tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-116908432024-03-05T13:30:46.468-08:00A Saturday RantAlan Canton has been writing A Saturday Rant for the past 19 years. He is the managing partner of <b><a href="http://www.newmediawebsitedesign.com/">NewMedia Website Design</a> </b> which designs websites for authors, publishers, and small businesses. He has rolled out a new website design service targeting authors and small biz people who have "no money" but who want a nice site... up in a day or two. See <b><a href="http://www.newmediacreate.com/">NewMedia Create.</a> </b>Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-48688725304013973882022-01-11T19:54:00.000-08:002022-01-11T19:54:00.135-08:00The Rise of the Part-Time Publisher<p>Wall Street Journal: A Hot Job for Hard Times: The Life-Insurance Agent
<br> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/y9v9aye">http://tinyurl.com/y9v9aye</a> <p>
When I went into the insurance and financial service/product sales five years ago I never expected that it would ever again regain the stature it had when my father was in it (along with Robert Young in <span style="font-style:italic;">Father Knows Best</span>) in the 50s and 60s. But if you believe the WSJ article linked above it looks like guys and gals like me are one rung higher on the food chain than lawyers... and that people are again seeing financial sales in a new (and better) light!<p>
The book biz and the <a href="http://www.jaya123.com">Jaya123.com</a> biz are great... and fun... but it is very difficult to make a full-time sustainable income in a one-earner household.... especially if one's first, current, and very expensive wife believes that Nordstroms is her closet!<p>
Publishing was so, so, so much easier in the 80s and 90s before the internet killed off so much of non-fiction publishing. Back then if you wanted to fix your bicycle or plant a garden you bought a book on bike repair or gardening. Not anymore. Today you go to a website where you will find a video on how to take apart your exact bike or a website with an interactive fill-in-the-form program on how to design and plant a garden in the exact amount of space you have.<p>
Everyone is sitting on the edge of their chair hoping and praying that ebooks will be their salvation. I too am hopeful, but not as optimistic as others.<p>
Bottom line, ebooks is the great disintermediation "agent" of the publishing biz. It started with micro computers and page layout software and then graphic software such that almost anyone with a few thousand dollars could get an ISBN and enter the industry. It's been a good 20 years for many independent publishers, but the past three or four have not been so good. There is too much inventory chasing too few readers. And given the competition from video games and online movies, reading has not fared well in the market place.<p>
Everyone is writing on the economics of the ebook business model and I don't want to get into that bag of worms. However, as disintermediation takes place and everyone and their dog becomes an ebook publisher it will be those publishers who can sell and market who will do the best in a crowded field. Many will have to take classes in sales and marketing using so-called "social media."<p>
In the old days you could publish your book on fixing bikes and get it in the bookstores with little difficulty and most often enough people would browse the shelf and buy your book... assuming it was any good. The foot-traffic was there. There wasn't a whole lot of marketing one had to do besides writing some press pieces and getting them out to the bicycle media.<p>
That train has left the station and another is not going to come again anytime soon.<p>
So how are you going to differentiate YOUR bike repair book... from the others? One way will be to make it multimedia.... incorporating music and videos... but that is going to be expensive... and when you consider we're talking price points of $9.95, the publisher will have to watch their start-up costs very carefully so as not to end up with the old paradigm of losing money on each sale but making it up on volume!<p>
In the future I see fewer and fewer full-time non-fiction publishers but many, many, more part-time publishers... people who publish for a sideline income... because that is about the best they can do given market conditions. <p>
My only hope is that all of these part-time publishers don't go into financial service sales!<p>
Alan N. Canton <br>
InsuranceSolutions123 Agency<br>
Fair Oaks, CA<br>
916-962-9296<br>
CA Lic # 0F31110<br>
http://www.insurancesolutions123.com<br>Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-42993546303265987702020-09-27T12:05:00.002-07:002020-09-27T12:07:25.923-07:00Day of Atonement<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6Xxhoe6n4wSjLHrMneU2IJaQZRPLUZkBkSfcR__TfQ0vUI7-JAUyuMYWQ0bpo-zrgrReNo8tlSywvEVZ-Q9zwx_vhl-OSrW9ZC-ZEK6pjFMZfPfZN0SLiKQQ4V7C6pZ4pXzjfg/s1280/kol.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6Xxhoe6n4wSjLHrMneU2IJaQZRPLUZkBkSfcR__TfQ0vUI7-JAUyuMYWQ0bpo-zrgrReNo8tlSywvEVZ-Q9zwx_vhl-OSrW9ZC-ZEK6pjFMZfPfZN0SLiKQQ4V7C6pZ4pXzjfg/w320-h180/kol.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Friends:</p><p>May I ask a small favor?</p><p>Please sit for ten minutes... that's all... just ten minutes on the day of Yom Kippur... and listen to this music.</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/Y4d74lbAYQg" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/Y4d74lbAYQg</a></p><p>It is the famous Kol Nidrei piece played at just about every Jewish temple in the world after sundown on the evening before Yom Kippur, which translated to English means Day of Atonement.</p><p>There are a zillion recordings of this music... most often done with just a cello and piano... sometimes a violin as well. This version is nice because it is a full orchestra. It is a rather famous recording done in Rome in 1994 for the Pope. (More info is here: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Concert_to_Commemorate_the_Shoah" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Concert_to_Commemorate_the_Shoah</a>)</p><p>Just about every temple will hire two or three musicians (if there are none in the congregation) to perform this short piece... played at the start of the evening ceremony. Everyone immediately quiets down when the first note is played and for that night and the next day everything is very, very somber and serious.</p><p>According to tradition, it is on Yom Kippur that God decides each person's fate, so Jews are encouraged to make amends and ask forgiveness for sins committed during the past year. The holiday is observed with a 24-hour fast and several special religious services.</p><p>While there are six fasting days in Judaism, Yom Kippur is the one day that most (observant) Jews fast for 24 hours (or attempt it... most don't make it!)... believing that fasting is a vehicle for reflecting and repenting for one's sins. The other fasting days are considered minor and only the most devout do it.</p><p>Yom Kippur comes ten days after Rosh Hashanah, or the start of the Jewish new year. These are called the Days of Awe, where Jews ask God for forgiveness so their name can be enshrined in the book of life. There is nothing more serious in the entire Jewish year (or life) than Yom Kippur. No jokes, no comedy, this is major, major seriousness.</p><p>The evening service is a couple of hours. Everyone then goes home but comes back around 9 AM. There are a series of services during the day, each one usually 60 minutes long with a 15 or 20 minute break between them. This goes until about 5 PM when the final service ends and everyone goes into the social hall or outside to a courtyard for a lite meal, served buffet-style by the temple's sisterhood. Many people will skip that and simply go out for a lite dinner or often there are break-the-fast parties. These are not big feasts... because you can't cook (or do any work) over Yom Kippur so everything was made in advance... lots of veggie dishes or cold-cuts... usually still chilled from the fridge. There were always nice cookies and cakes as well.</p><p>At the break-the-fast people will walk up to others and say the traditional greeting of the holy days... "L'shanah tovah" (sha-nah toe-vah) ... which means in English "May you have a good year." People shake hands or hug.</p><p>Judaism teaches that because humans have been given free will, they are responsible for their own actions. If they commit an action which is wrong, then they must seek forgiveness. Forgiveness can only be accepted from the victim. Jews place great emphasis on teshuva , meaning repentance.</p><p>So I ask you to please sit and listen to the music on Sunday and perhaps ask for your own entry into the Book of Life.</p><p>I want you all to live... and to have a 'good year.'</p><p>L'shanah tovah,</p><p>ANC</p><p>Alan N. Canton<br />8041 Sierra Street<br />Fair Oaks, CA 95628</p><p><br /></p>Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-80767583992872209872020-04-11T15:31:00.000-07:002020-04-12T09:15:21.145-07:00Brave: A Better and Safer Browser<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Most people think there are only a few browsers around. The best known are Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Google Chrome.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Google Chrome has about 60% of the browser install base. It is what I use… up to now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Google put the basic 'engine' (named Chromium) of their browser in the public domain so that others could build browsers. Google probably didn't want to do it, but there were some political and (European) legal reasons why they did (or had to.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I won't go into a long explanation about just how much personal data Google collects... but it is extensive... they see every site you go to as well as every search you make and every user/password you enter. They log all of this info on you into their database and sell it to the highest bidder... which is why you get a lot of junk mail and robo-calls, not to mention the potential of identity-theft.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the past 24 months people have gotten 'sick and tired' of Google and as a result several new browsers have been developed that are based on privacy... they don't track you, they block ads, and they don't collect any data.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A very well-known programmer, actually a 'legend' in browser development... <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Eich" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">Brendan Eich</span></a>,<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"> </span> put together a talented staff of developers (in 2017) and with some venture capital he created a browser called <b>Brave</b> that is based on privacy. They have released their new browser and it is now taking off in popularity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">(The browser also has a potentially revolutionary methodology to actually pay people to accept certain ads that Brave 'vets' but it is strictly voluntary and it is turned off by default. I didn’t turn it on… yet.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You can read about and download the Brave browser here: <a href="https://brave.com/" style="color: #954f72;">https://brave.