by KYW Newsradio’s John Ostapkovich: Sci-Fi Author Tackles Philadelphia-Based Tale of Time Travel
A Philadelphia-born author is out with a new book which, for the first time, is set in his own hometown.
The book is called Time Travelers Never Die, so you know author Jack McDevitt will have some tricks up his sleeve as he tells the story of two friends with Ipod-sized time machines, one of whom is murdered.
But at first they are searching for the father of one of them — the original time traveler lost somewhere, and somewhen.
“About hundred years down the line Philadelphia is a magnificent place — gets better and better all the time.”
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By Theresa Winslow at Hometown Annapolis: New authors opt for podcasts rather than publishing
For Julie Carnell and Brand Gamblin, closets are for more than just clothes. Carnell, of Annapolis, and Gamblin, of Odenton, have converted the small spaces in their homes into makeshift recording studios. While they still have clothes in them in the interest of dampening sound, the main idea behind repurposing the rooms is to further their careers as authors.
Author Julie Carnell of Annapolis explains some of the technology she uses to mix different voices for her podcast while fellow author Brand Gamblin of Odenton looks on.
They want people to hear their books – that’s right, hear them, since Carnell’s “The Empress Sword” and Gamblin’s “Tumbler” currently exist for public consumption only in audio form. The authors opted to introduce the world to their work via free podcasts, hoping to gain a fan base and possibly a publisher while avoiding the pitfalls of putting out a book themselves. They also can get a handle on just how many people are listening in by tracking the total number of downloads.
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from philcooke.com: The Ugly Truth About Getting Your Book Published
At Cooke Pictures, we have so many clients who are brilliant speakers and thinkers, and many of them are writers as well. I found this fascinating (if not humbling) list from publisher Steven Piersanti, and thought you’d find it interesting. If you’re considering a book project, here’s the “10 Awful Truths” you need to know:
THE 10 AWFUL TRUTHS ABOUT BOOK PUBLISHING
4. A book has less than a 1% chance of being stocked in an average bookstore.
For every available bookstore shelf space, there are 100 to 1,000 or more titles competing for that shelf space. For example, the number of business titles stocked ranges from less than 100 (smaller bookstores) to approximately 1,500 (superstores). Yet there are 250,000-plus business books in print that are fighting for that limited shelf space.
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It’s amazing to me that a book has a 1% chance of being shelved. I know limited selection was part of the idea behind amazon.com, but wow! I noticed books rotate depending on what’s going on in other media (head to the history section of Barnes and Noble and there are a ton of books about Queen Victoria and Prince Albert that weren’t there before-thanks to the movie Young Victoria). But having such a huge selection is why I love Amazon. And for people trying to break into the slim market, I think podcasts are brilliant. Plus it allows you to have complete control over your work and better interaction with your audience.
What do you think of publishing today? With all of the book formats available (audio CD’s, digital, paper, e-readers, etc), which is your favorite?
