tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38775579401104664032024-03-14T09:18:29.352-07:00@uthor, @uthorUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-64066702772508099972012-11-17T04:05:00.000-08:002012-11-17T04:05:04.462-08:00Reading gripes...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIn3vj1VveXhZEQV0j2RQ5ZIjh_39eqNMfdE567-uVSlsisSoN6_Bqdna2SW6RfdVhl1r8g_tJvIH3bcI1kfEVkEzyjHy2_CkSIStpEwOCwAougaS1jXcR_DJL9f-07M1E5_dqOYZpXKP/s1600/546501_10151205974716159_985279792_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIn3vj1VveXhZEQV0j2RQ5ZIjh_39eqNMfdE567-uVSlsisSoN6_Bqdna2SW6RfdVhl1r8g_tJvIH3bcI1kfEVkEzyjHy2_CkSIStpEwOCwAougaS1jXcR_DJL9f-07M1E5_dqOYZpXKP/s400/546501_10151205974716159_985279792_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-44645118072034377802012-11-09T03:47:00.000-08:002012-11-09T03:47:30.591-08:00Always find time to read...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZR1NZxMVrSbePLaSCflOROmY7nNWxBqDLGrAS0bndDujgrrZvnr4dHcGtwaF0vRyaKMWO70tlQuE74qYaDEPSK9n5_IOSP159OBKqy0AZMeEZZ-wTSt-iVkogYTrj-H9sbLMRQUXdjKv/s1600/599374_10150976231091899_695490722_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZR1NZxMVrSbePLaSCflOROmY7nNWxBqDLGrAS0bndDujgrrZvnr4dHcGtwaF0vRyaKMWO70tlQuE74qYaDEPSK9n5_IOSP159OBKqy0AZMeEZZ-wTSt-iVkogYTrj-H9sbLMRQUXdjKv/s400/599374_10150976231091899_695490722_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-66859008809429357782012-11-02T03:35:00.001-07:002012-11-02T03:35:35.741-07:002012 NANOWRIMO - a month-long challenge!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1KRzQCsQkWpJ4CNQWY3EhZ9XPFcVKH2HXiCzeWiBv0EsBfg9Lx8-y9Y_EV3LCOqAYHnaAcej_KDq28Tsh5t3vUQWigo2UuvDKuTxDKoTB2jv6L7s_2ttbtxyhNj6QbZjShGAaA9A_pU1S/s1600/nanowrimo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1KRzQCsQkWpJ4CNQWY3EhZ9XPFcVKH2HXiCzeWiBv0EsBfg9Lx8-y9Y_EV3LCOqAYHnaAcej_KDq28Tsh5t3vUQWigo2UuvDKuTxDKoTB2jv6L7s_2ttbtxyhNj6QbZjShGAaA9A_pU1S/s320/nanowrimo.jpg" width="229" /></a></div>
<br />
This year I’m participating in NANOWRIMO, a month-long writing marathon that originated in the US in 1999 and has since gone global.<br />
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The event kicked off on November 1, and thousands of people all over the world have hit the keyboards in the past three days.<br />
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It’s lots of fun and very much a participatory event that encourages writers and would-be writers to meet the 50,000 word target – the length of a short novel – by November 30.<br />
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I can say that so far I have logged more than 5000 words. Not bad, if I do say so myself!<br />
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But why am I doing it?<br />
<br />
Well, like many professional procrastinators I need a kick up the rear every now and again – and this very public framework is a way to keep me honest and accountable!<br />
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And it is lots of fun.<br />
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Tomorrow I’m off to a ‘write-in’ – a public gathering of writers participating in NANOWRIMO – at a local library. There will be plenty of caffeinated drinks and sweet snacks to maintain enthusiasm, and the sense of camaraderie that comes with a common task.<br />
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So what am I working on? A long-imagined novel that has languished on my laptop – a half-formed idea, a series of notes really, sketches of a character, a plot – that is demanding to be made whole and released to the world.<br />
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I’m using NANOWRIMO as an exercise to create my ‘first draft’, and from there I hope to accelerate its development so that it will be published by late 2013.<br />
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I suppose if you asked me to categorise it, the story would fall into the realm of ‘women’s fiction’ – a blend of romance, mystery, with elements of the classic thriller.<br />
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And hopefully one day soon you can read it!<br />
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But more importantly, now that I have publicly ‘outed’ myself, let’s hope I reach that deadline. There’s nothing more embarrassing than taking part in something very publicly and failing to finish, so consider this blog post part of my personal motivation program.<br />
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I will succeed!<br />
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If you’d like to find out more about NANOWRIMO, or join in and have a go (it’s never too late!) visit <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/">www.nanowrimo.org</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-34120157913168633132012-10-21T01:16:00.000-07:002012-10-21T01:16:11.324-07:00The power of authors...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrMR8pksXTG16Bypy2u38qC2eeks1GqAYHuSovJhSt0sBg7AwBdAxZvp5WkUfJufVlXlbmPRasbi6Bu9aUj2-V2UZIxWjzmqIlpk03iMG-6qVIaIKo4rutM5qiqweKDYflHD8USulHoehH/s1600/305095_10152019348820394_1396543623_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrMR8pksXTG16Bypy2u38qC2eeks1GqAYHuSovJhSt0sBg7AwBdAxZvp5WkUfJufVlXlbmPRasbi6Bu9aUj2-V2UZIxWjzmqIlpk03iMG-6qVIaIKo4rutM5qiqweKDYflHD8USulHoehH/s400/305095_10152019348820394_1396543623_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-3215328065767470522012-10-14T03:13:00.000-07:002012-10-14T03:13:19.163-07:00The best port in a storm...