Conclave - A Journal of Character
This is going to be an exciting journal to watch and read. Publishers take note! If you want to see some great fiction stay tuned for the upcoming print journal. I'm honored to be a part of it.
Here's how Editor, Valya Dudycz Lupescu described this new literary magazine:
"In January and February 2008, writers from around the world came together on the Amazon.com forums because of their shared status as entrants and finalists in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. What began as a contest evolved into a community.
In order to create a permanent home for that writers' community, Semifinalist Valya Dudycz Lupescu and her husband Mark created www.ABNABooks.com, an online network and showcase of the published and unpublished works of the ABNA writers. ABNABooks.com is a place for writers to present their work, get the attention of publishers and agents, and help each other in the process of publishing and promotion.
Eager to showcase some of the talent already in their ranks, as well as to promote the writing of talented authors around the world, Valya with the help of the other ABNA writers and editors, decided to create Conclave: A Journal of Character.
Conclave is annual print journal that focuses on character-driven writing in contemporary literary fiction. We hope to share with you our delight in well-told stories: stories that make you laugh, think, feel, or remember. We hope that our stories challenge and entertain, but most of all, we hope they introduce you to unforgettable characters that stay with you long after you've finished reading.
Bookmark this Web site and visit us often. If you like what you read, we hope you will subscribe, or send a gift subscription to a friend or relative.
And let us know what you think about our journal and Web site. http://www.conclavejournal.com/index.html We may post your comments online in a the upcoming “Letters to the Editor” section."
===
Check out the new editors of the magazine (yours truly is a flash fiction editor).
EDITOR, Valya Dudycz Lupescu
MANAGING EDITOR, Scott Markwell
SENIOR FICTION EDITOR, Michael von Glahn
FICTION EDITORS: Enrico Antiporda, Vicki King, Jarucia Jaycox Nirula, Gae Polisner
FLASH FICTION EDITORS: Julie Ann Shapiro, Bret Wright
SENIOR CREATIVE NONFICTION EDITOR, Becky Kyle
CREATIVE NONFICTION EDITORS: Melissa Conway, Stephanie Feuer, James Noll, Meg Write
SENIOR POETRY EDITOR, Leah Davidson
POETRY EDITOR, Tom Gill
DRAMA EDITORS: Karen Joan, Mary Anne Rooney
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS: Megan Fergus, Jarucia Jaycox Nirula, David Stanley
COPY EDITORS:
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: Mark Lupescu
Friday, April 11, 2008
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Leatherheads Debut with Andrew Kaplan
It was almost a year to the day that I stepped foot on the Leatherheads set thinking I would be a fan in the stands and make $100.00 for one day. A year later, I have had the opportunity to have built long lasting friendships, learn about film production and be in 3 other movies (Gospel Hill, Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, and Insignificant Others.).
On Friday, April 4th, I attended the screening with Maurice at the theatre at Concord Mills, actually the same mall where I went to the open casting for Leatherheads in March 2007.
As the movie opened, I sat with anticipation to see how this movie would turn out. It is very difficult to describe the differences in being on a film set and what comes out of the editing and sound process in post production.
I remember talking to many of the people show in the film such as Tim Griffin who is the black football player on the Bulldogs. I remember meeting his girlfriend who had flown out from LA to visit with him. I just had Edd Robinson on my mediamensch radio show and he told me he was a scorekeeper, so it turned out he had about 5 seconds in the movie as a clear shot. Maurice, whom, I had met on my last day of filming had also told me he was on the scale in the athletic club. When that scene came up with Clooney running through the athletic club, Maurice had is 5 seconds of fame as well. There was a man on a "belly machine" who was clearly shown. I had been cast that day for that role and was costumed and then on the day of shooting another gent with a much better belly...showed up and had that role...
Personally, I am in the movie for about 1 or 2 seconds with a closeup during the Chicago-Duluth football game. I also made the background talking for about 10 seconds behind the bench holding my camera. My hand and camera, also had a closeup for about 5 or 10 seconds holding the camera directly behind the coach....(great for my new career as a hand model)...then there was a camera on the sidelines on a tripod, I used that for a while.
The scenes that made the cutting room floor with me were when they took a player off on a stretcher and I was the cameraman almost on top of him. I am not sure if they erased me or just had another angle. I also had been in a closeup talking with Coach (Wayne Duvall) during the game and that also did not make it. The other scene which I thought would have been in was the concession stand. About 50 extras spent about an hour on that scene with George directing. I had been waving dollar bills in the scene.
Well...all I can say is that Leatherheads was an incredible journey which continues to have made changes in my life which were unforeseeable. This included last week when I attended the Leatherheads press junket and asked Clooney two questions. He joked about my memorable acting.
I couldn't have written a better script for this life journey!
On Friday, April 4th, I attended the screening with Maurice at the theatre at Concord Mills, actually the same mall where I went to the open casting for Leatherheads in March 2007.
As the movie opened, I sat with anticipation to see how this movie would turn out. It is very difficult to describe the differences in being on a film set and what comes out of the editing and sound process in post production.
I remember talking to many of the people show in the film such as Tim Griffin who is the black football player on the Bulldogs. I remember meeting his girlfriend who had flown out from LA to visit with him. I just had Edd Robinson on my mediamensch radio show and he told me he was a scorekeeper, so it turned out he had about 5 seconds in the movie as a clear shot. Maurice, whom, I had met on my last day of filming had also told me he was on the scale in the athletic club. When that scene came up with Clooney running through the athletic club, Maurice had is 5 seconds of fame as well. There was a man on a "belly machine" who was clearly shown. I had been cast that day for that role and was costumed and then on the day of shooting another gent with a much better belly...showed up and had that role...
