My name is Jess Silver. I have been interested in writing since I was very young and have always aspired to fulfill my passion. "Lake of Bottomless Waters" is my first book. It is a 20 page chapbook of poetry published this summer by the Ontario Poetry Society. The book explores themes of humanity, nature, love and the discovery and re-discovery of possibility and strength. The title is a metaphor of the journey that each individual's life goes to represent. It is symbolic of the idea that each person and each journey is different because of the different environments and experiences that both influence and inform our lives. The book is available at McNally Robinson Booksellers at Shoppes at Don Mills, Toronto. Stay tuned for future launch news.
First of all, what is "The Adventures of George", and why would I want to buy it? Well. simply said, "The Adventures of George" is a story by Blair Gowrie, told in verse, concerning our hero George, and you would want to buy it because it is worth buying - it's an amusing and entertaining tale guaranteed to bring enjoyment to anybody who reads it.
And George? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . who is this George? Well, George may be a common name, but it's good enough for Kings, for Princes and for Presidents. So which category does our hero fall into? To find out, read this fast-moving narrative poem which chronicles George's struggles with international leaders and terrorist groups, and which allows you to meet the host of colorful and eccentric characters who cross his path during his many adventures - people such as The Bearded One, Didi Damin, Borrock Sobama, Elvester, Onassos, David Chipperfield, Sir Solomon Pushdee, and many more.
Here is George meeting The Mere Leader -
"George welcomed him with his usual grace, Soothing words and smiling face, But response there was none, no reaction at all, No high-flown speech, no honeyed words, But merely a touch of the outstretched hand As if George were some lackey of the land Come to pay homage to his lord."
And Kennedy -
"At a nearby table was a man of about fifty Who had been drinking a lot and was rather tipsy, And after eyeing George's group for quite some time Plucked up his courage and did thus opine, "Honoured Sirs, allow me to give you my name, Kennedy it is, and I'm proud of the same. I'm of Irish descent, as you can well see, So the drinking of Guinness comes naturally to me"."
George sees Giganti for the first time -
"There weren't many people in the bar, But standing at the counter, not very far From Kennedy's table there was a man, A cigar in his mouth, whisky in his hand, Of powerful build and broad of shoulder, Black hair slicked back and saturnine features, Expensively dressed from head to toe, That all who met him might very well know That here was a man of power and influence, His manner radiating a certain arrogance."
Didi Damin appears -
"Then suddenly a stranger caught his attention, Powerfully built and with a black complexion, Who, with two burly guards stopped at the Al-Hambara To be deferentially greeted by a fawning General Manager. Kennedy reflected, he'd seen that face before, Surely this was the man who was responsible for The death of thousands through torture, and famine, Yes, the African tyrant, the feared Didi Damin!"
Damin meets Sobama -
"This frenzied feasting coming at last to an end, Damin wiped his face and toothpick in hand, Looked around the room and stared at one person, A man of about forty, tall dark and handsome, Summoned a waiter and told him very curtly, "Tell that man over there to come here immediately", Causing the waiter to scurry across the floor, Then whisper something in the dark man's ear, Which made him smile and nod in assent, And walk over to be in the dictator's presence. The waiter introduced him with not a little drama, "Allow me to present Senator Borrock Sobama!""
So now that you know something about George, now is the time for you to read the full story by becoming the proud owner of the book itself. And how do you buy it? Well, all you have to do is visit this address and purchase a copy right away - happy reading!
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CALL FOR PROPOSALS POETRY PROJECTIONS III: ON CORRESPONDENCE
The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is seeking proposals from artists and writers for the third series of Poetry Projections, provisionally titled Poetry Projections III: On Correspondence. Revisiting the film poem as an avenue for creative collaborations, LIFT is seeking proposals for 10 commissioned films to be screened in Fall of 2010.
Each new work will provide a stimulating perspective on the intersection of film and poetry in "correspondence". We are seeking proposals that reflect on the possibilities and potentials of this intersection, films that intrinsically incorporate the two mediums rather than follow an illustrative approach. We are looking for works that might provide a cinematic sensibility through poetry or/and a poetic sensibility through film.
The approach each film might take is boundless: from a documentary approach, to a spoken word performance, to a more traditional narrative, to an experimental film method, to a multitude of others. LIFT is interested in reviewing all applications that challenge the notions of the film poem and attempt to engage with these two mediums in revolutionary new ways.
While this project stipulates the involvement of collaborating participants, the team members need not live in the same city nor be established prior to the proposal deadline. For individuals in need of a collaborator, LIFT will assist where necessary with creating teams based on the project proposal submissions. Additionally, LIFT will participate in the collaborations by providing each team with a unique constraint to work within. Each constraint will be in response to the corresponding selected proposal and discussed individually with the participants.
Download a PDF with full description on eligibility and the application process: Poetry Projections III Call (Updated as of September 22, 2009)
DEADLINE: Submissions must be received by mail or in person by 6:00PM on October 5, 2009.
