Shrayan - Abha Iyengar

Abha Iyengar's novel Shrayan - an adult fantasy tale - explores an individual’s quest for acceptance in an unfamiliar and unforgiving world: Shrayan emerges from the underground, a fully formed creature, not quite human in appearance. In the dark forest where he finds himself, he is surrounded by snakes. Brought to the city and made to dance as an ajooba, he breaks free and learns dancing and martial arts. He falls in love to discover that beauty has its own price tag. The night he achieves stardom, he leaves his clamouring fans and takes to the streets, hoping to find his lost son.

In his quest for his self, Shrayan discovers aspects of his personality that he did not know existed, and also learns to come to terms with what he is and deal with the challenges that life throws up for him as he knows best. Love is difficult to find and hold, friendship has different meanings, and trying to fit into a world concept is neither possible not required, these are some of the things he learns.

Abha Iyengar is an internationally published freelance writer and poet who lives in New Delhi, India. She is a Kota Press Poetry Anthology contest winner, conducts creative writing and poetry workshops and has written several screenplays. Her poem film “Parwaaz” has won a special jury prize at the film festival at Patras, Greece and has been screened to acclaim at various international film festivals. Abhha blogs at Encounters of an Everyday Kind, where she currently hosts the new edition of the language place blog carnival: "The Other".

Abha Iyengar: Shrayan
e-book

The Chalk Circle - Intercultural Prizewinning Essays

Award-winning editor Tara L. Masih put out a call in 2007 for Intercultural Essays dealing with the subjects of “culture, race, and a sense of place.” The prizewinners are gathered for the first time in The Chalk Circle - a ground-breaking anthology that explores many facets of culture not previously found under one cover. The powerful, honest, thoughtful voices—Native American, African American, Asian, European, Jewish, White—speak daringly on topics not often discussed in the open, on subjects such as racism, anti-Semitism, war, self-identity, gender, societal expectations.

The Chalk Cirlce received the Skipping Stones Honor Award that recognizes outstanding authentic books and teaching resources (more here: Skipping Stones)

"The Chalk Circle is intelligently and thoughtfully compiled, unified by a belief in writing to further our comprehension of what can (or should) define us, as individuals and as a global culture" - Tori Grant-Welhouse at Her Circle (link)

Tara L. Masih received a BA in English and a minor in sociology from C. W. Post College, and an MA in Writing and Publishing from Emerson College. She is editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction, and her debut story collection, Where the Dog Star Never Glows, was a National Best Books Awards finalist.

The Chalk Circle - Intercultural Prizewinning Essays
paperback, 220 pages

Related links: books on gender + race , anthologies

language/place blog carnival: The Other

In these times of globalization, when everything can get quite up close and personal, 23 individuals share with us their idea of the ‘Other' in the new edition of the Language > Place blog carnival at Encountering the Other.

This edition is hosted by writer and poet Abha Iyengar who notes: "What is the ‘Other’? In its simplest sense, anyone or anything that is not ‘you’ is the ‘other’. So the alienation begins... In language and place, everything about the other attracts and repels, but its existence is evident, its pull even more so. That is why we travel, why we seek a certain novelty, why we embrace or get repelled by what we see, hear or fail to understand. We may often find ourselves more at home with the others. Welcome aboard and take the tip!"

Abha Iyengar is an internationally published freelance writer and poet from India. Her work has appeared in several anthologies, magazines and literary journals, both in print and online. She has won several literary contests and has written several screenplays. Her poem film “Parwaaz” has won a special jury prize at the film festival at Patras, Greece

Call for the next edition:
Edition #16 of > language > place will be hosted by visual artist and Florida resident Steve Wing. The feature theme is "Translation" (in all its possible forms). Contributions are invited from writers, photographers, poets, translators, and anyone with an interest in this topic. As always, we welcome a wide variety of posts. Submissons open June 1, Deadline is June 25, guidelines.

