Blooking Central

Gold Medal Murder ... by me!

2008-06-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

My newest novel, which happens to be a blook, has just been released! You can purchase either the paperback ($16.95) or the eBook ($5.95) from BookLocker. For those of you who have been paying attention to the hoohah Amazon has caused with BookSurge, you'll know not to try to find Gold Medal Murder there! In fact, BookLocker has filed a class action lawsuit against Amazon. So, if you feel more comfortable ordering from a "regular" online bookstore, try Barnes & Noble.

Twenty Major's blook

2008-03-07T07:53:00.000-08:00

Found this at The Independent, tucked away in an article on the Bloscars (annual Irish Blog Awards):

"The acerbic Twenty Major has been the big winner for the past two years, claiming back-to-back wins in the Best Overall Blog category. Twenty -- whose identity remains hidden behind that pseudonym -- admits that the awards upped his profile considerably.
He even landed a publishing deal for a "blook" (a book based on a blog) -- the first of its kind in Ireland -- entitled The Order of the Phoenix Park, which is due out in a matter of weeks. "The awards have played a really big part in making blogging more mainstream in Ireland and moving it away from the perception that it was something for techies and nerds," Twenty explains.

There's an odd justification for migrating blog characters to print to be found in the Synopsis at Amazon:

"For three years Twenty Major has written a daily blog. Now though comes a tale so bizarre and abominable that mere words on a computer screen wouldn't have been able to do it justice. These words need to be on paper ..."

So much for why the need for a dead tree version :-)

Inquiring minds might be interested in a review of the blook. Crime Always Pays has republished The Dubliner magazine's review by Bridget Hourican. A couple of hints as to what you might learn:

"daily musings average 50 comments" and one post received 481;
"has not just re-worked old blog material into a book" - although same characters;
"doesn't feel like a compilation of musings awkwardly soldered together."

One Woman's Story

2008-02-12T13:48:00.000-08:00

Diane MacEachern has written to share the story of how her blook came into being. Thanks, Diane!

***

My story is pretty straightforward. After the 2004 elections, I became convinced that the greatest opportunities to protect the environment existed in the marketplace. So much pollution, climate change and
wilderness destruction are driven by manufacturing of goods and services people buy; it seemed reasonable to encourage people to buy products that minimized their environmental impact.

I created the Big Green Purse website (www.biggreenpurse.com) first. Consumers, especially women, were telling me that they wanted to do the right thing, but couldn't find the information they were looking
for. I developed the website to make it easy for women to get their questions answered with up-to-date information and easy-to-follow lifestyle suggestions.

The blog is an attempt to offer some editorial perspective on day-to-day issues and news that crop up. It gives me a chance to link to other terrific sources of information, and to get feedback from Big Green Purse readers.

The book expands greatly on the information provided both on the website and in my blog. The book, in fact, is far more detailed - it's over 400 pages of tips, product suggestions and background information. That's way too much information to include in either a website or a blog, but perfect for someone who wants as many ideas as possible.

The book includes much of the information that's on the website or that has appeared on my blog, plus additional details, resource lists, and more. I'm actually going back now and enhancing the website with
information that I found during the book research. Just as well, I'm using the blog and website to update information that exists in the book. So the book, blog and website will all work hand-in-hand to help
consumers make the most environmentally-friendly decisions possible.

As for the mechanics of all this, I developed a book proposal while I was preparing to launch my website and blog. This is my fourth book, so I have a track record as an author. Working with my book agent, I
was able to secure a book contract with the Avery imprint of Penguin/Viking just as I was launching the website (whose content had served as some of the fodder for the proposal) and the blog.

It definitely helped create my overall "author's platform" to have a blog and website up before I wrote the book. I never would have had time to work on them once I got the book contract. Also, having the website and blog create very good marketing opportunities for the book.

I hope this explains the relationship between my blog and book satisfactorily.

Sincerely,

Diane MacEachern
Founder & CEO
Big Green Purse
www.biggreenpurse.com

Big Green Purse

2008-02-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

February's issue of MORE magazine had a page called "Women of the Blogosphere" and wouldn't you know, one of the blogs has just been turned into a blook! The book is Big Green Purse from the blog Diane's Big Green Purse run by Diane MacEachern. According to MORE, MacEachern is getting 3,500 hits a month. She also maintains a companion site, "The World Women Want."

I regret that I haven't been able to find out anything about how the book was put together since the blog doesn't appear to be searachable. I did send her an email, though :-) so we may hear from MacEachern. Wonder if she knows about the Blooker competition coming up?

Andrew Keen's Cult of the Amateur

2008-01-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

Publishers Marketplace announced the following deal on 28 April, 2006:

Digital media critic and tech-industry veteran Andrew Keen's THE GREAT SEDUCTION: Silicon Valley's Assault on Our Culture and Values, expanding on ideas from his blog (www.thegreatseduction.com) and recent piece for The Weekly Standard criticizing the ideology and cultural consequences of the Web 2.0 movement, to Roger Scholl at Currency/Doubleday, in a pre-empt, by Stephen Hanselman at LevelFiveMedia [literary agency].

I discovered at Amazon, that the working title had been transformed into The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting Our Economy. I also learned that it had been published in the UK by Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Normally I would spend my time trying to establish the relationship between the blog and blook and see if I could pull together snippets from the blog and elsewhere to determine how the blook was fashioned. Unfortunately I couldn't find a search function on Keen's blog. [And to tell the truth, my recent illness has left me too tired to care much :-(] I did want to point out that Nicholas Brealey looks like fertile ground for ferreting blooks. After all, where there's one, there just might be another! The first title I'm going to check into is Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs (She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse)
by Paul Carter.

Adrian Mole: The Lost Years

2008-01-22T08:04:00.001-08:00

I've just finished reading Adrian Mole: The Lost Years.. The inside flap of the dust jacket says: "Sue Townsend is the author of the immensely popular Adrian Mole diaries, ostensibly penned by young Master Mole, which broke sales records in England. Translated into twenty-seven languages, these private reflections gained a cultish following that numbered in the millions."

No, it's not a blook. But Adrian Mole has his own website now. Back in 1982 when the first in the series appeared, blogs were but a blip-to-be on the horizon. I hesitated to mention the book here, since it was not a blook, but there's a couple of things that can be gleaned from it since it reads very much like a blog plunked on paper.

First, I found it difficult reading. I'm reminded of a reader's criticism of Kristin Espinasse's Words In a French Life, which made the shortlist for the 2007 Blooker Prize. Andrew S. Rogers wrote at Amazon: "Unfortunately, despite several attempts to make good progress moving from cover to cover, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I have to conclude that what works very well in a blog just doesn't translate (so to speak) very well to a book." He blamed the difficulty on the tiny sections. "I suppose my attempt might have succeeded better had I tried to read this the way I read her blog: one small section at a time, with a day or so in between samples." By contrast, Julie Powell, author of Julie and Julia, did a masterful job of creating a blook from her posts, supplying the necessary transitional material that never made her blog. [She also eliminated dates and anything else that sounded bloggy - creating a real tale.]

Second, one-liners and slick anecdotes [one reader's opinion -- don't shoot!] don't make for compelling reading. I found nothing to savor or to reflect on. By contrast Irma Bombeck's books were also humorous but had bits which stung or pricked, stuff that made you think -- at least occasionally. I basically ended up plowing through Mole's diary. I'll grant you it was funny but I'm really glad I didn't purchase it.

