design

Speakipedia Podcast #31: Tamsen Webster

  Transcript Dave Bricker (00:06) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is…

2 weeks ago

Speakipedia Podcast 30: Patricia Fripp

https://player.vimeo.com/video/1032834490 Transcript Dave Bricker (00:07) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is…

3 weeks ago

Speakipedia Podcast #29: Susan Ford Collins

https://vimeo.com/1032827755 Dave Bricker (00:06) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence? This is Speakipedia Media…

4 weeks ago

Speakipedia Podcast #25: Rob Shanahan

Transcript:  Dave Bricker (00:07) This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by Speakipedia .com. I'm your host, Dave Bricker, bringing…

2 months ago

Speakipedia Podcast #17: Bill Stainton

Transcript   [00:00:00] Dave Bricker: Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is…

4 months ago

About The Influencer Tools (Members Only)

The Speakipedia Influencer Tools are based on careful study of story structures. It's easy to ask AI to "write a…

5 months ago

Speakipedia Podcast # 13:<br>Rick Lozano

Transcription Dave Bricker (00:07) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speekipedia…

6 months ago

About The Influencer Tools

The Speakipedia Influencer Tools are based on careful study of story structures. It's easy to ask AI to "write a…

6 months ago

Writing is Design: Avoid Writing Clichés for Better Prose

Since time immemorial, clichés have sneaked in the door when we least expect them to. They're low-hanging fruit for writers…

6 months ago

Publishing Straight Talk

There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish, but not all are profit-oriented or even rational. Before you invest in…

6 months ago

Nonfiction Writing and the One-sided Sales Conversation

Business, technology, and how-to books can be viewed as one-sided sales conversations. Though the author may hope to sell products…

6 months ago

Verbs: Spice Up Your Writing with Verbs that Rock

Verbs are the engines that move your writing and your readers, but many authors don’t spend enough time choosing the…

6 months ago

Book Design Basics: Choosing a Book Font

Selecting a book font seems simple enough, but important subtleties and fine points of typography are not obvious to the…

6 months ago

Rethinking Book Cover Design

Book cover design tells the story of the story. It must convey the spirit and intentions of the author authentically,…

6 months ago

Publishing Advice – Practices & Principles

The following publishing advice is based on my own experiences and those of my clients. I hope you find it…

6 months ago

Want a Traditional Publishing Contract? Do Your Homework

This article discusses the pros and cons of traditional publishing. Abandon your biases, study the business of publishing, and choose…

6 months ago

Writing is Design: Two-Word Writing Clichés

Two-word clichés are perhaps the least obvious kind. Unless we’re vigilant, they sneak into our prose, steal color, mask our…

6 months ago

Book Design Basics: Quotation Marks and Primes

Writers often ask about the difference between "straight" or "dumb" quotation marks and traditional printers' quotes, commonly referred to as…

6 months ago

Book Giveaways: Are They Worth it?

Should you give away books for free? The value of book giveaways can't be assessed by formula. The prevailing mythology…

6 months ago

Publishing Scams and How they Work

Many self-publishers start their book projects with unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings about how publishing works. A huge industry has arisen…

6 months ago

Self-Publishing Scams: Keep the “Self” in Self-Publishing

Here's an addendum to Publishing Scams and How they Work. I wonder why so many authors, after spending thousands of…

6 months ago

How to Produce Audiobooks with Amazon ACX

This article explains how to produce and market a professional quality audiobook using Amazon ACX. Through ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange),…

6 months ago

Page Layout: Illustrated Books and the Rule of Thirds

This article explores page layout strategies for books based on the Rule of Thirds. A grid system based on traditional guidelines ensures harmonious…

6 months ago

Book Cover Design: Moving from Screen to Printing Press

Once you have your book cover design looking spirited and professional on your computer screen, how can you ensure that…

6 months ago

Simulating the Appearance of Traditional Print

Digital typography offers capabilities that printers working with hot lead type and wood type could only dream of. Digital type…

