Binding techniques are most commonly used to secure sheets of paper

Binding techniques are most commonly used to secure sheets of paper or card together to form a booklet, document or book. Most people will have seen binding and in particular wire binding on notebooks and writing pads in a variety of different sizes. The advantage of binding sheets of paper rather than gluing them is that the notebook or pad will lay flat when it is open so doesn’t need to be forced into position to keep it open. The pages can be moved 360 degrees around the wire binding offering users great flexibility and ease of use.

If you go into a stationery shop you will see many note pads and booklets that have already been bound. If you want to have the flexibility to create your own wire binding documents or books then you will need specialist binding and wire binding equipment. Many businesses that use lots of note pads and paper or create wire binding products will have binding equipment. You can get manual equipment for small scale binding or large scale binding equipment for mass production. To use manual binding machinery you fist assemble the document with the front and back covers. You then line it up with the machine so the holes are in the correct place for binding. You then separate the document into sections to be punched then the pages can be placed on the c shaped wire binding. The wire binding machine is then used to close the binding and secure it in place.

The cost of binding equipment will vary depending on your requirements and the volume of wire binding you need to carry out. If you need lots and lots of documents binding on a regular basis it can be time consuming it so may be worthwhile paying a professional binding company to do this for you. If you are looking to purchase binding yourself then you get a number of different sizes of binding to suit different paper sizes such as A5 and A4. You can also get binding in  Image Printing Packaging LTD for a range of different colour options to brighten up your documents.

Some interesting news has broken in the wake of the latest push for gun control by President Obama and Senate Democrats: Obama sends his kids to a school where armed guards are used as a matter of fact.

 

The school, Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC, has 11 security officers and is seeking to hire a new police officer as we speak.
If you dismiss this by saying, “Of course they have armed guards — they get Secret Service protection,” then you’ve missed the larger point.
The larger point is that this is standard operating procedure for the school, period. And this is the reason people like NBC’s David Gregory send their kids to Sidwell, they know their kids will be protected from the carnage that befell kids at a school where armed guards weren’t used (and weren’t even allowed).
Shame on President Obama for seeking more gun control and for trying to prevent the parents of other school children from doing what he has clearly done for his own. His children sit under the protection guns afford, while the children of regular Americans are sacrificed. 

Trip To India

I set out to post my top 10 photos of my recent trip to India and quickly realized I could never accomplish that. Here are my top 18 photos of places, buildings, cityscapes and landscapes from India and later I will post favorite photos of people. I hope you enjoy. It may not be a top 10 list but at least you don’t have to sit through a slideshow presentation of the 5322 photos that I took. Jama Masjid India’s largest mosque, the Jama Masjid in old Delhi. It can hold 20,000 worshippers at one time. The Taj Mahal Does the Taj really need a caption? It is every bit as impressive as you can imagine. Amber Fort The Amber Fort near Jaipur. Pushkar2 One of the 500 temples in and around Pushkar, our favorite place in Rajasthan. Pushkar Pushkar from the Saraswati Temple at Sunrise. We had to wake up at 4 AM and hike an hour to get the view, but it was worth it. City Palace The CIty Palace in Udaipur was the most impressive of all the palaces and forts we saw in Rajasthan. Ellora

Wedding Dresses: Before You Choose A White Wedding Dress Read This Article!

