So, the self-published friend, Charles Sheehan-Miles, recommended the book "Aiming at Amazon" by Aaron Shephard.
I have bought it. I am tapping my foot, waiting for delivery, and I will no doubt use it to fuel some debate here.
The change of heart was that I had thought to publish on Lulu, for those who haven't been keeping up. Shame on you.
Tuesday 31 August 2010
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Readings: Nothing to fear but ... jiggling journalists?
Ben Myers posted a funny article about authors and self-publicity in the Guardian today. The subject is the public readings of one's work.
"I would genuinely rather jiggle my bare genitals at an audience than do that."
*peers at the small photo of Ben Myers beside his article and smirks a little, a twinkle in her eye*
H'okay. I'm a secret show-off. Is that an oxymoron? I don't mean that I pretend not to like public speaking, I wouldn't go around saying "Oh noooooooo I couldn't!" while all the time knowing that I damn well could and wanted to.
But if you met me, you might not realise that I love public speaking, I like to hold an audience, I like to be the centre of (positive) attention. Ninja-like, I sneak my enthusiasm in there at the right moment. I just don't run around announcing it.
Aside from mention of the Myers' Family Jewels, the best thing about this article was the debate around the question of if it was fair to demand that authors should read their work in public.
Fair, when did fair come into it? I remember reading a recent article on Harper Lee and wondered how she has managed to remain such a recluse. Is it genius, that can afford to live above the hard graft of the rest of us?
I still plan to do readings. It will be nerve-wracking, underwear-changing stuff, I know. I might try and hire Ben Myers as my fluffer, if he'll jiggle.
"I would genuinely rather jiggle my bare genitals at an audience than do that."
*peers at the small photo of Ben Myers beside his article and smirks a little, a twinkle in her eye*
H'okay. I'm a secret show-off. Is that an oxymoron? I don't mean that I pretend not to like public speaking, I wouldn't go around saying "Oh noooooooo I couldn't!" while all the time knowing that I damn well could and wanted to.
But if you met me, you might not realise that I love public speaking, I like to hold an audience, I like to be the centre of (positive) attention. Ninja-like, I sneak my enthusiasm in there at the right moment. I just don't run around announcing it.
Aside from mention of the Myers' Family Jewels, the best thing about this article was the debate around the question of if it was fair to demand that authors should read their work in public.
Fair, when did fair come into it? I remember reading a recent article on Harper Lee and wondered how she has managed to remain such a recluse. Is it genius, that can afford to live above the hard graft of the rest of us?
I still plan to do readings. It will be nerve-wracking, underwear-changing stuff, I know. I might try and hire Ben Myers as my fluffer, if he'll jiggle.
Wednesday 11 August 2010
My name is Jackie and I'm a typing perv
The BBC exploited the alleged reasons why we type using QWERTY. It's all quite interesting, my brain and imagination likes these kinds of "this is the amazing history of how XYZ developed" exposés.
What peturbed - nay, made me practically scoff at one of the closing paragraphs was the mere suggestion that we might "do away with" typing because voice recognition was advancing.
Uh. No. She's missing something here.
Call me a pervert (many will, in fact, and not only because I like to hang out in stationers' and finger the reams of A4 and fist the pretty notebooks) - but I like typing.
I began typing on my mum's old Remington Portable. I remember the 'n' key was slightly knackered, offset, twisted. I played with the carriage release, all those
pretty clicks. The bell was pleasing. Some sounds are just .... too yummy.
I graduated onto a modern typewriter, which did not have the same impact upon me as I can't remember what kind it was though I do recall it was grey plastic rather than smart black and silver metal with a leather-like covering on the plywood base. It was an 18th birthday present, practical but without soul. The 'n' key worked, for a start.
University saw me learning what a computer was - a Mac, as it happens. These were the 1980s, after all, and still the only significant computer time I had ever had, thus far, had been on a ZX81.
I have a PC now, and plastic QWERTY is my friend. I need to keep my nails fairly short - in fact, the process of typing is more pleasing to me with shorter nails.
Is it the rhythm? Is it the clunk of the keys - and we all know, each keyboards has its own personality, its unique sound and the way the keys depress.
Is it the slide of skin across the shiny faux-cubes? Is it the sexiness of the process itself - thought to finger to key to screen to audience? Is it that I'm a pervert? Who knows. Who cares?
Incidentally, my phone also has QWERTY but I don't get the same .. y'know.
*would light a post-coital cigarette now, if she still smoked*
What peturbed - nay, made me practically scoff at one of the closing paragraphs was the mere suggestion that we might "do away with" typing because voice recognition was advancing.
Uh. No. She's missing something here.
Call me a pervert (many will, in fact, and not only because I like to hang out in stationers' and finger the reams of A4 and fist the pretty notebooks) - but I like typing.
I began typing on my mum's old Remington Portable. I remember the 'n' key was slightly knackered, offset, twisted. I played with the carriage release, all those
pretty clicks. The bell was pleasing. Some sounds are just .... too yummy.
I graduated onto a modern typewriter, which did not have the same impact upon me as I can't remember what kind it was though I do recall it was grey plastic rather than smart black and silver metal with a leather-like covering on the plywood base. It was an 18th birthday present, practical but without soul. The 'n' key worked, for a start.
University saw me learning what a computer was - a Mac, as it happens. These were the 1980s, after all, and still the only significant computer time I had ever had, thus far, had been on a ZX81.
I have a PC now, and plastic QWERTY is my friend. I need to keep my nails fairly short - in fact, the process of typing is more pleasing to me with shorter nails.
Is it the rhythm? Is it the clunk of the keys - and we all know, each keyboards has its own personality, its unique sound and the way the keys depress.
Is it the slide of skin across the shiny faux-cubes? Is it the sexiness of the process itself - thought to finger to key to screen to audience? Is it that I'm a pervert? Who knows. Who cares?
Incidentally, my phone also has QWERTY but I don't get the same .. y'know.
*would light a post-coital cigarette now, if she still smoked*
Tuesday 3 August 2010
Self-publishing for dummies?
Honestly, I don't know. But a friend who has already self-published, and who has generated a small income from it, has recommended I read this book before I jump into Lulu.
The book is "Aiming at Amazon" by Aaron Shephard (here is his blog). It could be a revelation. It might be rubbish. I don't know. When I can buy it, I will come back to it here.
I plan to buy it with my first pay cheque from a new job. New job involves writing, lots of it, and in a fun way, not in a this-is-like-a-battery-farm-for-journalists way, which is what many of us experience. Self-publishing will be slightly delayed as a result - but bankruptcy will be avoided.
The book is "Aiming at Amazon" by Aaron Shephard (here is his blog). It could be a revelation. It might be rubbish. I don't know. When I can buy it, I will come back to it here.
I plan to buy it with my first pay cheque from a new job. New job involves writing, lots of it, and in a fun way, not in a this-is-like-a-battery-farm-for-journalists way, which is what many of us experience. Self-publishing will be slightly delayed as a result - but bankruptcy will be avoided.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)