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are tons of review about Brave... just Google if you want to see them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here is a good one: <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/brave-1-0-browser-review-browse-faster-and-safer-while-ticking-off-advertisers/" style="color: #954f72;">https://www.cnet.com/news/brave-1-0-browser-review-browse-faster-and-safer-while-ticking-off-advertisers/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here is another: <a href="https://www.pcworld.com/article/3453376/brave-10-review-this-excellent-privacy-focused-browser-can-make-you-money-too.html" style="color: #954f72;">https://www.pcworld.com/article/3453376/brave-10-review-this-excellent-privacy-focused-browser-can-make-you-money-too.html</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of course the advantages of privacy goes without saying. But there is another feature. Because the browser blocks ads and does not write a zillion cookies that sites place on your computer, pages render <u>much faster</u> than when using Google Chrome. (Note: you won't see ads, just gray boxes where they would go… if they had been downloaded.) Thus, if you are on limited data or a slow connection, this is a big advantage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Since Brave is built on the Chrome engine, it looks and feels EXACTLY like Google Chrome. You probably won't even know you are using Brave... except for its red lion-face logo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Also, Brave easily imports all of your bookmarks and passwords that you saved in Google Chrome (or other browsers.) It works with most password managers (like 1Password.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They are developing a way to ‘sync’ your bookmarks to your other devices and that should be released in a month or two.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Installation could not be easier. For Apple you download the .dmg file to Downloads (or wherever,) go to it in Finder (file manager) and dbl-click and you get a pop-up showing you to drag the lion-icon to the blue folder icon... that's it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />There are a lot of “how-to” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=install+brave+browser" style="color: #954f72;">install Brave videos</a> for both Windows and Mac on YouTube.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: center;">Brave also “lives” just fine with both Chrome and Safari and Firefox. You can have all four open at the same time if you wish!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You will have to set your home page in Brave Settings... simple to do... just like it is in Chrome,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The only <u>two important differences</u> I've found between Chrome and Brave is:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. The default font size in Brave is a few pts. smaller than Chrome, but that is easily adjusted in Brave Settings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. When you create a new tab, you get a new screen/window with a random pix and a clock and other info.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With Chrome you just get a new Google Search page.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If you don't like the 'new page tab' picture page you can get an extension for Brave that will just give you a white screen. I like the picture-screen as the pictures it fetches are high quality and fun to see. (You can also delete any of the data on the screen or even hide the picture if you want.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the junk mail and robo-calls I get as well as the liability of identity-theft, all of which is attributable to Chrome. I believe that Google has gone too far in its personal data-collection efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unless Google cleans up its act... and adopts a more privacy-centric approach, I don’t see myself going back to Chrome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Feel free to contact me if you have questions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ANC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Alan N. Canton, Managing Partner<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">NewMedia Create</span><br />
<a href="https://newmediacreate.com/" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">https://NewMediaCreate.com</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Fair Oaks, CA</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">PS: I found out about Brave from a terrific listserv for Apple Macs. Mailing lists were eclipsed by web chat boards, but they are coming back into vogue now. You can join the Mac-L list by going to <a href="http://listmoms.net/mac-l/index.html">http://listmoms.net/mac-l/index.html</a>. One of the contributors is Randy B. Singer, Co-author of <i>The Macintosh Bible</i>. His site has lots of valuable info for Mac users of all levels <a href="http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html">http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html</a>. Much of what you see above was borrowed or stolen from Randy and others on the listserv. </span></span><br />
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Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-43179555968912942742020-03-24T09:09:00.000-07:002020-03-24T09:23:15.342-07:00Who is the worst company in the world?I'm so tired of Comcast raising my rates that I posted this <a href="https://mailanc2.net/urls9296/on9dj" target="_blank">in their forum</a>. Maybe someone at Comcast will read it and make some changes.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
@ComcastChe wrote:<br />
I would be more than happy to assist you </blockquote>
<br />
We have all been though this procedure where we contact the no-name "official employee" who claims they are from the 'retention department' and who tells us that our bill is going to be lowered or adjusted.<br />
<br />
It is all a ruse.<br />
<br />
Nothing happens. Our bills are adjusted and then quickly raised again via some bogus "line fee" or "sports fee" or "telecom fee." And it is great for Comcast because they have now locked us into a two-year contract.<br />
<br />
It is ironic because "contracts" mean nothing to the company as their lawyers have written the document so that the company can raise prices anytime they want and we can't get out of said contract without paying a exorbitant early-term fee. There is nothing in the contract that is in our interest or that protects us.<br />
<br />
I won't contact whomever "ComcastChe" is because I've been down that road before.<br />
<br />
I paid the Comcast bill and I will pay the next one and one after that. But in the interim I will study the web on how to cut the cord and about what services and equipment I need.<br />
<br />
And in the next few months I will also keep an eye out on how AT&T is doing with their new TV platform plus Internet in my area.<br />
<br />
I'll either go with ATT or cut the cord. I don't want to do either but Comcast has reached my tipping point. (Actually $150 after tax, fees, etc. was my tipping point... and I'm just now realizing that I must do something because we all know that the increases will never end.)<br />
<br />
I don't hate Comcast and I don't wish them any ill will. I do wish them better management that will be customer-centric (think Apple) but I don't see that happening any time soon.<br />
<br />
After being a good customer with them for fifteen years, I will stay with them for another fifteen WEEKS at which time I should know how to keep their Internet, put up an antenna for local stations, join some streaming services (we have Prime and Netflix already) and cut out their TV service and their constant price increases with no added value received.<br />
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It is sad. They were a great company when they first came to our part of the country. And their field people are quite good. But it looks like their corporate culture has been dominated by a management team obsessed with greed, avarice, and arrogance.<br />
<br />
Comcast is today what Microsoft was in the the 90s, an 00s. But in 2013 the Microsoft CEO stepped down (or was forced out) and a new management team came and that company changed so that today they are nothing like the company they were in the past. Maybe one day the same will happen with Comcast.<br />
<br />
I hold a lot of Comcast stock (CMCSA)... so I'm 'working' on it, but no one in Philadelphia, PA listens.<br />
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<br />Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-71741650310423956062018-10-21T12:57:00.001-07:002018-10-25T20:24:49.606-07:00Pacificon Hamfest - 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx3keSKeK3TIrhngmHinr7Paloy83EjPfcC43bNAMifS3uHYQA5Jcrtk_aB_Dp7VAB_6bEzLGs4n1eg8caugX1UIiqQ4Ywc5JPNIFcdfU8e78nMO3K-gbJpd4gtz4wNyF_PaLGg/s1600/pacificon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="950" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx3keSKeK3TIrhngmHinr7Paloy83EjPfcC43bNAMifS3uHYQA5Jcrtk_aB_Dp7VAB_6bEzLGs4n1eg8caugX1UIiqQ4Ywc5JPNIFcdfU8e78nMO3K-gbJpd4gtz4wNyF_PaLGg/s640/pacificon.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
by Alan Canton (K6AAI)<br />
<br />
It was good to attend Pacificon again. I always enjoy reporting on it.<br />
<br />
I missed it last year and to be honest given what I saw this year, it does not look like I missed much. Of course I'm only speaking about the vendor exhibits. I did not attend any of the seminars or other functions.<br />
<br />
Since not many (or any!) new radios are released each year, if you only attend every other year to see 'what's out there,' you really won't miss much, if my experience this year is valid.<br />
<br />
There were two irritations that did not change from two years ago.<br />
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The first was the abysmal parking situation. The Marriott in San Ramon has a large parking lot, but not near large enough to accommodate the cars for both hotel guests and Pacificon visitors. I was told there was an off-site parking area with a shuttle bus but I never saw a sign for it. People were parked on the grass, in red zones, etc. Those who knew the situation knew to park around the corner at the Target shopping center and make the walk to the hotel.<br />
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The second commonality from the last time I attended was the abysmal prices for food... at least compared to the quality of it. I don't know if it is a money-grab by the hotel or if they split some of it with the Mount Diablo Radio Club who hosts on the show.<br />
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For the third year in a row, Kenwood <a href="http://www.kenwood.com/usa/com/amateur/" target="_blank">http://www.kenwood.com/usa/com/amateur/</a> didn't see fit to support the show. They did not exhibit. I'm a Kenwood 'guy,' all my radios are Kenwood so their decision to pass on Pacificon was disappointing to me.<br />
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Being a good reporter, I asked people about it. Everyone noticed the absence of Kenwood. I heard these comments from hams I spoke with about the issue:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"If Kenwood won't support the ham community, perhaps we should not support Kenwood."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I guess we're not good enough for Kenwood. What arrogance!"</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It looks like Kenwood is a silent key."</blockquote>
Kenwood didn't make any friends this weekend, that's for sure. ICOM and Elecraft and Flex and Yaesu took space, sent reps and had lots and lots of people at their booths asking questions, turning knobs, looking at waterfalls, and thinking about buying a new radio.<br />
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<a href="https://static.dxengineering.com/global/images/prod/mediumlarge/ico-ic-7300_it_ml.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="113" data-original-width="250" height="90" src="https://static.dxengineering.com/global/images/prod/mediumlarge/ico-ic-7300_it_ml.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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About the only 'buzz' besides the Kenwood no-show was the price-drop for the mega-popular ICOM 7300 <a href="http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/hf/7300/default.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/hf/7300/default.aspx</a> transceiver now selling for around $970 depending on what vendor you buy from. A few people commented that maybe ICOM was clearing out old inventory to make way for an upgrade to the model. (I'd love to see them add D-Star to it but that would probably cannibalize some of their other products.)<br />