Lastly, a word of praise. There are two handfuls of characters which are actually fleshed out enough to be recognizable with foibles and personalities of their own. I would have thought that to be a difficult thing using the diary approach.

So if you're considering converting your blog to dead tree format, I'd suggest 1) that you ask yourself if the entries are too uniform to be read one after another in one sitting; 2) that you check to see if there's substance tucked away that could be brought forward a bit; and 3) see if the salient characters can be eliminated or whether they need to be rounded into real contributors.

Good News about Feeling Good

2008-01-12T10:24:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Pip Wilson who left an announcement in the comments that demands elevation to a post.

"My book, The FeelGood Manual, was done first in my Wilson's Almanac ezine, then put online, then made into a Lulu book. In November, 2007, a publisher found it online, approached me and we signed a publication contract in December. (It will be out in June.) I was surprised, as it's 'Faces in the Street' I've been trying to sell to a publisher!"

Be encouraged, Blook Folk! In case you missed them, here's a link to a letter Wilson wrote me about Faces in the Street and my post about The FeelGood Manual.

Caucus for Corruption

2008-01-11T10:21:00.000-08:00

While it is sometimes true that blogs have been turned into blooks, it is, perhaps, more often the case that blogs provide the genesis, the impetus, rather than specific content. In September of 2006 Publishers Marketplace announced the following book deal:

5 September, 2006
"Blogs for Bush" founder Matt Margolis and Mark Noonan's CAUCUS FOR CORRUPTION, detailing corruption in the Democratic Party, to Eric Jackson at World Ahead, for publication in spring 2007.

Margolis blogs at Blogs for Victory, Noonan at GOP Bloggers. The hype for the book gives us this - "When Democrats made "ethics" the centerpiece of their 2006 campaign, [the authors] knew the public wasn't getting the whole story." The story of how they got together to tell "the whole story" is told in part in the About the Authors at Amazon:

"When Matt Margolis launched Blogs For Bush (www.blogsforbush.com) in 2003, Mark Noonan became a regular contributor. It became one of the top blogs of the 2004 presidential campaign season. Margolis was among the first bloggers to receive media credentials to cover the Republican National Convention. As popular bloggers, Margolis and Noonan have appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and BBC Radio."

How they managed the actual collaboration comes from an interview at Psycmeister's Ice Palace.

LEO: To borrow a term from the liberal lexicon, the two of you come from geographically-diverse locations. What were some of the logistical difficulties encountered in your collaboration efforts?

MARK: Well, we're pretty much on different sides of the country, Matt lives in Massachusetts, and I live in Nevada. So, not only was there an issue with geography, but also a 3-hour time difference. Much of the research was done individually, and we shared it via email and such, but, Matt also came out to Las Vegas twice last year (a week in March, and a week in November), and spent that time working together, adding more material, writing and rewriting...

Note that I'm not calling this a blook, although I'm pretty sure a case could be made for it. [I've got an email in to the authors to see what they have to say.] Caucus for Corruption is the first in a three-book deal according to Margolis's blog.

Brainkerplodeitis

2008-01-11T09:05:00.000-08:00

28-year-old Rachel "Rakie" Keig, author of Terror Island, suffers from brainkerplodeitis, a condition common to many writers. But it's okay ... she works in a hospital ... for the Department of Pathology. Which also can't hurt if your genre is horror! I've been in communication with Keig and, lucky for us, she consented to do a Q & A. Before we start, I'd like to point you to an article, "Just who the hell do I think I am?" and to the About Page of her website.

Blooking Central: You previously mentioned a writing group on Yahoo, called Happy People Have No Stories, which you started in May 2003. The statistics look pretty impressive! Have you belonged/do you belong to other groups? Why start your own?

Keig: "Happy People" is a fairly easy-going writing group. Our aim was to give everyone a chance to post stories and get feedback, but it's also a place for us to chat. We're not a big group but it's a really nice atmosphere - I've met some of my best friends on there. And there have been some great stories posted. We've had horror fiction, fantasy, adventure, romance, comedy, travelogues, poetry... probably something from every genre by now.

Prior to starting HP, I was a member of a bunch of WWE fangroups on yahoo, and I loved posting and reading fanfics there. There's something so fun about posting a story and getting half a dozen people feedbacking
you in the next day or so. It's a real encouragement to keep writing - some of my most productive (albeit probably not best) work was done in fanfics. At one point, me and my friend Jami were posting daily
chapters of our respective stories, and shouting like hell at each other until we got the next one.

We figured that it was a damn good way of getting us to write, so I set up the HP group. I tried looking for an existing group to join, but there are so many on yahoo that it's difficult to know where to start. A few that I looked at seemed pretty good, but once I'd joined I realised there was very little activity on the boards. Setting up our own group was the easiest option.

It's also the thing that's helped my writing the most - if it hadn't been for the constant feedback and help that I've got from those guys, I never would have completed 'Terror Island'. Posting stories serially on the group meant that when I was procrastinating over the next chapter there'd always be someone ready to beat me with a shoe until I got over it, or if a chapter or plot-point was stupid or badly written they'd point it out and help me fix it. And since we're all friends there, I know they'll tell me when I suck!

Blooking Central: You obviously have a website ... do you have a blog? [if not, why not] What's the biggest difference? Which would you recommend for someone who wants to start promoting their fiction online?

Keig: I do have a blog over at livejournal (http://rakiek.livejournal.com/ ) but it's just a personal one and not particularly interesting (unless you're interested in what kind of toast I have for breakfast and stuff like that). I tend to post my stories onto my website and then link to them in my blog, since I'm not sure how many of my friends are interested in reading my stuff.

I read several serial fictions via LJ though - I like the fact that the chapters pop up on your f-list, meaning that you don't have to remember to check websites for new chapters. I'm also fond of the comment tool that blogs provide, especially since it's something that basic websites owned by people with rubbish html skills (like mine) lack. The ability to give/receive immediate comments is the best thing I can think of about online publishing.

For that reason alone, I would say that blogs are probably the best and easiest way of getting work out to people. It's doubly true if you haven't got the time or effort to devote to a website: I'm speaking for myself here, since I'm notoriously bad at the whole html thing, but blogs seem to take the hassle out of it all and let you get on with the important business of writing.

Of course, you'll notice I'm a total hypocrite because I post everything on a website rather than a blog. Why? Well, the sad truth is that it was an exercise in procrastination - once the stories are online they're no longer sitting around on my hard drive and I don't need to fret about getting them published, since people can read them there if they really want. I know that's rubbish logic, and would like to make it clear that I don't recommend trying this if you're wanting to get anywhere in life! Procrastination is not the answer. :)

Blooking Central: How do your readers find you? What things are you doing or have you tried to drive traffic to your site?

Keig: To be honest, I've never done anything to bring people to my site, and I'm constantly surprised that anyone finds it! When I post serial stories on HP I tend to archive the chapters to my site so that the other members can catch up if they miss a chapter. I never had much thought about other people reading it. If I was on a messageboard or chat group and I was talking about a certain story then I'd post a link, but that was as far as I'd get in plugging my work.

One of the main reasons for not drawing attention to my work was that, frankly, a lot of it was rubbish. I've not been writing that long and I'm still learning - I thoroughly agree with whoever said that you've got to write a million words of crap before you start writing anything good. One problem I can see with online publishing is that you can post anything at all, regardless of quality, and get people to read it.

Yes, there's a lot of awesome stuff out there that for one reason or another hasn't been published in dead-tree form, but there's also a lot of stuff that maybe isn't ready to be read. The stuff on my website definitely fell into the latter category, so I never publicised it.

