Humanities & Culture - Literature (Upcoming blog)

El 10 de Marzo de 2010 se llevó a acabo en Hotel Sorotama de Pereira un encuentro entre representantes de la UTP, directivas de Frisby, representantes de la editorial mejicana Ediciones Sin Nombre y periodistas de la región, para inaugurar el evento Letras de Pereira para el Mundo. Esta convocatoria busca que Pereiranos y personas que están o estuvieron vinculados a la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira envíen sus obras literarias a concursar y posteriormente sean publicadas en Colombia y en Méjico.

El sitio web oficial es: Letras de Pereira para el Mundo.

Puede leerse en el web site de Carlos Cortés.

Guest Post by Marnie Swedberg

Social Networking (SN) is no longer an optional activity for authors. The time has come for you to make friends on Facebook, tweet on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

Pick your poison, swallow that frog or tackle that tiger, but take action today!

I was never going to get caught up in this SN thing, but thanks to a business coach, I decided to do a test. Within a couple months, income from SN interactions had replaced that of my Google Ads, despite the fact that I was only spending 15 minutes a day working on it. I now maintain groups of hundreds or thousands at several SN sites and you can it, too!

Here are five time-saving tips that will help you fit SN it into your busy schedule.

1. Choose a winner. There are dozens of social networking sites, but you probably only need to join one. Think back to your previously ignored SN invitations to learn where your friends, family and associates are hanging out, and join them there.

2. Publish your profile. Each site has different requirements and options. You will be able to complete the sign-up forms at most sites easily, but some will require you to tap into the contents of a recent resume.

3. Post a current photo. As a professional author, your head shot must capture your personality and support your career. Ask yourself: “If I was a media rep from Good Morning America, would I call this person?”

Guest Post by Irene Watson

Recently,  Loren Woodson, author of The Passion of Maryam, said to me:

I have been fortunate now to have won or been honorable-mentioned in some 8 or so book festivals (in either wild card or spiritual category). To whom should these email announcements most efficaciously be sent and with the least annoyance factor dusted up? I get presumably heartfelt congrats but there is a point of diminishing returns in keeping the book on people's minds. Or is there? I'd be interested in your and other Reader Viewers thoughts on this. So far I've opted for a strategy of accumulating some wins/mentions before sending out a blast, so it has something of being newslettery.

And are there ways to get this news to the non friends/family community?

Loren is asking the million dollar question that I'm not sure there is an answer for. The one thing that came up for me is something Roy H. Williams, from Wizard Academy

Being a self-published author is a lot of work as you write, publish, and market your books. You can’t accomplish everything you dream of doing, but with learning how to schedule your time and remembering to take time for yourself, you can make significant strides toward your goal.

Self-publishing is not easy. Let’s get the myth out of the way right now. Just because you wrote a book, Oprah will not call, you aren’t going to see many big royalty checks in the mail, and you won’t be living some F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby party lifestyle where everyone hails you as a genius.

Being both publisher and author simultaneously is not the easy life. It’s a whole new level of work you’ve taken on. Not one job but many jobs.

Most authors never achieve success precisely because they are authors and can’t envision or motivate themselves into being more than just authors. Once the first book is published, an author just doesn’t turn to writing the second book. The self-published author needs to be a writer, but he or she is also a publisher, a marketer, a book delivery person, a salesperson, and usually the janitor too.

Having a day job and trying to promote your book at the same time is not easy, much less writing the next book. Self-publishing is time-consuming and wearing all those hats can leave you running ragged trying to keep track of everything.

Guest Post by Victor Pross

An ‘icon’ is an image, depiction, representation, pictogram or likeness that stands for an object by representing it by analogy. By extension, the word ‘icon’ is also used, as seen in popular culture, in the general sense of symbol--such as a name, face or edifice.

In the Christian religion, idolatry is considered a sin, being defined as worship of any cult image or object as opposed to the worship of God. The modern era worships gods of a different kind--celebrities. The modern cult of celebrity and popular culture is saturated with both icons and idols.

Who are the biggest worshippers? Stanch religionists, of course. I admire many of the individuals I capture in art, but I don’t worship them. There is a big difference between admiration and worship. Worship is like admiration wearing blinders. Admiration is quality-oriented, not person-oriented. 

Said Albert Einstein: “It strikes me as unfair, and even in bad taste, to select a few individuals for boundless admiration, attributing superhuman powers of mind and character to them. This has been my fate, and the contrast between the popular estimate of me and the reality is simply grotesque.” 

This culture is a culture of worship, and it is celebrity that is worshiped. It is an epoch where celebrity is a modern mythos. This is prime fodder for satire.

Critics have responded to my art as though I was sui generis, a self-created eccentric without discernable origins. Very much the opposite is the truth.

Topics of conversation:

• What is Sensory Processing Disorder?  Signs, symptoms, and potential causes.
• Laird candidly talks about daughter Jamie's experience with SPD.
• Helpful resources for parents, plus inspiring advice and support from Laird.
• Current medical understanding of SPD, treatment protocols, public awareness.
• Lairds experience writing a memoir, publishing a book with a niche market, future projects including new book "Sensory Diet."

Listen to interview