Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Tuesday, July 08, 2014
What ??? are you waiting for
The reason for all the discussion of standards and similar concepts over
the last few decades is not due to an effort to improve the process but
is a result of a lack of consistency and predictability of the
processes. Going to waterless and digital printing was also related to
trying to avoid this same existing problems.
People who have no clue about how to fix the problem for years have
stressed the need for standards which has resulted in efforts in the
industry to match standards, that do not guarantee consistency or
predictability, instead of developing the capability to have consistent
and predictable processes.
Even now, Frank Romano gave a rant in the recent Enfocus webinar
regarding Myths of Modern Prepress. His comments (4, 5, and 6) about
there not being any such thing as colour management, his view on
standards and on workflow are a refreshing surprise coming from someone
who is well respected in the industry.
I am not particularly respected in the industry but have been saying
much the same for many years. The difference from my views and Mr.
Romano's is that mine tend to come from a more theoretical view of the
problems while his are more related to years of experience. The other
difference is that Mr. Romano is ranting about the problem but seems to
have little idea of how to fix these problems but on the other hand my
understanding is directly related to developing solutions.
Anyhow, it is good that he has made this rant and it is available on the following site.
The myths of modern prepress
Thursday, July 03, 2014
Mosquito-Repellent Paper Attracts Readers : NPR
Mosquito-Repellent Paper Attracts Readers : NPR
Sri Lanka has been hit by an epidemic of dengue fever, a potentially
deadly disease spread by mosquitoes. A newspaper printed an entire issue
with ink made from citronella. Sales went up 30 percent.
Sri Lanka has been hit by an epidemic of dengue fever, a potentially
deadly disease spread by mosquitoes. A newspaper printed an entire issue
with ink made from citronella. Sales went up 30 percent.
Monday, June 02, 2014
Fan Fiction phenomenon prompted a article on FAN FICTION by Ivan Hoffman, B.A., J.D.
This growing phenomenon, fan fiction, prompts the basis for this new article. You can read about the issues at http://www.ivanhoffman.com/
Please feel free to forward this notice to your associates and colleagues if you feel they may be interested in this. Thanks.
This
posting and any articles referred to in this posting are not legal
advice and are not intended as legal advice. This posting and any
articles referred to in this posting are intended to provide only
general, non-specific legal information. This posting and any articles
referred to in this posting do not create any attorney client
relationship and are not a solicitation.
 |
FAN FICTION
Ivan Hoffman, B.A., J.D.
Please feel free to forward this notice to your associates and colleagues if you feel they may be interested in this. Thanks.
This
posting and any articles referred to in this posting are not legal
advice and are not intended as legal advice. This posting and any
articles referred to in this posting are intended to provide only
general, non-specific legal information. This posting and any articles
referred to in this posting do not create any attorney client
relationship and are not a solicitation.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
information embedded by ,,, in documents your create with your software. document properties.
> Recently one his students informed him that they were able to read a cover
> letter from a job application.
> That has personal information and I would like to kindly ask that you
> please remove this.
The person must be talking about part of the information embedded by
AOO in documents your create with your software. That is part of the
document properties. Microsoft Office does the same, as far as I know.
See
http://office.microsoft.com/
"If you plan to share an electronic copy of a Microsoft Office Word
document with clients or colleagues, it is a good idea to review the
document for hidden data or personal information that might be stored
in the document itself or in the document properties (metadata).
Because this hidden information can reveal details about your
organization or about the document itself that you might not want to
share publicly, you might want to remove this hidden information
before you share the document with other people."
(...)
"What types of hidden data and personal information are stored in Word
documents?
Several types of hidden data and personal information can be saved in
a Word document. This information might not be immediately visible
when you view the document in Office Word 2007, but it might be
possible for other people to view or retrieve the information.
Word documents can contain the following types of hidden data and
personal information:
(...)
Document properties and personal information Document
properties, also known as metadata, include details about your
document such as author, subject, and title. Document properties also
include information that is automatically maintained by Office
programs, such as the name of the person who most recently saved a
document and the date when a document was created. If you used
specific features, your document might also contain additional kinds
of personally identifiable information (PII), such as e-mail headers,
send-for-review information, routing slips, and template names."
The above is for Microsoft's office products but also applies to AOO.
In Apache OpenOffice, go to the menu option File->Properties, and in
the "General" tab remove the check box from "Apply user data".
> letter from a job application.
> That has personal information and I would like to kindly ask that you
> please remove this.
The person must be talking about part of the information embedded by
AOO in documents your create with your software. That is part of the
document properties. Microsoft Office does the same, as far as I know.
See
http://office.microsoft.com/
"If you plan to share an electronic copy of a Microsoft Office Word
document with clients or colleagues, it is a good idea to review the
document for hidden data or personal information that might be stored
in the document itself or in the document properties (metadata).
Because this hidden information can reveal details about your
organization or about the document itself that you might not want to
share publicly, you might want to remove this hidden information
before you share the document with other people."
(...)
"What types of hidden data and personal information are stored in Word
documents?
Several types of hidden data and personal information can be saved in
a Word document. This information might not be immediately visible
when you view the document in Office Word 2007, but it might be
possible for other people to view or retrieve the information.
Word documents can contain the following types of hidden data and
personal information:
(...)
Document properties and personal information Document
properties, also known as metadata, include details about your
document such as author, subject, and title. Document properties also
include information that is automatically maintained by Office
programs, such as the name of the person who most recently saved a
document and the date when a document was created. If you used
specific features, your document might also contain additional kinds
of personally identifiable information (PII), such as e-mail headers,
send-for-review information, routing slips, and template names."
The above is for Microsoft's office products but also applies to AOO.
In Apache OpenOffice, go to the menu option File->Properties, and in
the "General" tab remove the check box from "Apply user data".
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Print Software, Web-to-Print, and MIS analysis from WhatTheyThink
Print Software, Web-to-Print, and MIS analysis from WhatTheyThink
This section of WhatTheyThink aggregates allof the news, educational content, and analysis about the software
that drives print businesses, from order entry through shipping and
invoicing. It is combined in a single area so that our members and the
industry as a whole can go to a single place to learn how software is
changing the business of print and gain actionable ideas on how they may
apply new solutions to their own business problems.
Jennifer Matt, Section Editor
An industry expert focusing on how software continues to impact the business of print.
This section of WhatTheyThink aggregates allof the news, educational content, and analysis about the software
that drives print businesses, from order entry through shipping and
invoicing. It is combined in a single area so that our members and the
industry as a whole can go to a single place to learn how software is
changing the business of print and gain actionable ideas on how they may
apply new solutions to their own business problems.
Jennifer Matt, Section Editor
An industry expert focusing on how software continues to impact the business of print.
The Feature Trap of Buying Print Software - WhatTheyThink
The Feature Trap of Buying Print Software - WhatTheyThink
Published: May 27, 2014
There is a hidden pitfall most of us in the position of
purchasing print software are very susceptible to. We are all human, and
while we have the best of intentions to do thorough evaluations while
making a new print software purchase, we quickly fall victim to the
‘feature trap.’ This is where, despite starting out with the intention
of analyzing the software in a very in depth manner to see if it will
suit the complexity of our businesses and be able to stand up to the
day-to-day intensity of our environments, we often get sold on one or
two really fantastic features and bypass a thorough functional
evaluation. We do our best, try to think big picture and evaluate the
technology from a ‘day-in-the-life’ perspective, but it is so hard to
look organically at how the technology will ‘function’ each and every
day in your environment. Quite frankly, that analysis can be boring and
time consuming. Most of us are put in the position of needing to do our
evaluations through a couple of sales demonstrations or after standing
on the uncomfortable trade show floor with all of the distraction that
comes with 10,000 of your closest friends crowding through the booths
with you. In those situations, it is easy to get caught up in the
features and lose sight of the overall functionality.
Commentary & Analysis
The Feature Trap of Buying Print Software
By Jane MugfordPublished: May 27, 2014
There is a hidden pitfall most of us in the position of
purchasing print software are very susceptible to. We are all human, and
while we have the best of intentions to do thorough evaluations while
making a new print software purchase, we quickly fall victim to the
‘feature trap.’ This is where, despite starting out with the intention
of analyzing the software in a very in depth manner to see if it will
suit the complexity of our businesses and be able to stand up to the
day-to-day intensity of our environments, we often get sold on one or
two really fantastic features and bypass a thorough functional
evaluation. We do our best, try to think big picture and evaluate the
technology from a ‘day-in-the-life’ perspective, but it is so hard to
look organically at how the technology will ‘function’ each and every
day in your environment. Quite frankly, that analysis can be boring and
time consuming. Most of us are put in the position of needing to do our
evaluations through a couple of sales demonstrations or after standing
on the uncomfortable trade show floor with all of the distraction that
comes with 10,000 of your closest friends crowding through the booths
with you. In those situations, it is easy to get caught up in the
features and lose sight of the overall functionality.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Digital dilemma: Amazon pushes to package up more profit - The Globe and Mail
Digital dilemma: Amazon pushes to package up more profit - The Globe and Mail
{Q}Amazon’s relationship with the traditional gatekeepers of the content it
sells – publishers, record companies, movie studios – has never been
straightforward. On one hand, the world’s most powerful online retailer
relies on those companies for the bulk of its digital media offerings –
one of the fastest-growing product categories in its catalogue. But at
the same time, Amazon is under growing pressure to finally start turning
its massive customer base into equally massive profits. That means, in
turn, that the retailer is under similar pressure to squeeze its content
partners even harder for lower prices.{EQ}
{Q}Amazon’s relationship with the traditional gatekeepers of the content it
sells – publishers, record companies, movie studios – has never been
straightforward. On one hand, the world’s most powerful online retailer
relies on those companies for the bulk of its digital media offerings –
one of the fastest-growing product categories in its catalogue. But at
the same time, Amazon is under growing pressure to finally start turning
its massive customer base into equally massive profits. That means, in
turn, that the retailer is under similar pressure to squeeze its content
partners even harder for lower prices.{EQ}
Thursday, May 01, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Friday Flash Fiction - Home
Friday Flash Fiction - Home:
Gordon Lawrie commented in the group on INTENTIONALLY WRITTEN BAD REVIEW ABOUT YOUR BOOK
It seems remarkable that it was only back in September 2013 that Scotswoman Emma Baird first posed her challenge to LinkedIn users in the LinkedEds & Writers Group: write a Flash Fiction story of 100 words or less on the following Friday.
