Publishing Evolution #84: Writer Communities & Author Websites

I have never personally contacted an author because I read something they wrote and felt the need to communicate with them. I have been to many author speaking engagements which I enjoy very much. I've heard Chris Crutcher, author or many books for young adults, Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight Series, Richard Louv, author of Last child in The Woods, Mem Fox, author of many children's books as well as books for parents and teachers, Jim Trelease, reading advocate and author of The Read Aloud Handbook, Ken Burns, although really a director and producer of documentary films he usually has companion books to go along with these films which he has autographed for me, Jarrett Krosoczka, author or many children's books, and Chris Van Allsburg just to name a few. Almost everytime I read a book, especially one for a book club I'll visit the author's or book's website to get more information for discussion. All this being said if an author did not make all this information so readily available it would not in any way take away from my enjoyment of a book especially with regards to a work of fiction. It is nice to have additional information about the non-fiction titles I read and this is usually the easiest way to start a search for such information, by going to the authors website, but again not a deal breaker if they don't have a website.

I could never narrow all the authors down to a favorite but I looked up many of my favorites and they all have websites and/or blogs. One Texas author I contacted once for a fundraiser my daughter's school was having for the choir was Cynithia Leitich-Smith. I decided to purchase books and then get the authors to sign them and use these as items for the silent auction. It was a big hit. The book that brought in the most money was Ken Burns' The War. Cynithia Leitich-Smith however not only autographed the copy of her book Tantalize but she sent us T-shirts, bookmarks, little stuffed animal bats, the works!

The idea of a book being published based on popular vote wouldn't help me to make a decision about a material. Isn't the New York Times Best Sellers' list essentially a popular vote? I don't always enjoy the books on their list. I read reviews particularly of those who have reviewed stuff I've liked in the past, look at award winning books, talk to other readers who I know enjoy the same kinds of books I do, all these play a part in making my determination.

Publishing Evolution #83: Paper to Pixels (or e-ink)

As the proud owner of a Kindle I can tell you I love the flexibility of knowing if I needed or wanted to read something immediately I could do so, however that being said when I purchase a book or even music, I want a tangible item I can touch, put on my bookshelf, etc. I want to know that if something happens to my electronic device; theft, loss, damage, overall failure, I still have the books or CDs. Though reading pixels can be very convenient, overall I prefer the experience of reading paper. Determining which is more important, speed or reading in paper form, all depends on what I am reading for and when? If I were going on a long visit or vacation somewhere I'd rather take my Kindle because I could take several books with me without any extra luggage space required. If I need to read something very quickly for work or school I'd use the Kindle because of the convenience of speed. If I am just looking to read my next bookclub selection or a book for enjoyment I almost always borrow it from the library or if I do purchase it I would buy it in print format. Price is an important factor when it comes to the decision to purchase a digital book. Something I think Amazon is missing is the sale of a book with a digital copy, like a DVD when you purchase it, sometimes comes with a digital copy. I would be much more likely to purchase a book that gave me the ability to receive a print copy as well as a digital copy for my Kindle.

iFiction was an interesting site to visit but since anyone can list anything there would be alot of sifting to do and who has time for that? Not me. So unless someone told me there was something there worthwhile I probably wouldn't go looking for something to read there. As it is my reading list is just about a mile long. My problem isn't finding something to read it's finding the time to read it. I do think it's nice to to able to preview something before you buy it so that's a nice feature but still not as good as the "library feature" where I can read the entire book and then decide if it's something to purchase or not.

Changing Behavior

Can you take a hard task and change peoples conduct and attitudes by making a hard job seem fun? Watch what a group of scientists did using fun or pleasure to get people to use a long stair case with a moving escalator right next to it. At first no one took the stairs, almost 97% of the people took the electric moving escalator. Notice how scientists changed how people reacted to climbing a long stair case as first choice. Now 66% more people took the stairs.

Did You Know 4.0

Publishing Evolution #82: Print on Demand

Think of the books (like the shown) that we wouldn't have if it weren't for self publishing! All kidding aside, I think self publishing, vanity press, print on demand whatever you want to call it is a great idea. There are so many instances when you want a quality publication but your audience doesn't warrant your publication to be printed by Random House. Genealogy books are the first that come to mind though I am sure there are many types of publications that will benefit from self publishing. As a reader, it would not matter to me if a title went through the traditional route to publication or if it was self-published. I have read plenty of "fluff" published by major houses so it isn't always a guarantee that what they print is worth your time and attention. I would however exercise caution when it comes to reference material.