Blooking Central: Congratulations on having your blook published. What can you tell us about the deal? For instance, were you sending out query letters?

Keig: Thank you! :) The deal came about really strangely, and to be honest there was a large wodge of luck involved. I'd just finished a second draft of 'Terror Island' and posted it to my website, and I was quite happy with how it was looking. There was a thread on the Hadesgate messageboard ( www.hadesgateforums.co.uk ) inviting people to post fiction for others to comment on, so I stuck up a link to see what people thought. Garry from Hadesgate read it and really liked it, and I was lucky enough to have caught him at a time when they had room in their publishing schedule for an extra book. So really, I cheated - didn't send any query letters, didn't submit the book via official submissions, just posted a link to my poorly-formatted homepage. And I happened to get lucky.

I don't know what advice you can take from this... maybe just to post your work wherever possible and hope that the right person gets to read it. :)

Blooking Central: What's the prognosis for "Animal Bones" [which is also a full-length novel online]? Are you working at marketing it?

Keig: I wrote 'Animal Bones' about three years ago, and it's been sitting on my website ever since. Although I'm very fond of it, I have no plans to do much with it at this moment in time... except maybe go through and take out a few of the more glaring spelling mistakes. :) I'm very keen on the idea of fiction being available for free online (imo it's one of the greatest things the internet has to offer) and I wanted to have something of mine in the public domain.

Blooking Central: You must be incredibly pleased that your feature-length film, "Horrorcide," is soon to be released. Which leads me to ask about the horror genre in general. It seems to me that readers and writers of horror are a pretty enthusiastic bunch. Does this give you an edge over other forms of fiction on the web?

Keig: We are all indeed very happy with how 'Horrorcide' is going, although it's taking a lot longer to edit than expected (my own fault for not budgeting for an editor). Fingers crossed it'll be ready for release in the early part of this year. There're a lot of people looking forward to seeing it (I know because they keep poking me with sticks and asking when it'll be done), not least because we had the involvement of a whole bunch of horror writers ('Horrorcide' is a five-part anthology movie, in the style of the old Amicus portmanteau films, and five writers donated short stories to the script, including Garry Charles, David Tamarin, Barry J House and Darrell Joyce. We also had some help from veteran horror master Guy N Smith!).

Judging by the horror writers I know, I would have to agree with you - they are definitely an enthusiastic bunch! I'd say that horror naturally lends itself to energy and exuberance, because it's such a visual, visceral thing to write about. Everything can get pumped up to hysterical, over-the-top levels - action, emotions, violence, the works.

That's obviously not to say that horror writing can't be meticulous and carefully written, because some of the most amazing pieces of writing ever have been in the horror genre. But yes, I'll agree that there's definitely a buzz to horror, whether it's writing it or reading it or watching it at the cinema, and, to my mind, that makes it the most fun genre to work in.

As for giving an edge over other fiction... I'm not sure. I suppose that not everyone likes horror, after all. And I'd say that good writing will always win out, regardless of genre - for example, my favourite online book of last year was 'Beasts of New York' ( www.beastsofnewyork.com ) by Jon Evans, which was "a children's book
for adults" about a squirrel exiled from Central Park. It's a fantastic read, an absolute attention-grabber... and completely unlike anything I'd usually go for.

***

I didn't get all the references that Keig used, hey, I'm not 28 any more! ... so I asked.

WWE is the World Wrestling Entertainment guys (formally the WWF) - I used to watch it loads and was a tad obsessed. :D the fangroups are the discussion groups on yahoo and other places where like-minded weirdos can get together and talk about their favourite wrestlers and stuff like that, and fanfics are the stories they write and post (fanfiction tends toward romantic storylines involving favourite characters finally getting together... bless). The f-list on livejournal is the friend's page where you can see the most recent posts by your friends... but thinking about it, that might not even be a real term, I might have just made it up!

Blook Look Follow-up

2008-01-11T06:57:00.000-08:00

Shortly after the Blookable Podcast piece was posted at Future Perfect Publishing I heard from Kathleen Dixon Donnelly, author of Gypsy Teacher series of blooks. In my column I wondered aloud whether or not podcasts could be collected into a marketable blook. Donnelly's response is more in keeping with the traditional approach, print to audio.

"I would actually love to do a recorded version of all the blogs. I really enjoyed volunteering for the Radio Reading Service, and there is nothing similar here.
"I bought a little recorder when we were in Asia, and used it for some interviewing. But when we got back, and the BBC World Service program Outlook asked me for a recorded version of my blog about 'Bathing in the British Isles,' we had a helluva time e-mailing the file. My tech guys at the university said, 'It's such an old system the software doesn't exist anymore.' I said, 'I just bought it last month in Taiwan!'
"So that stopped me. But I think once you get the hang of it, it is easy to do."

In my article I wrote, "Other than interviews or conversations, which may or may not be interesting to read on paper at a later date, I’m guessing that many podcasts are scripted." Donnelly gives real insight:

"You mentioned interviews. For Dixon Donnelly at Sea I did interview students a couple of times. I would write my intro and talk to them a bit ahead of time. Then I would record the intro with them there, and then interview them. I couldn't edit. [One time the phone rang right in the middle. The student picked it up and whispered, 'She's not here' and hung up.] I would then transcribe them--all those years as a transcription typist come in handy!--and edit a bit for the print version."

When I did my post about Hanna Andersson's blook, A Creative Year: the Diary of Hanna Andersson 2006, I left a comment at Diane Gilleland's www.craftypod.com [where I found a podcast of an interview with Andersson] asking if she made transcriptions available from her site. Gilleland wrote to me saying, "I typically do not transcribe the podcasts - there is very little interest in that among my listeners and blog-readers." I'm left to wonder if the topic, crafts, simply doesn't lend itself to printed podcasts. OTOH, for someone like Grandad, who does humor, or someone like Garrison Keillor (Prairie Home Companion), it should be a natural. Right?

Should Suldog Publish?

2008-01-10T14:16:00.001-08:00

Here's the deal. This fella, Suldog, stopped by to thank me for posting about Mushy's Moochings. I followed the link to his homepage and this is what I saw under Archives: 2007 (179) - 2006 (174) - 2005 (61). Said to myself, I did, betcha there's a blook in there somewhere. I queried Suldog about it. He replied, "What I don't know about publishing would fill a book - or a blook. I suppose there's a possibility, but I've never really looked into the details in any meaningful way."

Hmm, methinks he's being modest. Farther down in the sidebar, there's a link to "Some Stuff I'm Proud To Have Written...." There's also a link to "Some Stuff That Will Take You Days To Read." Seems to me like he's taken a serious look at what he's already done and decided it's not crap. That's step number one toward blooker-hood.

Blookable Podcasts

2008-01-10T13:10:00.000-08:00

Tom Masters has just posted the newest "Blook Look" which examines the blookability of podcasts. I used Kathleen Dixon Donnelly's blook, Gypsy Teacher: Dixon Donnelly @ Sea, as a jumping off point. I'm hoping that folks much more tech-savvy than I am will weigh in. We're also looking for blogs that make good use of podcasts that you think would make good blooks.

Hadesgate Publications

2008-01-09T14:00:00.000-08:00

I wrote to Hadesgate Publications (Terror Island), a relatively new UK publisher to see if I could discover what might make a blog tick for them.

