If your image happens to be a JPEG (JPG), good chance you can compress it to a smaller filesize, saving massive amounts sometimes.
Note that the new standard seems to be PNG, which is undoubtedly higher quality, but boy those filesizes!
The thing about compressing or optimizing a JPEG is that it’s technically a “lossy” solution — the image quality will get worse. Technically. On paper. And I’m not kidding — in my experience that’s really more of an issue when printing the image, but for viewing on screen? Not so much, or even not even noticeable at all, placing it right smack in “Who cares?” territory. Well, yeah, there are the anal folks, but I never consider them. Haters gonna hate.
Point is, if you have a JPEG image, try compressing it with a software tool. See what happens.
I use graphics software on my local machine to do that. But if I’m on a different machine or on mobile and need to do a JPEG compression, here’s a free site online that does the job sufficiently well.
For example, see this issue’s custom banner thumbnail on the right there? Click on it to see it full-size. Well, the original JPEG file was nearly 300K. After I let Compress JPEG do its thing? 60K.
Yeah, there was some very slight degradation in image quality, but that’s me. And I was looking for it. The vast majority of people are barely going to give that image a glance, and the compressed image quality is still way better than what I would consider minimally acceptable for that purpose. Assuming that people can even spot the degradation — I’m pretty sure most can’t.
Bonus tip: Start with a good quality image. Trying to compress a crappy low-res image, or something that was already compressed before, you’ll likely end up with something pretty bad (noisy, dirty, jaggy edges, pixellation, etc.).
Worth a shot, though. And costs nothing. Try it out.
Enjoy today’s featured selections!
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“Can’t you give me just 1 tip (for getting book reviews)?” she asked
“The other day a newly published author who had befriended me 5 minutes earlier asked me if I could give her just one tip how to get book reviews from Amazon top reviewers.
I told her to read my book.
She came back with, ‘Can’t you give me just 1 tip?’
Hmm… Apparently this author was not aware how much in demand these reviews are; on average Hall-of-Fame reviewers get 250+ review requests per month.
So, I told her that getting a book reviewed by an Amazon top reviewer isn’t a ‘1-tip thing,’ especially if the book did not have any reviews yet. Getting reviews is a challenging task that encompasses many steps; which is why my book has 100 pages.
She immediately un-friended me.
I guess that says it all. Just another wannabe author who does not really want to learn the trade. The indie author industry is overrun with people like that. The sooner they get out and make room for the people who really hone their craft and all skills, the better for all.
Of course, from experience I know that most indie authors work a lot harder than this one.
So, here is one tip for authors whose books received already a few reviews (including from top reviewers).
‘Like/find helpful’ the reviewers’ reviews!!!”
Continue reading @ Gisela’s Straightforward Blog »
“Self-Made” is a Myth; Here’s the Real Formula for Success
“[T]hat’s what most people get wrong. They never learn how to reach out. You’ve got to be willing to put yourself out there…”
» Medium
$4,344.81 in 40 Days with my Fiction Book Only Spending $30 on Advertising
“I had a plan. A big plan. Heck, I had the plan of the universe — to sell thousands of copies of my new release Science Fiction book, Project Atlantis, during the first month I published it.
This plan started six months before I started writing the book. The plan entailed rapidly finishing three books in a series — Project Atlantis, Destination Atlantis, and Colony Atlantis — and once it had been edited, beta-read, and sent out to my ARC reviewers, I’d release Project Atlantis, then Destination Atlantis seven days later, and Colony Atlantis fourteen days after Destination Atlantis. Additionally, I’d have the fourth book, Beyond Atlantis, almost 100% written. Yet, I’d have Beyond Atlantis’s pre-order already up and running before Colony Atlantis was released, all the while dropping over $1500 dollars in Facebook Ads, Amazon Ads, and on Promo Sites, and whatever else I could get my greedy paws on.
Well, I did none of the above.
Here is what happened that led me to only spending $30 on Facebook and Amazon ads and how I was able to make $4,344.81 in 40 Days with my Fiction Book.”
Continue reading @ Medium »
10 Actionable WordPress Security Tips for the Layman
“[T]he more popular something is, the more people want to leverage on it for nefarious means… Fortunately, WordPress is a platform that offers you a multitude of opportunity to defend yourself.”
» WHSR
Free
See it, sell it: Finding freelance story ideas out in the wild
“If you’ve ever gone birding – but without binoculars or a clear idea of what a jay or robin or red-tailed hawk actually looks or sounds like – it’s likely you came home disappointed, persuaded that the trees were empty. But once you know what to look for, it’s hard not to spot birds all around you.
Story ideas are like that. They’re everywhere. It’s a rare day I leave my apartment in a small suburban New York town without stumbling across several great story ideas for my magazine, newspaper or web editors, or material for my non-fiction books.
Ideas are all around us for the taking: cropping up in casual conversation with a local merchant, neighbor or our children. They’re hanging from bulletin boards, both real and virtual. If you’re not already carrying something with which to record every idea as it occurs to you, start today. I often use my cell phone to snap reference visuals that help me add great detail to my pitches and stories.
The following are marketable story ideas I’ve found just by keeping my eyes and ears open.
• As do most writers, I read a variety of publications. I kept seeing a small ad in a local city magazine advertising a wilderness survival course – hardly what you’d think necessary for people living in or near New York City. The class was offered in a corner of Central Park, and the day I took it, it poured rain for much of the time, but I was there on assignment for The New York Times.”
Continue reading @ The Writer »
Fixing WordPress Errors? It’s Easy If You Do It Smartly
“[W]e hope to give you insight into the most common WordPress problems that may occur when developing your website. We’re going to talk about smart solutions for those problems and the tools that you can use to solve them.”
