Blog Entries - August 2007

IBBETSON STREET PRESENTS: From Mist to Shadows by Robert K. Johnson

DougHolder

IBBETSON STREET PRESENTS

From Mist To Shadow: Poems by Robert K. Johnson

Fred Marchant (Director of the Poetry Center at Suffolk University) writes of Johnson's work: "His is an art of transparency, an art in which language through its own devices becomes nearly invisible and what is seen through the scrim is usually an epiphany... The ordinary life is under the poet's gaze transformed into something approaching the sacred..."

"From Mist To Shadow" is an ap [...]

No one's ever tried this before!

tsopher

So I think I am going to start writing a weblog. What? I know, no one really does that anymore, but what the heck, I like to be different. Anyhow I think I am going to try this blogging thing out for a while and see what comes of it. It will predominantly be poetry- and writing-related since I am truly a word geek but I am sure I will cover a wide range of topics from religion to current events.

Ways to increase book sales

rkelly

Want to increase book sales dramatically? Then shift your book sales focus from attracting new readers to enticing your proven readers to purchase again. The best new title prospect is a prospect that's already converted-in other words, one of your current readers.

Think of it this way; if your small press is located in a small town with a population of 1,000 people and you sell a book to everyone in that town, man, woman, and child, you've sold 1,000 books-and saturated your ma [...]

Make Facebook Work For You

rkelly

With the advent of web social networking sites such as Facebook & MySpace, more small press publishers are taking advantage of the benefits of social networking in new ways. Social networks aren't limited to the web sphere though; remember that they're just a copy of the real-world concept of advertising, & this is the basis of many successful referral-based systems used by advertising gurus of publishers of diverse sizes & industries.

When you're working with a [...]

Patrizia Hayashi's interview with Kikuko Otake

ahadadabooks

Hi all - just took the opportunity to post an interview by Patrizia Hayashi with Kikuko Otake. On a recent trip to California, she had the chance to speak with the author of Masako's Story. They spoke of her book and her plans for the future. Check out the interview at it original location here.

Patrizia Hayashi is a freelance writer and author. On a recent trip to California, she had the opportunity to speak with Kikuko Otake, author of Masako's Story. They spoke [...]

How to Write a Book�The Short Honest Truth

scififan

Every author I know gets asked the same question: How do you write a book? Scott provides simple, basic information about writing and book and links to more practical advice.

It's a simple question, but it causes unexpected problems. On the one hand, it's nice to have people interested in something I do. If I told people I fixed toasters for a living, I doubt I'd get many inquires. People are curious about writing and that's cool and flattering. Rock on.

But on the [...]

The problem with the interweb: It's stupid

rhughes

The Internet is a lowest common denominator medium. Unlike newspapers, books, and magazines, there's no editorial staff, no advertisers to please, and no style guides, standards, or traditions to uphold. It's a Tower of Babel mishmash filled with junk. On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog, a 15 year old pimple-faced kid, or just an idiot. Why does this matter? Because one person's opinions are not just as valid as another's, if that other has absolutely no background, s [...]

The Chelm Effect

rhughes

Chelm is the mythical town of fools in Jewish folklore. (There is actually a town named Chelm in Poland, but the stories have little to do with the actual town.) A tradition of Jewish children's literature exists that takes place in Chelm, where the well-meaning townspeople have foolish solutions to real-life problems.

In one classic tale the "wise men" of Chelm (as they're often called) decide to build a library. It had occurred to them that Poland's capital, Wars [...]

The Impotence of Proofreading

stevenl

New York performance poet Taylor Mali, measures his life in a variety of ways: He has five years of experience as a professional spoken word artist; he has one book, one DVD, and three cds; for 10 months, he was the official voice of Burger King; he was a national poetry slam champion four times; three times he appeared on the HBO original series "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry".

For nine years he taught college, high school, and middle school; and once, in a single SCRA [...]

100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses

stevenl

When people confuse the following, it makes me nauseated. If you're nauseated, it means you're feeling sick. If you're nauseous, it means you're making others sick (causing nausea in others).

I hear people say "I'm feeling nauseous," and I think to myself "please stay away from me, I don't want to become nauseated."

Check out the list of my pet peeves:

adverse / averse affect / effect aggravate alleged all right altoge [...]

Indiana Review Blog

inreview

Come check out the Indiana Review blog at indianareview.blogspot.com