Subject: E-NEWS: IP Online - April 2005 - In Love with Reading and Writing

From: "Jim Barnes" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:48:31 -0400

Volume 5 - Number 4 - April 2005

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In Love with Reading and Writing

"Poetry reveals to us the loveliness of nature, brings back the freshness of youthful feelings, reviews the relish of simple pleasures, keeps unquenched the enthusiasm which warmed the springtime of our being, refines youthful love, strengthens our interest in human mature, by vivid delineations of its tenderest and softest feelings, and through the brightness of its prophetic visions, helps faith to lay hold on the future life.
"
- William E. Channing (1780-1842)

Spring Greetings,

What does it mean to be well-read? Must Ulysses and Moby-Dick validate your life list, or does reading all 128 of the Star Trek novels count? Does it make sense to follow the recommendations of "experts" who know nothing of your interests and tastes? No, says Steve Leveen, author of The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life. "Living your well-read life is measured not by the number of books read at the end of your life, but by whether you are in book love today, tomorrow, and next week," says Leveen (who is also the co-founder of the Levenger mail order catalog for book-lovers).

It matters not if a book's been blurbed or short-listed or bought my millions. What matters is how much it makes you fall in book love. With the myriad choices available today, it's silly to waste time on a book you're not in love with. There's something out there for everyone -- it just takes time to find it. Success for the independent author and/or publisher is in connecting with these seekers and filling empty niches with books worth falling in love with.

Julie Mars is a writer of such books, and she's written 50 "mini" gift books to pay the bills while writing novels and a newly released memoir about caring for her dying sister and then soul-searching for a "month of Sundays" at 31 different places of worship. It seems books can be therapeutic to both reader and author.

What made our IP columnists fall in love with books and reading? "Books are my favorite things in the whole wide world," says Nina L. Diamond, channeling her eight-year-old self and the discovery of Harriett the Spy at a school book fair. "I really identified with Harriett, and it not only inspired me to read, but also to write and become a journalist." Christina Hamlett was hooked on Nancy Drew. "I'd curl under the covers with my Girl Scout flashlight and keep reading long into the night -- which probably accounts for why I have such bad eyesight as an adult. Anyway, I was torn between wanting to be a girl detective and wanting to write wonderful books. I figured the latter would be less dangerous."

Speaking of bad eyesight, I sure am glad I'm old. We baby-boomers have lived through a cavalcade of reading trends from comic books to i-Pod, but hopefully we're close enough to retirement to avoid the privatization of Social Security. For you youngsters who may have your retirement funds parlayed into the stock market but don't know a bull from a bear, the Ten Speed Press book, Stock Market Knowledge for All Ages, by Susie Vacaro Hardeman is just what you need. To the question, "Why do we have a stock market?" Hardeman answers, "To allow individuals ownership in corporate America and the potential to prosper along with the corporation." Yep, I'm glad I'm old….

New York, New York! BookExpo 2005 displays are filling up, and it's time to prepare for this important annual event. Here's what we're bringing to the Big Apple:

Independent Publisher Book Awards - LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES in the world's largest book awards contest, with 58 categories, $5000 in prizes, and one huge publishing party at the Marriott Marquis. Enter your Award-winning titles today!
Combined Book Exhibit at BookExpo - A special display for authors and publishers looking for a great display value.
Special Sales Seminar - Jerrold Jenkins brings his Special Market Sales secrets to New York during BookExpo.