Blooking Central: I'm trying to encourage bloggers by blogging on ways that they can attract publishers and get their own blook deal. Many publishers have listed quality content as their number one priority, followed closely by high readership numbers and active commenting. The last two practically guarantee some sort of sales! So my first question is this, what would Hadesgate belooking for in blog that they would be inclined to publish? Probably all of the above! But is there something else? Like author participation in other venues? Do they have a voice that's being heard elsewhere? Are they previously published in anthologies or whatever?

Hadesgate: Hadesgate is primarily a horror publisher, we have however touched on sci-fi comedy The Servicing and Maintenance of Wayland Snowball and fantasy for children Soulkeepers both by Steve Dean. So our spectrum of genre releases is diverse.

What would tempt us to visit a blog and indeed see us return for more would be the sheer fun of reading it. The author has mere paragraphs to capture his/her audience. Within a comparatively small word count both the theme of the blog and the personality of the writer has to draw you in. Quite often this combination is electric.

Blooking Central: Do you actively search for fiction online with a view to maybe publishing it? If not, why not?

Hadesgate: Hadesgate don't actively search the web for manuscripts to publish. When we open for submissions we are swamped. The sheer volume of authors out there seeking vindication for their hours of toiling over a pc is truly staggering.

We are aware of some websites that offer to host examples of work for authors, through which publishers can look with a view to publication. We have just never chosen this route.

Blooking Central: There's mixed opinions on whether to take down the blog or website when the material appears in print. Could you give Hadesgate's rationale for taking down Terror Island by Rakie Keig?

Hadesgate: Hadesgate's point of view with regard to Terror Island is that we requested that Rakie take down her online version of the book as soon as we were committed to publishing it. We were amazed at her style, the quality of her writing and added to that was the fact that Rakie is an extraordinarily talented young lady in other areas. Her blook and her enthusiasm was exactly what we were looking for when we experienced a gap in our publishing schedule. She is a real asset to Hadesgate and we are very proud to have published Terror Island.

****

My thanks to Paula Wilson-Buckle for her responses. I'd like to add some comments from a conversation between Steven Deighan and Garry Charles that I found online.

GC: "I have to say that working with Hadesgate has made it easy moving into the writing world and I have to thank them. What was your experience like working with Hadesgate Publications?"
SD: "Nothing but the best. I’d approached them after reading one of their releases and suggested they take a look at my manuscript after one of their authors – you – liked my first book. They agreed to publish it and accepted the work, no fuss. I think what also solidified the deal was that I had my own website and stuff too, so that showed I was serious and committed about the writing scene. Throughout the book’s publishing, I was kept up-to-date continually about the direction of the book and more importantly, how I wanted to see it finalised.
"What surprised me about Hadesgate Publications was the attention given to the project. Its initial publication date was April 2007, but their enthusiasm to see the finished book – and with the help of sufficient finances! – meant it could be brought forward to September 2006, to coincide with the FantasyCon event in Nottingham.
"One other thing I like about Hadesgate Publications is that it offers an online forum, where the other authors in the house could ‘meet’ and post messages to one another (readers can as well)."
***
See my post on Terror Island as well as my exchange with the author, Rachel Keig.

Rakie Keig

2008-01-09T13:51:00.000-08:00

I was able to contact author Rakie Keig (Terror Island) through her publisher Hadesgate.

****

"Paula from Hadesgate forwarded on your email, so I thought I’d write to you directly. First and foremost, thank you so much for your interest in my book! It’s the first thing I’ve ever had published (apart from one short story last year), and I’m still getting used to the idea of people actually reading it. :) Also I’d like to say that I really like your site – I found it a while ago through the Dave Wellington messageboard after you did that great interview with him about blooks.
"Terror Island was indeed online a while ago, although not technically as a blog. It was posted serially on a writing group on Yahoo, and also on my website (along with pretty much everything else I’ve ever written). When Hadesgate decided to publish the novel, they asked if it could be taken down from the website for copyright reasons, so it’s not there anymore, unfortunately."

****

Christmas interrupted our exchange but ...

"Hi again!
"Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, what with Christmas and everything it's all been a bit mental (also I managed to 'break' my internet at home - long story short, I unplugged my router in order to plug in the fairy lights, then couldn't figure out why the internet wasn't connecting) (because I'm a genius, obviously). :D
"Also, apologies for the confusing name stuff! :D 'Rakie' is basically a nickname my mum gave me - I usually claim that it's short for 'Rachel', but really I just like being awkward. :D And yep, the applepastie person is also me! I take it you must have found my website in that case? (I really must tidy up that site at some point, there's a terrible amount of rubbish on there). 'Blood Red Sea' is indeed one of my stories, although it's in the middle of a name change at the moment (it was originally titled 'Vampirates', which I thought was brilliantly clever of me until I realised I'm subliminally pinched it from another book... again, I am a genius).

****

At the bottom of the original email from Rakie [and no, this has absolutely nothing to do with blooks!] there was this:

"RAAUE: SâEUR(tm)preevaadjagh yn Ã§haghteraght post-l shoh chammahâEUR(tm)s coadanyn erbee currit marish as ta shoh coadit ec y leigh. Cha nhegin diu coipal ny cur eh da peiagh erbee elley ny ymmydey yn chooid tâEUR(tm)ayn er aght erbee dyn kied leayr veihâEUR(tm)n choyrtagh. Mannagh nee shiu yn enmyssagh kiarit jehâEUR(tm)n phost-l shoh, doll-shiu magh eh, my sailliu, as cur-shiu fys daâEUR(tm)n choyrtagh cha leah as oddys shiu. Cha nel kied currit da failleydagh ny jantagh erbee conaant y yannoo rish peiagh ny possan erbee lesh post-l er son Rheynn ny Boayrd Slattyssagh erbee jeh Reiltys Ellan Vannin dyn co-niartaghey scruit leayr
veih Reireyder y Rheynn ny Boayrd Slattyssagh tâEUR(tm)eh bentyn rish."

I couldn't help myself - "What's with what looks like gibberish at the bottom of your email?"

"Oh yes, the gibberish at the bottom of the email! I always forget that that gets added on nowadays. It's actually Manx - I'm based on the Isle of Man and work for the Manx government, who decided a while ago to stick a wodge of Manx Gallic onto the bottom of all outgoing emails.
It's technically a dead language (I think the last native speaker died in the seventies), but it's still taught a little in schools. It's quite pretty when spoken but tends to look like a summoning of the Elder Gods when written down. :D"

I'll post a genuine Q & A with Rakie eventually :D In the meantime, check out what her publisher had to say.

Terror Island

2008-01-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

Robert Gould kindly responded with the title and author of the blook which inspired him to begin posting "A Change in the Weather." It's Terror Island by Rakie Keig. Here's what Sarah Dobbs at "Den of Geek" had to say in her review -- note the emphasis on blogginess:

"While the pacing of the book is great, the chapter breaks are a little too frequent. Some digging around on Google revealed that that’s probably because the chapters were initially posted online, but it’s something that should have been edited before the print version emerged. Particularly since the book is a large non-standard paperback size, which means that most of the chapters are only about 4 pages long. Many of the new chapters pick up exactly where the previous ones left off, which soon starts to feel like you’re watching a movie with far, far too many advert breaks. Mind you, it makes it easy to find a convenient stopping place if you need to put the book down for whatever reason."

One other thing worth noting is that in her Acknowledgments Keig mentions Mr. David Wellington and the Hail Horrors Board. Regular readers will recognize Wellington from his four blooks! [and the link in the sidebar under Online Fiction].