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwktroTx8jBJqqKppR2ClXaPMLIknWSv489rJqK5-0dMIT8NQaePQ2VBboS4ZIN8FYfih0wdw1jzRfyccFxkz2jIrr-6oziF987yvkKuX07fx92hJeY85rP6upW2xlK26H9SL7ACpOcZI3/s1600/405620_228219010604453_116530988_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwktroTx8jBJqqKppR2ClXaPMLIknWSv489rJqK5-0dMIT8NQaePQ2VBboS4ZIN8FYfih0wdw1jzRfyccFxkz2jIrr-6oziF987yvkKuX07fx92hJeY85rP6upW2xlK26H9SL7ACpOcZI3/s400/405620_228219010604453_116530988_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-2705190865525648022012-10-07T03:57:00.001-07:002012-10-07T03:57:19.883-07:00Illuminating insights...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIh4fFZmNSUsCkzqMQGw4oYIM_k6nbUPhVL3vqunjiZ3URR_-78GIbjlHhkbJDSUH9C6L36pk2I9tp4sNn85POviMLUpsxR0FJtplQqhrrrJsIngF-_TYRo84WP3rvz2DsRAw8zbxtYnch/s1600/Silence_1680-x-1050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIh4fFZmNSUsCkzqMQGw4oYIM_k6nbUPhVL3vqunjiZ3URR_-78GIbjlHhkbJDSUH9C6L36pk2I9tp4sNn85POviMLUpsxR0FJtplQqhrrrJsIngF-_TYRo84WP3rvz2DsRAw8zbxtYnch/s400/Silence_1680-x-1050.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-34024958797638439322012-09-27T03:22:00.000-07:002012-09-27T03:22:01.867-07:00Harry Potter keeps kids out of ERs - fact!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpSmnBa9IRgV-go0FQa1Iwvct-g-jZgGCLQOcrRJQDv87FSWhyphenhyphenmlj791eiY6Cpjws2n7Um12BDKTRbDR7EAOCy1NR3oO80G8hv5Auegkp3uhIgyzEHXP1TLcI1AGpvZQ_wx283aM-7ACy/s1600/564857_10151267311311159_2000575873_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpSmnBa9IRgV-go0FQa1Iwvct-g-jZgGCLQOcrRJQDv87FSWhyphenhyphenmlj791eiY6Cpjws2n7Um12BDKTRbDR7EAOCy1NR3oO80G8hv5Auegkp3uhIgyzEHXP1TLcI1AGpvZQ_wx283aM-7ACy/s640/564857_10151267311311159_2000575873_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
I came across this recently - too good not to share!<br />
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"In a usually busy emergency room in an English hospital, the ER doctors notice that emergency room visits seem to be lower than usual this particular weekend. One of the doctors is encouraged to go home to spend time with his children. 'No point', he decides - they are all at home immersed in the latest Harry Potter book, which had just been released.<br />
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"A lightbulb switches on, and the doctor undertakes some research, which results in the delightful finding that on the release weekends of the 2 most recent Harry Potter books (at the time), emergency room visits for children aged 7 to 15 were significantly down on other weekends.<br />
<br />
"There were roughly 67 visits per weekend on normal weekends, and an average of 36 and 37 visits on the weekends when HP5 and HP6 were released - a low not seen on any other weekend over the 3 years of surveillance. The author concludes that "there is a place for a committee of safety conscious, talented writers who could produce high quality books for the purpose of injury prevention".<br />
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"So, Harry Potter saves lives. Fact."<br />
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True or not, it's no bad thing if your child prefers to read - just park them on a chair in the backyard so they can get a bit of Vitamin D as well :-)<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-26278389439190612502012-09-24T17:10:00.000-07:002012-09-24T17:10:18.996-07:00One word at a time...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhID_UfxEYlj82ZQpYan3cMpXUjnQgryUhBVy1dWiEBogAveclQtyX2pK8KSuRI1gkVd-ni0WOAuhby70EWzl4f44N_CFNkdZrsttQVUbmGN_FFtzjuSajV6nzrs39Kaul1s0iCMtgn6rIf/s1600/writing-quotes-wallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhID_UfxEYlj82ZQpYan3cMpXUjnQgryUhBVy1dWiEBogAveclQtyX2pK8KSuRI1gkVd-ni0WOAuhby70EWzl4f44N_CFNkdZrsttQVUbmGN_FFtzjuSajV6nzrs39Kaul1s0iCMtgn6rIf/s400/writing-quotes-wallpaper.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-70186077327755064242012-09-15T04:50:00.000-07:002012-09-15T04:50:12.591-07:00Procrastination and pretending...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgatsrfniEGuD0tKrYFejYmasP4O1aFMQwu9Nt1mRHIJCeZ74fRkIali1LiQ4pkDP53qkjzVPXV7Dy0BTFprSI9ZxEFozFczKN2bntyiWjjgmFCFlp7GTHVB8nlocGz6j_Gs0zZDnVWPmG4/s1600/599609_455360664482732_883876273_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgatsrfniEGuD0tKrYFejYmasP4O1aFMQwu9Nt1mRHIJCeZ74fRkIali1LiQ4pkDP53qkjzVPXV7Dy0BTFprSI9ZxEFozFczKN2bntyiWjjgmFCFlp7GTHVB8nlocGz6j_Gs0zZDnVWPmG4/s400/599609_455360664482732_883876273_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-59189016297571922062012-09-12T20:55:00.000-07:002012-09-12T20:55:28.091-07:00Favourite characters...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPc4YBqd7ehuHOcH_POErfRx_F_zDmpg5WWy6IteJA5Eorp3tnma2AgGO6nRkV55hHAyn-c3zZt_FaTJDbuyI3xwwqw5Eqwv-H6yR6IoNtZrnPYKk0x6kiyLPYLg9xu65-XY-SD0S1sezg/s1600/424990_367853046621477_1503839804_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPc4YBqd7ehuHOcH_POErfRx_F_zDmpg5WWy6IteJA5Eorp3tnma2AgGO6nRkV55hHAyn-c3zZt_FaTJDbuyI3xwwqw5Eqwv-H6yR6IoNtZrnPYKk0x6kiyLPYLg9xu65-XY-SD0S1sezg/s400/424990_367853046621477_1503839804_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-48441785137548396622012-09-08T15:34:00.001-07:002012-09-08T15:34:21.533-07:00Leave me alone...