Personally, I am in the movie for about 1 or 2 seconds with a closeup during the Chicago-Duluth football game. I also made the background talking for about 10 seconds behind the bench holding my camera. My hand and camera, also had a closeup for about 5 or 10 seconds holding the camera directly behind the coach....(great for my new career as a hand model)...then there was a camera on the sidelines on a tripod, I used that for a while.
The scenes that made the cutting room floor with me were when they took a player off on a stretcher and I was the cameraman almost on top of him. I am not sure if they erased me or just had another angle. I also had been in a closeup talking with Coach (Wayne Duvall) during the game and that also did not make it. The other scene which I thought would have been in was the concession stand. About 50 extras spent about an hour on that scene with George directing. I had been waving dollar bills in the scene.
Well...all I can say is that Leatherheads was an incredible journey which continues to have made changes in my life which were unforeseeable. This included last week when I attended the Leatherheads press junket and asked Clooney two questions. He joked about my memorable acting.
I couldn't have written a better script for this life journey!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Book Review of Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries
Book Review of Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries
Published in Between the Cracks
Review by Kim McDougall
"Bradley was influenced at a young age by his free-spirited grandmother. She taught him to see the wonder in details, the color of a bird’s wing, dust floating in the air. She set him up to be a photographer, a job that uses his creativity and quirky nature to good effect. He shoots the usual commercial photos for clients, but indulges his whimsy on photographs of ripples in the lake and lone shoes forgotten by civilization. For Brad, “It wasn’t about the camera. But inspiration that left one feeling parched, going through life wandering around in the desert like a mad man thinking you’re seeing mirages about some oasis that’s just around the corner – you dream it so. And when it appears, you’re so parched you’re afraid of that first sip of water. But still you drink it, knowing maybe it’s your last and you savor the drops on your tongue, rolling them back and forth in your mouth until you’ve memorized how they feel falling down your throat.” (Pg 127)
Brad’s grandmother also set him up to fall in love with a girl who is more spirit than human at times. Jen Zen is a poet, with all the images that word connotes. She is nebulous, mysterious and sometimes infuriating. When her mother tells Brad that she’s dead, he discovers only the first mystery about the woman he loves. Jen Zen’s mother is a hard woman, who has no time for her daughter’s eccentricities. She says that her tea leaves make more sense that Jen Zen’s poetry, an attitude that prompts Jen Zen to write (pg 253):
Mother’s Sanctified Tea Leaves
You said, “Your tea leaves made more sense than my words.”
A poet sees tea leaves as shortened branches from a tree.
Sensing the whole; sensing the connection.
The existence you ignored.
Preferring to see soggy twigs; flavoring your water.
You’re right tea leaves make sense.
Keep your flavored water.
I’ll keep my flavored tree.
Where my words know the whole, making me whole.
Jen Zen’s mother chases Brad from the hospital and refuses to let him say goodbye. This lack of closure leaves him restless and unsatisfied. Months later, he is still unable to shake the shadow of Jen Zen and he begins to wonder if she haunts him. Along with her ephemeral presence, the discarded shoes turn Brad into a man on a mission. He is convinced that the piles of shoes mysteriously appearing in a small town have to be connected to Jen Zen. Is she really dead? Is she haunting him? Is he finally going crazy? His camera and his mind won’t rest until he answers these questions.
Jen Zen and the One Shoe Diaries is a far-reaching story full of lyrical beauty—a true Between the Cracks novel. It’s part mystery, part poetry. It has elements of magic realism and surrealism. Author Julie Ann Shapiro has a knack for capturing the essence of relationships and all their uncertainties. At times, Brad’s relationships (with Jen Zen, his grandmother, mother and sister) are a comfort. Other times they are a web, ready to ensnare him. In the end, he learns to see life from his own perspective, without the comfort of a camera’s lens to distort it, and he realizes that the challenge of a relationship is what makes it worthwhile.
Julie Ann Shapiro is a freelance writer, novelist, short story author and Pushcart Nominee with over seventy published stories. Julie's novel, Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries is published by Synergebooks.com. Her second novel, Three Drop Pennies was recently a semifinalist in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Contest.
http://www.julieannshapiro.com.
Published in Between the Cracks
Review by Kim McDougall
"Bradley was influenced at a young age by his free-spirited grandmother. She taught him to see the wonder in details, the color of a bird’s wing, dust floating in the air. She set him up to be a photographer, a job that uses his creativity and quirky nature to good effect. He shoots the usual commercial photos for clients, but indulges his whimsy on photographs of ripples in the lake and lone shoes forgotten by civilization. For Brad, “It wasn’t about the camera. But inspiration that left one feeling parched, going through life wandering around in the desert like a mad man thinking you’re seeing mirages about some oasis that’s just around the corner – you dream it so. And when it appears, you’re so parched you’re afraid of that first sip of water. But still you drink it, knowing maybe it’s your last and you savor the drops on your tongue, rolling them back and forth in your mouth until you’ve memorized how they feel falling down your throat.” (Pg 127)
Brad’s grandmother also set him up to fall in love with a girl who is more spirit than human at times. Jen Zen is a poet, with all the images that word connotes. She is nebulous, mysterious and sometimes infuriating. When her mother tells Brad that she’s dead, he discovers only the first mystery about the woman he loves. Jen Zen’s mother is a hard woman, who has no time for her daughter’s eccentricities. She says that her tea leaves make more sense that Jen Zen’s poetry, an attitude that prompts Jen Zen to write (pg 253):
Mother’s Sanctified Tea Leaves
You said, “Your tea leaves made more sense than my words.”
A poet sees tea leaves as shortened branches from a tree.
Sensing the whole; sensing the connection.
The existence you ignored.
Preferring to see soggy twigs; flavoring your water.
You’re right tea leaves make sense.
Keep your flavored water.
I’ll keep my flavored tree.
Where my words know the whole, making me whole.