The blook is from Hadesgate Publications, a relatively new UK publisher who specializes in horror. I had a chance to chat with them and I'll post it shortly. In the meantime read what the author had to say.

Could Have Been a Blook

2008-01-09T12:16:00.000-08:00

Clare Christian of The Friday Project shared an interesting story of how a purchase of a drum of olive oil in an LA deli led to a blook called The Dolce Vita Diaries: Stories and Recipes from an Italian Olive Grove. Christian read about the couple in a Sunday news supplement. Essentially, Jason Gibb and Cathy Rogers came up with an Adopt-an-Olive-Tree scheme to generate capital (their website is Nudo). Here's how Christian explains the project:

"Under this scheme anyone can adopt their own tree and the reward for this adoption is twice-yearly parcels of produce from your tree. You can even go and visit your tree and give it a little hug if you feel so inclined. The olive oil is delicious and you get little olive oil soaps too. After reading the article I adopted one straight away and then contacted Cathy and Jason to ask if they would write about their experiences for The Friday Project. They would and did and the result is The Dolce Vita Diaries."

I was unable to find anything that was posted online so I'm guessing that this is not a blook. But if you think about it, it could have been. Anyone doing a similar project - moving across the world, changing careers -- could easily blog their day-to-day adventures, pick up newspaper coverage along the way, and hopefully be asked to convert their writings into a blook. If you or someone you know has done that, let me know.

Defending the Blook

2008-01-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

When I started Blooking Central it was because I was intrigued by the concept of creating a book from blogs. The blogs that I was aware of (and particularly the blogs that I maintained) were such a random mishmash of topics and styles that I couldn't begin to imagine trying to make them into anything coherent like a book.

That's the crux of my defense of the definition that a blook is something that is hard copy -- dead tree. I wanted to know how a blog could morph into print. What did a writer need to do with all that content that they had generated over weeks, months and years? Did writers even know that their blogs had the potential for a different audience?

I blithely began looking at popular works, many of them entered in the Lulu Blooker Prize competitions. I discovered many things but perhaps the most important was this -- most fiction blooks, identified by their author as blooks, had appeared on blogs or websites in pre-meditated serial fashion. There was no mystery here as to how the text then transitioned to print. Even if the content was revised, the narrative arc survived.

I confess that this area has little interest for me. My quest was to discover how to take blog content, those random musings, those conversations with readers, etc., and transform them into something a reader would want to own. Which is why I've spent many posts on software and organizing content. Unless an ordinary blogger (not a fiction author) is blogging thematically, the question of clustering content is huge.

Have I still not made my case? Let me try to explain another way. It's the process of manipulating the daily data that intrigues me most and the objective of producing a print product provides a boundary necessary for me. This is also important when I look at traditionally published blooks because I can feature agents who have seemed to have focused on blog content like Kate Lee and Elizabeth Weed. I can publish letters from publishers like The Friday Project who have a keen interest in blogs. Keeping print in my definition allows me to explore what a blookable blog might look like.

Think about it for a moment, why make an eBook of your blog when the blog is there? Unless you're talking about making money. Which doesn't seem to be the driving reason behind authorship. I would guess that the majority of blook authors that I've looked at (over 250 now) are most concerned with the quality of the work that they're producing, then the reception of that work, and lastly financial gain.

But maybe the bottom line is that I'm just more comfortable with a print parameter. An eBook can be continually revised. Kathleen Dixon Donnelly mentioned that just the other day in my Q & A with her. An author can call his or her work "done" but because of the lack of physicality, it doesn't have to be. With a dead tree version it does.

So there you have it. One old lady's opinion on why a blook should be a printed version of blogged content.

Follow-up

As a courtesy I sent a copy of the above off to Carl Jeffries, who sparked this defense (see My Definition of Blook). Here's his response:

"Now that you've explained your reasoning, I find it to be a quite valid argument. Now you're talking about WHY to make "blook" your definition, not just that it should, you know? I can see a lot of value in that transformational process.
"I'd like you to put a short bit by me at the end if you would, basically saying:
"Hey, I can totally see the value of your definition now, and it sounds like you're really onto something. That transformational process of online-journal-to-print is pretty darn neat. I think we're talking from two different angles here, as I'm totally in love with the idea of web fiction, so I don't want to see "blook" seem to disparage online web fiction. But I think whoever wins the battle for the word "blook" (if it doesn't end up meaning both) will find another word for theirs. And who wants an awkward word like "blook" anyway?"

My Definition of Blook

2008-01-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

I'm never surprised that the definition of blook which I use here at Blooking Central is challenged by those who wish to reserve it, or, to be fair, simply apply it, for/to online fiction. But being a bit of a curmudgeon, I have clung stubbornly to my initial position, more out of obstinacy than from philosophy. However, I've recently exchanged emails with a gentleman (Carl Jeffries) who said that he didn't see the value of my definition. Which caused me to wonder if I could justify -- in a "reasoned" fashion -- just why I have been insisting that a blook is not a blook until it hits print. With his permission I am reproducing our discussion. I'll conclude with what I think are my reasons for being so persnickety.

Carl asked for my definition; I replied, "At Blooking Central I use the definition put in place by the Lulu Blooker Prize competition:

"A blook is a book with content that was developed in a significant way from material originally presented on a blog, webcomic or other website. This material includes the website's characters, themes, ideas or outline that ends up getting published as a printed book."
"n. blook. A printed and bound book, based on a blog (cf. web log) or website; a new stage in the life-cycle of content, if not a new category of content and a new dawn for the book itself."

Carl: So your definition (the Lulu definition) is a physical book based on a blog? That definition and the definition I use (something like "a long form work published in a blog") are both in the Wikipedia entry for "blook" (as well as an interesting but unrelated third definition). I strongly disagree with the Lulu definition, as it seems to me to be living in the past where something can't be a blook if it's solely in digital form. My definition of blook is broader, not excluding works like those in Pages Unbound. Granted, most of the Pages Unbound stories suck, but, for example, poetry doesn't become poetry because it's published by a publisher. Especially since Lulu itself has no bar for entry and publishes plenty of dreck themselves. I just don't see the point in rejecting blogs that are long-form works on the basis that they're on the internet instead of on the page. Right now, for instance, I'd say Gold Medal Murder is a blook, even if it's not published yet. (It isn't yet, is it?) [CH: not yet]

Of course, we'll see what the definition ends up being in, say, five years. (Which makes it silly to me that the OED is considering accepting it as a word, seemingly forgetting a lot of internet words that have fallen by the wayside.)

Blooking Central: The subject of the definition I use has received its share of criticism. But if you take a look at the two
posts that I've referenced, maybe you'll be better able to understand my position - here and here.

Carl: Read your articles. I know it's semantics to a large degree, but I wholly disagree with you. I don't think something online can't be a book. You can have your novel online. Hell, you can have your novel in manuscript form, and it's still a novel. If you want to define a "book" as having to be a hard copy, well, I guess you can do that... but even in that case, doesn't "blook" have the same problem as "eBook"? Why does one letter have to make something NOT a book in one instance and a type of book in another?

I think the more important subject is the vast difference between an eBook and a book-on-a-blog (whatever you wanna call it in its non-dead-tree form). An eBook is the final book in download form. You can purchase eBooks at Lulu, or they're often available for download from an author's site. A blook by MY definition is the work when it's in blog form, often not yet completed.