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Mx6xb1BKzYBZXnfbNYJylSKOO1rlzRcnXUcJY2oTyr3gfd_ZyxUYebW7Y-5gH_DRq7rxaSCr3eZXHd-OzKP8C6I1WSrjBQIxoD4RtpKm3CKnrshfLN70ajmWKpGeEvD73nv29bMvOBXR/s1600/539341_308195285945859_1087441844_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Mx6xb1BKzYBZXnfbNYJylSKOO1rlzRcnXUcJY2oTyr3gfd_ZyxUYebW7Y-5gH_DRq7rxaSCr3eZXHd-OzKP8C6I1WSrjBQIxoD4RtpKm3CKnrshfLN70ajmWKpGeEvD73nv29bMvOBXR/s400/539341_308195285945859_1087441844_n.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-53791150037605735172012-09-05T19:13:00.001-07:002012-09-05T19:13:05.689-07:00Take a chance...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzMwOscXoqw1gsvg6kw9iqI_6FNx3yNX2NTdfMuJziH92edKPFBZ81ifEMSlVcdIkFBoFDDdOcyAhg72_6z2r31ra5tG4BG91C513kX8n1jT4M2Mf6U2pu27DXxIzLUH8ICcxImK77Q2D/s1600/580935_353020651443174_1860962509_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzMwOscXoqw1gsvg6kw9iqI_6FNx3yNX2NTdfMuJziH92edKPFBZ81ifEMSlVcdIkFBoFDDdOcyAhg72_6z2r31ra5tG4BG91C513kX8n1jT4M2Mf6U2pu27DXxIzLUH8ICcxImK77Q2D/s640/580935_353020651443174_1860962509_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-37703380315602522982012-09-04T04:36:00.000-07:002012-09-04T04:36:14.406-07:00Being cruel to be kind...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVajMhNVtfyQVeWuPJJMwCph_K13ZC1UWVUHwF373Cx00Q5YGlF3tMkcNkj0KYmveUtT4auCpOlBxs4BGd-P5gd5LRosX-iafmoPeS3TdXF0CVmtfEd8A5pBXmJvDL4V-OZvVYIYcZpbc/s1600/165937_3495039970488_752879809_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVajMhNVtfyQVeWuPJJMwCph_K13ZC1UWVUHwF373Cx00Q5YGlF3tMkcNkj0KYmveUtT4auCpOlBxs4BGd-P5gd5LRosX-iafmoPeS3TdXF0CVmtfEd8A5pBXmJvDL4V-OZvVYIYcZpbc/s400/165937_3495039970488_752879809_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-69674147538997703452012-09-04T04:16:00.000-07:002012-09-04T04:30:43.395-07:00E-publishing in the Mountains - the lowdown<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb05jqhi_UguruGTMbJx9FvhVd716XEhVw7YzEcv43Xtbmntudp7E_fOpK0bWXHOWzPVH_RvR680mPq-ZSZzL0aThtf-0qohiJdYDvAkw1wcHc354_O_68hY94rC6MCPFh5ORiBSWsRIS0/s1600/220px-Amazon_Kindle_3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb05jqhi_UguruGTMbJx9FvhVd716XEhVw7YzEcv43Xtbmntudp7E_fOpK0bWXHOWzPVH_RvR680mPq-ZSZzL0aThtf-0qohiJdYDvAkw1wcHc354_O_68hY94rC6MCPFh5ORiBSWsRIS0/s320/220px-Amazon_Kindle_3.JPG" width="216" /></a></div>
<br />
I attended an interesting talk this week held by <a href="http://publishbluemountains.com.au/" target="_blank">Publish! Blue Mountains</a> on e-publishing at The Clarendon in Katoomba. A long-time P!BM member, this is actually the first talk I’ve been able to attend as my work seems to take me everywhere but close to home!<br />
<br />
The guest speakers were Jenny Mosher of <a href="http://www.moshpitpublishing.com.au/" target="_blank">Moshit Publishing</a>, Hazelbrook and Springwood local and Adobe guru Steve Nichols, who shared their knowledge of new digital publishing platforms.<br />
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Jenny’s talk followed on from <a href="http://www.moshpitpublishing.com.au/presentation.php" target="_blank">one she gave the month</a> (featured in the video below) before with self-published Hazelbrook fantasy/sci-fi author <a href="http://www.jlheylenauthor.com/" target="_blank">JL Heylen</a>. From all accounts the evening erupted into something of a feisty affair of mainstream publishing fans vs self-publishing ‘rebels’, but you can judge for yourselves as a kind soul videotaped the talks and has posted them on Youtube for all to see.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6sGaJqsTmaY?fs=1" width="480"></iframe>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Jenny gave a great overview of the available publishing gateways for those interested in publishing e-books with <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/" target="_blank">Smashwords</a>, <a href="http://www.bookbaby.com/" target="_blank">Bookbaby</a> and <a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/" target="_blank">Kobo</a> leading the charge. She covered the various pros and cons of going with each, and also referenced the various types of ebooks – PDF, EPub and Mobi – and explored compatibility, price and quality.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
I'm a little late to the e-book party, I must confess. It's partly due to the fact I don't particularly like to read in this format, and partly a lack of confidence in the early e-book software that was too easy to crack and thereby render e-books free and widely available (hence no pesos for the author!). Of course the times and software have rapidly developed and I find myself running to catch up, so I can give my print books a second lease of life.</div>
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But I digress, back to the talk...</div>
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Amid the audience input that inevitably ensued was a spirited discussion about fonts and formats, and a couple of authors weighed in with their own experiences publishing via <a href="http://www.lulu.cm/" target="_blank">Lulu</a> and <a href="http://www.lightningsource.com/" target="_blank">Lightning Source</a> (the latter my own contribution as a two-time print self-publisher).</div>
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Steve Nichols is an <a href="http://www.adobe.com/" target="_blank">Adobe platform</a> whiz who works for the company and has an intimate knowledge of Adobe's relatively new digital publishing platform, <a href="http://www.adobe.com/au/products/digital-publishing-suite-family.html" target="_blank">Adobe Digital Publishing Suite</a>.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
