IS TWITTER.COM IN TROUBLE?

SEVERAL POLLS SHOW A MAJOR DECLINE 

Traffic to the site Twitter.com plummeted by 27.8% over the last several months, dropping to 18.9 million visitors. That’s still hardly a shabby number! comScore and Compete also reported on the slippage, but clocked it at a far more modest level. TweetStats claims that 30% of tweets currently come directly from the web site. 

Several analysts point to the increase in mobile Tweeter activity as a major contributing factor. 

Earlier this autumn, eMarketer predicted that by the end of this year adults using Twitter would number 18 million. The firm states that its prediction remains firm because the numbers of people accessing the site through other than the web site continues to grow. 

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HARLEQUIN TREADS ON SHAKY GROUNDS

OF PUBLISHING ON DEMAND (POD) 

Hackles were raised throughout much of the publishing industry following last week’s announcement by Harlequin that it was launching a new division, Harlequin Horizons. Partnering with Author Solutions, parent company of POD houses Author House, iUniverse, Xlibris and Trafford, the romance queen claimed it was doing it to provide women’s fiction writers and romance authors “an opportunity to…achieve their dreams.” 

Not only does this partnership suggest the new company is a POD house, the upfront production fee of somewhere about $599 pretty much confirms it, although the company is attempting to steer clear of that identification. 

The anger spread to the Science Fiction Writers of America, as well as the Romance Writers or America. Both threatened sanctions. Mystery Writers of America is considering taking similar action.  

The lines of the battle have been drawn already with the majority of participants condemning the action as undercutting the concept of true, quality publishing by allowing authors to pay for publication. Supporters suggest this might be a first step toward a new model for the industry, offering authors greater opportunities to achieve publication. 

If Harlequin develops strict quality control over this new division so that its books don’t resemble the seamier side of POD, this new approach might have merit. What’s your opinion? 

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COLUM MCCANN’S NOVEL CAPTURES

THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS FICTION PRIZE 

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann took the fiction prize at the 60^th annual National Book Awards. The novel is described as a story of ”daring, luck and mortality” in New York during the 1970’s. It is in part a response to the September 11^th attacks on the World Trade Center. 

The nonfiction prize was given to T.J. Stiles’ The First Tycoon, a biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt. The poetry prize went to Transcendental Studies:  A Trilogy” by Keith Waldrop. The top award for young people’s literature was awarded to Phillip Hoose for his Claudette Colvin, the true story of an early civil rights heroine. 

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PRICES FOR PAPARAZZI PHOTOS

PLUNGE BETWEEN 31% AND 50% 

Beware you freelance photographers. The market is tightening severely. The Daily Beast

reports that prices for celebrity photographs by the Paparazzi have plunged due to the economic climate. The drop-off has also been felt by the agencies that employ them.  

The Beast studied a large group of photos sold by one agency between 2005 and 2007. Adjusted for current economic levels, the fall-off ranged from 31% for typical celebrity shots to 50% for the high end of the market. 

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SOME WELCOME NEWS FROM THE MAGAZINE WORLD,

BOTH DIGITAL AND IN PRINT 

The Wooden Horse reports that circulation has jumped at five of the leading print business magazines. Unfortunately, advertising pages have not kept pace with the growth in readership. Among the five are Forbes which posted a12% jump to more than 6 million readers. Fortune climbed 9% to 4 million and The Economist added 3 million readers, a 6% increase. 

A survey by Min Online finds, “There has been some remarkable growth among titles (online) in the last year at a rate that far outpaces the incremental expansion the Web is seeing in the U.S. overall.” The firm goes on to explain that a number “are starting to break out of the traffic levels we might associate with ‘companion sites’ and are collecting  regular audiences of 1 to 2 million or more users.” 

Among some of the diverse list of leading magazines cited are Glamour.com, Tennis.com, Womens Health.com. 

Is this just a blip? Or are we at last turning the corner and opening up new positions both on and offline for the many waiting and hungry freelance writers? 

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Charlie’s Choice

Weekly Tips to Help You Write,

Publish & Promote Your Work 

GAINING MAXIMUM BENEFIT FROM

THE NEWSLETTERS YOU SEND OUT 

      For many years, newsletters were the tried-and-true, finest way to publicize yourself and your book. That’s still pretty much true today. In fact, newsletters have become an even more efficient use of your time and your promotional dollars with the advent of the Internet and the ability to e-mail your material at no cost.