I'm just not sure I see the value of your definition. You're arguing that your definition is the right one, but I'm not sure why it's the most useful definition. Why not call online blog-books "blooks" too. Then when they're published in dead-tree-form, they're still blooks, only now you can put them on your shelves. Instead you're left calling online blog-books "online blog-books" or "serialized web books" or something. Unless you have a better term? And a reason for using a different term?

I guess my definition focuses more on the works themselves, and you want a separate word for the hard copy of something and the online copy of it, whereas in my mind they're the same thing, and in fact, with decent advertising, the online version will be read more and make more money than the print version.

***

Next up, my defense.

1st Blook from Jerusalem

2008-01-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

I just caught this announcement at Now Public:

"Usually Blooks are virtual books that are published on air as blogs. Yesterday a book based on a blog was published IN PRINT in Jerusalem. The blog is magendavidalbum.blogspot.com and the book (only in Hebrew, Star of David Black & White) is a summary of the most interesting blog-postings arranged by subjects like: the meaning of the Star of David, it’s history, it’s usages in daily life and in arts in various cultures, and there’s a chapter about the yellow badge, which had the shape of the six-pointed Jewish Star during the Third Reich."

You may remember that I wrote about this one when it was a blook-to-be. I was struck then by the idea of "evergreen posts." For photos of the blook's cover see the blog in English. [I realize that last sentence doesn't make much sense -- photos are photos and not bound by language. It's just that I don't read Hebrew.]

Cross+Hairs

2008-01-08T09:14:00.000-08:00

It turns out that J. Paul Mashburn (The Laugh & Times of Mushy) wrote another blook, Cross+Hairs.

I only found a few promotional posts at the blog so I incorrectly assumed that it was not a blook. Mashburn set me straight: "Cross+Hairs was written several years ago offline, but has been updated time and time again. I started Cross+Hairs at http://cross-hairs.blogspot.com much later, but at one time it was all available at the site ... a complete posting of the book. I simply began by posting one chapter at a time, hoping to build interest and a readership following. Only five "teaser" chapters are posted."

Publicity

Until now I haven't had a clear look at what folks do to promote their blooks once they're in print. With Mashburn we have an excellent opportunity to compare two descriptions of Cross+Hairs.

I found a press release posted at PRWeb. I was intrigued to discover that it was as much a hype for Lulu as it was for the blook! But let's look at the difference in the descriptions. The first comes from the blog:

"Henry Maddux fought off his evil thoughts and urges as long as he could. He suffered physical abuse from his step-father, the taunting and teasing of school mates, a broken heart from one he thought understood and cared, the horrors of Vietnam as only a sniper could experience it, and the everyday greed around him. Finally when everyone, everything, and even God seemed against him, he could no longer control the voices. He had to cross out the evil doers and
put his mine [sic] to rest. He crossed them out with the "X" of his scoped high-powered rifle."

The second is from the press release:

"Cross+Hairs is a God’s eye view of the relationship of two childhood friends that grow up on different sides of the law. The book follows them through adolescence, Vietnam, and the events that lead up to a final confrontation in adult life.
"J. Paul Mashburn wrote Cross+Hairs years after meeting a Marine Sniper in Vietnam who told true life horror stories he lived in the 'bush'. It made him wonder how such young men could ever leave such experiences behind and live a normal life."

Which book would you buy? Why? Which bits are the best in each and can they be combined to create a killer [sorry!] advertisement?

Mushy Smooching

2008-01-07T12:55:00.000-08:00

I suppose if I do it this early in the season I may get it out of my system ... but I'm not making any promises! The blog in question is called Mushy's Moochings but the address looks like this: http://mushysmoochings.blogspot.com/ Doesn't that look like mushy smooching? And while I'm at it, I'd best declare myself in favor of mushy smooching!

J. Paul Mashburn describes his blog: "This blog is basically an autobiography of the author and is best read in reverse order, so visit the archive links at the bottom of the sidebar, and start at the beginning." Darned inconvenient, but I've said so before. Here's what he has to say about the blook - the book based on his blog:

"Let me begin by saying that The Laugh & Times of Mushy is a compilation of blog post from this Mushy's Moochings. The blog was started in early 2006 with the express intention of leaving some documentation of "who and what" I am/was to my children and grandchildren."

Aha! Now I understand why I got the heads-up from Going Like Sixty. This is a boomer blog and ipso facto [what does that mean?*] the blook is a boomer blook. With his limited vision of his audience, it's not surprising that Mashburn chose to go with a hardcover version from Lulu.

"Unfortunately, the hardcover issue is available for $35.23 now, but, like I say, it has not been proofed, and a cheaper copy is forthcoming. That sounds like a lot, but think about it, where else can you get a final version copy of a single book one copy at a time? It cost money to provide that capability!
"Inside, you will find 104,256 words, 290 pages, made up of over 118 chapters, many of which were posted here."

This is Mashburn's second book with Lulu which means he knew a bit about what he could anticipate as far as sales revenue:

"Incidentally, I have had Cross+Hairs [fiction] out there for almost 2 years and I recently received $12.23 from Lulu, revenue from all the sales (most of which were mine) up to now! Man, what should I buy with that kind of cash?!"

Deciding To Publish

Mashburn summed up his decision to publish his blog this way:

"I think I’m done, at least here. I do not feel comfortable writing much else. I think I would be invading the privacy of those living souls that were around me after my first marriage through today.
"So, I think I shall now compile what I’ve written here into a 'self-published' book that will serve as documentation my life. Maybe one day someone will want to look back on my life in hopes of discovering what kind of person I was.
"However, the question in my mind now is should I go back and make it a fictional account and embellish it, or should I publish it just as I’ve written it? What do you think?

The question he raises is legitimate. Can we come up with some pro's and con's on either side?

[I want to remind readers as well as Mashburn that the next Lulu Blooker Prize competition will be announced sometime this first quarter of 2008.]

________
* Ipso facto is a Latin phrase, directly translated as by the fact itself, which means that a certain effect is a direct consequence of the action in question, instead of being brought about by a subsequent action such as the verdict of a tribunal (Wikipedia).

Job-blog Blooks

2008-01-07T10:41:00.000-08:00

Occupational blogs occasionally make for great reading, such as Jeremy Blachman's "Anonymous Lawyer." Even though it was fiction, it read as if true and garnered great numbers of readers and commentors. Non-fiction occupational blogs also attract their share of readers. Some are spiced with delicious personal anecdotes while others rant and agitate for change. Both approaches leave the author open to being fired [see "Lady bloggers who got fired"] so most are written in anonymity. Some of the more successful job-blogs converted to blooks include: Diary of an On-Call Girl (police), It's Your Time You're Wasting (education), and Life and Death in London (ambulance).

Coming late on the scene is a blook by a teacher who only taught one class, one day a week -- Dr. Kathleen Dixon Donnelly's Gypsy Teacher: 'Every Wednesday?!' The Journal of a Teacher in Search of a Classroom. Part of the attraction, to me, is Donnelly's age. When she began the blog in 2003 ,she was a 50+ unemployed academic. 50+ may be a great time to reinvent yourself according to MORE magazine, but the reality is that duress doesn't inspire much -- other than fear -- for most folks in their fifties. The blog begins with her having been given notice:

"As of tomorrow, I will no longer be employed full-time.
"Last year I was notified that my contract as an assistant professor at a large state university would not be renewed as of December 26, 2002. Don’t you love academia? They don’t have to give you a reason, but they have to give you a year’s notice. In how many professions do you know for sure that you have a job for a year?"