Jen Zen’s mother chases Brad from the hospital and refuses to let him say goodbye. This lack of closure leaves him restless and unsatisfied. Months later, he is still unable to shake the shadow of Jen Zen and he begins to wonder if she haunts him. Along with her ephemeral presence, the discarded shoes turn Brad into a man on a mission. He is convinced that the piles of shoes mysteriously appearing in a small town have to be connected to Jen Zen. Is she really dead? Is she haunting him? Is he finally going crazy? His camera and his mind won’t rest until he answers these questions.
Jen Zen and the One Shoe Diaries is a far-reaching story full of lyrical beauty—a true Between the Cracks novel. It’s part mystery, part poetry. It has elements of magic realism and surrealism. Author Julie Ann Shapiro has a knack for capturing the essence of relationships and all their uncertainties. At times, Brad’s relationships (with Jen Zen, his grandmother, mother and sister) are a comfort. Other times they are a web, ready to ensnare him. In the end, he learns to see life from his own perspective, without the comfort of a camera’s lens to distort it, and he realizes that the challenge of a relationship is what makes it worthwhile.
Julie Ann Shapiro is a freelance writer, novelist, short story author and Pushcart Nominee with over seventy published stories. Julie's novel, Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries is published by Synergebooks.com. Her second novel, Three Drop Pennies was recently a semifinalist in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Contest.
http://www.julieannshapiro.com.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
MediaMensch - Leatherheads - George Clooney - Blogtalk Radio
On blogtalk radio today, we will be featuring stories from behind the scenes of Leatherheads, plus the Leatherheads press conference held at the Salisbury Train museum with George Clooney and Renee Zellweger.
Andrew Kaplan, Host of MediaMensch, was fortunate to have been an extra on the film and what he thought would be 1 day on the set turned into 10 days, 5 different roles, 3 different cities and 3 different costumes. He blogged about the experiences almost a year ago on MediaMensch.
The first half of the show will be the press conference, followed by live interviews with actors who were extras on the film.
You can listen to the show by clicking here
or you can paste the following into your browser
www.blogtalkradio.com/mediamensch
a direct link to the show will be
http://tinyurl.com/2c9xtb
Andrew Kaplan, Host of MediaMensch, was fortunate to have been an extra on the film and what he thought would be 1 day on the set turned into 10 days, 5 different roles, 3 different cities and 3 different costumes. He blogged about the experiences almost a year ago on MediaMensch.
The first half of the show will be the press conference, followed by live interviews with actors who were extras on the film.
You can listen to the show by clicking here
or you can paste the following into your browser
www.blogtalkradio.com/mediamensch
a direct link to the show will be
http://tinyurl.com/2c9xtb
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Promoting 'Leatherheads' a Clooney Family Affair
Here is a red carpet premier for Leatherheads in the Clooney's hometown in Kentucky.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Preparing for Bill Clinton's Arrival
Kaplan talking to Alex Reed, TV journalist/reporter for NBC Affiliate WCNC Charlotte, NC.Alex was discussing the life of a reporter in a top 25 city. We agreed how great it is to be able to cover events like Clooney and Clinton and have such access. Reed also was an extra in the Clooney movie Leatherheads and reported on it as well.
We will have Alex on a future MediaMensch radio show discussing his life and career as a mid-market tv journalist. The MediaMensch show is a live talk show (also becomes a podcast) where we interview people in media, sports, politics, technology, and entertainment about their life and careers and their current ventures.
We welcome any suggestions for guests for our future shows.
My first Press Coverage Bill Clinton Campaigning in NC
What a week....I came in at around midnight last night to find an e-mail saying Bill Clinton was going to be in the area...turned out he is at the same Train Depot that George Clooney was at on Wednesday. This time we were outside the station.There was a crowd of a few hundred people. We were in the press area behind the crowd on a platform so we had a clear shot of the crowd. Bill's speech had humor and was direct and pointed about plans to really turn this country around. He discussed the need for 100 mph cars which can run on Lithium, to pulling the troops out of Iraq, to schools and getting rid of all of this national testing for No Child Left Behind and to really look for true success not just test scores.
He also praised the McCain and Obama and this election has being historical no matter who wins.
The main theme was the Hilary has always been a 'change agent'. Not just in talk but in deeds her entire life. She thinks about the individuals, not just those with wealth and has been an advocate for children and families.
On the economic side, he made a great point about our trade deficit.
China, Japan and Korea are our largest trading partners, followed by the oil producing nations. They are also the countries who own our debt and lend us money to fuel our economy...his quote was that dealing with fair trade is tough since China is our banker...and "You don't go up to your banker, punch them in the face and then ask them for a loan".
He also joked about Not being able to go home, if he didn't campaign for his wife...
One of my highlights for the new mediamensch networks venture was meeting ABC News Producer for the US Senate Zach Wolf..we had a brief discussion of his feelings for the personalities and effectness of Senators Clinton, Obama, and McCain's surrogate, Sen. Tom Coburn (whom I believe may be on the VP short list..just my gut feel)....
More later....
Amazon to Force POD Publishers to Use BookSurge
This move sounds horrid. It's going to hurt small publishers and authors.
Publishers Weekly Daily:
"Amazon has notified publishers who print books on demand that they will have to use Amazon's POD facilities if they want to sell their books directly on Amazon.com, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"The move signals that Amazon is intent on using its position as the premier online bookseller to strengthen its presence in other phases of bookselling and manufacturing," the Journal continued. Amazon "has evolved into a fully vertical book publishing and retail operation. Most recently, Amazon acquired audiobook seller Audible Inc. Amazon also sells its own ebook reader called the Kindle."
Publishers will have to use Amazon's BookSurge POD subsidiary. Among competitors are Ingram's Lightning Source and lulu.com."
