Pilot Program for Independent Publishers

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It is not easy to be a pioneer – but oh, it is fascinating! I would not trade one moment, even the worst moment, for all the riches in the world.” ~ Elizabeth Blackwell 

According to Jamie LaRue, the Director of Douglas County Libraries in Colorado, “this is the most exciting time in publishing since the invention of the printing press. Until now, books coming through the gateway of the library have been restricted to only those that have been published by the big traditional publishing houses.” The new agreement that has been signed between the Douglas County Library System http://douglascountylibraries.org/  and the Colorado Independent Publishers Association www.cipabooks.com  will allow a system whereby independent publications can be found by library patrons and libraries will essentially be fulfilling a need for the independents by helping them to find readers, too. How cool is that? 

The magnitude of opportunity and possibilities that this agreement opens up for libraries all across the country and for independent publishers, too, is mind boggling. “Take this another few steps further”, a Colorado Independent Publishers Association member remarked at the signing of the agreement, “and think what this agreement can do for independent publishers of film and music, too.” 

Of course, providing top quality books has always been the objective of libraries, and this will remain unchanged. Being put into place is a “rating system” that will allow the best  to be included in catalog of e-booksthat will be sold to libraries. 

Jamie LaRue told his story of how his mind-set had been changed toward independent publishers. He used to interview authors, and as he began to feature a few independent publishers, he realized there is a whole new generation of publishers who have outstanding, valuable stories to share but the big traditional publishing houses are passing them by. It seems his objective is to provide excellence in literature for his library patrons, whether traditionally published or not. 

To read more about this e-book Pilot program agreement between the Colorado Independent Publishers Association and the Douglas County Libraries, please visit http://bit.ly/eYPEix

You can be sure, we will be following this story as this agreement unfolds. Keep in touch with what is happening in the dynamic and changing world of independent publishing through All Things Fulfilling. This blog site is dedicated to those who have independent thoughts, words and views, that will truly change the world of publishing.

This photograph is the signing of the e-book agreement between Colorado Independent Publishers Association President, Nancy Mills and Director of Douglas County Library System, Jamie LaRue.

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Taking it All In

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Change is in all things sweet!” ~ Aristotle 

We are going to take a break from routine this Friday. I will be finding fulfillment  in Denver by attending the largest meet-up group in the country “Creative Connections” – a group of over 1,000 members strong! It is always a great day when communities of like-minded people can converse and network about things they have in common. 

On Saturday, I will be attending an historic event that will add a whole new dimension to the relationship between libraries and independent publishers. Jamie LaRue, Director of the Douglas County Library system in Colorado, will be signing an agreement that has been long awaited. The agreement will allow the libraries to acquire and lend e-books published by CIPA members www.cipacatalog.com without limitation, how is that? I will be listening and watching with rapt attention. It will be a day of celebration for those who have worked so creatively and diligently, together, to make this happen!  

More about Jaime LaRue – in 2007 he won the Julie J. Boucher Award for Intellectual Freedom. He is also the author of The New Inquisition: Understanding and Managing Intellectual Freedom Challenges. 

I look forward to sharing the news of the weekend with you on Monday. I believe this weekend will be the start of something really valuable for both libraries and independent publishers here in Colorado, and in time, everywhere! 

I’ll have a sip of champagne and piece of cake on behalf of all you independent publishers out there!

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IPPY Indicates Independent, Indeed!

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 “To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe.” ~ Anatole France”

 

We’ve celebrated! We’ve honored! We have indicated our support for independent book publishers all week long. Today, it is time to wrap up our blogging blast about 2011 IPPY Winners. It was impossible to mention the all the award-winning authors and independent publishers, but each one deserves kudos for the outstanding contribution they have made to the independent publishing world.  

Miscellaneous award categories sometimes get overlooked. We will recognize a few more titles, but we urge all readers to go directly to the IPPY Award website, http://bit.ly/llL02x. Check out the categories and read the full list of gold, silver and bronze award winners. 

  • Animals and Pets: Just One more Day: A Dog Lover’s Guide to Saying Good-bye (Enchanted Forest Press)
  • Classical Studies/Philosophy: Fate, Time and Language: An Essay on Free Will (ColumbiaUniversity Press)
  • Coffee Table Books: Arena Legacy: The Heritage of American Rodeo (University of Oklahoma Press)
  • Cook Books: The Turkish Cookbook: Regional Recipes and Stories (Interlink Books). 

The 2011 IPPY Award judges had a big job in selecting the best books. The field of 3907 submissions came from 45 U.S. States, 7 Canadian Provinces and 7 countries overseas. 

The 346 medal-winning books were chosen for creativity in publishing, originality and quality of content. They hit the mark when it came to communicating independent thoughts, words and ideas! 

We look forward to next year’s contest. Writers…get ready, set and go!

Excellence in Independent Publishing

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Art is not a thing; it is a way”.  ~Elbert Hubbard 

What inspires me to no end about independent publishers is the way in which they convey through books, films and music their vision about what the world needs now. After all, the world is changing! 

