Happy Halloween!
(Your normally scheduled Publishing News post will be up Monday.)
Friday, October 31, 2014
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Book Bonus: Pinterest character boards
Housekeeping note--This week's Publishing News post will be delayed until Monday, on account of running around acting like a ghost (or whatever Halloween costume I come up with in the next couple of days).
So what's new?
I'm on Pinterest!
You can find me here.
I've started making character boards for the characters in Into the Tides, consisting of things they'd pin if they were on Pinterest.
So far I have Elizabeth and Kelly. More to come!
Also, some boards of my own, because there's lots of cool stuff there!
So what's new?
I'm on Pinterest!
 | |
| Why yes, one of my first stops was making a tea board. Why do you ask? |
You can find me here.
I've started making character boards for the characters in Into the Tides, consisting of things they'd pin if they were on Pinterest.
So far I have Elizabeth and Kelly. More to come!
Also, some boards of my own, because there's lots of cool stuff there!
Monday, October 27, 2014
Positive Monday
 |
| Back, kitty. This tea is mine. |
Three good things that happened for me this weekend:
- My sword tea infuser arrived in the mail.
- In Hyrule Warriors, we got the Great Fairy "weapon." This was terrifying and hilarious. She puts Link in a bottle.
- Delicious caramel apples were had for breakfast this morning. From the fair. The fair, too, was awesome.
.png/597px-Great_Fairy.png_(Hyrule_Warriors).png) |
| (From the Zeldapedia) This is a real thing. |
Friday, October 24, 2014
One Fine Blog Award
Fraser Sherman nominated me for the One Lovely Blog award. Thanks, Fraser!
This award requires:
Seven things you don't know about me:
Bonus (since some of you, despite my firm reassurances, may not believe #1):
Nominations:
1) Angela Quarles, Geek Girl Romance Writer
2) Lady Arite gune Akase and her Sarmatian in the SCA blog
3) Taylor Lavati and her author blog
Guess I should go out and tell them!
This award requires:
a) thank the nominator;
b) volunteer seven things about the blogger readers don’t know;
c) nominate other blogs.
Seven things you don't know about me:
 |
| Pictured: not me. |
- I am not a velociraptor. I'm sorry. I lied. (I'm also not a muffin, but you probably guessed that one.)
- I'm terrified of spiders, but I think snakes are cute. I took an animal science class in middle school and "adopted" a boa constrictor for the semester. She was pretty, and it was really neat holding her. Plus, one of the snakes had babies that year, and they twined around kids' fingers (when they got old enough to be held) like rings. So cute!
- My first real, official job in high school was as a hostess at a restaurant. I sucked at seating people, but was pretty good at the pickup window and register, so they kept me in the back doing that.
- I have a really cheerful voice on PA systems. I can't help it; I always sound happy. Especially when I'm grumpy or angry or tempted to hurt something.
- I love sparkling water. I can't get enough of it, regardless of whether it's fancy Perrier or $.89 cent store-brand, so long as it's bottled but not canned. (The canned ones taste like aluminum.) It's my guilty indulgence.
- I also love ginger. Ginger candy, crystallized ginger, ginger salad dressing, ginger soup, the pickled ginger served with sushi, ginger ale, ginger beer (which is like the ginger version of root beer), ginger mead... mmmmm!
- When I was a girl, my favorite stuffed animals were a kangaroo puppet and a snail puppet. My dad would puppeteer for me to get me to go sleep--he's as tone deaf as I am, which may explain why he didn't sing me lullabies.
 |
| Pictured: also not me. See? Stock photo. |
8. I have never dyed my hair. No particular reason; just never really wanted to. Although I did color a few locks in middle school with a blue highlighter, once.
Nominations:
1) Angela Quarles, Geek Girl Romance Writer
2) Lady Arite gune Akase and her Sarmatian in the SCA blog
3) Taylor Lavati and her author blog
Guess I should go out and tell them!
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Some fun links.
Since I can't morning this morning, go check out this xkcd strip to find out what a science montage really is. And have some various random pictures of the mountains, below.
Also, if you're a TableTop fan, Wil Wheaton's list of Season 3 Tabletop Games!
And look, Legend of Zelda Monopoly.
Space Janitors is a pretty fun web series--the janitors on the Death Star have a story, too!