Read the whole article in The Wall Street Journal
From Writers Weekly:
"BREAKING DEVELOPMENT: We were notified by a PublishAmerica author that her book was available for purchase through Amazon on Tuesday but today the "buy" button for her book on Amazon is gone. We researched some other PublishAmerica books and it appears the "buy" button on Amazon has indeed been removed from the vast majority of their book pages.
PublishAmerica issued a press release today that states: "PublishAmerica will not comply with Amazon's ultimatum, and will not allow that company to dictate who will print PublishAmerica's books, and at what conditions."
~~~~~
Some Print on Demand (POD) publishers are privately screaming "Monopoly!" while others are seething with rage over startling phone conversations they're having with Amazon/BookSurge representatives. Why isn't anybody talking about it openly? Because they're afraid - very, very afraid.
Amazon.com purchased BookSurge, a small POD publisher/printer back in 2005. Amazon also lists and sells titles for the largest POD printer, Lightning Source, which is owned by Ingram (the large book distributor). According to their website, Lightning Source serves more than 4,300 publisher clients and has more than 400,000 titles in their system.
You'd think Amazon's purchase of BookSurge might have made things a bit uncomfortable between the two companies. However, they continued to work together, getting books on demand to Amazon.com's loyal customers. Things appeared to be cruising along just fine, but perhaps not anymore.
Reports have been trickling in from the POD underground that Amazon/BookSurge representatives have been approaching some Lightning Source customers, first by email introduction and then by phone (nobody at BookSurge seems to want to put anything in writing). When Lightning Source customers speak with the BookSurge representative, the reports say, they are basically told they can either have BookSurge start printing their books or the "buy" button on their Amazon.com book pages will be "turned off."
The book information would remain on Amazon, and people could still order the book from resellers (companies that list new and used books in Amazon's Marketplace section), but customers would not be able to buy the book from Amazon directly, nor qualify for the coveted "free shipping" that Amazon offers.
Don't believe it? I didn't believe it either. I am Angela Hoy, the co-owner of POD services company BookLocker.com and publisher of WritersWeekly.com. I am well-known in the industry for my activism performed through WritersWeekly Whispers and Warnings. Over the years, we have helped writers recover tens of thousands of dollars in fees from deadbeat editors and publishers, helped them negotiate better contract terms, assisted writers in obtaining payment after their copyrights have been violated, and even assisted police in collecting evidence to prosecute criminals who have preyed on writers. I am also the author of 11 non-fiction books.
Still doubting the reports could really be true, I emailed an Amazon/BookSurge representative who's been trying to get us to talk to him by phone. John Clifford of Amazon/BookSurge called me at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, 2008.
My first comment was to tell him we heard a rumor that POD publishers who didn't use BookSurge would have the "buy" button on their Amazon.com book pages turned off.
He said, "What? Who told you that? That's not true!"
I told him I'd heard some rumors from the "POD underground."
He said he'd previously tried to talk to my husband, Richard Hoy, the President and CEO of BookLocker. I explained that we had a very bad experience with BookSurge in the past and that he was, naturally, hesitant to do business with them again. (Google the words BookSurge complaint without any quotes to see other customers' comments about them as well.)
He claimed the people who worked for BookSurge back then are probably all gone (but that didn't explain the more recent complaints). He made his sales pitch, talking about percentages and such, and said many POD publishers are resisting their attempts to convert to BookSurge. Mr. Clifford also said BookSurge's aim was to help Amazon customers get their books faster.
What he didn't say was that Lightning Source not only packages books for Amazon customers in boxes that feature an Amazon.com return address label, but also drop-ships those orders directly to Amazon customers at Amazon's request. Hmm...
He stated several times that books not converted to BookSurge's system would be "taken down." Since that wasn't exactly what we'd heard, I asked about books that perhaps weren't selling well, that aren't good candidates for converting to BookSurge (books that would remain for sale through Lightning Source, but would never be converted to BookSurge due to the time/expense involved).
Contrary to what he stated at the very beginning of our conversation, Mr. Clifford finally admitted that books not converted to BookSurge would have the "buy" button turned off on Amazon.com, just as we'd heard from several other POD publishers who had similar conversations with Amazon/BookSurge representatives.
Mr. Clifford said authors of those books could participate in the Amazon.com Advantage Program, meaning they would have to pay Amazon $29.95 per year PLUS 55% of the list price of their book, as well as buy and then send those books to Amazon directly for them to warehouse and ship to customers.
I explained to him that we had more than 1500 books in print and that it would take quite awhile to convert all of those over to BookSurge's system. He said as long as the relationship was "moving forward" that the "buy" button would remain active on our authors' books that had not yet been switched.
Another comment Mr. Clifford made was that their eventual desire is to have no books from other POD publishers available on Amazon.com.
WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?!
I have to wonder if Jeff Bezos is even aware of what is going on within his organization. Here is Amazon's Vision Statement, taken directly from their website:
"Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online."
What it doesn't say is, "Our customers can buy any print on demand book they might want online...as long as we also get paid to print it."
Nobody likes being backed into a corner, and saying "do this or else" naturally breeds angry rejection and hostility. If we did agree to sign the contract, pulling and transferring files to Amazon/Booksurge would take an enormous amount of time and money. From the POD publishers we've talked to, and from our own experience at BookLocker, we could all be looking at a dire and immediate threat of revenue cuts if we refuse to sign the Amazon/BookSurge contract. Most importantly, there could be an outcry from and potential financial hardship on the authors, who are completely innocent in all of this.
In BookLocker's opinion, and the opinion of all the fellow Lightning Source customers we talked to, the Amazon/BookSurge proposal does not appear attractive at all (yes, we obtained the contract and the file submission specifications). Amazon/BookSurge would make money two ways on Amazon.com sales - first the fee for printing the books, and then 48% of the list price of each sale through Amazon.com. Lightning Source allows its customers to set their own discount rate for Amazon and other retail sales, and does not force POD publishers or authors to pay "48%."