Scores of writers came to contribute; scores more came to read. But as the discussion developed, it became clear that more contributors still were needed, and it had to be easy for them both to find us, and then to find a way of posting their own stories.
Gordon Lawrie commented in the group on INTENTIONALLY WRITTEN BAD REVIEW ABOUT YOUR BOOK
It seems remarkable that it was only back in September 2013 that Scotswoman Emma Baird first posed her challenge to LinkedIn users in the LinkedEds & Writers Group: write a Flash Fiction story of 100 words or less on the following Friday.
Scores of writers came to contribute; scores more came to read. But as the discussion developed, it became clear that more contributors still were needed, and it had to be easy for them both to find us, and then to find a way of posting their own stories.
Saturday, November 09, 2013
Ebooks and discounts drive 98 publishers out of business | Books | theguardian.com
Ebooks and discounts drive 98 publishers out of business | Books | theguardian.com
The growth of the internet has accelerated a dynamic that started with the end of the Net Book Agreement," he said. "The rise of Amazon and other discount sellers with massive buying power means the pressure on publishers' margins is now immense. While publishers might be able to sustain relatively small margins on a bestseller, it is much harder for niche publishers."
Niche academic and educational publishers are particularly vulnerable, because their model is being undermined by digital piracy and online secondhand book sales on sites such as Amazon Marketplace. Cork said: "The arrival of Amazon has transformed the secondhand book trade from a fairly minor nuisance to a serious threat. Where once you had to trawl the secondhand bookshops if you wanted to get hold of a cheap hardback or academic book, you can now be fairly certain of getting hold of what you want at the click of a button, and the publisher will not make a penny."
The growth of the internet has accelerated a dynamic that started with the end of the Net Book Agreement," he said. "The rise of Amazon and other discount sellers with massive buying power means the pressure on publishers' margins is now immense. While publishers might be able to sustain relatively small margins on a bestseller, it is much harder for niche publishers."
Niche academic and educational publishers are particularly vulnerable, because their model is being undermined by digital piracy and online secondhand book sales on sites such as Amazon Marketplace. Cork said: "The arrival of Amazon has transformed the secondhand book trade from a fairly minor nuisance to a serious threat. Where once you had to trawl the secondhand bookshops if you wanted to get hold of a cheap hardback or academic book, you can now be fairly certain of getting hold of what you want at the click of a button, and the publisher will not make a penny."
Friday, November 01, 2013
Media Liability Insurance Explained
Media Liability Insurance Explained: Media Liability Insurance provides very valuable coverage against defamation and invasion of privacy claims as well as copyright and/or Trademark infringement.
Media Liability Insurance can be categorized as Errors and omissions in the written or spoken word resulting in claims alleging financial loss as a consequence. Media Liability Insurance can also be called Communications Liability Insurance and can be synonymous with Multi Media Liability insurance.
Media Liability Insurance can be categorized as Errors and omissions in the written or spoken word resulting in claims alleging financial loss as a consequence. Media Liability Insurance can also be called Communications Liability Insurance and can be synonymous with Multi Media Liability insurance.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Google Changes to the World of News Release Distribution | Paul Krupin's Trash Proof Marketing and Publicity Blog
Google Changes to the World of News Release Distribution | Paul Krupin's Trash Proof Marketing and Publicity Blog: Paul Krupin’s Trash Proof Marketing and Publicity Blog
Google Changes to the World of News Release Distribution
September 30th, 2013 by Paul Krupin
Discusses the latest Google algorithm changes and how the impacts on news release distribution
Google Changes to the World of News Release Distribution
For many years now marketing practitioners have been advocating people use news releases to improve their placement on search engines. The theory was that you could write and post a news release at a web distribution service and the optimized use of keywords and the links included in the release would result in oodles of incoming links all of which would help capture people’s attention and increase your page ranking on search engines as a result.
Google has decided to clean up the search results and do what it can to rid organic results of press release content that is really not bona fide news, but are instead, paid advertising in disguise. The requirements also have significance to sites that rely heavily on user-generated content.
The latest Google algorithm changes, known as Penguin 2.0, modifies how Google analyzes the role and utility of news releases posted at news release distribution services in a very significant way.
Google Changes to the World of News Release Distribution
September 30th, 2013 by Paul Krupin
Discusses the latest Google algorithm changes and how the impacts on news release distribution
Google Changes to the World of News Release Distribution
For many years now marketing practitioners have been advocating people use news releases to improve their placement on search engines. The theory was that you could write and post a news release at a web distribution service and the optimized use of keywords and the links included in the release would result in oodles of incoming links all of which would help capture people’s attention and increase your page ranking on search engines as a result.
Google has decided to clean up the search results and do what it can to rid organic results of press release content that is really not bona fide news, but are instead, paid advertising in disguise. The requirements also have significance to sites that rely heavily on user-generated content.
The latest Google algorithm changes, known as Penguin 2.0, modifies how Google analyzes the role and utility of news releases posted at news release distribution services in a very significant way.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
More Profitable Publishing
Consulting | More Profitable Publishing: Get innovative suggestions and time-tested techniques combined into solutions that help you make money, create new opportunities and avoid problems.
Gain the skills and knowledge to help yourself, for a price that suits your budget.
What exactly can she do for you? That depends on what you need, as every client is different. But some of the more common questions asked include:
What can I do to increase my publishing profits? Should I focus on sales? Marketing? Cutting overhead? All of the above?
Which marketing techniques cost more than I can get from them?
How do I estimate the sales of this book before I publish it?
How should I launch this company?
What types of distribution best fit my books and my operation?
What contract terms are fair to authors and to me?
I'm buying/selling this company. Help me evaluate it, and negotiate a fair deal?
How can I manage this difficult person, whether an employee, a vendor, or an author?
That's just a sampling, of course. If your dilemma involves money, or some aspect of the business side of publishing, the chances are very good that you've just found the short cut to your solution. Ask Marion what she can do to help you, and get a free quote.
Gain the skills and knowledge to help yourself, for a price that suits your budget.
What exactly can she do for you? That depends on what you need, as every client is different. But some of the more common questions asked include:
What can I do to increase my publishing profits? Should I focus on sales? Marketing? Cutting overhead? All of the above?
Which marketing techniques cost more than I can get from them?
How do I estimate the sales of this book before I publish it?
How should I launch this company?
What types of distribution best fit my books and my operation?
What contract terms are fair to authors and to me?
I'm buying/selling this company. Help me evaluate it, and negotiate a fair deal?
How can I manage this difficult person, whether an employee, a vendor, or an author?
That's just a sampling, of course. If your dilemma involves money, or some aspect of the business side of publishing, the chances are very good that you've just found the short cut to your solution. Ask Marion what she can do to help you, and get a free quote.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Tennessee River: Sparkling Gem of the South by Ron and Sue Lowery — Kickstarter
Tennessee River: Sparkling Gem of the South by Ron and Sue Lowery — Kickstarter
https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/projects/634130/photo-main.jpg?1377115582
Tennessee River: Sparkling Gem of the South, is a eye-opening view of one of America’s great, but under appreciated rivers. This river is 652 miles of lakes and tributaries; it begins high in the Appalachian Mountains and ends in a merger with the Ohio River in Paducah, Kentucky. The book is 144 pages, hardback with foiled and embossed cover, 11.75 x 9 inches, with beautiful color images throughout.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/projects/634130/photo-main.jpg?1377115582
Tennessee River: Sparkling Gem of the South, is a eye-opening view of one of America’s great, but under appreciated rivers. This river is 652 miles of lakes and tributaries; it begins high in the Appalachian Mountains and ends in a merger with the Ohio River in Paducah, Kentucky. The book is 144 pages, hardback with foiled and embossed cover, 11.75 x 9 inches, with beautiful color images throughout.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Amazon KDP Support: How To Use KindleGen ...
Amazon KDP Support: How To Use KindleGen ...
http://ebookpioneer.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-use-kindlegen-to-make-mobi-book.html
~~~~
~~~~
I must see a dozen posts per month asking about using KindleGen. Here's how to use it although I highly recommend just dragging and dropping your book file onto Previewer's face instead. (You can also drag and drop your file onto "kindlegen.exe" to convert it.)
1) Download the kindlegen_win32_v2_8.zip file to your desktop. You can find it here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000765211
2) Open your C-drive directory. The easiest way to get to your C-drive is to double click on Computer on your desktop (or My Computer if you're using an OS older than Windows 7.)
You'll see other folders in there such as Program Files, Users, Windows etc. Make a new folder in this directory and call it KindleGen.
3) Shrink the C-drive window down and go back to the zip file on your desktop and double click to open it. (There's no need to extract it.)
4) Copy the file in there called: kindlegen.exe and paste it into that new KindleGen folder we just made in the C-drive directory. While you're still in the new KindleGen folder, make another folder inside it called: Book
5) So now you have a KindleGen folder on your C-drive and inside is the kindlegen.exe file and the Book folder. Find an HTML, ePub, or OPF file that you wish to convert into a Mobi book and paste it into that Book folder. Of course, if it's an OPF file you're pasting, then you'll also need all the other folders and files that go with the making of the book such as the NCX, ALL HTML files, all images, any embedded fonts etc.
6) Go to All Programs\Accessories and open Command Prompt.
7) Copy the following and then right-click beside the cursor in Command Prompt and paste it in. (Control V doesn't work in Windows 7.) Make sure to change "your_book" to whatever the name of the file is you have in the Book folder along with the correct suffix (epub, opf, or html.):
C:\KindleGen\kindlegen.exe C:\KindleGen\Book\your_book.epub
8) Hit the Enter button on your keyboard. KindleGen will convert the book and place the new Mobi file inside the Book folder.
