Category Archives: reading

reading

Favorite Books

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Facebook has a thing going about favorite books and I thought I’d share my list here for FZ readers. Feel free to chime in with some of yours.
In no particular order…

1. The Things They Carried (Tim O’Brien)

2. Love In The Time Of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

3. Whoever Fights Monsters (Robert K. Ressler)

4. Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)

5. The Road Less Traveled (M. Scott Peck)

6. One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich (Alexander Solzhenitsyn)

7. The Giving Tree (Shel Silverstein)

8. On Writing (Stephen King)

9. A Prayer For Owen Meany (John Irving)

10. An Air That Kills (Andrew Schneider, David McCumber)

11. The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)

12. Into Thin Air (Jon Krakauer)

13. The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition (Caroline Alexander)

14. The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison (Pete Earley)

15. A Walk In The Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Bill Bryson)

reading

Fast Company Magazine

Fast Company Magazine
Fast Company Magazine

Fast Company is a magazine worth subscribing to. The price is right ($9.97 for 10 issues) and the reading is educational as well as entertaining. You’ll get plenty of cutting-edge technology information, but not in the boring, tedious format that it usually comes in. Fast Company makes it a fun read! In addition, you’ll be “in” on the latest and greatest business trends, and hear about the movers and shakers in a variety of industries. I love this magazine!

editorial, reading

Digital Magazine News Offers Glimmer of Hope for Print

digital-magazine-newsFaithful FZ readers know I’ve been saying the bell tolls for print mags for quite some time, but Digital Magazine News begs to differ. In their latest issue, Digital Magaazine News shows that some publishers not only have a clue, they are actually using it to extend the lifetime of their publications.

Behold US News & World Report galloping right into the 21st Century with an online/print combo idea that is designed to keep the enterprise going. Rather than rely on print or the online version is the mainstay, US News has taken the “value added” angle–using both editions to give more to both readers and advertisers.

Now for some of us, this is a “well, duh!” approach. But why it has taken so many magazines so long to do what Wired has gotten right for years is beyond me. Simple laziness? The old “We never did it that way before” excuse? A complete and total lack of a clue? Hard to say. But it’s shameful, whatever the excuse.

If there is one bright and shining hope for newsstand mags, this approach is part of the equation. Hey, Chicago Tribune–wake up and smell the newsprint. This is the way to go. Freelancers, keep your eyes peeled for more enterprises like this–this is your future on the newsstand.

reading, travel

Getaways For The Writer: The Ultimate Guide

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If you are looking for the ultimate guide to writer getaways, this is something you may want to check out. Writers’ and Artists’ Hangouts lists hundreds of profiles of hotels, bed and breakfasts and other great spots that just may help bring the muse.  Andrea Brown gives a description of each place, along with contact information. This is a fun resource to check out. See if anything inspires you–and don’t foget to share!

advice, reading

The Super Affiliate Handbook

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super-affiliate-marketingThere are plenty of guides out there, including this one by Rosalind Gardner, that explain the ins and outs of affiliate marketing and how to make it work for you. Many people get very excited after reading books like The Super Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436, 797 In One Year Selling Other People’s Stuff Online.

There’s just one teeny little problem–not with Gardner’s book, but with the people who read it and get over-excited. Bloggers who think they can throw up a few posts and a few subsequent affiliate links and turn a profit tend to forget that you have to have an audience in order to get the clicks. And since most affiliate programs don’t pay you by the click, but rather by the purchase, that equation gets a little more challenging.

The key to a successful affiliate program on a blog or website? Focus. Decide what you want to do and stick to it. If you want to supplement a blog with some affiliate income, there are strategies and techniques you can use specific Continue reading The Super Affiliate Handbook →