Publishing Monday: Announcing….

… Art and Words Editions, my new digital imprint.

Our mission statement:

An e-book is more than the sum of its words. At Art and Words Editions, we’re dedicated to ushering in a golden age of digital publications for children and adults. Our e-books and apps are impeccably designed and gorgeously illustrated. They’re also written by some of the most inspiring and empowering authors around.

Our publications are available in a variety of formats for iPad, Kindle, NOOK, and other e-readers. Want to play it safe? We also publish in plain vanilla PDF which can be read on any computer. Check our Tech Specs page for installation information for each format.

Think of us as providing wit, wisdom, and wonder to your iPad—and beyond!”

As you can imagine, I’ve been hard at work on this big secret project for much of the summer and this autumn. I’m so pleased that I can finally unveil Art and Words Editions to you!

Oh, and if you sign up for our newsletter, you’ll get a free e-book. It’s in PDF format, so you can enjoy it on any number of e-book devices, including your computer. Click here for the details. Too much commitment? You can also “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

• Filed under art and words, e-books, iPhone apps, new projects, publishing, retail therapy, tarot and oracles | 2 Responses

Publishing Monday: PubIt! with a side of Slush Pile Hell

Two things this rainy Monday in Brooklyn:

1. PubIt!* As evidenced by recent actions, Barnes and Noble is desperately embracing the e-book world. No surprise, but Nook displays have gained significant real estate in their retail stores. During a recent visit to my local Barnes and Noble**, a kiosk devoted to the Nook dominated front and center; if I hadn’t known better, I might have wondered if I’d walked into a computer store. Secondly, and more of interest to authors and independent publishers, they’ve launched PubIt!, a self-distribution endeavor.

Here’s PubIt!’s aggressively friendly graphic which greets visitors to their home page:

This pitch appears after they invite you to “Live the Dream.” Which begs the question, What and whose dream?

I’m still digesting how I feel about PubIt!. On one hand, it’s a new distribution channel for independent publishers and authors—what’s not to like? So far, I’ve been distributing my own e-books and apps through Apple and Amazon; I’m glad to have a new market via Barnes and Noble. However, the disturbingly jaunty tone of “Just don’t forget about us when you’re Big Time” makes me want to…. Well, you can fill in the blank.

Someone asked me on Twitter what I think about PubIt! so far. The truth is that I don’t know yet. Though I’ve signed up for an account, I had some problems with registration. I’m set up with New York State with a business EIN (Employee Identification Number). I run my business from a commercial storefront. Regardless, there were issues regarding tax addresses and EIN addresses and other fussy technical stuff that required a telephone call to a rather bored-sounding PubIt! employee. Though he did his best to be helpful, I had the impression the poor guy had spent all morning fielding similar questions.

Several e-mails later, I think I’m good to go with Pubit!. Part of me expects another e-mail from Barnes and Noble announcing there’s still an issue with my account. Time will tell.

2. Slush Pile Hell. Though I discovered this site some months ago, it never fails to crack me up. Billed as “one grumpy literary agent, a sea of query fails, and other publishing nonsense”, it’s snarky as all out. But, like jokes about New Jersey***, I hope I’ve earned the right to indulge in some publishing humor. After all, I started out in the biz reading hundreds of unsolicited submissions for a major New York publishing company.

Based on my personal experiences, I suspect the letters published on Slush Pile Hell are drawn from real life. Here’s one example—what follows is the agent’s imagined response:

Every agent I’ve encountered thus far has been a complete idiot. Let’s see if you can prove you’re different by representing me and my book.

Stop. Your seductive charm is making me feel woozy.”

And another:

Hello dear. I want to present to you my nonfiction work.

Dear? Mom, I’ve already told you that just because you raised me doesn’t mean I’ll give you preferential treatment.”

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* Yes, the exclamation point is intentional on Barnes and Nobles’ part. It! Makes! Publishing! Sound! So! Exciting!

** Yes, I usually support indie bookstores, but they had a book I needed badly and immediately. (Hangs head in guilt.)

*** I spent my formative years in New Jersey. No Snooki jokes, pretty please.

• Filed under be-mused, e-books, goddesses, publications, publishing | 2 Responses

Publishing Monday: First Lines

The first line of a story Thea wrote for kindergarten about her hamster, Hamsty,
complete with her special glyph for “hamster”.

American Book Review has posted a very engrossing list of 100 best first lines from novels. They appear to be listed in an order similar to a radio Top 100. The first sentences range from the obvious — “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” (Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, #2) — to the not-so-obvious (at least to me):

When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon.” — James Crumley, The Last Good Kiss (#85)

This got me to thinking: What makes a great first line in a novel? Obviously, it has to be something which is intriguing enough to compel you to continue reading. Yet it’s more than that—it has to have that intangible something. But what is it?