9) KindleGen will use the standard c1 compression unless you tell it otherwise. The other choices are c0 (no compression) or c2 (the most compression.) To use c0 or c2, paste in one of the following:
C:\KindleGen\kindlegen.exe -c0 C:\KindleGen\Book\your_book.epub
C:\KindleGen\kindlegen.exe -c2 C:\KindleGen\Book\your_book.epub
The other commands available through KindleGen simply aren't worth messing with because you can do them better and easier without KindleGen. For instance, you can force KG to change all your jpg images to gif. Or you can force it to give a new name to the Mobi file it outputs. And honestly, the three compression schemes produce files that aren't very different in size at all. It might be worth using c2 compression once in a great while if you have a large book that's just barely over (let's say) 2MB in size and you'd like to keep it under 2MB in order to avoid an extra 15-cents in Amazon's delivery fees.
And obviously you can name your Book and KindleGen folders something else and put them somewhere other than the C-drive once you have this directory stuff down. You can also delete the zip file now and all the files inside it. They're all useless except for the kindlegen.exe file that we already copied.
That's about it. Now really, isn't it a lot easier just to drag and drop the file you want to convert onto Previewer?
~~~~
http://ebookpioneers.com
http://ebookpioneer.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-use-kindlegen-to-make-mobi-book.html
~~~~
~~~~
I must see a dozen posts per month asking about using KindleGen. Here's how to use it although I highly recommend just dragging and dropping your book file onto Previewer's face instead. (You can also drag and drop your file onto "kindlegen.exe" to convert it.)
1) Download the kindlegen_win32_v2_8.zip file to your desktop. You can find it here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000765211
2) Open your C-drive directory. The easiest way to get to your C-drive is to double click on Computer on your desktop (or My Computer if you're using an OS older than Windows 7.)
You'll see other folders in there such as Program Files, Users, Windows etc. Make a new folder in this directory and call it KindleGen.
3) Shrink the C-drive window down and go back to the zip file on your desktop and double click to open it. (There's no need to extract it.)
4) Copy the file in there called: kindlegen.exe and paste it into that new KindleGen folder we just made in the C-drive directory. While you're still in the new KindleGen folder, make another folder inside it called: Book
5) So now you have a KindleGen folder on your C-drive and inside is the kindlegen.exe file and the Book folder. Find an HTML, ePub, or OPF file that you wish to convert into a Mobi book and paste it into that Book folder. Of course, if it's an OPF file you're pasting, then you'll also need all the other folders and files that go with the making of the book such as the NCX, ALL HTML files, all images, any embedded fonts etc.
6) Go to All Programs\Accessories and open Command Prompt.
7) Copy the following and then right-click beside the cursor in Command Prompt and paste it in. (Control V doesn't work in Windows 7.) Make sure to change "your_book" to whatever the name of the file is you have in the Book folder along with the correct suffix (epub, opf, or html.):
C:\KindleGen\kindlegen.exe C:\KindleGen\Book\your_book.epub
8) Hit the Enter button on your keyboard. KindleGen will convert the book and place the new Mobi file inside the Book folder.
9) KindleGen will use the standard c1 compression unless you tell it otherwise. The other choices are c0 (no compression) or c2 (the most compression.) To use c0 or c2, paste in one of the following:
C:\KindleGen\kindlegen.exe -c0 C:\KindleGen\Book\your_book.epub
C:\KindleGen\kindlegen.exe -c2 C:\KindleGen\Book\your_book.epub
The other commands available through KindleGen simply aren't worth messing with because you can do them better and easier without KindleGen. For instance, you can force KG to change all your jpg images to gif. Or you can force it to give a new name to the Mobi file it outputs. And honestly, the three compression schemes produce files that aren't very different in size at all. It might be worth using c2 compression once in a great while if you have a large book that's just barely over (let's say) 2MB in size and you'd like to keep it under 2MB in order to avoid an extra 15-cents in Amazon's delivery fees.
And obviously you can name your Book and KindleGen folders something else and put them somewhere other than the C-drive once you have this directory stuff down. You can also delete the zip file now and all the files inside it. They're all useless except for the kindlegen.exe file that we already copied.
That's about it. Now really, isn't it a lot easier just to drag and drop the file you want to convert onto Previewer?
~~~~
http://ebookpioneers.com
|
| |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
Thursday, June 13, 2013
The Digital Nirvana » Blog Archive » Adobe’s Cloud Move: Really That Big a Deal?
The Digital Nirvana » Blog Archive » Adobe’s Cloud Move: Really That Big a Deal?: Adobe’s Cloud Move: Really That Big a Deal?
By Heidi Tolliver-Walker on June 7th, 2013
A few weeks back, CNET ran an article on Adobe’s decision to stop selling the Creative Suite and move exclusively to the cloud. All of designers’ favorite software will now be cloud- and subscription-based under the name Creative Cloud.
It was the roar heard round the industry. As of this moment, the CNET article has 527 comments, and in one LinkedIn discussion group, the link has sparked 98 comments — almost unheard of for LinkedIn. There are a lot of fired up print shops and designers both concerned about the ramifications of the move on their business and offended by what seems to be a Big Brother decision over which they have no control.
By Heidi Tolliver-Walker on June 7th, 2013
A few weeks back, CNET ran an article on Adobe’s decision to stop selling the Creative Suite and move exclusively to the cloud. All of designers’ favorite software will now be cloud- and subscription-based under the name Creative Cloud.
It was the roar heard round the industry. As of this moment, the CNET article has 527 comments, and in one LinkedIn discussion group, the link has sparked 98 comments — almost unheard of for LinkedIn. There are a lot of fired up print shops and designers both concerned about the ramifications of the move on their business and offended by what seems to be a Big Brother decision over which they have no control.
Sunday, June 02, 2013
What is Content Curation? - EdTechReview
What is Content Curation? - EdTechReview:
http://edtechreview.in presents:
Content Curation is the act of discovering, gathering, and presenting digital content that surrounds specific subject matter.
In other words, Content Curation is the process of sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful form.
Image Source
Content Curation Process:
Aggregation: Pulling the most relevant information about a particular topic into a single location.
Distillation: Most simplistic format- only the most relevant/important ideas are shared.
Elevation: Identify a larger trend insight from smaller, regular of musings.
Mashup: Merging existing content to create a new point of view.
Chronology: Organize historical information by time to show how understanding has evolved.
http://edtechreview.in presents:
Content Curation is the act of discovering, gathering, and presenting digital content that surrounds specific subject matter.
In other words, Content Curation is the process of sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful form.
Image Source
Content Curation Process:
Aggregation: Pulling the most relevant information about a particular topic into a single location.
Distillation: Most simplistic format- only the most relevant/important ideas are shared.
Elevation: Identify a larger trend insight from smaller, regular of musings.
Mashup: Merging existing content to create a new point of view.
Chronology: Organize historical information by time to show how understanding has evolved.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Copyright exceptions for teaching | Scholarly Communications @ Duke
Copyright exceptions for teaching | Scholarly Communications @ Duke: Copyright exceptions for teaching
By Kevin Smith, J.D. On December 26, 2006 · 2 Comments · In Copyright in the Classroom, Fair Use
There are three exceptions to the exclusive rights in copyright that help serve educational needs:
Face-to-face teaching – Section 110(1)
Allows performance or display of protected material in a face-to-face teaching setting.
Must be in a classroom and at a non-profit educational institution.
Does NOT allow copying. This is an exception to the exclusive rights of performance and display, but not the right of reproduction.
Copying may still be allowed by fair use, however.
Performance and display in the classroom must employ a legally obtained copy – no “bootleg” copy is eligible for this exception, but borrowed copies are OK.
“Transmission” to registered students – Section 110(2), a.k.a. The TEACH Act
Allows digital copies in course management systems under a specific set of conditions.
Text and images may be transmitted (displayed) in amounts comparable to in-class teaching.
Music and video may be used in portions; entire songs may be used if “non-dramatic.”
Access must be restricted to students registered in the course, and notice that the material is protected must be given.
Technological measures to prevent the material from being retained after the course is over or copied to others are required. Streaming of music and video is a good way to meet this requirement.
The institution should have policies and educational programs about copyright in place to take advantage of this exception.
Fair Use – Section 107
By Kevin Smith, J.D. On December 26, 2006 · 2 Comments · In Copyright in the Classroom, Fair Use
There are three exceptions to the exclusive rights in copyright that help serve educational needs:
Face-to-face teaching – Section 110(1)
Allows performance or display of protected material in a face-to-face teaching setting.
Must be in a classroom and at a non-profit educational institution.
Does NOT allow copying. This is an exception to the exclusive rights of performance and display, but not the right of reproduction.
Copying may still be allowed by fair use, however.
Performance and display in the classroom must employ a legally obtained copy – no “bootleg” copy is eligible for this exception, but borrowed copies are OK.
“Transmission” to registered students – Section 110(2), a.k.a. The TEACH Act
Allows digital copies in course management systems under a specific set of conditions.
Text and images may be transmitted (displayed) in amounts comparable to in-class teaching.
Music and video may be used in portions; entire songs may be used if “non-dramatic.”
Access must be restricted to students registered in the course, and notice that the material is protected must be given.
Technological measures to prevent the material from being retained after the course is over or copied to others are required. Streaming of music and video is a good way to meet this requirement.
The institution should have policies and educational programs about copyright in place to take advantage of this exception.
Fair Use – Section 107
U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use
U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use: One of the rights accorded to the owner of copyright is the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords. This right is subject to certain limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the copyright law (title 17, U. S. Code). One of the more important limitations is the doctrine of “fair use.” The doctrine of fair use has developed through a substantial number of court decisions over the years and has been codified in section 107 of the copyright law.
Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair.
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair.
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
Monday, April 08, 2013
Flipboard is a giant iceberg lurking in the path of the media
Flipboard is a giant iceberg lurking in the path of the media: When Flipboard recently announced it was opening up its platform to enable users to create their own magazines, I was surprised by the low-key reaction by the publishing industry. It wasn’t a particularly busy news day but still there was a fairly neutral vibe throughout the coverage – as if it was of no particular consequence. Yet after I plowed through what little there was, visions of icebergs began forming in my brain. The publishing industry should have no doubts that big trouble is lurking directly in its path.
