Brands and advertisers poured tens, often hundreds, of thousands of dollars collecting Likes, and Facebook had us convinced there was value in doing so. Today, there are various advertising opportunities and objectives, but Likes are still widely considered an indicator of brand loyalty and growth opportunity.

The question remains, however: What is the value of these Likes? This is the million-dollar question, and it’s one that few marketers dare to dive into. We’ve been accustomed to avoiding it, only going so far as to concede that “there’s gotta be some value there.”

In my opinion, there is value in a Like, but maybe not in the way you might think.  It can certainly be stated that there is relationship between a follower Liking a brand on a social platform and that follower spending more on the brand than non-followers. But is that relationship one of correlation or causation? Here is…

Hello to all the Archer’s Aim readers. Life has been a whirlwind lately but I’ve been making some progress on several writing projects. However, I wanted to pause and answer a question that seems to get bigger and bigger with each month:

Will there be another book to The Bow of Hart Saga?

Based on the number of these questions I’m getting, there likely will be another book but not as part of the core trilogy that is currently out. I know that I left the door open for another book or two and that was somewhat by design. I understand that, while I’ve wrapped up the series nicely, there are fans who want more. Honestly, the request for a sequel cropped up from my daughter who also asked for a prequel series. So, I left the saga with a bit of an opening to move toward a sequel as…

Hello, readers,

I need your help.

On January 11, 2018, I shared a post from Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware about possible copyright infringement by the Internet Archive, which scans books and posts them for free in a “lending library” without notifying authors or receiving permission.

On the Internet Archive site, I found a pdf of the 1989 mass-market paperback of my novel, King of the Roses (originally published by St. Martin’s in 1983). I sent two email notices requesting that the book be taken down, using the free form included in Victoria’s original post.

I have received a response. The response raises several questions for me and I would appreciate feedback from readers. In particular,

1) Have I understood the response correctly?

2) What is the correct and ethical response to the fact that the Internet Archive plans to retain a copy of my book for “blind and print-disabled”…

Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware follows up with her account of how she got Internet Archive to take down her copyrighted books. In her case, as in mine, it took a stern comment on their web site to get action, since the standard notices received no response. Her post includes a discussion of how the Archive’s actions in scanning books without permission and in some cases reformatting them differs from the actions of a regular library, which buys its books. She raises the issue of why copyright is worth protecting—and is not just a matter of greed on the part of authors.

I received a series of comments on this issue that introduced me to the Marrakesh Treaty, which allows authorized sites to provide books for print-disabled readers without author permission. You may find this news enlightening, as I did.

Check out the latest in this ongoing situation…

To celebrate National Grammar Day, we have an infographic on what some folks feel are advanced grammar mistakes. These grammar tips go beyond the basics because even the most seasoned writer can make a mistake. Highlights include the misuse of number and numeral and split infinitives. The English language has many obscure grammar rules that…

via 6 Tips for National Grammar Day — Indies Unlimited