Before I jump into the Topic of the Week, I'm getting out my soapbox for my annual plea to our US readers to GO VOTE. If you haven't cast your ballot early, please, please, please go to your assigned polling place and VOTE today. Even though it's not a year for a presidential election, so much still needs your say on the local level. Some of the nastiest legislation gets snuck through in off-presidential years because voter turnout is low and the citizens aren't paying attention. We cannot afford to "sit this one out." Whether it's your school board or gubernatorial race, approving liquor licenses or women's healthcare, issues on the ballot matter.
This Week's Topic: Class List: What are we learning and from whom?
I've been taking ad classes from the Zon and FB 'cause it's their platforms, so I consider them the experts. There are lots and lots of self-proclaimed advertising platform experts out there, yet a paltry few offer insight you can't get for free from the companies that own the platforms. Once in a while, the monstrosities run book-specific advertising classes and I hop on those toot-sweet. A lot is stuff I know, but as the companies release new features, I want to stay on top of those so I'm not wasting $$.
I'm also subscribed to David Gaughran's free best-practices newsletter. He's been in the book biz for decades with a good reputation, and his advice--on the whole--is useful. YMMV. About one out of every ten newsletters has a gem that makes me jot down a note to "try this." What I like most about his newsletter is the inside scoop on when/how distributors are changing things on the tech or policy sides. Obviously, that's not in every newsletter, but when there is something coming, he's one of the first to know and to put it into "this is how it affects authors" terms.