      To be most effective, you must carefully plan both graphics and presentation of content well before you mail out the first edition. Think initially in terms of your goal in using this device. Are you looking to increase direct online sales of your book? Perhaps only to introduce yourself and publicize your expertise? Or possibly to bring more traffic to your web site?  Even just to create a mailing list for future promotions and selling events?

      I urge you to take the time to create a style book for your newsletter. You’ll be surprised how often you’ll refer back to it to remind yourself of the type size, type face, spacing, unique spelling that are so easy to forget from edition to edition. And consistency is vital when you use this promo technique.

      At the same time, begin a reference file of sources for information and/or news of the type that you will use. When time is short because of the pressure of other work, you will find that the ability to look up web sites, other newsletters and publications easily will save you an enormous amount of time. Similarly, each time you read something that you think might be pertinent to a future edition, clip it and keep it in a futures file. When “pickings” are thin for any edition, this backup file can be a real boon.

Introducing Your Newsletter

      Your next step is to determine the market you want to target and the best way to make it aware of your newsletter. Of course, you will place a sign-up box on your web site that gives readers a quick overview of what they can expect from reading your newsletter. It should also tell them what benefit reading it will offer them?

      But there are many other ways to introduce your niche audience to the existence of your newsletter. Send press releases announcing its launch to publications that serve that niche. If you have any sort of mailing list, notify everyone on it. Include the info in your e-mail signature box. Discuss it at meetings you attend.

Creating the Tone

      Far and away the most important component of your newsletter is content. You have heard me stress quality content in many columns because it will guarantee that your reader will return to read future editions and will spread word-of-mouth comments on what you have written. 

      Keep the style breezy and fast-paced. Use short sentences and relatively simple words. This is not a literary gem; it is a source of news and information that should be easily understood and digested by your readers.

      Always remember that white space—yes, just blank white space—plays a major role in any publication. It avoids a cluttered look and can effectively highlight an important block of copy. Use it prudently and it will produce superb results.

      Minimize self-serving verbiage and avoid hyping your book too strongly. Your readers have come to learn from your message. The quality of the text you offer is the best of all selling tools. If readers are impressed by your content and the way you express it, they will be eager to read future editions and undoubtedly to purchase your book(s).

      That doesn’t mean that you must avoid any mention or display of your book. Quite the contrary. There will be opportunities to refer tactfully to it in your narrative. When making a point, you can occasionally say something like, “as I said in my recent book The Secret of Great Writing…”  That way you can introduce your book, but within the context of giving the reader meaningful information. You also can place a display ad in the newsletter promoting the book or any other item or service you are selling.

Naming Your Newsletter

      The title you give to your newsletter will contribute greatly to its success or failure. So be cautious when you select a name. Many copy the name of their book or business, if they have one. Try and be a bit more creative. Develop a name that reflects the content of your piece, but has some “pizzazz” to it.

      If, for example, your subject is gardening and your book deals with how to design an attractive garden, perhaps you might call your newsletter A Bouquet of Garden Ideas. If you’re writing about dogs, you might call it Barks That Are Better Than Bites. I know you’re thinking those are kind of corny, and I am sure you can do better. But I use them to try and illustrate what I mean by reflecting the topic of your content with a cute title.

      The title is placed at the top of the first page in what is called the “Nameplate.” This can also contain a subtitle further explaining the theme, as well as attractive graphics or a logo. Just as it was when we discussed web sites several weeks go, the top of the front page, especially the left hand side, is where the eye travels first. Make certain it is visually appealing and informative.

      Similarly, as you add headlines for various segments of the piece and even subheads, take great care that they too reflect the material they are introducing. Nothing is worse than a headline that promises something and then never delivers that content. Make them stand out with bold face type. But don’t overdo BF to the point it gives a cluttered appearance to the page.

      Your goal is to present text that is easy on the eyes, easy to read and easy to comprehend. Don’t vary your typefaces too greatly. Maintain the principal design once you decide upon the basic template you will use. Keep every page of every edition readily identifiable as part of your newsletter. Readers appreciate continuity.

