Category Archives: Libraries

In the Pilot Seat

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“If you do not look at things on a large scale, it will be difficult to master strategy.”         ~ Miyamoto Murshashi
 
 People are choosing to independently publish books, films and music because they have more control in all facets of publishing process. http://bit.ly/94IUo4.  It is fulfilling when you are in command of the vehicle that you are steering. The vehicle is your media, powered by independent words, images and audio sounds.

As pilot of your publishing project, your responsibility lies in the take-off (pre-publication planning), the trip from destination to destination (producing the publication from start to finish) and the safe landing (getting the finished publication into the hands of the consumer). 

As an independent publisher, it is important to remember that each stage of the journey from take-off to landing is integral to the end result. Keeping the momentum going is a challenge that all independent publishers face. A co-pilot for different legs of the journey is helpful when your energy lags, for when you begin to loose steam or enter into unknown territory. 

There is no need to sojourn alone. Freelance vendors in every part of the publishing process can provide you with services to help you throughout the trip – from putting a solid, well rounded marketing plan into place, to selling your book on the internet and through other channels, to assisting you with reaching communities of people who are interested in knowing about the publishing project that you have been piloting.

Step into the pilot’s seat with confidence in knowing that in this day and age of publishing, there is plenty of help available for those who decide to take a non-traditional route.

 This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

How to Cook a Good Book

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“March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns or the sharp stones on life’s path.” ~ Kahlil Gibran 

It is mid-March and the other day we adjusted our clocks ahead giving us more daylight. Along with spring comes an urge to begin to eat a little differently. Our diet of satisfying  hearty stews, soups and chili is gradually replaced with lighter fare. The clothing we wear has less bulk, too. Before I transition my diet from winter to spring, I am going to offer one last fulfilling, robust recipe that many independent publishers have been working on perfecting all winter long – “How to Cook a Good Book.” 

Step 1 –

Test the water first – make sure you have a hot and a unique idea.

Begin to stew on a pre-publication marketing plan.

Fill the pot with energy, insight, creativity and stick-to-itiveness.

  • Include the necessary base ingredients– a central theme, strong character development, story line that supports the theme, engaging plot, and cohesive writing.
  • Incorporate varied vocabulary with shades of meaning to support the base.
  • Make adjustments to the recipe – edit ingredients that provide no flavor.
  • Add more seasoning, if needed, to make a more fulfilling concoction.
  • Let it cook and stir, cook and stir some more.
  • Send your creation off to some taste testers.
  • Satisfied that the  ingredients are complete?
  • Add a “read hot” title and packaging to match. 

Step 2–

  • Consider branding the idea.
  • Place it for sale on-line and in other pre-determined markets.  
  • Ramp up all marketing efforts.
  • Promote yourself as the chef.
  • Advertise and promote the finished product.
  • Saturate the market.
  • Share “dribs and drabs” of the finished product with others.
  • If you need help with smokin’  “soup d’jour” e-marketing tactics – seek help!  

Way to go! You have cooked your book and now you can add “published author” to your Curriculum Vitae. What other recipes can you follow to make your life more fulfilling?

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Yankee Writers Gathering!

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“If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”~  Thomas Edison

 New Englanders are hearty souls! I can attest to that after having lived in the State of Vermont for 35 years!  On March 25th and March 26th there will be a gathering of New England Writers focused on how to “Survive and Thrive” as independent publishers. The New England Publishing Conference will be held at Chapel Hill-Chauncey Hall School in Waltham, Massachusetts. 

Veteran publishers, industry experts and vendors to the independent publishing industry will be on hand fulfilling the need for knowledge for those who are starting out in book publishing. Book promotion and selling through e-marketing and other channels such as libraries, book fairs, bookstores and to non-profit organizations will be topics of discussion, too. 

