Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 134

Why We All Need Little Free Libraries, from An Eight-Year-Old . . .

I’ve written about the phenomenon of Little Free Libraries before…

from the Little Free Libraries’ WebSite

It started in the USA and is spreading all over the globe.

Simple concept:

A small box with a door, up on a poll, usually with a roof…

You take a book or leave a book…

Here are the previous posts:

Start Your Own (little) Library . . .

Little Libraries Spreading All Over:-)

Today, I’ll share a video of an intelligent andsassy eight-year-old girl who’s an eloquent spokesperson for Little Free Libra...

Would You Like A Hand-Annotated, First Edition of An Acclaimed Book?

Image from PEN American’s Auction Site — Don DeLillo’s Handwriting

I’ve just begun re-reading the novel I wrote nearly four years ago and I’m going to annotate it with notes for my next book which will live in the same universe…

After I’d decided to engage in this strange activity, I discovered that a group of authorsand artists have also been writing in their own books…

Christie’s(New York) is holding an auction of 75 hand-annotated, first edition books to support PEN American Center‘s work to...

Do You Write Vertically?

The ‘Net has a gazillion “tips” on writing—do this, don’t do that—unanchored bits of advice that can lead you straight into the pointless forest…

Image Courtesy of http://www.freeimages.com/profile/fcl1971

I found an article on The Millions that could give you a powerful way to find your own writing “rules”—Gestation of Ideas: On Vertical Writing and Living.

I’ll share a few quotes, along with my thoughts (reference is made toAndre Dubus):

“’I gestate: for months, often for years’, he begins… Dub...

Friday Polls ~ What Are You Writing? ~ Plus ~ What Will You Write Next?

As ever, we begin with the results of last week’s poll—What Do You Want To Read Next?

Image courtesy of Chris Baker ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/immrchris

The most desired next read was “crime/detective” at 20.7%

Then, a three-way tie at 17.24%:

“Fiction”

“Literary”

And, “Other”, which registered the following:

“Biography”

“I have composed a list, all genres”

“Fantasy”

“hoping to read a book called ‘Justice Served Hot'”

Then, a two-way tie at 6.9%:

“Historical” & “Mystery”

Then, a three-way tie at...

Are You Thankful You Can Read?

Today, in the U.S.A., it’s Thanksgiving…

Image Courtesy of tim & annette ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/mexikids

In Canada it’s the second Monday in October.

There are also “Thanksgiving” celebrations in Grenada, Liberia, The Netherlands, Germany, Japan, and Norfolk Island (Australian external territory).

I found an article in the Provo, Utah Daily Herald—EveryDay Learners: Gratitude for the gift of reading.

A few excerpts:

“For all of us, there are many things to be grateful for. This year, l...

Authentic Book Promotion ~ Does It Sell?

Let me first address the issue of book sales.

Image Courtesy of Adam Page ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/atom_balm

There are many things an author can do to increase the likelihood that their book will sell.

None of those actions will guarantee sales…

Some writers think landing a traditional publishing deal will assure book sales.

Not so…

Perhaps, if you’re an extremely famous person, your book will sell—perhaps…

I wrote a post last year that led to six different ways to think about the task of...

Have We Hit A Landmark “Moment” in Self-Publishing?

There’s been So Much press about self-publishing…

Image courtesy of Wilton Rodrigues ~ http://www.sxc.hu/profile/wilton

I’m nearly exhausted just trying to keep up…

Now, The CEO of Smashwords says,Ebook Publishing Gets More Difficult from Here – Here’s How to Succeed.

The article’s topic headings about the slowdown are:

1. There’s a glut of high-quality ebooks

2. The rate of growth in the supply of ebooks is outstripping the growth in demand for ebooks

3. The rate of transition from print books to e...

Do You Find Hope In The Books You Read?

So many folks read to escape…

Image Courtesy of Milan Jurek ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/milan6

I don’t blame them…

We live in a world lost in materialism—a world swamped with greed—a world going mad.

Far too many writers try to copy what’s going on instead of engenderingwhat could be.

Nearly four years ago, I wrote a bit about this difference in writers’ purposes—What’s The Writer’s Job? ~ Recording OrCreating?

The New Yorker has a recent article about theNational Book Awards but especially...

Friday Poll ~ What Are You Going To Read Next?

First, the results from last week’s poll—What’s Your Writing Schedule?

Image Courtesy of Craig Parylo ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/parylo00

Five time segments were voted high at 12.5% each:

10am – 12pm

4pm – 6pm

6pm – 8pm

8pm – 10pm

No Set Time

The next most-used times to write all had 6.25% of the vote:

4am – 6am

8am – 10 am

12pm – 2pm

2pm – 4pm

10pm – 12am

and, one “Other” vote—”depends upon whatever else I may have going on…”

~~~

Now, this week’s poll—What Kind of Reading Do You Want To Do?

Let me m...

Some Questions for The Serious Writer . . .

Alexander M Zoltai:

From the Bio of the author who asks excellent questions:

“This is the story of a journey. The wonder of it. The horror of it. The incomparable moments of it. A blog about the nature of writing–and, I hope, a sharing of the soul of one whose life is consumed by it. I’m an author. I’ve spent my whole life writing. It’s the food I live for. “

Originally posted on Notes from An Alien:

There are few other blogs I follow—would like to follow more—far too busy being a writer…

One othe...