Furthermore, it could take the larger POD publishers months to submit their book files to Amazon/BookSurge, at a considerable cost and number of man-hours. This makes the deal even less attractive. Finally, while the initial list of books submitted by POD publishers could be submitted to Amazon/BookSurge for free, the contract states future books would cost $50 each to process. The cost for individual authors to publish through BookSurge is considerably more, with an average publishing package cost of more than $1,000.
Since Amazon/BookSurge does not offer Ingram distribution (Ingram distribution is considered imperative in the industry for bookstore sales), any company that accepts the Amazon/BookSurge deal, who desires to keep offering Ingram distribution, may need to maintain two copies of the book files. Since the Amazon/BookSurge current specs don't match the Lightning Source specs, future book files, both interior and cover, may need to be formatted separately. So, they would have to pay double the setup fees and might have to do double the formatting work as well...or pay designers to do double the formatting work.
Likewise, self-published authors who believe they must have Ingram Distribution AND an active "buy" button on Amazon to be successful may need to pay double the setup fees (to a POD publisher AND Amazon/BookSurge), and also may need to create two separate sets of formatted files.
In the event where two versions of a book might be available, Mr. Clifford said the Amazon/BookSurge version of the POD book would trump (override) the version offered by Lightning Source on Amazon.com.
AMAZON WAS BUILT BY BOOKS....That Were Written By AUTHORS
When authors get wind of this, we believe they are going to be livid. Authors are also readers. They love books. We suspect they buy from Amazon in droves. I, myself, have been an Amazon junkie for years, not only heavily promoting Amazon.com in my non-fiction books for writers and on our very popular website, WritersWeekly.com, but also listing my own books for sale there, ordering other authors' books, DVDs and numerous other products as well. I pulled up our Amazon customer account and looked at our receipts. We've spent $1508.81 at Amazon.com in the past six months. Multiply that by the number of authors this will affect...authors who, like me, have a multitude of websites to choose from when doing their shopping online.
In addition, authors participate in the Amazon experience, via blogs on the website, by posting reviews about other books, and more, activities that help to continually make Amazon bigger and better. Authors are a loyal bunch! For years, they've been faithfully sending their readers to Amazon.com, again and again, even when they earned lower royalties for doing so.
It's not inconceivable to think that this group, if shoved against a wall like this, won't simply pledge their allegiance elsewhere. Let's face it, BarnesandNoble.com offers free shipping on orders of $25 or more, too. Authors can change the links to their book pages on their websites, in their ezines and press releases, and even in their email signatures to their book's page at BarnesandNoble.com. Authors can spend their own money elsewhere as well (as I plan to do). I imagine BarnesandNoble.com will be very happy to process the extra book sales that could result from all of this.
Amazon.com might also upset countless companies that have Amazon Affiliate bookstores on their websites (many authors have these, too!). If Amazon/BookSurge were to follow through with turning off the "buy" buttons for thousands of POD titles, customers following those links from other websites could be confused and annoyed. After clicking on a link, they would find no easy way to purchase the book directly from Amazon, and no way to obtain free shipping on that book, even if they're willing to buy more products to meet the $25 free shipping threshold. One would think Amazon must know the free shipping strategy works to upsell customers on additional products. That's why they offer it. Without it, these customers could have no incentive to buy more products because the product they surfed in to buy does not qualify.
One has to wonder if traditional publishers will be next? Will Amazon eventually require all books sold through Amazon.com to be printed by BookSurge?
Let's all hope and pray this situation is one huge, misguided idea from some mid-level management person and not corporate policy being dictated from the office of Jeff Bezos.
What can you do? Let Amazon know what you think about this "offer" by Amazon/BookSurge.
The names of their Officers and Directors are here: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-govManage
Amazon's Investor Relations Team email address appears near the bottom of this page: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-faq
Their address is:
Amazon.com, Inc.
P.O. Box 81226
Seattle, WA 98108-1226
Next, tell your author friends, your book buyers, your website visitors, your ezine subscribers and everyone else about this situation. Amazon.com was built on books. Books are written by authors. Unfortunately, it appears authors may ultimately be the innocent pawns in this power struggle."
Click here for even more at Writers Weekly.http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/004597_03272008.html
Publishers Weekly Daily:
"Amazon has notified publishers who print books on demand that they will have to use Amazon's POD facilities if they want to sell their books directly on Amazon.com, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"The move signals that Amazon is intent on using its position as the premier online bookseller to strengthen its presence in other phases of bookselling and manufacturing," the Journal continued. Amazon "has evolved into a fully vertical book publishing and retail operation. Most recently, Amazon acquired audiobook seller Audible Inc. Amazon also sells its own ebook reader called the Kindle."
Publishers will have to use Amazon's BookSurge POD subsidiary. Among competitors are Ingram's Lightning Source and lulu.com."
Read the whole article in The Wall Street Journal
From Writers Weekly:
"BREAKING DEVELOPMENT: We were notified by a PublishAmerica author that her book was available for purchase through Amazon on Tuesday but today the "buy" button for her book on Amazon is gone. We researched some other PublishAmerica books and it appears the "buy" button on Amazon has indeed been removed from the vast majority of their book pages.
PublishAmerica issued a press release today that states: "PublishAmerica will not comply with Amazon's ultimatum, and will not allow that company to dictate who will print PublishAmerica's books, and at what conditions."
~~~~~
Some Print on Demand (POD) publishers are privately screaming "Monopoly!" while others are seething with rage over startling phone conversations they're having with Amazon/BookSurge representatives. Why isn't anybody talking about it openly? Because they're afraid - very, very afraid.
