Hey Richard,

This is a really helpful post. And thanks for mentioning Moolala.

If there's anything we can ever do to help you, please let us know.

Jon Dale
Chief Happiness Officer, Moolala
1-800-680-4633
My recent post The new capital

Seems that this post is just begging for a video.

Rocco, all I can say is "wow".

I'm looking forward to the day when we get to hang out. If you're ever in my neck of the woods be sure to drop me a note.

Was Seth saying that he won't publish books anymore, or just that he won't do it through a traditional publisher?

Colleen, I think your comment hits the nail on the head for why Seth's move isn't right for most authors.

I know Seth, he loves being on the bleeding edge, and he doesn't mind being there alone. However, must authors don't want to go it alone. They not only want, but need the skillset that a great publisher brings.

I think the future belongs to whoever builds the platforms. Seth has done an incredible job of this, which gives him the right/opportunity/privilege to make a move like this. Thomas Nelson is one of the few publishing houses whose leadership is taking the time to explore what it looks like to partner with their authors in building platforms.

I love that you said, "I like being part of a team and sharing the load. It's about relationship to me as well as business. So while this might be the right move for Seth, it's never going to be the right option for me."

I'm guessing, if Seth felt this way about his publisher, if his publisher had partnered with him to explore new opportunities, if his publisher had been his partner rather than his printer, he'd be moving forward differently.

Perhaps the real question is do most published authors feel like you or like Seth?

Mike,

Great post. I hope we never to get to step 8. I'd probably try public humiliation of the guilty before I hired an attorney :-).

Have you considered publishing your permissions policy under a Creative Commons Sharealike license? Seems like it could be a good way to share it with others and you can even ask others to give you credit each time it's used. That's how wordpress does their privacy policy: http://automattic.com/privacy/

Thoughts?

Mike and Tod S.,

I agree re the 3g. Searching for a wifi hotspot is so 2009 :-).

I think the real issue is posture. If you spend your day sitting at a desk then you should get a MacBook with a huge external monitor. But if you live life out and about, in airports, on your feet, on the couch...then a huge touchscreen is revolutionary.

It is just a big iPhone and that's the brilliance of it. And it'll only get better from here. This is week 1. Imagine getting an iPhone 3 years ago. Before HootSuite (or even twitter).

I've had my iPad since launch day and I've only pulled used my laptop once since then.

I'm also excited about what this is going to do to computers in general. Touchscreens make sense when they work as well as the ipad's. Like Mike said, reading on the screen is a great experience. The more people that have tablet devices the more people who have access to ebooks. Have you checked out the CrushIt Vook on the iPad? It's better than just a book.

And I love the kindle app. The way I can highlight and take notes is so much more intuitive and usable than on kindle. And once HootSuite has an app...then I'll want something else.

In the interest of full disclosure, I rode a Segway for the first time this weekend in San Antonio. It's amazing. I want one of those too.
My recent post The new PR

Hey Mike,

Great post! For anyone considering your suggestion #5, Use variable cost alternatives, I'd highly recommend Secretary in Israel (http://www.secretaryinisrael.com). I've been a client for about a year and it's been a wonderful experience. Their owner, Sarah Leah Gootnick, is amazing, and her team of virtual assistants is literally world class. I have a "full-time" assistant named Carly, but it only ends up costing me $400-$1500 a month, because I only have to pay for time she's actually working on my behalf. As you can tell, I'm a raving fan.

Thanks again for a wonderful post.
My recent post The new PR

Mike, I agree that active twittering takes less than 30 minutes a day. I've been twittering for a while, and probably average less than 20 minutes a day.

Adrian, I can see how it would take more time than that, IF you are trying to build your twitter following by following lots of other users, hoping for the return follow (otherwise known as twitter spam).

twitter isn't a quick fix. You can't cheat your way to a strong, loyal following. If you want more followers (and I'm not convinced this is always the best goal), then provide more value to your existing followers. As Mike points out, patience is the key.

A good indicator of how valuable your tweets are is how often they are retweeted (RT). I use <a href="http://www.PeopleBrowsr.com" target="_blank">http://www.PeopleBrowsr.com (a client of mine) to keep track of this sort of information and manage my inbound tweetflow.

Another legitimate exception to the 30 minute average would be my friend Frank Eliason (@comcastcares). However, Frank's team is using twitter to provide customer service to a huge customer base. Once you are providing customer service to millions of customers using twitter (a great idea, by the way), you may need a little more that 30 minutes a day.

<a href="http://www.twitter.com/jdale" target="_blank">http://www.twitter.com/jdale