Flash Mob 2013 & International Flash Fiction Day 22. June

Flash Mob 2013 is a hybrid blog carnival and competition celebrating flash fiction. On June 22 — International Flash Fiction Day — winners will be announced and feted in various ways, beginning with a flash mob happening here and elsewhere, and also prizes, prizes and more prizes.

Flash Mob stories from Africa, Asia, Europe, America, Oceania... Following the flash call, authors from all around the world wrote a flash story and published it directly in their blog. Links to the stories are now online at: Flash Mob 2013 - click the different continent links on top, and then on the author images to get to the story - here are the shortcuts:
Flash Mob: Africa - Asia - Europe - The Americas - Antarctica - Oceania


Flash Mob Team: The organizers represent various points on the globe: Christopher Allen (Munich, Germany), Linda Simoni-Wastila (Baltimore, Maryland) & Michelle Elvy (New Zealand). The competition will be judged by an international panel that includes Robert Vaughan (USA), Leah McMenamin (New Zealand), Marcus Speh (Germany) and Nuala Ni Chonchúir (Ireland).

More Flash

• new: National Flash Fiction Day 2013: links to the UK Flash day + beyond 
• Flash Across Borders: flash stories + notes + quotes on the flash format
• micro cosmos #24: BluePrintReview flash issue, with flash notes (scroll down)
• fridayflash: a twitter-based flash story share+spread

Literary courses online: The Fiction of Relationship

Literary courses online: Last year, the online eduction platform Coursera launched. In partnership with many universities, Coursera offers free online courses in the fields of Computer Science, Medicine, Biology, Finance and Information, but also in Humanities and Social Science. The current course program also includes another literary course, and 2 culture / arts courses:

Starting 3. June: The Fiction of Relationship
"What is the nature of our relationship to others and the world? How can literature help us see these relationships more clearly? This course seeks to explore such questions through adventurous readings of ten great works of narrative fiction from the 18th to the 20th century."

Ten major works of narrative fiction from the 18th century to the present are read and discussed in this course, these include: Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost; two works by Herman Melville, Bartleby the Scrivener and Benito Cereno; Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and two stories by Franz Kafka, “Metamorphosis” and “The Country Doctor”; Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and William Faulkner’s Light in August; an anthology of stories, Ficciones, by Jorge Luis Borges and The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas; Tony Morrison’s Beloved and Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee.

Course details and registration: Coursera: The Fiction of Relationship

Other upcoming Coursera courses:

• Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World (starts June 3) + more about this course
• Latin American Culture (starts June 3) 
• Introduction to Art (started May 28)

Eurovision of books 2013 - what to read from the final

Eurovision of books
Inspired by the Eurovision song contest, book blogger Winstonsdad - who focuses on translated fiction from all four corners of the world in his blog - created a long blog post with books from each of the countries that participate in the final show, and with the song clips: "Well tonight sees the 2013 Eurovision competition, I see this as a good chance to do a Europe wide reading guide suggesting a book I’ve read / A book I want to read (in some cases just this I've not read books from all 25 countries )"

Link: Eurovision of books 2013 - what to read from the final

Danish literature
Winner of the Eurovision 2013 is: Denmark. So here, 2 extra links: Wikipedia: Danish literature + Goodreads: Shelves > Denmark

More about the Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual singing competition held among many of the active member countries of Europe. Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. The contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956 and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world (more about the contest). Yesterday, the 58th annual Eurovision Song Contest took place in Malmö, Sweden.

10 Ways Self-Publishing has Changed the Books World

The wider cultural significance of self-publishing - that's the topic of an interesting Guardian article by Alison Baverstock, Course Leader for the Publishing MA at Kingston University, who recently researched the growing trend to self-publish: 10 ways self-publishing has changed the books world 

 Here are the first 4 of her conclusions and results:
1. There is now a wider understanding of what publishing is – and that it is more difficult than it looks.
 2. Gone is our confidence that publishers and agents know exactly what everyone wants to (or should) read.
 3. The copy editor, a traditionally marginalised figure, is now in strong demand.
 4. The re-emergence of the book as precious object.