      One of the questions I am often asked is whether or not to use color. There is a no question color, used judiciously, can make the newsletter far more appealing. And it is not at all hard to add on your computer. But don’t overdo it.

      Simplicity and consistency are the two most fundamental considerations as you develop your newsletter. Keeping them foremost in your mind and using the simple steps I have outlined here, you should be able to gain the greatest return from this favorite promotional tool.

      Next week, as we continue our look at promoting yourself and your book, we will look at ways to take the greatest advantage of .com book sellers. These range from small independent sites that link to majors like Amazon to taking advantage of the special tools offered by Amazon and the other large digital bookstores. See you then.

      Keep Writing! 

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AMERICANS LAG BEHIND OTHERS WILLING

TO PAY TO RECEIVE NEWS ONLINE 

The controversy over readers’ willingness to pay for news online received a new twist this week, when the Boston Consulting Group announced results of its survey of 5,000 people that showed 48%  of Internet users in the U.S. would be willing to pay to receive news online, whether through their web sites or on mobile devices. 

That figure was surprisingly lower than nine Western European countries that were also surveyed. Only Britain posted a figure as low as the American level. Indeed, in several countries more than 60% were willing to pay. 

The survey asked Americans the amount they would be willing to spend. The answer averaged $3 a month. With prices that low, it would be hard to sustain a top quality staff and produce a decent report, even though the cost of producing an online paper is far less than one in print. 

However, the gloom and doom of so many prognosticators who have already killed and buried the news industry received quite a come-uppance from Scarborough Research’s most recent report showing that 74% of American adults (171 million) read a newspaper last week, whether it was on or offline. 

The firm reported that despite “The fragmentation of media choices, printed newspapers are holding onto their audiences relatively well. While circulation numbers have fallen over the past six months, total readership is somewhat different from circulation because of pass-along papers. 

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REGULAR USERS OF THE INTERNET ARE NOT

ISOLATED SOCIALLY; THEY HAVE MANY CONFIDANTS 

A new study by The Pew Center challenges the findings of a 2006 study that argued that Internet users were becoming increasingly isolated. The current study states that 55% of Internet users are likely to have a non-family member as a discussion partner. That compares with only 45% of the general American population. In addition 38% of those who go online are less likely to rely just on their spouses or partners as confidants. 

Keith Hampton, who headed the new study, says, “People use the technology to stay in touch and share information in ways that keep them socially active and connected to their communities.” That applies, he explains, to both Internet and mobile phone users. 

The current survey discovered that just 12% of respondents had no close partners with whom they discussed important issues. Only 5.8% were “truly socially isolated.” 

With the popularity of social media, these findings are certainly not surprising. The essence of these networks is maintaining relationships with “friends,” “fans,” “connections” and Twitter “followers,” all names for confidants or discussions partners on the networks.

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SEVERAL BOOK PUBLISHERS REPORT

IMPRESSIVE GAINS FOR THE YEAR AND FOR Q3 

Some welcome financial reporting from major book publishers has added a little cheer to the early holiday season. Bertelsmann, the huge Germany-based conglomerate, states that its third quarter profits “rose sharply.” It had not yet released stats on its Random House division at the time of this writing. 

News Corp, Rupert Murdoch’s giant conglomerate, has overcome its losses for the first two quarters of the year with a major third quarter boost in profit. Harper Collins helped the parent company by posting an 11% jump in profits this quarter. 

Year-to-date sales at the Harlequin division of Toronto-based Torstar Corp are up 3.7% with operating profits soaring by 22%. Part of its success is due to the strength of the Canadian dollar and much is the result of readers’ interest in romance fiction during periods of difficult times. 

Those certainly are welcome results, but we won’t know whether they a serve as a harbinger of future improvements until after the holiday season and a look at the first quarter picture. How wonderful it would be if this success became contagious!  

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JUDGE EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR

GOOGLE SETTLEMENT BY A WEEK 

The deadline for the highly contentious settlement of Google’s program to digitize every book that has been written has been extended by one week. With the parties still wrangling over the details of the compromise, U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin  allowed them an extra seven days to resolve their differences. 

The case went back to court for reconsideration when the validity of the originally agreed upon settlement was questioned by the United States Department of Justice. 

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