N.H. Senzai's Blog, page 7
January 30, 2010
Hearing Books
The UNESCO Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted in Paris on November 16, 1972. By signing the Convention, 187 nations pledged to protect World Heritage Sites and their own national heritage.
Twenty-eight audio books for visually impaired children were released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) office in Beirut and Al-Hadi Foundation for Audio, Visual, and Language and Communication Disorders. The...

Published on January 30, 2010 17:48
January 27, 2010
Inkpop
Since its soft launch in 4th quarter 2009, inkpop already has more than 10,000 members and nearly 11,000 submissions, including novels, poems, essays, and short stories. The visitors are teens ages 13 and older, from 109 different countries and territories.
Boy, I wish I had this when I was a teen...
I started my first novel in Mrs. Cochran's Novel Writing Club, back in middle school. The only resources we had at our disposal (remember, we were living out in the middle of the desert in Saudi...
Boy, I wish I had this when I was a teen...
I started my first novel in Mrs. Cochran's Novel Writing Club, back in middle school. The only resources we had at our disposal (remember, we were living out in the middle of the desert in Saudi...
Published on January 27, 2010 00:05
January 25, 2010
Finding Community
The writing profession is reeking with this loneliness. All our lives we spend in discoursing with ourselves. . . . The loneliest people in the world we writers are. Except that, while we are conversing and laughing with ourselves, we manage to shed our loneliness . . . to scatter it as we go along - Fred Hobson
When I got serious about writing, that I was going to sit down and complete an entire book, no matter how painful, I realized that I needed, no craved, the company of other writers...

When I got serious about writing, that I was going to sit down and complete an entire book, no matter how painful, I realized that I needed, no craved, the company of other writers...
Published on January 25, 2010 00:22
January 22, 2010
Publishing A'mazoning
Kindle Currently has 90% of ebook Market - TBI Research
Amazon is launching a new "70% royalty option" for the Kindle. Under this option, Amazon will pay authors and publishers a royalty of 70% of the list price of Kindle books, which is a far higher per-copy royalty than most authors receive on physical book sales (including the standard Kindle book royalties).
This new plan will encourage more authors to "go direct" to Amazon (or at least force their publishers to sell ebooks at a...

Amazon is launching a new "70% royalty option" for the Kindle. Under this option, Amazon will pay authors and publishers a royalty of 70% of the list price of Kindle books, which is a far higher per-copy royalty than most authors receive on physical book sales (including the standard Kindle book royalties).
This new plan will encourage more authors to "go direct" to Amazon (or at least force their publishers to sell ebooks at a...
Published on January 22, 2010 13:29
January 20, 2010
Publishers with Heart
Just in from Publishers Lunch: Publishers Donate to Haiti
On Friday Random House, Inc. announced a $100,000 corporate contribution to be shared by the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund and Haitian health-care provider Partners in Health (led by Paul Farmer, the subject of Tracy Kidder's MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS). The publisher told employees they will match their donations, dollar for dollar up to $1,000, to any tax-qualifying Haitian earthquake relief organization until June 1.
Parent...
On Friday Random House, Inc. announced a $100,000 corporate contribution to be shared by the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund and Haitian health-care provider Partners in Health (led by Paul Farmer, the subject of Tracy Kidder's MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS). The publisher told employees they will match their donations, dollar for dollar up to $1,000, to any tax-qualifying Haitian earthquake relief organization until June 1.
Parent...
Published on January 20, 2010 10:20
January 19, 2010
Bibliotherapy
Main Entry: bib•lio•ther•a•py
Pronunciation: \ˌbi-blē-ə-ˈther-ə-pē, -ˈthe-rə-\
Function: noun
Date: 1919
: the use of reading materials for help in solving personal problems or for psychiatric therapy; also : the reading materials so used
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
How do you take a child away from a life disrupted by war, civil disorder or natural disaster? Physically, it may be impossible, but you can transport their mind to another destination, another world filled with adventure, drama...
Pronunciation: \ˌbi-blē-ə-ˈther-ə-pē, -ˈthe-rə-\
Function: noun
Date: 1919
: the use of reading materials for help in solving personal problems or for psychiatric therapy; also : the reading materials so used
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

How do you take a child away from a life disrupted by war, civil disorder or natural disaster? Physically, it may be impossible, but you can transport their mind to another destination, another world filled with adventure, drama...
Published on January 19, 2010 23:41
January 18, 2010
Global Peace & Civil Rights
The bombs in Vietnam explode at home; they destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America - Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967
Martin Luther King Jr. brought visionary change to our country and his extraordinary efforts and sacrifices helped lead us to a day when we see an accomplished, educated and charismatic African-American president elected to the White House.
However, few people remember that Dr. King was in staunch opposition to the...

Martin Luther King Jr. brought visionary change to our country and his extraordinary efforts and sacrifices helped lead us to a day when we see an accomplished, educated and charismatic African-American president elected to the White House.
However, few people remember that Dr. King was in staunch opposition to the...
Published on January 18, 2010 10:48
Peace & Civil Rights
The bombs in Vietnam explode at home; they destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America - Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967
Martin Luther King Jr. brought visionary change to our country and his extraordinary efforts and sacrifices helped lead us to a better nation and a day when we see an African-American president elected to the White House.
However, few people remember that Dr. King was in staunch opposition to the war in Vietnam war...

Martin Luther King Jr. brought visionary change to our country and his extraordinary efforts and sacrifices helped lead us to a better nation and a day when we see an African-American president elected to the White House.
However, few people remember that Dr. King was in staunch opposition to the war in Vietnam war...
Published on January 18, 2010 10:48
January 14, 2010
Help Haiti
On October 17, 1989, I was frantically calling San Francisco from London. For twenty-four hours I dialed my parent's number and couldn't get through -- The Loma Prieta earthquake, 6.9 on the richter scale, had hit, and telephone lines were down, or jammed. Those hours were distressing beyond belief -- and now, as I watch the destruction in Haiti I can empathize, at least a tiny bit. San Francisco was built to withstand the next 'great one'. Haiti, poor and improvished, is facing the full...
Published on January 14, 2010 11:31
January 13, 2010
Survival of the Fittest
It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change – Charles Darwin
When talking of changing publishing paradigms I mentioned independent booksellers and how the rapidly morphing publishing industry is affecting their business. I ran across a very interesting article, Evolve or Die: Why Reinvent Independent Bookstores? by Praveen Madan and Christin Evans, proprietors of the Booksmith in San Francisco. He relays some sobering...

When talking of changing publishing paradigms I mentioned independent booksellers and how the rapidly morphing publishing industry is affecting their business. I ran across a very interesting article, Evolve or Die: Why Reinvent Independent Bookstores? by Praveen Madan and Christin Evans, proprietors of the Booksmith in San Francisco. He relays some sobering...
Published on January 13, 2010 23:43