Cleaning Up: If You Want to Donate

As we look up North, we find devastation. But we also find hope: people cleaning up, working together, rebuilding.

It's tempting to send goods to help, but the most efficient way to help is to contribute money.

If you don't want to donate to the well-known Red Cross or Salvation Army, check out your charity on  Charity Navigator or Charity Review. Both these sites will allow you to vet your charities before sending them money, so that you know the most money of your dollar ends up helping people, and that you're not donating to a scam. Read up on the tips to smart giving.

One 4-star group I found through the sites above, for example, was All Hands Volunteer.

Also consider donating blood. A check at the Red Cross site shows that Type A and Type O blood is currently needed most, although all types are welcome. If you'd rather not donate through the Red Cross but still want to donate, you can check to see if any of your local hospitals are collecting blood. In Raleigh, for example, Rex Hospital has a donor center on Blue Ridge Road, open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 8:30-4:30.

While pictures from New York--with half the lights off, and water filling the streets--are creepy and reminiscent of a zombie apocalypse movie or two, it's not the end of time. It's just time to rebuild.

Prayers/wishes for quick recovery to everyone in the New England area who has been affected by the storm!


And also--Happy Halloween!

Frankenstorms

You know it's going to be a bad storm when the weathermen are scared.

I remember the April tornadoes of 2011, listening to the weathermen talk about them afterwards, about how they sent everyone at the station downstairs to a safe location except those who were absolutely necessary to keep the weather coverage running. There were dozens of tornadoes in that storm, touching down on all sides of everywhere, some apparently within sight range of the station itself.

The weatherpeople admitted they'd been scared then. But they stayed, and did their jobs, because hundreds of thousands of listeners were tuning in to know what was going on, to learn how to be safe and to find out where the greatest danger at any given point in time would be. They stayed and did their jobs, despite life-threatening danger, because people depended on them.

They've got a lot of courage, those people.

Right now, I'm praying that my brother & his fiance, and our aunts, uncles and cousins, all stay safe as they prepare for the storm to blow through.

I'm also, as a writer with an idea for a storm-themed novel, curious about the storm, about what it'll be like and what the aftermath will be. I want to know what a "Frankenstorm" will look like. I know I'll be studying the cloud images afterwards, clicking through weather sites and noting the patterns and the results of each. What will we learn from this storm, I wonder?

And what will these lessons cost?

To everyone preparing to ride out the worst, my prayers and/or wishes for good luck (whichever you prefer). To the brave weather and newspeople who will run out into thick of it with cameras and microphones, be safe. And to the scientists studying the storms, please share what you learn.

What are your thoughts on the approaching storm? Are you in the midst of it? How are you preparing?

Hints and Foreshadowing

Maybe it's just me, but when a tiny detail from the first pages shows up again in the last pages of a book, it always gives me a thrill of excitement.

Foreshadowing, hints, clues, even just setting the stage: these are the things that bring a novel together.

How does your end connect to your beginning? Is there something you can throw in to tie it all together?

In The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley, one of the reasons the main character never quite fit in with the Society crowd is that she is a penniless blueblood--of questionable blue-blooded-ness, with a suspect great-grandmother whom no one tells her much about. It's not something I questioned or really even noticed the first time I read through, because it's a very reasonable explanation for why the character isn't able to connect, and thus why she's somewhat less upset than she should be for being shipped out to far away Daria after her father dies, leaving her (the unwed and unlikely to ever wed sister) as a burden to her soldier brother.

It comes back up later. I won't ruin the surprise, but grammy's secrets make a big difference. It's only at the very end that the protagonist really uncovers what those secrets were, things the reader has long suspected, but are only confirmed near the end. That little touch helps give the whole novel unity.

Unity and coherence leave a reader satisfied. The further back these hints are threaded in, the more well-rounded the story feels.

If you've got a manuscript in the works, take a moment and go back to the beginning. Look for a place where you can seed in a hint of things to come. Don't make it too obvious; your readers will catch it the second time through. That's what makes them read the book a second time, after all: trying to catch all the things they missed.

What moments of foreshadowing have you seen in books that brought the whole piece together?

Wednesday Writing Exercise

Find the book nearest you with at least 250 pages. Turn to page 75 and copy out the 3rd sentence.

Now rearrange the words to make a new sentence (you may make minor grammatical changes to accommodate this, if necessary). Describe who would say this, and when it would be said.

Example:

"Now you know why one of the primary prerequisites of both our jobs is a perfect memory!"

becomes

"Now one of the prerequisites of both our jobs is, you know, a perfect primary memory!"