For a recovering <a href="http://www.quark.com/" target="_blank">Quark</a> addict and self-described Adobe novice, this talk was something of a Godsend. Steve outlined quite a few tricks and shortcuts, and also spoke about <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/creativecloud.html" target="_blank">Adobe’s new ‘Creative Cloud’</a>, a much more affordable option for creative types who no longer have to fork out a few thousands dollars for software upfront, but rather subscribe to online resources instead for a monthly fee of $60 ($40 if you do own the software outright). Probably old news for many, but for this writer it was a revelation!</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
It was the little things that really made this talk for me – discovering that footnotes in print books become endnotes in e-books; that loading up e-books as individual <a href="http://www.adobe.com/au/products/indesign.html" target="_blank">Adobe InDesign</a> chapters means the books loads faster than if it was loaded as one document (who knew?); and the Pièce de résistance – Adobe’s e-reader which allows companies to rebrand it as their own, so when readers download their magazine app it opens with a nice clean association with the publisher. Another handy tip revolved around image positioning in ebooks (anchor it! enough said). I felt my intelligence quotient blossom as he spoke, which was sadly too short an affair due to inevitable time restraints.</div>
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I feel like I’m indulging my inner nerd by sharing this level of detail (let alone getting excited about it!), but anyone who has ever loved a font, obsessed over the use of white space or laboured over a heading (or headline) knows where I’m coming from.</div>
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So what’s next for this former newspaper hack and semi-luddite? Why, it’s time to update my software and get myself some <a href="http://www.cd.com.au/" target="_blank">Adobe InDesign training</a>, of course!<br />
<br />
And maybe get along to the third talk in the series...stay tuned!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-2009309090272180192012-08-27T19:18:00.000-07:002012-08-27T19:18:53.984-07:00The secret life of cats...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiywcM6mFrrFEe2LnlzmvUIYrveWGi7S6zzS1HV-3PAf6eFGOSyEOWwW0oZ82XSNhXo4xYXhwJub5HTS2CjVTCnqQgIp40ZK5mfqwL7PW_4qj0iees5S1Pf4Dtm4WAf5DGWTVZ-OwJcrc6Z/s1600/555693_396442893750953_1364718247_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiywcM6mFrrFEe2LnlzmvUIYrveWGi7S6zzS1HV-3PAf6eFGOSyEOWwW0oZ82XSNhXo4xYXhwJub5HTS2CjVTCnqQgIp40ZK5mfqwL7PW_4qj0iees5S1Pf4Dtm4WAf5DGWTVZ-OwJcrc6Z/s400/555693_396442893750953_1364718247_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-39517529209354599182012-08-23T04:14:00.000-07:002012-08-23T04:14:25.610-07:00Nathan Fillion says...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJKFOFteTCmIKh35i9p-fctw3NzatrHCFDZxNHXXM3SVR3IozoLBSOVvUFw-YYaJKFpu-eJYvKfiOUHZx5g0F827Qm5vjezHn1Sc5bgXzAgUPITCewNR0_J5GjpHOyYrag_7tFGk-7sBa/s1600/487676_10151072266233205_871974699_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJKFOFteTCmIKh35i9p-fctw3NzatrHCFDZxNHXXM3SVR3IozoLBSOVvUFw-YYaJKFpu-eJYvKfiOUHZx5g0F827Qm5vjezHn1Sc5bgXzAgUPITCewNR0_J5GjpHOyYrag_7tFGk-7sBa/s400/487676_10151072266233205_871974699_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-49684113780813132382012-08-22T03:38:00.000-07:002012-08-22T03:38:13.165-07:00Switch channels...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwK5RCmd7qhZNnEqtCW1CLSlrwl0n0ooYImvVtHXzQT4qmb6FhDHC10Ax5qgb8rfzZRi7iw5SmwGbZgcXNplKjeFbmZK1Zlkafk33gJLu2_1l4Mx206O8Adt2uQrXf2obRgO7_BH8cQKI/s1600/185499_403677113019800_1201425758_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwK5RCmd7qhZNnEqtCW1CLSlrwl0n0ooYImvVtHXzQT4qmb6FhDHC10Ax5qgb8rfzZRi7iw5SmwGbZgcXNplKjeFbmZK1Zlkafk33gJLu2_1l4Mx206O8Adt2uQrXf2obRgO7_BH8cQKI/s400/185499_403677113019800_1201425758_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-56879022525928194532012-08-21T03:26:00.000-07:002012-08-21T03:26:44.984-07:00Troll dreams - trilling about Trylle<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73zdDTdIJB-cVIhSxRePgq0041xZ4OQmK1oHjK4vAsEfYMcqMO4tCUSyOPGX-LWRugGMZgbgy1xITOSLE-LDQk4R_PAnxXUBnSHCWWJkTm_5FlmQ2IRT1t1-tj7LNtueXFl-5NpslYUP2/s1600/switched_US.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73zdDTdIJB-cVIhSxRePgq0041xZ4OQmK1oHjK4vAsEfYMcqMO4tCUSyOPGX-LWRugGMZgbgy1xITOSLE-LDQk4R_PAnxXUBnSHCWWJkTm_5FlmQ2IRT1t1-tj7LNtueXFl-5NpslYUP2/s400/switched_US.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new slick cover for Trylle book #1.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Self-published books have an unfortunate stigma.<br />
<br />
They're often seen as vanity projects, and dismissed by mainstream book reviewers, bookstores and established authors as embarrassing aberrations on the publishing landscape.<br />
<br />
Self-financed, often self-edited (or worse, not edited at all - some would say it's more or less the same thing!), and often sporting covers with garish fonts that only a self-published author could love, there often isn't anything to recommend them apart from their content (but hey, that's as it should be, right? Don't judge a book by its cover and all that? Wrong...but anyway...).<br />
<br />
The point is those who do bravely dip their toe in the self-publishing waters are already working under a significant disadvantage before they even get to put their wares under the noses of the book-buying public.<br />