In case you missed it, here’s Flipboard’s explanation and demonstration of its new capabilities:
In case you missed it, here’s Flipboard’s explanation and demonstration of its new capabilities:
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
If you want to get something done, you've got to do-it-yourself...together! - Pages from Freelancers Union
If you want to get something done, you've got to do-it-yourself...together! - Pages from Freelancers Union: If you want to get something done, you've got to do-it-yourself...together!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
When All Else Fails, Remember These Five Things When Selling Printing -Kelly Mallozzi : Printing Impressions
When All Else Fails, Remember These Five Things When Selling Printing -Kelly Mallozzi : Printing Impressions: When All Else Fails, Remember These Five Things
By Kelly Mallozzi
By Kelly Mallozzi
Sunday, July 08, 2012
The Professional Publishers Association (PPA)
PPA : About: Welcome to the PPA
The Professional Publishers Association (PPA) represents more than 200 companies, covering everything from consumer magazine publishers to business-to-business data and information providers and smaller independents.
We promote the industry in all its forms, protect members through lobbying activities, and advise the industry through communications and training work.
The Professional Publishers Association (PPA) represents more than 200 companies, covering everything from consumer magazine publishers to business-to-business data and information providers and smaller independents.
We promote the industry in all its forms, protect members through lobbying activities, and advise the industry through communications and training work.
A change is needed !
Jim Cox writes:
With the growing popularity and ease with which authors can turn their manuscripts into finished books simply by writing a check to a Publish On Demand (POD) company, or following such instructive 'how to' manuals as "Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book" or"The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Own Book" by Marilyn Ross & Sue Collier, the term 'self published' came into widespread usage -- with a consequently commonly encountered problem.
There were so many 'self published' books coming into the market that had serious flaws in them that the term 'self published' became fairly synonymous with 'substandard'. So much so that most professional book review publications and reviewers, book wholesalers and distributors, and bookstore retailers, would not consider a self-published book. This prejudice against self published titles continues to this very day.
But there is an antidote to that discriminatory reflex. A simple change of wording. I recommended that the term "Self Published" should be replaced with the term "Privately Published" in all book marketing related materials -- and most especially in book reviews.
With the growing popularity and ease with which authors can turn their manuscripts into finished books simply by writing a check to a Publish On Demand (POD) company, or following such instructive 'how to' manuals as "Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book" or"The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Own Book" by Marilyn Ross & Sue Collier, the term 'self published' came into widespread usage -- with a consequently commonly encountered problem.
There were so many 'self published' books coming into the market that had serious flaws in them that the term 'self published' became fairly synonymous with 'substandard'. So much so that most professional book review publications and reviewers, book wholesalers and distributors, and bookstore retailers, would not consider a self-published book. This prejudice against self published titles continues to this very day.
But there is an antidote to that discriminatory reflex. A simple change of wording. I
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
InfoTrends Forecasts Shift in On Demand Printing and Publishing Market
InfoTrends Forecasts Shift in On Demand Printing and Publishing Market - WhatTheyThink: InfoTrends sees that the success of high-speed continuous-feed color inkjet devices foreshadows a clear shift in the on demand printing and publishing market.
Monday, June 18, 2012
The Durango Herald 06/17/2012 | Get your book hot off the press with latest self-printing machine
The Durango Herald 06/17/2012 | Get your book hot off the press with latest self-printing machine: Get your book hot off the press with latest self-printing machine
Thursday, June 14, 2012
No longer is print just for reading.
Imagination Ink: No longer is print just for reading.
Interactive print is any technology that connects print to the digital world or allows a human to interface with it.
No longer is print just for reading. It has become a sophisticated communication transfer medium. How so?
Image recognition technology via smart phone (and smart tablet) cameras connects print to the digital world.
Electronic circuits printed on a traditional printing press (screen, flexography, offset and gravure) not only connect us to the digital world but also allows for human interaction with the substrate itself.
Interactive print is any technology that connects print to the digital world or allows a human to interface with it.
No longer is print just for reading. It has become a sophisticated communication transfer medium. How so?
Image recognition technology via smart phone (and smart tablet) cameras connects print to the digital world.
Electronic circuits printed on a traditional printing press (screen, flexography, offset and gravure) not only connect us to the digital world but also allows for human interaction with the substrate itself.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Envelope Size Chart Quick Guide | Marsid M&M Group Blog
Envelope Size Chart Quick Guide | Marsid M&M Group Blog: Envelope Size Chart Quick Guide
It’s easy to get confused when selecting the correct envelope sizes for invitations, business letters or Direct Mail pieces… A2, A4, A7, #10, #9, #10 Window…
So we decided to build this common envelope size chart with the goal of providing a sort of cheat-sheet or quick reference for envelopes for our customers and anyone who can use it.
If you find it useful or know someone who could use it, please share it!
It’s easy to get confused when selecting the correct envelope sizes for invitations, business letters or Direct Mail pieces… A2, A4, A7, #10, #9, #10 Window…
So we decided to build this common envelope size chart with the goal of providing a sort of cheat-sheet or quick reference for envelopes for our customers and anyone who can use it.
If you find it useful or know someone who could use it, please share it!
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
The Midwest Book Review 8/2011
Midwest Book Review
Established in 1976, the Midwest Book Review publishes the following monthly book publications specifically designed for community and academic librarians, booksellers, and the general reading public:
- The Bookwatch
- California Bookwatch
- Children's Bookwatch
- Internet Bookwatch
- Library Bookwatch
- MBR Bookwatch
- Reviewer's Bookwatch
- Small Press Bookwatch
- Wisconsin Bookwatch
We post our reviews on the Internet with a number of thematically
appropriate web sites, databases, and online discussion groups such as
alt.books.reviews and Pub-Forum. Our reviews are also available through
Internet bookstores such as Amazon.com. We archive our reviews on the
Midwest Book Review web site for a minimum of five years.The Midwest Book Review has contracted with Cengage Learning to
provide them with electronic copies of our book reviews. Cengage
Learning then makes our reviews available to library systems nationwide
in their print, magnetic tape, and diskette series, Book Review Index
(an interactive CD-ROM series designed for use by community, university,
and corporate library systems throughout the U.S. and Canada), as well
as online databases such as Lexus-Nexus and Goliath
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Fond Memories ... I remember when ...
When PrintPlanet.com merged with WhatTheyThink.com, research and news joined user forums packed with technical know-how.
"I am interested in implementing color management through our company," wrote Marko Rakar, general manager of a Croatia-based printer, in a post in PrintPlanet.com's CTP Pressroom e-community. "We have all the required parts: a printing press, a proofer, an ICC profiler with spectrophotometer and even a RIP that supports ICC profiles. What is the right thing to do?"
Looking for a little free advice yourself? Have an arcane printing question that you haven't been able to get answered? Chances are, someone at PrintPlanet.com, an online print production news and information center, will have a solution. Most of the Web site's 25,000 members-- who have a wide variety of printing, prepress and publishing backgrounds--voluntarily share their expertise, advice and technical know-how. For more than two years, PrintPlanet.com has been the hub of 15 online forums for use by its screened membership of production employees. To join, users simply plug in personal information--there is no subscription fee. Then these members, through Internet bulletin boards and e-mails, play "Dear Abby" to a skyrocketing number of other PrintPlanet.com subscribers by troubleshooting problems, discussing trends in printing, answering questions about providers, etc. And now, due to a recent merger, the site has expanded from peer-to-peer advice forums to include late-breaking news and market research.
In late March, PrintPlanet.com separated from its parent company, Digital Art Exchange (DAX), and merged with WhatTheyThink.com, a printing market news and research Web site owned by City Information Services, Inc. (The new PrintPlanet.com now operates independently of its parent corporations, although it is still jointly-owned by both.) About three weeks later, the Web site relaunched using WhatTheyThink.com's content, research, breaking news and Q&As with industry pundits--and added three more free forums for e-community subscribers (the Print Buyer, Digital Rights Management and Mac OS-X forums).
Since the merger and relaunch, subscriptions have increased at a clip of about 1,000 per month; as of early May, the number of PrintPlanet.com members reached 25,462. The company, which derives revenue solely through the sale of banner ads and various sponsorship opportunities, expects to make a profit by September of this year. And now, it says, charging for subscriptions and/or syndicating content may be in a revised business model one day in the future.
The news and market research components of WhatTheyWant.com are the perfect complement to the forums, says PrintPlanet.com CEO Randy Davidson. "The foundation of the site is the information provided by the users themselves," says Davidson. "But now, with the merger and WhatTheyThink.com's content, it also provides research and data focused on those end-users. It just made perfect sense for us to lay our content on top of theirs."
COO Dave Mainwaring puts into perspective the amount and caliber of discussion that goes on in PrintPlanet.com forums: In the month of March alone, he says, 5,833,224 e-mails were sent and received in the CTP Pressroom forum. Some members have titles like vendor prepress specialist, technical operations manager, production director and color consultant. And postings have come from "experts" across the United States and throughout the world; members hail from such countries as New Zealand, the Netherlands and, of course, Croatia.
For publishers, the most valuable aspect of the new PrintPlanet.com seems to be those e-communities. "There's a real open exchange of information that goes on in them," says Richard Franklin, senior technical analyst for Cahners Business Information, who checks the site six to 12 times a day. "And members usually have a lot of expertise and a lot of good feedback."
Says John Dunn, production director for Wizards of the Coast Periodicals, "There's a good number of vendors who post, and some of the forums are a little prepress heavy."
Dunn adds, however, that feedback from all types of members helped his department through a recent workflow transition: "The forums are really useful from that interactive standpoint. We got a lot of answers to some difficult questions. We would have been making a lot of phone calls otherwise. Those forums saved us time--and, as any production director knows, time is money."
A One-Stop Web Shop For Graphic Arts News and Advice | Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management | Find Articles at BNET
Monday, November 09, 2009
top-line research summaries
Print in the Mix:
Print in the Mix: A Clearinghouse of Research on Print Media Effectiveness brings together valuable information and research from a wide-range of credible sources on the role and effectiveness of print in the marketing media mix.