Character:
17 year old high school senior
Counselor at a summer time-jumping camp, she's explaining to her sophomore new recruit why counselors must have a perfect memory of the camp in good order: because last year there was a horrible accident, and a counselor couldn't remember everything well enough to jump backwards in time to prevent it, so the accident was never reversed.

Grammar/vocabulary Requests

Have a grammar or vocabulary question? Want an answer? Ask, and I'll research the rules for you!

If I can't find the answer, I'll at least let you know where I looked. I also can't promise an exact time frame, but I'll be as prompt as I can.

Note that I follow the Chicago Manual of Style, and use American formatting. There are a few differences, especially in punctuation, between American formats and UK formats.

One Way to Make a Presentation

Let's say you're given a room of twenty to sixty adults and told to give a presentation. Here's one way to create your presentation. It's not the only way, and some people will prefer other methods, but it's one that works for me.

Remember that adults are frequently more difficult to teach than schoolchildren. Children are used to being in instructor-led sessions, while adults are long out of practice. Therefore, it's important to use good group management techniques, such as bringing your group back on focus frequently, and avoiding large chunks of lecture.

How to plan:

Purpose: Write the purpose of the meeting at the top of you paper. Include your audience and what the goal is.

Ex: Educate 30 head waiters from different franchises on how to assign shifts using the company's new software.
Audience? restaurant managers for Isohedron Sandwiches
Goal? They'll be able to use the software.

Room resources: If you know your venue, write down what your resources are. If possible, draw the room. Be as detailed as you can, and if you have notable limitations, write those down.

Ex: Six round tables, six chairs at each. One projector connected to a computer, cast on a wall. Do not have drawing tool. Laser pointer. 6 large notepads. 1 spiral-bound notebook per attendee. 1 computer per table, not including instructor computer. 2 pens per person. Markers, colors unknown. Nametags.

Write down time.

Ex. 90 minutes

Essential points of instruction: What is absolutely necessary for you to accomplish your goal? Write these steps down.

Ex.
All attendees must learn steps to using new software.
All attendees must practice using new software.
All attendees must be shown FAQ on new software.
All attendees must be given resources for trouble-shooting.

Detail points: Make each essential point of instruction its own heading. Fill in bullets on how to teach the point of instruction. Make subheadings if necessary. Remember that group participation increases memory and keeps the group active, so vary lecture with group interaction.

Ex.
All managers must learn steps.
*Using projector, have slides showing steps, 1-2 steps per slide. Move slowly enough for attendees to take notes.
*Begin with "Adding New Employee" (5 steps). Go through slides on this topic. Go back to first of these slides.
--Ask one manager from each table to follow along on the computer while the others watch.
*Move on to "Removing an Employee" (4 steps).
--Allow different attendee to follow along on second run-through.

All attendees must practice new software.
*Give each attendee the chance to do each set.
--Managers take turns inputting each step. They may use their notes and help each other. Set each manager up with a list of dummy names to use.

All attendees must be shown FAQ.
*Hand out address of FAQ. Hand out print-outs to every attendee.
*Pull up on screen. Give students a few minutes to read through.
*Ask for questions.

Combine activities, break activities up, find ways to give natural breaks, give activities to do when finished early: Adults long out of school can be harder to teach than most school children. Expect talking, speaking over one another, interruptions. To manage your group, keep them moving and don't let them get bored. Clearly define what you will be doing before every change of activity so they know what is expected: listening without questions, save questions until the end, work quietly while someone else practices.

Ex:
Lecture on "Adding a new employee." Tell everyone to take notes.
Provide each table with a list of dummy servers to add/delete.
Allow one manager to follow along at each table while the others watch.
Explain, "Each of you should now take a turn adding a new employee. Those who are not working on the computer, please read through the FAQ that's been printed out and jot down questions."

When everyone is complete, move on to lecture "Removing an employee."

Add introduction and conclusion: Write the introduction to the lesson. Clearly state the goal to the students. Decide if you will share your agenda or not. Decide if your students will introduce themselves to one another, and how they will do so.

Decide how you will conclude the lesson, and if there will be any homework/follow-up needed.

Make a list of materials needed: List all materials needed. Write down when it's best to hand them out.

Ex:
Lists of dummy servers (have at table at beginning)
Print-outs of FAQs (Hand out after follow-along)

Read-through and make necessary changes: Does the presentation flow well? Are the lectures too long? Did you include a place to ask questions?

Compile the lesson and write it out for yourself in a manner that is easy for you to follow. Practice.