When choosing wedding dresses there are potentially millions of variations and factors to consider. One of the most important is actually color, because there's so much you can do outside of just choosing white. Yes, that's right, there ARE other options than white for your Spaghetti Straps Wedding Dresses! Read on to explore how colors could make your wedding really memorable: Color taps into our most primal of instincts and feelings. They are so powerful that even seeing them can alter our mood and evoke certain feelings. Why does red mean danger? Why is blue fresh? Why is yellow warm? In fact different colors 'mean' different things to each of us, but if you are going to trek off of the beaten path and try a different color to white for your wedding gown and theme then you'd better be ready to mix and match. How do we match colors though? This is your wedding so you want to be looking more Coco Chanel than Coco the clown, so understanding how to match your colors is perhaps critical to how great you'll look on your special day. First start with primary colors like red, yellow and blue. These colors can be mixed to produce secondary colors like orange and green. Mixing primary and secondary colors can produce tertiary colors such as olive-green. Which colors work well together though? Usually opposites of the color spectrum will work well together as opposed to colors that are too close to each other; but primaries or colors that are too bright won't be too easy on the eye, so consider tertiaries as complementing colors. Why should we consider different colors than white though, isn't it supposed to be the color of weddings? White does signify purity and innocence and therefore is a good choice. Red evokes feelings of passion and love and physically stimulates people.Pink is derived from red and is of course the most romantic color! Purple is a royal color and evokes images of wealth and sophistication. Yellow grabs attention and is warm and happy. It is a good choice if you want everyone's eyes to be drawn to you. Green is the color of nature. It is calm and fresh and actually signifies fertility, like Mother Earth. Blue is cool, fresh and clean. It evokes feelings of loyalty and is calming. Which do you like and what do they mean to you? Does your wedding have a theme? If so then your dress should fit in well with this. Christmassy of festive themes would benefit from dark green and red, like holly and ivy. Summer weddings could have fresh colors like sky blue and yellow. Fall weddings could feature golds and bronzes like fallen leaves. In this case choose a main color for your dress, perhaps the brighter color to ensure that you're the center of attention, and then choose complimentary tertiary colors for your bridesmaids' dresses. If you aren't sure of colors you can get help. You can ask your dressmaker for advice, most websites also have color information or you can do a web search with a search engine to find a color chart or color wheel which should show you matching colors. You should also consider your own and your bridesmaids' skin tones. Wedding dress color can also bring out or clash with skin tone, so be aware that bright colors with darker tones may not work well. Typically black skin will work well with darker colors like Navy blue. Tanned tones will benefit from a warm color like peach or ivory, and paler complexions can choose lighter colors like light pastels. The best thing to do is check your skin tone in the makeup section of your nearest department store and then try some different colored options of dresses, or hold some color swatches (which should be free from a DIY store's paint section) up against your skin. Colors are a minefield, but if you get your combination right then you will have a really memorable wedding, especially if it's themed! So get some advice, be brave and try a few colors before reaching for that white wedding gown! If you're wondering where to find dresses for your wedding or color advice then you could try looking online. Here you will find a myriad of great clothing stores offering many wedding and bridesmaids' dresses at really low prices. These sites also often have thorough resources including color charts and swatches, so perhaps give them a try as well as stores in town. Outerinner.com makes it easy for you to get more information on Sweetheart Wedding Dresses. Sign up for our fabulous, free newsletter to find out how to get the best deals on the latest dresses, gowns and lingerie, quickly and easily. Grab jaw-dropping dresses and sexy lingerie at unbelievable prices. Join the outerinner.com community at: ?http://www.weddingdressbusiness.co.uk/   Article Source: ?http://www.bridaldressesshop.co.uk/11-sweetheart-wedding-dresses

Choosing The Perfect Wedding Dress

A bride to be will spend a great deal of time looking for that perfect wedding gown as she wants to look fabulous. Choosing a wedding dress can be daunting especially if you are unsure as to what style or colour will suit you best. You will probably have spent time looking through the bridal magazines and websites to get an idea of what is on offer. If you see something that you like, make a note of it so that when you visit the bridal shops and boutiques you can ask if they stock that gown or something like it. It is always best to set a budget and then you can look at gowns in that price range. Even with a small budget, you can still find a really good choice of beautiful wedding gowns. Many designers have a wide range of gowns with prices that range from are very reasonable to very expensive and it all depends on what you want and how much you have to spend. You may find one specific designer whose collections you love, so you will automatically be drawn to them. However, do not discount any of the others as there may be the perfect one for you in their collection. When choosing the perfect wedding gown, it is important to take your body shape into account and this is where you do need to be very honest with yourself. If you are pear shaped, an A-line style will really suit you as it will highlight your waist and upper body whilst detracting from hips and thighs. It is a good idea to choose a fabric that does not cling, something like duchesse satin or taffeta. The neckline should be picked to suit your upper body and face shape, for instance if you have a square jaw line, avoid a square neckline as it may make you look very angular, perhaps go for a soft round neckline or a V neckline. For the top heavy bride it is perhaps an idea to avoid accentuating the bust too much so a sweetheart or scoop neckline should be flattering. Shiny fabrics and ruched effects should also be avoided as they will only add volume and make you look bigger. For the well-built lady, there are some wonderful styles that will really flatter and one that is particularly good is an empire style. This style has the skirt starting below the bust line and then it flares out into an A-line style. Avoid pleats that begin under the bust or the dress may look like a maternity gown. Satin or satin-like fabrics are a good choice as they give the gown structure. For those who have a small bust, ruched bodices can add volume and give the illusion of having more curves. Also invest in a really good bra which will enhance what you have been blessed with. Tall and willowy brides to be will look good in just about any style and there are some really beautiful sheath style gowns that will look fantastic, if this is what you fancy. Small brides should avoid the big puffy ballgowns and sheath styles as these will make you look smaller. A-line styles are flattering as they help to make you look taller.   Article Source: ?http://www.bridaldressesshop.co.uk/

