Marsha Friedman, CEO of EMSI (public relations) was kind enough to provide a nice testimonial of my book, “TurnKey Publishing”. I greatly appreciate her kind words and her support.
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Matthew Chan’s choice of title, TurnKey Publishing, is perfect in describing the contents of his book – a wealth of information – truly a basic primer on the subject. He has included every facet of self publishing anyone would need to know in order to have a thorough grasp of the subject.
The book comprises such aspects as: what to write about, budgeting and setting aside of funds toward eventual expenditures, costing, forming your own publishing company, design ideas for the book cover, use of photos, printing options, getting an ISBN number, etc. Matthew covers it all.
Not only does he explain the topics in simple understandable terms, but he tells “how to” in a way that makes it easy for any reader to use and apply the material.
This book is one of my top choices, a “must read” roadmap for anyone contemplating the route of self-publishing and wanting to avoid the potholes with the result of having a successfully journey.
I have changed my new “home base” Twitter account from the “TurnKey Publisher” Twitter account to the “Matthew Chan, MBA” Twitter account. My new Twitter account is now at: http://twitter.com/matthewchanmba.
I did this because it is a better reflection of who I am and what I do. While I continue to be passionate about publishing, it is simply one facet of me and my overall business. I felt too restricted posting only on the subject of publishing. As an entire person, I want the flexibility to jump from subject to subject, topic to topic, whim to whim, business to personal, and vice-versa.
Since my business and personal interests are diverse, it is better for me to simply set a Twitter account named after myself. Some posts you may be interested in, some you may not be. Either way, you get the real me, not just some one-sided version of me.
You may run into my other Twitter accounts which are focused on the business interests they spotlight. I will still post there when appropriate.
Because Facebook is really the place to be nowadays to really connect and interact with people, I would be remiss not to set up my public Facebook page to connect with those that want to connect with me.
I will have more frequent updates, photos, and videos posted there. This blog will continue to be used for longer articles, editorials, and commentary.
In 1985 when the original “We are the World” was first released, my friends, co-workers, and I were big fans of the song. It ended up being a huge hit.
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Earlier this year, when Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones decided to do a 25th anniversary remake of “We are the World”, I was curious as to who would be singing in the updated version. There were many artists that participated I was quite happy with. They included Barbra Streisand, Josh Groban, Celine Dion, and Fergie to name a few. However, I will say that I did NOT care for the rap and hip-hop singers toward the end of the song. I also thought Jamie Foxx did a terrible job on the introduction. For an actor, he could have delivered the scripted lines much better. Nevertheless, I did buy a copy of the song from iTunes.
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Since then, there have been a number of impressive “We are the World” remakes by “amateurs”. The first one I saw out of the gates is the version by Tyler Ward and his group. Tyler’s version has a very nice look and even has a humorous bit at the end. The audio quality for this YouTube video is quite good albeit a shortened version of the original’s 7-minute song.
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The next “We are the World” remake that I learned about was the version by Lisa Lavie and her group that CNN reported on. This one tries very hard to give everyone a bit of spotlight time and goes the full 7 minutes unlike Tyler Ward’s shortened version.
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As you can tell, I am a fan of this song and the creativity it has inspired on YouTube. If I find some really great remake versions of “We are the World”, I will add them to this post.
It has been no secret that I have had to downsize and make drastic changes to my business since late last year. The credit crunch has certainly taken its toll on me. As we are now well into 2010, I am happy to report that the big changes I made have made a difference. I am far from making a complete turnaround or comeback but I am happy to say I have a better sense of direction going forward.
One of the big changes is deciding to expand my property management business back to Orlando, FL and to seek out some consulting opportunities. I have also tweaked my business relationships and associations. Part of my setback was in associating with people who drank the same kool-aid which blinded me to things we should have foreseen.
The people I want to know about my business largely know. And the people who don’t know, well, it wasn’t a priority for me to let them know. There is an inner circle and there is everyone else.
