Jun
28
| June 29, 2010 | ||
| 6:00 pm |
The Mechanics’ Institute will host a panel discussion Tuesday evening, June 29 at 6 p.m.: Bay Area writers will discuss the dramatically changing directions and paradigms of the book publishing industry. Explore traditional publishing routes and take advantage of innovations like e-books, self-publishing, social media, and the Web. Panelists include writing coach Lisa Alpine (leader of the Self-Publishing Boot Camp), travel writer/journalist Laura Fraser (All Over the Map), internet to print scientist/writer Ransom Stephens (The God Patent) and Twitter to print author Matt Stewart (The French Revolution).
MODERATED by: Constance Hale, book editor and author of Sin and Syntax.
Jun
28
| July 15, 2010 | ||
| 12:00 am |
Photo: Creative Learning
Here’s an organization that’s working to promote peace by supporting American volunteerism in mostly-Muslim parts of the world. That’s a cause worth supporting!
And they have announced an essay contest and a video contest. If I had done anything that qualified, I’d definitely enter this contest. The prizes are real ($2,000 for the 1st place video; $1,000 for the first place essay) and my guess is that there won’t be a huge number of competing entries. Deadline is July 15, 2010.
“America’s Unofficial Ambassadors
Jun
28
Future of Freelancing
June 28, 2010 | 1 Comment
I didn’t make it to the Future of Freelancing at Stanford, but the website has already posted conference highlights. Also, here are links to blog posts about the conference:
- David Page’s post on Matador
- C-Monster.net‘s take
- The Writing Coach’s tips from the conference
- More TK (the post is titled Writing for the Screen)
And a perspective on writing for free, this one from Advertising Age.
Check out the comments after the articles, too.
Jun
28
Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Commission
June 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment
How is it that the country of Bhutan came to have a Gross National Happiness Commission? What is happiness, how do they measure it, and what do they do to make their people happier? Hear answers from Karma Tshiteem, Secretary of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Commission.
Jun
26
Book Passage Travel, Food & Photography Conference
June 26, 2010 | 1 Comment
| August 12, 2010 12:00 am | to | August 15, 2010 12:00 am |
Time to make your plans for the 19th Annual Book Passage Travel, Food, & Photography Conference. It promises to be better than ever this year, with inclusion of food writing classes and panels, as well as expert advice and instruction for travel writers and photographers. The conference runs from August 12 to 15, 2010. Call Book Passage in Corte Madera (800-999-7909, ext. 239) for more information or to register.
From the website:
The Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference covers
Jun
26
Get Carried Away
June 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
This looks like a great idea for visiting out-of-towners: Carried Away offers small, customized tours of the San Francisco Bay Area. “Book an unconventional outing with Carried Away and experience San Francisco and the Bay Area in a completely new and different way. Each outing is designed to surprise and delight. We want you to have fun and feel great – to have the best day ever.”
You’re guaranteed lots of personal attention from Carried Away founders Vikki and Dianne, long-time Bay area residents who are known for knowing — and going! Introductory pricing is good through August, 2010.
Jun
26
Free 3-month Accommodation for Animal Lover in Belize
June 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
From the Volunteer Before You Die Traveler’s Network:
Nola Lee Kelsey, June 13, 2010
Subject: Free Long-Term (3-month) Accommodation for Animal Lover in Belize
Anything people can do to cross-post is much appreciated!
PAW (Protect Animal Welfare) Cat Sanctuary and Humane Society on Caye Caulker (pronounced Key Corker) in Belize Central America needs a long-term volunteer and a long-term veterinary volunteer. Stay three months helping the sanctuary and your beach-side accommodations plus a continental breakfast are provided for the duration of your stay. Check out the PAW website to see these great accommodations right on the ocean. Volunteers work around 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon with some flexibility in the schedule to explore the great dive sites of the region or work on your own projects, writing, reading…
Jun
26
Thanks to Gayle Keck over at Been There Ate That for sending this link to a Matador article titled “10 Words and Phrases We Never Want to See in Travel Writing Again.” Test yourself: guess what they are before you click.