About the  >Language >Place blog carnival
To create a collaborate cyber journey that features international perspectives on language and place, in different formats, and with different languages included - that's the concept of this collaborate project. The main language is english, the carnival consists of a central page that links to all participating blog. An overview of previous editions and more background information is available at the Language Place info page.

Encountering the Other in Language/Place
edition 15 of the language/place blog carnival

related links: web projects, the human condition

Fast Times in Palestine - Pamela Olson

In Fast Times in Palestine, Pamela Olson - a small town girl from eastern Oklahoma who goes on a supposed trip to Europe after finishing a physics degree from Stanford University - chronicles her journey from aimless ex-bartender to Ramallah-based journalist and foreign press coordinator for a Palestinian presidential candidate.

"A moving, inspiring account of life in Palestine that's enormously informative yet reads like a novel." - Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace

This book, written from inside the Gaza strip and the West Bank, focuses not only on violence, terror, and social and political upheavals but also on the daily rounds of house parties, concerts, barbecues, weddings, jokes, harvests, and romantic drama that happen in between.

The first chapter of the book is online as excerpt: From the Midwest to the Middle East

Pamela Olson grew up in Oklahoma and studied physics and political science at Stanford University, class of 2002. She lived in Ramallah for two years. In January of 2006, she moved to Washington, DC and worked at a Defense Department think tank, but became disillusioned with the prospect of changing Washington from the inside, and in 2007, left DC and wrote Fast Times in Palestine.

Pamela Olson: Fast Times in Palestine

My Mother Was an Upright Piano - Tania Hershman (Tangent)

My Mother Was an Upright Piano is Tania Hershman's second collection of short stories, and follows The White Road which was commended by the judges of the 2009 Orange Award for New Writers. It includes 56 short short fictions, some of which were broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

"Tania Hershman writes with such passion and playfulness, the pain and the fear and the hope woven through her stories hits all the harder. The result is beautiful, funny and quietly devastating." - Nicola Walker, actress (Spooks, Inside Men)

For more about the book, visit the book trailer.
There also is a new expat-interview with Tania online at Christopher Allen's I Must Be Off blog: interview link.

Tania Hershman was born in London in 1970, moved to Jerusalem in 1994, and returned to the UK in August 2009. After making a living for 13 years as a science journalist, writing for publications such as Wired and NewScientist, she now focuses on short fiction.

Tania Hershman: My Mother Was an Upright Piano
ISBN: 9781906477608

World Book Day!

Organized by UNESCO, World Book Day is celebrated in many countries on Monday, 23. April. A special post with links, photos, quotes and notes, all about books and their readers and writers - including a link to the blueprint book blog - is online here:

WORLD BOOK DAY 2012: Books, Readers, Reviews, Links...

Yey Books!!

The Most Beautiful Thing - Fiona Robyn

Fiona Robyn's new novel The Most Beautiful Thing tells the story of two summers in Amsterdam. The first: fourteen year old Joe Salt, obsessed with clouds and falcons and perplexed by humans. His aunt Nel, a chaotic artist with two lovers. The second, fifteen years later: a family secret, which makes sense of everything, and pushes Joe to breaking point...

"I was surprised by this wonderful novel. I thought initially it was going to be a 'relationship' book, but as I became more involved with the characters I realised it was a significant contribution to the literature of 'The Outsider'. From the perspective of middle age I can identify with so much experienced by Joe, both as a teenager and a young adult, and am amazed at the perspicacity of Fiona Robyn in capturing it so well." ~ Anthony Foley via Amazon.com

Fiona Robyn is a novelist, psychotherapist and creativity coach. She co-founded Writing Our Way Home with her husband Kaspa and runs mindful writing e-courses and an online writing community. Her previous novels include 'Thaw' and 'The Blue Handbag'. She lives in the skirts of the Malvern hills with Kaspa and her three cats.