Yesterday, we featured two authors who will receive 2011 IPPY awards (Independent book publishing awards) on May 23rd inNew York City. These are just two of many non-traditional publishers that are being recognized with an IPPY award for their excellence in publishing. 

For the next few days, we will feature a few more IPPY award winners.  I have chosen a few titles that I feel might be of particular interest to our readers. 

Fine Art Category: Picasso Looks at Degas (Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute) http://www.clarkart.edu/

Performing Arts: The 101 Greatest Song & Dance Movies (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers). 

Photography: Stieglitz, Steichen & Strand: Masterworks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MetropolitanMuseum of Art & Yale Press) 

Architecture: Ecological Urbanism, by Mohsen Mostafavi with Gareth Doherty (Lars Muller Publishers). 

 Tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling, we will feature IPPY award winners in the categories of religious fiction, visionary fiction, children’s picture books and juvenile/teen/young adult. 

The full list of 2011 IPPY award winners is lengthy and contains more than 80 categories with gold, silver and bronze medalists in each category. To see the entire list, please visit http://bit.ly/llL02x.

 Come on back into our world tomorrow for more independent words, thoughts and views!

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Hip, Hip Hooray! An IPPY!

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“If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters.” ~ Colin Powell 

It’s shout out loud day! We are sending our congratulations to our client, Mike Campbell of Iffenwen Publishing for winning an IPPY Award in the Aging/Death and Dying category for his book When Mom and Dad Need Help. For more information on this book, please visit http://bit.ly/9CxyII or http://bit.ly/iSzqLz. Mike’s publication was also finalist in the Foreword Reviews’ Book of the Year Awards in the Family and Relationship Category. Great job, Mike! 

A few months ago, we also featured on this blog site another 2011 IPPY award-winning author, Paul Wainwright and his photographic book A Space for Faith. If you did not get a chance to read about Paul’s book, please visit two blogs entitled All For the People http://bit.ly/fbMoWc and the blog entitled All for Tourism http://bit.ly/fCuZV0.  

What is an IPPY Award? The IPPY Awards are open to independent authors and publishers worldwide. The awards are given to independently owned and operated presses that sell to the North American market. University Presses or publishing  presses operated by foundations, publishing less than 50 titles per year are also included.

Books in many, many genres and categories are awarded “the IPPY” for excellence in independent publishing. Tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling, we will be featuring more 2011 award-winning IPPY book titles that, I think, viewers of this website will find of particular interest. Come on back!

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New Matrimonial Movie on Film Friday

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In the opinion of the world, marriage ends all, as it does in a comedy.  The truth is precisely the opposite:  it begins all. “         ~Anne Sophie Swetchine

Magazine publishers are determined not to let us forget about the wedding of the Century between the Brits, William and Kate. “Collector’s Issues” of magazines featuring the Royal Wedding now line the racks of drugstores, grocery stores and news stands everywhere. 

Being released in just in time for the busiest month of the year for weddings, is the latest movie about marriage called “Bridesmaids.” It is opening in theatres today! From the sound of it, June brides may want to take time from putting the finishing touches on their plans for the big day, to go see it. It may put what seems like abnormal strain and stresses of planning and carrying off a wedding, into prospective. To watch a trailer of “Bridesmaids” or to listen to film critic Richard Roeper’s review of this new cinema release, please visit http://bit.ly/kJaobE

Matrimony is a very serious commitment, yet hilarious and unexpected circumstances do sometimes occur even though every minute by minute detail has been organized and planned. Wedding day bloopers and blunders are the basis of many funny film parodies about this day of celebration. 

On this Film Friday, let’s mention a few other films about marriage that are popular picks:

      • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
      • Princess Bride
      • My Big Fat Greek Wedding
      • Father of the Bride (Spencer Tracy)
      • Father of the Bride (Steve Martin)
      • The Bride of Frankenstein
      • The Wedding Planner 

      Have a fun weekend! Put your feet up and watch a movie about what is a very fulfilling “institution”, as long as the relationship turns out to be right!

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She Writes Steamboat

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“We can begin by doing small things at the local level… like looking out for our neighbors. That is how change takes place …from many local actions occurring simultaneously.” ~  Grace Lee Boggs 

One of the very best ways to build business is through networking – building communities of like-minded people! This applies to building independent publishing businesses, too. Self-publishing authors, micro-presses and small presses, do not have some of the benefits and the marketing advantages of traditional publishing conglomerates at their dispose. Therefore, it is important to join independent publishing trade associations and writers guilds. Cooperative efforts can be very effective in supporting the non-traditional publisher.

What self-publishing authors, micro-presses and small presses do have, to their advantage, is the flexibility of doing business any way they see fit. Many decide to independently publish for this very reason.  Publishers who go the independent route are fulfilling a need by providing unique publications that readers are looking for. Non-traditional publishers often opt for tactics of selling and marketing their books that traditional publishers may reject. 

There is a new networking group called She Writes www.shewrites.com  being established inSteamboat Springs, Colorado. This meet-up group’s goal is to heighten awareness of independent publishing projects that creatives in Steamboat Springs and the surrounding Routt County are engaged in and to support those efforts. Anyone who is starting or is in the process of independently publishing a book, film, music or other media can attend. 