Characters on Characters

Characters on Characters: I listened to Walter Mosley, Edwidge Danticat, and Dennis Lehane discuss their characters with Harold Augenbraum of the National Book Foundation. Highlights: Lehane said the best opening line is one such as “Joe realized he was out of milk,” because your readers will keep following Joe until he gets that milk. Mosley said he never does research, because a fiction writer is “in the business of telling lies,” and Danticat said that she has to leave a place before she can write about it, otherwise the reality gets in the way of the place she’s creating. All of them objected to the idea of their characters as “dark,” saying that exploring what people do in difficult situations, and the complexity of human nature, is what they are really interested in.

Publish A Cook Book

Now why can’t somebody publish a cook book like that for me? Save me from the dinner I just had:

Open one can of tuna fish and drain oil. Use a fork to extract the tuna from the can onto a plate. Rinse one tomato and one small cucumber (pickling size). Dice the tomato and the cucumber onto the plate. Take an unsliced loaf of bread, slice off bread to taste, plate with the tuna, tomatoes and cucumber. Add salt. Sit in front of the TV, use the fork to get some of the tuna fish and vegetables onto a piece of bread, eat like a starving man.

A niche cook book for non-cooking bachelors might be a hit with a self publisher. I suppose it might even work for a trade publisher if it were humorous enough. The ideal for me would be a cookbook that features meals that can be prepared in seconds from ingredients that keep for years, and nutritional information. Focus on the fiber and the protein, please.

Cultural Places

There is a new publishing at Roosevelt High School, and they are looking for submissions to their literary anthology, Between Two Rivers. This will be a collection of pieces about unique and cultural places and people in Portland. The intended audience is anyone who is seeking out places that make Portland special, whether as residents or visitors.

The anthology will be multi-generational and feature new and established writers of all ages. Kim Stafford, Eva Williams, and Lidia Yuknavitch have already contributed pieces. There are plans to distribute to local bookstores and businesses.

Submissions can be short fiction, nonfiction, poems, vignettes, or drawings about your relationship to the people and places of Portland. They could also be interesting facts or historic information that enrich one's appreciation of Portland's community or places.

PRINTING On Demand Is A Technology

 In responses, Dick Margulis emphasizes: "PRINTING on demand is a technology, digital printing, that can be used by all kinds of publishers, from Random House down to the individual self-publishing her first book....you can buy print-on-demand service directly from a printer with no middleman. So-called PUBLISHING on demand is a phrase vanity presses latched onto to co-opt the “POD” initialism and suck people into the vanity press business model. The problem is that a lot of people who understand the difference nonetheless play into the vanity presses’ hands by tossing around “POD” without clarifying the distinction between print-on-demand (the technology) and publish-on-demand (the business model)."

Fern Reiss (whose five books have been successfully self-published) points out that using a POD subsidy publisher precludes many sales or makes them difficult: "by the time you pay the POD/​subsidy company, and factor in the wholesale discount that the middlemen require, the price points are too narrow for most bookstores or libraries." (Bookstores generally want a 40% discount and the right to return books.) POD subsidy editing is substandard and although major review media such as Publishers Weekly and Library Journal occasionally review self-published books, they never review POD subsidy books. Digital printing may be a good idea in some circumstances, but you don't need to "sign with" a POD subsidy publishing to do digital printing.

What you want to do is arm yourself with enough knowledge that you can take advantage of POD printing if it makes sense for you, but not if it doesn't. One way to use it, for example, to create an early version of a book to test on readers, get reactions, and then improve the book (it's like asking people to read a manuscript, but making it more readable and portable for them). Maybe do this more than once. Then use POD to create a test run of the book. Then, if the book seems to have potential, do a regular print run with an offset press. Be sure to protect your rights and weigh the economics of each approach.