I am looking forward to seeing how 2010 turns out. One thing is for sure, it won’t be boring!
Normally, I watch Larry King Live on my TIVO. But because I am in Portland working with a business friend and associate, I was forced to see Larry King Live on YouTube. I saw the interview of Carrie Prejean by Larry King and was stunned that she actually made herself look more of an idiot than she already had shown.
That interview was an embarrassment on so many levels. She had this annoying habit of clicking her fingernails on the interview desk during the beginning of the interview. She had no ability to make the distinction or counter Larry’s question as to her motive to dropping the lawsuit.
If she wanted to walk off the set, she should have left. Everyone would have been better off for it. Larry King is traditionally very polite and flattering to his guests. If she can’t handle being interviewed with Larry, she can’t do it anywhere.
She is an idiot for not knowing why people continue to attack her. It is because she continues to be a lightning rod and dredging the same crap up. Even her so-called book seems to continue this. The news had been calm for a few weeks until she decided to enflame the situation by filing a lawsuit against the pageant officials.
Fortunately, more hypocrisy was found of a secret solo-performance tape that shut her down. Her lack of accountability is stunning. Her ability to distort the facts is stunning. The fact that she claims she represents conservative women is embarrassing. I know a lot of conservative women and none would ever behave like she does.
And I about laughed out loud when I her say about how much she accomplished in her 22-years. Like what? Parading around showing her body? Being unaccountable for anything bad that happened? For being an intellectual midget? For continually seeking media attention, then complaining about it?
It is pretty rare for me to write a post of this kind about anyone but I had to vent somewhere. Carrie Prejean is an idiot. She brought all this on herself and she deserves what she gets. She needs to grow up. She is fooling very few people with her words. They ring very hollow.
This was first posted on The TurnKey Publisher’s Blog.
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The idea of incorporating video with the book and ebook is a good one. The idea of tying in Social Media into books is also a good one.
However, from what I have seen from the Simon & Schuster “sample” vook, it is offensive to my sensibilities because, once again, New York publishers are trying to take a proprietary approach to something I believe is relatively simple to implement but trying to lock out other parties.
I am a proponent for the the independent author and publisher who wants to reputably take their work directly to the open market. To date, I have mostly seen “cheese” because people make very little effort to respect some publishing conventions.
I had already made plans to make an announcement on a different note but this whole proprietary vook thing has got me bothered. I launched “The TurnKey Publisher” series as a direct attack and alternative to the traditional publishing model but now comes the vook.
As such, I feel I need to respond rapidly. I don’t have time to write a book on it, so I am simply taking my proof of concept and giving it away. Essentially, it is my hope to put a damper to any proprietary vook / video books formats.
On December 1, I will be releasing my non-proprietary version of the vook for FREE. I will also be providing instructions how to do it for FREE. My Twitter subscribers will be the first to find out about this. With any luck, people who like what they see will spread the word and rally around this open-implementation of vook.
Today, O2 Media President/CEO Gerald Czarnecki emailed me a PDF letter to voice his concerns of allegations and accusations against the company and business he works in.
However, my reporting on O2 Media has been relatively light and mostly indirect. Most of it was actually focused on “Incredible Discoveries”, not O2 Media itself. What seems to be damaging to O2 Media are the apparent connections to “Incredible Discoveries”, earlier businesses, and companies through related parties that have many complaints and lawsuits.
It would seem they really want my “approval” and yet all I have done is accurately report on information I found, acquired, and corroborated:
Florida Division of Corporations
Broward County Clerk of Courts
CorporationWiki
Florida Attorney General’s Office
My phone interviews with various defendants
Google search engine research
Numerous email complaints and reports I have received
Email from O2 Media employee (jhc0615@aol.com)
Palm Beach Post newspaper story
Getting my “approval” would certainly not change the past or my informational findings. In my open response to Gerald Czarnecki, I recommended he look within his own organization to clear up any unhappiness that is occurring.
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