IHCPL #84 Writer Communities & Author Websites

This was an interesting study. I contacted one author years ago to tell her how much her book had helped me. That was a rare occurrence for me, I am not often that moved by a book. Another of my favorite authors is T. Davis Bunn. While looking at his website I was reminded of his book ‘Gold of Kings’ which was thoroughly enjoyable. It has adventure with lost treasure and a little romance. His e-mail address is on the page so he can be contacted.

The writer communities and author websites were interesting and I enjoyed looking at them. I am a user of books and written materials more than a writer of them. If I were an aspiring writer I’m not sure I would go to an open site for criticism from strangers. The Authonomy site sponsored by Harper Collins is a more likely site to place materials if you are serious about being published. Since it is sponsored by a publisher I feel that it has more authority. I like the setup of Authonomy. The idea of a library shelf for items you like with a holding area for items you are considering makes it more like an actual reviewing site rather than I’ll review your stuff if you review mine, which is how I felt about the others.

Just because a book is popular on a website does not make it quality material or writing. If the people voting on it are not qualified to critique the material it is like a person with a Ph.d. in literature writing a book on a medical subject from their own wisdom. I still prefer peer reviewed materials for non-fiction. I would take a chance on the fiction material but would prefer to have qualified people reviewing it first.

IHCP # 83: Paper to Pixels or (e-ink)

Aesthetically, I prefer paper materials. I like the smell of new books, and holding a book in my hand. I get my news by television or headlines online but getting a book faster is not usually important to me. If I were in school and needed a textbook I would probably download it if I could.

I work in a library and therefore all books are free (paper, pixels and audio). Due to the fact that I do not have an i-phone, or i-pod it is not convenient for me to use pixels. I do have an old model mp3 player and a PDA. I could download to them but have not found that I use either for reading enough to make it worth my while. Most of the material I read is not time sensitive so I can wait for the title I want.

Price definitely influences me when purchasing a book. When purchasing, I buy used books or the ones on sale rather than pay full price whenever I can. If had a digital reader and wanted to take the material with me I would pay more for the convenience of having it in my purse or pocket. Knowing that the cost of producing and sharing a digital book is much less than a printed copy I would resent paying the same price for digital as I would for paper.

I-Fiction is a good site for Science Fiction, fantasy and horror buffs. I like the fact that it is free to any author. There were some interesting titles as well. The idea of previewing a book before buying is very reasonable. That is what we do when we read magazine reviews and excerpts online about new materials before we purchase them.

Publishing Evolution #82: Print on Demand

Looking at the various websites was very interesting. It seemed to me that they are all much the same even in pricing. If you are willing to pay more of course you receive more support and direction. When looking at the published materials they were charging just a little less or the same as what you pay at the bookstore or on Amazon. I used one of the calculators to see how much a person would make and in order for an author to make any money they would have to sell the book for about what I pay on Amazon anyhow.

I found several titles on the print on demand sites that looked interesting to me. I would be willing to read them (keeping an open mind about the validity of material) and would be even more willing if they were recommended by a friend or coworker. In my opinion there are probably many quality authors who just haven’t made it to the best seller list.

A person would have to determine why they want their book published. If it were personal or to share with family friends I would recommend using one of the lower rates with as much support as I could afford. If a person were looking toward a career in writing they would have to determine how much they were willing to invest in getting their name out into the field. While looking at the various websites I saw that if you were willing to pay more they would try to get your book handled by various publishers and Barnes and Noble.

I doubt that publish on demand will replace the traditional method of getting published in the near future. If you have a ready group that will buy your book or a way of promoting your book you would have a better chance of becoming a success than if you just put it out with these online publishers.

IHCPL #75 Google and Beyond

1)This was an interesting exercise. My first search was “National Parks RVing”. All three columns came up close to the same but I felt that Bing had more reliable sites listed higher than the other two did. For my second search I searched “Free Keyboarding” something I showed a customer today. Again Bing had more educational sites which is where I prefer to send our customers rather than commercial sites that may start asking them question or suggesting they join. For my third search I looked for “Alternative Medicines”. Again Bing seemed to have more educational and government sites high on the list. Bing does bring up good resources and I plan to try it while at the Reference Desk for some searches. However,Google was not that far behind in rankings and as we will discuss later I prefer Google.

2) Hitwise showed Google.com as number one engine this week. In volume of searches it is far ahead of yahoo. Google has 72.5% while Yahoo only had 14.83%. I will continue to experiment with BING.

3) When looking at Bing, Yahoo, and Google I found that Bing has a nice layout and easy to look at as well as being easy to search on and an engine I could recommend it for most people but does not give me the extras that Google does. I address the extras farther down the page.

Yahoo is alright as a search engine but is too busy of a page for me to want to go there very often. When you log in there are too many options with cutesy icons and the news is “in my face”. When I am looking for something I don’t like all the stuff around.

Google is my choice of sites because it is not busy with icons or adds when I log on. Where Bing links to MSN (not my choice of sites) and Yahoo pushes the news in your face. Google allows you search to without being distracted by all the other stuff. There are links to images, videos, maps, news, shopping, and Gmail with a link for all the other amenities
that they offer if a person wanted more options.

Some of the options that I use are Google calendar, Gmail, documents, Picasa (photo editor). Also, I am the proud owner of a Google voice number which when I activate it will allow me to have it ring any or all of my phones, get voice mail as an email, send unwanted callers straight to voicemail, do conference calls, screen callers and much more. I have also been invited to be on Google Wave. With this people can communicate and work together on a document. Any invited participant can reply, edit, and add people to see and edit a specific document. Google Wave is live and all this can be done as quickly as your internet allows.

Fall on the Gulf Coast

I love fall here in the Houston area. It is perfect weather to be outside most of the time. We may not have the beautiful leaves that can be found in the Hill Country but this is the perfect time to hike, bike, and do all those outdoor things you love that you can't do in June, July, August, and September.

IHCPL #66 Crafts and Hobbies

In the past I crocheted many place mats and three or four small Easter baskets. I currently have an unfinished crocheted baby afghan in my crochet bag. I completed one before my first grandchild, started the second one but never finished it. My second grandchild is now 3 years old, so I'm somewhat behind schedule.

Given the choice of making a prayer shawl, chemo hat or lap blanket I would probably opt for the chemo hat and hope it does not take as long or as the afghan.

Our branch does not currently have an adult knitting group. The children’s department is currently teaching a class and many mothers attended to learn with their children. We hope to start a knitting class in the fall which we hope will evolve into an ongoing program. We are also discussing having quarterly joint sessions with the children’s department inviting special speakers and other events.

#59 Money and Finance

Having heard speakers from banks and the better business bureau I have been aware of Equifax, Trans Union and Experian for some time. It is vitally important for people to be very aware of what their credit rating is. That way there are no surprises if you decide to take a loan to make a major purchase.

We have always had a budget plan even when money was very tight. When you don’t have much money it is easy to see where it is all spent. When you have more money a budget allows you to prioritize your spending so you can do what is most important and plan for later purchases including important decisions such as buying a home or car as well as for vacations and fun.

What I like about the TCDRS site is that it allows us to see how much we have in our account and helps make projections that allow us to better plan toward retirement even if it years away. I found comfort in the following statements on their web page. 1. The system is designed to keep benefits secure even in trying times. 2. Members receive 7% interest on their accounts every year. TCDRS' investment return in any single year does not affect your account balance or benefit payment. 3. Your account retains its value no matter what happens in investment markets