Braverstock also formulates this different, more faceted look at the self and publishing: "Self-publishing means recognising, and preserving, content that has value for someone – but the process does not have to yield an income to be worthwhile."

Additional Links

• Mark Corker: The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (free e-book from the founder of the e-book platform Smashwords
• Reddit-Thread with 270 comments, notes and shared experiences: I just released my first book through Amazon's Indie Kindle Direct Publishing program.
• Pencey Pages (Author Blog) 10 Things I’ve Learned in My First 6 Months of Being a Self-Published Author
• Salon Magzine: I'm a self-publishing failure by John Winters

A Guide to Girl Geek Culture: The 2013 Eisner Award Nominees + links to online reads

The Eisner Awards are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the Comics Industry's equivalent of the Oscar Awards. The nominations in each category are generated by a five-member panel and have now been announced. They ate voted on by comic-book professionals, and presented at the annual Comic-Con International convention held in San Diego, California, in July.

"And you know what we do with nominees here!" says the geek web magazine The Mary Sue: "We try to find links to previews, excerpts, first issues, and entire runs that are available to read online for free." 

Check out their page for the full list of nominees and links: The 2013 Eisner Award Nominees You Can Read For Free On The Internet

Nominees Range:
Interesting to see that the nomination inlcudes famous names and publishers, but also self-published works, and webcomics and comic-related online magazines. Below the links to the works that can be accessed online completely or as excerpt:

Direct links to the nominated short stories, single issues, continuing series:

• “Rainbow Moment,” (excerpts) by Lilli Carré, in Heads or Tails (Fantagraphics)
• The Mire, (preview) by Becky Cloonan (self-published)
• Pope Hats #3, (PDF preview) by Ethan Rilly (AdHouse Books)
• Fatale, (first issue available free) by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
• Prophet, (first issue of current run available free) by Brandon Graham and Simon Roy (Image)
• Saga, (first issue available free) by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
• Bandette, (first issue available free) by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain)

Direct links to the nomintated webcomics

• Ant Comic, by Michael DeForge
• Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover - now in print:
  Bandette, (first issue available free) by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain)
• It Will All Hurt, by Farel Dalrymple
• Our Bloodstained Roof, by Ryan Andrews
• Oyster War, by Ben Towle

Best Graphic Album and Best Adaptation

• Homer’s Odyssey, (excerpt) adapted by Seymour Chwast (Bloomsbury)
• Goliath, (excerpt) by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Sailor Twain, or The Mermaid in the Hudson by Mark Siegel (First Second)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

• ComicsAlliance, edited by Joe Hughes, Caleb Goellner, and Andy Khouri
• The Comics Reporter, edited by Tom Spurgeon
• Robot Six, produced by Comic Book Resources
• tcj.com, edited by Timothy Hodler and Dan Nadel (Fantagraphics)

About The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue hopes to be a place for two things: highlighting women in the geek world, and providing a prominent place for the voices of geek women. Because all we really want is to just be able to geek out with all geeks, of any gender, without feeling like our femininity is front and center for scrutinization. To not feel like we have to work harder than guys to prove that we’re genuinely into geek culture. We want simple things, like to be able to visit a comic book store without feeling out of place. To be able to buy a video game without getting the sense that the cashier thinks we’re buying it for someone else.

The Small Press Book Review

A long-time reviewer of small press books, author Mel Bosworth now put together an online archive of his own book reviews from OWC and some reviews of fellow authors from OWC and Darksky, to keep them online and accessible.

He explains: "Anyway, as long as blogger exists the site will exist and the links will be good. I'm calling it The Small Press Book Review. And I'm looking to keep it going. Needless to say, I'm also looking for a few good reviewers. Call me. There's a chance I can get you good books to read."