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Elecraft <a href="https://elecraft.com/" target="_blank">https://elecraft.com/</a> had the entire 'back wall' of the main exhibit hall and at times it was two-people-deep to see their equipment... and seeing their equipment is a real treat. The fit and finish of their products is top-notch. Their equipment is made on-shore and no one has a better reputation for quality and service. When I win the lottery I will build out an Elecraft station.<br />
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I had a nice talk with an author selling his "Fast Track" <a href="https://fasttrackham.com/" target="_blank">https://fasttrackham.com/</a> books on passing the various ham license tests. He and I agreed that the Extra exam is way harder than it has to be. I shared with him a <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2017/12/hints-and-tips-for-passing-amateur.html" target="_blank">short piece of wrote about 'gaming' the exam</a> that has received many favorable comments.<br />
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<br />
A very interesting line of products for QRP is from QRPworks <a href="https://www.qrpworks.com/" target="_blank">https://www.qrpworks.com/ </a>. I didn't know much about QRP before talking with these guys. I just returned from a week on the Mendocino coast overlooking the ocean and it would have been nice to have had a QRP rig with a wire antenna and a battery so I could sit out on the deck overlooking the Pacific and maybe work Asia if there was any skip at all.<br />
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There were several antenna companies that exhibited. One that I had not seen before was N6BT <a href="https://nextgenerationantennas.com/" target="_blank">https://nextgenerationantennas.com/</a> I don't know much about their products but they claim to be the "next generation" of antennas. (I guess "antenna hype" never ends!)<br />
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Also exhibiting was Elk <a href="https://elkantennas.com/" target="_blank">https://elkantennas.com/ </a>who were selling their portable 2M/440 antennas like Canadian marijuana. I really like this product and am going to get one when I get my new HT (probably the ICOM 51A.)<br />
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<a href="https://trademarks.justia.com/media/image.php?serial=87540440" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="336" height="83" src="https://trademarks.justia.com/media/image.php?serial=87540440" width="200" /></a></div>
Finally, there was a company called Mastwerks <a href="https://trademarks.justia.com/owners/mastwerks-llc-3755425/" target="_blank">https://trademarks.justia.com/owners/mastwerks-llc-3755425/ </a>that plans to sell high-end antenna masts. It is a spin-off from Buddipole. They had one sample there but had no other info. The Buddipole people were at the next booth so I guess Buddipole took the extra space to get some eyeballs on their new company.<br />
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As I said above, I enjoyed attending the show even though I'd seen most of it before. As with many shows I attend (mostly in the book publishing and web design biz as I own Adams-Blake Publishing <a href="https://adams-blake.com/" target="_blank">https://adams-blake.com</a> and NewMedia Create <a href="https://newmediacreate.com/" target="_blank">https://newmediacreate.com</a> talking with the attendees and often meeting up with people I have only spoken with but have never met is the best part.<br />
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If you have the opportunity to attend Pacificon you will see and meet radio voices you know well but have never had a F2F with. I urge you to go... maybe not every single year, but at least every once in a while.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Alan Canton</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>K6AAI</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Fair Oaks, CA</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>http://www.qrz.com/db/K6AAI</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>https://www.k6aai.net/</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"I am often asked how radio works.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well, you see, wire telegraphy is like a very long cat.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You yank his tail in New York and he meows in Los Angeles.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Do you understand this?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now, radio is exactly the same, except that there is no cat."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>- Attributed to Albert Einstein</span></span></div>
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Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-64992653768014836022018-06-21T20:26:00.000-07:002018-06-22T08:03:43.321-07:00BEA Diary 2018<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6494062735939280146" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 676px;">
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<span style="line-height: 19.6px;">By </span><b style="line-height: 19.6px;">Alan Canton</b><span style="line-height: 19.6px;">... with editorial assistance from </span><b style="line-height: 19.6px;">Mayapriya Long </b><span style="line-height: 19.6px;">and</span><b style="line-height: 19.6px;"> Alice Walker</b><br />
<b style="line-height: 19.6px;"><i style="font-weight: normal;">[Note: Click on any pix to see it enlarged.]</i></b></div>
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Is silence golden? If so, then this year's BEA could pay off the national debt!</div>
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My guess is that this year the amount of floor space sold was about 30% LESS than last year... and last year was less than the year before. A bunch of large publishers decided to pull out and the venerable IBPA decided not to buy space this year... a decision I disagreed with and terminated my membership with them.<br />
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I'm a big supporter of BEA. I think the industry NEEDS a large and vibrant trade show, especially with the reported resurgence of small bookstores I keep hearing about. It is also important to vendors.<br />
<br />
I read that <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bea/article/77295-event-attendees-rose-2-at-bookexpo-bookcon-attendance-held-at-20-000.html" target="_blank">attendance</a> was up by 2% over last year, with some 7,000+ people in the room. In some part of the hall it was crowded, but to be honest, it did not feel like there was a 'crush' of people on either day. </div>
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We came with a new service... <a href="http://adamsblakebookservices.com/" target="_blank">AdamsBlakeBookServices.com</a>:</div>
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While the aisles were not as empty as the opening picture throughout the hall, there was no doubt that attendance way down compared to the BookExpo shows of years ago when upward to 20,000+ people would jam the place.</div>
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Anyway, there were not that many exhibits of great interest to me this year as in the past years, so this missive will be (probably thankfully) shorter than previous versions of this electronic fish-wrap. </div>
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One of the strangest books I saw was <a href="https://www.alphabodies.store/" target="_blank">Alphabodies</a>. By using the female figure to create universal graphics of the English alphabet directed under the female gaze, the project allows the viewer to celebrate the human body in a space free from the stereotypical taboos often imposed by society. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROnkFjYXfsXDckZiPatwDQ8nF3CX8jIHoff3G9s0fuRNqoTbjzXBiPd_sN6gVLLjWBYfSU9HrR5UNU_AafrOOahJCRKfOp651KtDFIjBgX0O-p8XkrOOHTNWd80DmjhQag-9SmA/s1600/IMG_0214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROnkFjYXfsXDckZiPatwDQ8nF3CX8jIHoff3G9s0fuRNqoTbjzXBiPd_sN6gVLLjWBYfSU9HrR5UNU_AafrOOahJCRKfOp651KtDFIjBgX0O-p8XkrOOHTNWd80DmjhQag-9SmA/s640/IMG_0214.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alphabodies: very interesting but not sure it will sel</td></tr>
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I always admire the single author with a single book who comes to BEA in the hope that lightening will strike and that his book will be discovered. <i><a href="https://www.markristau.com/" target="_blank">A Hero Dreams</a></i> won a Ben Franklin award and that means something. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_MMzbEYrdwgyRYj4pSc80O_7g8KB4Yow-rxZlj3t_omlQ5AjEYrtqtdBF2m1sa9RFYHdh2QhqUmHzHWeAOh0QU6lYQmi3PJxlOMSfpBKJAjoxz0swTO6rhYbHq-skfanD-Yo0A/s1600/IMG_0218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_MMzbEYrdwgyRYj4pSc80O_7g8KB4Yow-rxZlj3t_omlQ5AjEYrtqtdBF2m1sa9RFYHdh2QhqUmHzHWeAOh0QU6lYQmi3PJxlOMSfpBKJAjoxz0swTO6rhYbHq-skfanD-Yo0A/s640/IMG_0218.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Mark Ristau and his novel</td></tr>
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A pioneer in organizing freelancers into a network for mutual support and advancement, the <a href="https://www.the-efa.org/about/#history" target="_blank">Editorial Freelancers Association</a> is now recognized throughout the publishing industry as the source for professional editorial assistance. It sounds like a worthwhile group to me.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7mb4ZXTugkcYuOxfIE310FwWfF_NoebhWqo97rtLegcK37OQ3AFg7qiZlLj9u7DZ_vvMwnO0APJHVNiYbjFatTry8aIi4X70LcFUFhLeUw3KTuPtC4_GIs3UczDVT-kytbuwvuA/s1600/IMG_0221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7mb4ZXTugkcYuOxfIE310FwWfF_NoebhWqo97rtLegcK37OQ3AFg7qiZlLj9u7DZ_vvMwnO0APJHVNiYbjFatTry8aIi4X70LcFUFhLeUw3KTuPtC4_GIs3UczDVT-kytbuwvuA/s640/IMG_0221.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cindi Powell of EFA</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Another organization that I was not very familiar with is PEN America. They write: "PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible."</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEHWP3VrP9m1FoOpqNF5ws_EOYScFDe9P-cbxnqx6qy4Sv5XZeTNHZ0qQkEDljz387s0CAxN4avBBvyyqQZep5qHsHV2UKmZAgwFUfADGkc83cVAuy4Urg3aoUD1NErN_FeJ9Cg/s1600/IMG_0224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEHWP3VrP9m1FoOpqNF5ws_EOYScFDe9P-cbxnqx6qy4Sv5XZeTNHZ0qQkEDljz387s0CAxN4avBBvyyqQZep5qHsHV2UKmZAgwFUfADGkc83cVAuy4Urg3aoUD1NErN_FeJ9Cg/s640/IMG_0224.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elly Brinkely of Pen America</td></tr>
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<i><a href="https://www.memydogandasheep.com/" target="_blank">Me, My Dog and a Sheep</a> </i>is a new illustrated children’s book that tells the story of a tenderhearted boy and a good-natured dog who must overcome unique challenges together when the dog is suddenly struck with an illness that could leave him paralyzed. I'm not sure where the sheep fits in! I love it when authors tie merchandise to their book. Every author should do so. (We build great ecom sites... <a href="https://newmediaecom.com/" target="_blank">https://newmediaecom.com</a>.)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdSF2TnwzvSTyfKy6o-kTZGvJdljCjVP7IzJZvlprAv7jbJmodQ_RQT3Yn3UF8L4o0ICvT7O-EDWeyPYfpElwyiiGY6o6XpxNH_9MTkEn6JQR80eHf8uO77fZSJYKAy6oNuAh75w/s1600/IMG_0211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdSF2TnwzvSTyfKy6o-kTZGvJdljCjVP7IzJZvlprAv7jbJmodQ_RQT3Yn3UF8L4o0ICvT7O-EDWeyPYfpElwyiiGY6o6XpxNH_9MTkEn6JQR80eHf8uO77fZSJYKAy6oNuAh75w/s640/IMG_0211.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I believe this is the publicist for the book</td></tr>