She Writes Steamboat’s first objective is to establish a time and a regular place to meet and to connect with those in the community who would like to collaborate and network with other independent-minded publishing folks. In the coming weeks, more information will be available on our first gathering. Keep your eyes open to future blog posts on All Things Fulfilling about the She Writes Steamboat Meet-up group. Excitement is in the air!

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The Art of Mastery

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The problem is that we humans are compelled to understand things and use words in an attempt to do so. All of those words cloud an experience that is seen and felt on an individual basis” ~ Unknown

What is mastery? “Possession of consummate skill and full command of a subject of study.” Mastery comes by way of many forms and subjects. Just when we think we know it all, we often find, there is always more to learn! Education is a life long process. Such is the art of living. 

There is an event in September that artists around the globe have looked forward to for the past three years. It is a coming together of some of the most prominent representational artists of the 20th and 21st century, to share their knowledge and expertise with others. The event, this year, will be held in Monterey, California at the Portola Hotel and Spa. It is the Weekend with the Masters, http://bit.ly/iaoxhp scheduled for September 7th to September 10th

Richard Schmid www.westwindfineart.com whom many celebrate as the most masterful representational painter of our time, is scheduled to be the Keynote Speaker. This event has gained international recognition for drawing other top artists to lead discussions, give painting demonstrations and workshops about the revival of representational painting. It is no wonder, just a few notables that will be educating and sharing their expertise in representational art are: 

To view the full list of participating master artists, please visit, http://bit.ly/iaoxhp. Each artist is extraordinarily gifted and is so generous in sharing their knowledge, with others, in this weekend event. 

For more information on the outstanding accommodations at the Portola Hotel and Spa, please visit http://bit.ly/klpIlz. The facility is Monterey’s first and only LEED Hotel. It’s water-front views provide artistic inspiration as well as a wealth of other activities available to conference attendees. 

If the hospitality is as masterful as the artists attending the event, it will be no doubt, be a fulfilling weekend to remember!

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Sugar Plums in May? What is Up with that?

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Keep steadily before you the fact that all true success depends at last upon yourself.”  ~Theodore T Hunger 

Ahh…youth….creativity….promise….energy! I love it. 

The other day I met with a young, emerging artist who wanted some guidance and coaching on this thing called “e-marketing.” Many would say he has already emerged as a talent. But, he is headed in a different direction now. Our meeting was a time to explore ideas, possibilities, objectives and different approaches for marketing his art. His goal is to become more visible and take his photography to a new level. 

We began with a little basic education. As we got further into the conversation and tossed around some ideas, he began to squirm in his chair. His movements became more animated and I could tell he had visions of “sugarplums dancing in his head!” At one point in the conversation, he grabbed his face and said “ There’s a lot to think about!” 

This young emerging artist will not fall by the wayside as wasted talent, I am quite sure of that.  He has deep passion for his art. He also knows much already about setting his sites and going for the gold!

In his teenage years, he became notable in ski magazines for his freestyle tricks and had a successful competitive career. He will parlay his knowledge of what it takes to be a stand out, into his art of photography. 

He knows  that becoming successful in any new field takes:

  • Persistence
  • Energy
  • Setting goals and reaching for them http://bit.ly/bXRnOb.
  • Coaching
  • Vision and dreams 

There is great promise in this young man’s artistic talent. He is smart, he is creative! He is seeking out the tools he needs to market himself and his art through the internet. He is going at this with heads UP!  We look forward to sharing more information on this emerging  artist. But first, this young man understands he has some work to do. Stay tuned, I think he is a star in the making!

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Words and Images Haunt

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It is not a bad thing that children should occasionally, and politely, put parents in their place.”  ~Colette, My Mother’s House, 1922 

Yesterday I met with a client at the Bud Werner Library in Steamboat Springs, CO. www.steamboatlibrary.org .  As I sat in the library café waiting for my client to arrive, I began to leaf through Book Page. There was an article in it on how to raise readers. As I browsed the article, I began to laugh out loud!  One of the tips was some thing like  “when reading a book to a child, don’t necessarily keep to the script. Feel free to use editorial control.” 

How, may I ask, “Can a parent get away with that?” I never could! I was caught in the act, every time!  My son would scold me, as if I was raiding the refrigerator, taking out all the good stuff, in the middle of the night. 

“No, Mom, that is not right! That is not how the story goes!” he would say. Even as a little toddler, he could sense every time I strayed from the storyline, skipped a page or two, or ad-libbed just a wee bit. He knew when my words did not exactly match the pictures. Could this be the reason he has become a film editor and filmmaker? Now he is fulfilling his need for perfection – making sure the story told in pictures, matches the script! 

So, what is the point of the blog? One of the very best ways to raise a reader is to be a reader. But, caution, parents – even when you think your kids aren’t watching they are. Take heed, children notice and remember parent’s independent words and deeds as well as lessons learned from books. 

To read the full article on How to Raise a Reader, stop by your local library. Pick up a complimentary May issue of Book Page.  Most libraries have the publication available for their patrons or go on-line to www.bookpage.com.

 By the way, Happy Mother’s Day to Moms everywhere!

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