Covering all areas of print, including direct mail, magazines, custom publishing, newspapers, and more, Print in the Mix’s concise facts and top-line research summaries demonstrate print’s effectiveness and role in generating return on investment -- alone and working synergistically with other media to drive results.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Kathleen Parker on the enduring role of newspapers - washingtonpost.com
Kathleen Parker - Kathleen Parker on the enduring role of newspapers - washingtonpost.com
The good-news story
By Kathleen Parker
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Each time another report surfaces about the decline of newspapers, I feel like a death-row inmate counting the warden's footsteps.
The latest echo of doom arrived a few days ago: U.S. newspaper circulation dropped 10 percent from April through September, compared with the same period last year. The largest decrease recorded thus far, the decline was attributed to the usual -- advertising and readership lost to the Web. Industrywide, ad revenue, which constitutes newspapers' main source of income, is on track to drop $20 billion by 2010. Even so, most newspapers remain profitable, and circulation is astoundingly good, all things considered.
That's the delightful view of Alex Jones -- fourth-generation member of a newspaper-owning family, Pulitzer Prize-winning media critic and now author of "Losing the News." In his book, Jones, who also heads Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, manages to combine a dispassionate look at the news business with a page-turning story of traditional journalism's highs and lows.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Boston’s teens in print, powerful writing -
Boston’s teens in print - The Boston Globe By Betty Southwick October 22, 2009
BOSTON IS known for its writers, from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Phillis Wheatley to the more than 75 authors who will appear at the inaugural Boston Book Festival in Copley Square on Saturday. But there are thousands of other writers who are as diligent, creative, thoughtful, and articulate as their more famous peers. They are Boston’s high school students and their powerful stories, arguments, opinions, and analyses can be found in classrooms, newspapers, and literary magazines all over the city.
Students are doing all kinds of powerful writing, from personal narrative to analytic essays to journalistic exposes. They are using writing to understand everything from their school experiences to biology, literature, and history.
Friday, October 09, 2009
4th Annual Print Buyers Conference Will Save Your Firm Money
Print This Out and Hand It to Your Boss!
4th Annual Print Buyers Conference
November 3 - 5, 2009
Westford Regency Inn & Conference Center
Westford, MA
Here's Why Attending the 4th Annual Print Buyers Conference
Will Save Your Firm Money
It's no secret your budget is tight. If you are responsible for scheduling, print production and delivery of your company's creative and print work, then you need to attend the 4th Annual Print Buyers Conference. You'll learn ways to work faster, smarter and more effectively - and save your firm money at the same time. Here's how.
-
You'll find out how to strategically source printing - without sacrificing the quality of your work
-
You'll get a leg up on your competition with the latest printing insights and intelligence not available anywhere else
-
You'll discover the inside secrets of print-buying pros during face-to-face networking with peers from across the country
-
You'll look beyond print to identify ways to improve your company's marketing & communications strategies
-
You'll explore time- and money-saving trends with #1 experts in printing, paper, design, new media and digital printing: Frank Romano, Daniel Dejan, Gary Jones, Peter Muir, and Xerox VP/GM Gavin Jordan-Smith
-
You'll examine how the outlook for print, new media and the economy will impact your business from the industry's foremost economic consultant, Dr. Joe Webb
Now through October 15th, take an additional 20% our affordable Conference price with our 10-year anniversary special. Just use "tenyears" (no quotes) as your Priority Code when you register online at www.printbuyersconference.com to receive a great discount on your 2-day Conference pass. All meals, learning sessions, networking Roundtables, four inspiring keynote presentations, cocktail party, and exhibit hall pass are included. Parking is free, too.
We are so confident that this year's Conference will give you more ideas than you can use, more value than you possibly imagined, and more ways to improve your firm's print & media campaigns, that we're offering a money-back guarantee.*
Don't wait. Go to www.printbuyersconference.com now to register and start your savings now.
We look forward to seeing you in November at the 4th Annual Print Buyers Conference!
Margie Dana
Print Buyers International, LLC
Boston Print Buyers
PS: Sign up for our Print Tips email to get all future event info plus a weekly tip about working with printers. Go to www.printbuyersconference.com. The sign up box is on the right below the Featured Speaker.
*This guarantee applies only if you attend the entire 2-day Conference on November 4 & 5, and call PBI by November 11th to explain why you learned nothing valuable for your current job responsibilities, about printing and new media, or got any insights for your career development.
Friday, June 12, 2009
A Different Paper Company by Gail Nickel-Kailing
Grays Harbor Paper - A Different Paper Company
Business Strategies Etc., was launched by Gail Nickel-Kailing in 2001 to provide outsourced business planning and marketing services and help clients increase revenue and profits through strong marketing and product management processes and implementation of software and other technology.
Here is a terrific a article:
http://www.business-strategies-etc.com/2009/grays-harbor-paper-a-different-paper-company/
Grays Harbor Paper - A Different Paper Company
Friday, June 12, 2009 | Posted to Business Strategies, Sustainability
<Gail> At this week’s Action for a Sustainable America, held in Seattle, I had the opportunity to meet some great folks. The event was one of a series of three where corporate leaders and green innovators examined sustainability as a corporate strategy.
David Quigg, Grays Harbor Paper, introduced the company his father helped rescue with a team of local investors when the Grays Harbor paper mill closed 15 years ago putting hundreds of people out of work in rural Washington.
Housing two of the remaining five pieces of paper making equipment in Washington, the company produces FSC-Certified copy and printing papers containing recycled post-consumer recycled in a “fossil-free” manufacturing process using energy produced on-site.
Business Strategies Etc., was launched by Gail Nickel-Kailing in 2001 to provide outsourced business planning and marketing services and help clients increase revenue and profits through strong marketing and product management processes and implementation of software and other technology.
Here is a terrific a article:
http://www.business-strategies-etc.com/2009/grays-harbor-paper-a-different-paper-company/
Grays Harbor Paper - A Different Paper Company
Friday, June 12, 2009 | Posted to Business Strategies, Sustainability
<Gail> At this week’s Action for a Sustainable America, held in Seattle, I had the opportunity to meet some great folks. The event was one of a series of three where corporate leaders and green innovators examined sustainability as a corporate strategy.
David Quigg, Grays Harbor Paper, introduced the company his father helped rescue with a team of local investors when the Grays Harbor paper mill closed 15 years ago putting hundreds of people out of work in rural Washington.
Housing two of the remaining five pieces of paper making equipment in Washington, the company produces FSC-Certified copy and printing papers containing recycled post-consumer recycled in a “fossil-free” manufacturing process using energy produced on-site.
Friday, May 15, 2009
used laser imaging parts,
Launching new website iFix.com
iFix.com Delivers First Online Resource for Purchasing Equipment Parts
Graphic Arts Service Agents Gain Immediate Global Access to
New & Used Laser Imaging Parts
Amesbury, MA.– May 15, 2009– iFix.com Inc., global provider of new and used laser imaging parts, is pleased to announce availability of the industry’s first online resource store for finding and replacing platesetter parts. iFix.com delivers instant access to a broad range of hard to find service parts; initially focusing on Agfa, Fuji, Heidelberg or Screen equipment. All used parts include an extended 6-month warranty, currently the most comprehensive guarantee offered by any supplier in the industry.
President and industry veteran, Rick Littrell states, "For years there has been a real need in the Graphic Arts Service Market to have immediate access to quality components at economical prices. iFix.com is committed to becoming the "go-to" source around the world known for their expertise and fast turnaround."
iFix.com was created to meet the needs of graphics arts dealers, independent field service reps, and end users who are qualified to service their own equipment. Certified Parts Experts are on call to answer questions, verify pricing and parts availability. Same day shipping is available on any item in stock; additional parts can be sourced with minimal lead-time. All orders are placed online and can be drop-shipped to any location across the globe.
In addition to providing comprehensive website and telephone resources, iFix.com will feature a forum for general support and discussions leveraging social networks including Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/iFixParts) and a LinkedIn Group "iFix Parts" (http://tinyurl.com/LI-iFixParts).
For more information visit: http://www.ifix.com
About iFix.com
iFix.com, Inc. was founded in January 2008, by Rick Littrell, a 30-year veteran of the print and electronic imaging industry. As a former worldwide Product Line Manager for platesetting solutions at a major imaging equipment and media supplier, Rick spent years visiting customers throughout the world and saw firsthand, the need for a reliable and economical imaging system parts supplier to the graphics industry. Getting the right parts, on time and for the right price helps Rick’s customers operate at full capacity and extend the life of their publishing equipment.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Writing Made Simple
The Easy Essay - Essay Writing Made Simple
THE EASY ESSAY WORKS FROM SPECIAL ED TO COLLEGE ED, ED REHAB, BUSINESS AND MORE
In a world where they put a man on the moon before they put wheels on suitcases, the same strange mind set still holds amazingly true with writing. Remember the dread of a report? Essays, for example, are really easy to write.
“I have used this technique with my corporate clients, my theology students, and soon with my students at Kaplan University.”
Dr. Kathleen A. Bishop, M.B.A., PhD, ThD.
“It works for reports from my secretary to our construction personnel. This process saves my associates time, saves my employees time and best of all it, saves me time.”
Gary E. Hunt - Chief Manager, Just Be Green, LLC
“I had wanted to wait until I got feedback from the teachers. They love it and we are looking at using it with some of our AT devices.”
Dr. Suzanne Pope Dobson - Calhoun High School (Special Education Department Head)
“As a physician I recommend The Easy Essay almost daily to patients to help them organize their thoughts and improve their ability to concisely communicate their medical histories…”
Dr. Ernest G Hope MD PhD (Stanford University, USA)
FREE AUTOMATED INFORMATION ORGANIZATION PROGRAM
www.TheEasyEssay.com, a free site, can teach almost anyone how to logically organize a proof format (as an essay, speech, business memo etc,) for any fact, concept or idea in 5 minutes.
www.TheEasyEssay.com uses an automated information organization program. It has been taught to people from eight to eighty, LD and ADHD students, Special Education classes, in high schools and for home schooling. It has also been used for basic expository writing, as prep for the SAT, FCAT and the ACT, as well as a college class and for post graduate work. The program is additionally beneficial for interoffice communications, speech writing, and business, technical and scientific reports. The Easy Essay can even be used for educational rehabilitation purposes; it’s logical, color coded, repetitive functions lead one to believe that it could have beneficial effects in retraining or helping to reopen neural pathways.
