Ketchikan writer and mayor Dave Kiffer explains in the My Turn column of the November 3 issue of Newsweek that it's not so swell for a community to be nationally branded Nowhere. "But we will get over it," he says. "We will even make up with our governor, no matter what happens on Nov. 4. That's what Alaskans do. We pull together to make a go of it in a place where survival—physical or economic—is not necessarily a given." Well said. You can read the whole article at Newsweek.com. While you're at it, check out Kiffer's monthly musings on Alaskan history at Sitnews.
In the area of language faux pas, I doubt I'm the only Alaskan who's been waking up lately with the urge to apologize to the nation for the nonsense we generate. In addition to the congressman who thinks "constituent" means "people who voted for me" and the governor who thinks "violated ethics statute" means "vindicated," we now have Senator Ted Stevens who claims he has not been "convicted" because he plans to appeal. How stupid do these people think we are?
And after the Palin Truth Squad announced that he'd been fired for being a "rogue," former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan must be getting a kick out of the fact that Palin herself is now the RNC's "rogue." Apparently "rogue" is the new black.
Changing the landscape in the world of books is this week's $125 million dollar settlement that paves the way for Google to continue its Google Book program that will allow readers to view and purchase out-of-print books online. An arrangement for compensating authors holding copyright is part of the settlement.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
PASSED OVER
Several days ago, I was met at the entrance of our local Borders by an Alaskan author signing copies of his first book. A sincere and no doubt talented man, he engaged customers as they came through the door, offering facts about how long he'd spent writing the book and a few tidbits about his specialized, regional topic.
Signings are a lot like middle school dances - unless your book and your signing have been heavily promoted, there's a lot of sitting around, hoping someone will notice you and trying to pretend it doesn't matter when they don't. Handselling works, but it's tough. When you think of it, what are the odds that a person looking for just your kind of book is going to wander into a book store during your three-hour time slot? Mix in a not-so-hot economy and you start to feel quite the wallflower.
It's nothing personal. There are a lot of books out there, and whether they realize it or not, the reading public relies mostly on bookstores and publishers to guide their reading selections. In his recent post On Being Skipped, Marketing Manager Andrew Wheeler offers an indepth look at how chain stores decide which books to carry and which to skip, which lead of course to the continuing debate over chain stores vs. independents.
Authors have to put themselves out there. Handselling to individual readers is good. Handselling to booksellers is even better. Target marketing is better still. Above all, understanding the realities of this business - and it is, as Wheeler points out, a business - is a huge asset for writers and tangentially, for their readers.
Signings are a lot like middle school dances - unless your book and your signing have been heavily promoted, there's a lot of sitting around, hoping someone will notice you and trying to pretend it doesn't matter when they don't. Handselling works, but it's tough. When you think of it, what are the odds that a person looking for just your kind of book is going to wander into a book store during your three-hour time slot? Mix in a not-so-hot economy and you start to feel quite the wallflower.
It's nothing personal. There are a lot of books out there, and whether they realize it or not, the reading public relies mostly on bookstores and publishers to guide their reading selections. In his recent post On Being Skipped, Marketing Manager Andrew Wheeler offers an indepth look at how chain stores decide which books to carry and which to skip, which lead of course to the continuing debate over chain stores vs. independents.
Authors have to put themselves out there. Handselling to individual readers is good. Handselling to booksellers is even better. Target marketing is better still. Above all, understanding the realities of this business - and it is, as Wheeler points out, a business - is a huge asset for writers and tangentially, for their readers.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
PICTURES FOR WORDS
For my next book (Picture This, Alaska: Historic Photographs from the Last Frontier, Sasquatch, 2009), I got to sort through 25,000 photos from Alaska's archival collections to select 110 crisp, well-composed, emotionally evocative pictures to tell the story of how our state grew up. In the process, I developed (no pun intended) a huge appreciation for the story-telling talents of Alaska's best photographers.
Many of those who shot photos for my book are no longer around. But we've got plenty of talented professionals capturing timeless images today. Author Seth Kantner (see my post on his latest book, Shopping for Porcupine) is among them. Then there's prolific nature writer and photographer Kim Heacox of Gustavus, likened to an Edward Abbey of the North. Another Alaskan photographer brought recently to my attention is Brian Adams, who has repped us beautifully in several national publication.
Roy Corral does amazing nature photography, featured in a variety of projects including My Denali and A Child's Glacier Bay, both books for young readers. Another among my favorites is James Barker, for his remarkable black and white renderings of Yupik culture in Southwestern Alaska. The title of his classic collection, Always Getting Ready, won me over even before I saw the photos.