Donnelly explains the title with an anecdote:

Author Robert Parker's wife: "Wait -- they're going to pay you an obscene amount of money to show up once a week and teach one class on Wednesdays. And you don't know whether you should take the job?!"
Parker: "Yeah, but every Wednesday... ?!"

The blook, self-published through Lulu, is 172 pages. But the thing which struck me was that Donnelly chose the 8½ by 11 inch layout and the coil binding! What's up with that?

Speaking Academically ...

2008-01-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

The bio blip on Kalynne Pudner, "The Philosopher Mom," astounded me. She's "A Ph.D. mother of nine and teacher of 600+ [Auburn] university students." Which element most surprised me? Her blog "offers philosophical commentary on sundry aspects of the maternal/academic lifestyle." I can imagine.

She left a comment recently: "Wait -- I was planning on compiling a bunch of my posts into a book. Someone else has already come up with the idea? Darn." I checked her blog and sure enough, she had posted about it. It was tucked away toward the bottom of "Choleric Addendum to Fiction on My Mind."

"As I post this query, I'm thinking, wouldn't it be loverly if all the agents in the U.S. could see this blog, read the LOADING query and ALL BUT DISSERTATION intro, and decide for themselves, with a click of the mouse, whether "the project is a good match for our list right now"? Instead of forcing poor, harassed, needing-to-get-ready-for-Christmas-and-oh-yeah-do-some-laundry authors to research websites and send a multitude of personalized queries to agents who will find it not a good match for their list right now, a clearing house site with posted queries could let agents browse and respond at will. Kind of like Amazon.com in reverse."

I can't decide if the novel? LOADING... PLEASE WAIT is being posted in pieces within Pudner's blog or if it's a separate entity online or even offline. But here's how she describes it:

"LOADING is essentially my tenth baby, and having been properly ooh'ed and aah'ed over by the friends and relatives, it is ready to be introduced to the commercial world."

As for All But Dissertation, I'm reasonably sure that that is being constructed offline. But then I didn't search the whole blog. [You know I don't read the blogs - I search them! Of course, I don't read the blooks that I examine either. Remind me again what it is that I do here :-) ]

The question I have, no, really, is this: if the blog is touted as a mix of philosophy and parenthood, have we got a market for a blook? How would we know? What criteria should we use? Or shall we toss caution to the wind and take our chances? And just what does that mean? Hold out for an agent on the two fiction projects but self-publish the blog? I wonder what Pudner's plan is. And whether or not she's looked at my posts about agents.

Ha! Gypsy Teacher Q & A

2008-01-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

In some recent posts about blooks and academia the name of author Kathleen Dixon Donnelly came up. She's a Senior Lecturer at Birmingham City University. Dr. Donnelly graciously agreed to take time out from her holiday celebrations to do an interview. She uses Ha! a lot, hence the title of the post :-)

***

Blooking Central: I'm a bit confused. I found this statement (at Lulu) regarding Gypsy Teacher: A Yank in 'Brum: "These are the entries from my three Gypsy Teacher 'blooks'." Which means that there are four total? Will you give me all the titles?

Donnelly: In chronological order they are:

Gypsy Teacher: Dixon Donnelly @ Sea
Gypsy Teacher: Every Wednesday?!: The Journal of a Teacher in Search of a Classroom
Gypsy Teacher: A Yank in ‘Brum

After completing those three, I excerpted the blogs that were more specifically about teaching [not all are] and pulled them together in a fourth book, called Gypsy Teacher. Figured that would be a bigger seller [Ha!].

Then I posted Gypsy Teacher: Dixon Donnelly in Asia.

I have revised Gypsy Teacher to include excerpts from this, but haven’t had time to post it up there yet.

BC: [an aside] See! I was right to ask -- there are FIVE blooks!

Donnelly: The most recent completed blog is Gyspy Teacher: A Yank Searches for a House In ‘Brum which I am in the process of pulling together into a blook. There isn’t much in there about teaching, so I don’t think any of it will be in the Gypsy Teacher ‘collection.’

BC: [another aside] Aha! Number six is in the works.

Donnelly: The only blog I am doing now is the monthly one on my Lulu site about the [American] presidential election. Not sure what I’ll do with those, but wanted to chart the changes in opinion as we head towards election day. Also thought those searching for ‘Hillary Clinton’ or ‘Barack Obama’ might find me.

If it’s confusing to you, I should go back to the Lulu site and see if I need to re-word to make it more clear.

BC: Have the blogs on which the blooks were based all survived? Can I reference them with links?

They should be up there, on blogger.com:

http://www.dixondonnellyatsea.blogspot.com/
http://www.everywednesday.blogspot.com/
http://www.gypsyteacher.blogspot.com/ (A Yank in Brum; the first time I used the ‘gypsy teacher’ title)
http://www.dixondonnellyinasia.blogspot.com/
http://www.ayanksearchesforahouseinbrum.blogspot.com/

The last two were originally posted on my lulu blog, but when each one was finished I re-posted it, by copying and pasting, on blogger.

Haven’t checked any of those out for a long time, but someone just contacted me who found the Every Wednesdays postings about The Magdalene Sisters movie, so I think they are still up there.

BC: I've spent quite a bit of time at my blog talking about the actual nitty-gritty of blook production. Many folks craft their posts in a word processor before posting, which means that they generally have copies which can be manipulated off-web, as it were, to create their blook. Did you? If not, will you share how you managed to turn web content into print? Again, most folks have found it simplest to cut and paste, but you might have worked a different magic!

Donnelly: Definitely write in MS Word and then copy and paste. For the blogs and the blooks. I don’t trust the site to not eat what I’ve written, and I revise quite a bit. ‘It’s not the writing, it’s the re-writing.’ Forget who said that.

When I finish writing, and re-writing, I have My Irish Husband Tony read it. He loves everything I do [smart man] so if he mentions anything that doesn’t sound right, I know I have to change it. Then I post on the blog site, and strip into an e-mail message to send to my lists through kaydee@gypsyteacher.com. People send me links to their sites all the time, but I never take the time to go there. So I just send it along with a message, and they can read it if they like. I’ve gotten very encouraging comments.

BC: [a thought] The lady has lists that she emails to. Do you? I don't. Should I?

Donnelly: After the whole blog is finished, I paste each one separately into the format for the blooks, which I have kept consistent. Because MS Word isn’t really a layout program, it’s a bit tricky. I like the two-column format in Times Roman with a one-column Garamond heading, but sometimes it’s a pain. I then go through and edit like crazy. Once you know how the blog ends, there is a lot of leeway to go back and edit the earlier ones to create a consistent narrative. It’s amazing how much foreshadowing occurs in real life! I never change the facts or add new information, but the emphasis or the way I refer to something or someone might change.

When I think it’s finished, I print it out [thanks to my university printer] and pencil edit in hard copy, making sure the pages all look good--no widows, orphans, etc. Then I read backwards to proofread. Then I read it through again.

BC: [Anybody need me to interpret "widows and orphans"? Also, please note -- proofreading backwards is an excellent way to catch those nasty little errors. So is reading out loud.]

Donnelly: So no magic, just writing, re-writing, laying out, re-writing, proofreading again. Then Spell Check and proofread again.

BC: If you did not address revising in the question above, will you now?

Donnelly: Re-writing, re-writing, re-writing. Go away. Come back. Re-write some more. Proofread, Spell Check, proofread again.

BC: Can you give my readers some sense of the popularity of your blogs? Traditionally-published blooks seem to need a high readership and very active commenting.