Our concept is based on our belief that in most conversations, the majority of the conversation deals with one person telling the other person why something is true; that is, giving reasons for its validity. That is all that we ask you to do on this site, except in writing. We use the essay form because it is the most efficient form of organization available and we automate the organization so that you limit your statements to proving only the things that you have already stated were true.
For those with no information available, the thesis, or main idea you are going to prove, is linked to Google® to help begin your accumulation of that information. Then we show you, very simply, how to prove said fact or idea.
It can be taught to a varied group of individuals at the same time and each will learn to his or her own unique capacity. It is especially helpful for mainstreaming students with special needs. The Easy Essay is easy enough for the user to learn the process and make the use of the automated portion of the program unnecessary in situations where a computer is not at hand or if a teacher wants to make sure his/her students understand the process. The process is limited only by the capacity of the user.
For longer papers it can automatically expand into a 17 paragraph thesis.
The Easy Essay Process is usable in any language.
A noted side effect of the program is that users begin to communicate logically.
www.TheEasyEssay.com is free because we feel it is too important to charge for.
We would appreciate any feedback (use the “Contact Us” section of the site) but in any case:
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO WHERE EVER IT CAN HELP
Patent Pending 2007- ©1989,2006
The Easy Essay Inc.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The First Real Digital Newspaper Printing Operation
Gmail - Cenveo loss, Real digital newspaper operation - davemainwaring@gmail.com
WTT Premium Content {pay for access}
Tribute Tuesdays
The days of digitally printed newspapers seem to be finally arriving. This is not to say that we have not had such newspapers before. In fact in the past week I have received information from Océ that at their largest digital newspaper printing operation at Stroma in London, the five millionth digitally printed newspaper copy has rolled off their Océ monochrome presses after eight years of operation.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Barnes & Noble Buys an E-Book Retailer By MOTOKO RICH, NYT
Technology - Internet News - The New York Times
Barnes & Noble Buys an E-Book Retailer
By MOTOKO RICH
With overall book sales flat or falling and electronic book purchases up, the bookstore chain has acquired Fictionwise, an online retailer of e-books.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Wayland company is the first in the United States to offer a combination of green large format printing
Wayland company prints with environmental awareness - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News
By Bob Tremblay/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Jan 26, 2009 @ 12:58 AM
Last update Jan 28, 2009 @ 03:44 PM
WAYLAND —
At EcoVisual Communications, green is good.
Launched in November, the Wayland company is the first in the United States to offer a combination of green large format printing for trade show graphics, interior decor images and museum-quality display art. It also provides personalized consultation to corporate marketers on improving the environmental impact of their marketing efforts.
"For too long, excessive direct mail campaigns printed on virgin papers and the production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in printing processes have created excessive waste and negative impacts on health," says Rick Colson, EcoVisual’s founder and president. "On average, 40 percent of landfill content is paper. Now, the best marketers are beginning to embrace green technologies and even those who lag behind are becoming more environmentally aware."
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Kindle 2 is not paying anyone for audio rights.
Op-Ed Contributor - The Kindle Swindle? - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/opinion/25blount.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/opinion/25blount.html
The Kindle 2 is a portable, wireless, paperback-size device onto which people can download a virtual library of digitalized titles. Amazon sells these downloads, and where the books are under copyright, it pays royalties to the authors and publishers.
Serves readers, pays writers: so far, so good. But there’s another thing about Kindle 2 — its heavily marketed text-to-speech function. Kindle 2 can read books aloud. And Kindle 2 is not paying anyone for audio rights.
True, you can already get software that will read aloud whatever is on your computer. But Kindle 2 is being sold specifically as a new, improved, multimedia version of books — every title is an e-book and an audio book rolled into one. And whereas e-books have yet to win mainstream enthusiasm, audio books are a billion-dollar market, and growing. Audio rights are not generally packaged with e-book rights. They are more valuable than e-book rights. Income from audio books helps not inconsiderably to keep authors, and publishers, afloat.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
It’s all a thousand times more convenient ...
State of the Art - Amazon.com’s Kindle Goes From Good to Better - NYTimes.com
Kindles (dream on, Amazon), all of them remember where you stopped reading in each book. (This feature will be more useful if, as Amazon has hinted, you’ll soon be able to read your e-books on other machines, like your laptop or iPhone. And why not? The Kindle is just the razor. The books are the blades — ka-ching!)
The Kindle catalog is bigger, too; now 240,000 books are available. New York Times bestsellers are $10 each, which is less than the hardcover editions. Older books run $3 to $6.
That said, Amazon is still a long way from its “any book, any time” goal. You don’t have to look far to find important titles still among the missing; they include all Harry Potter books; “An Inconvenient Truth”; “The English Patient”; and “The Associate” (the No. 1 fiction best seller) or anything else by John Grisham.
You can have any of 30 newspapers, including this one, wirelessly beamed to your Kindle each morning ($10 to $14 a month) — minus ads, comics and crosswords. Magazines (22 so far, $1.50 to $3 monthly) and blogs ($2 a month) can arrive automatically, too.
Finally, you can send Word, text, PDF and JPEG documents to the Kindle using its private e-mail address — a huge blessing to publishers, lawyers, academics, script readers and so on — for 10 cents each. Or transfer them over a USB cable for nothing.
So, for the thousandth time: is this the end of the printed book?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
cloud computing, you rely on applications running on the Interne
When your files are online and you aren't - The Boston Globe
If you're a Google Docs user, get a copy of Gears. This free program, available at gears.google.com, lets you download your Google-generated documents onto your computer. Work with them even when you're offline, and when you log in again, Gears uploads your modified documents to the Google Docs Internet server, so your up-to-date document is available on any Internet-connected machine.
Gears isn't just for Google Docs fans; it works with other cloud computing services, including Zoho, a rival online document editing service, and Google's Gmail messaging service. You can plow through your e-mail on the plane, write up replies, then transmit them once you're back onlin
Monday, February 16, 2009
librarians believe that literacy includes, but also exceeds, books.
The Future of Reading - In Web Age, Library Job Gets Update - Series - NYTimes.com
Some of these new librarians teach children how to develop PowerPoint presentations or create online videos. Others get students to use social networking sites to debate topics from history or comment on classmates’ creative writing. Yet as school librarians increasingly teach students crucial skills needed not only in school, but also on the job and in daily life, they are often the first casualties of school budget crunches.
<snipped>
"More than 90 percent of American public schools have libraries, according to federal statistics, but less than two-thirds employ full-time certified librarians."
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
new ways to get the message across
Media entrepreneurs test new ways to get the message across - The Boston Globe
"was home to the first American newspaper. A Medford radio station was among the first to try selling advertising to support its programming, in the early 1920s. Researcher Ray Tomlinson was working in Cambridge when he sent the first e-mail over the Arpanet, the predecessor to the Internet, in 1971."
"Each innovation created a huge industry, and changed the way we communicate."
"Now, at this moment of tumult in the media world, entrepreneurs in Boston and the wider New England region are trying to develop the next successful models for conveying information. But even as advertisers and consumers spend an increasing amount of money and time on the Internet, building a profitable digital media business isn't exactly a cinch."
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Posting headlines and short summaries stories linked to from other sites.
Media chains settle lawsuit - The Boston Globe
As such, the settlement left unresolved the legal issue that drew the attention of news and technology companies, as well as Internet bloggers: whether news websites - especially aggregation sites, including Google News and Yahoo News - can continue with their current practice of posting headlines and short summaries for stories they link to from other sites.
Under the agreement, Boston.com will be able to refer to stories from GateHouse sites, as it has done in the past, and to manually "deep link" to individual articles without presenting the links with headlines or lead sentences.
No damages were awarded under the settlement, and each party agreed to pay its own legal fees. Neither The Times Co. nor GateHouse admitted wrongdoing.
"This agreement is not binding on anyone else," said David Ardia, director of the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. "It has no legal precedent per se. But it could persuade a judge in another case that what Boston.com was doing here was not defensible under fair use" in copyright law.
Ardia, however, described the settlement as a victory for GateHouse. "They seem to have achieved everything they wanted to in their lawsuit except for receiving monetary damages," he said. "It does result in the cessation of Boston.com using GateHouse content as it has done."
Monday, January 26, 2009
In bad times, you’re forced to see if there is a technology” that will help.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/technology/26spend.html
"Penny-pinching shoppers like Mr. Title could have the most
immediate effect on the tech industry, particularly if more people
consider canceling their cable subscriptions to watch video online, or
drop their landline telephones to depend on their cellphones or on
Internet calling services like Skype.
Many consumers appear ready
to abandon the costly desktop computer altogether. Analysts expect PC
sales to fall in 2009 for just the second time in the last two decades,
with desktops falling even faster than they did in 2007 or 2008.
The
only bright spot in the PC industry is netbooks. Analysts at the
Gartner research company said shipments rose to 4.4 million devices in
the third quarter of 2008, from 500,000 units in the first quarter of
last year. Analysts say sales could double this year despite a deep
worldwide recession.
Dell, missed the first wave of these tiny, stripped-down machines,
allowing Acer of Taiwan to grab market share. Acer pushed Apple out of the No. 3 spot behind H.P. and Dell as sales soared 55 percent. Dell and H.P. are making the devices now."
Sunday, January 25, 2009
It's a natural impulse. You want to write a book.
An E-Z guide to publishing - The Boston Globe
How hard can it be? Rockheaded jocks write books. TV talk show hosts write books. Dogs write books. Why not you?
wake up tomorrow and your hard drive is dead
Dueling data backup firms are rare bright spot - The Boston Globe
"We found that the only thing that sells our product is fear," says Carbonite chief executive David Friend. "The fact that you might wake up tomorrow and your hard drive is dead and all your photos are gone."