No e-mail submissions please.
Send applications to: Poetry Projections III: On Correspondence c/o LIFT 1137 Dupont Street Toronto, Ontario M6H 2A3 CANADA
For further information or concerns, please contact submissions(at)lift.on.ca
____________________________________________________ The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is a member-driven non-profit organization that provides affordable access to equipment, education and space for those who want to make films, out of a passion for, and commitment to, the practice of filmmaking on celluloid. LIFT also acknowledges the validity of other film technologies, such as digital and emerging hybrid media, and provides programs to artists and filmmakers who wish to create on other media. http://www.lift.on.ca/mt
So, I pick up a prescription at Walgreens the other day. It’s a typical Florida spring day--hot, clouds pluming in the west, a threat of rain. Inside it’s air-conditioned, bathed in fluorescent light and the only danger that presents itself is that I may lose my patience, waiting. The chair I’m scrunched into bears a typical industrial design-chrome painted, cubic, and uncomfortable. Whoever designed this pharmacy doesn’t want me hanging out. Complete transaction and move on, please.
My mind wanders, focuses on the shrill beep of a phone, on the Hispanic woman attending to drive-in window customers, to a disembodied voice announcing a code 3 in Cosmetics.
Where the hell am I? A Walgreens, of course, but which? The one on Atlantic and Third Street, I think, but it could be the one on Third and Beach Boulevard, or the one on Potrero and 24th Street in the Mission, though if this were San Francisco, I wouldn’t be wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I’m annoyed by this sense of displacement. I don’t want to be in this soulless corporate pill dispensing unit, but a place with character like Culter’s Pharmacy in Upper Arlington, Ohio.
It was a family-owned pharmacy on Guilford Road, two blocks from Jones Junior High. I can still see Mr. Culter. He wore a white lab jacket and a striped tie, horn rimmed glasses, had a habit of smoothing his scrawny moustache with his thumb. His wife worked behind the soda fountain or the candy counter.
I’m amazed I remember it, stored these forty four years in some box in the basement of my brain. A check on Google Maps would show the building still stands--brick and stone, turn of the century, Tudor style—but the pharmacy’s been sold to a realtor or a copy shop. Memories are all that remain.
I remember pinching candy, one penny Bazooka bubble gum, and being nabbed by Mrs. Culter. She called my parents and sent me home.
I remember milkshakes after school, slurped through paper straws.
I remember buying Lark cigarettes for thirty cents, my milk money. Older now, fourteen. Mrs. Culter should have known better, but she probably thought boys will be boys, and besides, what’s a pack of cigarettes compared to the troubles of the world, that war in Viet Nam. It’s February, cold. My friend Tim and I smoke behind the store on a school morning. We think we are extremely cool.
Forgive me this jog down Nostalgia Boulevard, this Sunday drive down the Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway, for it leads to something more. The Science of Psychology and Charles Darwin insist these memes serve a purpose in furthering my existence.
The milkshake, for instance, seems random, but deserves a deeper probe. Mrs. Culter busies herself behind the counter. She pours milk into the blender jar, then scoops ice cream from a metal bucket housed in a small freezer. She chats as she works, looks up, and smiles. She blends the concoction, and then pours it into a frosted glass.
What would this experience be like today? A stroll into McDonald’s. The stainless steel counter, teenage girl in her uniform, the rehearsed speech, ChocShake Mix, the plastic coated cup. Carried on a plastic tray to one of the identical, bolted-to-the-floor tables, as some somnolent, orchestrated rendition of a Beatles song plays in the background. This memory is useful-a reminder of what human interaction was like before an evolving corporate mentality replaced it with the super-efficient, homogenized customer experience.
The Walgreens pharmacist announces my name on the loud speaker, interrupts my reverie. I pay and drive home, determined to squeeze some meaning from my obsession.
I sit at my kitchen table with a photo album, revisiting my past. I admire the smiling faces and smooth foreheads of friends posing for a shot at a ski lodge in New Mexico. And then, a picture of my pals from Slider’s, a seafood restaurant here in Neptune Beach. David and Sam, proud owners, stand at the corners garbed in red aprons. They gave me a job when I needed it in the early Eighties, shucking shells and washing dishes. We ate oysters, drank cheap beer, feasted on red snapper, worked long hours, and partied afterwards. We created a community, a home away from my broken one, a place where interactions carried more weight than transactions. Yes, customers purchased hundreds of dozens of oysters and clams, consumed truckloads of beer, but it was their presence and engagement that made the restaurant a happy destination.It became a space full of memories the way Culter’s did for me and Walgreens never will, invoking feelings for people I love and respect or who have extended a courtesy, working, playing and living in a measurable moment of time.
