The Friends of the CH Booth library in Newtown, CT, sort books all year in preparation of the gigantic annual book sale. I thought I’d share a few of the strange things we found one day this month. Everything pictured was found within a couple of hours. A weird day for sure! … Continue reading
I wrote last month about my boredom with the ALS ice bucket challenge, so thought that I should devote equal attention to a different social media challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed. My friend Joanne E. posted on her Facebook page, “Here’s the idea: In your status list 10 books that have stayed with you in … Continue reading
As a library lover, I have to wonder what the future holds in the wake of Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited announcement. $9.99 a month now buys access to over 600K titles. Of course, there are many more millions of books in the world, but what are the majority of people reading? My guess is that most … Continue reading
Book Expo America 2014 concluded on Saturday. This was THE event to attend in The U.S. for publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors, and book lovers. I am not a particular lover of trade shows. Having done enough marketing/exhibiting/keynoting prep for a big high-tech company, I’m a little burned out. Still, I took the train into NYC … Continue reading
When I wrote about my mother’s family in Hatched in Newtown, I included a lot about her oldest brother, Ernest Kelley. Ernest graduated from high school in San Antonio, Texas, in 1938. His father had wanted him to drop out for many years to get a job and earn money. It was only due to … Continue reading
I was listening to NPR the other day when I heard a program titled Why Aren’t Teens Reading Like They Used To? It seems that there is such an abundance of digital media available that kids just prefer other options. Some still read for pleasure, but many do not. Of course, Harry Potter and The Hunger … Continue reading
“Hate” might be a strong word, but it’s closer than not to my regard for the color of pink. It’s not that I have particular distaste for pink, but rather all the pastel colors. Remember Lady Foot Locker stores anyone? Oh yeah, I remember the buzz when athletic shoes were finally made for girls and … Continue reading
After Ray Bradbury died in 2012, many radio programs replayed interviews with the master. A fast talker, he spoke easily about his early failures, but also accredited his success to lots of practice. When the interviewer (sorry, I can’t remember which show or host) complimented his writing, he flippantly responded “well, I wrote everyday for … Continue reading
Many established book awards will not consider submissions from independent presses or self-published authors. My guess is that traditional publishing is still viewed as a quality standard. If the Big-5 publishes a book, there’s a virtual guarantee that it has been vetted, edited, and designed by professionals. While there are many worthy self-published titles, there … Continue reading
As one of my first forays into marketing for my POD (print on demand) title, I took a chance on the Publishers Weekly insert that highlights books from the DIY crowd. It may not generate sales, but still looks pretty neat. At a minimum, it feels pretty good to have finished a project that is … Continue reading
kelleytjansson 