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
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
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
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.
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
Apr
26
Just Back: Freedom stifled in North Korea
April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
A colossal mosaic of Kim Il sung and Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang Photo: Alamy
“I once stayed in Kyoto in a hotel that had incontinence pants in the bedside table. I have nibbled on scorpions in a Chinese market, been bitten by a monkey in Rajasthan and was almost arrested in Tutankhamun’s tomb. But in all my travels I had never felt intimidated, controlled or fearful – until I spent a week in the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea.
Apr
26
Travel & Words 2010 Summer Seminar
April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
| June 26, 2010 | ||
| 8:00 am | to | 6:00 pm |
Save the Date: Saturday, June 26 for Travel & Words 2010 Summer Seminar
Pacific Northwest destinations, attractions, historic sites and all-season recreation are hot topics in travel publishing. In this one day seminar for freelance travel writers, journalists, photographers, editors, and travel and tourism industry professionals, participants will:
Attend workshops and seminars on marketing freelance articles and photography to both print and online publications in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Gain timely information on changes and trends in the freelance writing world, particularly the use of social media in managing and marketing one’s brand and developing income-producing web sites related to travel writing.
Apr
26
3rd grade geography lesson
April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
“Is Europe a country? Is France? Now, Hungary … never heard of it!” Americans need better geography educations!
Apr
26
Send your book to BEA
April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
The 2010 BookExpo America New Title Showcase takes place May 25-27 in New York City. Register your Lulu print-on-demand book by May 7th and Lulu will display it physically at their New Title Showcase booth and will also list it, along with your contact details, online and in the printed catalog given to BEA attendees. The cost is $399.
Apr
6
An Ode to Travel Writing
April 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment
From KQED Forum’s An Ode to Travel Writing: These days, thanks to travel blogs and instantaneous travel guides, just about anyone can be a travel writer. We discuss the history, current state and future of travel writing with people who have made their careers writing about far-off places. What are their thoughts on the craft, and what are their hopes for the genre in years to come?”
Guests:
- Jeff Greenwald, writer, executive director of Ethical Traveler and author of books including “Shopping for Buddhas” and the forthcoming “Snake Lake”
- Lee Azus, owner of Get Lost Travel Books in San Francisco
Apr
6
The Real Americans
April 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Jeff Greenwald, on KQED Forum’s “An Ode to Travel Writing,” recommends Dan Hoyle’s new solo show, The Real Americans, playing at The Marsh through May 30. Rob Hurwitt at the San Francisco Chronicle calls the show, “…impressive, hilarious, moving and provocative…”
Apr
6
Dream Whip No. 14
April 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Also from An Ode to Travel Writing; Dream Whip No. 14 was recommended by a caller: “Bill Brown’s latest ramblings of modern American wanderlust mixes short evocative stories with a romantic, almost eternal longing. Reminiscent of the work of Bill Bryson, David Sedaris, or an episode of ‘This American Life,’ Dream Whip has the amazing ability to mix laugh-out-loud stories with goosebump-inducing spookiness. Here are anecdotes of small towns, landmarks and would-be landmarks, diners with good egg salad, and a cast of unforgettable characters. Bill tells of St. Roch, the patron saint of lost causes, whose church is littered with discarded crutches and prosthetic limbs. He laments, ‘In Austin it was impossible to go on a simple errand without falling in love. Every time I mailed a letter or went to buy a loaf of bread, I’d end up with a broken heart.’ Vividly illustrated in b&w by Brown, whose hand-drawn landscapes are both simple and lonesomely elegant.”