What about now? Where can I find that now? My time at Slider’s was, after all, thirty years ago. Before the reign of Ones and Zeros, before personal computers, before cell phones, DVDs, the Internet, automated phone menus, ATMs; before automation supplanted human effort, as bungled and flawed as that might’ve been. Before George Bush I and II, 9/11, the first market crash and the second, before greed became not only tolerable but an end in itself, a goal to pursue. Before our collective past, be it in the form of buildings, landmarks or ideas became a commodity to be traded like any other.
The next day I bicycle to yoga class. I pedal down First Street, admiring the ocean-worn beach houses, frowning at the McMansions that materialized during the last real estate bubble. I coast by Slider’s, new and improved, still owned by my friend David and then by Pete’s Bar, established in 1933. Up the block on Third Street I pass Corporation Row-Walgreens, McDonald’s, Starbucks and K Mart, all built on property that used to be palmetto trees or houses, family owned souvenir stands or surf shops. I can’t even remember the names. Memory fails, sometimes.
A few more blocks and I wheel into the Ocean Yoga Studio parking lot. I climb the hardwood stairs where I’m greeted by my friend Meg, by Ron, a laid back guitar teacher and life long surfer, and Paula, the owner and guide for our practice. We sit cross-legged on our mats, joke a little before starting. We will share our exercise; interact through sweat and small talk, graceful motion and knowing looks.
This is the experience I crave always, an experience not dependent on time or money. It’s all right to start the practice five minutes late. Sure, I have to pay, but the transaction is secondary. Sure, Mr. Culter was running a business, but he didn’t keep efficiency charts and he didn’t lay off his wife to cut expenses or keep the shareholders happy. He ran his business to provide a service to the community where he lived, just as Paula teaches yoga as a service to the Beaches.
Walgreens on the other hand provides a service so that Walgreens can exact a large profit so that the senior managers who run Walgreens can build even more stores so that the shareholders can make more money. That’s the world we live in and it’s a damn shame. Seems to me, having discounts and super-efficiency is a high price to pay for lost memories and for the price it demands of our souls along the way.
A man walks into a bank with a gun in his hand. “Ok, everybody,” he shouts, “lie on the floor! This is a hold-up!” Some people obey immediately, but a few don’t. The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of bullets. “Get on the floor,” he commands. “I have a handful of bullets!” When that doesn’t provoke the desired response, the man begins throwing the bullets one at a time. The security guards quickly realize that the man has no bullets in the gun. They dodge the bullets the man throws at them, and quickly overpower him.
Why did this man fail to rob the bank? He had the necessary tools, namely the bullets and the gun. His problem, however, was that he used them separately. Each tool had some effect, but they did not help him accomplish his purpose when used alone. In mostcases, tools need to be combined to make the greatest impact on your audience, whether people in a bank or people who read your documents.
Strategies for Impact
Writers have at their disposal many strategies for making an impact. In most cases, they can be used independently to create some level of emphasis, or impact. For example,
Parallelism: Creating a series of parallel items provides increasing emphasis on those items while showing how they are related to a main point.
Framing: Framing ideas by stating similar ideas at the beginning and end of an argument reinforces those ideas and keeps the reader focused.
Sentence Fragment: A sentence fragment starting with a conjunction tells the reader to pay close attention to what comes next.
Style Shift: Dropping in a rare colloquialism garners reader attention to a particular point.
Terminal Placement: Stating the most important information or concept at the end of a sentence or paragraph demonstrates its importance and helps the reader focus on it.
Short Phrase or Sentence: Short sentences and phrases have the potential to create strong emphasis. They catch the eyes visually, and the punctuation on either side creates pauses so that the phrase or sentence stands out.
Many such strategies exist. In fact, the writing guide Bang! Writing With Impact contains over 200 such strategies.
However, these strategies increase the overall impact of your writing when they are combined logically and artistically. Let’s look at a great example of how the strategies described above can be combined to create an overall emphasis on a particular idea.
Sample of Strategies Combined
The text in this sample is taken from An Intellectual and Cultural History of the Western World by Harry Elmer Barnes (Author: 1937, 1941; Dover Publications Inc.: 1965). The passage discusses the idea that while human nature has not changed since the earliest days of our history, humankind has made great advances in culture, thus negating the idea that human nature is a barrier to societal advancement. By the time you finish reading this selection, you will have a good idea of where the author stands on this issue, and, likely, you will agree with him.
These considerations should serve to make clear that what we regard as human civilization has developed without any change in human nature. Our institutions, literature, art, and religion have grown from the most rudimentary beginnings to their present forms without involving the slightest changes in the physical equipment which we designate as human nature. We have passed from cave dwellings to the Empire State building and Rockefeller Center, from small clans and tribes to great national states and colonial empires, from the possession of a few skins and bone implements to billionaires, and from illiteracy to the wisdom of a John Dewey or the erudition of a Joseph McCabe. And all of these advances have been accomplished with the same old human nature, persisting unchanged.
