The Upward Path

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publishing

You can’t find the perfect title for a mystery project

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Every so often I see a post: “Can you guys help me choose the best blog name/post title/domain name/book title/book cover?”

People at computerBecause I’m a helpful sort of person, and my skills often enable me to unlock this sort of thing, I sometimes try to engage with these.

And often I end up frustrated because the person prevents me from giving the help they’re asking for.

For instance, they give a list of four titles and ask people to pick the one they like best. But the titles sound like they’re referring to four different pieces of work. So I ask, can you tell us a bit about what your project is so we know what we’re aiming for?

Most often, that doesn’t get answered.   [Read more…] about You can’t find the perfect title for a mystery project

Crowd/Control – book launched

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Crowd Control coverMy new book Crowd/Control is now out on Amazon!

Although I like delving into practical communication advice, it’s in the service of social change, and I spend a chunk of time thinking about that.

Why is the world like it is? Where are we going? Why haven’t we fixed these problems yet?

This book is about that. It’s about looking at changes in the world in the recent past and near future, with a particular interest in the psychology that’s driving them.

The first part is about Cultural forces. I argue that the internet’s gift of communication beyond borders has accelerated a lot of things. Among those are two powerful mindsets or movements.

Some people have seen the opportunities to join together in common causes and interests, and combine skills and resources to make things happen. I’ve called this the crowd movement.

Some people find the loss of familiar structure (and of privileged positions) threatening, and respond by trying to enforce more structure. I’ve called this the control mindset.

This isn’t any kind of universal theory, but it’s a lens I find useful for looking at events in the world. The two aren’t setting out to oppose each other, but they are pulling in different directions and influencing ideas.

The second part of the book is about Surfing the fluid world. It’s a collection of short articles on a range of important topics, like technology, work, business, health, media, climate and social gaps.

A lot of talk about the future is rather techno-utopian. I wanted to broaden out and talk about the resource implications and social trends that are at least as important in our unpredictably evolving world. Crowd and control are woven through these. I’ve made some predictions, but a lot of the point is to give perspectives and raise interesting questions.

So I hope that has made you interested in checking it out. It’s an easy read and not too long, with plentiful dollops of humour and wordplay.

But there’s an important thread too. I believe we’re in a time of choosing between an upward path, employing the best of our values and gifts, and a downward path where our lower selves drown us in the problems we’ve created. The cultural forces of compulsive control are trying to close off the possibilities we need to follow, and the windows for action may not last forever.

So the book also has a call to action. It asks you to hold up to the light the things those in positions of power want you to believe, and to speak out from your true values for the kind of world you really want to see.

 

Crowd/Control: two mindsets shaping our future by Tim Gray is at Amazon stores for the UK, US and elsewhere.

It will be coming to other ebook stores in the near future.

 

New EU VAT rules change the game for digital businesses

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Figure fleeing giant rolling coin

This post has been getting occasional edits, especially resource links added at the end, but this is a continuously-evolving field. If you’re affected, use the links to read further.

A few days ago a chance Facebook post by a friend asked if anyone knew about the new EU rules for VAT on sales of digital products. I hadn’t heard anything about it, so I checked it out. What I found was extremely alarming.

The new rules come into force in a few weeks’ time. They change the landscape of online selling in a big way, to the detriment of independent content creators. And very few people know about them.

From the materials I found, it was difficult to get a clear picture of how it works and what it means for me. This post sets out my current understanding, with the aim of giving others a clearer introduction.

(Please do not rely on it as advice for making important decisions. I’m not responsible for any consequences of acting on it.)

The short version

From 1 January 2015 new rules on VAT (value added tax) come into force across the European Union (EU). These will affect you if:

  • you sell ‘digital services’ – explored in a minute, but yes, it does include ebooks, PDF products, training materials, software and music files
  • you sell business to consumer (B2C) to EU citizens, wherever you are based (B2B, business to business selling, is not covered by these rules).

The essence of the change is that the ‘place of supply’ for VAT purposes will now be the location of the purchaser, not the location of the seller. Sellers will have to add VAT to the purchase price at the rate for the customer’s country, and ensure that the appropriate payment goes to that country.

Due to the effects of harmonising countries’ rules and the way the admin will work, if you fall under the new rules you will have to register for VAT. All your digital sales will be liable for VAT, and once you’ve registered you’ll have to account for it on all your other activities too. [Read more…] about New EU VAT rules change the game for digital businesses

London Book Fair 2013

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Show floor at London Book FairOn Monday and Tuesday I was at this show at Earl’s Court, London. It’s a great big event where the publishing industry converges to show off titles, make deals and discuss the future. I went last year for the first time and enjoyed it, so I was back again, though not for the whole three days. Here’s what I thought of the stands and the seminars I went to.

Stands

Last time I walked every aisle to soak it up, but this year I didn’t need to see all the stands by remaindered book sellers and big publishing companies. The bit of most interest to me was the digital publishing zone. It seemed smaller this time, with less stuff of interest to a smaller operator. I wonder whether that illustrates a cycle. In 2011, I gathered, the traditional publishing industry was freaking out about ebooks; in 2012 there was much talk of integrating them into their operations. Maybe now it’s just seen as part of business as usual?

[Read more…] about London Book Fair 2013

The Self-Publishing Conference 2013

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Yesterday I was at this event down the road in Leicester. I confess, I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about an early start on a Sunday in the snow! I’m glad I went though. There was a good atmosphere and I would happily have chatted to people further – a good indicator for an event, and especially one running for the first time.

The conference was put together by the folks at Matador, one of the leading self-publishing service providers. (By which I mean: you take your manuscript and pay for your choice of services to turn it into a book people can buy.) They’d brought in a range of speakers on topics including choosing a self-publishing service provider, printing, marketing, design and ebooks. The programme was all about those sessions: four slots with your choice of three topics, with a panel at the end. Oh, and a rather excellent lunch!

[Read more…] about The Self-Publishing Conference 2013

Exhibitions: publishing, media, marketing

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Belated report! On Tuesday and Wednesday last week I was down in London at two exhibitions – or possibly four, or one… as they were in the same hall at Earl’s Court.

  • P&ME – Publishing & Media Expo – “The UK’s only multi-platform publishing event covering digital, print and mobile”.
  • TFM&A – Technology for Marketing & Advertising (actually joint with two other acronyms, but that doesn’t matter to anyone except the organisers.

photo (4)There were loads of stands by organisations looking to sell services, and a packed programme of seminars across (counts) actually 15 different “theatres”. It wasn’t a massive show – maybe using a third the space of London Book Fair – but there was plenty on. I’d been told about it a week before, and thought the content looked good enough for a trip. I was there for Tuesday afternoon and all of Wednesday.

[Read more…] about Exhibitions: publishing, media, marketing