Put one teaspoon of Taster’s Choice instant coffee in a ceramic mug

Back in those aforementioned college days, my basic bachelor’s diet was dark tuna fish every other day (88 cents for two cans at Star on sale) and macaroni on the days that fell in between for dinner. I used to melt American cheese on the macaroni, not realizing at the time that it wasn’t so much cheese as solidified vegetable oil with cheese flavor. Sometimes I’d get creative and boil some rice and fry an onion instead. My roommate used to accuse me of being ascetic, but I saved my pennies for lunch, which was either a meatball sub from the roach coach on the quad or a slice of Sicilian pizza from the Greek place on Huntington Ave. Breakfast was coffee and a cigarette.

Twenty years later, I’m not really in a good position to write and publish a cook book, but I’d love to find one that met my needs. As a bachelor who really can’t be bothered to do much more than boil water on a hot plate, it would have to show some real imagination. Unlike the me of twenty years ago, I actually care about things like nutrition and dietary fiber these days. For example, I quit smoking cigarettes and started eating a little breakfast some years back, which eventually standardized on oatmeal. Then I got bored with plain oatmeal and wanted more fiber, so I ventured into bran cereal with yogurt, but the stuff requires refrigeration. About two years ago, I finally figured out how to combine the best feature of bran cereal (dietary fiber) with the best features of oatmeal (texture and hot) as follows:

Put one teaspoon of Taster’s Choice instant coffee in a ceramic mug. Fill to within a half-inch of the brim with bran cereal. Next add boiling water, noting that the level of the cereal will drop as the flakes become water logged, and stop adding water when the top flakes are just above the surface. Next, stir the mixture with a tablespoon, making sure to dissolve the instant coffee throughout the mixture, and let stand for 3 to 5 minutes to solidify. Eat bran-coffee cereal with a tablespoon and try not to get it on the laptop keyboard, because it hardens like cement.

That’s Another Story

Fifteen or so years ago when I was unhappy about everything from the way the world worked to the way my stomach didn’t, I went on a vegetarian kick. I kept it up for a year or more, and while I didn’t go so far as eliminating tuna fish (one of my five basic food groups), I stayed away from meat and prepared foods. It’s the only period in my life that I bought any nutrition or cook books. I was actually forced to cook some when I was a vegetarian, and I worked as a cook a few places in my college days, but I do very little of it now. In fact, I haven’t had a stove for around ten years, and I’m currently staying in a temporary apartment in Jerusalem without a refrigerator for three months, but that’s another story.

Adventure Girls books

The seller of the Beverly Gray books also had the complete set of Adventure Girls books.  He mentioned the Adventure Girls books before my Beverly Gray package was shipped, but I waited until after I received the Beverly Gray books to indicate my interest.  The seller did not show the spines of any of the books in the photos, so I wanted to make sure that the books were in as good of condition as expected before I bought any additional books.

Since the Beverly Gray books met my expectations, I let the seller know I was interested and was able to purchase the Adventure Girls books on the day that they were listed.  These are the books that I purchased.

Big Find

I purchased a bunch of Hardy Boys books with dust jackets.  One or two of the higher-numbered ones could be first printings, but I have not yet checked to see.  The rest are nowhere near first printings.  Almost all of the books are tweeds.

I purchased a few Hardy Boys picture covers with the original text.  I could have purchased others with the revised text, but I find those to be about impossible to sell so I chose only the original text books.  I purchased three Trixie Belden books.

While great, the above books are not the ones that excited me.  The books seen in the next photos are the ones that thrilled me.

The truth about print-on-demand (POD) publishing

Fern Reiss (whose five books have been successfully self-published) points out that using a POD subsidy publisher precludes many sales or makes them difficult: "by the time you pay the POD/​subsidy company, and factor in the wholesale discount that the middlemen require, the price points are too narrow for most bookstores or libraries." (Bookstores generally want a 40% discount and the right to return books.) POD subsidy editing is substandard and although major review media such as Publishers Weekly and Library Journal occasionally review self-published books, they never review POD subsidy books. Digital printing may be a good idea in some circumstances, but you don't need to "sign with" a POD subsidy publishing to do digital printing.

