A lot of writers procrastinate and make excuses for not writing. There’s always something else to do: Laundry, dishes, house cleaning, errands, taxes. The list is endless. One of the biggest excuses for not writing is that there simply isn’t enough time. What’s your excuse for not writing?

It’s hard to sit down and face the blank computer screen. I know, I’m deal with that issue myself. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a great idea and for one reason or another, not acting on it.

Instead of trying to give you a bunch of advice on how to make time to write and get work done, I decided to inspire you with stories of how other writers make it work. I do add in my own two cents when it comes to procrastination.

I hope the following helps you become a more productive writer:

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I was recently browsing the shelves of my local Barnes & Noble when something caught my eye – a new book about my favorite band, the Grateful Dead. My heart skipped a few beats with excitement. Then I was shocked to see the section where this new golden nugget was shelved: Business marketing. What?

Turns out, that despite their anti-business leanings, they were a pretty business savvy band. They were way ahead of their time.

The book is called Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead (aff link). I haven’t read the book yet, but when I saw it and began thinking about why the Grateful Dead is such an iconic band, it began to make sense that businesses and authors today could learn a few things from Jerry Garcia and Co.

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Ebook prices are still very fluid. There’s no industry standard, or even a consensus, on how much an ebook should cost. Only one thing is for sure, ebook consumers like prices low. Author Ken Follett and his publisher are learning that the hard way. His publisher raised the price of a Follett book from $7.99 to $9.99. The result? Sales of the ebook fell by 48%.

Hopefully this will be a wake-up call to other publishers and authors that higher ebook prices will only hurt sales. This also shows that the agency model, when publishers are allowed to set their own prices, doesn’t work. A recent post on J.A. Konrath’s blog says:

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Borders Book Group may have a second chance at life. The bookseller was able to secure $550 million in financing from GE Capital yesterday. While this is good news in the short term, Borders has still not ruled out bankruptcy.

The financing deal comes after the struggling bookseller made employee layoffs, stopped payment to some publishers and announced the closing of a distribution facility. In other words, GE gave Borders a stay of execution.

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In a 4th quarter earnings press release published today by the largest online retailer, Amazon.com, the company reports that they have sold “millions” of their 3rd generation Kindles in the last fiscal quarter. CEO Jeff Bezos released this statement:

“Thanks to our customers, we achieved two big milestones,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “We had our first $10 billion quarter, and after selling millions of third-generation Kindles with the new Pearl e-ink display during the quarter, Kindle books have now overtaken paperback books as the most popular format on Amazon.com. Last July we announced that Kindle books had passed hardcovers and predicted that Kindle would surpass paperbacks in the second quarter of this year, so this milestone has come even sooner than we expected – and it’s on top of continued growth in paperback sales.”

Amazon is notoriously tight-lipped about their Kindle sales numbers. Estimates are all over the place, but all appear to be above the 5 million mark for 2010.

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Barnes & Noble, the nation’s largest bookseller, updated the firmware to their NookColor eReader to version 1.1.0. This is the first firmware update since the NookColor was released late last year.

According to the B&N website, here are the updates 1.1.0 brings:

• Improved performance of Wi-Fi connectivity, Home and Shop.
• Ability to pinch and zoom in browser.
• Enhanced reading experience for magazines and children’s books.
• Access helpful NOOKcolor related information and support tips on the new default browser home page.
• Reduce mistyped passwords with “show password” option during registration and Wi-Fi set up.
• Easily identify NOOK kids Read To Me
  

As much as I love Apple and my iPad, I’m not impressed with iBooks. I’ve been putting the ebook reading app through it’s paces by reading Elin Hilderbrand’s

After owning the iPad for over a month now, I’m not surprised that iPad sales are so high. What I am a little surprised at is that more iPad owners are buying their ebooks from Amazon than Apple’s own iBooks. Publishers Weekly reported on a survey recently taken by the Codex Group.

I’ve been using the Kindle app and I will admit, it’s pretty impressive. Combined with the sheer volume of ebooks that Amazon offers, it’s a force to be reckoned with.

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Publishers, treading cautiously, have only recently began letting consumers share ebooks. The Kindle and Nook allow for sharing, but with a lot of restrictions: Ebooks can only be lent out once, for 2 weeks and not all ebooks are available for lending.

Ebook fans are taking matters into their own hands. A few websites have popped up allowing users to swap ebooks with each other. According to Publishers Weekly, BookSwim launched a site called ebooktoss.com:

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I walked into my local Borders a few days ago and was shocked at what I saw. A store that had once been well laid out, friendly and fun to visit had turned into something else.

It was unorganized, with a lot of sales floor space being taken up by clearance bins and tables. The Customer Service desk was gone, replaced by a display of all the ebook readers they sell. Booksellers walk around with radios connected to little earpieces.

Borders also changed their membership program. They now offer a $20/year membership that gives customers bigger savings, up to 40% off hardcover bestsellers and free online shipping. There’s little doubt that they started selling a premium membership to increase revenue.

Borders is hurting and the news for the new year doesn’t look good.

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