Browsing the work of these Alaskans, it's hard for even the fustiest wordsmith to argue the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Many of those who shot photos for my book are no longer around. But we've got plenty of talented professionals capturing timeless images today. Author Seth Kantner (see my post on his latest book, Shopping for Porcupine) is among them. Then there's prolific nature writer and photographer Kim Heacox of Gustavus, likened to an Edward Abbey of the North. Another Alaskan photographer brought recently to my attention is Brian Adams, who has repped us beautifully in several national publication.
Roy Corral does amazing nature photography, featured in a variety of projects including My Denali and A Child's Glacier Bay, both books for young readers. Another among my favorites is James Barker, for his remarkable black and white renderings of Yupik culture in Southwestern Alaska. The title of his classic collection, Always Getting Ready, won me over even before I saw the photos.
Browsing the work of these Alaskans, it's hard for even the fustiest wordsmith to argue the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
FISH OUT OF WATER
On Sunday I had the delightful experience of listening to Alaskan storyteller Brett Dillingham tell the tall tale of a pet fish that drowned.
With Alaskans suffering more than their share of tall stories from politicians who do one thing and say another, it was refreshing to enjoy a real fish out of water whopper. I found myself wondering which is tougher to fathom: a pet catfish who walks on a leash, or a US Senator who maintains innocence after conviction, despite his own recorded voice saying the worst he'd get for his misdeeds was "a little jail time."
Dillingham, who lives in Juneau, is an acclaimed storyteller working most recently with Performance Library. He's also the author of Raven Day, a book for young readers.
With Alaskans suffering more than their share of tall stories from politicians who do one thing and say another, it was refreshing to enjoy a real fish out of water whopper. I found myself wondering which is tougher to fathom: a pet catfish who walks on a leash, or a US Senator who maintains innocence after conviction, despite his own recorded voice saying the worst he'd get for his misdeeds was "a little jail time."
Dillingham, who lives in Juneau, is an acclaimed storyteller working most recently with Performance Library. He's also the author of Raven Day, a book for young readers.
Monday, October 27, 2008
TELLING OUR STORIES
My first Alaskan book project wasn't really mine. Even though I was a first year teacher, principal (and now artist) Michael Murray entrusted me with an oral history project he'd begun with our students under the supervision of Ann Vick, working with Doubleday's Anchor Press. The result of our collective efforts was The Cama-i Book, published in 1982.
The project was a spin-off of Foxfire, a project by famed educator Eliot Wiggington, affectionately known as Wiggs, in which high school students interviewed Appalachian elders and published their stories. In the Cama-i (a Yupik word of greeting, pronounced chah-my) project, students gathered wisdom and stories from elders in Kodiak, Bristol Bay, and the Yukon-Kuskokwim region.
Our tiny high school of 30-some students was responsible for the entire YK Delta section of the book. Gertrude Jacobs, Elena White, James Chaliak, James Chase, Anna Wasillie, and a handful of others did the hard work of interviewing, selecting, compiling, fact-checking, and writing narratives that would otherwise have been lost, translating from Yupik to English throughout.
That was over 25 years ago. Now the entire state of Alaska is embarking on an oral history project through StoryCorps, a six-month initiative to collect oral histories in Nome, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Unalaska, Juneau, and Barrow. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress will archive the 40-minute interviews, and participants receive their own CDs to keep. The national StoryCorps effort began five years ago, with 20,000 interviews recorded so far. You can catch excerpts from some of the most compelling each Friday on NPR's morning edition.
Behind StoryCorps is the wonderful premise that, writers or not, all of us have rich stories to tell. To find out more about StoryCorps in Alaska, including information on how to participate, visit their website.
The project was a spin-off of Foxfire, a project by famed educator Eliot Wiggington, affectionately known as Wiggs, in which high school students interviewed Appalachian elders and published their stories. In the Cama-i (a Yupik word of greeting, pronounced chah-my) project, students gathered wisdom and stories from elders in Kodiak, Bristol Bay, and the Yukon-Kuskokwim region.
Our tiny high school of 30-some students was responsible for the entire YK Delta section of the book. Gertrude Jacobs, Elena White, James Chaliak, James Chase, Anna Wasillie, and a handful of others did the hard work of interviewing, selecting, compiling, fact-checking, and writing narratives that would otherwise have been lost, translating from Yupik to English throughout.
That was over 25 years ago. Now the entire state of Alaska is embarking on an oral history project through StoryCorps, a six-month initiative to collect oral histories in Nome, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Unalaska, Juneau, and Barrow. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress will archive the 40-minute interviews, and participants receive their own CDs to keep. The national StoryCorps effort began five years ago, with 20,000 interviews recorded so far. You can catch excerpts from some of the most compelling each Friday on NPR's morning edition.