What you want to do is arm yourself with enough knowledge that you can take advantage of POD printing if it makes sense for you, but not if it doesn't. One way to use it, for example, to create an early version of a book to test on readers, get reactions, and then improve the book (it's like asking people to read a manuscript, but making it more readable and portable for them). Maybe do this more than once. Then use POD to create a test run of the book. Then, if the book seems to have potential, do a regular print run with an offset press. Be sure to protect your rights and weigh the economics of each approach.

Old Books

I saw an ad for an estate sale that advertised "hundreds of books."  Estate sales almost never have series books, and when they do, the books are of minimal interest and hugely overpriced.  I had this nagging feeling that a big stash of books was waiting for me today, and that I had to go out to find it.  I get this feeling sometimes, and I have to act on it or else I will worry for the rest of the day about what I might have missed.

Gasoline costs too much these days to go out on very many random searches for books, and I did not want to go to yet another estate sale that advertised books and would have absolutely nothing of interest.  I have had very little luck lately.  But I could not shake that nagging feeling that today was a day for a big book find.  Most of the time when I have that feeling, nothing ever comes of it.  Since occasionally I am right, I just cannot ignore it.

I decided to go to the sale even though I would end up burning at least $10 in gasoline.  The estate sale did indeed have hundreds of books, but the books were all modern softcover general fiction books from the last 20 years.  As usual, that sale had books that were of no interest to me.

While I found nothing at that particular estate sale, going to it resulted in me checking a couple other locations which did result in a big book find.  My nagging feeling about a big book find was correct!  Here are photos of some of the books that I purchased.

Finding David Douglas

"The Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and Forestry Commission Scotland has completed the documentary film Finding David Douglas (FDD). More than four years in the making, it is the first film ever produced on David Douglas (1799-1834), the remarkable botanist / plant hunter from Scotland who explored western North America in the 1820s and 1830s — a time before white settlement altered the landscape. Today, we widely remember Douglas through the tree named in his honor — the Douglas fir.

FDD focuses on David Douglas’s contributions to science — forestry, botany, and horticulture — and his relationships with Indians and Hudson’s Bay Company employees he met during his travels. Douglas introduced more than 200 new species to the gardens and forests of Europe. Words from his journals and letters form the structure of the narrative script. Douglas’s enthusiasm, sense of adventure, curiosity and determination shine through Finding David Douglas.

This film portrait of Douglas — an environmentalist before his time — encourages today’s audience to appreciate fully the natural world and how one person’s efforts can make a difference. The production team collaborated with Parks Canada, the World Forestry Center, and an international advisory coalition of scholars and scientists from across North America, the United Kingdom, Hawaii and France.

The documentary was filmed in locations that David Douglas actually appeared — in Scotland, England, throughout the Pacific Northwest, into northern Canada and remote York Factory on Hudson Bay, and in California and Hawaii. Rare botanical illustrations and period images (paintings, drawings, photographs and maps) join on-camera interviews in creating the visual magic of Finding David Douglas."

Amazon pulled the titles

I've been in publishing only a short while, but I've been around it enough to have seen some of the big brew-ha-has involving Amazon. The first was when Amazon yanked all print-on-demand titles not produced through their print-on-demand arm. The second was when all MacMillan ebook titles were pulled during the great agency debate. Well it's happening again.

Independent Publishers Group, a large distributor for independent presses and authors has had all 5,000 of their ebooks pulled from the Amazon kindle. The print versions of their books are still for sale.

The reason, is that their ebook contract was up for renewal and IPG wanted the same terms, and Amazon wanted a deeper discount. When they couldn't agree, Amazon pulled the titles.

the purpose of art

On being published, diversity, the poet's task, the purpose of art.

What does it mean to be published now? 
An interesting discussion on writing and being published started in the fictionaut forum and continued in the blog of author Marcus Speh.

A More Diverse Universe Reading Tour 
Concerned by the lack of diversity in fantasy fiction, particularly fantasy fiction of the epic nature, a group of bloggers who got together to create a "More Diverse Universe". The idea of the blog tour: to highlight fantasy/sci fi/magical realism novels written by a person of color. The full blog page with links is now online.