Donnelly: I think I have a small but appreciative audience. My Irish Husband Tony, some very good friends in the States, and one or two people searching the net who go far enough down their Google list to find me. I can tell which of my friends and family have been reading by the questions they ask me. ‘So did you ever buy a house?’ ‘So where are you working now?’ etc. are dead giveaways. I’ve discovered that some friends read every one and my brother has read nothing!

BC: Please explain why you chose to self-publish. I was most surprised to find an academic that did not shun the stigma attached to both self-publishing and to blooking! It convinces me that blooks are more mainstream than the media is giving credence.

Donnelly: Chose! Ha! Because no one has chosen to publish me! In fairness, I have never formally submitted any of the Gypsy Teacher blooks to an agent or publisher. I put them up there as a sample of my work, figuring it was free to do, so what the heck?

I am actually a very un-academic academic. I received tenure at the first university I taught at full-time without publishing; then got a tenure track job at a large state university but was ‘not renewed’ with the implication that I should have published more [while teaching a full schedule], and now teach in the UK where there is no concept of ‘tenure’ [no summers off either!]. Those aspiring to ‘professor’ status are expected to, and given time to, publish; but those of us happy with Senior Lecturer, just teach more. Fine with me.

If you are wondering about the Ph.d., I did it on ‘writers who hung out together.’ I did publish one article in a small academic journal [I knew the editor], and submitted proposals for a full, but non-academic, book about them to agents and publishers to no avail. So I gave up. I have put up another Lulu site with my writings about my writers, but it’s a work in progress and not really suitable for public exposure just yet. I’m working on it.

So my gypsy teacher writing is very un-academic. Sometimes my fellow professors find one of my letters to the editor in The Guardian, or a piece about me in the local paper and are surprised to find that I am a writer as well as a teacher.

BC: I'm tickled that there is another blook in the works. That must mean that you're finding some monetary success. It does, doesn't it? :-)

Donnelly: Ha! Again. Zilch. Most of the sales I’ve had, and they are few and far between, are for the handbook I put up on Lulu about how to get publicity. ‘Hands on Public Relations.’ Every once in awhile one of those sells. And a friend or two has bought a Gypsy Teacher, but to be honest, if they express interest I just send them the Adobe file. Not a good business model.

I wouldn’t blame it on Lulu though. To get sales there you really have to work it, and I just haven’t been consistent enough. Over the summer I spent a lot of time on it, but then classes started again. I got an ISBN for Hands on Public Relations and now have to follow up and get it on Amazon, etc. but it just takes time.

Tony and I have a goal of ‘retire on the royalties,’ but right now that $91.40 isn’t going very far. My dream is to get a regular column either here or in the States, and then have a real publisher collect them. Then, of course, my back catalogue will be worth millions and we’ll buy that seafront mansion in Miami.

BC: Any thoughts on why or why not you should turn the political posts into a blook?

Donnelly: Not really sure how they will go. If I included enough about being a Democrat Abroad, they could fit with the Gypsy Teacher theme. I started them really hoping I could interest the Guardian or the Observer in publishing them monthly, so I was going to be totally neutral. Didn’t even get a nibble.

So I decided to post them myself, and the second one, about being at Democrats Abroad in London, fit in. Not sure what direction they will take. Planning to interview an Iowa friend in January about the caucus and write about the Democrats Abroad primary in February. I’m open to suggestions about this one.

BC: Thanks so much! Be sure to let me know when the new blook is out.

Sit with You Interview

2008-01-02T07:27:00.000-08:00

I contacted Shannon Des Roches Rosa and Jennifer Byde Myers, authors of Can I Sit with You?, to get the inside scoop on their project (see initial post). Although Jennifer wrote the responses for the Q & A, I've been assured that Shannon would add to her comments if she got a chance or felt the need to further clarify.

Blooking Central: I'm particularly interested in how blogs/websites become books (blooks).

What can you tell me about the number of submissions that you sifted through (if you did) to arrive at the ones that made the book? How did you do the sifting?

Jennifer Byde Myers: We were very lucky to have a great selection of stories sent in. Most of them were the appropriate length (we asked for about 1000 words) and required only minor editing. Some submissions were very short, more like anecdotes. On the blog we used these shorter stories as "Sunday Shorts", but chose not to include them in the book itself. We only asked a few people to work out parts of their stories for clarity, and most of those writers sent them back with good changes. We heavily edited a few of them, but we included nearly all of the full length stories from that first month.

Blooking Central: How were they arranged in the book? Did you try to follow some sort of themes or to alternate brave with
funny?

Jennifer Byde Myers: We placed the stories in the book as they appeared chronologically on the blog. We thought carefully about placement throughout each week that we posted (alternating themes and level of pain etc.) so that served us well to only think once.

Blooking Central: Did you contract with your submitters for the rights to their stories or did you go with the implied consent? Several authors have handled this in many different ways!

Jennifer Byde Myers: If you look at our submission guidelines we asked for the rights to use the stories in whatever way we needed, but did not take away any rights from the authors. They may still publish their stories in other places if they choose. During the final process before the book was printed, we emailed each of the authors again and asked them for their full name (not just nom de plume) and their consent once again. We are considering their final email a legal agreement.

Blooking Central: How have sales been? Did the authors whose work was included get freebies? Have you done anything unusual
to promote sale of the book? (web press releases, posts to forums, conferences, etc.) I'm also curious about how your blog has been promoted :-) I realize that I have an inordinate amount of curiosity!

Jennifer Byde Myers: Sales were brisk in the first week, (a couple hundred) and we have sold an average of 8-10 books per day since then. We sent a "freebie" to a just couple of the people who contributed great time and talent, but "freebie" means paid for by Shan and Jen, so we have not given away nearly as many as I think would help sales over all. The authors had to purchase their own copies. Sad eh? But ALL proceeds of this edition are going to our Special Ed PTA, SEPTAR.org So it is a good thing to buy a book! I think it will be a nice steady income for the PTA.

In terms of marketing, we have been slow to do any of the normal routes. I haven't even written a damn press release! We have once again used the power of the Internet, and the exuberance of our friends to share the book. There are links to the book on our personal blogs, on the SEPTAR website, and at the bottom of every email I send. We've placed the book locally in coffee shops and a few local bookstores may carry them in the new year.

Blooking Central: In my post I guessed that there would be sequels. Was I right? What would/will you do differently, if anything?

Jennifer Byde Myers: I think we would like to do a sequel... or two, or three... there are so many stories to be told. Catharsis for all!

Blooking Central: Looking at your project in general terms, what sort of advice would you give to another blogger who hopes to
create a blook? I've looked at lots of blooks that are collections - teenage angst in poetry, confessions and camp stories.

Jennifer Byde Myers: There are a couple of things that have made this project a success. Shannon and I are a great team. It was very nice to have someone be in charge of something at all times. Divide and conquer or something like that, right? We also kept things streamlined by creating a narrow focus. It is much easier to decide what information to include and how to effectively communicate about the project because the guidelines we set up were so clear to each of us from the get go. It also helps, I think, that the proceeds of this edition go directly to support our kids' special ed PTA (http://www.septar.org/); people like to be a part of the greater good.

It has been a very gratifying project. This world can be mean and cold, and yet at every turn we found another friendly face eager to join our little community.

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I appreciate Ms. Myers taking the time to share with us. If you are the author of a blook, drop me a line and I'll be happy to help hype your work AND to pick your brain :-)