On Feb 4th 2010 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with web media and book publicist expert Jamie Saloff on common pitfalls of author/book websites and simple, easy, and inexpensive ways to get more conversions from your web hits into book sales.  Jamie is the site owner for www.PolkaDotBanner.com an author-helping-author website designed to help authors gain visibility for their books. She also maintains several other sites she built and designed, including the site for Pennwriters, a regional multi-genre writers organization, where she is the Web Committee Chair.  In this wide-ranging discussion, some key talking points included:

• What are the high real estate values and high productivity areas of your website?
• How does art direct the eye and how can I use it to my advantage?
• Why are color and lighting important?
• How is reading a website different from reading a magazine or book?
• How does my website reflect who I am and why it is important?
• How to use multi-media and flash cost effectively?
• What other things can I offer or talk about besides the book, the book, the book?

On January 22nd, 2010 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with book marketing guru Dana Lynn Smith about exploiting the potential of Twitter for marketing your books. Dana Lynn Smith, owner of Texana Publishing Consultants, LLC, has 15 years of experience in publishing and 25 years of marketing experience. She specializes in developing marketing plans for nonfiction books and teaching authors how to promote their books online. She is the author of The Savvy Book Marketer Guides, a series of ebooks on book marketing topics. Talking points include:

• How does Twitter work
• Why do you think Twitter is a valuable tool for authors?
• What common mistakes do you see authors making on Twitter?
• Twitter profile for a minute what suggestions can you offer?
• Can you give us some tips for attracting followers on Twitter?
• A lot of people who use Twitter wonder what they should be tweeting about. Can you give us some suggestions?
• I know there are several different types of messages that can be sent on Twitter. Can you explain the difference between Replies, Mentions and Direct Messages?
• How often should authors tweet?
• How can Twitter work with FaceBook or MySpace?
• How can I run a contest with Twitter

On December 5th, 2009 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman interviewed author and editor Debbie Herald on writing for the erotic romance marketplace. Debbie Herald is an author and Editor currently working for Lyrical Press. Her two most recent books are Perfect Game and Sweet Dreams, available from BookStrand paperback and on Amazon Kindle formats under the pseudonymn Jordana Ryan. Among questions which Debbie answered for us were: What makes a good erotic romance?
What is the difference between erotic romance and pornography?
pseudonymns
If a writer uses naughty words does that automatically make it erotic romance?
If you write erotic romance can you branch out to difference sub genres with success?
What makes erotic romance so highly successful in epublishing?
Is there a standard for how much sex should go into an erotic romance?
As an editor what do you like to see in a sex scene?
What pushes the boundaries if anything in erotic romance?

On March 18th, 2010 Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman spoke with veteran author and publisher Walt Shiel about some of the most confusing topics for the self-publishing newcomer: print book design, typesetting, indexing, and even eBook production. Walts publishing company, Slipdown Mountain, has published three novels, two military history titles, two other nonfiction titles, and one short story collection. Its subsidiary Five Rainbows Services for Authors and Publishers was spun off to meet the demand for assistance from self-publishers. Walt addressed some of these key points in todays interview:

Book Design & Typesetting

  * Is there any difference between designing a book and typesetting it?
  * What are the key decisions a book designer must make?
  *  Isnt typesetting just pouring the text into the typesetting software, adding some formatting, and letting the software work its magic?

E-Book Design

  *  Does design and/or typesetting matter at all in creating an e-book?
  * Arent there software packages that can create e-books virtually automatically?
  *  Do readers even care if an e-book is well-designed as long as they get the content one way or another?

Indexing

  *  What is an index and how is it different from a concordance?
  *  Doesnt the author know better than anyone else what should be indexed?
  *  What do you need to know to create a useful index

On November 5th, 2009 Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman spoke with Toronto-based educator and print, radio, and TV journalist Donna Kakonge about how any writer can successfully refocus their work into the freelance journalism marketplace. She believes that you CAN break into the journalism business without having to have a specialist bachelors degree in the subject. Donna has been involved in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Radio Canada International (RCI) on and off for 15 years at the local, national and international levels of both television and radio. She has also worked for the Discovery Channel and Discovery Channel International, Vision TV, the BBC and various publications around the world. Key talking points of tonights talk were:

* How can I educate myself to start a career in journalism?
* What important trade associations can help me on my journey?
* Besides book writing, what other kinds of journalism are out there now today?
* Should I establish some sort of business identity?
* Can I make money just form my blogs?
* What about rejection, how do you deal with it?

On March 4th, 2010 Irene Watson moderated a roundtable with Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman on how to successfully sell your books at conferences, craft shows, and regional, seasonal, and special interest fairs.   Tyler specializes in working regional craft and seasonal fairs and has achieved some remarkably good results.  Victor exhibits at professional conferences for social workers, psychologists, and mental health fairs.  Together, they addressed the following issues:

• Managing bathroom breaks
• Dealing with show management
•  Supplies You May Want to Buy as an exhibitor: tables, tablecloths, acrylic book stands and signholders, posters, Directors Chair, Tschokte items (pens, post-it notes, to give away),
• The Fine Print: watch out for proof-of-insurance, mandatory carpet purchase, furniture rental, and more
• Indoor vs. outdoor shows: foot traffic, weather, customers, pros and cons
• How to lure people to your booth
• Being prepared for any situation
• Offering exclusive specials
• Which shows work and which ones dont
• Determining whether you succeeded 

 OConnor Communications gets people into the news through radio and TV interviews, newspaper and magazine article placement, blog, social media and internet marketing, and media campaigns. In our wide-ranging discussion we covered the following points in detail:

• Why do you need to promote your book and yourself?
• Why every book is promotable
• When and how to get started
• Giving traditional media what they want
• Mass mailings and target marketing
• Social media and Internet Marketing
• What a publicist can do for you

On February 16th, 2012 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with author and marketing guru Cathy Stuckeron the basics of effective blogging AND promoting your blog. Best known as the Idea Lady, Cathy Stucker helps authors, entrepreneurs and professionals attract customers and make themselves famous with techniques that make marketing easy, inexpensive and even fun. We covered a myriad of topics, including:
Does blogging really sell books?
What is the best way to set up a blog?
What should authors blog about?
What about fiction authors?
How do you find the time to write for a blog without neglecting your real writing?
How personal should a blog be?
How do you handle blogging if you write in multiple genres or under more than one name?
How can authors attract readers to their blogs?

On February 19th, 2010 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with fulltime freelance writer, proofreader, and editor Ernest Dempsey.  He shared encouraging information on how you can get started in the fun and profitable art of freelance writing.  In addition to having written 4 books, he is now the editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Recovering the Self: A Journal of Hope and Healing and also works as the country editor for Pakistan on the celebrated Internet news channel Instablogs.com.  He shared with us on the following points:

• Where are some places that I can go to look for freelance web writing?
• Is it ghost writing or does sometimes my name get shown?
• What about being a Foreign Correspondent for a news organization in another country?
• How does getting paid work?
• How do you manage personal time, schedules, and deadlines?
• What types of writing projects are available: interviews, reviews, tutorials and how well does each pay relative to the others
• How have you improved your knowledge of English by writing over time?
• How does freelancing compare to a regular job? Do you get to travel more?