Here's hoping your springtime is blooming with book love,

Jim Barnes
[email-masked]

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This Month's Features

NEW! Finding the Way to Your Well-Read Life
A conversation with Steve Leveen
by Jim Barnes

NEW! Living the Writing Life — To the Fullest
An Interview with Author Julie Mars
by Jim Barnes

NEW! Taking Stock of the Market — and of Friendship
The Story Behind New Stock Market Book Adds Up to Much More than $$$
By Jim Barnes

Novello Festival Press Brings Writers and Readers Together
Innovative Editors Launch First Library-Funded Publishing House
by Jim Barnes

Back with a BANG
Hard Case Crime imprint revives the pulp mystery novel with true grit and authenticity
by Jim Barnes

Gone Are "Gone With the Wind" Days
The "Slushpile" keeps growing -- what's a starving novelist to do?
by K.J. McWilliams

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This Month's Departments

Industry Update: Latest News, Resources, Successes and Failures in Publishing

Highlighted Titles: Newly Released Titles from Top Independents for Your Reading Pleasure

The Iran Contradictions by James A. Scott
(Aafton Research & Media, Inc)
Texas Justice: The Legacy of Historical Courthouses by Martana
(Red Bandana Publishing)
The Carny Kid: Survival of a Young Thief by Kenneth Kahn
(Pendant Press)
Coffee at Luna's by Chuck Martin
(NFI Research)
Garden Voices by Carolyn Rapp
(Water Dance Press)
Moon Tides, Soul Passages by Maria Kay Simms
(Starcrafts, LLC)
Who's Not Asleep? by Shirley Hillard
(Mamoo House)
Starting Something by Wayne McVicker
(Ravel Media, LLC)
Money Shot by Brian Rouff
(Hardway Press)
Making Right Turns in Your Relationship by Myron Lewis
(Hansyd Publishing)
Room for J: A Family Struggles with Schizophrenia by Daniel S. Hanson
(Beaver's Pond Press)

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INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER BOOK AWARDS 2005
"Recognizing Excellence in Independent Publishing"

The ninth annual "IPPY" Awards, conducted annually to honor the year's best independently published titles, is now accepting entries for books with 2004 copyrights or that were released in 2004.

Last Call for entries!!!!!!

Enter Online or Postmark Your Entries by April 15th!

Click here for entry form and guidelines, including Secure Online Registration.

This Month's Reading Tip

Five Nearly Foolproof Ways to Read More of the Books
that Bring the Most Pleasure
by Steve Leveen

Apply the 50-page rule and know when to fold them. Don't finish books that don't hold your interest by page 50. Fold them shut and move on.

Treat book like wine and taste lots of them. The more you sample and know what books you enjoy the more likely you are to find time to enjoy them.

Don't keep a reading list (surprise!). Do keep a List of Candidates. First identify the many categories of interest in your life, both personal and professional. Then seek out the books that can help you learn and enjoy more about those various interests. Now you're using reading to help fulfill goals that you have. And you'll have a much broader list of candidate books to read as a result.

Get a reading on a book before you commit to reading it. You test-drive a car before you buy it; preview a book before you read it. Peruse the table of contents to see how the subject matter is presented. Read the author's bio to get a sense of who will be speaking to you. Scan the index, if there is one, to get an idea of the topics covered. Skim the introduction, and then the opening paragraphs of each chapter. Once you've kicked the tires, you'll know better whether to continue the drive.

Read with your ears. Audiobooks are one of the best ways to read more books in the same amount of time. Most audiophiles "risten" (an amalgam of read and listen) to at least one book a month. That means you can easily read 12 more books a year.

And one more…

Recognize that if you love to read, you live to read. Reading is as essential to your well-being as food and exercise. Your well-read life is your pathway to a life well lived.

Excerpted from The Little Guide To Your Well-Read Life, by Steve Leveen
"The book that will change the way you read for life."
Levenger Press, ISBN: 1929154178; $17.50 Hardcover

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This Month's Columns

NEW! INKLINGS: Writing Well & Profitably for Books, Film, and Stage
This Month: Stage-Struck: Why Theater Endures
by Christina Hamlett

Much Ado About Publishing
This Month: Paper or Plastic?
By Nina L. Diamond

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This Month's Family Reading Tip

Born to Read: How to Raise a Reader
From the ALA's Association for Library Service to Children

The joy of sharing books is a gift you can give children from the time they are born. Chanting nursery rhymes, singing songs, and reading stories can comfort and entertain even the youngest child. Listening to language lays the ground work for reading.