<br />
That's IF the aforementioned self-published author can convince their local bookstore to stock their title, and let's face it, unless it's something akin to a local history title with a ready-made audience, it can be a hard, and oft-times impossible slog. Shelf space is money.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I'm getting slightly off-track because what I really want to write about is modern-day trolls and princesses and love stories that give Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series a run for its money.<br />
<br />
I want to write about Trylle. Specifically, the Trylle trilogy (Switched, Torn and Ascend) by <a href="http://www.worldofamandahocking.com/" target="_blank">Amanda Hocking</a>, a 20-something American author who has also penned Hollowland (an apocalyptic zombie novel) and the My Love Approves series (all about vampires and humans, think Twilight but edgier) among others.<br />
<br />
Anyway, Amanda has become something of a media success story with <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1362028/Amanda-Hocking-ebooks-How-unknown-indie-authoress-millions.html?ito=feeds-newsxml">journalists focusing on the thousands of novels sold and millions made via her e-publishing exercise</a>.<br />
<br />
Thanks to a cheeky pricing strategy, a solid social media marketing approach and the support of the indie-loving blogging community - and let's not overlook the product, a very good product - Amanda's star has risen quickly.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx8bLdWmC8CxXhrBHfKJ2ioH1QPhhbmx4SuRZ1N9mR7hXkPovDQ7IFOxzKAxtFxr1Sj-FBI9biaThP2WZCmbLoU5Jn0EIlbYzSFbGf61Bh-8Ob-itxfGibsGKz3XRlyxOAHjwF707ERHoy/s1600/article-1362028-0D6E2625000005DC-8_233x321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx8bLdWmC8CxXhrBHfKJ2ioH1QPhhbmx4SuRZ1N9mR7hXkPovDQ7IFOxzKAxtFxr1Sj-FBI9biaThP2WZCmbLoU5Jn0EIlbYzSFbGf61Bh-8Ob-itxfGibsGKz3XRlyxOAHjwF707ERHoy/s320/article-1362028-0D6E2625000005DC-8_233x321.jpg" width="232" /></a>And she has also filled many would-be writers with a rare kind of hope - there is, apparently, another way to get published, reach an audience and make money. That's if, like Amanda, you can get the recipe right.<br />
<br />
But to my mind the most important thing she has done is follow her dream <i>all the way</i>. She believed in herself enough to exhaust every possible avenue to ensure her novels saw the light of day. She gambled. She backed herself. She won.<br />
<br />
Intrigued by her publishing success story, I purchased the Trylle trilogy and I've been pleasantly surprised so far. I don't know what I was expecting, but whenever the word 'self-published' is bandied around one can't help but be cautious (and this is from someone who has self-published!).<br />
<br />
Sure it's easy to be critical - editing is an issue, but to be fair I have read several books from mainstream publishers of late where words are missing and typos are a not unfamiliar sight. Sweep those concerns aside for a moment, because the essence of any book is, of course, <i>the story</i>. Typos be damned, <i>the story</i> rocks.<br />
<br />
Sure maybe she's not the most technically brilliant writer around, but I like her style - it's relaxed and pitch-perfect for her target YA audience.<br />
<br />
Her story ideas are original and engaging.<br />
<br />
Her characters are suitably tortured and exciting.<br />
<br />
And for a Gen Xer '80s tragic, there's more John Hughes references than you can poke a stick at!<br />
<br />
Need I say more? Get thee to Trylle!<br />
<br />
* Since I first wrote this review Ms Hocking has signed a deal with St Martin's/Macmillan and taken her Trylle series (and a suite of other titles) mainstream.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8N9a2iO6XIFkT4AelQei9VRqCjhk0y7S1JpRFtSIa6h4FjuKEaVzdZ-6QBX4Tj-C3YaNI6IpLJlFyRCDAEG9cId_jjxoor2nj7QEy9OI3xCaWVSuWNKxKtB7jAED_YjPJ05Xfig01oA8t/s1600/Switched+-+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8N9a2iO6XIFkT4AelQei9VRqCjhk0y7S1JpRFtSIa6h4FjuKEaVzdZ-6QBX4Tj-C3YaNI6IpLJlFyRCDAEG9cId_jjxoor2nj7QEy9OI3xCaWVSuWNKxKtB7jAED_YjPJ05Xfig01oA8t/s400/Switched+-+Cover.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original cover for Trylle book #1, designed by Amanda - I really liked it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-84187028951743818042012-08-19T05:13:00.000-07:002012-08-19T05:13:41.637-07:00Top 10 most read books...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggkB9Sca6RtJOTrgo9JxJfcl1ZyWfnJcbpuhENWSynk7StbAk5W1imMCEsSkEjkHMSx-ysyWXcD-Ec5-WJizqIfgx_sPaFfOgOPfBCv8Vk2-P8mLYKhbnadal-GOZcGNbdPxsM-u0rJj6w/s1600/528079_155719657897762_312108463_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggkB9Sca6RtJOTrgo9JxJfcl1ZyWfnJcbpuhENWSynk7StbAk5W1imMCEsSkEjkHMSx-ysyWXcD-Ec5-WJizqIfgx_sPaFfOgOPfBCv8Vk2-P8mLYKhbnadal-GOZcGNbdPxsM-u0rJj6w/s640/528079_155719657897762_312108463_n.jpg" width="612" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-82411226185821161712012-08-18T04:28:00.000-07:002012-08-18T04:28:03.967-07:00We've all been there...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv2_r2uywqV6iquImHb70J7WRWxpmIUsjPEBQHP-IXhvHo5jOkhUjefB1Qjw9Qu-HjZpBbumuRarBsZ_R0Rmbz-ZQEMxLeCOSxI7GcvetGwEi5IYSalalI5O6UsIsXQbJBhyphenhypheniFGmrnem9V/s1600/376901_10150888680146816_2075934465_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv2_r2uywqV6iquImHb70J7WRWxpmIUsjPEBQHP-IXhvHo5jOkhUjefB1Qjw9Qu-HjZpBbumuRarBsZ_R0Rmbz-ZQEMxLeCOSxI7GcvetGwEi5IYSalalI5O6UsIsXQbJBhyphenhypheniFGmrnem9V/s400/376901_10150888680146816_2075934465_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-12344708852431437882012-08-16T04:30:00.000-07:002012-08-16T04:30:55.467-07:00Some books are good enough to eat...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkX6xcTEii3sz53kunLtU2b5BizTGgKpND48l05so2H8cr7OdZjwTwoFjeknjqJfWPZ7Klc1wLGhI-9KscgevrcxAUtL3wEgcTQn29icp5STty_gdcEYrZjJOUJEJyDGVEIO2YMLSzWnC5/s1600/334167_441734639181158_1697956705_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkX6xcTEii3sz53kunLtU2b5BizTGgKpND48l05so2H8cr7OdZjwTwoFjeknjqJfWPZ7Klc1wLGhI-9KscgevrcxAUtL3wEgcTQn29icp5STty_gdcEYrZjJOUJEJyDGVEIO2YMLSzWnC5/s400/334167_441734639181158_1697956705_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
