Social Media for Authors: Baby Step 3
by,
December 10, 2011

Baby Step 3: Build your author online presence by making executive decisions in answer to the following three questions. Who will provide you with internet service? Who will provide webhosting service for your website/blog? What content management system is right for you as an author? Internet service providers are those who bring the internet into your home or office. This may be your phone company,… [Read More]

Gone Local: Larson Publications
by,
November 29, 2011

Our blog’s “Gone Local” series aims to explore who and what the Ithaca area’s literary community has to offer. Be it bookstores, publishers, or local authors, each contributes invaluably to the bookish zeitgeist. Recently, Swenson Book Development contacted Larson Publications (of Burdett, NY) to get an independent publisher’s views on the literary business, the craft, and the community. Larson Publications started in 1982 as a… [Read More]

What Can Media Bistro Do For You?
by,
November 12, 2011

The question is, what can’t Media Bistro do?  Welcome to the first post of our Media Bistro series!  If you’ve not yet explored this multi-faceted journalism and  social media resource, then now is the time to  CHECK IT OUT! With everything from Morning Media News Feeds, to Twitter Resources, to a lengthy list of online writing courses, Media Bistro is the ultimate resource for writers,… [Read More]

Good witch or bad witch? Automation and the 24/7 live stream of social media channels
by,
November 3, 2011

It’s tough to keep track of activity on the Twitterverse sometimes. This is how Twitter, or social media in general, draws you in and sucks away your time. The drawback of live streaming, immediately accessible social and media platforms is just that: it’s 24 hours, it’s always on. Inevitably, logging off Twitter means checking out from social media and missing out on conversation points, interesting… [Read More]

Building a new kind of bookstore business
by,
October 29, 2011

There’s a new bookstore in Athens, Georgia, with a different kind of business model. After four years of planning, learning, getting financing in place and finding the perfect location at 493 Prince Avenue, Janet Geddis opened Avid Bookshop this month. Last Friday night’s grand opening celebration crowded customers into tight corners and out the doors into the streets like a festival. Listen to this podcast… [Read More]

Social Media Round-Up: learn, think, laugh, share
by,
October 22, 2011

One of the best features of social media is how quickly content spreads. Articles, essays, videos, and blog posts that would have been overlooked become valuable sources of information. They keep me informed and aware of the world’s activity, from the complex to the inane. I find links all over the place, relying upon Twitter and Facebook as well as my e-mail inbox. I subscribe… [Read More]

Authors, bookstores, and social media, oh my!
by,
October 14, 2011

Cathryn Prince and Andrew Kessler came to Ithaca on the 10th and 11th of October for two book events. As authors of new titles related to Mars and meteorites, Prince and Kessler found Ithaca a town of stargazers and skywatchers. On Sunday, Bob Proehl hosted the authors for a reading and book signing at Buffalo Street Books. Cathryn Prince read an excerpt from A Professor, a… [Read More]

Frosty A.K. Warms to Social Media
by,
October 8, 2011

I admit it: I’m an alta kocker who is loathe to learn new tricks, especially social media. Towson University professor, Andrew Reiner, expresses my sentiments exactly  in the March/April 2011 edition of AARP Magazine. (I told you, I’m an old fart.) Reiner fears obsolescence in the digitized world and he mistrusts media in which people continuously hawk “brand Me” online. Like Reiner, I don’t want… [Read More]

The Fiction Writer’s Perspective: Live from the TCPL
by,
October 1, 2011

I’m not a fiction writer. I stick to what I know and what I know is English literature and social media. Yet this past week, I attended a workshop at the Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) on writing historical fiction.  On Wednesday night I assisted Jill Swenson, the host and experienced writer, editor and CEO of Swenson Book Development LLC. It was the last meeting… [Read More]