The Purpose of Art + The Poet's Task
Ponderings on art, poetry and words, from the quote: "A poem is a machine made of words" to the Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (ModPo) class, which sparked the discussion on the purpose of art (" Is the purpose of art to think about what art is?") - and: What's the task of a poet?
 

Facebook

his might be interesting for all who follow literary magazines, indie publishers, authors, books etc. on facebook: in the last weeks, facebook changed their algorithms (again..), to the effect that posts from pages you "liked" now are listed less often on your personal facebook pages.

One option to increase / get back the messages from those pages is to visit each page again in facebook, and then click on the blue control field next to "Liked", and select "Add to Interest List"... and repeat that with all pages..

Or, you could click to a new page that facebook added to their system: it lists all content from the pages you subscribed to is listed, sorted by date and time。

Hybrid-published

Okay, this really isn’t a different publishing model, but rather recognition that authors that do more than one type of publishing simultaneously. Joe Konrath is a great example of a hybrid author as he has self-published titles, big-six titles, and amazon titles. Nathan Lowell is a Ridan author who is also a hybrid as he has his Trader Tales books done through us but has self-published shorter works as well as his fantasy series.

But why should I break out a Hybrid-published author? Because if you plan on being one…you need to pay particular attention to you contract details…or you won’t be able to be a hybrid author. When my husband (author Michael J. Sullivan for those new to my blog) went to sign with big-six Hachette we shocked to discover that we weren’t signing up to just one series, but there were clauses that could affect publication of OTHER yet to be written works. This wasn’t Hachette trying to “put the screws” to Michael…as we learned the clauses are standard and exist in virtually every contract especially offered by the big-six…but that’s exactly the point and why I’m bringing it up. Michael’s original contract could be a career killer. It has stipulations like he couldn’t publish ANYTHING until six months after the book was released but they had up to two years to bring it to market. Seriously? He can’t publish anything for possibly two and a half years? What’s more he could also be prevented from writing fantasy books, so no possibility of sequels or prequels. We considered these restrictions “career killers” and almost didn’t sign. After four months of negotiation, we finally got the clauses adjusted so that both sides were satisfied but I wanted to ensure that he “could” become hybrid if that is a choice he wants to make. Nathan is fortunate that he is signed with Ridan as we place no restrictions on other works…none whatsoever…so becoming a hybrid was an opportunity he could avail himself of.

The Continually Changing Face of Publishing

• First, Amazon is unique in that it has access to the biggest reader database in existence. Not only do they know buying habits, but they have millions of email addresses. As proven by their recent invention “deal of the day” they can place any title in the top 10 anytime they want to and this can mean a pretty big spotlight at any time. This is a good thing for Amazon-published authors.
  
• Second, they have instituted exclusivity practices that limit the distribution of their author’s titles. In particular, if you are published through Amazon your ebooks won’t show up in the ibookstore or Barnes and Noble or anywhere else. To maximize sales you want to make it easy for people to buy your books and cutting out entire segments of the marketplace doesn’t help the author. I realize why Amazon is doing this…and it might turn out the best thing for their authors (high concentration in one place rather than diluted sales) but all in all I think this is very bad for the author.
  
• Third, no bookstore presence. Yeah, I know…bookstores are closing…they aren’t as important as they once was…I get it. But the fact remains there are still a ton of sales sold through stores and for some authors they won’t consider themselves a “real author” until they see the books on a shelf at their local B&N. Originally it was the indie bookstores that banned Amazon produced books. But now Barnes and Noble and Books-a-Million have instituted similar bans. Originally my thought was… “If a book is a bestseller they’ll have it for sale.” Now I’m not so sure. They are drawing battle lines and I don’t think exceptions will be made. This is terrible for authors who signed on with Amazon with the promise that they’ll have both print and ebooks. Sure, they’ll still sell books online…and that is a large number of books but in many respects I think the selling point of going with a publisher is widespread distribution. Since Amazon authors don’t get this it helps to put them in a different category.

bookbinding book

The very first bookbinding book that I got, was the Japanese Bookbinding book by Ikegami. I was entirely impressed with all the history included in this book and I read every word and made every project. One of my favorite notebook structures from this book is this simple account book structure. This structure is called daifuku chō and it was used during the Edo period (1603-1868) for travel diaries, guest registers, and primarily as merchant account books (Ikegami p.68). Ikegami includes a photograph of an account book from the mid-1800s and that always catches my attention when I go through his book.

