Just in case you didn't see this story in BusinessWeek, be on your guard: credit card issuers are getting very aggressive about raising credit card rates. Very likely they are responding to the credit crunch and deciding to get what they can, while they can, before things get any worse. The problem is when they double interest rates, minimum payments rise, and consumers get backed into a corner -- with bankruptcy as the only solution they see.
If your credit card issuer has raised your rates, please let me know!
And in the meantime, watch this four-minute webcast I taped with Brad Giffen at ABC-TV in Sarasota. You'll get seven strategies for cutting credit card costs. I hope you are lucky enough not to need them, but...
Friday, February 15, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
So You Want to Be an Author?
As a published author, I hear from people all the time who want to publish their first book -- my neurologist, my neighbor, a friend of a friend. I am always happy to share my thoughts with them.
There are two things I tell them to do immediately:
1. Go to Parapublishing.com and get Dan Poynter's book, The Self Publishing Manual, and try to attend one of his seminars. I attended his seminar with three published books under my belt and still felt it was very worthwhile. Subscribe to Dan's free newsletter on self-publishing while you are at his site.
2. Go to BookMarket.com and get John Kremer's book, 1001 Ways to Market Your Book, and sign up for his newsletter.
Dan and John are probably the two best writer resources you'll find.
Once you've read those books and understand what writing and publishing books is really about, then go for it. Whether you make a ton of money from book sales (I don't but it's OK!) you will be a published author. And there are many benefits to that.
Admittedly, most people I talk with are hoping to find an agent, sell their book, and not have to deal with publishing, marketing, etc. But that's not the way it works. My books have been published through large, well-known publishing houses, a small specialty publisher, and even by myself (ebooks). Either way, it's up to the author to do the heavy lifting if you want your book to sell.
Writing a book is a lot like giving birth -- the real work starts after the baby is born!
But it's worth it.
There are two things I tell them to do immediately:
1. Go to Parapublishing.com and get Dan Poynter's book, The Self Publishing Manual, and try to attend one of his seminars. I attended his seminar with three published books under my belt and still felt it was very worthwhile. Subscribe to Dan's free newsletter on self-publishing while you are at his site.
2. Go to BookMarket.com and get John Kremer's book, 1001 Ways to Market Your Book, and sign up for his newsletter.
Dan and John are probably the two best writer resources you'll find.
Once you've read those books and understand what writing and publishing books is really about, then go for it. Whether you make a ton of money from book sales (I don't but it's OK!) you will be a published author. And there are many benefits to that.
Admittedly, most people I talk with are hoping to find an agent, sell their book, and not have to deal with publishing, marketing, etc. But that's not the way it works. My books have been published through large, well-known publishing houses, a small specialty publisher, and even by myself (ebooks). Either way, it's up to the author to do the heavy lifting if you want your book to sell.
Writing a book is a lot like giving birth -- the real work starts after the baby is born!
But it's worth it.
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