The Small Press Book Review has 2 main sections:
- Small Press: Poetry Reviews
- Small Press: Fiction Reviews

About Mel Bosworth
A two-time Pushcart nominee, Mel Bosworth is the author of the fiction chapbook When the Cats Razzed the Chickens (Folded Word Press, 2009) the novella Grease Stains, Kismet, and Maternal Wisdom (Brown Paper Publishing, 2010) the novel Freight (Folded Word Press, 2011) and the poetry chapbook Every Laundromat in the World (STE, 2012). His work has appeared in numerous literary magazines and journales. He is also an associate series editor for the Wigleaf Top 50. Mel lives, breathes, writes, and works in western Massachusetts.

The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success

The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success is a guidebook for authors. It is written by Mark Corker, the founder of the e-book platform Smashwords.   An author himself, Corker already has published several guidebooks, like the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide. In contrast to that, this book covers a wider field. In it, Corker talks about:

Changes in the Book Market

Platform

Pricing

Cover

Algorithms

The book includes several examples on especially succesful e-books and average e-books, their development in time, and effects of pricing, serialization. It's a practicle and thoughtful read, and also giving some perspective, like this advice from the first chapter: "Eighty percent of your book's success will be determined by the quality of your book. The other 20 percent is distribution, marketing and luck. If you remember nothing else from this book, remember this: The very most important marketing you can do is to write a great book that markets itself on the wings of reader word-of-mouth."

Here's the offical introduction: "The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success reveals the best practices of the most commercially successful self-published ebook authors. This ebook is a must-read for every writer, author, publisher and literary agent. Learn over 25 best-practices you can implement today at no cost. These secrets will help you become a more professional, more successful writer and publisher. Share the secrets!"

book page: The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success

Direct link to PDF: The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success

Mark Coker is founder of Smashwords, an ebook publishing and distribution platform for indie authors, publishers, literary agents and retailers. His is co-author of Boob Tube, a novel that explores the wild and wacky world of Hollywood celebrity. He also wrote the The 10-Minute PR Checklist.

related links: 
- a quick guide to book publishing services
- e-book formatting guides (via GalleyCat)
- how to create a book cover

A-to-Z Blogging Challenge, April 2013

The A-to-Z Challenge is a yearly blogging event: every April, a growing group of bloggers attempts to post every day inspired by the Alphabet. The challenges: for the month of April, blog daily, corresponding with the letters of the alphabet. The challenge starts with "A" on April 1, and ends with "Z" on April 30 (sundays are free).

A to Z history 
The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out, the event took place for its first time in 2010, with 100 bloggers joining. In 2011, nearly 1300 bloggers signed up. 2012 saw 1700 participants - and for 2013, so far almost 1400 bloggers signed up.

A to Z links
 There's a whole challenge website online at: A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. Here's the link to the sign-up list (sign-ups end March 31). The story of the event is online at What is blogging from A to Z. The original post is still online at 200 for me and a challenge for you

Connect 
The Facebook-page of A to Z is A to Z Challenge, the Twitter Hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

 Thanks to the Bathroom Monologues for monologuing about the challenge.

Indefinite Space 2013

from minimalist to avant-garde ---
open to innovative, imagistic, philosophical, 
experimental creations---
poetry drawings collage photograph--
Indefinite Space.

The 2013 edition of Indefinite Space contains work from 27 poets + artists: Eric Hoffman, E.J. Evans, Matt Dennison, Andrea Moorhead, John Sibley Williams, Emily Strauss, M. Pfaff, Haley Rene Thompson, Guy R. Beining, Jenny Drai, Gary Lundy, Michael Berton, Dorothee Lang, Keith Dunlap, Lewis Gessner, Denny E. Marshall, Alan Catlin, Ruth Berman, Jessie Janeshek, Raymond Farr, John Marvin, G.A. Scheinoha, Bruce McRae, Changming Yuan, Felino A. Sorriano, Holly Day, Mark Young

Indefinite Space is edited by Marcia Arrieta. Her first book of poems triskelion, tiger moth, tangram, thyme is available through Otoliths (+ was 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 22 years. Indefinite Space has a penchant for the avant-garde, the philosophical, the minimal (but not always), the natural, and the intangible.

