Archive for January, 2008
Last Chance to Enter: Wordclay Poetry Contest Deadline Is Fast Approaching
Haven’t you been putting your submission off long enough. And then there were all those time you “meant” to submit. Well, procrastinators, the time is near – that special time for you to groggily crawl out of your procrasto caves and explode onto the scene in a spectacular whirlwind of productiveness.
In case you’re forgetful as well as a practitioner of the art of procrastination, here’s your cue: (more…)
8 comments January 31, 2008
The Curse and Blessing of Reading: How to Manage Your Reading, Writing and Downtime without an Embolism
This past weekend, I must have said, “Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to read that book, but who has the time?” on a hundred separate occasions, before I broke down, stepped outside for a cigarette and asked myself, “What’s the point?”
Personally, I subscribe to roughly 30 literary magazines (such as The Missouri Review, Ploughshares and Denver Quarterly) and I have a fondness for the Best American Anthologies (my favorite being The Best American Mystery Stories), not to mention the novels by my favorite authors, all piling up on my nightstand, mounting faster than I can read. It’s a great deal of reading to say the least, which only becomes a greater deal with each passing day I simply can’t spare the time.
What with our day jobs, friends, families, brunches, movies, our new albums by our favorite bands and our beloved DVR’d television shows, DIY publishing, just to name a few, no wonder we can’t perfect our literary minds. Time for reading is in short supply, made shorter by the massive amount of good books published every second.
Don’t even get me started on writers! (more…)
1 comment January 29, 2008
The broken text of Poetry when forced into Margins of small books
It’s probably instinctual, the way I feel about formatting text. I love taking the raw words and applying my choice (or the author’s) of formatting to the paragraphs of text, the beginnings of each chapter – even the page numbers and running heads.
But I cringe nearly every time I’m called upon to format a book of poetry.
Inevitably, when writing poetry, most people open a fresh Word document and start typing. In the thralls of creative inspiration, they forget to consider the size of book in which they’ll eventually choose to publish their work. This usually means lines that stretch across the default page size in Microsoft Word will more than likely break when put into the margins for a 5×8 or 6×9 book, shoving a portion of a single line of poetry to the next line on the page, throwing off the original formatting of the poet’s work.
6 comments January 24, 2008
Like Politics, Selling Books Starts with a Grassroots Campaign
One of the benefits of being the Customer Service Manager for a publishing company is getting the opportunity to speak with authors from all walks of life, about all stages of the publishing process.
A question that frequently comes up in conversation is “how do I sell more books?” While I am the first to admit that I am not at all a marketing guru, I have been able to collect information about what works and what doesn’t work from hundreds of authors over the last four years. Perhaps some of this information can help you.
We all know that the ultimate goal is to find your book on the shelves of all Borders or Barnes & Noble stores across the world or to become an elite member of Oprah’s Book Club. The reality, however, is before that could ever possibly happen, you have to start small.
I recently read an interesting article in Publishers Weekly about independent bookstores across the country. In my own home state of Indiana, more than 65 percent of bookstores are independents. 65 percent! I’m not sure if that’s as surprising to you as it was to me, but I think this illustrates a very interesting point: While it’s very tempting to get your first book order, load them in the car, and immediately head to the nearest Borders store to find the manager, I’ve heard from many authors that it’s not the most effective approach.
Think about it: by ignoring the independent bookstores, you’re limiting yourself to only 35 percent of the market (at least in Indiana). (more…)
3 comments January 22, 2008
Before They Were Oprah’s Books, Someone Else Loved Them
There are thousands of book clubs spread across the globe – in schools, neighborhoods and among friends. They all have their highpoints and are inspiring, I’m sure, but there’s one club that is the king of them all. Anyone can join, but one of the most powerful and influential women in America picks the next read.
That’s right, Oprah’s Book Club.
When Oprah moves her hand across books aligned on a shelf, letting her fingers glide over the speed bumps of each crisp, glossy spine, and then, finally stops on the book that will be “the one,” does a light shine down from the heavens? Do angels sing?
Maybe. I’ve unfortunately never witnessed this event.
But, one thing’s for sure. The author of that book probably won’t stop smiling for the next month or two, knowing that their book is about to shoot straight to the top of the bestseller’s list. (more…)
Add comment January 17, 2008
Failures to Launch: The Untold Wordclay Publishing Story: Behind the Scenes with Angie and Justin, the Blogging Administrators
Look how far we’ve come – Wordclay vidoes that (we hope) make you laugh!
But all that is easier said now, as the smoke clears and the dust settles and Wordclay.com soars into cyberspace.