London's Victoria's Kitchen is onto a winner with these delightful cupcakes!<br />
<br />
Rightly described as 'deliciously fabulous', you can see more of their fine work at <a href="http://www.victorias-kitchen.com/">http://www.victorias-kitchen.com/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-61281562570142451262012-08-15T04:49:00.002-07:002012-08-15T04:53:13.202-07:00Write, read, do, write<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTre_vBiH9r5to0IxQ4QuJ7a_LZmSCjYIrJnvp_lDk9_OFQL2FesBywZPA4uzV5fFVZK0JyrsG_2ryjWg2F3UTLjaWhCYVhyphenhyphenZSwKmq_fWRVT9_RAgAkz2KT0Z15A0qWjGNdXJyrK0NQBq/s1600/417490_418847201486285_614275055_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTre_vBiH9r5to0IxQ4QuJ7a_LZmSCjYIrJnvp_lDk9_OFQL2FesBywZPA4uzV5fFVZK0JyrsG_2ryjWg2F3UTLjaWhCYVhyphenhyphenZSwKmq_fWRVT9_RAgAkz2KT0Z15A0qWjGNdXJyrK0NQBq/s640/417490_418847201486285_614275055_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-23288105742653525382012-08-13T04:15:00.002-07:002012-08-13T04:28:47.952-07:00Judging books by their covers<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCCs4oIZISUfkUW1ITCY1mou1yjZDJDgo8cisTbClGXed4kTjDIBKIhOph1dUQPTaWLGVWm2EQqI3u9KuKbDhS5uHJWcz08Fn6Lsdg8199ZnvH53a-h4zUCGsIUT5HRcL6gSeTlQF7Wd7/s1600/bigcatcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCCs4oIZISUfkUW1ITCY1mou1yjZDJDgo8cisTbClGXed4kTjDIBKIhOph1dUQPTaWLGVWm2EQqI3u9KuKbDhS5uHJWcz08Fn6Lsdg8199ZnvH53a-h4zUCGsIUT5HRcL6gSeTlQF7Wd7/s400/bigcatcover.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first book cover effort - shamelessly echoing <br />
a cover I spotted in a book store!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I confess I have an artistic streak. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not claiming to be any good – I just have a need for self-expression that occasionally goes beyond the printed word.<br />
<br />
In my past life I designed newspapers and magazines, and frequently created the kind of symmetry and modular layouts that helped make reading a daily joy for readers. These are the sort of design skills no one ever notices because they take it for granted that the paper or magazine always looked this good and were this easy to read. Maybe I should have been a graphic designer. Or not.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUg9EKyMWDn9VNRoJU-16MB128plOteHclJxmyWpEsMqLgMz0KTg3gzlV2tdt5yHOD5n_jTj7QEcKJa0fsFy2VOqhbeK1g52biaUrDxsChx8Ppoibkoc77HxLG4PtXNrMfJrKOsvpE6Sqo/s1600/testcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUg9EKyMWDn9VNRoJU-16MB128plOteHclJxmyWpEsMqLgMz0KTg3gzlV2tdt5yHOD5n_jTj7QEcKJa0fsFy2VOqhbeK1g52biaUrDxsChx8Ppoibkoc77HxLG4PtXNrMfJrKOsvpE6Sqo/s320/testcover.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My second stab - a bit more academic! <br />
And not quite 'on the money'. Yet.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So what does this have to do with publishing?<br />
<br />
Nearing the completion of my first self-published book I decided to have a stab at designing the book’s cover. I had seen some covers that I really liked and set my mind to replicating a couple of them – an eye-catching tabloid-style of cover with block colours and arresting images, and a darker more academic effort. I've included both in this post.<br />
<br />
If it was any good, I reasoned, I would have saved myself some money and added an extra string to my bow (writer, editor AND book designer!). As it was, it really wasn’t very good at all - but at the time I thought it was Magnificent! Genius! A Work of Art! That was until I showed a graphic designer friend <a href="http://www.timothyhartridge.com/" target="_blank">Tim Hartridge</a> who politely considered it. He never said ‘Oh sweet Jesus this is an abomination!’, but he did design something much, much better.<br />
<br />
I’m not above sharing my book cover boo-boos for a few reasons:<br />
<br />
1. To show you that yes, of course it is possible to design your cover (it might even rock - or not).<br />
<br />
2. Creating your own cover can occasionally help a graphic designer with their brief (however in this case it really didn’t).<br />
<br />
3. Graphic designers always do it much, much better!<br />
<br />
In the book-buying world, books are often largely judged on the quality of their covers. While we prefer to think intellectual rigour and well-crafted writing triumphs when it comes to selling books, just as frequently readers will walk out of a bookshop with a so-so written mass-market novel that caught their eye because of the pretty pictures and flowery fonts. Yes, really.<br />
<br />
When you produce a book for publication there are many steps to refining and polishing the raw product before it is ready to be shared with the world – and this includes how the words are arranged on the page, and the front and back cover.<br />