Mozy and Carbonite are two of the leaders of the online backup business, a rare bright spot in a gloomy tech economy. Rather than buying their own hard drives to save a copy of their data, consumers and small businesses pay a fee (Mozy's is $59 a year, Carbonite's is $50) to send their information securely over the Net, and have Mozy or Carbonite keep a copy that can be retrieved any time. IDC, a Framingham research firm, predicts that online backup services will generate about $715 million in annual revenue by 2011.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
New England Center for Investigative Reporting
New England Center for Investigative Reporting | NECN
NECN is proud to be a founding member of the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, a collaborative effort from some of New England's preeminent journalism organizations and Boston University.
The Center was launched in January 2009, with the goal of producing multimedia investigative journalism for print, broadcast and online audiences. The Center gives Boston University students a chance to work with skilled B.U. faculty and the investigative teams at the Boston Globe, Boston.com, WBUR-FM, New England Ethnic News and NECN, to develop local and regional investigative stories.
The Center, a first in the nation, is funded by its partners and private contributions and grants from foundations, including the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which promotes journalism excellence worldwide.
To visit the center online, donate to the effort or submit your own story ideas for the Center partners to explore, click here or go to www.necir-bu.org.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Digital Nirvana blog
The Digital Nirvana » About
The Digital Nirvana blog will focus on educating the printing community about how evolving technologies can fuel opportunities for business growth. Featuring authors from WhatTheyThink.com, prominent industry analysts and other thought leaders, it will be the catalyst for a lively exchange of the most current thinking and a variety of viewpoints.
--
Terrific contributors ! Important Topics.
imho, Dave Mainwaring, UncleDaveM_IFM
Friday, December 05, 2008
PIA/GATF Is Now Printing Industries of America
On November 16, 2008, the Boards of Printing Industries of America
and the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation approved the renaming of
PIA/GATF to Printing Industries of America, as well as a new logo and
tagline.
The new logo depicts the technology, artistry, and dynamic growth of
the industry, while the new tagline, “Advancing Graphic
Communications,” captures the organization’s innovative,
forward-thinking approach.
This change is the result of a comprehensive, 14-month branding
research project. The goal of this project was to strengthen and
streamline the messaging to the graphic communications industry, its
suppliers, partners, customers, and lawmakers and to better reflect the
activities within the organization.
A number of changes will be taking place as a result of this
initiative, including the renaming of the organization’s website from www.GAIN.net to www.printing.org. Plus in 2009, the website will be completely revitalized and re-launched with a more user-friendly format
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Ghostwriting & Book Producing - PUBLISH-L
PROMO: Ghostwriting & Book Producing - PUBLISH-L | Google Groups
I hope all parties, ghostwriter, client and publisher, realize that
there are substantial issues presented in this relationship in terms of the proposed Google settlement. The settlement agreement does not define "authors" in anything but the broadest of terms and would certainly include a ghostwriter (as well as an editor and potentially other parties). Therefore, in any agreement with a ghostwriter, the unresolved issues in this settlement, which are expressly left up to the underlying agreement between and among the parties, have to be addressed. If your ghostwriter agreement was drafted before this settlement, it is likely already out of date and should be reviewed by an experienced publishing attorney so that it can be appropriately revised. Without such revisions, all parties may be in for some very unwelcome surprises.
Read "How Does The Google Settlement Affect You?" on my site. {Ivan Hoffman} Click on "Articles for Writers and Publishers."
And if you do not have a valid, written and signed ghostwriter
agreement, well then you have bigger problems than the above to resolve.
This posting and any articles referred to in this posting are not
legal advice and are not intended as legal advice. This posting and any articles referred to in this posting are intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information. This posting and any
articles referred to in this posting do not create any attorney
client relationship and are not a solicitation.
IVAN HOFFMAN, B.A., J.D.
Attorney at Law
Lawyering With Integrity. Proudly in my 35th year of practice.
Entertainment Law, Publishing and Writing Law, Copyrights,
Trademarks, Internet Law, Web Design Law, Intellectual Property
Law. *A Winner of 8 Prestigious Web Site Awards.*
http://www.ivanhoffman.com
Thursday, November 20, 2008
WhatTheyThink Blog » Blog Archive » Getting press operators more involved at PrintPlanet
Patrick Henry Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
How about a webinar featuring a panel of PrintPlanet’s most knowledgeable regular posters on press-related topics? Gordon Pritchard and Offset Guy come immediately to mind, and there are others. Give them some provocative talking points, and they will do the rest. I volunteer to moderate.
PrintPlanet is a tremendous resource. I wrote about it years ago, not long after Dave Mainwaring launched it, and its forums have been gems of inside information ever since. PrintPlanet is the place to go for the kinds of straight talk and unvarnished opinions that can’t get an airing anywhere else in the graphic arts trade media. A press-focused webinar will encourage other press operators to add their voices as well.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
How about a webinar featuring a panel of PrintPlanet’s most knowledgeable regular posters on press-related topics? Gordon Pritchard and Offset Guy come immediately to mind, and there are others. Give them some provocative talking points, and they will do the rest. I volunteer to moderate.
PrintPlanet is a tremendous resource. I wrote about it years ago, not long after Dave Mainwaring launched it, and its forums have been gems of inside information ever since. PrintPlanet is the place to go for the kinds of straight talk and unvarnished opinions that can’t get an airing anywhere else in the graphic arts trade media. A press-focused webinar will encourage other press operators to add their voices as well.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop
WhatTheyThink Environment & Sustainability Section » Blog Archive » New Book: Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop
By Gail Nickel-Kailing on November 12th, 2008
Lean manufacturing principles are also green manufacturing principles; here is a book that tells you not only what to do, but how to do it.
Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop, Second Edition, Gary Conner, Society of Manufacturing Engineers (2008)
Thousands of people at hundreds of companies have used the Shingo-Prize-Award-winning first edition of “Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop” as their how-to guide to shortening delivery times, eliminating waste, improving quality, and reducing costs.
Monday, November 10, 2008
GOOGLE SETTLEMENT: HOFFMAN'S NEW ARTICLE
From: Ivan Hoffman
Publishers and authors alike (and other parties with "copyright interests") need to be aware that this is only a settlement *among the publisher-author classes and Google*. The settlement itself leaves some parties apparently uncovered, such as perhaps some illustrators for example, and significantly, leaves authors and publishers to resolve many questions between them that are contractual in nature. Given that you are all using or have signed agreements that were drafted before this settlement including author-publisher agreements as well as illustrator agreements and perhaps other agreements, it is likely that those agreements need to be substantially revised to cover issues presented by this settlement. These should all be reviewed by an experienced publishing attorney to have them comply with the issues left unresolved by the settlement and as to which, the settlement agreement expressly refers the parties to their respective agreements.
In this regard, I have written a brief overview of some of the contractual problems presented by the settlement and you can read about these at http://www.ivanhoffman.com/settlement.html
**Please feel free to forward this notice to your associates and colleagues if you feel they may be interested in this.** Thanks.
This posting and any articles referred to in this posting are not legal advice and are not intended as legal advice. This posting and any articles referred to in this posting are intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information. This posting and any articles referred to in this posting do not create any attorney client relationship and are not a solicitation.
If you no longer wish to receive these educational mailings from me, you have the right to be taken off my list by simply replying to *me* (DO NOT REPLY TO "ALL") and asking not to receive such further mailings from me and I shall be happy to comply. If you are receiving this posting as a member of any other list, you should contact the administrator of that list.
IVAN HOFFMAN, B.A., J.D. Attorney at Law Lawyering With Integrity. Proudly in my 35th year of practice. Entertainment Law, Publishing and Writing Law, Copyrights, Trademarks, Internet Law, Web Design Law, Intellectual Property Law. *A Winner of 8 Prestigious Web Site Awards.* http://www.ivanhoffman.com
Publishers and authors alike (and other parties with "copyright interests") need to be aware that this is only a settlement *among the publisher-author classes and Google*. The settlement itself leaves some parties apparently uncovered, such as perhaps some illustrators for example, and significantly, leaves authors and publishers to resolve many questions between them that are contractual in nature. Given that you are all using or have signed agreements that were drafted before this settlement including author-publisher agreements as well as illustrator agreements and perhaps other agreements, it is likely that those agreements need to be substantially revised to cover issues presented by this settlement. These should all be reviewed by an experienced publishing attorney to have them comply with the issues left unresolved by the settlement and as to which, the settlement agreement expressly refers the parties to their respective agreements.
In this regard, I have written a brief overview of some of the contractual problems presented by the settlement and you can read about these at http://www.ivanhoffman.com/settlement.html
**Please feel free to forward this notice to your associates and colleagues if you feel they may be interested in this.** Thanks.
This posting and any articles referred to in this posting are not legal advice and are not intended as legal advice. This posting and any articles referred to in this posting are intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information. This posting and any articles referred to in this posting do not create any attorney client relationship and are not a solicitation.
If you no longer wish to receive these educational mailings from me, you have the right to be taken off my list by simply replying to *me* (DO NOT REPLY TO "ALL") and asking not to receive such further mailings from me and I shall be happy to comply. If you are receiving this posting as a member of any other list, you should contact the administrator of that list.
IVAN HOFFMAN, B.A., J.D. Attorney at Law Lawyering With Integrity. Proudly in my 35th year of practice. Entertainment Law, Publishing and Writing Law, Copyrights, Trademarks, Internet Law, Web Design Law, Intellectual Property Law. *A Winner of 8 Prestigious Web Site Awards.* http://www.ivanhoffman.com
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Fwd: [PUBLISH-L] Jim Cox Report: November 2008
From: MWBOOKREVW@aol.com
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008
Subject: Jim Cox Report: November 2008
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008
Subject: Jim Cox Report: November 2008
Dear Friends & Family:
Some people write and publish because they seek to make money at it.
Others write and publish because they have a cause to promote.
Personally, I've always felt that it was the best of all possible
worlds if I could do what I wanted to do while improving the world a
bit and supporting my family at the same time.