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Unlike previous years there was not a lot of high-tech stuff at the show. But I found one item that is terrific. It is an app that has music and sound that syncs with your voice while you read a book to kids. I can't explain it well... just see the video on the <a href="https://www.noveleffect.com/" target="_blank">Novel Effect</a> website. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOcnEZZewineqCM-t8yr7Jzd8WyxpuJHv0cSuekoYdzSrODAtVn3lPO_A_-1rK9bFYDonqeVme0M3M5OGmCX4DrpxhFkASImBUI3p3cdI0DXZg08R4KdNuGpnIrSO_KYQ8W_jOw/s1600/IMG_0219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOcnEZZewineqCM-t8yr7Jzd8WyxpuJHv0cSuekoYdzSrODAtVn3lPO_A_-1rK9bFYDonqeVme0M3M5OGmCX4DrpxhFkASImBUI3p3cdI0DXZg08R4KdNuGpnIrSO_KYQ8W_jOw/s640/IMG_0219.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carmela Orsini (left) and Melody Fuize of Novel Effect. This is very cool tech!</td></tr>
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There are always giveaway items at BEA and this year's most favored was a rubber duck given by the <a href="https://shop.aap.org/" target="_blank">American Academy of Pediatrics</a>. They publish a bunch of books on children's health issues. Everyone wanted a blue rubber duck!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sfJ36fgGewWcj-BTDf5CxkH2FTpsKmxVes3AtdrCtFwWGeVwvsyQxJAG5-tedisB9YYWlD4yRfK0XAhmt5mXyqnlns-7icHiGHWW7c79pKdCOBhmMj7PKA1TC0tWx_V1EM5Oag/s1600/IMG_0222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sfJ36fgGewWcj-BTDf5CxkH2FTpsKmxVes3AtdrCtFwWGeVwvsyQxJAG5-tedisB9YYWlD4yRfK0XAhmt5mXyqnlns-7icHiGHWW7c79pKdCOBhmMj7PKA1TC0tWx_V1EM5Oag/s640/IMG_0222.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sara Hoerdeman with the best promotional item of BEA 2018</td></tr>
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I have no idea who <a href="http://www.blackstonepublishing.com/" target="_blank">Blackstone Publishing</a> is... never heard of them before and no one wanted to bother talking to me.. but they had one of the largest booths of the show (which was not saying much since most were downsized from years ago.) </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2dhgqzPLBjrhjs5Hiz5pq3WUp2Ww7uFaZKgmtqZlDmXsuFglZBR8ZB96C8RIfAerSgpOvtd9nxpL0wxKGHCrqQYv4zq3LVIbh0n9hm-9gt4oUUlVZ73Axz49snkbYC_IdTfdmHw/s1600/IMG_0228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2dhgqzPLBjrhjs5Hiz5pq3WUp2Ww7uFaZKgmtqZlDmXsuFglZBR8ZB96C8RIfAerSgpOvtd9nxpL0wxKGHCrqQYv4zq3LVIbh0n9hm-9gt4oUUlVZ73Axz49snkbYC_IdTfdmHw/s640/IMG_0228.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No one wanted to talk to me</td></tr>
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Everyone loves <a href="https://www.workman.com/" target="_blank">Workman Publishing</a> and each year they build a most imaginative large booth. If I were ever to go to work for a publisher it would be Workman. They are terrific.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8ySngOgtMOSq0y4KMm0WsUzO3APH-wqM4uLtjfblfOovDln3O5H8THwT0PcbBgrEtLoGx184yCh24HuZnhUFddx-pwSOe2thd3WNZhVMrCMMf1dVijbIMVpx8e_aaAAzeDfLRA/s1600/IMG_0229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8ySngOgtMOSq0y4KMm0WsUzO3APH-wqM4uLtjfblfOovDln3O5H8THwT0PcbBgrEtLoGx184yCh24HuZnhUFddx-pwSOe2thd3WNZhVMrCMMf1dVijbIMVpx8e_aaAAzeDfLRA/s640/IMG_0229.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great list from a great publisher</td></tr>
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Each BEA has tech stuff of dubious merit. I think this was about the dumbest idea I've seen in a while... but I bet it will sell. Their pitch: "The Freewrite by <a href="https://getfreewrite.com/" target="_blank">Astrohaus</a> is a distraction-free writing instrument designed to help the modern writer get in a flow state and stay there." $500 for a... typewriter? C'mon man!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1K9uxuNZYo7LyfPP_JYUiZPQU0camIVu3785QtLL10W92OfRIObp1GDy7vx_wd62e2obOaKENfDw2yVvnxsAbLENmbWx9iuv8FvbD41TeRq3rj9gwlwSTtoIN0BCGjtZF1vTATg/s1600/IMG_0236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1K9uxuNZYo7LyfPP_JYUiZPQU0camIVu3785QtLL10W92OfRIObp1GDy7vx_wd62e2obOaKENfDw2yVvnxsAbLENmbWx9iuv8FvbD41TeRq3rj9gwlwSTtoIN0BCGjtZF1vTATg/s640/IMG_0236.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It will sell... lots of dumb ideas do!</td></tr>
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There are always celebrities at BEA hawking their new book. One was former Secretary of State John Kerry. In <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Every-Day-Is-Extra/John-Kerry/9781501178955" target="_blank">Every Day is Extra</a> John Kerry tells the story of his remarkable American life—from son of a diplomat to decorated Vietnam veteran, five-term United States senator, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, and Secretary of State for four years—a revealing memoir by a witness to some of the most important events of our recent history.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl03-XWKi5o4wKYYPJvSkuWavx9z9CeqReb97Xmfhz1-miNx1bwwi557jY0l6balgRx21BvLDQNIh3k0S_A1ouJS3UZH4okksAPHfymGxpSFeMKLZErwNXzElFwJSXp-9lcwEU3A/s1600/IMG_0247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl03-XWKi5o4wKYYPJvSkuWavx9z9CeqReb97Xmfhz1-miNx1bwwi557jY0l6balgRx21BvLDQNIh3k0S_A1ouJS3UZH4okksAPHfymGxpSFeMKLZErwNXzElFwJSXp-9lcwEU3A/s640/IMG_0247.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry for the bad pix... no flash was allowed.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">A huge line that ran around the building was for Sally Field who was doing an in-booth signing. Her new book, <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/In-Pieces/Sally-Field/9781471175756" target="_blank">In Pieces</a>, </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">is her account of a challenging and lonely childhood, the craft that helped her find her voice, and a powerful emotional legacy that shaped her journey as a daughter and a mother.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPYpmmosWpnnyn-HGsDofSMObt0BaCb6aeMAVCyXHxqtZPb7SXOCTqY5VyLB1ovM1HRYjZMLE9NbwkjPBztQOtFLxLT9IdxvOKFaGsHSKBcr1D7FYtzofSgh_tr8w9csCwiedFA/s1600/IMG_0251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPYpmmosWpnnyn-HGsDofSMObt0BaCb6aeMAVCyXHxqtZPb7SXOCTqY5VyLB1ovM1HRYjZMLE9NbwkjPBztQOtFLxLT9IdxvOKFaGsHSKBcr1D7FYtzofSgh_tr8w9csCwiedFA/s640/IMG_0251.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sally Field (Yeah, we really do like her!)</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">There wasn't much in the way of interesting sidelines this year... and the only one that I saw that had much in the way of sales potential was eco-dough. <a href="http://www.ecokidsusa.com/index.html" target="_blank">eco-kids®</a> is a line of art supplies that gives children the tools to create using non-toxic, natural ingredients and environmentally friendly packaging.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1YsdndxyshJ65d3S23dn8BZ0kZF7p_RzAEG0705vrZcdBhM-QJ2dVR1x8Lm9NqZOgZVP3Q9by1g0l7xDd6DUZ6hjJ21Y4sCM2yPY9TfL7BT6Bb2fG_Q1pvz3D5XHUWVrnfFpmqw/s1600/IMG_0256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1YsdndxyshJ65d3S23dn8BZ0kZF7p_RzAEG0705vrZcdBhM-QJ2dVR1x8Lm9NqZOgZVP3Q9by1g0l7xDd6DUZ6hjJ21Y4sCM2yPY9TfL7BT6Bb2fG_Q1pvz3D5XHUWVrnfFpmqw/s640/IMG_0256.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They say you can eat it... like the paste we ate in 1st grade</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">I've seen lots of dogs and cats and birds and even a goldfish as 'authors' at BEA but I can't remember seeing a little kid. According to the publicist, John Humphreys (John John) author of <i><a href="http://amazingjohnjohn.com/about-me/" target="_blank">Be Amazing</a>,</i> is a "motivator, educator, actor, model, science kid, magician, pianist, singer, and all around happy Earthling." </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCA52aMlt7Cx-Zuj-NGaIwsQ5LrPupVO3ErlbnYZgJOoMlczA0_bMMTJm7vNVbW8DtQEaJn9DdruEbGdK3T9Or81QaCA4GW5mnWO2slqHyLm-dvMWKHrackFDnFwD-fEquyMnxKg/s1600/IMG_0248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCA52aMlt7Cx-Zuj-NGaIwsQ5LrPupVO3ErlbnYZgJOoMlczA0_bMMTJm7vNVbW8DtQEaJn9DdruEbGdK3T9Or81QaCA4GW5mnWO2slqHyLm-dvMWKHrackFDnFwD-fEquyMnxKg/s640/IMG_0248.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The youngest author I've ever seen at BEA</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">There are always a ton of kid-books at BEA and this year was no exception. I thought that <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PiggyAndPugBook/" target="_blank"><i>Piggy and Pug</i></a> was the best of a whole bunch of really good child-lit tomes. Also Anne Wheaton wins the award for the author who looks most like her poster!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_owsmQyYgnArd84LYHmlHaW-JYDHhsIg2_GE5x3iUUVo4EHcA0umSt2Oy3AgiRjiRqppYSdS4f7Cq6GKQt6FW50g29HbTA0hB1EkTW_M9sl5FLHHz2CyJytka_BM3OJEYgxUqwQ/s1600/IMG_0249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_owsmQyYgnArd84LYHmlHaW-JYDHhsIg2_GE5x3iUUVo4EHcA0umSt2Oy3AgiRjiRqppYSdS4f7Cq6GKQt6FW50g29HbTA0hB1EkTW_M9sl5FLHHz2CyJytka_BM3OJEYgxUqwQ/s640/IMG_0249.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Wheaton, author</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Do you remember that I said that not nearly as much booth space had been sold this year as in previous years? Well, in previous years all this space would have been publisher booths teeming with people. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHpD3_ZXgeYQnRA38thOvp7-lULSsqa9wis_i_cwxYXvybpKpwarozZxPP34Y6bYuOYmfScQFS_gS6C_xvsbEuFSCidqD6_iU-9ucn9T_Ne1c3sKA4FYnszBypSjwp6qLKfO9Jw/s1600/IMG_0243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHpD3_ZXgeYQnRA38thOvp7-lULSsqa9wis_i_cwxYXvybpKpwarozZxPP34Y6bYuOYmfScQFS_gS6C_xvsbEuFSCidqD6_iU-9ucn9T_Ne1c3sKA4FYnszBypSjwp6qLKfO9Jw/s640/IMG_0243.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>CONCLUSION</b><br />
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So what is the colophon here? I don't know. I just don't. Even though there were fewer publishers and even though I didn't see any breakout books, it was still a very good show from the standpoint of a book buyer, librarian, or a major exhibitor. But the booths in the marginal areas of the floor just didn't get the traffic that they got when there were 3X the number of attendees.<br />
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I want to be optimistic about the chances for survival, but I just can't seem to accumulate the metrics to base such a prediction on. I could see the BEA trade show canceled and only the open-to-the-public (for a price) BookCon continuing. It will all depend on if the major publishers continue to get value from BEA and, of course, continue to buy floor space.<br />
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But I don't know. This was the 21st consecutive BEA that I've attended and it was easy to wax nostalgic about "back in the day." </div>
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When walking through the empty areas I kept hearing the lyrics from <a href="https://youtu.be/y3KEhWTnWvE" target="_blank">an old song from the 1960s</a>...</div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Those were the days my friend</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">We thought they'd never end</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">We'd sing and dance forever and a day</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">We'd live the life we choose</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">We'd fight and never lose</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">For we were young and sure to have our way.</span><br />
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-30-</div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Thanks for reading this... a lot of work went into it and I hope your time was well spent. Below are Diaries of previous shows, should you be interested.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 19.6px;">2018: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2018/06/bea-diary-2018.html">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2018/06/bea-diary-2018.html</a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 19.6px;">2017: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2017/06/bea-diary-2017.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2017/06/bea-diary-2017.html</a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 19.6px;">2016: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2016/05/bea-diary-2016_21.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2016/05/bea-diary-2016_21.html</a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 19.6px;">2015: </span><span style="color: #4d469c; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.6px;"><a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2015/06/bea-diary-2015.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2015/06/bea-diary-2015.html</a></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 19.6px;">2014: </span><a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2014/06/bea-diary-2014.html" style="color: #4d469c; line-height: 19.6px; text-decoration-line: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2014/06/bea-diary-2014.html</a></div>