» DevriX
10 Medium Articles Every Aspiring Entrepreneur Should Read
Web Article
10 Medium Articles Every Aspiring Entrepreneur Should Read
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7 Ways to Reignite Your Passion For Writing
“…
I wanted to share with you what has helped me to re-connect with my passion for writing again.
It’s been a seriously tough last couple of months or so and I feel like just in the past couple of weeks, I’ve started to rediscover my passion for writing and storytelling.
So, if you need a little inspiration to help you stick with it, the follow 7 ways are what have helped me.
1.Reconnect with your Big Why. It’s super important to write down why you want to write in the first place. It’s been shown by studies that writing down your goals and/or dreams helps to reinforce them in our minds.
Give yourself permission to write down whatever reason for writing that comes into your mind. There’s no judgement here and no wrong answer. Whatever your reason is for writing and telling stories that compels you, let that pull you forward.
Maybe you want to earn a living writing. Or perhaps you want to be able to make money to save for your kids college education. Maybe for you, there’s a story inside of you that keeps you awake at night, compelling you to put words on the page.
I’ve been re-writing my big why down in my journal in the past few weeks, and it really has given me clarity. I want to write novels as well as nonfiction books and make a full-time income from it.
2.Read/Listen/Watch what inspires your writing goals and dreams. I believe creatives need to be inspired on a regular basis. For myself, I need to either read or listen to something that helps me step beyond my self-doubts and into belief, every single day. For example, when I listened to this YouTube video on Getting What You Want, by Oprah, and was reminded that if you have faith as a mustard seed you can move mountains and anything is possible.
As I watched this video, I was reminded of when I was ten years old. My mom gave me a necklace with a mustard seed, in a little clear box and said Lorna Faith, this is for you. Think of your name [Faith] every time you wear it. It’ll help you get past your mountains. And someday I know you’ll encourage others to have faith when things look impossible.
This was a great reminder to keep going after my dream of writing. I hope it helps you too and that you find blogposts, books, audios or videos that inspire you to keep telling your stories too.”
Continue reading @ Create a Story You Love »
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10 Best Uses of Video Marketing
“All brands need a video marketing strategy. Digital marketing professionals and video makers understand how integral video is to growth hacking the current market.”
10 Bestsellers That Began as Self-Published Books
“There is much to be said for self-publishing, especially if you have spent a year or ten (see Michael J. Sullivan below) trying to get publishing houses interested in your work.
If you self-publish, and do a proper job of marketing, your book may not only achieve success in its own right, but may be picked up by a major publishing house. (Ironically, it may even be published by one of the houses that has previously sent you a rejection slip.)
All of these books have one thing in common – their authors did not simply publish and then lean back and enjoy their success. They marketed, pitched, and sold the heck out of their books.
And they continued to write.
Here are a few best-selling books whose authors did not give up on them.”
Continue reading @ Publishing … and Other Forms of Insanity »
10 books that will make you a better writer (and why)
“…
I love borrowing books. But there are some books that a writer really should have in their own personal for-keeps libraries. These are the books that you’ll keep coming back to, over and over, through your career.
Here are my top ten writing craft books. Some of them I’ve owned for twenty years or more. Some are new to me. Some are classics that you might already own. Maybe there are some that will be new to you.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
“You want to draw your readers into the world you’ve created, make them feel a part of it, make them forget where they are. And you can’t do this effectively if you tell your readers about your world secondhand.”
In 2004, when I was eight months pregnant, I won Nanowrimo for the first time. I wrote a truly awful first draft of a romantic suspense story. Then I had a baby girl on December 8. I never looked back. Once I knew that I could finish writing a novel, I knew that I could learn how to write well.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers is the book that taught me how to be a better writer. I finished my first manuscript and took a solid year, going through this book, chapter by chapter, exercise by exercise, and applying what I learned to my work.
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
“I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.”
Ray Bradbury’s little book of essays about writing and creativity is an essential little pocket of inspiration. I’ve read it half a dozen times and every single time, I pick up something new. Because it’s a collection of essays, you can pick it up and read what you need, when you need it.
Bradbury’s advice for fiction writers has shaped my writing life. He believed, especially, in short stories and in reading a lot. And watching movies. One of my favorite parts of Zen in the Art of Writing is the way that Bradbury breaks down how and why he wrote some of my favorite short stories.”
Continue reading @ Startup Grind »
10 Common Sales Objections (and How to Overcome Them)
“The remedy lies in anticipating and tackling customer objections head-on so you’re prepared and confident.”
» Rambl
10 Essential Tips for Website Performance Optimization
10 Essential Tips for Website Performance Optimization
SOURCE: UnderConstructionPage
LINK: https://underconstructionpage.com/website-performance-optimization/
[P]erformance of the website is relatively essential to search engines such as Google or Yahoo as they measure it to determine the search engine rankings as well.”
[bookmark]
10 Expert Blogging Tips
10 Expert Blogging Tips
SOURCE: UnderConstructionPage
LINK: https://underconstructionpage.com/expert-blogging-tips/
More than half of internet users are accessing the web from a portable device. So the chances that your readers are accessing your content during their commute to work, while sitting in a waiting room somewhere, or even while working out, are statistically significant.”
[bookmark]
10 Major Websites You Can Build With WordPress
10 Major Websites You Can Build With WordPress
SOURCE: WPNewsify
WordPress has grown from a simple blog management system to a content management system which can have many uses in the current market. Not only that, it is slowly evolving into a platform that can solve end-to-end business problems.”
[bookmark]
10 Medium Articles Every Aspiring Entrepreneur Should Read
Web Article
10 Medium Articles Every Aspiring Entrepreneur Should Read
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