Publishing Monday: Links all around — and a book new video!

It probably won’t surprise any regular visitors to this blog that I’m passionate about publishing in all it’s forms. So here’s a quick round up of recent news and links that I found worthy or interesting. Enjoy!

1. First off, I must admit that I’m excited about the iPad. I’ve had so much fun programming apps for the iPhone that I look forward to seeing what I can for the iPad. I’m also pleased that my iPhone apps will run on the iPad, though I may eventually want to update them to take advantage of the larger screen.

Now that it seems that there’s a device that can showcase full-color e-books, one of my first intentions is to create a digital version of THE BOOK OF GODDESSES. I’ve ordered one and look forward to having it in my eager hands on April 3rd. I think that there’s all sorts of Brave New World possibilities for book designers here, though I must admit to a Luddite fondness for the pleasures of the printed page. In the meantime, here’s some information about creating e-books for the iPad in InDesign — much easier than creating iPhone apps for sure. And here’s an inspiring article about the book design opportunities offered by the iPad.

2. I’m still in decompression mode after the whirlwind of activity involved in Mary Sharratt’s reading and signing here last Monday. It was wonderful to have her — Mary gave a compelling presentation that everyone loved and I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner with her and her husband afterward. We had a lot of fun talking about museums, art, writing, travel, and publishing. But since it was our first time livestreaming, we (friend/gallery publicist Diane Saarinen and I) had quite the learning curve!

Fortunately, all went well, despite a few technical glitches, and next time will be much easier. Best of all, Mary’s reading can be viewed online here.

3. Live in NYC or close by? This Saturday is our Spring offering of my Publishing 101 workshop at the gallery. It’s chock-full of as much inside publishing skinny goodness I can cram into two hours. There are a still a few spaces left. More info here. Or register here.

4. Here’s a Huffington Post article from an editor/author on how social networking and blogging have transformed publishing — in some ways, for the better. (Surprise, surprise!)

Like many other authors, I have a love-not love relationship with social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and blogging. First off, you need to be consistent with one’s efforts. When I’m on a book deadline or in the midst of serious muse time, I have a difficult time multi-tasking beyond the essentials (food and sleep, anyone?). On the other hand, the connections I’ve made online are ones I treasure and make what I do worthwhile and delightful. Some have even transformed into “real world” friendships and beyond.

5. Finally on a related note, when author Catherine Delors (MISTRESS OF THE REVOLUTION) asked me to design a book video for her new novel FOR THE KING (Dutton, July 2010), I enthusiastically complied. Below is the result of our collaboration, during which we had a lot of fun and listened to a lot of Berlioz . I “met” Catherine online during my DOOMED QUEENS blog tour when she graciously hosted me on her beautiful (and newly relaunched) blog, Versailles and More.

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