Posts by Carol Ross
The Grace of Tony’s Mom
Yesterday was the start of a three-day weekend, yet my 13-year old son was glum. My husband had asked me to talk to our son, after getting a face that was ready to burst into tears when discussing of all things, a birthday party. I found him in his room, playing an online game with…
Read MoreObama, Eco-Systems and Communities
A topic of discussion with the ABV team has been eco-systems. Simon first introduced us to the concept of eco-systems for communications. Simon defines it this way: "All the options to communicate with your community." Visually, such an eco-system might look like a blog in the middle, connected to a LinkedIn account, a Twitter account,…
Read MoreDo You Clean Up As You Go?
Last week, I was feeling trapped, overwhelmed and underwater. I had piles of to-do’s near by laptop, on my desk, on the kitchen table. I had flashes of that I Love Lucy episode where the conveyor belt moves faster and faster and Lucy is unable to put the chocolates in the box fast enough. Out…
Read MoreIn Praise of Joe
This week, I was in the car, listening to the radio, and just happened to catch Garrison Keillor hosting The Writer’s Almanac. He always reads a poem, in addition to giving tidbits about writer’s lives. Sometimes I find that I have to concentrate too hard to enjoy the poem while I’m driving. But on this…
Read MoreWhy Monetizing Before Community-Building Doesn’t Work for Books
I’m reading The Long Tail by Chris Anderson and this paragraph got my attention: "In 2004, 950,000 books out of the 1.2 million tracked by Nielsen BookScan sold fewer than ninety-nine copies. Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies. Only 25,000 sold more than 5,000 copies. The average book in America sells about 500 copies.…
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