Behind StoryCorps is the wonderful premise that, writers or not, all of us have rich stories to tell. To find out more about StoryCorps in Alaska, including information on how to participate, visit their website.
Friday, October 24, 2008
ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP
If you've ever wondered why you hear lots about some books and not so much about others, this week's guest blogs by Michelle Moran and M.J. Rose, for agent Nathan Bransford, are required reading. You'll get the inside scoop on what authors should spend on PR, publicist pros and cons, dealing with bad reviews, cover art, and a whole bunch of other fascinating stuff.
Those keeping current with how technology is changing books probably already know about XML, Extensible Markup Language, which allows the sharing of structured data through the internet, which translates into customized delivery to readers. For the rest of us, Publishers Weekly gives a more complete explanation in "XML: Code of the Future."
Anchorage readers will be sad to learn that the independent bookstore A Novel View is closed for a time due to the death of owner Patricia Tegtmeier. Memorial arrangements are pending.
Those keeping current with how technology is changing books probably already know about XML, Extensible Markup Language, which allows the sharing of structured data through the internet, which translates into customized delivery to readers. For the rest of us, Publishers Weekly gives a more complete explanation in "XML: Code of the Future."
Anchorage readers will be sad to learn that the independent bookstore A Novel View is closed for a time due to the death of owner Patricia Tegtmeier. Memorial arrangements are pending.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
IS BIGGER BEST?
For the record, I'm an Alaskan hockey mom whose wardrobe includes outfits suitable for different seasons and climates in all 50 states. If the Republican National Committee wants to outfit their Caribou Barbie and family with a $150,000 wardrobe from the likes of Niemann Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, they're going to have to come up with a better excuse than our climate.
In the flood of unhappy facts I learned about Sarah Palin after McCain added her to the Republican ticket, there was one nice surprise. The old Sarah shopped, at least occasionally, at an upscale consignment boutique in Anchorage. I'm a big believer in small shops, recycling, and consignment. No big surprise that the Republicans, in keeping with their reckless notion that we can spend our way out of any crisis, shopped big, spendy, and (dare we say) elitist stores to dress their champion of blue-collar "real America."
In the book business, elitist equals literary equals small and low-revenue. The axiom is that authors might have to start small and, as their careers warrant, hope to jump up to big. In his recent post "Going From Small Presses to Big Publishers," agent Nathan Bransford discusses the challenges facing authors attempting the leap from what some call "second tier" to the Big Eight (or whatever the number is today - companies get gobbled so fast it's tough to keep track).
Yet many of the best books by Alaskan authors on Alaskan topics are pubbed by smaller independents, including the two I mentioned in yesterday's post. Milkweed brought us Kanter's Ordinary Wolves and Epicenter Wallis's Two Old Women. The good news, according to Bransford, is that "as the big house publishing industry moves to a blockbuster model, small presses will increasingly fill the gap of really good, riskier books that the big houses are overlooking, particularly debuts. And inevitably, those small presses are going to be testing grounds for bigtime talents."
Some of that talent likes where it lands and stays there. Even in a huge state like ours, we know that bigger isn't always best.
In the flood of unhappy facts I learned about Sarah Palin after McCain added her to the Republican ticket, there was one nice surprise. The old Sarah shopped, at least occasionally, at an upscale consignment boutique in Anchorage. I'm a big believer in small shops, recycling, and consignment. No big surprise that the Republicans, in keeping with their reckless notion that we can spend our way out of any crisis, shopped big, spendy, and (dare we say) elitist stores to dress their champion of blue-collar "real America."
In the book business, elitist equals literary equals small and low-revenue. The axiom is that authors might have to start small and, as their careers warrant, hope to jump up to big. In his recent post "Going From Small Presses to Big Publishers," agent Nathan Bransford discusses the challenges facing authors attempting the leap from what some call "second tier" to the Big Eight (or whatever the number is today - companies get gobbled so fast it's tough to keep track).
Yet many of the best books by Alaskan authors on Alaskan topics are pubbed by smaller independents, including the two I mentioned in yesterday's post. Milkweed brought us Kanter's Ordinary Wolves and Epicenter Wallis's Two Old Women. The good news, according to Bransford, is that "as the big house publishing industry moves to a blockbuster model, small presses will increasingly fill the gap of really good, riskier books that the big houses are overlooking, particularly debuts. And inevitably, those small presses are going to be testing grounds for bigtime talents."
Some of that talent likes where it lands and stays there. Even in a huge state like ours, we know that bigger isn't always best.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