6 months ago

Fine Control Over Justified Text

Page layout programs like Adobe Indesign and Quark, allow typographers to exert fine control over justified text to remove gaps…

6 months ago

Book Design Basics – Use Hyphens for Justified Type

Hyphens are an important contributor to elegant, easy-to-read typography, especially when text is fully justified as is the convention in…

6 months ago

Book Design – Revisiting Classic Layout for Print and EBooks

Book design has changed since publishing became a gigantic industry. Typesetting was once performed by trained craftsmen who apprenticed to…

6 months ago

A Manuscript is Not a Book: Ten Tips for Manuscript Preparation

In my work with writers, I come across many common technical problems with manuscripts. These usually spring from the best…

6 months ago

Not Selling Books? Did you do the Math?

You threw a grand party but nobody came. Your novel is so good but you're not selling books. What happened?…

6 months ago

The Grammar of Book Design

Are images analogous to words? Is what makes a sentence sound "right" the same thing that makes an image "pop"…

6 months ago

Writing is Design: Shy Away from Timid and Passive Writing

"Passive writing" refers to a specific set of grammatical circumstances where emphasis switches from subject to object. The money was…

6 months ago

Writing is Design: Boring Words & Generic Descriptions – Not Nice!

Generic descriptions are telltale signs of lazy writing. Add color to your writing by replacing overused and boring words. It's…

6 months ago

Writing is Design – Writing Dialogue: He Said. She Said.

Dialogue presents challenges for writers. Some prefer to simply declare what was “said.” Many authors feel that “said” is both…

6 months ago

Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover – Part 3

This third installment of Judging a Book by its Cover looks at great book cover designs that won the 2012…

6 months ago

Writing is Design: Avoid Bland Pronouns and Boring Verbs

As a graphic designer, I see numerous parallels between the values that create engaging imagery and the values that create…

6 months ago

Writing is Design: Eliminate THAT Fat From Your Writing

The word "that" is often abused. "That" is a perfectly useful pronoun but it's often the useless fat that slows…

6 months ago

Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover – Part 2

Part 1 of Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover critiqued "professional" covers taken from Amazon's Editor's choice…

6 months ago

Blogging to Build a Speaker or Author Platform

How can speakers, indie writers, and self-publishers use a blog to build a platform? This article explains how to publish…

6 months ago

Book Cover Typefaces and Cover Design Horror Stories

I recently responded to a question in a writers’ forum from an author who was in the process of designing…

6 months ago

How Many Spaces After a Period? Ending the Debate

Few subjects arouse more passion among writers and designers than the debate over how many spaces should follow a period.…

6 months ago

Co-Publishing – Alternative Path or Another Trap for Writers?

I recently published a post about the difference between vanity publishing and true self-publishing. Fundamentally, the article defines a publisher…

6 months ago

Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by Its Cover – Part 1

Nothing screams “amateur” like a poorly crafted book cover. The standards for book design aspired to by trade publishers are…

6 months ago

Reality Checklist for Self-Publishers

One question that loops endlessly on writers’ forums is “How can I sell more books?” The question is a natural…

6 months ago

Self-Publishing & Vanity Publishing: Confuse Them and Pay the Price

What is true self-publishing? What is the difference between self-publishing and “vanity publishing” or “subsidy publishing?” How do these differ…

6 months ago

Why You Need a Professional Editor

After completing the final draft of a manuscript for my fifth book, I wanted a reality check. I hired a…

6 months ago

Proposed Standards for Book Typography

The word processor has placed new burdens on writers to understand how to use italics, big and small capitals, dashes,…

6 months ago

Self-Publishing: Art or Business?