The writer used the strategies above to emphasize his points, lead to a final conclusion, and make an impact on his readers.
Parallelism: This passage contains two major examples of parallelism. The second sentence contains a parallel series of 4 individual words (“institutions, literature . . .”). The third sentence contains a series of 4 parallel phrases. In most cases, four items in a series is the maximum for creating emphasis. Using more than four actually reduces impact.
Framing: The first sentence provides the context for upcoming text: “human civilization has developed without any change in human nature.” Then the author provides some discussion of this, some examples, etc. Finally, in the last four words of the paragraph, he reinforces his idea: “human nature, persisting unchanged.” Thus, we start and finish with the central concept, which frames the entire passage.
Sentence Fragment: Starting a sentence with “and,” “but,” and “yet,” (coordinating conjunctions) will always make a sentence fragment. However, this strategy tells the reader that the next information is inherently linked to and provides the conclusion from the previous statement. This tells the reader, “Pay attention. I’m about to write something important.” The author used this strategy by starting the final sentence, “And all of these advances . . . .” At this point, he begins to build up to the final impact statement.
Style Shift: This passage has a fairly academic tone. While the author obviously is passionate about this issue (we know this from the other strategies), he maintains a high, fairly impersonal tone. Then, he uses the term “same old,” which is a colloquialism. This draws the reader’s attention to what comes next. If the reader’s attention has started to wander during the previous discussion, this temporary shift in style will draw the reader back in so that the author can make his central point, which follows immediately.
Terminal Placement: The most important information in a sentence should be at the end of the sentence. Similarly, the most important information in a paragraph should be at the end of the paragraph. The reason for this is simple. The words at the end of the paragraph have the potential to create the greatest impact, so placing the main idea there means placing the greatest emphasis on the main point. The last four words of this paragraph summarize the main point.
Short Phrase or Sentence: Look at the final phrase of the entire passage: “persisting unchanged.” That is the point of the entire passage: human nature has persisted unchanged and yet all these accomplishments have occurred.
Harry Barnes packed many strategies into four sentences. The effect is cumulative, building to an impressive, emphatic paragraph. The final sentence, alone, combines four strategies, which together build to the final impact statement: start with a conjunction to catch the reader’s attention, shift the style to increase the impact, and conclude with the most important information in a very short phrase. Barnes would have been a very successful bank robber.
I spend a considerable amount of time each week preparing articles on writing for Internet distribution, making posts on various writing blogs, responding to users on our discussion board, and writing new posts for our blog—basically trying to give away as much information about good writing as I can. When I am not working on clients’ documents or promoting our services, I am probably writing about writing.
From time to time, my Internet marketing specialist and I search the Internet to discover where the articles have been reposted and what feedback they have received. Sometimes this is quick and easy, such as for our article “Creating Sentence Transitions,” which has good content but seemed dull to many readers. Sometimes this takes a long time, such as for our article “10 Overused Words in Writing,” which was reposted several hundred times.
We look for the articles because we are curious to discover what is resonating with readers, what their needs are for writing instructions, and the like. We read the feedback for the same reason, and because we want to continuously improve our ability to connect with readers’ needs.
From feedback over the last year, I have learned 4 lessons.
I figured I might as well start with the negative feedback. While most feedback is positive and, in many cases, grateful, some people will disagree with what we write and will criticize our expertise. Most criticism comes from people who don’t “get” what we do, meaning they don’t recognize the value of external advice and they confuse recommendations for improvement with personal insults and attacks.
Negative feedback is expected. We could mimic our critics and lash out in return. Instead, we try to do what we counsel our clients to do: 1) Accept that criticism is a part of being a writer, and 2) Learn how we can better address readers’ needs without compromising our integrity.
We have a purpose for our writing: help as many people as possible improve their ability to communicate in writing. If we are going to accomplish our purpose, we need to address the attributes and characteristics that hinder reader acceptance and understanding, which is good advice for all writers.
2. People don’t always read carefully.
Words get missed, sometimes entire paragraphs. This may cause a reader to misunderstand what we write and not understand how to apply the information we present. For example, one reader criticized our article “10 Overused Words in Writing” by writing, in paraphrase, “It’s ok to use these words sometimes. Telling people that they shouldn’t use them is not right.”
I agree completely. In fact, I said so in the article, which states, “We don’t recommend that you remove these words from your writing. Instead, we recommend that you become aware of how often you use them and that you revise your documents to limit their use.”
This is a case where a concept was clear to the writer (me) but not to the reader. However, the point I was making was important. Had the reader read and understood my statement, the reader would not have criticized the article and, perhaps, would have accepted what I was trying to communicate. I can’t change what my readers do; I can only change what I do.
Since that point was so important, I should have found a way to emphasize it, make it clearer, and make it easier to find. For example, I could have made this statement a paragraph by itself. I could have used bold text. I could have used very short sentences. The point is this: I needed to employ a strategy to help the reader find and understand what I thought was important. It was my responsibility, not my reader’s.
