Sometimes there is just so much out there on the web it is hard to narrow down what to link to. Because of that I have decided today to do link clusters, a couple of links around each idea/concept. We will see how it works!
Promoting a book especially early in a career presents challenges in the modern atmosphere. A great post on the value of free from Jurgen Wolff’s blog should be read and his Gurellia Tactics post should not be ignored either. But by far the most impressive post to date is from A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing and is a manifesto in a post if ever I saw one. Read it; it is called Do Something and if you do not get inspired to promote your book more effectively then I just don’t know.
I know I bemoaned memes the other day and so this is exceptionally hypocritical BUT the idea just got in on me. Stainless Steel Droppings Blog has launched the Readers Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) Autumn Challenge and the line up is impressive to say the least. You should follow SOME OF THE LINKS as they are pretty much all great book-blogs!
So there has been some incredible chat recently on Self-Publishing. Read the Blurberati Blog for the skinny on what is going on in the world of innovative self publishing facilitators. Read Wired.com for industry reaction and read Organic Research (2 different posts) for some illuminating consideration. Marginal Revolution is sceptical (like all good economists I say) and finally for something COMPLETELY different.
That is about all I can reasonably fit it for today (And yes I am vaguely conscious that it is only technically the 1st for many readers but even though it is 40 minutes from the first where I am it feels like the 1st)
Eoin
Eoin Purcell's Blog 
Hey, thanks for the nice thoughts. I went through and read your thoughts on memes. I see your point and yet I myself like memes for two reasons…one, it gets those who lurk on your blog but don’t feel like they have anything to offer the discussion the chance to answer relatively simple questions and maybe get some feedback which will hopefully open them up for discussions generated by other posts. Two, I love book memes. Can’t get enough of them. Gives me a chance to peddle the books I love to others, hopefully converting them and even more importantly I always find ideas for books to read that I hadn’t heard of or maybe just didn’t realize were something I might like to read. Just my opinion of course and I do see your side of it as being valid. Thanks again!
Hello Carl V.
No I think I was having a bad week and was perhaps a little too harsh on memes! Maybe! I, at least, should have considered the reasons why they are popular and not just dismissed them the way I did! I do like the idea of a themed reading list though, seems like a really exciting idea!
Eoin
Thanks. I didn’t think you were being dismissive. There is alot of truth to the fact that memes are just another thing that gets passed around the net often with little or no thought involved. In my opinion some of these book memes are an exception but even then it is only an exception if people are really taking the time to think about them before they answer and when conversation is generated that leads to a greater appreciation of the person and opens up new ideas to the reader.