The very idea of "book marketing" is vague. It's like subsuming advertising and fine art sales into a single realm…

6 months ago

Book Design Basics – Drop Caps and Initial Impressions

NITIAL CAPITALS have historical roots in the early days of book design; their use predates the printing press and the…

6 months ago

Indie Publishers, Bookstores and Readers – the Indie Ecosystem

Indie publishers are everywhere and so are indie bookstores, but apart from their names, the two have little in common.…

6 months ago

Book Design Basics – Dashes, Hyphens and Dots

This section on dashes, hyphens and dots goes beyond typographic aesthetics to explore how we can communicate more effectively as…

6 months ago

Self-Publishing IS Real Publishing-The Difference is up to You

The notion of real publishing­ as opposed to self-publ­ishing and the stigma surrounding it is obsolete. I have no objections…

6 months ago

Book Design Basics: Small Capitals – Avoiding Capital Offenses

Use of Small Capitals—uppercase characters designed at lowercase scale—is one aspect of writing and book design that isn’t taught in…

6 months ago

Book Design Basics Part 3: Running The Numbers

Part 3 of Book Design Basics explores better ways to present numbers on your pages. Numbers (called figures) look simple…

6 months ago

Book Design Basics Part 2: Optical Margins, Indents and Periods

Part 2 of Fundamentals of Book Design explores optical margins, paragraph formatting and spaces. Read about margins, layout and leading…

6 months ago

Book Design Basics Part 1: Margins and Leading

Book design is a lost art. Though book design discussions usually focus on covers, consider how much more time a…

6 months ago

Self-Publishers Should Not Be Self-Editors

Editing is one of the first hurdles you’ll encounter as an independent writer. Your fan club is your enemy. Encouraging…

6 months ago

Self-Publishing? Get Real(istic)!

There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish, but not all are profit-oriented or even rational. Before you invest in…

6 months ago

Runny Noses, Sunspots and Thesis Writing

Thesis writing is one of the purest forms of self-publishing. In my work as a professor, I regularly encountered students…

6 months ago

Tips For Book Cover Design

Most book designers make the same errors. One sore spot for me and with many of my university design students,…

6 months ago

Many Unhappy Returns – Think Outside the Bookstore

If you're hoping to have mainstream bookstore distribution, using a Vanity Press may present some obstacles. Book buyers will likely…

6 months ago

Terms and Conditions

Speakipedia Affiliate Program Terms of Service Agreement By signing up to be an Affiliate in the Speakipedia Affiliate Program ("Program")…

7 months ago

Publishing a Book: Beware of Vanity Publishers

Here's a useful definition. Think of a publisher as an individual or entity that assumes the financial risk for a…

7 months ago

Speakipedia Podcast #1: <br>Bruce Turkel

 Transcript Dave Bricker (00:06) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is…

7 months ago

How Do I VideoConference with PowerPoint?

In default mode, as soon as you hit the "play" button on a PowerPoint™ presentation, it takes over your entire…

11 months ago

Cut the Clutter! Simplify Your Slides

The speaker advanced to the next slide and began to explain. I suppose this might make some sort of sense…

11 months ago

PowerPoint and the Bleeding Edge

A power saw is a wonderful tool, but if you don’t have any training or skills, it’s easy to sacrifice…

11 months ago

Speechwriting: Cut THAT Fat

“That” is often useless fat that slows down an otherwise elegant sentence. Fortunately, misuse of “that” is one of the…

11 months ago

PowerPoint: What Size Should My Slides Be?

In the “old days,” computer monitors and televisions all had a 4:3 aspect ratio. What does that mean in English?…

11 months ago

Green Screen Setup with King Charles

Why do I keep a cardboard cutout of King Charles in my green screen studio? Well, no offense to Chuck,…

11 months ago

Why Do Speakers Charge So Much?

Celebrities can charge enormous fees because people will pay to be in the same room with them, and when an…

11 months ago

If You Want Money, Ask for Advice

If you want money, ask for advice. If you want advice, ask for money! This is a longstanding fundraising mantra…

11 months ago

Storytelling Mistakes: The Data Dump

WordPress is a content-management platform used to drive over 455 million websites. Written with open-source technologies like PHP and MySQL,…

11 months ago

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