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2013: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2013/06/bea-diary-2013.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2013/06/bea-diary-2013.html</a></div>
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<span class="s1">2012: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2012/06/bea-2012.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2012/06/bea-2012.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2011: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2011/06/bea-diary-2011.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2011/06/bea-diary-2011.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2010: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2010/06/bea-diary-2010.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2010/06/bea-diary-2010.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2009: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/bea-2009.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/bea-2009.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2008: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2008/06/bea-diary-2008.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2008/06/bea-diary-2008.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2007: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2007/06/bea-diary-2007.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2007/06/bea-diary-2007.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2006: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2005: <span class="s2" style="color: #4d469c;"><a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2005/06/bea-diary-2005.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2005/06/bea-diary-2005.html</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">You MAY (and are encouraged to) share the link to this piece or reprint any part of it without prior permission so long as you use the following attribution:</span><br />
<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Alan N. Canton, Managing Partner</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">NewMedia Create</span><br />
<a href="http://www.newmediacreate.com/" style="color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;">http://www.NewMediaCreate.com</a><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Websites for authors, publishers, and small businesses at an affordable price"</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Fair Oaks, CA</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">916-962-9296</span><br />
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<b style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Per usual, if you have comments or corrections, please send them to bea-diary at adams-blake dot com</b><br />
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Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-19941882474041355012018-01-22T09:33:00.000-08:002018-01-22T10:16:48.006-08:00How I Chose My New Amateur (Ham) Radio Vanity Callsign<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After you have been granted an amateur (i.e. 'ham') radio FCC callsign you have the option to exchange it for a different one that is available and allowed for your license class.<br />
<br />
I was assigned KM6AAI ...[ kilo mike six alpha alpha india.] I liked it but I wanted a shorter call by dropping the 'M' and perhaps getting a 'better' suffix. (I'm always amazed that the FCC gave out [kilo six alpha sierra sierra] and [whiskey four tango india tango])!!!<br />
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While studying for my Extra exam I did three months of "on and off" research on what vanity call to "reward' myself with upon passing.<br />
<br />
I wanted a 1x2 [K6_ _] but given how few come up for grabs and the competition for them, at my age I figured I would not get one in this life!!! So I decided I wanted a 1x3 ... [K6_ _ _]. I thought about a 2x2 [K _6_ _] but I find them hard to 'copy' as well as remember.<br />
<br />
My goal was to find a callsign letter-combo that upon hearing was easy to remember as well as one that (subjectively) rolled off the tongue.<br />
<br />
While my method was not scientific by any means, after talking to hams and non-hams and doing some testing I learned a lot of things. In no particular order, here are my findings.<br />
<br />
I learned that people remembered a letter followed by a number [K6] better than two letters followed by a number [KM6], which reinforced my intent to get a 1x3 and and not the 2x2.<br />
<br />
Given five sets of 3 letters (like what might be heard in a DX pileup) I found that my test group of people remembered the combinations with double letters [AAX] or where all 3 were the same [BBB] better than any other grouping EXCEPT if the 3 letters form a known word like CAT or DOG or GOD or GUN or BAT, etc.<br />
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All of the 'K6' three-letter common words [map, cop, etc] as well as the three-single-letter options [BBB, GGG] were taken so I had to look for a combination of double-letters followed by a third letter that would tend to stand out and be easily remembered.<br />
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I found that the better remembered groups were those that were easy to pronounce phonetically... they rolled off the tongue. Combos like [GGK... golf, golf, kilo] did not work as well as something like [AAL... alpha, alpha, lima].<br />
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I found that letters that were vowels or phonetics ending in vowels tended to sound better and be remembered better than harder consonants... 'alpha' worked better than 'hotel.'<br />
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I found that the double-letter pair coming first was better remembered than if the pair came last. [AAF ... alpha, alpha, foxtrot] was recalled more often than [FAA... foxtrot, alpha, alpha] because often people didn't hear the final letter of a double letter combo. They hear [FA] and not [FAA].<br />
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I learned that when the final syllable of the third letter rhymed or sounded like the final syllable of the combo pair, retention was increased.... like in [delta delta alpha].... all three end in an 'ah' sound.... [charlie, charlie, yankee]... all have an 'eee' sound. The combo of [golf, golf, uniform] didn't work as well.<br />
<br />
I also learned that phonetics that had the emphasis on the first syllable (echo) were better remembered than when the emphasis was in the middle (november, sierra) or at the end (quebec, hotel).<br />
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While it was a very minor issue, I found that a two-syllable final letter phonetic like "echo" was more often remembered than a three-syllable third letter like [sierra ...see-air-ahh]. (There are only 2 one-syllable letters... golf, mike.)<br />
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I liked the sound of 'india' and while it is a three-syllable word, it gets slurred and often sounds like a two-syllable phonetic... 'in-jah.' It helped that 'india' is a well-known country.<br />
<br />
I also liked the sound of 'lima.' While 'lima' is a city (in Peru and Ohio,) few people had ever heard of it. Perhaps if 'L' was phonetically 'lie-mah' (like the bean) it might work better than 'lee-mah!')<br />
<br />
I gathered a lot of data. The argument can be made that it was just random and I won't dispute that. But random data is better (at some level) than a SWAG (<a href="https://www.acronymfinder.com/SWAG.html">https://www.acronymfinder.com/SWAG.html</a>).<br />
<br />
So at the end of the day... I decided to drop the 'M' and keep the suffix that the FCC had given me...[alpha, alpha, india] which was as good as I could get. Everything better was taken.<br />
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The above was MY methodology.<br />
<br />
YMMV!! (<a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/ymmv">https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/ymmv</a>)<br />
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73s,<br />
<br />
Al<br />
<br />
Alan Canton<br />
K6AAI<br />
Fair Oaks, CA<br />
<a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/K6AAI">http://www.qrz.com/db/K6AAI</a><br />
<br />
"I am often asked how radio works.<br />
Well, you see, wire telegraphy is like a very long cat.<br />
You yank his tail in New York and he meows in Los Angeles.<br />
Do you understand this?<br />
Now, radio is exactly the same, except that there is no cat."<br />
- Attributed to Albert Einstein<br />
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<br />Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-23017053125552828672017-12-03T11:20:00.000-08:002018-11-03T09:35:25.592-07:00Hints and Tips For Passing the Amateur Extra 'Ham' Exam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Having just passed the Extra Class exam I have some tips for anyone out there who is thinking about upgrading their license or in the process of studying or getting ready to sit for the test.<br />
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One thing you should know is that this is not an easy exam. I have it on good authority that the current question-pool put into service in July 2016 is far more difficult than the previous one.<br />
<br />
I'm told that there was a lot of push-back from 'old-guard' hams (especially the guys still upset over the elimination of CW!) who claimed that too many people were passing the exam... that it was too easy. When the new question-pool was created there was a concerted effort to make the exam more difficult, at least that is what I hear.<br />
<br />
Thus, you are going to study the answers to a lot of questions that have only marginal (and sometimes zero) congruence to running a radio station. Your only option is to plan a lot of extra time to prepare for the exam as well as taking it. As I said, it is not easy.<br />
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I do not believe it is possible to cram for this exam unless you have advanced degrees in both quantum mechanics and astrophysics! While you can memorize some questions and answers, by and large you will have to 'know' most the material, or at least have the cognitive ability to 'figure it out' while taking the test.<br />
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There are some "tried and true" ways to make the process a bit easier and help insure success on the exam. I present the ones that worked for me (in no particular order.)<br />
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- The ARRL Extra manual is not a great exam study guide. I bought it and found it to be a college-level textbook on radio theory, semiconductor physics, and endless explanations for the many arcane FCC rules. I don't suggest buying it until after you pass and want to know in more detail advanced radio theory, etc.<br />
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- I'm told the Gorden West "Extra" book is good but I bought it for the General and was not impressed with it and so I didn't get it this time.<br />