<br />
If you’re smart you will hire and editor to pick up all of your mistakes – and there will be many, no matter how clever and careful a writer you are.<br />
<br />
And if you’re really smart, after spending so much time and energy writing, and then having your work professionally edited, you will make another really important investment. You will hire someone to create a whiz-bang cover for your book. A traffic-stopping ‘look at me’ cover of epic proportions you would be proud to hang as a poster on your wall – or in a bookshop window.<br />
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Many graphic designers offer additional services such as laying out the inside of the book, the creation of book marks, flyers and website design to create a strong connection between your marketing materials and your book.<br />
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This doesn’t have to cost a lot. There are a lot of people offering cheap book covers – even cheaper if you’re publishing only in the e-book format. However if you’re publishing a book I’d recommend at this stage to pay for covers in all formats.<br />
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Graphic designers will often present you with several concepts but you can save a lot of time by indicating the type of cover you want - whether you do this by referring them to book covers you like, or have a stab at designing something is up to you.<br />
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Paying for the services of a good graphic designer is part and parcel of investing in yourself, and getting your readers to invest some time in getting to know your writing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-YDOJVhQxIb7JB4kLkvbcuScJWmb0QYmnJT7EZeZCY9n18Umg3RHIUrtVRRKPbnpaBGkU5WW1pma76CGRhw_-uwLxJHJvAbzk4NAFzioIvoEVB_K5uP8eOcRjauUNKdobVQ8kxvNPhsu/s1600/Book+Cover+jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-YDOJVhQxIb7JB4kLkvbcuScJWmb0QYmnJT7EZeZCY9n18Umg3RHIUrtVRRKPbnpaBGkU5WW1pma76CGRhw_-uwLxJHJvAbzk4NAFzioIvoEVB_K5uP8eOcRjauUNKdobVQ8kxvNPhsu/s400/Book+Cover+jpeg.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Professional intervention results in the final cover! <br />
An eye-catching X-Files-ish effort. Spooky!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-70708090716873653312012-08-13T03:34:00.002-07:002012-08-13T03:34:36.832-07:00Some inspiring words...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4LXmphs6lofEjXHJUtVJVn1ej1bYlNPlH5Z5_V7s7eZ1vYR0y80RUUmU7TjKV4-rnWPOizZ053LTSOAV1XuoAOGfWCwPOX2eGYgr7ajMreiU06LzvGBFppjNCLQ8JfZfgZZm2Hh0_w2x/s1600/418525_487121724632937_227433389_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4LXmphs6lofEjXHJUtVJVn1ej1bYlNPlH5Z5_V7s7eZ1vYR0y80RUUmU7TjKV4-rnWPOizZ053LTSOAV1XuoAOGfWCwPOX2eGYgr7ajMreiU06LzvGBFppjNCLQ8JfZfgZZm2Hh0_w2x/s640/418525_487121724632937_227433389_n.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877557940110466403.post-68214844270278920222012-08-12T03:17:00.003-07:002012-08-12T03:17:49.981-07:00Self-publishing in Australia<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1d39reZQVDUoGwkRQG2mjRUcJy8QeoTqhVL5cJESlA2JSyGe7C1X2GC-Z99SC7TPrm9X8iYoeD8D5edpcYDy0lpqrA8J9p0QSWgxuXE7gcD6NkVG8_MZKdE3DZvDuF5u71TvhIZtXj37y/s1600/41gPx5-9nUL._SS500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1d39reZQVDUoGwkRQG2mjRUcJy8QeoTqhVL5cJESlA2JSyGe7C1X2GC-Z99SC7TPrm9X8iYoeD8D5edpcYDy0lpqrA8J9p0QSWgxuXE7gcD6NkVG8_MZKdE3DZvDuF5u71TvhIZtXj37y/s320/41gPx5-9nUL._SS500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
When I wrote my first book, a school textbook, it was all very straightforward – I penned the words and someone else sculpted them into a more pleasing form, found illustrations to support what I was saying and pulled it all together in a nice, shiny little package called a book.<br />
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Many were printed and found homes far and wide in libraries and schools across Australia. As it was a commissioned project, it was a reasonably pain-free endeavor. I was paid a small up-front sum for my work and registered with the <a href="http://www.arts.gov.au/literature/lending-rights/guidelines">Australian Public Lending Scheme (PLR)</a>, which pays authors a royalty every time someone borrows one of their books (a worthy scheme that has paid me in excess of $6000 since my first book was printed).<br />
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Fast forward five years and my second co-written book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0646530070/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&tag=bigoutdoorliv-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0646530070">Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers</a> – a tome on folklore, and a labour of love – had been pitched to four mainstream publishing houses without any interest.<br />
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I could have persevered or found an agent but, as a former journalist, and one with newspaper layout experience, I was actually itching to give self-publishing a go. I was confident I could pull together a book every bit as readable and eye-catching as any mainstream tome – I just needed to find out how to do it.<br />
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And rather than bore you in real time as to how all that happened, I’ll give it to you in a nutshell – I researched all of the self-publishing avenues available and eventually jumped on board with <a href="http://www.lightningsource.com/">Lightning Source</a>, creating a company name to give me entre to the printing company’s vast resources.<br />