3. Reader’s needs differ according to the format.
People read using different strategies and for different purposes depending on the format. A person reading a printed novel will read differently when perusing an informative article on the Internet. A person reading a white paper has a different purpose than someone reading a blog post.
Reading online is harder than reading printed copy. Reading a long, long web page is harder than reading a 6” x 9” printed page. A writer needs to understand how these are different and make adjustments to meet the readers’ needs. Some strategies include:
Using shorter paragraphs;
Writing shorter, simpler sentences, especially for significant points;
Create lists;
Adding headings and other signposts; and
Using text formatting, such as bold text.
Fortunately, some things don’t change. Clear, concise, and direct writing is essential regardless of the format, as are logical organization and using an appropriate style and tone.
4. A niche market has the highest frequency of readers.
One of the analyses we perform when we find our articles and review feedback has to do with placement. “Placement” is a marketing term that refers to choosing where the product is displayed and where the buyer completes the purchase process. For our writings, placement has to do with where we publish our writing and where people are reading.
In the best case scenario, an article (or blog comment) is posted on a site where the readers are actively interested in the topic addressed by the article. Where the content and the readers’ interests are not accurately matched, the article receives very little attention. On the other hand, we can apply the marketing concept of placement to increase readership.
What I have learned to do is this. First, identify the specific ideas I am communicating. Second, identify the specific type of reader who will be interested in those ideas (the niche market). Third, find where those readers are making reading selections (i.e., buying). Fourth, present the ideas to that niche in that place. The number of readers and overall reader interest is much greater.
This is how we get readers when we publish externally. When we publish on our blog, the same concept applies. In this case, readers are coming to us because they are interested in our topics. However, if we don’t keep focused on that niche market (for example, if we start providing movie reviews instead of writing advice), we will lose readers. By responding to the specific needs and interests of our niche market, our niche readers, we can maintain a large, loyal base of readers.
In conclusion
The lessons we have learned from our readers are the same lessons we give our clients:
Use feedback to improve your manuscripts and achieve your goals.
Present information in a manner that is accessible to your readers.
For some time now, I have been hearing about how bookstores are struggling to stay in business, not only the small, local bookstores, but also the big chains, such as Borders. My perception is that Amazon.com’s success is partly responsible for these struggles. I like Amazon.com, and I also like “bricks and mortar” bookstores. Amazon.com’s future seems pretty secure at the moment, so I propose three strategies bookstores can use to remain in business and survive Amazon.com.
THE NEW MARKET ENVIRONMENT
Once upon a time, if you wanted to buy a book, you bought it from a bookstore. Book buying possibilities have changed. Now you can pay to download a book to an e-book reader or buy it from an online source (e.g., the author’s or publisher’s website, Amazon.com). Book buying behaviors have changed, but bookstores seem to be trying to maintain the way they do business. Other than adding a coffee shop, bookstores now look much like I remember them before Amazon.com made online book shopping practical.
In my opinion, one of the advantages Amazon offers book buyers that bookstores don’t is the breadth of selection. Amazon has a wider selection of books than bookstores. The second advantage is cost. The price to purchase a book online is often lower than the cost bookstores offer. Amazon doesn’t have to pay for store furniture, decorations, floor walkers, fancy buildings, etc. With lower operating costs per book and greater volume, Amazon can keep prices down. As my Aunt Irene used to say, “Ain’t pretty, but it works.” To attract book buyers, bookstores are going in the opposite direction. This doesn’t seem to be working.
Sure, I can buy books directly from bookstore’s websites. I can go to the Borders site, for example, look up some books, and buy them. However, if I’m going to buy books online, I’ll probably buy them from Amazon.com. Bookstores offer a very different experience than online shopping, and I want bookstores to succeed. Thus, the advice I have is for getting more people to buy books in bookstores.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO BOOKSTORES
1. Employ e-book and web-based technologies. Bookstores need to use the new technologies, not resist them. I’m specifically referring to e-book readers. When I was at a Borders bookstore earlier this week, I checked out the Sony e-book readers they had for sale. I was pretty impressed. The sample models were preloaded with long excerpts from about 15 books. They were firmly attached to the counter, so I couldn’t pick them up, much less walk around with them. While playing with them, I glanced around the store. Against nearly every wall and in every corner, I saw people sitting in comfy chairs reading books. They could browse the shelves, pick up a book, carry it to a chair, and read. I couldn’t do any of that with the e-book readers being displayed. That got me thinking about sales possibilities and buyer behavior.
People in bookstores like to browse books, pull out a selected title, and read a few pages. If they like what they read, they will buy the book. Unfortunately, they are limited to the books on the shelves, which might not be what people want. For example, I wanted to look at books on building tree houses. None were available on the shelves. (I was referred to the local hardware store!) I wanted to flip through the 2009 Writer Watchdog. I couldn’t do it. I wanted to read a few pages of Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates. Not available. Maybe I could look at Interpreter of Maladies, the first book by Jhumpa Lahiri. Same problem.