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- I found that the 100 page "No-Nonsense! Extra Class License Study Guide" by Dan Romanchik KB6NU (<a href="http://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/">http://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/</a>) to be well worth the $10 PDF cost. Spend a few days with this after you have put in a lot of time with the online sites answering questions. I read it a few days before I took the exam and found it to be a good review as it answers all 700+ questions.<br />
<br />
- I used <a href="http://hamstudy.org/">http://hamstudy.org</a>, and found a good protocol to follow is to spend several weeks reading the entire 700+ question-pool, followed by another several weeks doing the flash cards. Finally take at least 50+ practice exams to where you consistently get 80% or better. (Make sure you are using the current question-pool: 2016-2020. Some sites have previous exams still online.)<br />
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- When starting out, tell whatever program you use to eliminate the "distractor" (i.e. the wrong) answers.<br />
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- The analysis that I did (subject to an unknown margin of error) is that 75% of the time the longest answer was the correct answer. So if you have to guess, choose the longest answer.<br />
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- Many times a keyword (like 'network' or 'phase') that is in the question also shows up in only one answer... and that is the correct one.<br />
<br />
- Some non-common words only show up ONCE in the entire question/answer pool... like <b>"astable"</b> which is the right answer to the one question it is in:<br />
<br />
E7A05 <br />
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Which of the following is a circuit that continuously alternates between two states without an external clock? </div>
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A. Monostable multivibrator<br />
B. J-K flip-flop<br />
C. T flip-flop<br />
D. <b>Astable</b> multivibrator<br />
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- When taking the exam at the VE session do as many of the 50 questions as you can and skip over the ones you are not totally sure about. Then go back and do them. Often the answer to them can be found in other questions toward the end.<br />
<br />
- Give yourself plenty of time to study for the exam, but be consistent. Find 60 minutes or so a day to read text or flash cards or do exams. The week before the exam, allocate two hours every night to take practice exams.<br />
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- Try to schedule the exam for an afternoon or evening VE session. Spend several hours before the exam reading flash cards, preferably right up until they pass out the exam books. That way your brain is 'tuned' to "resonate."<br />
<br />
- I passed the first time but I've been told by many VEs that if you fail by a couple of questions you should go ahead and pay another $15 and take it again as you may get a sub-set of the question-pool where you know more of the answers.<br />
<br />
- For some questions you can create easy-to-remember mnemonics to give you a hint of the answer. For example there is a question as to whether a T-net is high pass or low pass. The answer is high-pass and you can remember that T stands for Touchdown in football and often is the result of a HIGH PASS from the QB. Another answer about meteor showers is Sporadic-E. "E" rhymes with "meteor."<br />
<br />
- Another technique I employed was to make a list "word associations" that I simply memorized. A list of ones that worked for me are at the end of this missive. Memorize as many of these as you can and you stand a good chance at passing. (But you still need to do the studying!)<br />
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At the risk of being too repetitious, for most of you (us) this will be the hardest exam you have ever taken in your post-college/graduate school life. You can't 'guess' your way though this one.<br />
<br />
====== EDITORIAL =========<br />
<br />
The following is my opinion. Your opinion may be different and I'm OK with that:<br />
<br />
Some people say that this version of the exam was designed to insure that Extra class operators would be the "best of the best."<br />
<br />
I disagree.<br />
<br />
At least half the exam consists of questions that have zero relation to running a radio station. They are overly technical, contain math that most of us have long forgotten, and encompass theory more congruent with academic pursuits than practical application.<br />
<br />
It was designed to be hard.<br />
<br />
It was designed so that you will fail, at least the first time... expecially if you didn't PUT IN the time.<br />
<br />
Many say, and I believe it to be true, that it was designed so that the Extra class would continue to be an 'old-boy' club. If true, they did a really good job of it! If you want to gain access to this club, you will indeed pay your dues by losing a lot of sleep and perhaps some hair as well!<br />
<br />
The lyrics Ringo Star once wrote are true:<br />
<br />
"Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues<br />
And you know it don't come easy"<br />
<br />
One thing that I'm certain of (since I asked many many operators) is that hams who got their Extra 15+ years ago could not pass the exam today.<br />
<br />
For those who are considering taking the Extra exam, I hope I've helped a little bit.<br />
<br />
Alan Canton<br />
K6AAI<br />
Fair Oaks, CA<br />
<a href="https://www.qrz.com/db/K6AAI" target="_blank">https://www.qrz.com/db/K6AAI</a><br />
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<h3>
KEYWORDS AND PHRASES THAT WORKED FOR ME. </h3>
<i>(Try to associate the word to the left of the dash with what comes after. Some will make no sense until after you have studied the questions.)</i><br />
<br />
elliptical - notch<br />
transequatorial - 5000<br />
polar - positive angle - PoPA<br />
33,50,10 - 7.12 MHz<br />
undesirable - undesired<br />
drop-out - min input to output<br />
phase shift - least<br />
BiCMOS - bipolar<br />
RF vector - short, open, 50<br />
Automatic - automatic<br />
polyethylene - route 66<br />
load coil - has a cap and reacts<br />
NTSC - 30 rock<br />
factor of 3/4 - interpolate the fac-a-tor<br />
FET - left arrow simple<br />
E9-1 - 14 or 9+1+4 = 14<br />
hopping - rapidly<br />
6dB - 2.15 - 3.85<br />
Spread spec - room 222<br />
multi-conductor - is common<br />
aurora - code<br />
boost - pre-emphasis<br />
noise blank - wide spec<br />
fraction of a wavelength - delta<br />
multiple digital - logical<br />
crystal oscillators - NPO<br />
multiple turn loop - increase or<br />
E74 - 38<br />
forward gain - 21 Skeedoo<br />
meteor - rhymes with E<br />
1/4 shorten - high<br />
Q RLC - resistance divided<br />
JT65 - a minute (65 seconds!)<br />
E7-3 - linear<br />
E7-3 - current-handling<br />
antenna gain - reference antenna<br />
Direct FSK - VFO<br />
APRS - gets the ax<br />
L & S band - look for 3s<br />
anti-aliasing - hi then low<br />
multiplexing - base (ball)<br />
vestigial - I "AM" a vestigial<br />
class D - low passing grade<br />
Normalization - impedance<br />
Symbol rate - rate<br />
blocking - 1 db around the block<br />
liberation - flutter flutter<br />
noise blanker - emission<br />
long path - 20 miles home<br />
bridge circuit - null, null, null<br />
Semiconductor diode - heavy metal<br />
total resistance - ohmic<br />
electric motor - brute force<br />
NEC - Electromagnetic<br />
Toroidal - confine<br />
two states - astable<br />
flare - twice an ass<br />
diodes - detector<br />
pin - RF switch<br />
phase lock loop - synthesis<br />
Optical shaft - wheel<br />
JT - and the monotones!<br />
Sporadic - summer<br />
beam width - beam 3 up, Scotty<br />
emitter amplifier - half way to Saturn<br />
taps - algor<br />
baseband - components<br />
SSB - see you at the QUAD<br />
phase lock loop - FM<br />
block FM by another - Capture the FM flag<br />
Q 3.7 - 31.4<br />
220 microfrad - 220 seconds<br />
digital time division multiplexing - is discrete<br />
idle PSK car - 30 miles an hour<br />
opto-isolater - LED the parade<br />
Pi - can be varied... like slices of appple pie<br />
linear volt reg - 'shunt' up Reggie<br />
50-J25 - it resists with a cap<br />
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Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-64940627359392801462017-06-17T23:32:00.002-07:002017-06-27T18:56:32.643-07:00BEA Diary 2017<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 19.6px;">By </span><b style="line-height: 19.6px;">Alan Canton</b><span style="line-height: 19.6px;">... with editorial assistance from </span><b style="line-height: 19.6px;">Mayapriya Long </b><span style="line-height: 19.6px;">and</span><b style="line-height: 19.6px;"> Alice Walker</b><br />
<b style="line-height: 19.6px;"><i style="font-weight: normal;">[Note: Click on any pix to see it enlarged.]</i></b></div>
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<br />
Dear BEA Diary readers:<br />
<br />
You've heard the expression "The way it begins is the way it ends?" That's how it was at this year's BookExpo.<br />
<br />
It started quietly... and it ended quietly.<br />
<br />
There were some good aspects of the show, but from what people told me, there were a lot of bad ones as well. When I saw this year's mundane (a nice word for ugly) show banner-graphic (above) I had a feeling that things were not well in BookExpo land.<br />
<br />
(It did not go unnoticed that they dropped the "America" part of the show name: BookExpo <strike>America</strike>.)<br />
<br />
There was a small change for me this year because I decided to wear big-boy clothes. Why? In the past I always went to BEA to <a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/bsab/about.html" target="_blank">cover the show</a> for this electronic fish-wrap as well as other media that we contracted with. So jeans and a t-shirt were fine... what else would you expect a working journalist to wear?<br />
<br />
But this year I wanted to 'pitch' some small and mid-size publishers as well as distributors on a new web platform we recently rolled out... <a href="http://newmediaecom.com/" target="_blank">Ecom sites for authors: NewMediaEcom.com</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="665" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUekeK2yP2ukBUFgSGrXi7zQaddEHdaUvTBxm9Zq0RATjyhz_Z4CvoMqhUwuAjUYPVlu1qJ3kSBIDQfgtzUzqH775Bl6l_7cmQ9bxVDlEeZDPim5czA2WZJKGVMl9GJH-j9_NuyQ/s400/Ecom-card.jpg" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our new service.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Here is the sell-sheet that we've been sending to authors and publishers (printed by the best book printer on the planet... <a href="https://colorhousegraphics.com/home.html" target="_blank">Color House Graphics</a>, contact Phil Knight. You will be glad you did.)<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4AdeQdnoVmELwZOAJv9usgJzH9u1uUXE0ZJndwMZPV5tQL-BwUaypz0gE-ysQGJqJaBmh95Kt9okEzAVvvyofTdtJqneZalQaWL05UDUIcDoO3Jvl6K4JtuyahoQJj-iNhvNkg/s1600/CantonAdBack-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="1600" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4AdeQdnoVmELwZOAJv9usgJzH9u1uUXE0ZJndwMZPV5tQL-BwUaypz0gE-ysQGJqJaBmh95Kt9okEzAVvvyofTdtJqneZalQaWL05UDUIcDoO3Jvl6K4JtuyahoQJj-iNhvNkg/s640/CantonAdBack-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was printed by <a href="https://colorhousegraphics.com/home.html" target="_blank">ColorHouse Graphics</a>. Contact Phil Knight.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As website developers, we've long known that authors and publishers leave money on the table by not selling merchandise branded to their books.<br />
<br />
Obviously their books are going to be sold on Amazon and Amazon is going to take most of the book money. There is no way around that. You have to fish where the fish are and Amazon is the biggest tank of them all.<br />
<br />
But t-shirts, hats, glassware, totes, mugs, and a thousand-and-one other things can and should be sold by authors and publishers who have titles with characters or content that can be 'branded.'<br />
<br />