Fiona Robyn: The Most Beautiful Thing
paperback + e-book, 320 pages

How to create a book cover for print-on-demand services like CreateSpace

Here are some notes on creating a book cover for print-on-demand services like Lulu or CreateSpace - back in August, YB-editor Rose Hunter and i mailed back and forth about her "Foal" cover. The mail dialogue includes the steps from first layout to final proof, and notes on file resolutions, fonts, book spines, blurbs, etc.. It also includes screenshots, some links and typical error messages. As this theme comes up every now and then, i thought i put the dialogue online as reference.

This article includes 4 parts:
PART 1: Cover, Page Count, Template, Logo, Blurbs..
PART 2: Creating a cover wrap
PART 3: Creating a PDF-File
PART 4: Uploading the File and Checking it

NOTE: If you want to read more about publishing services in general, then visit this article: A quick guide to Book Publishing Services (Lulu, Smashwords, Createspace, Issuu...)

NOTE II: If you look for a cover, but don't want to get into all the technical stuff and rather ask someone who does covers for self published authors, try the following 2 links to find advice / suggestions:
- Goodreads Self Published Authors Group - Author Resources
- and the free guidebook: Secrets to E-Book Publishing Success has an own chapter on this

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PART I: Cover, Page Count, Template, Logo, Blurbs..

Rose
I wonder if you would have the time or inclination to do a cover for me? I had the template and a possible cover image in the photo software GIMP yesterday and was like, gagh! I am going to screw this up, no doubt. Especially with things like the resolution.
Attached, the photo:



Dorothee
Yes, i like the idea of trying a cover. I would start with your image, and then play with some photo effects, and see how this works. Tell me a bit more about the book size etc.

Rose
The book, I've put it at 5x8 at Create Space, and it comes to 107 pages.
CreateSpace has basically the same template as Lulu, you enter the book size and page numbers, and then you download it, well, you know all this. Let me know if you want me to send you the cover wrap as PDF and PNG file - I was unsure which to use and whether it mattered.

Dorothee
have a look, i played with the window photo in photoshop, enhancing the outlines, and turning it into abstract:



Rose
I love this!!  I think it's so really perfect for the book! It's so good with the content. I like that font too. it's very foal-ish. I guess I should double check the page numbers and CS requirements and then we could talk about a cover wrap? Maybe then just the title on the cover, and my name on the spine if possible.... And then, the same image on the back cover, except without the title - or rather: mirroring front and back cover - what do you think?

Dorothee
so glad that you like the cover. it really came together as if it wanted to crystallized like that. it’s good when it works like that – to work with an image, and then move into it, and arrive at an abstract that feels: “yes!”

Revisiting the cover, i remembered that it’s always a good idea to test the cover in thumbnail size, as that's how it will appear in Amazon-listings, or when you use it as twitter-icon etc.. Here's how it looks, it think this works well:



About the wrap: on which platform do you plan to publish it, CreateSpace, right?

Rose
yes, CreateSpace. Here is the link to CreateSpace, all about covers, with the template to download: https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/CoverPDF.jsp

It's still 107 pages, 5X8 (and will stay that way!) and I checked there is a template available for that.

The page count: unless I get a blurb, in which case it would be 108 pages.... But I do not think 107 or 108 is any different. (?)

Dorothee
thanks for the links – i just checked out the cover template generator, that seems to make things easy.
so this would be the specifications, right?


and yes, 107 or 108 pages is same, or rather: with 107 pages, you also get the 108 pages book. a rule for the page count: you always need a page count that can be devided through 4, for the printing. if you have less pages, they fill it up with white pages.

so i would put together the cover like it is, and a back cover: like a mirror, without book title, otherwise it might be confusing. and then the isbn-field on the backcover, and the logo for your press. and on the spine: book title and your name

about a blurb, i think that is important for books in a shop, as a “talking presenter” of the book. but for books that are mainly ordered online, the better place for a blurb is a website.

Rose
Yes, I really like the cover like it is, without the author name. On the spine it could even just be my name - or my name and the title - I'll leave that one to your judgment. And yes, the back cover a mirror just without the title....
Re the logo and CreateSpace - I might leave the logo off the cover in case CS has a problem with it. In my understanding, with the free, CS-assigned logo, CS regards itself as the publisher. I don't want it to be pulled or you to have to do it again, because it violated something. I will put it inside the book maybe even in a less prominent place and of course the whole cover is like a giant (version of) the logo anyway.

