Cybersp@ce by Jeff W. Horton My rating: 4 of 5 stars It is a fun read with likable characters, a good amount of excitement, some interesting conceptual analysis of the world today, followed by a rapid slide at the end into wishful thinking. Spiritually, it is a mess. View all my reviews
Continue reading →It’s just a small opening, and it’s in California, but the news is good from DBW this morning. Some California library systems buying from Smashwords Coker seems to have the knack of being in the right place. That’s the main thing that keeps me in his world of restricted design capabilities. Getting two library systems to spring for $30,000 to buy Smashwords 10,000 best sellers looks really good. It remains to be seen if this builds into a … Continue reading →
Arizona Guy by Raymond Spitzer My rating: 3 of 5 stars I downloaded the book as Christian fiction. It is a good story, good people, entertaining, but here is no spiritual content. There is quite a bit of religious information, Mormon. But, there is nothing about a person’s relationship with God, and certainly nothing about Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Other than the spiritual disappointment, this was a quick fun read. Almost a Jesse Stone type of … Continue reading →
The Bond by William Donovan My rating: 5 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this one. Genuine Christian political thrillers are really rare and the only type of books I really enjoy at this point. This one qualifies. You will like the characters, the plot, the suspense, and the ending. I wish the epilogue had been in more depth because I became attached to the characters. View all my reviews
Continue reading →If you have 40 years in printing as I do, this video is a real joy. If you are a new self publisher, it will give you a much better feel for printing. http://vimeo.com/62635922 Here’s a glimpse of traditional printing, before on-demand printing But actually, this is close to on-demand letterpress. This will open your eyes a bit to how printing works. It a beautiful glimpse of modern letterpress. Letterpress is that type of printing brought into … Continue reading →
I found this link in an article on CreativePro this morning. International Association of Master Penmen • Engrossers • Teachers of Handwriting This organization [IAMPETH] began as a group where penmen could get together and share techniques and ideas not just about doing fine penmanship, but teaching the art as well. In this day of computerized type, hand pen work is truly amazing to those who can barely use a ballpoint. Here’s an example from their page of rare books. This one is … Continue reading →
Make your book professional with the Contenu/Buddy production group Self Publisher Book Typography & 16 Fonts Only $49.99 or 12 Radiqx house fonts for book design Only $29.99 For self publishers the conversion from Word to InDesign is a huge leap. The goal is a professional look to their book designs, but immediately the problems of typography raise their head. In Word that is not so much of an issue because the typography controls in Word are … Continue reading →
This is the first portion of the new Practical Professional Self Publishing Handbook due out before summer this year. InDesign is the true replacement for FreeHand Many designers are still upset that Adobe took FreeHand off the market. We remain convinced that FreeHand was a far superior vector drawing program to Illustrator. Actually, I bring good news. InDesign is actually more closely related to FreeHand than it is to Illustrator. Ole Kvern and I have commented on this many … Continue reading →
Now I admit, I’m going on the words of others. I personally bailed on the Nook app and B&N a while ago. I am saddened by the troubles of the local B&N—it’s the only bookstore in town. I was hoping for viable competition to Amazon, but it is just not there. As they are stuck in a supposedly poor version of proprietary DRM, the smelly ears syndrome has got them in its clutches. I’m slightly hopeful that Riggio … Continue reading →
Tonight to celebrate our 37th, Pat and I went and had some of best ice cream we’ve ever eaten. The new Mom & Pops ice cream parlor on North Riverfront brings to mind a new clean, modern version of Baskin Robbins owned by locals with better ice cream. As Minnesotans, we spit in ol’Man Winter’s eye and say ice cream is better in the winter with a -25° wind chill, drifting snow, and two glorious sundogs hangin’ in … Continue reading →