The Book Cover: A Quintessential Hygiene Factor
In college, I learned about Two-Factor Theory. From Wikipedia: The two-factor theory (also known as Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory and dual-factor theory) states that there are certain factors in...
View ArticleThe Dirty Little Secret Is There Is No Secret
I get this question almost every week: What’s the secret to selling books? The simple answer is that there is no secret. Authors with large social media presences, regular speaking gigs, sexy topics,...
View ArticleThe Bookstore: The Holy Grail
Images like the one above are increasingly rare. Regardless of your publisher, it’s really hard to get your book into a bookstore unless one of the following is true: Your name is Malcolm Gladwell...
View ArticleSo You Want to Write a Business Book
This article originally ran on Inc. My fifth book is going through final edits as I type. I’m not going to lie: Even the fifth time around, the process is still hard. But I’ve picked up a few hard-won...
View ArticleTwo Key Questions for Non-Fiction Books
Plenty of business books are just plain dense. The Innovator’s Dilemma is one of them. It’s an important book but it’s a slog. Many people struggle to get through it. Students are required to read it...
View ArticleeBooks: Should You Go the DIY Route?
Never before has it been easier to publish your own material. This is especially true via Amazon Kindle Direct. It’s brain-dead simple to publish just about whatever you want. But should you? Using...
View ArticleHow Many Amazon Reviews Do You Need?
In short, as many as you can get. There’s no such thing as too many reviews. More reviews link to more data on books read and sold. The law of large numbers is at play. Lamentably, though, many...
View ArticleReal-Time Updates to Author Reviews: A Product Idea
Many authors check their Amazon reviews obsessively–or at least regularly. Unfortunately, there’s no simple way to subscribe to book reviews, not even with über-cool site IFTTTT. You have to manually...
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Sixth Motion Title: Shaped by Fire by Courtney R. Logan
The sixth Motion book has been announced. Shaped by Fire by St.Louis attorney Courtney R. Logan will be coming in mid-2014. Here’s the cover: More details to come soon. For now, here’s the trailer for...
View ArticleThe Age of the Platform Hits 100 Amazon Reviews
I‘m a big believer in the importance of Amazon reviews. Good, bad, or indifferent, I believe that every review helps. I encourage all authors (irrespective of publishing method) to actively seem as...
View ArticleOn Book Awards, High School, and Popularity
Given the proliferation in the number of books published every year, it’s beyond remote that any book will win a Pulitzer Prize. Still, winning an award after months or years of work on your book just...
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Bad Idea: Paying for Amazon Reviews
Updated 4/16/14 Authors want Amazon reviews, and preferably positive ones. However, trying to buy them so overtly is a sure-fire way to invite the vitriol of the community. Vincent Granville is...
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Shaped by Fire Now Available for Preorder
Shaped by Fire by Courtney R. Logan is now available for preorder on Amazon here. Congratulations to the newest member of the Motion family! The post Shaped by Fire Now Available for Preorder appeared...
View ArticleSite Note
Updated: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 This site has been experiencing some difficulties. Specifically, the menu bar disappears for some inexplicable reason. I’m working with my hosting company to resolve...
View ArticleWriting Is the Easy Part
It seems so daunting, especially staring that the blank screen. You want to write a book and your goal is 50,000 or 60,000 words. How will you get there? Styles vary. Prolific author Steven Johnson...
View ArticleThe Perils of Using Friends
Oh, no. My friend can do that for me. And by that, I mean the editing, cover design, indexing, or proofreading. And maybe your amigo moonlights as a professional editor, designer, indexer, or...
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TechCocktail Mixer and Startup Showcase
MotionPub will be one of the featured startups at the TechCocktail Mixer and Startup Showcase in Las Vegas, NV. Motion president and founder Phil Simon will be answering questions that prospective...
View ArticleOn Blogs to Books and Laziness
It’s never been easier and less expensive to turn your blog into a “book.” Here’s how. But just because you can doesn’t mean that you should. And just because Seth Godin did it doesn’t mean that you...
View ArticleAre Books Special? The Amazon and Hachette Battle
Watching the Amazon and Hachette battle play out is nothing if not interesting. From an Authors Guild letter sent to me and countless other authors: If we sometimes appear to take their side against...
View ArticleThe Quality Difference
All books are created equal, right? It’s the biggest fallacy among self-published authors. Many think that they can do their own editing and, as a failsafe, have a few friends take a look at the final...
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