Amazon.com purchased BookSurge, a small POD publisher/printer back in 2005. Amazon also lists and sells titles for the largest POD printer, Lightning Source, which is owned by Ingram (the large book distributor). According to their website, Lightning Source serves more than 4,300 publisher clients and has more than 400,000 titles in their system.
You'd think Amazon's purchase of BookSurge might have made things a bit uncomfortable between the two companies. However, they continued to work together, getting books on demand to Amazon.com's loyal customers. Things appeared to be cruising along just fine, but perhaps not anymore.
Reports have been trickling in from the POD underground that Amazon/BookSurge representatives have been approaching some Lightning Source customers, first by email introduction and then by phone (nobody at BookSurge seems to want to put anything in writing). When Lightning Source customers speak with the BookSurge representative, the reports say, they are basically told they can either have BookSurge start printing their books or the "buy" button on their Amazon.com book pages will be "turned off."
The book information would remain on Amazon, and people could still order the book from resellers (companies that list new and used books in Amazon's Marketplace section), but customers would not be able to buy the book from Amazon directly, nor qualify for the coveted "free shipping" that Amazon offers.
Don't believe it? I didn't believe it either. I am Angela Hoy, the co-owner of POD services company BookLocker.com and publisher of WritersWeekly.com. I am well-known in the industry for my activism performed through WritersWeekly Whispers and Warnings. Over the years, we have helped writers recover tens of thousands of dollars in fees from deadbeat editors and publishers, helped them negotiate better contract terms, assisted writers in obtaining payment after their copyrights have been violated, and even assisted police in collecting evidence to prosecute criminals who have preyed on writers. I am also the author of 11 non-fiction books.
Still doubting the reports could really be true, I emailed an Amazon/BookSurge representative who's been trying to get us to talk to him by phone. John Clifford of Amazon/BookSurge called me at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, 2008.
My first comment was to tell him we heard a rumor that POD publishers who didn't use BookSurge would have the "buy" button on their Amazon.com book pages turned off.
He said, "What? Who told you that? That's not true!"
I told him I'd heard some rumors from the "POD underground."
He said he'd previously tried to talk to my husband, Richard Hoy, the President and CEO of BookLocker. I explained that we had a very bad experience with BookSurge in the past and that he was, naturally, hesitant to do business with them again. (Google the words BookSurge complaint without any quotes to see other customers' comments about them as well.)
He claimed the people who worked for BookSurge back then are probably all gone (but that didn't explain the more recent complaints). He made his sales pitch, talking about percentages and such, and said many POD publishers are resisting their attempts to convert to BookSurge. Mr. Clifford also said BookSurge's aim was to help Amazon customers get their books faster.
What he didn't say was that Lightning Source not only packages books for Amazon customers in boxes that feature an Amazon.com return address label, but also drop-ships those orders directly to Amazon customers at Amazon's request. Hmm...
He stated several times that books not converted to BookSurge's system would be "taken down." Since that wasn't exactly what we'd heard, I asked about books that perhaps weren't selling well, that aren't good candidates for converting to BookSurge (books that would remain for sale through Lightning Source, but would never be converted to BookSurge due to the time/expense involved).
Contrary to what he stated at the very beginning of our conversation, Mr. Clifford finally admitted that books not converted to BookSurge would have the "buy" button turned off on Amazon.com, just as we'd heard from several other POD publishers who had similar conversations with Amazon/BookSurge representatives.
Mr. Clifford said authors of those books could participate in the Amazon.com Advantage Program, meaning they would have to pay Amazon $29.95 per year PLUS 55% of the list price of their book, as well as buy and then send those books to Amazon directly for them to warehouse and ship to customers.
I explained to him that we had more than 1500 books in print and that it would take quite awhile to convert all of those over to BookSurge's system. He said as long as the relationship was "moving forward" that the "buy" button would remain active on our authors' books that had not yet been switched.
Another comment Mr. Clifford made was that their eventual desire is to have no books from other POD publishers available on Amazon.com.
WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?!
I have to wonder if Jeff Bezos is even aware of what is going on within his organization. Here is Amazon's Vision Statement, taken directly from their website:
"Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online."
What it doesn't say is, "Our customers can buy any print on demand book they might want online...as long as we also get paid to print it."
Nobody likes being backed into a corner, and saying "do this or else" naturally breeds angry rejection and hostility. If we did agree to sign the contract, pulling and transferring files to Amazon/Booksurge would take an enormous amount of time and money. From the POD publishers we've talked to, and from our own experience at BookLocker, we could all be looking at a dire and immediate threat of revenue cuts if we refuse to sign the Amazon/BookSurge contract. Most importantly, there could be an outcry from and potential financial hardship on the authors, who are completely innocent in all of this.
In BookLocker's opinion, and the opinion of all the fellow Lightning Source customers we talked to, the Amazon/BookSurge proposal does not appear attractive at all (yes, we obtained the contract and the file submission specifications). Amazon/BookSurge would make money two ways on Amazon.com sales - first the fee for printing the books, and then 48% of the list price of each sale through Amazon.com. Lightning Source allows its customers to set their own discount rate for Amazon and other retail sales, and does not force POD publishers or authors to pay "48%."
Furthermore, it could take the larger POD publishers months to submit their book files to Amazon/BookSurge, at a considerable cost and number of man-hours. This makes the deal even less attractive. Finally, while the initial list of books submitted by POD publishers could be submitted to Amazon/BookSurge for free, the contract states future books would cost $50 each to process. The cost for individual authors to publish through BookSurge is considerably more, with an average publishing package cost of more than $1,000.
Since Amazon/BookSurge does not offer Ingram distribution (Ingram distribution is considered imperative in the industry for bookstore sales), any company that accepts the Amazon/BookSurge deal, who desires to keep offering Ingram distribution, may need to maintain two copies of the book files. Since the Amazon/BookSurge current specs don't match the Lightning Source specs, future book files, both interior and cover, may need to be formatted separately. So, they would have to pay double the setup fees and might have to do double the formatting work as well...or pay designers to do double the formatting work.
