How to Take the Law Into Your Own Hands (and Why Not To)
For the first time in nearly two years (!) we’re releasing a new Unconventional Guide. It comes out next week.
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Work
Behind the Scenes of the “Unconventional Guide to Publishing” Launch
I woke up before 6am on Tuesday morning, eager for a big day. A product launch is always filled with lots of emotions, especially in the first few critical hours. What would happen? Dun dun dun ...
At 7:30 there was a knock on my door. It's Nicky Hajal! Our genius developer (AKA “kid wonder”) had arrived from New York the previous day. Nicky was in town along with Wes and Tera, our media team, for a tour of venues for this year's World Domination Summit ...
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How to Write, Sell, and Publish Your Book
Today is the launch of our long-awaited Unconventional Guide to Publishing, a comprehensive resource to help those who want to write, sell, and publish a book. Here's the link for those who are interested: --> Monster publishing guide—get it now, rah-rah, etc.
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Start With Something To Say
A while back I was sitting in a room with Jonathan Fields, a fellow author and good friend. At the front of the staging area, a publishing executive was talking about the state of the industry.
Does anyone have any questions?
Someone had a question, and a good one: "If I want to write a book, what's the first thing I should do?"
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Travel
The Latest in Travel Hacking: Earn Free Airfare in 2012
Happy New Year!
On Sunday's long run, I pushed it to 12 miles in honor of 2012. I then tried to eat 12 pieces of nutella pie as a reward, but that plan fell through after piece #2.
As you're thinking about a new year, here's a free tip: forget resolutions; think about living intentionally instead.
What matters to you this year? Do that.
What do you hope to build in 2012? Work on that.
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Life
The $24,213 Thank-You Letter
Dear Friends,
I got up at 5am in Anchorage last Monday to publish this post, all about a business offer I was partnering with to donate my proceeds to our Ethiopia project.
At the moment I pressed the publish button, I knew it was a good promotion and I trusted Karol and Adam—but I wasn't entirely sure how readers would respond. We had no pre-launch to let people know this was coming, it was a busy time of the year, and I was just wrapping up our own only-once-a-year sale at UnconventionalGuides.com ...
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Life
Happy Thanksgiving from Southeast Portland
If you don't live in the U.S., you may wonder why the internet is so quiet today. Everyone else around the world, this is the day you get the internet to yourselves. Use it well, friends, because America will be back online and shopping tomorrow.
I do have a sale going on at UnconventionalGuides.com until Monday if you're interested (use discount code "PUMPKIN"). It's pretty much the only sale of the year over there, so it doesn't need much hype.
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Travel
Defeated by Belarus Again + Early Retirement
Twice in the past two months I've tried to make it to Belarus, and twice I've failed. The first time I was volcanoed, stuck in Vancouver and unable to fly to Europe. This time, I was stuck in Zurich, shut out by a Kafkaesque visa system that denied me entry one day before I was supposed to arrive ...
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Sunday Store Update, “Up in the Air” Edition
This week I finally got around to seeing Up in the Air, a movie everyone’s been asking me about recently. Aside from movies on airplanes themselves, of which I usually watch the first 20 minutes before doing something else, this was only my second movie of the year. Up in the Air, if you’re not familiar with it, is about a guy who loves travel so much that he essentially lives on planes and in Hilton suites throughout the U.S.As he says in the movie, “Last year I spent 322 days on the road, which means that I had to spend 43 miserable days at home.”
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Et Cetera
Annual Review, Portland Run, Thanksgiving
I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving (fellow U.S. citizens) and enjoyed the quiet internet (everyone else) while the folks over here ate birds and went shopping. This morning I completed my final long run in Oregon until the end of the year. I made it about 15 miles and thought about all the things that have happened in 2009. It’s a long list, and I could have kept thinking, but 15 miles is about my limit these days in terms of running. Afterwards I came home and started packing a bag, also for the last time this year ...
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Travel
End of the Discount Airfare Guide
Greetings from my corner of the world, also known as 97214 in the great city of Portland, Oregon.
The other day at my neighborhood Starbucks, I saw a guy in a torn Slayer t-shirt helping someone with their taxes. The fact that this sight wasn’t that unusual to anyone else in the coffee shop offered another good reason for why I like living in this city.
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Et Cetera
Extreme Gratitude, NYC Edition
Greetings from the Atlanta-Hartsfield airport, home to Delta, Chick-fil-A, and a hidden post office in Terminal E. I used to fly through ATL all the time, but since I've switched airline allegiance, this is the first time I've been here in nearly a year. Tonight I'm headed down to MIA and then further down to South America. I'm excited! But first, let's catch up on the past week ...
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Et Cetera
Utah and Continuous Improvement
It's time for the Sunday Store Update. I use this time every Sunday afternoon to tell you more about the small business I'm building to support the rest of the site.
This week I'm headed out to a family trip in Utah. All posts will continue as planned. Life is good.
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Art and Money Feedback, Q&A, Lessons Learned
Greetings once again from my corner of the world, also known as the hipster zip code of 97214. For everyone who's NOT an artist, thanks for your patience during the launch week for my new product. We'll be back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.
We launched up Art and Money on Thursday morning to a great response, including several people who were chatting about it before it was even released. Check out this partial selection of feedback and buzz from the first few hours. I was really glad to see that people are excited about it.
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The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money
My new product, the Unconventional Guide to Art and Money, attempts to break down the difference between successful and unsuccessful art marketing.
It's for artists of all kinds who want to support themselves with their art through new media.
It's not for non-artists (obviously), anyone who doesn't know how to use the internet, or anyone looking for the quick fix.
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