Thoughts to Ponder About Writing & Editing; new ePub released

This has been around for awhile, but I revisited it today and found it interesting and helpful, particularly the bit about the sense of smell: Annie Murphy Paul: The Brilliant Report: Your brain on fiction.

Here’s a British article on grammar: Grammar rules everyone should follow. If nothing else, it’s a bit of fun as well as informative. I especially like Steven Pinker’s comment on “shibboleths.”

My friend Paul Vantoch’s memoir, Outlasting The Nazis And Communists: My Life in Prague, is now available as a Nook book (ePub format) at Barnes & Noble online.

 

 

“Other Desert Cities” — Excellent Example of Storytelling

Last night my wife and I saw “Other Desert Cities” at the Old Globe. Great production, but what I enjoyed most is the story, written by Jon Robin Baitz. This Pulitzer-nominated play is well crafted and has a staggering plot twist that caught me off guard. We also got lucky — the cast came out afterward for Q&A. They gave high marks to director Richard Seer.

I’m of a mind to go again to see the first act and get a better grip on the foreshadowing and how the story unfolded. This, to me, is an excellent example of not only fine storytelling, but of insight into the human character — which, in fact, are inseparable. Baitz draws his characters with a fine, taut line, and the verbal exchanges bite as well as delight. Someone in the audience said it has similarities to Philip Roth’s American Pastoral. I can’t say; I have not read that book.

The play also had a personal connection for me and my book. The story is about a writer home for Christmas with her latest manuscript — a memoir that will expose long-buried family secrets. Of course, her politically well-connected parents (think “Ron and Nancy”) do not want those skeletons coming out of the closet and putting them and their family back in the headlines.

Although the play centers around a Vietnam War-era political protest, it is set in Palm Springs in 2004-2010 and resonates the current political climate with references to the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

James Hebert at the U-T San Diego gives it reasonable praise, but I think his emphasis on the comedic aspects is overdone. This is not a comedy. It is paper-flinging drama. Yes, it has moments of dark and even laugh-out-loud humor, but ultimately it is about family relationships, and anyone with a hint of self-awareness could use it as a mirror.

I highly recommend this play. If it’s not coming to a playhouse near you, you can buy the script online — although one reviewer said the production quality of the bound volume leaves a lot to be desired.

Robin Skone-Palmer, “Beyond the Spotlight: On the Road With Phyllis Diller,” featured Las Vegas Review Journal

Nice piece on Robin Skone-Palmer, author of Beyond the Spotlight: On the Road With Phyllis Diller, in yesterday’s Las Vegas Review Journal.

The memoir covers Robin’s time working for Diller as the comedienne’s personal secretary. Released by Wigeon Publishing on April 1 (no foolin’).

I’m sure Diller fans will find the book delightful.

Related links:

Good Reads

Amazon.com

New book: Outlasting the Nazis and Communists by Paul Vantoch

My gutsy friend Paul Vantoch has published his memoir — Outlasting the Nazis and Communists — about life in Prague, Czechoslovakia, during the Nazi occupation and holocaust, and he recounts his harrowing escape from the USSR tyranny that followed.

This is an ebook; a print book (hardcover and paperback) will be available in a few weeks.

It’s an interesting story, especially about the “mischlinge” (half-breeds, as Hitler called them), and how they were spared in terms of the concentration camps, but were second-class citizens. Paul, for example, was not allowed to graduate from high school, and his parents had to divorce (and his Jewish father go into hiding) to save the family business. The writing is a bit “historical” (telling) for my taste, but it offers insight into an aspect of the Nazi regime that has not received much attention. It also offers a good look at what life was like in Prague during both the Nazi and Communist occupations, as well as the risks involved in attempting to escape to West Germany.

This is a very human story, even if you’re not a fan of history, and well worth reading.

Book Update; Thoughts on PTSD and the Boston Marathon Bombing

Thank you for your inquiries and continued interest in my forthcoming book, Dare I Call It Murder? — A Memoir of Violent Loss. Words alone cannot convey how much that means to me.

I apologize for the long period of silence. I kept thinking I’d have good news to share.

In my last update, I said publication of the book had been delayed, “with any luck, no more than two weeks.” It’s now been two months.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Promises, promises . . . I kept getting my hopes up, only to have them dashed.

I cannot go into details, other than to say it involves legal issues and a mammoth, bloodsucking bureaucracy. (No, it’s not a conspiracy involving the “guv’ment.” Well, maybe it is, in a fashion. One day I will divulge all the details.) I’m now hoping for late May or early June.

I will continue posting periodic comments about the book and violent loss on this book blog.

And I will post another book excerpt later this week to the books’s website.

Meanwhile, my heart goes out to all of those whose lives were shattered by the Boston Marathon bombing. Thankfully, the perpetrators were quickly identified and stopped (no thanks to Rupert Murdoch and the alleged journalists at the New York Post).

Yet, I am comforted by the “dark gift” that has emerged in the aftermath of this horrific incident. I see an unprecedented concern not only for the physical health of the survivors, the first responders, and their families, but for their mental health as well.

One of the hospitalized survivors, when asked by a doctor how she was doing, reportedly said her body was doing fine. But she complained of not doing so well “up here.” And she pointed to her head.