Cevin Bryerman from Publishers Weekly Magazine www.publishersweekly.com will address the crowd. Don’t miss out on that! Cevin always has a lot of interesting things to share about the industry. There will be workshops focusing on e-books, blog writing, e-marketing, and other information on the business of publishing both domestically and globally. Another important speaker, Tim Brookes from Champlain College www.champlain.edu will be speaking about Publishing in the 21st Century – The Campus Revolution. The keynote speech will be given by publisher David R. Godine www.godine.com. 

For more information on this important educational conference, please visit www.ipne.org. For questions, e-mail talktous@ipne.org. There are special conference lodging rates at the Holiday Inn Express in Waltham, MA. Make your reservation now, so you can take advantage of this block of rooms set aside for the IPNE Publishing Conference. 

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Taking up Residence in a Library

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“The library is a temple of learning, and learning has liberated more people than all the wars in history.” ~ Carl T. Rowan 

I am going to camp out at the Bud Werner Memorial Library this week. It will be a jammed-packed week and all the events on my schedule will be held….you guessed it, at the library! The Bud Werner Library www.steamboatlibrary.org, an almost brand-new facility, has become the epicenter of activity in town, fulfilling a need for a beautiful and light-filled community meeting place. It is a facility that both parents and kids love to visit. Steamboat Springs, Colorado is known as a town that places great emphasis on providing great resources and knowledge to the community through the local library. It is a hub of activity for locals and tourists after they leave the ski slopes, ice rink, ski jumping facilities and hot springs pool. Visiting the library is a fun place to spend some quiet time.

So, what’s up at the Bud Werner Library this week?

  • As a member of a service organization, www.kiwanisinternational.org, I received an invitation to meet a top public official for the State of Colorado, as he makes a brief swing through town. Myself and many of my fellow Kiwanis International members www.kiwanisinternational.org  will be in attendance along with members of other service organizations that have a presence in this town.
  • On Thursday, March 10 between 6:30pm to 7:30 pm, a presentation on Independent Publishing and E-Marketing will be offered. This event is sponsored by Cornerstone Fulfillment Service, LLC www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. The event is free and open to anyone interested in learning more about finding personal fulfillment, career advancement and increased visibility as an author and business-person through independent publishing. I look forward to sharing information about the power of  internet marketing and the fascinating and growing industry of non-traditional publishing.
  • On Friday, March 11 at 6:30 pm two award-winning short-documentary films, Getting to Know Us and Soul Mates will be shown at the Bud Werner Library. This event will be sponsored by the Macedonian Mission in remembrance of the Macedonian WWII Holocaust. http://bit.ly/fw1tCJ. It is a fundraising event ($10 suggested donation) for the purpose of sending school supplies to Macedonia. I am looking forward to this event, as a member of the non-profit’s Board. 

The Bud Werner Library is not faced with the dilemma of trying to get people in the doors. There is always something worthwhile happening at the library. It is difficult to find a good reason to stay away!

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Connecting with your Creativity

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“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” ~ Edward deBono 

Abraham Maslow, founder of humanistic psychology said that “creativity is a characteristic given to all human beings at birth.” How many of us tap into our innate gift of creativity as we go about our daily life?  For those who work in careers involving the Arts, using one’s own God-given creativity is naturally incorporated into every day life. For others, it takes consciously finding ways to live life inspired. All of us have a different interpretation of what living an inspired life means. 

In essence, Maslow’s theory says that once our psychological needs for safety, love and affection and esteem are satisfied, then we as human beings are freed to travel down the path of toward self-actualization. We can begin fulfilling our need to create and do what it is we were born to do, if our basic needs have been met. For more information on the Maslow theory, please visit http://bit.ly/X2iQX. 

If you are a person whose career does not involve the Arts, March is Crafting Month, and it is the perfect time to explore new ways of incorporating more creativity into your life for personal fulfillment. Craft a unique and creative piece of Art through the written word. Writing poetry, essays, old-fashioned love letters, short stories, haiku or full length books will get your imagination and your brain working in innovative ways. There is no cost to that and anyone in this age of independent publishing can be a published author!  Join a local writing group, to enjoy the camaraderie of others whose spirits also soar when putting pen to paper. 