Some really cute mouse photos.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Tea review: Disney's Mad Tea Party Blend
Mad Tea Party BlendReviewed by: Rebekkah |
|
| Type of tea Black, loose-leaf |
Flavor aspects fruity, natural |
| Where I got it Disney World |
Cost Came with the tea press, which was $35; or about $25 here for 3 oz |
| How I brewed it 1.5 tsp loose-leaf tea, 12ish oz hot water from the coffee machine, for about 3 minutes |
Rebrewing notes Like many black teas, it gets weaker with subsequent steepings. However, I typically get one good, full-flavored resteep from each batch. |
| Review
So part of the appeal is that it's a Disney tea. That makes it fun, even if it's oversteeped. Which, this morning it is, I slightly did... I recommend about 2 1/2 minutes and water around 190 (I think the coffee machine was a bit hot this morning). But it's only slightly oversteeped, and I've done so before; this tea is fairly resilient and doesn't become very bitter even when you abuse it.
This probably has to do with the fruity aspects of it. It's a ginger/peach/apricot/black tea blend. Honestly I get mostly an indistinct peach-apricot-ish flavor that mellows nicely with the black tea; I can't really taste the ginger at all. I say "indistinct" because I usually tell when something is peach-flavored, but it's more gentle in flavor than peach-flavorings usually are. Blends really nicely with black tea, and ends up highlighting the black tea flavor more than the other way around, although I definitely do taste the fruit. I just have to think about it to identify that it's the fruit I'm tasting. I'd call it an overall pretty good tea. Not amazing, and not something I'd usually spend that much for on it's own (I'd put it on par with the $6-10 per 2 oz teas I have); but if you want a Disney souvenir that you can get use from for a while to come, it's not a bad choice. Especially if it's part of a set, like the tea cups or the tea press, which are very cute. Definitely drinkable. And fun. And yeah, I'm definitely tempted to wear a silly hat every time I drink it.  |
|
Friday, October 17, 2014
Publishing Industry News
This week's publishing news and industry blogs post covers 10/3-10/17.
Publishing News
Canadian authors are also feeling the pinch in the Amazon-Hachette battle.
Hachette launches a portal for authors and agents, a place where authors and agents can access sales data and make communication easier.
Nook pairs up with 3M Library systems, with Barnes & Noble donating Nooks that libraries can lend to patrons without e-readers. These devices will have access to 3M Cloud Library Collection.
Amazon's crowdsourcing publishing program gets a name: KindleScout.
Amazon plans to open two retail shops in California to test Kindle projects and sell books. If they do well, there may be more in the future.
The latest version of Adobe Digital Editions has been found to be collecting and transmitting unencrypted user data, including user ID, device ID, IP address, duration books are read, and percentage of each book read. Adobe responds to concerns about this user privacy issue, noting that all data collection "is in line with the end user license agreement and the Adobe Privacy Policy," and also that they are working on an update to address the issue [apparently offering encryption for transmitted user data; I was unable to find a description of the exact nature of the update, though]. Publishers Weekly offers some more links and an explanation for the topic.
Industry Blogs
QueryTracker's Publishing Pulse for 10/10.
Victoria Strauss warns not to fall for companies that offer to file copyright for you, for a hefty fee, when you can easily do it yourself for $35. Even ones that actually do what they claim (register your copyright for you in your own name) are a ripoff. (I've done registered a copyright myself. Yes, it's easy.) She offers as well other useful free things, such as an example official DMCA take-down notice (for if someone steals and posts your work without your permission) and a link to where you can go to register your copyright.
Agent Janet Reid answers questions and gives advice. For example, don't make these ten common social media promotion errors, like including links that don't work yet. She offers four phrases that turned her off queries, and how to write them better. And explains what it means to write with rhythm, looking at sentence length versus position in paragraph (and a followup explaining the math). Also, another post looking at ideal word count range and genre. What if you're writing two genres--will an agent be okay with you self-publishing the one they don't want? (Depends on the agent; also, don't be so sure your agent won't want the other genre, or won't call in a co-agent, if you are willing to traditionally publish it. Agents aren't always one-trick ponies.) If you pitched to an agent who requested a full, but later decided you wanted a different agent at the agency based on sales, is it okay to send it to the second agent? (Do it right and be polite; you may be shooting yourself in your own foot otherwise. Also, think hard about the assumptions you're making.)
On the Futuristic, Fantasy, and Paranormal blog: Considering self-publishing? Author Tameri Etherton shares some of the issues and technical problems she faced on the way, giving a good idea of what a self-publisher has to think about. Also, author Nancy Gideon explains considerations of doing blog tours to have the greatest effect, and gives a ballpark figure for cost and what to look at if you're thinking about hiring a blog tour company.
On the Books & Such blog, agent Rachelle Gardner shares 6 tools to make your life easier, from Hootsuite to Audible. Agent Janet Grant explains how to make your book cover stand out (in a good way). And agent Mary Keeley offers suggestions on timing your book promotions around the release of your new book.