Likewise, self-published authors who believe they must have Ingram Distribution AND an active "buy" button on Amazon to be successful may need to pay double the setup fees (to a POD publisher AND Amazon/BookSurge), and also may need to create two separate sets of formatted files.
In the event where two versions of a book might be available, Mr. Clifford said the Amazon/BookSurge version of the POD book would trump (override) the version offered by Lightning Source on Amazon.com.
AMAZON WAS BUILT BY BOOKS....That Were Written By AUTHORS
When authors get wind of this, we believe they are going to be livid. Authors are also readers. They love books. We suspect they buy from Amazon in droves. I, myself, have been an Amazon junkie for years, not only heavily promoting Amazon.com in my non-fiction books for writers and on our very popular website, WritersWeekly.com, but also listing my own books for sale there, ordering other authors' books, DVDs and numerous other products as well. I pulled up our Amazon customer account and looked at our receipts. We've spent $1508.81 at Amazon.com in the past six months. Multiply that by the number of authors this will affect...authors who, like me, have a multitude of websites to choose from when doing their shopping online.
In addition, authors participate in the Amazon experience, via blogs on the website, by posting reviews about other books, and more, activities that help to continually make Amazon bigger and better. Authors are a loyal bunch! For years, they've been faithfully sending their readers to Amazon.com, again and again, even when they earned lower royalties for doing so.
It's not inconceivable to think that this group, if shoved against a wall like this, won't simply pledge their allegiance elsewhere. Let's face it, BarnesandNoble.com offers free shipping on orders of $25 or more, too. Authors can change the links to their book pages on their websites, in their ezines and press releases, and even in their email signatures to their book's page at BarnesandNoble.com. Authors can spend their own money elsewhere as well (as I plan to do). I imagine BarnesandNoble.com will be very happy to process the extra book sales that could result from all of this.
Amazon.com might also upset countless companies that have Amazon Affiliate bookstores on their websites (many authors have these, too!). If Amazon/BookSurge were to follow through with turning off the "buy" buttons for thousands of POD titles, customers following those links from other websites could be confused and annoyed. After clicking on a link, they would find no easy way to purchase the book directly from Amazon, and no way to obtain free shipping on that book, even if they're willing to buy more products to meet the $25 free shipping threshold. One would think Amazon must know the free shipping strategy works to upsell customers on additional products. That's why they offer it. Without it, these customers could have no incentive to buy more products because the product they surfed in to buy does not qualify.
One has to wonder if traditional publishers will be next? Will Amazon eventually require all books sold through Amazon.com to be printed by BookSurge?
Let's all hope and pray this situation is one huge, misguided idea from some mid-level management person and not corporate policy being dictated from the office of Jeff Bezos.
What can you do? Let Amazon know what you think about this "offer" by Amazon/BookSurge.
The names of their Officers and Directors are here: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-govManage
Amazon's Investor Relations Team email address appears near the bottom of this page: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-faq
Their address is:
Amazon.com, Inc.
P.O. Box 81226
Seattle, WA 98108-1226
Next, tell your author friends, your book buyers, your website visitors, your ezine subscribers and everyone else about this situation. Amazon.com was built on books. Books are written by authors. Unfortunately, it appears authors may ultimately be the innocent pawns in this power struggle."
Click here for even more at Writers Weekly.http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/004597_03272008.html
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Photos from Leatherheads Press Conference
Exclusive Photos Copyright 2008 MediaMensch Networks. All Rights Reserved
Cameraman in Salisbury Press Conference
Exclusive Photos Copyright 2008 MediaMensch Networks. All Rights Reserved
Clooney Signing Autographs in Salisbury, NC
Exclusive Photos Copyright 2008 MediaMensch Networks. All Rights ReservedHundreds of fans turned out today to see George Clooney and Renee Zellweger on their press tour for Leatherheads. Clooney and Zellweger arrived on a train which was used for filming in the movie. As they pulled up into the station, Clooney and Zellweger were waving from the window inside the train. As they exited the train a roar came up from the hundreds of fans who had been waiting for them for as much as four hours. The film was shot on location in Salisbury and the train museum and train were used in multiple scenes in the movie.
George and Renee were decked out in the 1920's attire. At the press conference, George and Renee both agreed is was so much fun to be in such a friendly small town. Renee actually thought being nice and smiling was a prerequisite. In real life Clooney grew up in a small town in Kentucky, while Zellweger grew up in a small town in Texas. This reminded them of home.
Clooney and Zellweger -- Audio Clip of Press Conference
Well, here is copy of the press conference with George Clooney and Renee Zellweger. I had the opportunity to ask two questions during the press conference and had a fun time with George kidding with me about my role in the movie.
Click here for Audio Clip of entire press conference from Radio Station WBT in Charlotte.
Click here for Audio Clip of entire press conference from Radio Station WBT in Charlotte.
Exclusive MediaMensch Pics - Clooney on a Train Arriving at Leatherheads Press Conference
Exclusive Photos for MediaMensch Networks. Copyright 2008. All Rights Reserved
Charlotte Observer - Clooney and Zellweger at Salisbury Train Depot
Here are pictures of the Leatherhead's Press Conference from the Charlotte Observer. I had the opportunity to sit next to Lawrence Toppman who is the film critic for the Charlotte Observer at the Press conference.
Tomorrow on radio station WBT Charlotte with Al Gardner morning show the audio version of the press conference will be played and posted on their website. Click here to listen live.
Whistlestop Tour of Leatherheads with George and Renee
Today was one of those surreal days...I interviewed George Clooney and Renee Zellweger at the Leatherheads Press Conference in Salisbury NC today. The press conference was held at the same train depot and they rode in on the same train seen in the movie. Renee and George were dressed in the 1925 outfits they wore in the movie. They are the Hepburn and Tracy in this romantic comedy. Prior to the press conference there were over 1,000 fans outfitted in Leatherheads t-shirts and with other promotional items for autographs.
