ebooks

According to a report from the International Digital Publishing Forum, ebook sales in the United States for the first quarter of 2010 were "off the chart."  Said chart does show a dramatic increase from quarter 4 of 2009, which shows sales of about $55 million. Quarter 1 of 2010 shows sales of over $90 million. 

Read more here. 

Cover photo by Thomas Hawk. Used with permission.

This post is a reaction to page 12 of What Matters Now, a free ebook arranged by Seth Godin. Please leave a comment and join the conversation.

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On page 12, Howard Mann laments the progress of social media, and the regression of our social capacities as humans. That's how I see it, anyway. He wonders how so many businesses can profit today without even knowing what Facebook or Twitter are.

Making a personal connection with customers is important. But shunning social media isn't the answer. Using Twitter and Facebook strategically can enhance that personal connection with customers by creating conversations.

Furthermore, what about businesses that are strictly online? How else can I create that personal connection?

I've been away because of several personal issues. Rather than dwell on them, I'll let you know that I have recently undergone laser surgery on my eyes! Four days without any computer access (doctor's orders!) was a strange experience for me.

I'm glad to be back, if things are still a little fuzzy. I have been talking to two potential authors, which is exciting! One is planning a sewing book, and the other will have home-grown bath and body products.  I'm always interested in your ideas for books--pitch your idea here.

Photo by maxually via Flickr. Used with permission.

Cover photo by Thomas Hawk. Used with permission.

This post is a reaction to page 11 of What Matters Now, a free ebook arranged by Seth Godin. Please leave a comment and join the conversation.

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Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged about What Matters Now. I was taking a break from blogging. Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of page 11, encouraged me to do this.

Ease is lost in our society, apparently. The ability to just sit and do nothing escapes us. This is very true for me, as I'm certain it is for many entrepreneurs. There are always a million things to be done, each day. Always. Busy? Entrepreneurs wrote the book on busy. We published it ourselves, too.

How can taking it easy benefit us? A fresh mind can work more efficiently, for one thing. A glass of wine had with good friends around a delicious meal enriches our bodies with sustenance and emotion. It shores us up. We should make time for it, regularly.

Perhaps this is something we should all consider for 2010: take it easy, one day each week. Really, really easy is what I'm talking about: not-getting-out-of-my-jammies-all-day-not-for-nobody-not-nohow easy. When was the last time you had a day like that?

It's hard for me to remember. Which tells me it's time to have a day like that.

Oh, fine. Schedule it if you must! Put it into your iCal on your iPhone or Crackberry. But keep this appointment! Maybe we should all have it as a yearly goal--then, as entrepreneurs who work ourselves to death, we will be forced to focus on our ease.

Did you know you had some?

Photo by horsager via Flickr.

Happy Birthday to me!  That is not me in the photo. On this auspicious occasion, I recommend remembering all the good times that have been had last year, and all the good times yet to come. Today, I am 41. In my 40th year I accomplished the following things:

• released 35 pounds from my body
• had my eyes evaluated for laser surgery
• rode an upside-down-going roller coaster
• launched a publishing project
• started another publishing project
• taught my daughter to swim

In my 41st year, these are my personal goals:

• release another 35 pounds from my body
• have my vision surgically corrected (this appointment has been made!)
• launch the publishing project I started (you are looking at it!)
• finish writing 3 books that are in process
• travel to Maine
• travel home to Iowa

Time to get started!

I have created a survey to let you tell me what you want. What do you want out of a craft ebook? What experiences have you had with ebooks? Love them? Want to smash them with a hammer?

Let me know all about it, here. It should take fewer than 5 minutes. Thanks for your time!

Validation in the form of a blog post! It seems that I'm not the only one who thinks craft books should be small, focused, and full of photos. Today's post at CraftyPod discusses this very thing, but not about ebooks.  Of course, I left a comment (still to be moderated--sigh). 

It feels good to know that my instincts are mirrored in someone else's mind.

The following post is a reaction to page 3 of What Matters Now, a free ebook organized by Seth Godin. Please feel free to leave a comment and join the conversation.

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Page 3 lists all the contributors to this book. I recognize:

• Dan Pink
• Elizabeth Gilbert
• Arianna Huffington
• Ramit Sethi
• Guy Kawasaki
• Seth Godin

That's it! Do I need to catch up on my reading? Who is Gary Vaynerchuk? Why is his name so large and in the middle? My list appears to be representative of less than 20% of the contributors.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Which of these people should I read?