Presentation example:

Presentation: New Company Software

Setup: Place lists of dummy servers at each table. Include 5 name badges/table and 5 markers/table. Sign computers in to the software.

Introduction: Attendees should sit 5/table. I will stand at front. As they come in, ask them to write their name on a nametag.

State goal: "At the end of this lesson, you will be able to use our new software to assign employees to shifts."

Introductions: Ask each manager to stand and say his/her name and the franchise he/she comes from.

Say: "We'll begin by looking at adding a new employee. Please watch and take notes. You will have an opportunity to practice in a few minutes."
(Write out lecture)
"Now the person sitting in front of the computer will follow along as I do the steps again. Please watch the person at your table with the computer."
"The next person should take the computer and add the next name on the list. You will each have a chance to try. You may help one another if you get stuck, but try to figure it out yourself first. If you still have trouble, raise your hand and I will come by. While others are on the computer, read through the FAQ I'm handing out. Jot down any questions you have."

(repeat for each process)

"Now compare the questions you have from your FAQs. Write any questions from your group on the large pad that you cannot answer as a group." (give 5 min)

Compare and answer questions.

"If you have any additional problems, here's what you should do:"
(explain)
(Hand out magnets with customer service phone numbers)

Conclude the lesson: "Are there any final questions?"
Thanks for coming today.

Publishing Industry news

Your bimonthly (or so) publishing news! Covering 10/3-10/19, a couple of extra days because last post came right before the fabulous Moonlight & Magnolias conference in Atlanta, GA. Because of the extra days, the news list is rather long, so I'll be keeping the blog section short & sweet.


Industry News

What do you think about letting people pay what they want for your book? The Humble e-book collection is trying this, letting customers pay what they want and donating the proceeds to charity. They've raised over $900 thousand, so it must be working well!

(Did I waste 20 minutes of time that I should have spent blog writing browsing my new e-books instead? Don't worry; your 20 minutes when you should be reading the industry news will cancel it out.)

Kindle has a new app that allows teachers and businesses to share e-books. Not individually bought ones, of course, but free e-books and documents can be made available to everyone on the network.

Quercus, British publisher, opens an office in New York to begin taking advantage of the U.S. markets. There's a new publisher on the block, folks, with a debut list for fall 2013.

Amazon releases the new Author Rank feature. Many authors seem to be displeased--who wants to see how far down the list they are? Volunteers? No...?

Amazon reminds customers that they may be receiving credit (aka money towards new e-book purchases) from the deal struck by Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins in the lawsuit filed by attorney generals over e-book pricing.

Speaking of litigation, the Association of American Publishers sued Google over the Google Library project. Now, seven years later, they've reached a settlement. Unfortunately the details are mostly confidential. Writers groups are going on record saying that they want these details made public.

And the Authors Guild vs. HathiTrust lawsuit has been tossed, after the judge ruled that the HathiTrust follows the Fair Use clause. The Authors Guild disapproves, but hasn't yet thought of what to do next.

Earlier this year we heard that the publisher Dorchester was closing. Now they're trying to revert the rights of books back to authors.

Kobo's expansion in self-publishing continues as they add capabilities for several new languages. They also acquire a selection of new resources, such as buying a company that makes publishing multimedia for comics and children's' books easier, and making deals with bookstores.

Hachette restructures its sales departments to incorporate digital publishing. Unlike most 'restructuring' these days, nobody got fired--although there were a few promotions and a few new jobs.

Budding authors may now publish through their local libraries.

Have a Tumblr page? Want to figure out what your stats mean? Now they have an official analytics tool.

And Random House, the publisher, experiments with TV. They'll be basing shows off books. At least we know they've got tons of material to draw on, so I'm curious to see how this turns out. (But why did they have to wait until I canceled my cable?!)

The Overdrive library program expands into audiobooks.


Industry Blogs

QueryTracker for 10/19, 10/12 and 10/5.

If you have the option to set your own price on your own e-book, you're probably wondering what to price it. Jason Ashlock gives some advice and his observations based on The Rogue Reader imprint. $2.99 isn't the magic number anymore; $3-$8 is picking up popularity.

GalleyCat has an interesting infographic on how e-books are affecting publishing.

Planning to publish? Rachelle Gardner gives her readers a glimpse of what a book edit really looks like, as in describing all the different forms of editing that are involved.

Janet Reid discusses what to do if your agent quits.

On QueryTracker, Sarah Pinneo gives advice on how to ask for a blurb.



See? Told you I'd keep it short!

What interesting publishing-related news or blogs have you come across in the past two weeks?