Uvi Poznansky's Blog, page 246

Am I to to stay, and thus be free?

Am I a leaf about to drift About to fly away, to chanceThe cold, the heat, the drop, the liftUpon the wing of wind, to dance?Or else, nestled in this treeAm I to stay, and thus be free?Here I am, Apart From LoveFlying Home just like a doveThe air is trembling, I am spun Can I become A Favorite Son?

All three are FREEMay 10-11, 2013Inspiring Stories, Great PerformancesDownload these ★★★★★ ebooks & audiobooks
♥ Apart From Love ♥ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, SpainAudiobook: coming soon
♥ A Favorite Son ♥ ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, SpainNote: while you download the ebook free, get mom a great gift! Download the audiobook: US & India, UK, Audible
♥ Home ♥ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain. 
Audible will gladly help you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a weekto download the audiobook to your preferred device 1-888-283-5051 (US & Canada) or 1-973-820-0400 (international)♥No Kindle? No Problem! Amazon gives you a free Kindle app 

Let me give you the dearest gift that I can

Let me give you the dearest gift that I canDo not refuse me, for my story began With passion at heart, guilt down at the gutAnd sentences that I weave, then turn and cutNow I give it to you, and this is my pleaHold my book in your hand, it is yours, it is free!

All three are FREE
May 10-11, 2013
Inspiring Stories, Great PerformancesDownload these ★★★★★ ebooks & audiobooks
♥ Apart From Love ♥ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, SpainAudiobook: coming soon
♥ A Favorite Son ♥ ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, SpainNote: while you download the ebook free, get mom a great gift! 
Download the audiobook: US & India, UK, Audible
♥ Home ♥ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain. 
Audible will gladly help you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a weekto download the audiobook to your preferred device 1-888-283-5051 (US & Canada) or 1-973-820-0400 (international)♥No Kindle? No Problem! Amazon gives you a free Kindle app 

All three are FREE!

The clock is now ticking, time to set the alarmBe super careful and you'll come to no harmHead over to Amazon at the stroke of midnightTo find my book free! Oh what a delight...Get Apart From Love, A Favorite SonGet Home, and let the yarn be spun...

All three are FREE
May 10-11, 2013
Inspiring Stories, Great PerformancesDownload these ★★★★★ ebooks & audiobooks
♥ Apart From Love ♥ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, SpainAudiobook: coming soon

♥ A Favorite Son ♥ ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, SpainNote: while you download the ebook free, get mom a great gift! Download the audiobook:  US & India, UK, Audible
♥ Home ♥ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain. 
Audible will gladly help you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
to download the audiobook to your preferred device 
1-888-283-5051 (US & Canada) or 1-973-820-0400 (international)
♥
No Kindle? No Problem! Amazon gives you a free Kindle app 

All three will be FREE!

The clock is now ticking, time to set the alarmBe super careful and you'll come to no harmHead over to Amazon at the stroke of midnightTo find my book free! Oh what a delight...Get Apart From Love, A Favorite SonGet Home, and let the yarn be spun...

ALL THREE WILL BE FREE
May 10-11, 2013
Inspiring Stories, Great PerformancesDownload these ★★★★★ ebooks & audiobooks
♥ Apart From Love ♥ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, SpainAudiobook: coming soon

♥ A Favorite Son ♥ ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain
Note: while you get the ebook free, listen to a sample of the audiobook
Treat yourself to a gift! Download it: US & India, UK, Audible
♥ Home ♥ebook: US & India, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain. 
Audible will gladly help you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
to download the audiobook to your preferred device 
1-888-283-5051 (US & Canada) or 1-973-820-0400 (international)
♥
No Kindle? No Problem! Amazon gives you a free Kindle app 

A Peek Between the Covers

I aim to make my books a work of art, inside and out. My artistic covers have won several contests. And when you open them, you can see how carefully I have considered every detail inside. This includes the choice of font, the size of different fields of text, the white space around blocks of text, the indentation of the first paragraph in the story as compared to the indentation of following paragraphs--all of which create a balance; a black-and white environment for you to sail away into the story.

In the case of my novel, Apart From Love, I have focused on several design details. For example, the first letter of each chapter in the book is unique, in the traditional manner of illuminated manuscripts. This special attention to the first letter signifies a beginning of a new thought, and an invitation to the reader to pause before delving in.



I chose a fancy font for the first letter, called Kokonor. Furthermore, I placed it carefully, like a piece of art, in relation to the following letters. This can not be done simply by typing the letters and selecting different fonts--but rather by adding a 'text box' and carefully placing it on the page, letting the text rearrange itself around it. 