“Gone are the days,” wrote former Publishers Weekly rights columnist Paul Nathan, “when self-publishing was virtually synonymous with self-defeating.” Best-selling Canadian author Margaret Atwood self-published her first volume of poetry Double Persephone in 1961, the year she graduated from college. The print run was only 200 copies. Atwood has gone on to become a best-selling and award-winning novelist and short story writer. Eragon by Christopher Paolini was originally self-published. The book was later published by Knopf. Other authors who have chosen to self-publish include: L. Frank Baum, William Blake, Ken Blanchard, Robert Bly, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Lord Byron, Willa Cather, Pat Conroy, Stephen Crane, e.e. cummings, W.E.B. DuBois, Alexander Dumas, T.S. Eliot, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Benjamin Franklin, Zane Grey, Thomas Hardy, E. Lynn Harris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, Robinson Jeffers, Spencer Johnson, Stephen King, Rudyard Kipling, Louis L'Amour, D.H. Lawrence, Rod McKuen, Marlo Morgan, John Muir, Anais Nin, Thomas Paine, Tom Peters, Edgar Allen Poe, Alexander Pope, Beatrix Potter, Ezra Pound, Marcel Proust, Irma Rombauer, Carl Sandburg, Robert Service, George Bernard Shaw, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Upton Sinclair, Gertrude Stein, William Strunk, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Henry David Thoreau, Leo Tolstoi, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and Virginia Woolf.

There is a nice article on Lulu in Publishers Weekly magazine March 22, 2010 which can be read using the EBSCO database via HCPL.

I visited each of the websites for this exercise and of all of them, I thought Lulu was the most user friendly. I don't know how to tell what the quality of the acutal book is like as I would have to hold it in my hands and road test it before I could say but again, I have seen some pretty poorly put together books from the major publishing houses. Apparently Lulu sells lots of books not just ones they publish as I saw many books on their site that I have read but were published by Penguin and Little Brown and others. However I did find one called Gulf Coast Gardening with Randy Lemmon which is published by Lulu. Due to it's local nature I would definetly read it and possibly even buy it. Xlibris did not have as easy to use a website. I don't like it when you click on things that open new windows. Createspace was okay since it's a format is one I am very familiar with because it's just like Amazon.

Romancing the Road

Thought I'd share this video clip of Rachel who is an amazing lady. Except for the pistol, I love this lady.

BIG: The Daily Show and Colbert to Be Yanked From Hulu

BIG: The Daily Show and Colbert to Be Yanked From Hulu

Posted using ShareThis

"Viacom has decided to pull The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and other Comedy Central content from Hulu at 11:59 PST on March 9. It’s presumably doing so because the income it receives from the online venture isn’t good enough."

Since the topic of this month's iHCPL module on the Future of Media I thought this might be of interest to fellow co-workers and iHCPLer's.

The Future of Media #81: Get Out Your Crystal Ball

Technology, new developments, change of any kind and the degree of influence it has all depends on how much money it will make for those who control it and how much it will cost those who consumer it. So when it comes to "futurecasting" I would say follow the $ trail.

In regards to the newspaper industry, you really should ask yourself, is it dying because it's a print resource or because it completely lacks concrete reporting?
Consider, "As the media conglomerates become ever more concentrated and grasping, mainstream journalism gets more sensational and trivial."
Also, "'you have to have an informed public'. Mr. Burnham believes that with the 'awful press of today ... you are not getting an informed public'. According to Mr. Burhnam, what complicates the problem is that the current Bush administration has been 'withholding information from the few people who are trying to get it' and neither the public nor the press 'seem to care very much'".
With regards to Television "According to a recent report, "the local TV newscast--Americans' major source of information--devotes some six-and-a-half minutes of a typical half hour to sports and weather and only 38 seconds to international coverage, including Iraq."

Although I do seem to have quite a few of the newer gadgets I don't think I jump on every one as soon as it is available. One daughter has an iphone, the other an itouch, they both had ipod's prior to these which they have very kindly passed "down" to their parents now. I have a Kindle which I have had almost a year now and frankly I've purchased one book for it while spending an undisclosed amount at Murder by the Book yesterday. Honestly I still like the tactile experience of holding, smelling, and yes even dogearing the pages of a real book. We also have Tivo which I absolutely love. We got it a few months after it came on the market and then got a second one a few years later. The newer of the 2 is now not working probably thanks to an electrical storm and we haven't had it fixed yet but the older of the two is still recording away. I recently saw an iphone application that works with DirectTV where you can program your DVR from your phone which is pretty nice but it's this continuity of service that I don't have. I have a cell phone but not an iphone, I have DirectTV for my cable provider but I don't have their DVR but rather a Tivo. So even though the technology is there I don't have the "brands" required to take advantage of it. We do purchase what I consider to be a lot of DVD's and though I like it when it comes with a digital copy I don't seek out digital copies. I still prefer to own the physical DVD rather than a digital copy. I've lost priceless pictures, labor intensive family history files, and other files due to a computer crash and I don't want to add movies I've purchased to that list so I'll continue to purchase the physical DVD as long as they are available.

I do have fond memories of my first record player. I remember when my dad bought it with me and he told me it was for his flying club and I believed him. Boy was I surprised when I opened the same record player for my birthday. I was so gullible. I used to play records in my room all the time. I still have many of these records and though not my record player I do still have a Fisher-Price record player that my girls used as young children though by that time the 8-track tapes had come and gone, cassette tapes had come and were almost gone, and compact discs were the latest and greatest. I wanted my girls to have the same experience with records and music that I had, including watching the record spin, spinning little figurines on the record as it played, and listening to a 33 1/3 record at 78 speed.