Today I’m writing to you with some lessons and thoughts from the author’s desk. I am a language tutor, turned blogger, turned nearly-done-author of two “Smart Guides to Language Learning”, and currently in the middle of all the work that goes into self-publishing. It’s rewarding to write your own book, put it out on virtual…
Movies for Your Ears, and other Podcasts
Last week, I met a lot of amazing people and learned many new things. I sat down with the German that landed a Cessna on Moscow’s Red Square in the Cold War, listened to the Choirboy Robber’s exploits, and found out that the key ingredient to a successful marriage are multiple bathrooms. And best of…
Should You Convert Your Ebook Yourself, Or Hire A Professional?
In a recent blog post on Teleread, Juli Monroe mentioned an email (probably unsolicited) that advertised ebook-conversion services for “only $400”. The author called the price offer “ludicrous”, arguing that softwares such as Calibre and Scrivener enable authors to do their own ebook-conversion, for free. The most controversial part of this article (as so often)…
Not a Game: Being Indie (a movie)
Free to do whatever and whenever you like: it’s everyone’s dream, isn’t it? Whether you’re in publishing, teaching or web design, once you kiss your job goodbye and decide to brave it out alone you will need a different toolkit. In the employment world it’s all about permission and expectation, and more often than not,…
How Indie Publishing Could Revolutionize Creative Expression But Often Doesn’t
It was Clay Shirky who said in a recent interview that publishing is no longer a job, it’s a button. In fact, I’m staring at one right now. It’s blue and it says “publish”. It’s simple. Shall I click it? No? But it would make me a world-class publisher, wouldn’t it? Some people will say yes,…
The Role Of Reading In The Age Of Constant Digital Distraction
While some people still entertain themselves with the predictable mudfight of “ebook vs paper book”, I find another question far more interesting, namely the role of reading in the age of continuous partial attention. How do we read in the 21st century? What do we read? Or do we read, at all? As Seth Godin…
A Short Story About The Middle East
( tl;dr – wrote a short story, you can download it here) I’ve lived both in the Far and Middle East. Both experiences left strong memories, traces, impressions. And I noticed very early that if I wanted to convey any of my experiences to others in writing, an autobiographical account wouldn’t cut it. Short Fiction…
Use Your Kindle To Learn A Foreign Language
Kindle devices and other e-readers are one of the most convenient and pleasant ways to consume digital text. Contrary to tablets, desktops and smartphones, the screens of e-readers like the Kindle enable you to read for hours without eye-strain, thanks to e-ink technology. While many people already use their e-reading device to devour the latest…
A Book That Was ‘No Book At All’
Once upon a time, a book was published which, to some people, was “no book at all”. This is how the story goes: In 1969, the author Idries Shah retold the ancient legend of a man with a big book that contained only very little writing and people who were very upset that it contained so…