I'm turning 66 on November 6th and have now been at this business of
being editor-in-chief of the Midwest Book Review for what amounts to
half of my life time. Therefore I count myself among the truly
fortunate in having been able to do something that I really have
enjoyed doing on a daily basis for a living, and that this work is
adequate to my creative and practical needs, and, judging from the
responses of what now has cumulatively amounted to thousands of men
and women over the last three decades of my life, has been generally
perceived as being of genuine service to aspiring authors, novice
publishers, conscientious librarians, struggling booksellers, and
grateful members of the reading public.
I'm now semi-retired with my daughter and her two stalwart associate
editors taking over more and more of the daily chores of running the
Midwest Book Review. I've even received my first Social Security
check this past month. Nevertheless, I will continue in my role as
Editor-in-Chief for as many years as I have the health to permit it.
It's clear to me now that I will always have the interest and the
motivation to do so. I find that life as the editor-in-chief of the
Midwest Book Review -- even in these troubled times -- is a good one.
But enough of my personal musings. You folk who read the "Jim Cox
Report" are really looking for writing and publishing "tips, tricks &
techniques" to help you accomplish your own literary and professional
goals in the wonderful world of publishing.
I've followed a recent discussion thread about how to deal with malicious
reviews when they are posted on Amazon.com with great interest. I
have some very
firm opinions about the Amazon review system. These opinions are based upon my
being among the first to post reviews on Amazon back when Amazon
originally made it
possible to do so. The practice of posting reviews on Amazon now stretches over
many years and includes tens of thousands of reviews from the Midwest Book
Review and our freelance publicists.
Opinion #1: The five star system is completely arbitrary, and because it is,
the value of such a system is both defective and dysfunctional. A quicky
rating system, whether in the form of stars, thumbs up or down, or any of the
other commonly employed symbols, actually serves as a disservice to
authors and
publishers because it acts as a kind of visual short-cut for the public so
that they don't have to read through the reviews themselves to determine
whether the reviewers are competently providing a positive or negative
recommendation. Unfortunately Amazon requires their stars, therefore
almost all of our
reviews get five of them on the basis of the books in question being able to
survive our selection process and receiving positive recommendations from
their assigned reviewers.
Opinion #2: Posters of reviewers are not held to any kind of standard with
respect to competence or civility. This is reflected in how so many positive
reviews and so many negative reviews are presented without a foundation of
cited justifications. All too often reviewers confuse nastiness with
competency
in panning a book, with others confusing platitudes with justifiable (and
justified) praise. Therefore anyone who relies on reviews as part of their own
book selection process should remember that reviewers, like authors and
publishers, fall into three basic categories: The Good, The Bad, and
The Mediocre.
Opinion #3: There simply are not enough places where authors and publishers
operating with limited budgetary resources can present their books to large
masses of the reading public -- especially in the sheer numbers that
Amazon can
turn out -- and therefore those authors and publishers of limited means must
invest in time and effort what they lack in financial capital to take
advantage of Amazon as a marketing tool to bring their titles to the
attention of
customers. Simply boycotting Amazon is ultimately self-defeating as a
marketing strategy for most authors and publishers.
As to how to handle a truly nasty review? My advice is to drown it out with
positive reviews. Take advantage of Amazon blogs, and all manner of
other online
guerrilla marketing strategies and techniques. Among those remember to include
utilizing the "Other Reviewers" database housed and maintained on the
Midwest Book
Review website at _http://www.midwestbookreview.com_
(<http://www.midwestbookreview.com>http://www.midwestbookreview.com)
Incidentally, this "Other Reviewers" section of my website includes all of
those MBR freelance and volunteer reviewers that have book review websites of
their own and who utilize the Midwest Book Review as a secondary forum for the
purpose of expanding the readership of their reviews.
Finally, I want to close with what I feel is the central and critically
important role of the book reviewer. A book reviewer should have as his or her
"mission statement" the task of helping writers to write better, publishers to
publish more effectively, bookstores and libraries to stock their shelves more
successfully, and readers to read with greater satisfaction.
Now here are some reviews of the latest 'how to' books for writers
and publishers to have recently crossed my desk:
The Writing/Publishing Shelf
A Book Inside
Carol Denbow
Plain & Simple Books
PO Box 1506, North Bend, OR 97459
<http://www.BooksByDenbow.Weebly.com>www.BooksByDenbow.Weebly.com
9780615199245, $18.95, www.amazon.com
It seems that every season there are more and more 'how to' books
being published for aspiring writers yearning to be published. One of
the latest is also one of the best. "A Book Inside: How To Write,
Publish, And Sell Your Story" is a succinct 104-page compendium
packed from cover to cover with practical, real-world information,
strategies and techniques dealing with the necessity for completing a
saleable manuscript, compiling its pages into book form, identifying
and selecting an appropriate publishing option, selling the book in
traditional and non-traditional markets, and publicizing, promoting,
and marketing the book without significant capital expense. Carol
Denbow writes with a particular, experienced-based expertise as the
author of three books and the editor of nine websites including 'A
Book Inside' online. Especially appropriate for, and recommended to,
the novice author needing to master the 'learning curve' for become a
successfully published author in today's highly competitive
marketplace, "A Book Inside" is a welcome and highly recommended
addition to personal and professional Writing/Publishing reference shelves.
Writer's Block Busters
Velina Hasu Houston
Smith & Kraus, Inc.
PO Box 127, Lyme NH 03768
9781575255972, $17.95, <http://www.smithandkraus.com>www.smithandkraus.com
'Writer's Block' is the term used to describe the condition of being
unable to come up with any ideas -- and well articulated ideas are
the core source of any professional writer's livelihood! Drawing upon
her many years of experience and expertise, Velina Hasu Houston
(author of more than 20 plays, and who is the Professor of Theatre,
Director of Dramatic Writing, Resident Playwright, and Associate Dean
of Faculty at the University of Southern California School of
Theatre) offers "Writer's Block Busters: 101 Exercises To Clear The
Deadwood And Make Room For Flights Of Fancy". This compendium of
succinct 'things to do' will break through this often encountered
author's nemesis and trigger the flow of creative ideas. Superbly
organized and thoroughly 'user friendly' in form and format,
"Writer's Block Busters" should be considered a high priority
addition to the reference shelf of anyone seeking to make their
living through the written word.
Time To Write
Frank Milligan
Quill Driver Books
1254 Commerce Avenue, Sanger, CA 93657
9781884956768, $16.95,
<http://www.quilldriverbooks.com>www.quilldriverbooks.com
As we grow older, one of the best ways to create an enduring legacy
for future generations is to record in writing our own life stories,
our experiences, observations, values, the products of our
imaginations and our perspectives. Frank Milligan draws upon his
experience and expertise in publishing fiction and nonfiction, as
well as teaching creative writing and business writing in "Time To
Write: Discovering The Writer Within After 50", a comprehensive and
'user friendly' instruction guide that will take aspiring older
writers with an initial concept or idea and walk them through each
stage to crating a finished, ready-to-publish manuscript. "Time To
Write" is a 304-page compendium of practical tips, techniques,
insights and shortcuts that will enable the reader's writing, talent,
desire and drive to crate a written document with a minimum of
distraction. Although specifically intended for older readers, "Time
To Write" has a great deal of value for younger writers seeking to
put their own ideas and stories down in a publishable form.
Success
Maralyn D. Hill & Brenda C. Hill
Infinity Publishing.com
1094 New Dehaven Street, #100, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2713
6322 South Sky Court, Gilbert, AZ 85298 (author)
0741448483, $14.95, <http://www.BooksByHills.com>www.BooksByHills.com
It isn't necessary reinvent any wheels when it comes to the writing
and publishing of books. Not when there are so many experts in the
field who have produced so many notable, practical, informative,
reality-based instructional guides for aspiring authors seeking to be
published, and novice publishers seeking to produce commercially
viable works in the highly competitive marketplace. Expertly
co-authored by Maralyn and Brenda Hill "Success: Your Path To A
Successful Book" is a combination seminary and do-it-yourself
workshop that covers cogent information on writing, marketing, and
publishing. Of special note setting "Success: Your Path To A
Successful Book" apart from other instruction manuals are the
sections concerning journaling, writing in tandem, and understanding
target markets with respect to book sales. The section focusing
specifically on publishing covers agents, traditional publishing,
print-on-demand options, ebooks, and the 'vanity presses'. Enhanced
for beginners with additional material dealing with contact
information and experience based tips by Maralyn and Brenda,
"Success: Your Path To A Successful Book" features workbook pages for
notes and notations by the reader. "Success: Your Path To A
Successful Book" is a thoroughly 'user friendly' and strongly
recommended addition to personal and community library
Writing/Publishing reference collections and supplemental reading lists.
The Autobiographer's Handbook
Jennifer Traig
Holt Paperbacks
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
9780805087130, $15.00, <http://www.henryholt.com>www.henryholt.com
It has been said that everyone has one good book in them. "The
Autobiographer's Handbook: The 826 National Guide to Writing Your
Memoir" is a collection of tips and advice from masterful writers on
putting down one's life story onto paper, and in a format that would
be appealing to read for your audiences. A basic writing course with
a focus on memoirs, "The Autobiographer's Handbook" is a must for
someone who wants the world to read their story.
The Art of The Personal Letter
Margaret Shepherd
Broadway Books
1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
9780767928274, $16.00, <http://www.randomhouse.com>www.randomhouse.com
The personal letter is a lost art in this day of quick e-mails and
instant messaging. "The Art of the Personal Letter: A Guide to the
Connecting Through the Written Word" is a guide to bringing back this
lost skill and putting it to its best use, and doing what the
internet can't do, provide personality and feeling through the words.
With advice and tips to making one's letter something to be cherished
and loved, "The Art of the Personal Letter" shows that snail mail
isn't dead yet
and still has quite the value in the world of fast communication.
--
{snipped by Dave Mainwaring}
All of the previous issues of the "Jim Cox Report" are archived on
the Midwest Book Review website. If you'd like to receive the "Jim
Cox Report" directly (and for free), just send me an email asking to
be signed up for it.
So until next time, goodbye, good luck, and good reading!
Jim Cox
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI, 53575
<http://www.midwestbookreview.com>http://www.midwestbookreview.com
--
My thanks to Jim Cox for permission to share his reviews on the blog.
Dave Mainwaring
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)