Jun
26
Celebrate with Joanna Biggar
June 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
| July 12, 2010 | ||
| 6:00 pm |
Congratulations to journalist, poet, essayist, traveler, and writing instructor Joanna Biggar, whose new novel, That Paris Year, has inspired a lively west coast debut. All are invited to celebrate with food, music, and Paris-style ambiance at the reading.
SF Book Passage at the Ferry Building, Monday, July 12, beginning at 6 p.m.
Joanna will read from That Paris Year, a “novel in which intellect, eroticism, and art reverberate from the page to the heartbeat of the City of Light, Joanna Biggar has written an American book with the sweep and elegance of French literary tradition.”
Jun
26
Create A “Foodoir” — Inspired Marketing
June 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Here’s a press release from Conran PR that’s an example of inspired marketing: an author and a resort have teamed up to offer a themed “package” experience in the Caribbean. I hope the promotion is a big success:
Create A “Foodoir” Of Your Own at Cap Maison
“The Spice Necklace Experience” Package
Jun
26
| July 22, 2010 | ||
| 7:00 pm |
Grover Sanschagrin
From our friends at ASMP NorCal:
Join us on July 22nd at Blue Sky Rental Studios as PhotoShelter co-founder Grover Sanschagrin demonstrates how web sites must evolve in order to support photographers’ online business goals.
Grover’s talk draws on 26 years of photo industry and web technology experience as well as the research and findings of five PhotoShelter e-books he has helped to author on online marketing for photographers. (These exhaustive reports are free downloadable guides offering useful tips, expert advice and useful strategies for photographers looking to continue their education and build thriving photo businesses online.)
May
25
Apps – The Future of Travel Journalism?
May 25, 2010 | 3 Comments
Thanks to Lee Foster for explaining the economics of selling mobile applications compared with selling (traditional, paper) books in his article, Apps – the Future of Travel Journalism? Here’s an excerpt:
“Royalty rates for authors of apps are much higher than for authors of books, and for good reason. The deal is that I get 30% of the gross income from my $1.99 app sale, or 60 cents. I am told that this is roughly typical of the app world—30% each to the author, developer, and Apple store, with 10% going to admin. For my book, I have a 15% of net rate, which is good and possibly a little high. So, for selling two apps for $3.98, I get $1.19. For a sale of my $14.95 book, my royalty is 15% net, and the book will probably be discounted 55% to sell on Amazon or through a distributor. My royalty for that sale is $1.01.”
May
24
What a thrill: the photo I took of a frog nestled in the leaves of a succulent won 1st place in the Natural World category of Smithsonian magazine’s 7th annual photo contest!
The photo is in the June, 2010 issue of Smithsonian magazine (page 69), and will be part of a photography exhibit on view at the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall from July 1, 2010, through January 16, 2011.
I wish I’d been a little more prepared for my 15 minutes of fame, though. There’s a post on Laurie McAndish King.com outlining the 7 things I learned from the experience.
May
24
Rita Golden Gelman and friends
May 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Bestselling author Rita Golden Gelman will launch her newest book, Female Nomad and Friends: Tales of Breaking Free and Breaking Bread Around the World on June 1, 2010. In the book, 41 authors tell their stories of adventuring around the world; more than 30 international recipes are included. You can download a PDF of the first chapter here.
More info here about Rita’s virtual book tour.
Rita is currently spearheading an initiative called Let’s Get Global (a project of U.S. Servas, Inc.), a national movement designed to bring the gap year to the United States.
May
24
Jim Benning talks travel writing
May 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Jim Benning, cofounder and coeditor of worldhum.com, will be talking about travel writing on both coasts this summer. will deliver a talk and discuss writing on a panel at Travel Blog Exchange’s two-day travel blogging conference, TBEX ‘10, June 26-27 in New York City. In August, he’ll be in the Bay Area at the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference in Corte Madera.
May
24
“We all know what happened when the volcano in Iceland erupted and resulted in utter chaos in the aviation world. We also saw how some airlines and aviation authorities around the world struggled to cope with servicing the customers, while others used the latest social media tools to engage and update them.