Indefinite Space 2013
single issue $7
ISSN 1075-6868

related links: poetry, art

The Art of the Book Review - a series of interviews by Karen Lillis

Karen Lillies is currently posting a series of interviews with small press writers and reviewers about the art of book reviewing, and the state of book reviews.

Update: there's a new interview up now with author & reviewer Lavinia Ludlow, who reviews small press books for several publications, links are included directly here for the joy of browsing & reading:
- Small Press Reviews
- The Nervous Breakdown
- Smalldoggies Magazine
- Plumb Blog
- American Book Review

Book Review Interviews - a quote from the introduction: "Has new media itself degraded (or evolved) the idea of a book review? To some writers, the blog format seems like a good excuse to write a casual review that may be even less thoughtful than a blurb. To other writers, a Goodreads account is a fine platform to write intelligent responses to steady reading. And there are plenty of writers, young and old, who are writing well-considered book reviews and getting paid much less than they were a decade ago, or not getting paid at all."

Interviews: The interview series so far includes interviews with  Spencer Dew (a writer of short and long fiction),  Barrett Warner (poet and reviewer), Lynn Alexander (edior of Full of Crow), and Djelloul Marbrook (writer and poet).

Book Review Debate: Following the rich discussion of the state of bookreviews in August and September, the series also includes an annotated timeline of the key essays: "Book Reviews Debate Rages On"

Karen Lillis is a writer of novels, poetry, short stories, creative nonfiction, and journalism. She lives in Pittsburgh. Her novella Watch The Doors As They Close has just been published by SD. She is currently finishing her first book of nonfiction, Bagging the Beats at Midnight: Confessions of a New York Bookstore Clerk. She blogs at Karen the Small Press Librarian.

The Art of the Book Review
all entries / blog post tag: The Art of the Book Review

Story Tapes

Story Tapes is a space for writers to voice their work. Edited by Eliza Smith and Faith Gardner, the page publishes monthly podcasts and videos featuring established and emerging writers.

Contributors so far include: Lauren Becker, Josh Denslow, Berit Ellingsen, Sarah Rose Etter, Casey Hannan, Tania Hershman, Molly Laich, Scott McClanahan, Mary Miller, Alicia Mountain, Delaney Nolan, Alissa Nutting, Owen Poindexter, Matt Rowan, Sean Schlemmer, Amber Sparks, xTx, Buzzmutt, Doom Dong, High Anxiety, Jonathan Mann, Moonwatcher, Sean Pierce, Ben, Shakey Graves, The Shants, Patrick McGilligan.

Submissions
Storytapes is currently open to submissions: "We like stories that beg to be read out loud. We take stories under 2,000 words. Reprints and simultaneous submissions are fine. Send one story at a time via Submittable."

Recent Story Tapes:

• Story Swap #6: Berit Ellingsen and Tania Hershman trading flash pieces
• Podcast Episode 7: Alissa Nutting talks about fairy tales, flash fiction, and ineffable sadness.

Indie Author Networks + Indie TV + 3 extra book clips

There are several websites that offer listings and services for independent authors who are self published or published by a small indie press and who actively promote their books - one of them is the Independent Author Network (IAN), a community of like-minded authors, with 750 authors who joined. Similar in idea is the Independent Author Index, with about 200 authors who joined. Both sites require set-up fees for joining authors (around 20-25$), but also offer extra services.

Indie Authors TV
The Independent Author Index now launched a special website that is dedicated to book video clips: Indie Author TV, and in a starting promotion, invited authors of recently published books to send their book video and a brief description. They are now featuring the clips, in a colorful and vivid mix of all genres. Watch and visit here: Indie Authors TV

3 Extra Book Clips
And some extra book clips, from Vimeo + Youtube:
- Birth of a Book: a book being created + printed
- The Bibilo-Mat: a random book dispenser
- The Joy of Books: in a bookshop at night..