Here, in Anita's voice, is the text for the opening of the chapter shown above:

"Since the bleeding began, I’ve been missing my ma more and more. If she was here I could ask her, like, How come I feel so alone. How come I can see, all of a sudden I can now see how my youth is wasting away in this place. Like, I have no air, I’m wilting here. And Lenny, he don’t even pay no attention, ‘cause he’s back to his usual thing, which is: comb his thinning, gray hair—sleek it back, real slow and careful—and then work all day, write all night, either out or away. 
   Me, I thought getting married was meant to change things—but then, if things are changing it’s not for the better." 

Treat yourself to a gift! Get the highly acclaimed novel with 48 eloquent reviewsDubbed "A literary symphony"
An artistically designed print edition
Apart From Love

Audiobook coming soon!

A Peak Between the Covers

I aim to make my books a work of art, inside and out. My artistic covers have won several contests. And when you open them, you can see how carefully I have considered every detail inside. This includes the choice of font, the size of different fields of text, the white space around blocks of text, the indentation of the first paragraph in the story as compared to the indentation of following paragraphs--all of which create a balance; a black-and white environment for you to sail away into the story.

In the case of my novel, Apart From Love, I have focused on several design details. For example, the first letter of each chapter in the book is unique, in the traditional manner of illuminated manuscripts. This special attention to the first letter signifies a beginning of a new thought, and an invitation to the reader to pause before delving in.



I chose a fancy font for the first letter, called Kokonor. Furthermore, I placed it carefully, like a piece of art, in relation to the following letters. This can not be done simply by typing the letters and selecting different fonts--but rather by adding a 'text box' and carefully placing it on the page, letting the text rearrange itself around it. 

Here, in Anita's voice, is the text for the opening of the chapter shown above:

"Since the bleeding began, I’ve been missing my ma more and more. If she was here I could ask her, like, How come I feel so alone. How come I can see, all of a sudden I can now see how my youth is wasting away in this place. Like, I have no air, I’m wilting here. And Lenny, he don’t even pay no attention, ‘cause he’s back to his usual thing, which is: comb his thinning, gray hair—sleek it back, real slow and careful—and then work all day, write all night, either out or away. 
   Me, I thought getting married was meant to change things—but then, if things are changing it’s not for the better." 

Treat yourself to a gift! Get the highly acclaimed novel with 48 eloquent reviewsDubbed "A literary symphony"
An artistically designed print edition
Apart From Love

Audiobook coming soon!

Behind the Scenes: Never a Dull Moment!

This time, I will open in a round-about way. Do you like an 'open-ended' story? I mean, a story with an end ties most threads in the yarn but not all, so the story lingers in your mind--so you have to keep looking at it, this way and that, trying to imagine what else happened? By being intrigued, you become the writer of the future events of the story. 

Two of the chapters in Apart From Love are open-ended, and I am not going to tell you which ones--you will have to read the novel, and find out for yourself! What I am going to tell you is the trouble I found myself in, because of these open-ended ends--first, with both of my narrators, and then with ACX, the place where the audiobook is undergoing an intense process of Quality Analysis before it is offered for sale to you.

Most audiobooks are carried along by the voice of a single narrator. Apart From Love is unusual because we have a dual-narration project: he said, she said. For her part, Heather (who plays Anita) sent me three version of the last sentence, so I may choose the best variation of an unfinished end. And David (who plays Ben) did a couple of variations on the last sentence in another chapter, before I approved the entire project. In hindsight I have a better way of suggesting to them how to perform this feat: first, extend that last sentence, write something outrageous, horrible, funny beyond the last letter, and then stop just short of it--

Yesterday--taking a short break from chatting with you, and running the launch event--I sent a note to ACX. I was becoming worried that their approval process is taking too long, and started asking myself, Will I have to extend the launch event beyond Mother's Day? Will I have to stop and restart it later? I would hate to do anything like that... So here is what I said:

"I approved the audiobook production of Apart From Love on April 12, 2013, and received a note from you  saying, 'Barring any issues in the quality check, that process should take around 2-3 weeks'. It is over 3 weeks now, and I am eager to let listeners know the audiobook is out. I am at the end of a great launch event for it, I do not want to lose their interest if it takes longer. Please let me know the status of Apart From Love." The reply came in later that day:
"Chapter 17 has a truncated audio issue (file cuts off before audio track is finished)"

I replied, as did David from his end, that the end of this chapter is cut off by design, so as to let the reader imagine what happened. In response, they qualified their instruction, which--I hate to admit it--did make a lot of sense:
"Since the 'cutoff' is intentional there still needs to be a certain amount of room tone (spacing between the end of the narration and end of the file). It sounds too abrupt as is.... after being reviewed the files get sent to our encoding team, during this process they examine the files (the book was initially rejected due to the abrupt end of chapter 17)"
With that, came a list of instructions to please revise the audio files, recompile the entire fixed audiobook into a single zip file, with specific naming instruction; upload the zip file to their online dropbox; let them know it is ready for them, and wait for them to review the new submission, which they would do as soon as possible. This opens up so many possibilities for error, that I am biting my nails with each passing moment. Will David succeed in fixing & recompiling the files? Will he send these files, or by mistake--the old ones? Will he do it on time for the launch event to remain on schedule?
What happened next? At this point, this real-time story is open-ended, too--Stay tuned

Never Listened to Audiobooks Before? It's Easier than You Think!