So a while back, I decided that I would try to replicate the "look" of that mid-1800s current-accounts book. The first thing I had to do, was figure out how to recreate the Japanese calligraphy. Since I'm not a calligrapher, and know nothing of Japanese writing at all, I had to figure out something that I could manage. So I carved some rubber stamps to recreate the Japanese characters on the cover.

Sea Bandits

Sea Bandits is a project from Yay Words! - Poets were invited to submit short form poetry and artwork about the sea and/or thieves/thievery. Each poet who submitted was guaranteed at least one poem into the collection, the formats range from haiku, tanka, sequences, rengay, haibun, haiga to prose poems.

The collection is part of an ongoing series edited by Aubrie Cox, she notes: "As I was putting this collection together, it occurred to me that it’s nearly been a year since I started putting these PDF collaborations together on my blog, starting with the backlit fog at the end of September 2011."

The Kindle

Do you know the Kindle is 5 years old this month?

My first thought on learning this fact was "Damn, the Kindle has only been here for 60 months. Seems its been with us much longer --- Time flies faster when you get older!"

Let's take a look at a little Kindle history tonight --- how and why it (Kindle) came about AND most importantly what was the single magic trick that made it a success (after other such devices failed) --- and further how it '...expanded Amazon’s appetites and put it on an inevitable collision course with other high-tech heavyweights making a play to dominate the coming age of digital media. “It’s no longer about Virgin Media or Barnes & Noble (BKS),” said Scott Devitt, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. “It’s Apple and Google and Samsung and Microsoft..."'

"View From Here"

In a celebration across boundaries that is inspired by the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, where New Zealand is featured country, writers and artists from both countries share their persoanl "View From Here".

"We asked contributors to share entries for the theme "View From Here" and we ended up with a beautiful collection of photography, poetry, story and reports from all around New Zealand and Germany," says Michelle Elvy, who edited the issue.

The views reach from the north of New Zealand and meander through Northland to the west coast, from big city to country meadows, and all the way to ChristChurch — and in between scoot from Bavaria to Scotland, from Berlin to Hikurangi.

Contributors include Trish Nicholson, Beate Jones, Paula Green, Siri Embla, Gus Simonovic, Christopher Allen, Gill Hoffs, Andrew Bell, Marcus Speh, Piet Nieuwland, Leanne Radokjovich, Frances Mountier, Hinemoana Baker, Lesley Marshall, Rae Roadley, Helen Lowe, Karen Tribbe, Vaughan Gunson, Cecelia Wyatt, Maureen Sudlow, Michelle Elvy and Dorothee Lang.

The Frankfurt Book Fair Opened

the Frankfurt Book Fair opened its doors again - it's one of the largest and oldest book fairs, a meeting point for over 7300 exhibitors from more than 100 countries, with a tradition that spans more than 500 years. The first 3 days of the fair are business days, the weekend is for the general public.

The guest country this year is New Zealand. Focus themes were: e-books, science and education, art books, comics. Some impressions with links:

Writers Abroad

Writers Abroad has published their third Anthology entitled "Foreign Encounters" - a collection of stories, non-fiction and poems. All proceeds from the sale of Foreign Encounters will be donated to Books Abroad, an organization that helps to educate children worldwide by sending free school books that are carefully chosen to match the need of each school.


Encounters can be a chance meeting, a planned get-together or even a confrontation. This collection of stories, non-fiction and poems features a variety of foreign encounters: with family, friends, lovers, animals, cultures, or just with one's own prejudices and preconceptions.


Writers Abroad is a community for Expat writers. The group was formed to help overcome the potential isolation and difficulties that Expat writers may face in their adopted country. Therefore the aim of the group is to provide mutual support via feedback, critiques and editing to enable members to develop their writing skills with a view to further publication including competitions.

Publishing Is Changing

In numerous previous posts I often said something to the affect that traditional publishing wasn't dying or dead but merely wasn't the only kid on the block anymore.

Publishing has indeed been changing --- BUT, it has always been changing --- since the beginning of parchment and quill (you get my drift; by the way the history of paper is interesting as well as writing instruments).

We have just been caught up in (experiencing) a link of time in the long chain of publishing change. Call it the digital link, if you will.

So, in this particular publishing link (change-cycle) we call digital publishing alternate publishing. Simply because it's new.