More later...
News from Amazon Breakthrough Novel Semifinalist
Julie Ann Shapiro's first novel, Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries just had it's first major reorder from Amazon. This comes on the heels of being mentioned in USA Today. This article has been picked up by at least 20 major media outlets, if not more.
The author's second novel, Three Drop Pennies was recently a semifinalist in Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Contest. In a clever marketing development many of the semifinalists have come together to create a forum and a literary print magazine to which Julie will be serving as a flash fiction editor.
The ABNA Books Forum has united the semifinalists in the hopes of marketing their novels and attracting major attention from the publishers. For more information on the forum check out their recent press release.
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The author's second novel, Three Drop Pennies was recently a semifinalist in Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Contest. In a clever marketing development many of the semifinalists have come together to create a forum and a literary print magazine to which Julie will be serving as a flash fiction editor.
The ABNA Books Forum has united the semifinalists in the hopes of marketing their novels and attracting major attention from the publishers. For more information on the forum check out their recent press release.
****
Amazon Semifinalists Launch ABNABooks.com
Community Creates Literary Site for Networking and Promotion
ABNABooks.com, an online showcase, network and marketplace for writers, was launched on March 1, 2008. ABNA Books is a place for writers to present their work, keep track of fellow writers’ news and publications, and get the attention of publishers and agents.
What began as a group of entrants and semifinalists in the “Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award” contest, evolved into the Association of Breakthrough Novel Authors on ABNABooks.com. Through the Amazon discussion forum, participating writers grew into a community, working together to improve their writing and promote their books.
Brainchild of semifinalist Valya Dudycz Lupescu, ABNABooks.com establishes a more permanent home for ABNA writers and their works.
“Several writers and reviewers mentioned that they wanted a way to stay in touch and to find out about the publications of other entrants,” said Lupescu. “ABNABooks.com provides us with the place to do that. The general public can also subscribe for a free monthly update about news and publications.”
Selected as a semifinalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, Lupescu's debut novel, The Silence of Trees, gained more than 200 positive reviews from customers and reviewers. Lupescu and her husband, Mark, decided to create ABNA Books to maintain the community started during the contest, while at the same time providing the public with a place to track the manuscripts and publications of this talented group of writers.
"Since the manuscripts in ABNABooks.com have been pre-screened in Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award competition and most have received positive reviews from Publishers Weekly, I can see it as a legitimate source of good literature,” said Enrico Antiporda, author of the Top 100 Semifinalist entry, A Light in the Cane Fields. “I foresee literary agencies and commercial publishers mining the website to add to their catalogue."
Julie Ann Shapiro, author of Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries, who’s second novel, Three Drop Pennies is an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Semifinalist has been an active participant on the Amazon forum. “This community of authors have novels that are top notch, peer-reviewed of the highest caliber and ready to be published. Book publishers should take a serious look at these manuscripts.“
With short synopses, lengthy excerpts, and prior publications, ABNA Books provides agents and editors a snapshot of writers’ projects and potential. The site also provides a place for comments and reviews, so that an author’s following and marketability may be glimpsed.
For more information about ABNA Books please visit www.ABNABooks.com
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About ABNA Books.com:
ABNA began as a group of entrants and semifinalists of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Through the forum, they grew into a community of writers working together to improve their writing and promote their books. ABNABooks.com is the next step in their evolution, a place to maintain that solidarity while promoting their work and perfecting their craft. ABNA Books is an online showcase, network, and marketplace for writers. It’s a place for writers to present their work, get the attention of publishers and agents, and help each other in the process of publishing and promotion.
Monday, March 24, 2008
A Place of Hopes
This is a moving video for orphans in Cameroon..I am on the advisory board. Our group led by Abong Farkham and Barney Barnum...the spent two weeks.. see www.placeofhopes.com ...the next trip is planned for July 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Media Mensch Radio Show - BlackTurtle Media - Neal Thurman
Today's guest for the show on March 21, 2008 was Neal Thurman, VP, Audience Relations for www.blackturtlemedia.com.
Andrew Kaplan, host of MediaMensch, and Thurman discussed the development of the site for the young creatives, the creation of a citizen journalist blogging site for soccer which was sold to Yahoo. and his past non-profit project for linking inner city children with books called www.in2books.com
Listen to the Radio show at www.blogtalkradio.com/mediamensch
Andrew Kaplan, host of MediaMensch, and Thurman discussed the development of the site for the young creatives, the creation of a citizen journalist blogging site for soccer which was sold to Yahoo. and his past non-profit project for linking inner city children with books called www.in2books.com
Listen to the Radio show at www.blogtalkradio.com/mediamensch
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Independent Film - Insignificant Others
The last two days, I spent time as an extra working on a film called Insignificant Others. We filmed at the old courthouse building in Charlotte. My roles included a police detective or lawyer, and a police officer in full uniform.
Here is a blurb about this project:
In/Significant Others" is John Schwert's follow up feature to "Among Brothers" (www.amongbrothers.com), which played 17 film festivals in 2005-06 and was just featured on Dateline NBC (www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18619158/). Although it's a low-budget project, the script is strong and will be a top-tiered festival piece targeting the 2009 Spirit Awards.
Story line: Blurring the lines between drama, comedy, mystery and crime, In/Significant Others is a modern thriller that voices a unique narrative by trailing an eclectic ensemble cast of characters through their unpredictable daily lives. The film peeks inside personal, intimate moments of these unknowingly-linked character’s lives, including glimpses of drug addiction, stand-up comedy and murder. The character’s parallel storylines converge and we build to the climactic finale with a captivating and visceral series of reveals.
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