I understand that bookstores cannot stock every possible book in their databases. That’s a given. But shouldn’t I be able to look at them anyway, whether or not they are on the shelves? This is where e-book technologies can play an important role.
Here’s the scenario I envision. I check out an e-book reader (for free, of course) from the service counter. The e-book reader is connected wirelessly to the bookstore’s network. I walk over to the computer at the end of a bookshelf or the touch screen panel situated in a book rack. I search titles, check out authors, look at covers, and find a book that seems interesting. I punch in the number of the e-book reader I’m carrying, and the first 40 or 50 pages of the book are downloaded to the reader. I take the e-book reader to a soft chair, hook one leg over the armrest, and read. Maybe I find 10 books that look interesting. I download the excerpt from each.
(Why didn’t I just browse through the e-book reader? E-book readers are black and white—currently. I want to see color covers, so I use the color computer monitor or panel.)
Two of these titles are sufficiently interesting that I want to buy them. I pull up the menu on the reader and add them to my shopping cart. When I’m done browsing, I hit the purchase button. According to the displayed information, one of the books is in the store and will be waiting for me at the main counter. The other book isn’t available in the store, but it is in the warehouse. I can get it for a 10% discount. Would I like to buy it and have it mailed directly to me? Sure, I would!
(Why the 10% discount? First, if it’s not in the store, then the corporate office has determined that it is not a book that is likely to have high volume. It’s going to take up inventory space in the warehouse, and keeping inventory costs money. The discount encourages me to get it off their hands. Second, the discount helps justify the delay caused by shipping. Third, the discount also helps the store compete with Amazon.com prices. If I’m going to wait anyway, then the cost should be competitive. Otherwise, I will just buy it from Amazon.)
I can enter my credit card information and buy the two books through the e-book reader. If I don’t want to enter my payment information through the reader, or if I want to pay cash, I take the e-book reader to the sales counter. The clerk scans the number of the reader and pulls up my purchase details. The first book is, indeed, waiting there for me. The clerk confirms that I want the other book, too. I do. I make my payment, get the first book, drop off the reader, and I’m done. I’m another happy bookstore customer.
2. Improve book searching at bookstores. I’m referring to new semantic mapping technologies. When I enter a book title or author name, I should not only get specific search results, but also I should get a list of books that are related. (This is similar to how Pandora.com creates online music stations for users based on the user’s musical selections.) If I am interested in a particular book or author, then the search engine should also recommend other selections. This will need to be far more in-depth than simple category searching currently available.
For example, if I enter the term “Sherlock Holmes,” I should see titles of other books in the Sherlock Holmes series, other titles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, other mysteries with a lead male detective, books written in the same style, and books written around the same period. Instead of just books about Sherlock Holmes, I can browse a broad selection of books that are related by a comprehensive set of identifiers. I can hit the “more like this” or “not like this” buttons to further refine my search.
Eventually I get to Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. I have never thought of reading this book, but it fits my interests; I just didn’t know it. “Ok,” I think, “I’ll check it out.” I download it to my e-book reader, read 10 or 15 pages, and find that it does, indeed, interest me. I buy a book that otherwise I would never have thought to buy. I’m another happy bookstore customer.
3. Use print-on-demand (POD) technologies. Print on demand can increase available selections while decreasing inventory costs. As my former managerial accounting professor said, “Inventory is bad.” In the perfect world, a bookstore has no inventory. Exactly the right numbers of books are available, all the time, to meet customer demand. Of course, this is impossible. However, reducing warehouse inventory is possible by using POD.
Instead of warehousing 1,000 copies of a book in a central repository (or 25 copies for an independent bookstore), a bookstore only keeps enough books to meet expected demand for the next short period. This may be only 10 or 20 books if expected demand is low or unknown. The bookstore company (e.g., Borders) uses POD technologies to produce additional books as needed. Using POD technologies, short runs of books can be produced very quickly. Even 1 book can be economically produced using POD.
For large runs of books, over 1,000, for example, offset (i.e., traditional) printing is usually more cost effective. A new book by Stephen King should be printed with offset printing. The books will be on bookstore shelves, not in inventory, and will sell fairly rapidly. Inventory costs are not the same problem as they will be for less well-known authors or less popular topics. By using POD, bookstores can maintain a very small inventory (or none) of most books and have the books printed when they are demanded. Through POD, a book can be produced overnight.
Think about the first scenario above. I find a book I want, but it is not in the store. I can buy it and have it shipped to me. What I don’t know is that the book isn’t in inventory, either. All I know, all I need to know, is that the book will be shipped to me tomorrow. When I buy the book, the order is submitted, the book is printed that evening, and the next day it is shipped.
