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Archive for April, 2007

Cold truths about getting published

No Comments »2nd April, 2007; Category: Authors, Books, Writing Hints

So you’ve written a book.

Great!

Most people just talk about it. The easy part is over – well, writing a book is hard work, takes many months/years and tends to put one’s life on hold – and the family too. But in reality, the hardest hurdle is yet to come; getting it published.

Most first-time wannabe authors think the hard part is getting the words down on paper -or on the hard drive. What most people do not realise is that the hard road is still ahead. Publishers are business people and expect nothing less than a business like approach on the part of an author seeking publication.

Liz Strauss has written an article from the viewpoint of someone who knows the business from the publisher’s side: 12 Cold Truths about Publishing and the 2 Proofs Every Publisher wants. So if you are looking at getting your book published, this would be a good starting point.

The potential of blogging

2 Comments »1st April, 2007; Category: Blogging, Blogs

Have you ever considered the enormous potential of the internet and of blogging in particular? This relatively new form of publishing and communication is still very much in its infancy – it hasn’t even begun to realise its vast potential.

The Global Figures:

Here are the hard facts:

  • Estimated world population: just below 6.6 billion (as of March 10th 2007)
  • Estimated internet usage: 1.1 billion (or 16.9% penetration)
  • Estimated number of blogs: 60 million (+/- depending on who you read)

The Global Picture of Blogging:

Now consider the number of blog sites. Of those 60 million or so the vast majority are simply “dead”. By that I mean, the person started off with enthusiasm and posted a few entries and then lost interest for whatever reason. Then consider the number of serious bloggers who have multiple sites; for example, I have three sites (plus one on Blogger I no longer contribute to – it’s dead). This must mean that there are far fewer active blogs than the 60 million often quoted and even fewer serious bloggers.

Let’s be conservative and say there are 10 million serious bloggers – those whose blogs are active, meaning they post at least once every month. (I suspect the figure is far less but humour me).

If there are ten million serious bloggers, only 0.15% of the world’s population fall into this category.

Now if you are blogging and you post more frequently, say once a week you are very much in the minority. In reality, very few are seriously into this new publishing trend, especially those who blog daily. The potential for growth is staggering.

The Global Potential:

Now consider the potential readership. The global penetration of the internet is only 1.1 billion or 16.9% of the current world population. Now, there will never be universal access to the internet, not in our lifetimes anyway. But even if the penetration is only 50% of the world’s population, the huge potential for growth in the next decade is exciting. The big growth areas are in Asia and Africa.

If the world penetration of the internet triples over the next decade that would give over 3 billion users world wide. What a staggering growth potential for those who have already established blogs and web sites.

Reference:

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