Any author who has a readership and who can get eyeballs to their site can make (serious) extra money selling items off of their website... as long as they can source items (locally?) at a good price. They have to buy wholesale and sell retail.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(And CafePress is not the answer here... way too expensive... we can help with sourcing: Contact Guy Achtzehn at The Promotional Bookstore, (guy at msgpromo dot com or 717-846-3865. ) Provide your <a href="http://community.bookapss.org/" target="_blank">Association of Publishers for Special Sales</a> membership number for a 10% discount.)</blockquote>
<br />
Instead of hosting on the author's website we always recommend that they host with a secure, professional Ecom ISP. We have partnered with <a href="https://www.shopify.com/" target="_blank">Shopify</a>. We did a year of research and decided that Shopify is the best in the business. We're talking about $30 a month for their server. Who can't afford that?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6itsAfL-tLwvGdr93gdeqoC0JZlsCSEjaq5Mxp_koBw0CzBXTvlxntjcDGoacABfcsE0gfLaVsCOM9ZXDVS7aJc5U27Xem7gihahncokurd1P_odmugrA0jcLsgHSI6-BGGWnA/s1600/shopify-partner2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="127" data-original-width="561" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6itsAfL-tLwvGdr93gdeqoC0JZlsCSEjaq5Mxp_koBw0CzBXTvlxntjcDGoacABfcsE0gfLaVsCOM9ZXDVS7aJc5U27Xem7gihahncokurd1P_odmugrA0jcLsgHSI6-BGGWnA/s320/shopify-partner2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is one pitch we make to authors of children's books:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Parents will buy character-branded items on books their children love. If junior loves (mythical) <i>Ronnie The Rhino</i> books, he will drink anything mom gives him in his Ronnie The Rhino cup. He will eat the vegetables (he says he hates) from the Ronnie The Rhino bowl. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Avid adult readers love to buy mugs, totes, hats, shirts related to the books they love!</blockquote>
<br />
So to make our pitch, I had to at least look the part of a serious business person (which I actually am) and so I wore a coat and a tie... and I'm certain that no one in the publishing industry (been around 30 years now!) has ever seen me dress like this (Note: the tie was handmade by <a href="http://alicewalkerbatik.com/" target="_blank">Alice Walker Batik</a>):<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-8V86Cr2w4i29kDG3jy7i8bvERh4jAPS2Ul8l2l8iMkU4O3Bsuq-8cpR9dZiV7rY5jXN7k144VyG39aruCEhXGrCNfm-xpX2E-_ZdZRNo63S2j6gLblBqGe5S4kKf01nwTBj1g/s1600/IMG_0026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-8V86Cr2w4i29kDG3jy7i8bvERh4jAPS2Ul8l2l8iMkU4O3Bsuq-8cpR9dZiV7rY5jXN7k144VyG39aruCEhXGrCNfm-xpX2E-_ZdZRNo63S2j6gLblBqGe5S4kKf01nwTBj1g/s640/IMG_0026.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not so bad for almost 70!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It has been two years since BEA has been in New York and in the interim the city opened a new subway station near Javits Hall. That meant we could get there from the Upper East Side in about 15 minutes instead of an hour on the free cross-town bus that BEA provides for the two days of the show.<br />
<br />
Having grown up about fifteen miles from Manhattan, I know the subway system rather well, so I thought I'd give it a try.<br />
<br />
Well, what I didn't know is that the change from the "6" train at Grand Central to the "7" train is a half-mile walk in a steamy-hot underground tunnel that smells of urine and is home to many of New York's homeless. It is not a place you want to be if you can avoid it.<br />
<br />
While the subway cars are jammed with people, they are well air-conditioned. However, the stations are not. In the summer you will think (and sweat) like you are in the Mexican jungle!<br />
<br />
And then when you get to the Hudson Yards station it is a quarter-mile walk to Javits... and in the blistering hot summer sun, by the time you get there you are dripping wet. It is not so bad in cool, casual, summer clothes, but in a dress shirt, tie, and jacket, it is draining.<br />
<br />
When I got in the door to Javits Hall I had to sit in the cool lobby for about fifteen minutes to cool off and dry off. I took the bus back to the hotel and again to Javits the following day. The subway is not a good option from the Upper East Side when you want to look good after arriving at the hall.<br />
<br />
After getting my press badge (which took two minutes because there was no line) I went off to find the press room where I figured I could sit and have stale pastry, some coffee or a cold soda. In previous years the press room had food, soft drinks, computers, telephones, couches and all the amenities of a press office. If an event promoter wants to attract and keep press, a few day-old doughnuts and bad coffee go a long way toward accomplishing that.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.reedexpo.com/about-us/" target="_blank">Reed Exhibitions</a> has a rep for putting on great shows... they have been doing it since the dinosaurs roamed the Bronx! Let me tell you how surprised I was to see the 2017 BEA press room:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIs3RceTJ1BjtptNJl1QvhxWsx1MO0rgOHLE0i2c_nMX3n_E77Z9AQhK5EhtzddTaR92MvFR1KrwXXxhIvvVtZCev4HyMXXpSXjfY74Vz3V7kWAjoYlRl86JwFXG8U5f3d_9HbwQ/s1600/IMG_0048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIs3RceTJ1BjtptNJl1QvhxWsx1MO0rgOHLE0i2c_nMX3n_E77Z9AQhK5EhtzddTaR92MvFR1KrwXXxhIvvVtZCev4HyMXXpSXjfY74Vz3V7kWAjoYlRl86JwFXG8U5f3d_9HbwQ/s640/IMG_0048.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not even BAD coffee!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This is BEA saying "Hey media people, we really don't give a damn if you come or not!" There was no (bad) coffee, no soda, no juice, no two-day-old pastry... <b>and no media</b>. Do you see the water 'cooler' in the back. It was broken... the water was tepid and tasted like Clorox. The press room was in the bowels of Javits and the escalator ride back up made you feel like you were ascending from the depths of hell!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJTYVDM_EoiR1YGsuE1p91SJsvHWIWs0H0ZTdDY9qu4ASfiacDT0TwQMFrq8Vub1qrvrRyVvazFN-TQY-1B00sN4s3wjX4AYpubu4pR4r9cXyJN8sgUAAhZAzbWVEQ46hrx_1jA/s1600/IMG_0049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJTYVDM_EoiR1YGsuE1p91SJsvHWIWs0H0ZTdDY9qu4ASfiacDT0TwQMFrq8Vub1qrvrRyVvazFN-TQY-1B00sN4s3wjX4AYpubu4pR4r9cXyJN8sgUAAhZAzbWVEQ46hrx_1jA/s640/IMG_0049.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Renegades</i>? Nope. I had Dante's <i>Inferno</i> in mind here</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I finally made it up to the exhibit floor. What do you see in this pix... taken when I got up there?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNHvnepW-c7TddCj4hBYLkGIUa98hcn1azn52PlfZKqNLovl_yDnVM7JCjeCnTw5OGEeIvpjJIqFVMc1xPl830k3ACd8vTnprVkR5SRYz2-PYQmVFm39nsiNSVTVTDp_78vQbIQ/s1600/IMG_0078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNHvnepW-c7TddCj4hBYLkGIUa98hcn1azn52PlfZKqNLovl_yDnVM7JCjeCnTw5OGEeIvpjJIqFVMc1xPl830k3ACd8vTnprVkR5SRYz2-PYQmVFm39nsiNSVTVTDp_78vQbIQ/s640/IMG_0078.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where is everyone?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you said "space" you win the prize. There was lots and lots of space at this year's show. In the past we'd see 20,000+ people show up and this floor would be mobbed. This year the show promoters claimed about 8,000 but it felt like 800!<br />
<br />
This is my 21st consecutive BookExpo and we've never seen aisles this wide before. You could hold a basketball game here.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTsIDVJBzrH6aRSu3HchH5DrSbY_KsusTxqDJ9BUNEo-mvIQBCjz29yMzSxcP5jMaKDa6c_hb0SA7QsGakm18mkBlhl-Sjprc1PgDievISTvMO-T1EuW63021blfjGyOrJQnqLQ/s1600/IMG_0075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTsIDVJBzrH6aRSu3HchH5DrSbY_KsusTxqDJ9BUNEo-mvIQBCjz29yMzSxcP5jMaKDa6c_hb0SA7QsGakm18mkBlhl-Sjprc1PgDievISTvMO-T1EuW63021blfjGyOrJQnqLQ/s640/IMG_0075.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The NBA could have booked this space!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * *</div>
<br />
My traditional first stop is the <a href="http://www.ibpa-online.org/" target="_blank">IBPA</a> booth. In the past they had a coveted central spot but this year they were way over in the "Outer Mongolia" area of Javits. And in past years they would resell a lot of booth space to members. This year I saw maybe four member booths. Terry Nathan, Chief Operating Officer of the association said that the show was a "ghost of its previous self" and he has seen more of these shows than I have.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9nEbHLK_tD8i8tf1SeRbU4O8PDp1JtMk5yLDcaolFgH2y_fXv6iL2lfKo1nAD2lBrImFnaOcZLLrPinyfUl4-SoBbye6WsBnSMVFfwIT6mFnc_TvUxw_IbFCXlEWikoLCelGhA/s1600/IMG_0010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9nEbHLK_tD8i8tf1SeRbU4O8PDp1JtMk5yLDcaolFgH2y_fXv6iL2lfKo1nAD2lBrImFnaOcZLLrPinyfUl4-SoBbye6WsBnSMVFfwIT6mFnc_TvUxw_IbFCXlEWikoLCelGhA/s640/IMG_0010.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terry Nathan (right) and the author of this fish-wrap</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After a nice chat with Terry, I "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Pk7xEHx2Y" target="_blank">walked off to look for (BookExpo) <strike>America</strike></a>" (with apologies to Paul Simon)<br />
<br />
<br />
I've seen a lot of diet books in my day but not one for children who are picky eaters. The American Academy of Pediatrics claims that the <i>Pickey Eater Project</i> is a <a href="https://shop.aap.org/the-picky-eater-project-paperback/" target="_blank">one-of-a-kind book</a> that will transform even the most finicky eaters into fledgling foodies. I wonder if it works with broccoli! Will it work on my cat?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ78ZyT35-9WAJl-8nk6S5ngoo0VTZlxNoq1Ya_KeH_n-g_p1xFV4SR2zJWnc8MbGyEq9D3AsZsRRvB0nVBaAFvbTBoLjfVa6uzF2Cur-d4oFv-9TiCtIEbOvXgT7PMIkMkUcFKA/s1600/IMG_0007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ78ZyT35-9WAJl-8nk6S5ngoo0VTZlxNoq1Ya_KeH_n-g_p1xFV4SR2zJWnc8MbGyEq9D3AsZsRRvB0nVBaAFvbTBoLjfVa6uzF2Cur-d4oFv-9TiCtIEbOvXgT7PMIkMkUcFKA/s640/IMG_0007.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elyce Goldstein and Kathy Juhl of AAP</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
It takes a lot of guts to sink your hard-earned dollars into a poetry tome but Elizabeth Yahn has done it. I think this was the only poetry book I saw at the show this year... <a href="http://hitherandyahn.com/" target="_blank"><i>Haiku for an Artist</i></a>. It had a terrible cover, but that happens so often when small publishers think they know cover design better than the pros (like at <a href="http://bookwrights.com/" target="_blank">Bookwrights Design</a>.) The poetry inside was nice and I hope it sells well for her and her publishing company, Hither and Yahn (cute name.)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUksKnm_MwF-TQJojrjPHyyUzpS-7Q0qjpb3sZbt6_tAA7hS_IE3fosbdwLJMG9s0sht0ZZdBGZ6K2lLNutbSZMSpb-AXMD6a-njej1DaVzG0WcBsv678THBfWY2aHjPY1V6RvQ/s1600/IMG_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUksKnm_MwF-TQJojrjPHyyUzpS-7Q0qjpb3sZbt6_tAA7hS_IE3fosbdwLJMG9s0sht0ZZdBGZ6K2lLNutbSZMSpb-AXMD6a-njej1DaVzG0WcBsv678THBfWY2aHjPY1V6RvQ/s640/IMG_0012.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elizabeth Yahn and her poetry book</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I saw a lot of good children's books this year and I will showcase some of them. One of the ones I liked a lot was by Christopher Neal. His <a href="http://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?browse=Title&mode=book&isbn=0763679097&pix=y" target="_blank">retro-style illustrations</a> in <i>I Won't Eat That </i>coupled with<i> </i>his easy-to-follow story is the perfect match for even the pickiest eaters — and the patient souls that feed them. (He should try to team up with the AAP people above!)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQavzC_QN1v6XnAQ71j58II7NPEbA8dAAv7v0lW67dV5bHZjF6Yqfs5YOiaPgOtzBeaP1AlyNZwLikr55Lnl2pL5irP2CZ5D9JBnc_pSfOst5mtpBhLJLvva-icFUWioFbD4mSdQ/s1600/IMG_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQavzC_QN1v6XnAQ71j58II7NPEbA8dAAv7v0lW67dV5bHZjF6Yqfs5YOiaPgOtzBeaP1AlyNZwLikr55Lnl2pL5irP2CZ5D9JBnc_pSfOst5mtpBhLJLvva-icFUWioFbD4mSdQ/s640/IMG_0013.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christopher Neal, author and illustrator (I wish I was dressed as comfortably!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