Bookstore companies can go about this process two ways. First, the bookstore company can license the right to print the books at its own facilities. The book will be the exact same book that the publisher would have printed: same ISBN, same cover, same everything. The bookstore is not the publisher—only the printer. This may be costly at first, but it will allow the bookstore to sell books efficiently without having to put in a buy order to the publisher or deal with “middle-man” costs and inefficiencies. The major costs will be incurred by the purchase and set-up of the printing technologies, as well as personnel to operate and manage the process.
The second way to do this is less expensive but also less efficient. Major bookstores can give preferential treatment to those publishers that employ POD, thus encouraging publishers to create this possibility. The corporate book buyer can then send an order to the publisher requesting 5 copies of a book. Normally, the publisher would laugh at such a request because it uses offset printing. However, a publisher that uses POD can do it, and the books will be ready tomorrow.
If the bookstore wants to keep books in inventory to reduce order and delivery costs, it can use a kanban system in conjunction with POD to keep books available while keeping inventory costs at a minimum. A kanban system uses a “pull” process to initiate the creation or purchase of a product. When only a specific number of books remain in inventory, an order is placed, and more books are printed. Here’s how this works.
Let’s say the bookstore anticipates selling 7 copies of a book per week, or approximately 1 per day. Some days, 2 copies are sold, but never more than 9 books in any week and never more than 4 books in 3 days. Let’s also say that books can be printed and delivered in 3 days, which is nearly impossible with traditional printing but simple with POD. Then, using the kanban system, when only 4 books are in inventory (the maximum that will be sold between the time of the order and the time of the delivery), the company places an order for another 9 books. This way, just when the inventory has no more books from the previous order, the next order arrives.
A bookstore can order 1,000 copies of a book. Some will be sold right away, but others will sit in inventory for a long time. Using print on demand publishing and a kanban system, many small orders are placed. Inventory is kept at a minimum, costs are reduced, and the books are always available when demanded. As the book shopper, I get the book I want, either right now or in a few days. I’m another happy bookstore customer.
LOOKING AHEAD
That’s it. Those are my recommendations for keeping bookstores alive and valuable to book buyers. My hope is that when I’m 80 years old, I won’t be heard saying, “When I was younger, we could go to an actual place where books were sold. It was called a bookstore. Gosh, I miss those days.”
Paragraphs can be written in many ways. In nonfiction documents, for example, a paragraph may first establish context for an idea, provide supporting information, and then conclude with an impact or action statement that leads to the next idea. In fiction or narrative documents, a paragraph may show a single action or provide a character’s immediate response to an experience. Some writers use long paragraphs to fully explore an idea, while others may prefer short, terse paragraphs.
In all cases, however, the purpose of a paragraph is to present one idea to the reader. The complexity of the idea and the reader’s need for explanation determine the length of the paragraph. A careful writer will balance the reader’s needs with his or her style preferences. This brings us to a question I have been asked occasionally. How many sentences should be in a paragraph? The answer I give is based on the “one idea per paragraph” concept: at least one.
If the precedingparagraphs have provided sufficient information for the reader to understand the idea, and if the connections between the ideas are clear, and if the value and implications of the idea will be obvious to the reader, one sentence may be sufficient.
Unlike paragraphs with multiple sentences, a one-sentence paragraph places heavy emphasis on the idea. It is a high-impact tool for telling the reader, “This is very important.” Very few ideas require this level of emphasis. Used sparingly, one-sentence paragraphs can be very effective for pointing out critical ideas or keeping the reader mentally focused on the content.
On the other hand, a document with too many one-sentence paragraphs loses this effect. The writer who uses too many, or uses them too close together, is telling the reader that many of the ideas are very important. As a result, he or she loses the ability to point out specific ideas as being the most important. This is similar to always shouting. If you shout everything you say, no single shouted idea has more emphasis than any other.
Another problem with documents that contain too many one-sentence paragraphs is that they are unpleasant to read. Each one-sentence paragraph creates an emotional impact. The reader will need time to recover, meaning the reader is no longer considering new information as it relates to the high-impact statement. If the effect of the previous emotional impact has not yet “worn off,” adding another impact places emotional stress on the reader’s subconscious. Eventually, the reader will become mentally fatigued, and the entire document will lose value.
In summary, here are three guidelines for using one-sentence paragraphs effectively.
Use them only for stand-alone ideas that do not need explanation.
Use them when you want to create heavy emphasis for an idea.
Use them infrequently.
One last note: This does not apply to journalistic writing. One-sentence paragraphs are a common style for journalistic writing, especially in print journalism. For all other types of writing, however, these guidelines apply.
Most fiction authors write in the past tense. They tell readers what happened. This is as if the author says, “I see the events in my mind, and I’m writing about what I saw.” Very few fictional books are written in the present tense.
One reason for this is that writing in the present tense provides serious challenges to the author: maintaining perspective, introducing prior events, and filtering the stream of consciousness.
