Mary Castillo's Blog: News from Mary Castillo, page 25
September 30, 2011
Prohibition-Preview | PBS Presents | PBS Video
I'm so excited for this series because I'm at the perfect stage of The Guy Upstairs to fill in the historic details.
Do you ever feel that life has the perfect timing in that you get what you need when you need it?
http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf
Watch the full episode. See more PBS Presents.
Filed under: Mary's Books, The Guy Upstairs
September 28, 2011
Amazon Publishing: How it controls whole book supply chain – Sep. 27, 2011
"Amazon treats its authors like partners, not like necessary evils," Konrath says, "With my previous publishers, I had zero say in important decisions. Amazon respects my [creative] decisions, [and] its marketing power is unmatched."
via Amazon Publishing: How it controls whole book supply chain – Sep. 27, 2011.
Filed under: eBook News, News, The Biz
September 27, 2011
12 inspiring quotes about words and writing | Articles
"Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing." —Margaret Chittenden
via 12 inspiring quotes about words and writing | Articles.
Filed under: Inspiration
Great interview with indie author Courteney Milan @ Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Filed under "I'm not alone" and then ordered her book!
"The part that scares me is the same part that excites me: If this doesn't work out, I have nobody to blame but myself. That's scary. Super scary. But on the other hand, it means that if the cover art isn't working, I can change it. If the cover copy isn't drawing people in, I can change it. If the pricing is wrong, I can fix it in a single click."
Filed under: eBook News, The Biz
Kobo's New App Lets You See Who's Reading With You
Personally, this sounds too invasive. Professionally as an author it makes me go, "hmm."
"The Borders-backed company became the first of the major ebook players to add a social layer to reading when it released a product called Reading Life in December 2010. That product tracks reading activity in a dashboard and rewards users with badges when they meet new characters or approach milestones in their reading. They can choose to share all of these items to Facebook as they go."
via Kobo's New App Lets You See Who's Reading With You.
Filed under: eBook News, News
September 26, 2011
Awesome promo idea: The Night Circus Keepsakes
"To celebrate the event, members of the bookstore's first editions club were presented with a pair of keepsakes–each a signed and numbered limited edition–featuring text and artwork by the author, drawn from a Tarot deck she created. An unnumbered edition of the keepsake was also distributed to those in attendance who purchased a copy of the author's book.
via Shelf Awareness for Monday, September 26, 2011 | Shelf Awareness.
Filed under: News
September 23, 2011
Wisconsin Library Now Lending Out iPads
"The Eau Claire branch is certainly among the vanguard of libraries embracing the digital age, though it's hardly alone. Some 11,000 libraries (out of a total of 122,101 across the nation) this week began lending books for Amazon's Kindle ebook platform."
Wisconsin Library Now Lending Out iPads.
Filed under: eBook News
Facebook Changes Again: Everything You Need To Know
Facebook Changes Again: Everything You Need To Know.
I thought the following is interesting for book readers. Will GoodReads work in the same as Netflix? Would that appeal to you or is that too much engagement? See below:
5. You can watch TV and movies, listen to music, and read news with your friends — all within Facebook. Starting today, thanks to a whole bunch of partnerships, there are a lot more things you can do without ever having to leave Facebook. You can watch a show on Hulu, listen to a song on Spotify, or check out a story on Yahoo News (or Mashable, via the Washington Post's Social Read app). The ticker will tell you what your friends are watching, listening to or reading, allowing you to share the experience with them by clicking on a link.
The upshot: a brand-new kind of media-based peer pressure. On stage, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings — a launch partner — revealed that he had only just decided to watch Breaking Bad because Facebook's Ticker told him a colleague was watching it. Netflix's own algorithm had been recommending the show to him for years, but that was never reason enough for Hastings.
Filed under: News
The Solace of Surrender | Tricycle
"For someone who is self-employed (like me), times when work is scarce can be very challenging. Fearing disaster, I can go into an insecure, anxious state. Insecurity makes many of us work so hard that we become stressed and even ill. It is then very hard to let go and trust that we will be okay. The transition is uncomfortable, and instead of allowing change to unfold we often stay in a safety zone that becomes increasingly unhealthy. But I have found that if I can surrender to the process and trust that something needs to change, my anxiety declines. I can create an inner space for something new to unfold rather than lock into a pattern. At these times I find myself offering my life up with the thought 'May my life be taken where it is most beneficial to go.'"
via The Solace of Surrender | Tricycle.
Filed under: Inspiration