***

PART 2: Creating a cover wrap

Note: to create a cover wrap, you need some photo editing software: Photoshop, GIMP, etc, and need to spend some time with the formatting / resolutions. It's really simpler than it looks at first glance, and is useful for all kinds of photo editing tasks. So it's really worth to figure the figures out for once.

1) configure your template and download it
to do that, enter your details in the specifications box (either in Lulu or CreateSpace). the systems then lead you to Templates. these are like a size model for your cover, and are customized - as they depend on the spine size. the PNG-file works usually better in a photo editor.
here's the template for the 5x8 cover wrap for "Foal":



2) create a high-definition version of your cover
the draft you see in the first part is a low-resolution cover. low resolution is easier and more comfortable to work with in the first steps. yet once the cover draft is ready, it needs to be transformed to high resolution.

to do that, you go back to the original photo. the cover template lists the exact measures of your cover. so you adjust your photo accoridingly: crop it when necessary, and then resize it. here's the key to that: you need to make sure to set the resolution to 300dpi when adjusting size, so that it works for print.

the usual resolution for online images is around 80 dpi. the size of both versions are the same: and on the screen, they look alike, but if you print an 80dpi image it turns out blurry. imagine 2 woven carpet of the same size, and one comes with a lot of knots and details, and others with less. that's what dots per inch are about, their equivalent in the carpet world are the knots-per-inch.

3) create the wrap
so now you have the template and the cover image. now, place the cover image on the template. make sure it covers the visible area and also the borders (the "bleed"). now, create a backcover and the spine. cover, spine, and backcover can be different images placed on the template, or one image that includes all.
for "Foal", i created a cover that also included half of the wrap. then i mirrored the image in the photo editor, and used the mirror version as backcover and other half of the spine. the title is added as text field, same as the spine text. once all is in place, you put the template on top of all, and then turn down the opacity - so the real cover wrap shines through. now check if all fits, and adjust. make sure there is no important text in the yellow field where the bar code will be placed. then check, adjust.. until it all fits.



4) final file
once all fits, remove the template layer. now all that remains is the wrap. here's a miniature of the Foal wrap:



PART 3: Creating a PDF-File

For CreateSpace, you need a PDF-version of the file, same for Lulu if you want to create an own complete wrap. (If you get stuck with the process, then try Lulu first: it includes a cover-creator, where you can upload the frontcover and backcover as single jpg-files, and then get the whole cover wrap as pdf. this is technically easier than doing it all yourself, but doesn't work for layouts with images that continue through the spine).

So back to the PDF-file: to get that, you need a PDF-converter. There are various free online PDF-convertors, the one I use is called "PDF-Creator" and works well (here's the link: pdfforge).

One key to PDFs: from computer logic, creating a PDF works like printing something. You open the file you want to convert (word-document, or in this case, image-file), then click "print", and then choose not your usual printer, but select the pdf converter, and then click "print". That's also the place you can adjust settings: your converter would use the usual paper settings to print, so you have to configure the printing size yourself, and enter the exact size of the cover wrap. The converter then creastes a PDF-file, and asks where to save it. Check the file, and make sure it's 1 single page. If it isn't, try again and adjust the printing size until it all fits.

Here's a screenshot that gives you an idea of how the "printing" looks on the screen, with the size being adjusted in settings. of course, depending on your photo software, and the pdf-converter you use, the details will be different - but the logic behind it always the same. (and if you feel that this is one tedious step: yes. it would be so much easier if photo editors directly created pdfs.)



*
PART 4: Uploading the File and Checking it
Once you have the PDF-version, you can upload the file to the POD-service.
The POD-service then will check the file.

