The Power of SMALL - Smart Tips for Storytellers

  When it comes to vehicles, I’m not much of an aficionado. I want something that makes me smile, will get me from Point A to Point B, and won’t kill my budget. But if money weren’t an object, I’d get this dreamy ride. I’m smiling just thinking about it. I was an inch away from owning a vintage VW camper van in college, but my sensible father “steered” me away from it. Dreams crushed, I settled for a pale green Ford wagon with no heat and rusted-out wheel wells, a steal for $100 that got me through a couple years of commuting to Ohio State. This beauty, a yellow and pewter all-electric 2024 VW Microbus, is my new car crush, as cool as it gets and totally my personality. Park this anywhere and a crowd is sure to gather. Drive it around and enjoy the front-to-back window roof and sleek interior. Ooh, yes. People everywhere have a car crush on VW bugs and camper vans, their emotional heartstrings all aflutter whenever they see one. VW’s slogan says it all: fahrvergnügen! This means,...

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE PUBLISHER'S SOUL: 5 Remedies to Protect Your Small Publishing Business from COVID-19 [This post is more for my fellow colleagues in the publishing industry, but anyone with their own business or side gig could benefit from this same recipe for surviving tumultuous times. And, if you are facing an obstacle of a different sort, read on for a little chicken soup.] You may have stocked your personal shelves with soap, toilet paper, medicines, and canned goods, but what would be the equivalent to help your small indy publishing business survive disruptions caused by COVID-19? How vulnerable are you, and what can you do now to protect your business? Look at the publishing events cancelled or postponed to date, and you know the dominoes are falling. Bookstores in high-risk areas around the world show seemingly insurmountable sales loss. We’d like to think books would be the perfect answer to ‘social distancing’ and sheltering in place, but jittery marke...