Design Your Own Logo In Seconds!

Create your own logo within shortest time. Nicholas Rossis shows us how it’s done. Thanks Nicholas!

Nicholas C. Rossis

As many of you know, in my day job I work as a web developer. Most of my skills I’ve picked up in the past 25 years of web design, from Internet marketing to social media, have proven useful once I started writing. One of them was logo design: I’ve helped a number of clients with their logos; something that is often a slow, arduous process.

Well, no more! I was recently approached by a company called DesignEvo to test-drive their online logo designer and I was amazed. Within seconds, I designed my first logo. Thay have a gazillion templates and graphics to choose from, making the process as painless as you can possibly imagine. Best of all, they store your logos for you so you can edit them in the future, should you (or a client) decide on, say, a new color.

So, are you interested in a…

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GDPR And Authors: What You Need To Know

Nicholas Rossis once again provides us with excellent writer’s advice, this time about GDPR and what authors need to know! Thanks so much for all your support, Nicholas!

Nicholas C. Rossis

I’ve received quite a few inquiries regarding the new European Union privacy legislation known as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). GDPR comes into effect on May 25, 2018. This regulation initially impacts European Union member countries and aims to protect people from companies selling personal data. To do this, it regulates the use of people’s personal data online and aims at ensuring that every business storing an individual’s personal information has their prior consent. Furthermore, people have the right to know which data is stored and to ask for their removal.

Does That Affect My Newsletter?

Image: Pixabay

The first question in most authors’ minds is: how does this affect my newsletter? There are four points to remember here:

First of all, if you’re in the US contacting solely Americans, you’re covered by the CAN-SPAM regulation; not GDPR. However, if you’re also addressing Europeans, you must enforce GDPR. In other words, the…

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Smorgasbord Christmas Posts from Your Archives – Merry Christmas and Season’s Greeings from Nicholas Rossis

Check out Sally Cronin’s ‘Smorgasbord’ Christmas blog post by Nicholas Rossis and enjoy an entertaining article. Well done, Nicholas!

Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life

Nicholas Rossis has delved into his archives and come up with a quiz of a different kind.. There are a number of story boards below that relate to a particular Christmas Story.. There are no prizes but you can show off if you like in the comments to let us know how many you got… and you can give yourself a pat on the back…Over to Nicholas and Season’s Greetings!

I managed to get four right (dreadful)… Both Nicholas and I would love to hear how many you managed to get..

©Nicholas Rossis 2015.

Nicholas has been watching Christmas videos with his baby daughter and has chosen this one for all of you who are young at heart out there.

I have selected Runaway Smile by Nicholas to feature as being a book that would brighten anyone’s Christmas.

About Runaway Smile

Where do smiles come from? And where can you…

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Are You Using AMS? Here’s How To Respond To Clicking Disasters

Another post from Nicholas Rossis. He informs us about using AMS and how to respond to clicking disasters. Thank you Nicholas!

Nicholas C. Rossis

I hope you will never have any use for today’s post, but it could be a lifesaver if you are hit by the so-called “clicking disaster.” If you’re using Amazon Marketing Services (AMS), you will have noticed that the reporting system is somewhat… unreliable. However, there are times when the AMS reporting goes completely bonkers. This has been reported by a number of authors who use AMS, and who notice huge spikes (up to 1,000%) in their campaign clicks.

Now, you may think that this is a good thing. And it would be if there was a corresponding increase in sales. Alas, that is not the case: clicking disasters mean that the AMS reporting vastly overrepresents clicks, but the actual sales (as reported by KDP) are not affected by this.

Why Is This Bad?

Well, there are two reasons why this should worry you. First, since you pay for…

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Changing My Books’ Titles And Some News

Congratulations, Nicholas C. Rossis! Brilliant news are brilliant news! One day I’d like to be where you are now.

Nicholas C. Rossis

Some News First

There have been some interesting developments in my writing career, among which the fact I’m now Editor-in-chief for Azure Fire Publishing (AFP), a US-based non-profit promoting youth-friendly Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Even though the position only offers a nominal fee at the moment, it comes with a perk: AFP has offered to publish my Fantasy/Science Fiction books.

The organization has a large monthly advertising budget to promote its authors’ books, so, after much deliberation, I have decided to accept.

My Books’ Titles

Perhaps, then, this is the perfect opportunity to deal with something that’s been bugging me for a while now: my first books’ titles. I find myself no longer satisfied by “Rise of the Prince” and “The Power of Six,” as I think of them as weak titles compared to my later ones. And since AFP will soon handle these…

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5 Tips To Get You Tweeting Like A Pro

Nicholas Rossis teaches us how to tweet like a pro. Thanks a lot, Nicholas!

Nicholas C. Rossis

Author Steve Boseley, who has posted on my blog a guest post on the best time to tweet, recently published a post filled with tips on how to compose the perfect Tweet. I’m copying here his main tips, but I urge you to check out his complete post if you’re using Twitter to promote your books, as he also has some great tips on Twitter etiquete.

Tip #1: People Are Looking For Bargains

Here is what people are looking for on Twitter:

Image via Steve Boseley

Notice a pattern? Yes, the two most popular items are discounts and promos, and free stuff!

Tip #2: Ask A Question

Phrasing your tweet is obviously paramount to its success. One remarkably successful way to increase interaction with a tweet is to phrase it as a question:

• Why it is important to always…
• Why you should never…
• What is…

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Don’t Advertise With Amazon Until You’ve Read This

Nicholas C. Rossis has provided us with a fantastic blog post about advertising with Amazon. Read this article before you decide to do so. Thank you very much Nicholas!

Nicholas C. Rossis

Yes, this is the long-promised post where I share my experience advertising with Amazon and the things I’ve learned — things that could make or break your campaign.

What I’ve Learned Advertising With Amazon

You may remember my past experiences with Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) and the recent plan I’d set for myself. I started promoting in April with 3 kinds of ads:

Ad #1: Sponsored Products, Manual Keywords

This was the bulk of my promos. I chose up to 1,000 keywords for each book and used them to target potential readers.

How does one come up with so many keywords, you ask? Well, there are two easy ways:

1. Choose The Best-Selling Books In Your Genre

The first strategy requires that you find the genres in which your books sells. Amazon does some automatic choosing for you, and you can sometimes see these listed under your book details…

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