Self Publishing Using Squidoo!

I've been toying with the idea of using a blog to publish a book while generating revenue through Google's AdSense and affiliate programs. This is not a new idea as “Blooks” and “Blovels” have been available for several years. Obviously if you are an established author this may not be the route for you to take but if you are an author having trouble finding a publisher it is much better than letting your book take up space on your hard drive.

My father is an established author in media related topics with several published non-fiction books under his belt but he has written his first novel that he calls “Speculative Historical Fiction” from a Christian perspective and he’s had a hard time finding a publisher willing to take a chance on the manuscript. The book is entitled “To Kill the Christ” and is the first book in a trilogy called “A Kingdom called Long Reach” So I decided to publish the first book for him using both Squidoo and a blog. This will be a test as to which platform works best. The hope is that there is sufficient interest in the novel that a publisher is willing to publish the entire trilogy. The second book is complete and he has begun work on the final book in the trilogy.

I have launched the first book on Squidoo calling it a “Squidovel” (clever huh?) and will be adding a blog shortly so please check it out. There will be a place for your comments and he welcomes any points or observations you might have.

I Love to Stumble - Searching for the End of the Long Tail

I just launched my new Squidoo Lens and wanted to share it with my Digital Napkin readers. The concept is to search the web every day for new and interesting site, stores, photography, art, videos, cool apps, etc. I believe their's gold at the end of the Long Tail and I'm searching real hard to find it. So please stumble on over to my new site and let me know what you think.

The Digital Napkin also Celebrates Talent!

I stumbled upon this video clip of a 11 year old girl singing an amazing song on some talent show. What will amaze you is the range of a singer who is only 11. Enjoy!

Amazing 11 year old!!!
Uploaded by bernynab

I Stumbled Upon This!

I just started to use Stumbleupon.com and my first couple of stumbles I actually voted down because they took too long to load but then I stumbled across this great picture.

It is a beautiful cityscape and when you move your mouse around the picture it changes the view. It's a twist on timelapse photography. Check it out here.

I would like to know the city, so if any of you can identify it let me know. It could be Seattle but I can't tell if that is the Space Needle.


Also, you might try using Stumbleupon to promote your blogs, website, webstore, eBay store, Squidoo Lens, etc.

Squidoo a Great Social Networking Tool for Online Sellers!

I normally don't copy and paste posts from my other blogs but since I think Squidoo is a fantastic idea I thought I would break that little rule and post something I wrote for My Blog Utopia. I would live to hear your comments.


I've been playing around with MySpace 2.0. Oh, that's right, it's not called MySpace 2.0 its called Squidoo.com

Sure, right now there are fewer than 100,000 profiles on the site (Squidoo calls their profiles Lens') but they have developed an excellent tool for online content creators and especially online sellers (eBay sellers in particular). MySpace is certainly still much more fun then Squidoo and my guess is the average age of a Squidoo member is much higher than on MySpace but Squidoo is geared to helping content creators make some extra cash. You aren’t going to get rich on the site but if you have a blog, website or eBay store it will provide you with the tools to promote those assets. Imagine what would happen if MySpace added that capability.

Check out my “Lens” for an example of what you can do. Since I don’t currently sell any items I have added links to other stores, websites and my blogs. … compare this to my MySpace Profile Traffic is building at Squidoo.com and of course the site is the brainchild of uber marketer Seth Godin so check it out and develop a taste for Calamari.

The Geico Cavemen are Coming!

The Geico Cavemen are getting their own TV show.

The sitcom is in development at ABC and the copywriter who created the spots for Geico is writing the Pilot. This is a fantastic idea. I'm not sure the concept has legs but it is certainly worth a shot. If "Alf" could have a 4 year run this show has a shot. Supposedly the concept revolves around the lives of three 30-something Cavemen who deal with Caveman bigotry in their daily lives.

At press time there was no word as to whether they would cast real cavemen or use actors with make-up.