I love the idea of listening to a story. But being new to the technology I can understand the hesitation many of you may feel. If you have never listened to audiobooks before, perhaps you find yourself wondering, hmmm... What device do I need? As it turns out, you already have it:
You can listen to audiobooks on any device that is compatible with the mp3 audio format, including: Sony Walkman, Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod; mp3 players by Sony, Archos, Coby, Creative, SanDisk and many more; Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone 7 smartphones and tablets. Here's a good article about the use of your Smartphone for listening: How to Listen to Audio Books on Your Smartphone with AudibleYou can listen to audiobooks on your computer, using iTunes, Windows Media Player, or any other program that plays mp3 files.You can listen to audiobooks on your e-reader. Both the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook can play mp3 files. Here are two good articles about the use of e-readers for listening: How to Listen to Audiobooks on an Amazon Kindle or a Barnes and Noble Nook, and Listening to Audio Books on Kindle 1st Generation.

Even simpler: Audible, the Amazon company specializing in audiobooks, will gladly help you--24 hours a day, 7 days a week--to download the audiobook to your preferred device. It is quick and painless... Here is their help line: 1-888-283-5051 (US & Canada) or 1-973-820-0400 (international.)
If you spend a lot of time driving on long trips, doing yardwork, or even sitting around the fireplace, you can imagine what a great companion audiobooks can be to spin away the hours. Great narrators make books come alive. Being so close to you, breathing words into your ear, they make the experience both intimate and heightened, with every nuance in the story becoming fully expressed.


The audiobook of  A Favorite Son  is already here!

Download Apart From Love --$0.99 ebook sale, today only!The audiobook is just around the corner...Stay tuned! 

Never Listened to Audiobooks Before? Here's What I've Learned

If you spend a lot of time driving on long trips, doing yardwork, or even sitting around the fireplace, you can imagine what a great companion audiobooks can be to spin away the hours. Great narrators make books come alive. Being so close to you, breathing words into your ear, they make the experience both intimate and heightened, with every nuance in the story becoming fully expressed.

Despite loving the idea of listening, being new to this I can understand the hesitation many of you may feel. If you have never listened to audiobooks before, perhaps you find yourself wondering, hmmm... What device do I need? 
So here is what I have learned:You can listen to audiobooks on any device that is compatible with the mp3 audio format, including: Sony Walkman, Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod; mp3 players by Sony, Archos, Coby, Creative, SanDisk and many more; Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone 7 smartphones and tablets. Here's a good article about these devices: How to Listen to Audio Books on Your Smartphone with AudibleYou can listen to audiobooks on your computer, using iTunes, Windows Media Player, or any other program that plays mp3 files.You can listen to audiobooks on your e-reader. Both the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble Nook can play mp3 files, which makes it easy to listen to audiobooks. Here are two good articles about the use of e-readers for listening: How to Listen to Audiobooks on an Amazon Kindle or a Barnes and Noble Nook, and Listening to Audio Books on Kindle 1st Generation.
Audible, the Amazon company specializing in audiobooks, will gladly help you--24 hours a day, 7 days a week--to download the audiobook to your preferred device. Here is their help line: 1-888-283-5051 (US & Canada) or 1-973-820-0400 (international.)

The audiobook of  A Favorite Son  is already here!And the audiobook of  Apart From Love  is just around the corner...Stay tuned! 

Gone Viral

I thought I knew what I was doing: Usually, an image of one of my sculptures, combined with a thought around the same theme, or about the process of my writing, calls the attention of readers. But yesterday morning, a simple post has gone viral, and I am still trying to figure this one out... This is what I posted on Facebook:

"Brian M. Hayden, a dear friend of mine and a great author, offered me the opportunity of writing a guest post for his blog. This time I chose to write about The Cyclical Process of Writing. Check it out..."

Then I gave the link, and here it is: Guest Post by Uvi



As you can see when you go there, this little post garnered 196 'likes' on Brian's blog (let alone all the likes and shares it got all over Facebook, which I cannot even count, but for which I am so grateful.) Brian tells me it was the highest visited post. Over 1,100 visits in a single day!

Funny thing is, I wish I knew what magic dust was used here, because then I could repeat this feat with my next post... My best guess is this: here is a case of two authors combining forces, one opening the door for another, creating an inviting environment--and therefore, the friends and followers of both of them come in too, and they do it in great numbers!

Still, who knows... Your guess is as good as mine!