Let March be the month to rebuild your life creatively.Find  a new hobby and live a life inspired. It will provide you with hours of entertainment and personal satisfaction, too.

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Writers, Rev Your Engines!

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“The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes. “ ~André Gide 

If you have a spark of an idea for a book and wish to rev up your knowledge on how to go about independently publishing, the Colorado Independent Publishers Association College is the place to be.  For those who are entrenched in the independent publishing scene, everyone knows what the arrival of March means. It means the Colorado Independent Publishers Association College is coming up. The hosts of the “College” The Colorado Independent Publishers Association http://bit.ly/hFVW1A  is one of the largest and most active independent publishing trade associations in the United States. 

This year, CIPA’s Publishing “College” is scheduled for March 18th and 19th and CIPA does a great job of fulfilling the need for educational opportunity for beginning and experienced independent publishers. They even have a program called YAL – Young Authors League, designed to get kids inspired to write and become published at a young age. 

Exhibitors will be present at the March 19 publishing college event. Consultants on internet selling (e-commerce) and internet marketing (e-marketing) will be on hand. Other providers such as book printers, editors, cover designers, graphic designers and video book trailer specialists will be available at the CIPA College to answer questions about their products and services. There are on-going educational seminars throughout the weekend. It is a great time to network with other independent publishers to learn how they are publishing as a means for personal fulfillment and for sharing ideas, wisdom, knowledge and expertise with others.

 Check out http://bit.ly/hFVW1A for full details of the event or go to the Colorado Independent Publishers Association Facebook page http://on.fb.me/hZjR1T for additional information.

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Properly Honored, at Last

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All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.                       ~ Winston Churchill

On Monday at our weekly Kiwanis meeting, we saw a touching DVD of World War II Veterans taking a flight of a lifetime to Washington, DC. The Honor Flight is a program that transports veterans of the Second World War to see the memorial that was built in their honor. For many of these vets, the trip is not an easy one due their age and failing health, but for many veterans it fulfills a dream of a lifetime to see the capital of the country they so bravely fought for many, many years ago. 

The World War II Memorial was completed in 2004. It was built on the National Mall in Washington, DC and it consists of 56 pillars and a pair of arches which surround a beautiful reflecting pool and fountain. During WWII, the gold star was the symbol of family sacrifice, thus a field of 4,000 gold stars incorporated into the Memorial commemorate the more than 400,000 Americans who gave their lives in their fight for freedom. 

Almost 400 veterans from this area, the Western Slope of Colorado, have made a flight with their compatriots to see the World War II Memorial built to honor their military service. A better way to honor the vets and give them one “last hurrah” would be difficult to find. Family members, veterans of other wars and community volunteers accompany these aging vets to make the help make trip as easy as they possibly can. Many of the WWII vets have ambulatory and other health issues, so charter flights helps make the trip a little less difficult. Their bodies may be failing them, but their strong spirits carry them through and it is truly a trip well worth making, each one of them would tell you, I am sure. 

Almost every State in the Union has honor flights several times a year. If you would like more information on donating to this wonderful cause, please visit www.honorflight.org.  We are hoping as a club, Kiwanis International of Steamboat Springs, Colorado http://on.fb.me/epjzSf  will be able to provide support for this wonderful program. If you wish to accompany a flight as a volunteer or would like to provide financial support to the West Slope Honor Flight, please visit http://www.westernslopehonorflight.com/. 

Thank you to all World War II veterans ( and all veterans of the military) for  the sacrifices that you have made for your countrymen so that we may enjoy the freedoms that we do today.

Face the Book TV

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 “All television is educational television.  The question is:  what is it teaching?”  ~Nicholas Johnson

 The Independent Publishers of New England has a cable access TV show that is fulfilling the need for promoting regional independent publishers.  Face the Book, is similar to the concept of C-Span’s Book TV, only on a smaller level. It reaches 15,000 households through Verizon, RCN and Comcast public access TV cable channels. 

The aim of this TV show, broadcast out of Arlington, Massachusetts through Arlington Community Media, Inc. is “to bring the best of independent publishing to New England readers, authors and to publishers through their community media stations.” 

