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
Using Amazon KDP Ads to Sell Your Ebook on Amazon
“Amazon offers several ways to help authors promote and advertise their Kindle ebooks on Amazon itself. In this post, I’ll cover two types of ads Amazon offers through its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) site for self-publishing authors. Note that you no longer have to be exclusive to Amazon in order to advertise on Amazon.
To get to the advertising interface, go to your Bookshelf in KDP and then click on the Promote and Advertise button next to the book you want to advertise. Next, click on the Create an ad campaign button.
You’ll see a screen asking you if you want to create a Sponsored Product ad or a Product Display ad.
Product Display ads have been around for a while, whereas Sponsored Product ads were introduced in 2015.
- Sponsored Product ads appear below Amazon search results and below the fold on product (book) pages. Sponsored Product ads can be targeted by keyword or can use auto-targeting.
- Product Display ads appear on related product detail pages and can appear on the Kindle reader screensaver and home screen. Product Display ads can be targeted by book genre or relevant products.
Visit Amazon to learn more about the differences between the two types of ads.
Product Display campaigns have a minimum budget of $100, are more difficult to set up, and have less granular reporting than Sponsored Product ads. Because of these drawbacks, I don’t believe Product Display ads are worthwhile for most self-published authors. The key to successful book advertising is to fail often—that is, you need to find out what doesn’t work quickly and move on to a more profitable strategy. With the way Product Display ads are set up, that’s difficult to do.
That said, some authors have reported having success with Product Display ads, so I’ll discuss how to set up both.”
Continue reading @ Jane Friedman »
7 Tips for Branding Your Website
“While there may be hundreds of websites selling similar products or services, your brand identity can set you apart from the pack and make your offering feel more unique.”
» Cyberchimps
peeps: Barbara Freethy
Barbara Freethy is a #1 New York Times best-selling author of 34 novels ranging from contemporary romance to romantic suspense and women’s fiction. She started with several books for Silhouette as Kristina Logan (pen name), then she began doing titles for Avon and NAL in her real name. Most recently, she wrote the Angel’s Bay Series for Pocket Books.
Now she’s a self-publisher. A very successful one. According to her Amazon author page, Barbara has sold a humbling 2.7 million ebooks. To date.
How Barbara Got Started Self-Publishing
Barbara started self publishing in January of 2011. She had some backlist titles that were out of print with rights that had reverted back to her, so she decided to test the waters and publish them herself as ebooks. With just a bit of work, she was quite surprised to see how well they did in the marketplace. Just a few months after she started, on July 2011, her Summer Secrets had climbed to #1 on Amazon, #1 on B&N and #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List!
“At first things were a little slow and I wasn’t sure how successful I would be,” Barbara says. “But I changed my cover a few times, experimented with pricing, and eventually the book started to sell really well.” She wasn’t afraid to tinker, test and experiment with many other variables as well, something that often proved beneficial. “I put the book up on all the retail sites, and I was lucky that I did that, because B&N actually sold better for me than Amazon in the beginning.”
If you think this all just came very easily to her, think again. “There’s a steep learning curve for self publishing,” she admits, “but there are a lot of people now who can help authors publish the best book possible.”
Encouraged by the success of her backlist titles, Barbara decided to start self-publishing “ebook originals,” such as The Wish Series, and more recently, On a Night Like This, the first of her new The Callaways series. “I’m excited that Indie publishing is allowing me to bring more books out more quickly for my readers and I hope to continue with that for a long while!”
Self-Publishing Observations
- “I think the industry is in a state of great change. I see the traditional publishers really relying on the very few top authors on their lists for the print/ebook deals. They’ll be publishing newer writers in ebook only, but authors will soon begin to realize that they can make more money on their own by publishing ebooks at much higher royalty rates.”
- “I believe self-publishing will continue to get stronger. All the retailers have invested a great deal of money in their self-publishing portals and I think they’re committed to seeing indie publishers succeed.”
- “In my opinion, there has never been a better time to be a writer, because authors have so many more options than they ever had before.”
Learn more about Barbara and her work by visiting her Amazon author page and checking out her website.
Originally published: February 26, 2013
How to Kill it With Cornerstone Content and Why
“[D]o you have your anchor pages and content aligned to both deliver your central business message and position your website for digital recognition and results?”
Read @ Write Mix for Business »
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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.”
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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
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10 Medium Articles Every Aspiring Entrepreneur Should Read
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