All this contemplation of first lines is especially timely—I’ve been mulling them over as I head back into revising THE LILY MAID. My current one isn’t bad — “I was surprised when the invitation arrived that June morning from St. John Dulac.” But I’m sure this sentence won’t remain since I plan to rework the book’s opening scene.

Interestingly, the original first line from my NaNoWriMo novel (the root for THE LILY MAID) still remains. The sentence is now tucked into a penultimate chapter near the end: “The original plan was for a candle or two to light the rowboat’s way.” I suspect my current first line will meet a similar fate of “gone from the first chapter but not forgotten.”

Anyone with any thoughts on what makes a great first line feel free to post in the comments! In the meantime, I’ll be trying not to spend too much time obsessing over this. As I know too well, it’s very easy for me to get caught up in the details—a great way to procrastinate.

Hamsty, the protagonist of Thea’s story.

• Filed under The Novel, be-mused, publishing | 2 Responses

Project Catch Up: Now available for your iPad and Kindle….

Also over the summer: Apple approved four of my books for the iPad—THE BOOK OF GODDESSES, SACRED ANIMALS, RAPUNZEL, and PERSEPHONE AND THE POMEGRANATE. On top of that, THE BOOK OF GODDESSES was also made available for Kindle. All of these books have currently sold out their print runs, so I’m thrilled to see them back in (virtual) print.

The best-selling anniversary edition of THE BOOK OF GODDESSES offers over 130 illustrations and 100 goddesses. Purchase on iBooks. Purchase for Kindle.

SACRED ANIMALS was intended as a counterpart to THE BOOK OF GODDESSES. It explores the roles of animals in mythology and folklore. These sixteen illustrated examples range from Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess, to the eternal Phoenix (as depicted on the cover). Purchase on iBooks.

RAPUNZEL was the first book I illustrated. I created the paintings for it while living in a tiny cottage on the bucolic moors of Devon, England. Its design and art were greatly inspired by my love of the Pre-Raphaelites and the books of William Morris’s Kelmscott Press. Purchase on iBooks.

PERSEPHONE AND THE POMEGRANATE is very special to me. Besides being my first goddess-themed book, it was also the first book I authored as well as illustrated. PERSEPHONE AND THE POMEGRANATE is a picture book retelling of the Greek myth of Persephone and Demeter. It was even praised by the New York Times Book Review. Purchase on iBooks.

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As I had with iPhone app creation, I’m finding e-book production to be quite addictive though I’ll be honest: Much as I love my iPad, the pleasures of reading on it aren’t quite the same as those of paper and ink. I love the physicality of printed books, their weight and heft—the book as object, rather than a collection of words only waiting to be read.

On the other hand, I love curling up with my iPad before bedtime. The back-lit screen lets me read as I like in a dark room, bringing back fond memories of transgressive reading under the covers with a flashlight. What could be better than that? I also love having instant access to so many books—I’m a big Project Guttenberg fan. This has been a boon for researching The Novel, but that’s a subject for another time.

As a designer, author, and artist, I’m finding the instant gratification of making e-books intoxicating. I love knowing that they’re available to anyone in the world for download. I also like not having to deal with printers or distribution—just text, design, and art. Frankly, I’m finding e-book production so enthralling that I’ve decided to start my own e-publishing imprint, featuring books of beauty and inspiration.

This is a fairly major development—one certainly worthy of a separate blog post. More news about this soon!

• Filed under e-books, new projects, publications, publishing | 3 Responses

Creativity Friday: FOR THE KING giveaway winner!

Drumroll please! Congratulations to DAKOTA—I’ll be sending you an e-mail shortly with information on how to claim your copy of Catherine Delors’ historical fiction book FOR THE KING.I hope you will enjoy it!

More posts coming soon! There is just so much going on here that I haven’t had a moment to spare:

1. The first draft of my novel THE LILY MAID has been turned in. I’m awaiting feedback from my agent any moment now….. (gnaws knuckles). in the meantime, I’m immersing myself in research for the next go ’round. My reading material includes biographies of two famous Pre-Raphaelite muses, Elizabeth Siddal and Jane Morris—my main character in THE LILY MAID becomes a muse to an influential artist during 1880s’ England.

2. We’re in the midst of designing and hanging a new show at the gallery which is being curated by my husband, anthropologist Thomas Ross Miller. It’s entitled ON THE ROAD OF BONES. This haunting art exhibit will feature native Siberian and American photographers documenting Russia’s Old Kolyma Highway, built by prisoners of Stalin’s infamous gulag.

3. I’m finalizing several e-books for the iPad. These include SACRED ANIMALS and an old picture book favorite, RAPUNZEL.

4. And so much more—and all before we leave on vacation in mid-August.

And how is your summer shaping up?

• Filed under The Novel, art and words, creativity, new projects, publications, publishing, studio and gallery, the art world | 2 Responses