This is the response we received for the first upload of the "Foal"-wrap:

Subject: Files for "A Foal Poem" require your attention 
The interior and cover files for A Foal Poem have been reviewed and are printable in their current state:

• The cover file meets our submission requirements; it is not necessary for you to make any revisions to this file or upload it again.The Interior file meets our submission requirements; it is not necessary for you to make any revisions to this file or upload it again.Additionally, we have noted the concerns listed below. You may choose to move forward with the below issues as-is; however, we wanted to bring them to your attention.
• The interior file contains images that range from 119 to 103 DPI, which may appear blurry and pixelated in print. For optimal printing, we recommend all images be at least 300 DPI. Examples of Pages with low-resolution images include but are not limited to: PDF page 3
• The cover file contains spine text. We do not recommend including spine text for books with less than 130 pages as the text will likely wrap to the front or back cover.

Rose
The interior image is a map... it's in 80 dpi. Of course I can resize the map in 300 dpi, right, and then load it into the document.

But what to do with the spine text, remove it?

Dorothee
Yes, good idea to resize the map to 300ppi, and then upload as png or jpg.

About the spine – i created covers for smaller books before, and got the same note back then, but it turned out really okay. i think it would be good to have a name on the spine, especially as your name isn’t on the cover. i guess they just add the line that people later can’t complain when the text isn’t in the perfect middle, or touches the spine borderline. but it’s up to you, if you want i send a version without anything on the spine.

Rose
Awesome. Thanks Dorothee. After I emailed you I looked at all my poetry books which are under 100 pages and they have stuff on the spine, so.

I realized the logo wasn't in 300ppi either, so I guess that's what else they meant. OK! So I fixed all that and ready to re-load the ms. :) Although I don't think much will happen until next week since it's a holiday weekend int he US I just heard. I think....

Thanks again, so much, for all your help. :)

Dorothee
Ah, see you are getting the hang on the dpi now! that’s good. i think i might piece together a blog post about it, with the notes form the mail. i guess many struggle with the dpi-thing.

Rose
My initial confusion was: dpi is what? Then I googled it and found oh, it's the same as ppi.

I found this link, which I thought was useful: DPI and PPI explained
I am going to go back and retrace the steps of this cover at some point, see if I can manage the whole thing....

But for now after uploading the new images I went ahead and ordered the proof, so we will soon see how this one turned out!

[* postscript: the proof was received two weeks later, and it all turned out beautifully....]

----
THE BOOK!
..and another couple of weeks later, the book was featured in this blog, so if you are curious for the actual content behind the cover, here's more: A Foal Poem - Dorothee
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The Love Story of Paul Collins - Donigan Merritt

A line in the Kate McGarrigle song, "Heart Like A Wheel," states: And it's only love that can wreck a human being and turn him inside out. The Love Story of Paul Collins illustrates that tragedy within a story and a setting of thoughtful and emotional literary power, set in a provincial Central European capital during the year preceding September 11, 2001.

For an excerpt of the novel, click here: "This country feels like home to him now..."

Donigan Merritt was born in southwest Arkansas in 1945, and left home at the age of seventeen. He has worked as a journalist, scuba diver, fishing boat captain, sailing instructor, and university professor. He has a BA and MA degree in philosophy; the BA is with Honors from Simpson College, the MA is from the Claremont Graduate School. He also has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the Iowa Writers Workshop. His first novel, One Easy Piece, was published by Coward-McCann in 1981. Since then, he has published seven novels, the most recent: Blossom, published by Author House, 2011. He has lived in California, Slovakia, South Africa, Germany, Washington, DC, and Buenos Aires.

Donigan Merritt: The Love Story of Paul Collins
205 pages
paperback: $7.99
kindle: $3.52

Tuesday Poem

A poetry community without borders: that is Tuesday Poem. The poets involved are from New Zealand, the United States, Italy, the UK, and Australia.

Tuesday Poem is like an Open Mic event in the blogosphere - the poets who participate blog widely but try to post poems on Tuesdays: either own work, or work from others they admire. The poets also take turns to be hub editor.