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Next I found myself a talented graphic designer. I’m afraid when it comes to books, looks count far more than they should – and I was desperately passionate that my book should be up there in the supermodel stakes. Fortunately a good friend of mine also happened to be a gun graphic designer, and his cover would later prove to be a key selling point.<br />
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While project-managing the book’s layout and cover, I bought an ISBN and a domain name and taught myself how to build a basic website using templates from the iWeb program on my (Apple) iMac computer, which previously worked with the <a href="http://www.Apple.com/">Apple.com</a> server to host my website. This hosting facility no longer exists and I have been forced to bone up further on website building and hosting.<br />
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The site - <a href="http://www.australianbigcats.com.au/">www.australianbigcats.com.au</a> - went live with the book cover image and a giant countdown clock, and I began to promote it in chat groups and blogs across the web. The marketing of the book had begun in earnest and it hadn’t even seen a printing press! (I’ll talk more about the marketing side of things in a future post.)<br />
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Around the same time I created a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Australian-Big-Cats-An-Unnatural-History-of-Panthers/118122161536833">Facebook page</a> for the book, which now boasts more than 500 fans (not bad for a niche book!). Incidentally, the website has now received more than 17,600 visits.<br />
With the help of my graphic designer we uploaded the book cover image and content to Lightning Source and waited two weeks or thereabouts for the formatting to take place at their end.<br />
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At that time Lightning Source had no presence in Australia so I had to source a local digital printer to print an initial run of 500 books for in-store distribution. Altogether we printed 850 books before making the decision – based on cost, time and distribution - to print solely through Lightning Source.<br />
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This had the added attraction of being ‘print on demand’, meaning we wouldn’t have to fill our house with boxes of books – instead, they would be printed as they were ordered by readers from various online bookstores.<br />
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Two years on and sales are steady and, thanks to the Lightning Source set-up, I sit back and wait for the money to roll in while I work on other projects.<br />
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At present I’m contemplating an e-book version of our book – how quaint! I hear some of you cry – but we have had our reasons for holding off, both marketing and software-related.<br />
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We’ve also since re-published a book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0646553135/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&tag=bigoutdoorliv-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0646553135">Savage Shadow: The Search for the Australian Cougar</a>, on behalf of another late author’s family using the same method – another labour of love with a similarly brilliant cover (if we do say so ourselves) – so time has been finite between work and…I want to say ‘play’, but really it’s more work! I’m also considering a permanent price drop to further encourage sales.<br />
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I wouldn’t want you to think our printing projects haven’t been without stumbling blocks – there have been plenty! They have included formatting errors requiring subsequent uploads, undetected editing errors, missing stock, poorly printed books (it does happen), booksellers slow to pay for sold stock (thus holding up the financing of subsequent local print runs), distribution issues and various other gremlins.<br />
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But it has been a fantastic experience, and one I will most definitely repeat. Having already trod the path twice, I will be more prepared for the next project and, with the burgeoning popularity of e-readers and e-books, in a much better position to reach potential future readers.<br />
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Self-publishing isn’t a river of gold for everyone, but it is a fantastic opportunity for would-be publishers and authors.<br />
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The best advice I can give is if you want to be taken seriously and attract readers, then spend the time and money to bring your manuscript up to scratch, and present your final product in the best possible light. That means hiring editors to polish your prose, and graphic designers to work their magic with your book's layout and cover. And becoming your own project manager/marketing manager.<br />
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Your readers will love you, booksellers will be bowled over by you, and maybe, if it’s the sort of luck you’re after, an agent or mainstream publisher will fall in love with you too!<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0