The Future is Soon!

In an age where yesterday seems like it was only 24 hours ago, it is almost dizzying to realize that at this very moment, scientists are already working on the problems of tomorrow. Clearly they’ve given up on the problems of today. Undaunted by their failure to deliver on the promised Jetsons-style flying car, science now boldly moves beyond teaching monkeys to smoke and putting sleeves on blankets.

Digital technology has changed the way books are written, published, distributed, purchased, rated, and ignored. Thanks to science, it takes less time than ever before for an aspiring author to become disillusioned. The two things we know about people is that 1.) They do not like the way things are, and 2.) They hate change. This is why science stopped listening to people a long time ago.

Continue reading “The Future is Soon!”

The Longevity of an eBook

Courtesy: printerinkcartridgesblog

New authors often wonder how long they might have to wait before they see reasonable sales of their fiction. Whether they have published story collections, individual novellas or shorts, or full-length novels, the desire to understand the life history, or life cycle, of a book of fiction resides in many authors. The newest comers to this crazy industry understand book longevity in a different way from those who have been writing or publishing for some time.

The reason is obvious. In addition, those who view the book industry from the angle of a reader see it in a vastly different light from authors or publishers. It’s as different as seeing a theatre from behind the footlights, on a stage lit up for a performance, as it is seeing the theatre as a cleaner, when everyone’s gone and the house lights are up. If you have never been on a stage, you can compare the difference to the one of a rally driver looking at the track through a muddy windshield, and the guy who walks the same track after the race, picking up demolition derby souvenirs. The view is nothing like that of the person doing the work that makes the whole show possible. Continue reading “The Longevity of an eBook”

Vote for Book Trailer of the Week (May 5th)

Three different video book trailers were featured this week on Indies Unlimited. Now it is your turn to vote for the one you felt was best. No money—no prizes—all for the glory.

This week’s entrants are:

1. Borneo Fever by Lon Dee

2. Grimsley Hollow – the Chosen One by Nicole Storey

3. A Mother’s Love by Wendy Reid

 

Vote for your favorite video book trailer featured this week on Indies Unlimited (5/5):

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An Evening with Jeff Rasley at the University of Chicago

The University of Chicago presents An Evening with Jeff Rasley on May 17, 2012 at 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM at the University of Chicago, Hyde Park, Chicago. This event requires registration: http://alumniandfriends.uchicago.edu/events.

Bringing Progress to Paradise What does it mean to bring progress—schools, electricity, roads,—to “paradise”? Bringing Progress to Paradise offers Rasley’s critical reflection on the tangled relationship between tourists, NGOs and local people in “exotic” locales and the clash of Western values with local traditions in one of the most remote locations on earth.

Jeff Rasley is the author of Bringing Progress to Paradise, the first in the sequence of books about Rasley’s adventures in the Himalayas and his unique relationship with the Edenic village of Basa, Nepal. Continue reading “An Evening with Jeff Rasley at the University of Chicago”