10 Tips for Raising a Reader:

Begin when your child is born and spend time reading every day.
Sing to your baby.
Repeat nursery rhymes.
Choose books with colorful pictures and simple words—or no words at all.
Read with expression—or just tell the story in your own words.
Reread your child's favorite books over and over again
Visit the library. Ask about storytimes. Borrow books to share with your baby at home.
Use the technique of dialogic reading to help a child stay actively involved with a story and develop reading comprehension. Instead of reading the story straight through, ask the child open-ended questions about the story: "Why do you think Goldilocks ate Baby Bear's porridge?" "What do you think will happen next?"
Help your child develop phonemic awareness—the understanding that words are made up of smaller sounds—by playing games with the sounds of words and repeating rhymes.
Be an example to your children; let them see you read books too.

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Acquiring Your Book Printing Quotes
Just Got Easier!

Forget the endless hours of researching, calling, filling out online forms and the never-ending follow-up calls. Take the hassle out of gathering your book printing quotes with one simple and easy online destination, Printellectual.com. Printellectual is the book printing quote collective. Smart.

Printellectual is designed to make your life trouble-free. We've done the research for you, cutting hours of desk time by providing a unique one-stop network of premium book printers who provide independent authors and publishers with fast and detailed quotes for any type of book printing project. It's simple to use with no games, hassles, or hidden fees allowing you to compare quotes and save big money! To learn more about our services visit, Printellectual.com. There is simply no better way to save time and money on book printing…period.

Plus, as an added incentive, you can return to the Printellectual site once your book printing job is complete to claim your free benefits package filled with awesome publishing freebies and discounts.

Stop the headaches, lose the hassles and let Printellectual make effective use of your time with one stop book printing shopping.

Printellectual currently offers offset and print on demand printers including Thomson-Shore, Data Reproductions, Color House Graphics, Fidlar Doubleday, Inc., Total Printing Solutions, Inc. and ColorCentric Corp. among others.

Enrollment in the program is free and open to anyone looking to save money on any book printing projects. Never before has there been a more complete method for saving you time and money to get your book printed so easily.

If you are interested in book printing made easy, please visit us online at www.Printellectual.com, call us with your questions at 1-800-706-4636

Resources

Key Seminars of Interest

Mark Victor Hansen's Mega Book Marketing University
http://www.megabookmarketing.com/

April 15, 16 and 17, 2005 Los Angeles, CA
MEGA Book Marketing University is an annual 3-day event designed for any author, publicist or publisher who wants to write, publish and sell more books. The lessons you'll learn during this information-packed three-day event will work equally well for undiscovered talents … to experienced authors with one or more books under their belts.

Secrets of Securing Large Quantity Book Sales - 2005
http://www.specialmarketbooksales.com/seminars

June 2nd, 2005 - New York, NY
"Start Spreadin' the News"
Jerrold Jenkins welcomes you to New York City and BookExpo America by showing you how to take your book into the lucrative world of special markets and quantity book sales today. This successful seminar series continues its strong tradition — This time it's Broadway and Times Square.

For Book Lovers

Websites
http://www.bookslut.com/
http://curledup.com/
http://chicklit.com/

...And When in New York

Library Hotel
299 Madison Avenue at 41st
New York, NY, 10017.
toll free: 877-793 7323
email : [email-masked]
http://www.libraryhotel.com/

The Library Hotel in New York City is the first hotel ever to offer its guest over 6,000 volumes organized throughout the hotel by the DDC. Each of the 10 guestrooms floors honors one of the 10 categories of the DDC and each of the 60 rooms is uniquely adorned with a collection of books and art exploring a distinctive topic within the category or floor it belongs to.

Shopping
http://www.librarysupportstaff.com/shop4gifts.html

Just for Fun Reading
http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/
"Book-A-Minute "ultra-condensed" books—You want to experience the wonder and excitement of the fine art of literature, but reading actual books requires a significant time investment. We've got the solution for you."

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