge than they arrived with. The exhibitors included a number of companies that provide important services to self-publishing authors, and I had productive conversations with both attendees and other exhibitors.

This is a fast-evolving business, and attending conferences is an important way to stay up to date.

Sorry you couldn’t make it. Maybe I’ll see you there next year.

Self-Publishing Book Expo, October 22, NYC

I’ll have an exhibit table at the Self-Publishing Book Expo this coming Saturday. Stop by to say hello.

Location:

The Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers
811 7th Avenue (between 52nd & 53rd)
New York NY 10019
Main number for hotel: 212-581-1000

The exhibit hall will be the New York Ballroom West, on the third floor.

Hours: 9 am to 5 pm

Are you a soon-to-be-famous novelist?

Read this interview. Thanks to Jane Friedman for the tip on Google+.

Making Mini-Mes

I was in Baltimore Friday and Saturday, at this year’s Communication Central conference, organized every year by the freelance publishing world’s very own hostess with the mostest, Ruth “I can write about anything!”™ Thaler-Carter.

I spoke yesterday afternoon to a roomful of editors on how to attract self-publishing authors and how best to help them. The audience was receptive, and I hope some of the people there will take up the challenge.

The more the merrier, I say. Independent publishing is growing at a tremendous rate, far outpacing traditional publishing. In 2010, 2.8 million titles were released in the United States. If independent self-publishing is going to gain traction and credibility—as well it should—in the publishing world, producing quality books is going to be a key, whether they’re printed books or e-books. And that invariably means that most self-publishing authors are going to need at least some input from professional editors and designers. There should be plenty of work to keep us all busy.

There were several excellent presentations at the conference, running in two tracks. I picked up some valuable ideas, and I know others did too.