Below, we discuss these challenges and provide an example of present-tense writing done well.
1. Maintaining Perspective: Well-written scenes have only one perspective. As readers, our focus is on one character, and the scene is described through that character’s experiences. Usually, the focus will be on the protagonist. We perceive the scene through that character. However, that scene can be described again from another character’s experience. This is possible because the scene is written in the past tense. We already know that it has happened.
When writing in the present tense, the events have an immediacy that makes this difficult. We read about what is happening at the moment, not about what already happened. This limits the author’s ability to show events from multiple perspectives because when the perspective shifts, the events already occurred. As such, when the perspective changes, the author continues to show what is now happening but through a different perspective. The author keeps the readers in the “now.” This can be a powerful tool for keeping the reader engaged in the story, but it is difficult to accomplish.
2. Introducing Prior Events: Events do happen prior to the current experience, and describing them in a present-tense story requires a shift to the past tense. However, the author may need to include those events to help the reader understand the present experience or to provide the motivation for a character’s actions and thoughts. This is difficult to accomplish. The author must make these time shifts smoothly, without losing the present-tense perspective and without making the reader wonder when the event is taking place. The author has to separate present and past tense without damaging the readers’ engagement in the present tense events.
3. Filtering the Stream of Consciousness: The human brain is always thinking, which means that the character on whom we are focused is having many thoughts. Some may be repetitions, some may be revisions of prior thoughts, and some may be off topic completely. Some will be new and relevant to the experience the character is having.
The challenge to the author is identifying the thoughts that are relevant and necessary to the story without creating gaps in the character’s consciousness. Shifting between a description of thoughts to description of physical activities and environment will help, but as with introducing prior events, this can be difficult. While we are reading the character’s thoughts and feelings in the present tense, other actions and events are occurring. Thus, when the author “leaves the character’s mind” and returns to the “real world,” he cannot go back to describe what has happened in the meantime. So the second part of this challenge is to ensure that the reader doesn’t miss critical events.
An Example of Present Tense Fiction: Robert Silverberg, winner of multiple Nebula and Hugo awards, uses the present tense very effectively in Starborne. This is the story of 50 people traveling across the universe through “nospace” to find a new planetary home. Obviously, it is science fiction.
Here’s a quip from the book that addresses the second and third challenges:
“The year-captain wonders whether everyone aboard, one by one, is about to undergo some maddening transformation for the worse. Already Noelle is losing the ability to communicate with her sister on Earth; the blunt and straightforward Sieglinde has unsettlingly chosen to challenge the reliability of the theorems that she herself helped to write; and now the easygoing and irreverent Heinz is tiresomely eager to explain the year-captain’s own responsibilities to him. What next? What next, he wonders.”
Science fiction may not be your preferred genre, but this novel is worth reading if you intend to write in the present tense and are unsure about how to do it well. Find it in a bookstore, sit in a chair, and read the first couple chapters, at least. Study how Silverberg resolves the three challenges noted above.
We have a variety of editorial services for authors that will help you prepare your manuscript, but reading and studying Starborne will give you a good start.
From the Paris of New England: Interviews with Poets and Writers Print: $18.50
http://lulu.com/ibbetsonpress to order
A series of interviews with poets and writers that took place in the "Paris of New England," (Somerville, Mass.) Doug Holder the founder of the small literary press "Ibbetson Street" conducted interviews on his Somerville Community Access TV Show "Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer," as well as for his literary column in The Somerville News, and at the Wilderness House Literary Retreat, founded by his friend Steve Glines. Poets and writers included in this volume are Mark Doty, Tom Perrotta, Pagan Kennedy, Claire Messud, Lan Samantha Chang, Afaa Michael Weaver, Lois Ames, Steve Almond, and many more... There is also some striking photography by Elsa Dorfman and other photographers in this collection. Included is an introduction by Michael Basinski, curator of the University of Buffalo Poetry Collection...
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User Blogs 
Why did this man fail to rob the bank? He had the necessary tools, namely the bullets and the gun. His problem, however, was that he used them separately. Each tool had some effect, but they did not help him accomplish his purpose when used alone. In mostcases, tools need to be combined to make the greatest impact on your audience, whether people in a bank or people who read your documents. 
For some time now, I have been hearing about how bookstores are struggling to stay in business, not only the small, local bookstores, but also the big chains, such as Borders. My perception is that Amazon.com’s success is partly responsible for these struggles. I like Amazon.com, and I also like “bricks and mortar” bookstores. Amazon.com’s future seems pretty secure at the moment, so I propose three strategies bookstores can use to remain in business and survive Amazon.com. 
Science fiction may not be your preferred genre, but this novel is worth reading if you intend to write in the present tense and are unsure about how to do it well. Find it in a bookstore, sit in a chair, and read the first couple chapters, at least. Study how Silverberg resolves the three challenges noted above. 