“At SimpliFlying, we saw a paradigm shift in the way airlines handle crises management, in the age of social media. Instead of writing an article on it, we put together an info-graphic, that details the five key steps for managing crises, in the wake of the volcanic eruption. Both a PDF version, and a PPT version are available for download and printing. An Apple Keynote version will be available soon.
May
24
The Photo Essay: Give it Your Best Shot
May 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Thanks to photographer David Sanger for this link to a post in The Digital Trekker Blog with a good introductory overview of the photo-essay form. The post provides a shot list and excellent examples; I’ll be referring to it as I practice the art of travel photography.
Apr
28
Oddly, the blog associated with OnlineDegrees.net includes some entertaining and instructional resources, like these lists of 100 Creative Ways to Excite and Inspire Young Readers, 100 Essential Cheat Sheets for Doing Business Abroad, and 100 Novels that let you Travel the World without Leaving Home.
Apr
28
Fluent in 3 months
April 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Traveling soon to a country where you don’t speak the language? There are many helpful posts on Benny Lewis’ FluentIn3Months.com, “a how-to guide and story of becoming fluent in any language quickly. After over seven years of travelling and learning languages I have picked up quite a lot of short-cuts, unconventional learning techniques, and a pretty good mentality that has hugely helped me to learn these languages, and earn the title of ‘polyglot’. This site is for sharing these tips so that others may also live their dreams of being able to speak other languages!”
Posts include these:
Apr
28
From Ridiculously Extraordinary by Karol Gajda come these 21 reasons you should quit your day job and travel the world.
Apr
28
Costa Rican cuisine and more from Lenny Karpman
April 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Did you know there are no lemons in Costa Rica? Would you like an authentic recipe for Costa Rican Christmas tamales (which you may eat, by the way, at any time of the year)? Looking for the best restaurants in Costa Rica? Look no further than Lenny Karpman’s new website.
Apr
26
This article by Randal C. Archibald is on the New York Times site, where it was published on April 23rd. Some travelers have suggested boycotting travel to the state of Arizona in protest of the new law.
“Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona signed the nation’s toughest bill on illegal immigration into law on Friday. Its aim is to identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants…
“The law, which proponents and critics alike said was the broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents have called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status…
Apr
26
Tim Cahill at San Jose State
April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
| April 28, 2010 | ||
| 1:00 pm | ||
| 7:00 pm |
Tim Cahill has been a professor (The Lurie Distinguished Visiting Writer) in San Jose State’s creative writing program at this semester. He’ll be speaking at two events, both free and open to the public, on Wednesday, April 28. More info here.
A founding editor of Outside Magazine, Cahill is the author of seven books, including Pass the Butterworms, Pecked to Death by Ducks, Hold the Enlightenment and Lost In My Own Backyard.
A Conversation with Tim Cahill, 1 pm: Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Rm 225-229
Reading and Book Signing, 7 pm: Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Rm 225-229
Apr
26
Journalism Innovations
April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
| April 30, 2010 12:00 am | to | May 2, 2010 12:00 am |
Thanks to Linda Jue for sending this announcement:
Journalism isn’t dying, it’s on the cusp of a new era. While the journalism industry is still recovering from the collective shock of mass layoffs, buyouts and closures, there have also been some impressive new ventures to emerge in the last couple years as brilliant reporters, managers, administrators and educators react to the demands of a changing mediascape.
Apr
26
Lisa Alpine’s new book
April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Lisa Alpine’s collection of short travel stories, Exotic Life: Laughing Rivers, Dancing Drums and Tangled Hearts, is now available for pre-order on her website. Lisa made the book available in multiple formats using Smashwords (for Kindle, Sony Reader, and Palm doc) and Scribd for a free sample preview or a PDF.
Maureen Wheeler blurbed the book: “Curiosity, courage and fierce determination to remain true to her own search for truth, shines brightly and are at the core of each of Lisa Alpine’s stories. To quote Kurt Vonnegut “Strange travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God” – this could be Lisa’s motto as she dances wherever the spirit leads her.” —Maureen Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet Publications