Intentional violence and death cause terror and emotional trauma, especially in children. If the impact of that trauma is not addressed, it can manifest itself in post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD, when ignored or left unattended, can have far-reaching and long-lasting effects on the individual that ripple outward to affect family, friends, classmates, co-workers, and society as a whole.

I am pleased that this important issue—once dismissed as mere “battle fatigue”—has been recognized and is getting the attention it deserves, not only from the mental health community, but society at large.

Printing at Lightning Source vs. Create Space—the differences are remarkable

I just received copies of Robin Skone-Palmer’s Beyond the Spotlight: On the Road With Phyllis Diller (Wigeon Publishing, April 1, 2013), which I had printed at both Lightning Source and CreateSpace. Identical cover and interior files were sent to both companies. But what a difference in product quality:

• Cover—colors in CS book a bit washed out, with loss of fine detail
• Binding—CS book a bit ragged with obvious bulge near the spine and knife marks on the edges, the pages are not even, and the glue is brownish and catches the eye; LSI has tight binding and looks professional
• Paper (creme)—CS paper thicker (clunkier), making for a thicker, weightier book, increasing cost of shipping; also more yellowish, as if its been lying in the sun
• Print quality, text—in LSI book, the ink is heavier and darker, some might say too dark, but a smaller font could be used, which would also reduce the page count
• Images—in CS a bit fuzzy and dark not as sharp and clear as in the LSI book

Upshot: in terms of printing, LSI wins, hands down, based on this comparison.

Can one conclude that LSI, at a slightly higher printing cost, is in fact a better value? In my mind, yes. But as a publisher, there are other factors besides printing to consider, not the least of which are printing options, customer service, and profit margin.

 Other issues:

• Printing options—Wigeon Publishing’s first book, Home from the Banks, could not be printed by CS. Because of the low page count, CS said it could not place text on the spine. LSI? No problem; CS does not print hardcover books.
• Bulk orders—LSI discounts bulk orders by as much as 45 percent, beginning with a minimum order of 50 books, and does not charge sales tax (treated as a B2B wholesale transaction). CS does not offer a discount and charges sales tax of 8.1%. (There may be no set-up fee, but there is no free lunch.)
• Set-up fee—LSI charges $75 (cover: $37.50 + interior: $37.50) to set up a book for printing, and charges $40 for resubmissions. (I suspect this is done to weed out those who are more interested in seeing their books in print than in making a business out of it.) CS charges no set-up fee or resubmission fee. However, members of the Independent Book Publishers Assn. (I am), receive a 50% discount on the LSI set-up fee.
• Set-up—CS turns around a submission in a matter of hours, LSI takes three business days. Big nod to CS on this count.
• Distribution—CS, in effect, limits wholesale distribution to Amazon, thus limiting the market for the book. Yes, CS offers extended distribution, but discounts the books 60% and distributes the books through Lightning Source. LSI uses the industry standard 55% discount and gives you a direct line to retailers and libraries through its parent, Ingram Content Group.
• Customer service—can LSI be a pain to deal with? Yes. Is the LSI website difficult to comprehend and navigate? Yes. Is LSI at times slow to respond to queries? Yes. Does LSI offer instant phone support like CS does? No.

In essence, CS offers more hand holding, which is probably required because it deals primarily with folks who know little or nothing about the publishing business. But I refer you back to Bulk Orders. There is no free lunch. And, in my experience, when printing issues have surfaced, LSI has responded with specific information so the problem could be corrected.

Does this quell the debate of LSI vs. CS? No, because books printed by CS and sold by Amazon return a higher profit margin (it’s not a “royalty,” I don’t care what CS calls it), so there is a sound financial reason to use CS, at least at first glance. And, hey, the folks buying books from Amazon can’t actually pick up the book and examine them, so what’s the big deal?

For me, the big deal is bookstore owners, especially the indies, who expect to place on their shelves a high-quality, professional-looking product. Some booksellers have said publicly that they refuse to stock books from CS (yes, it has more to do with the content than the printing, but the LSI books don’t look “POD,” where it could be argued that the CS books do). I want the best looking (as well as best reading) book possible in the hands of the booksellers and the readers browsing their shops.

So, what say you? I’d like hear from others who have similar experiences, comparing LSI and CS, and what factors influenced your decisions.

Beyond the Spotlight: On the Road With Phyllis Diller

Now on sale: Wigeon Publishing has released its second book, Beyond the Spotlight: On the Road With Phyllis Diller, written by debut author Robin Skone-Palmer of Las Vegas.

It’s a fun look behind the scenes at the trails, trials and travails of a top-tier entertainer during her heydays as a stand-up comic—from the perspective a key staff member (a.k.a. Diller Dustbiter) who toiled long hours to made sure Diller had all of  her fright wigs, crazy dresses, props (and writing implements) at hand to ensure yet another laughter- and applause-filled performance.

— Did Diller write her own jokes and gags?

— Did Diller sign her own autographs? (Or even sign her own checks?)

— Was Diller also a concert pianist?

— Did Diller do her own cooking?

These and many other questions are answered in this new memoir.

Available as a paperback and ebook from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and other retails outlets.

Learn more about the book and its author.