Today, April 3rd 2012, Tuesday Poem is turning two years old and celebrates the event with a global poem. Twenty-six poets (living in six countries and 12 different cities) will contribute a line each over 14 days to create it.

You can follow the growing poem at "Birthday Poem", which also includes a note from editor Mary McCallum: "Yes, Tuesday Poem is two years old. It began here on April 13 2010 after a casual start with a bunch of poets on my blog O Audacious Book, and has been posting every week since, bar a couple of weeks off over summer. Our Tuesday Poets take turns to be editor, and this involves selecting a poem, getting permission to run it, and writing up a response. It's that personal choice and response which, we believe, makes our posts so interesting and engaging for readers. Each of our poets also posts a Tuesday Poem each week on his or her own blog -- their own poems and poems they admire written by others. Look to the sidebar for those."

An article on Tuesday Poem is online at The echo of the Tuesday Poem

Happy Birthday, Tuesday Poem!

Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices + The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy

For nearly a decade the Million Writers Award has honored the best fiction published in online magazines and journals. Now for the first time are the most exciting stories recognized by this award gathered in 2 collections:

Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices
includes stories by Sefi Atta, Elizabeth Stuckey-French, Corey Mesler, Roxane Gay, Eric Beetner, Randa Jarrar, Jessica Schneider, Matt Bell, Anjana Basu, and many more

Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy
includes stories by N. K. Jemisin, Saladin Ahmed, Rachel Swirsky, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Aliette de Bodard, Richard Bowes, Lavie Tidhar, Hannu Rajaniemi, Catherynne M. Valente, and many more

Some of these authors are well-known from print magazines and books; others have only published online. But all of them are reshaping the world of short fiction. Read these groundbreaking stories and you’ll understand why online magazines and journals are the place to find today’s most vital and challenging fiction.

If you “are curious about the boundaries writers are pushing in short fiction, (the Million Writers Award) is a very good place to start.” – Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times “Jacket Copy” blog

Pre-Order Special— free ebook offer!
If you pre-order one or both anthologies from Spotlight Publishing before June 14 you'll receive special pricing on print editions and ebooks.

Million Writers Award Anthologies + Pre-Order offer
edited by Jason Sanford
publication date: June 14th
pre-orders are open now

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Call: The Million Writers Award 2012
The Million Writers Award is now inviting nominations from readers, writers, and editors. This award is for any fictional short story of at least a 1,000 words first published in an online publication during 2011. Info + Guidelines: Million Writers Award 2012. The deadline for nominations is April 9.

Indefinite Space 2012

amidst the portraits & trees & word halters--
the poems underwater, the poems in air,
the poems breaking the horizon
// sundials & shadows--
Indefinite Space.

The 2012 edition of Indefinite Space contains work from 24 poets & artists: Peter J. Grieco, Lauren Hilger, Guy R. Beining, Kristina Marie Darling, Dan Raphael, J.T. Whitehead, Lara S. Williams, Corey Kimmel, Robert Tremmel, Ian Hatcher, Marton Koppany, Lance Nizami, Candace Kaucher, Mark Young, Britt Melewski, Josh Nadeau, TWIXT, David Wanczyk, B.Z. Niditch, C.S. Carrier, Steve Wing, Dorothee Lang, Nicolas Grenier, John McKernan.

Indefinite Space is edited by Marcia Arrieta. Her first book of poems triskelion, tiger moth, tangram, thyme is available through Otoliths (+ was recently reviewed by Melusine, here). Her chapbook experimental: was published by potes & poets press, and another collection the curve against the linear is part of The Quartet Series— An Uncommon Accord, published by toadlily press. She has a MFA in poetry from Vermont College.

About Indefinite Space
Marcia Arrieta founded Indefinite Space in 1991 after receiving a grant for her work from the Pasadena Arts Council. She has continued to publish the journal independently for 20 years. Indefinite Space has a penchant for the avant-garde, the philosophical, the minimal (but not always), the natural, and the intangible.

Indefinite Space 2012
single issue $7
ISSN 1075-6868

related links: poetry, art