Right now, Face the Book is looking for children’s book authors who would like to appear as a panelist on the show to promote their independent publications. This is an excellent opportunity if you are a member of IPNE www.ipne.org and you have independently published a children’s book that you would like the public to learn about! 

For more information on this cable access TV show, Face the Book, please visit http://on.fb.me/es8nlr or visit the Independent Publishers of New England webpage by going to http://bit.ly/f3Pl4S.  

Being able to appear in front of 15,000 households on Face the Book TV is only one benefit to joining this non-profit trade association dedicated to educating the independent publisher. For more information on IPNE, please visit www.ipne.org.

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A Victory for All

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“In reading the lives of great men…self discipline with all of them came first.” ~ Harry S. Truman

You’ve heard it from me before. Independent publishers, it is not all about the manuscript. The most successful independent publishers have vision and a solid marketing plan for their books, prior to even beginning the writing process.

I love hearing stories of independent publishing success and the other day I got word of some very exciting news about author and past president of the Colorado Independent Publishers Association, Mara Purl. Her romantic women’s fiction, the Milford-Haven Novels, have been picked up by a New York Publisher, with a plan that Mara has dreamed about. Her novels will be re-launched by Bellekeep Books, and will reach an even larger audience than before. Mid Point Trade, a major national distributor, is also involved in the deal.

Mara, whose curriculum vitae includes author, screenplay writer, actress on Days of Our Lives and script writer for The Guiding Light has always had great vision for her professional life and for her written work. She parlayed her vision for her serial novels into great success in the U.K. Her stories of the fictitious, small town, Milford-Haven, was the first American radio drama ever licensed by the BBC. It has reached an audience of 4.5 million listeners! For more information on Mara and her Milford-Haven novels, please visit www.marapurl.com and her blogsite http://bit.ly/ekghXc.

I look forward to seeing the unfolding of this story. Mara’s first novel will be re-launched in August 2011, and another publication is scheduled to hit the market every six months. There will be no down time for Mara. That is for sure!

When I hear stories like this, it is not victory for one.  It is a victory for all who have decided to take the non-traditional route to publishing and have found success.

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Breaking down Assumptions

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“All I want is for people to listen to it with unbiased ears, and decide for themselves.”  ~ Melanie Chisholm 

Isn’t it true that we form assumptions about places we have never been before by what we hear, see and read in the media and by our preconceived notions? Sometimes the things we think of other cultures, and of people we have never met before, are way off base. 

The other day my husband arrived back from his travels to Turkey and handed me two gifts. I didn’t immediately rip into them, because I was busy studying the packaging!  Finally he said “what is your big interest in the outside of the package?”  I said” I think of Turkey as a country much less modernized and therefore, not up to American standards in their merchandising.” I was surprised to see gifts that were beautifully boxed, wrapped and bedecked with ribbon that could rival even the fanciest gift wrap here in the United States. I had made an assumption of a country based on my own notions. 

There is a Colorado non-profit organization 50l(3)C  here in the United States, whose mission is to break down the assumptions that we Americans place on cultures and countries that are in far off reaches of the world. Their goal is to bring a diversity of art and culture to this side of the world. The Macedonian Mission will be presenting two films, Getting to Know Us and Soul Mates on March 11th in Steamboat Springs, CO at the Bud Werner Library. www.steamboatlibrary.org. This is a fundraising event. The non-profit organization has hopes of once again fulfilling the dreams of an American artist or two with the opportunity to travel to Macedonia to exhibit or perform in a city known for its ancient civilization. It will be a chance of a lifetime. 

For more information on the Macedonian Mission and the artists that have already had the opportunity to exchange art and culture, made possible through their fundraising efforts, please visit http://bit.ly/dRRQMk.

Hope to see you at the event on March 11th. I have no doubt we will come away from the films knowing more about the country of Macedonia and it’s people.

 

 Ohrid Summer Festival, Ohrid, Macedonia.

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