More than a year back, when Wordclay was little more than a budding idea in our heads, we understood the colossal task of designing a comprehensive DIY self-publishing company and encoding a free online publishing wizard wouldn’t be an easy one. Of course we knew there would be a number of hiccups at the beginning. And sure enough, not a day after we rolled out the prototype wizard, did the emails start flying into (and filling!) our inboxes, begging the same questions.
Only this morning, the Wordclay bloggers gathered around a table, brunching as usual, waxing over coffee and crepes, and reflected on the last year spent building a user-friendly DIY publishing Web site. (more…)
Add comment January 16, 2008
Wordclay Launch 1.0: T Minus Three, Two, One, and Liftoff: The Future of Self-Publishing and Beyond
We have liftoff indeed!
Wordclay is declaring its beta phase a success and has officially launched version 1.0 this morning. Now we’re all pretty excited here at mission control: I’m deep in a space-blog; Angie’s batting her fists; Jenn’s jumping in her seat; and Kelli’s dancing something that resembles a jig. We’re walking on our own personal moon, and we’re slightly lightheaded with the feeling of accomplishment if you haven’t noticed.
Fortunately, today’s operation has run with relative smoothness. Between the mayhem of last minute fixes and the sheer amount of new users we’re working diligently to support, we’ve remained relatively calm and steady. Of course we’ve endured our fair share of snafus in the past few weeks, but we’ve managed to avert the most disastrous of the crises thus far – knock on wood. But it’s only morning, the day is still young after all, and we haven’t run out of coffee yet.
The official launch has been a long time coming. Our staff has burned a significant amount midnight oil, and although I wouldn’t exactly say we’ve bled, the months spent sweating over the publishing wizard and the Wordclay Web site have definitely paid off.
Free, easy, online DIY publishing: Mission Accomplished!
4 comments January 15, 2008
Gone to the Dogs
Sure, when it comes to pets I may have broken the golden “two’s company, three’s a crowd” rule, but I blame my favorite book of all time, Where the Red Fern Grows. It’s because of that book that I love dogs.
I never actually had one of my own when I was a kid (despite constant begging and pleading), so I guess it’s no surprise that when I graduated from Miami (OH) in 2004, took a position as an Account Manager at AuthorHouse, and moved into my own place in Bloomington, my first order of “grown-up” business was to find myself a dog.
One Saturday afternoon, I went to PetSmart, where the local animal shelter was showing some dogs that were up for adoption. I walked past the first few cages, somewhat disappointed in the “selection” and was about to head home, when the brownest, saddest little puppy dog stare caught my eyes. It was puppy love at first sight.
Strangely enough, that experience set a precedent for things to come. It seems that each time my role within Author Solutions has changed, I’ve welcomed a new dog into the family. (more…)
Add comment January 15, 2008
Am I a strange loop?
Hi, y’all! My name’s Jenn Handy - another of your Wordclay team members/brunch buddies. As you might be able to tell, I’ve come to Indiana by the way of Texas - I miss San Antonio, but Bloomington’s a great small town and I’m not sure I’d ever be able to go back home, or live in a big city, again.
After graduating from high school in San Antonio, I found my way to Bloomington, Indiana, not really intending to go to school at Indiana University - I mostly came because I wanted my mommy. It’s a long story. I ended up going to IU for about seven years, off and on, making pit stops in Florida and New Hampshire along the way, before finally graduating in Fall of 2000 with a General Studies degree, which I argue is even more useless than Justin’s degrees in English and Philosophy.
My first experiences with the book publishing industry came from working at Independent Bookstores in Florida, New Hampshire and Indiana. (more…)
1 comment January 14, 2008
What’s In a Name?: An Introduction to, Um, What’s-Her-Name
My last name has been Kelly for quite some time. Naturally, I have been called Kelly periodically, not because people were being sporty, like, “Good game tonight, Kelly!” but because they thought that was actually my first name.
Well, it’s not.
And now, I’ve recently wed a wonderful man by the last name of Pheifer. So, I’ve bravely taken on a new last name “Kelly Pheifer.” You can image the confusion this has caused:
Is it first name: Kelly, last name: Pheifer? Is there a hyphen involved? Is Kelly the middle name? Are you sure there’s no hyphen? Too … many … names!
Well, I’m here to start fresh in the Wordclay blog and clear the air of all confusion. My name is Angie. My last name is Kelly Pheifer, but there is no need for formalities here. Angie is just fine.
Now that we’ve been properly introduced, let me tell you how I fit in to the Wordclay community. (more…)
2 comments January 10, 2008