The new, faster and cheaper paths to publishing has caused confusion among writers.

What should a writer do? How should s/he publish? Traditional, digital, self-publish or otherwise?

Well, it depends on who your audience is and what purpose your writing serves.

Vegetable-sourced

Concerns for the well-being of our planet can promote avenues for an alternative resource to printing. Vegetable-sourced colours do represent a realistic alternative -- using berries, leaves, flowers, fruits, roots, bark and insects. A mordant (we used alum) can help the dye colour become permanent.

The screen-printing process offers artists a way to produce multiples without the investment of a press and other large apparatus. The basic equipment consists of the screen (a wooden frame with a fine-mesh fabric stretched over it) and the squeegee. This is a rubber blade set in a handle with which the organic ink is pulled across a prepared photo-based screen. The mesh transmits an even coat of ink which adheres to the paper below the screen.

best-selling books

Trafford Publishing, the pioneer in on-demand self-publishing, has announced its top best-selling books from April 2010, according to point-of-sale data from major U.S. booksellers. The following self published titles are listed below.
Poverty and Prison by Chris Napier This memoir narrates Napier’s story as he navigates a childhood of poverty in Prichard, Alabama. He had served more than a decade and a half in prison; and transformed his life by becoming a Muslim.
Teach Your Child to Read in Just Ten Minutes a Day by Sidney LedsonA book that discusses the phonic program that made preschoolers as young as two begin reading at the Sidney Ledson Institute for Intellectual Advancement. This light-hearted, yet scientifically advanced, method permits parents, schoolteachers and even babysitters to quickly teach children of all ages to read.
Yoga Posture Adjustments and Assisting by Ms. Stephanie PappasThe first comprehensive guide for yoga teachers and yoga students that provided all the details on how to adjust or assist someone while they are performing yoga. With yoga’s recent worldwide popularity as one of the best forms of fitness exercises, this book is invaluable to millions of readers who teach or practice yoga.
Better Than Steroids by Dr. Warren Willey A summary of what you need to know to be a successful bodybuilder, athlete or just to look good, Better Than Steroids covers in a stepwise fashion the information you need to succeed. A review of why and how anabolic steroids work will lead you into why food programs, eating plans and tricks like the pre and post workout meal are not only comparable to anabolic steroids, but better!

Mindy’s passion

The highly finished look of this piece is marvelous, as is the delight in imagining all of the things you could wrap paper around to make your own shaped objects—when trying this again at Dartmouth, I made the Scroll Case instead of the Shaped Box. It is slightly easier to wrap, and less finicky to finish. We used heavy cardboard tubes instead of PVC pipe, and they worked well.

Mindy’s passion is “blooks”—book shaped objects and their history. Her personal collection and depth of knowledge is impressive and she was more than ready to share. Her slide show reflected well the depth and breadth of her knowledge. Additionally, Mindy’s extensive materials list, tool hints and tricks of the trade were most appreciated. Recently on the Book Arts listserv, she sent out instructions on how to make “A Successful Ball Point Water Pen, Recycled.” Perfect! She lists in succinct detail exactly how to do this. I want to make one just because she sent out the instructions, and I don’t even need a Successful Water Pen.

Wonderful Handbook

It was a mental mind-bender to understand we were working from the inside out, so the next steps needed to just be done and not over-analyzed—and we successfully planned where our lids would be, making jigs so we'd remember later. After adding spacer layers, more decorative paper to line the inside of the case, and the little gap that would let us know where to stop cutting later, we wrapped more Bugra around the form, for a total of 12 wraps.

After setting our forms in a hot room to dry more quickly overnight, the next morning we were ready to cut. We trimmed the tops and bottoms and cut the whole box down to that little gap that we left (gasp!), slid them off our forms, sanded, and got ready to make the tops and bottoms—very simple, it turns out, as we traced our tops and bottoms onto Museum board, cut them out, and then cut out two more small pieces to be glued on for insets. I was expecting a monumental feat of measuring with complicated tools, and was relieved to find that we were simply tracing!

Finishing these cases took the most time—and I discovered first-hand the delightful camouflaging qualities of marbled paper. More sanding, gluing on strips of leather on the spine to imitate bands, applying the leather spine over the bands, and finishing the outside and top and bottom of the case came next