Agent Jessica Faust of the BookEnds Literary Agency introduces herself, agent Kim Lionetti, and agent Jessica Alvarez, and explains what each of them are looking for.
Publishers Weekly looks at the costs and gains, in both jobs and money, of mergers and "restructurings" of traditional publishers.
Publishers, when interviewed by Publishers Weekly, express opinions about Amazon's trial retail stores, most seeming it as a strategic business move worth watching.
Author Jim Hines posts his opinion about the Kindle Scout program, and decides he wouldn't recommend it, explaining his reasoning.
An editor at The New York Times writes an opinion piece that looks at the coverage of the Amazon-Hachette battle.
The Compound Interest posts a chemistry-based infographic explaining what causes that distinctive smell of print books [link goes to pdf of the infographic].
What publishing news have you encountered in the past two weeks?
Publishing News
Canadian authors are also feeling the pinch in the Amazon-Hachette battle.
Hachette launches a portal for authors and agents, a place where authors and agents can access sales data and make communication easier.
Nook pairs up with 3M Library systems, with Barnes & Noble donating Nooks that libraries can lend to patrons without e-readers. These devices will have access to 3M Cloud Library Collection.
Amazon's crowdsourcing publishing program gets a name: KindleScout.
Amazon plans to open two retail shops in California to test Kindle projects and sell books. If they do well, there may be more in the future.
The latest version of Adobe Digital Editions has been found to be collecting and transmitting unencrypted user data, including user ID, device ID, IP address, duration books are read, and percentage of each book read. Adobe responds to concerns about this user privacy issue, noting that all data collection "is in line with the end user license agreement and the Adobe Privacy Policy," and also that they are working on an update to address the issue [apparently offering encryption for transmitted user data; I was unable to find a description of the exact nature of the update, though]. Publishers Weekly offers some more links and an explanation for the topic.
Industry Blogs
QueryTracker's Publishing Pulse for 10/10.
Victoria Strauss warns not to fall for companies that offer to file copyright for you, for a hefty fee, when you can easily do it yourself for $35. Even ones that actually do what they claim (register your copyright for you in your own name) are a ripoff. (I've done registered a copyright myself. Yes, it's easy.) She offers as well other useful free things, such as an example official DMCA take-down notice (for if someone steals and posts your work without your permission) and a link to where you can go to register your copyright.
Agent Janet Reid answers questions and gives advice. For example, don't make these ten common social media promotion errors, like including links that don't work yet. She offers four phrases that turned her off queries, and how to write them better. And explains what it means to write with rhythm, looking at sentence length versus position in paragraph (and a followup explaining the math). Also, another post looking at ideal word count range and genre. What if you're writing two genres--will an agent be okay with you self-publishing the one they don't want? (Depends on the agent; also, don't be so sure your agent won't want the other genre, or won't call in a co-agent, if you are willing to traditionally publish it. Agents aren't always one-trick ponies.) If you pitched to an agent who requested a full, but later decided you wanted a different agent at the agency based on sales, is it okay to send it to the second agent? (Do it right and be polite; you may be shooting yourself in your own foot otherwise. Also, think hard about the assumptions you're making.)
On the Futuristic, Fantasy, and Paranormal blog: Considering self-publishing? Author Tameri Etherton shares some of the issues and technical problems she faced on the way, giving a good idea of what a self-publisher has to think about. Also, author Nancy Gideon explains considerations of doing blog tours to have the greatest effect, and gives a ballpark figure for cost and what to look at if you're thinking about hiring a blog tour company.
On the Books & Such blog, agent Rachelle Gardner shares 6 tools to make your life easier, from Hootsuite to Audible. Agent Janet Grant explains how to make your book cover stand out (in a good way). And agent Mary Keeley offers suggestions on timing your book promotions around the release of your new book.
Agent Jessica Faust of the BookEnds Literary Agency introduces herself, agent Kim Lionetti, and agent Jessica Alvarez, and explains what each of them are looking for.
Publishers Weekly looks at the costs and gains, in both jobs and money, of mergers and "restructurings" of traditional publishers.
Publishers, when interviewed by Publishers Weekly, express opinions about Amazon's trial retail stores, most seeming it as a strategic business move worth watching.
Author Jim Hines posts his opinion about the Kindle Scout program, and decides he wouldn't recommend it, explaining his reasoning.
An editor at The New York Times writes an opinion piece that looks at the coverage of the Amazon-Hachette battle.
The Compound Interest posts a chemistry-based infographic explaining what causes that distinctive smell of print books [link goes to pdf of the infographic].
What publishing news have you encountered in the past two weeks?
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