When I saw the offerings of <a href="https://obviousstate.com/" target="_blank">Obvious State</a> I just fell over. Their stuff is just terrific. I wish I could have them source totes and things for our clients but that is not their biz model. They only sell through book retailers. I love their designs.... huge talent here.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1bxyJ1h4qLnOwjM7E2oOd8HxYBqwJvwzq_a0OVsXETb2jffIjEH4vD6CRUBMy0DdTH5JdKBlG-ehnJHK8CqgSEKURI3Z9XvNZcSnWBW5BTTKRtR_5CC-FxsQcSCYP0h0FXKcXFg/s1600/IMG_0015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1bxyJ1h4qLnOwjM7E2oOd8HxYBqwJvwzq_a0OVsXETb2jffIjEH4vD6CRUBMy0DdTH5JdKBlG-ehnJHK8CqgSEKURI3Z9XvNZcSnWBW5BTTKRtR_5CC-FxsQcSCYP0h0FXKcXFg/s640/IMG_0015.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evan Robertson of Obvious State</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Usually there are tons and tons of people around the Penguin, Random House booth and those of the other large houses, but as I said, the crowds were simply not there. You could set up a bocce ball court here.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58V7WT26qddWqpZNAWweB2VviGhSeEWepFxQ-XkufFuYSftDwrP-2f5yaZuZ8_K40gSL672TFwBzzcV6Ar3Ohi_GbgRhWiUltGR2KRXfcZPaQK9qw8hwkuuEZNhoa24xX4ACzZw/s1600/IMG_0017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58V7WT26qddWqpZNAWweB2VviGhSeEWepFxQ-XkufFuYSftDwrP-2f5yaZuZ8_K40gSL672TFwBzzcV6Ar3Ohi_GbgRhWiUltGR2KRXfcZPaQK9qw8hwkuuEZNhoa24xX4ACzZw/s640/IMG_0017.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe room for a bowling alley?</td></tr>
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I liked the illustrations in the <a href="http://realmvpkids.com/" target="_blank">MVP Kids Media</a> books. Their mission is to inspire honorable character into young men and women through healthy mentoring relationships, preparing Real MVP Kids® to live responsible and meaningful lives. It would be huge if they can break into the school market.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXGXZ6N1QI_4f3oHwFv6V2xk9vSO9PBrccfGsvNJ-9vO92hgo1CNpOw-9eaVJE68vhmPI3qfIq0nHjTXnXQq_85JQC7gEMBR_BA4hH5VVsdAZDKbyoI4OV1XLhAhdZpYHhSKBwA/s1600/IMG_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXGXZ6N1QI_4f3oHwFv6V2xk9vSO9PBrccfGsvNJ-9vO92hgo1CNpOw-9eaVJE68vhmPI3qfIq0nHjTXnXQq_85JQC7gEMBR_BA4hH5VVsdAZDKbyoI4OV1XLhAhdZpYHhSKBwA/s640/IMG_0019.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stephanie Strouse (illustrator) and Megan Johnson </td></tr>
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One of the few places that was able to draw a crowd was the large Ingram booth. They were not giving anything away (I checked!) and since I had a media badge on, the somewhat reclusive company would not talk to me. They have always been known as the "Tennessee Book Mafia" although these days their 'power' is not what it used to be. Amazon has cut them down to size so to speak. Now that they don't hold "life or death" over the publishing industry, people tend to like Ingram a bit better. It seems that Amazon has taken their place on the 'most disliked' list.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6vcHLXWo2dTSggaQ69m3wFppNDVAioVKjghE0aRQZNWlwk_VNLaDdvZVdpk-lOcMUirxfhVOS7iGD7dbwtfiAAZCA8pduwbAIqLAvk4qsoLtqpL-ESFYpnlkS8AN-UMF2tn_TQ/s1600/IMG_0020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6vcHLXWo2dTSggaQ69m3wFppNDVAioVKjghE0aRQZNWlwk_VNLaDdvZVdpk-lOcMUirxfhVOS7iGD7dbwtfiAAZCA8pduwbAIqLAvk4qsoLtqpL-ESFYpnlkS8AN-UMF2tn_TQ/s640/IMG_0020.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standing room only!</td></tr>
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(Sorry for the following pix being out of focus.) In the old days the autograph lines would spill out into the aisle and be jam-packed with people (mostly New York area librarians) seeking a free book from a favorite author (or a free book from <u>any</u> author!!) Even the local librarians didn't show this year!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMs5UnnAmf_UNZVhbdQ2CX_pzTl13ztoRfj3tSO1eQmJRUDF3K-IoYgno86IHEurKl30kvvjEr9bPvmIkwOfEqexZgiBb2bmpoHckZ9KQle0LH6MpHguz9YHETiPUQwoEkcU1NA/s1600/IMG_0021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMs5UnnAmf_UNZVhbdQ2CX_pzTl13ztoRfj3tSO1eQmJRUDF3K-IoYgno86IHEurKl30kvvjEr9bPvmIkwOfEqexZgiBb2bmpoHckZ9KQle0LH6MpHguz9YHETiPUQwoEkcU1NA/s640/IMG_0021.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even free books couldn't draw a large crowd</td></tr>
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I did not see a lot of pretty coffee-table books this year as I have in past years. The best one at the show was from Abbeville Press called <a href="https://www.abbeville.com/books/ancient-trees-by-beth-moon-30-b" target="_blank"><i>Ancient Skies, Ancient Trees</i></a>. Staking out some of the world’s last dark places, photographer Beth Moon uses her digital camera to reveal constellations, nebulae, and the Milky Way, in rich hues that are often too faint to be seen by the naked eye. It is a really nice book. Buy it so more like this will be published.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rtgnWP0FBkO-0RcaPdh1S-IVuqxguh2AABtGL3tTMegWHtYmdZbRYNfWfKuUiwxLG4MuDEmv9LIPzdsUoF7g734oyL0wmMXwGtC-cZSKaWImOE9coFSSFHpPlGD3t92jkzYMqQ/s1600/IMG_0023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rtgnWP0FBkO-0RcaPdh1S-IVuqxguh2AABtGL3tTMegWHtYmdZbRYNfWfKuUiwxLG4MuDEmv9LIPzdsUoF7g734oyL0wmMXwGtC-cZSKaWImOE9coFSSFHpPlGD3t92jkzYMqQ/s640/IMG_0023.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nadine Winns of Abbeville Press</td></tr>
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There are not a lot of self-proclaimed fairy tales written these days but <a href="https://www.dundurn.com/books/Deer-Life" target="_blank">Dundurn</a> had one that I liked. <i>Deer Life</i> (due out in Sept.) is a "wicked" fairy tale of witchcraft, bullying, revenge, and a mysterious bowler hat and it includes the author's own whimsical illustrations.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kate Condon-Moriarty of Dundurn</td></tr>
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There is always something at the show that has nothing to do with books and this year it was the <a href="https://veggidome.com/" target="_blank">VeggieDome</a> which is supposed to keep vegetables fresh on your table (not in fridge) for up to six days. How could anyone live without this?</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sara Grodensky of VeggiDome (love her hair!)</td></tr>
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From time to time you will walk by some empty booths... the buyers just don't show or have travel problems. There was this one booth with no sign and no furniture and two women who were sitting on the floor filling in coloring books. I have no idea who they were. They saw me take their pix and held up a pix of some kind but would not talk. Maybe they thought I was the show-police? (Last year coloring books were all the rage. They are gone now... good riddance!)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who are these women?</td></tr>
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The very best booth at the show was run by <a href="https://canningdiva.com/" target="_blank">The Canning Diva, Diane Devereaux</a>. She is selling a book on preserving food as well as hawking canning gel and other items. Her booth was easily the most professional I'd seen. And it stands to reason since she has done a number of trade shows in the gift sector. If I ever need a marketing guru, I will hire Diane!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dianne's booth was 'best in show'</td></tr>
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Every year there is a puzzle company. This year was <a href="http://www.pinkeypuzzles.com/about.html" target="_blank">Pinkey Puzzles</a>. Mary Overly and Sally Davis are a mother/daughter team that share similar interests in travel, architecture, art, photography and puzzling. They started their jigsaw puzzle company in late 2016 with five puzzle designs, all from original photos taken by the puzzle makers. Very cool!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sally Davis and Mary Overly Davis (mom and daughter)</td></tr>
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The next book is kind of special. <a href="http://kicamprojects.com/" target="_blank"><i>Beautiful Scars: A Life Redefined</i></a> is sure to inspire you. Kilee Brookbank was severely burned in a house explosion. Kilee’s resilience compelled the family to create an avenue to bring to light powerful stories of survival with the goal of supporting charitable endeavors and organizations. This pix only shows her left arm. I could see her right arm and back which are also disfigured from the fire. She is a strong woman... huge inspiration here and I wish her all the best... she deserves it.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The author.... seeking to help others</td></tr>
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I've never seen an illustration agency exhibit at BEA before and this one is from the UK. <a href="https://lemonadeillustration.com/Index.asp" target="_blank">Lemonade Illustration Agency</a> is a multi-disciplined, worldwide illustration company serving clients in many countries and timezones. Below is Lucy Quinn whom I wish lived in my timezone!!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds???</td></tr>
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Every show has someone playing music. But from Turkey? I have no idea who this is but he was very good playing whatever it is that he was playing! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's not The Boss, that's for sure!</td></tr>
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There used to be a time when we all had something called "good taste," a time when some things were just accepted and not analyzed to death. But we are way past that and are now to the point that we are teaching kids about bodily functions that they don't need to be taught about. I leave it up to you to decide on whether or not we really need to kill trees for <a href="https://www.sterlingpublishing.com/9781454919544/" target="_blank">this book by Marty Kelley</a>!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7N-fHxAfrwqUJIeSwUlyiZfWyXAidaYVdYn_f0DunMWHPIlQsING1B9QNG1qZMlX5TrnDfzEkzqWsXmwo9Wja7tnfLCHebma7mguNvvPsiBnmHV70Nyh9X_EOVvHX6voJt51TDA/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7N-fHxAfrwqUJIeSwUlyiZfWyXAidaYVdYn_f0DunMWHPIlQsING1B9QNG1qZMlX5TrnDfzEkzqWsXmwo9Wja7tnfLCHebma7mguNvvPsiBnmHV70Nyh9X_EOVvHX6voJt51TDA/s640/IMG_0044.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rod Garnett of Sterling Publishing (wishing he didn't have to hold up this book!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Having an eye-catching display always draws attention and this book from Britannia International <a href="https://www.amazon.com/INSIDE-BCCI-INTRIGUE-SURROUNDING-CONTROVERSIAL/dp/152720667X" target="_blank">about the BCCI</a> scandal was one of the better ones. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3h4UExW_-h2jijat_TR3Dr45g9BdLcmB443LirTLeIASkoxDyzd29tUdg_Xn2PGBadytoXNIvHb0Pen9Da4RcNXE-V8hZHEuqLRDGBx4t2a6OE61-9jC-7rRAE5_IWxv5tFiX_Q/s1600/IMG_0045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3h4UExW_-h2jijat_TR3Dr45g9BdLcmB443LirTLeIASkoxDyzd29tUdg_Xn2PGBadytoXNIvHb0Pen9Da4RcNXE-V8hZHEuqLRDGBx4t2a6OE61-9jC-7rRAE5_IWxv5tFiX_Q/s640/IMG_0045.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great display</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
There are always new services that make their debut at BEA, as well as some that have been around for a long time that exhibit. I'm not sure what <a href="https://www.submittable.com/home" target="_blank">Submittable</a> is all about and who really needs it, but it looks interesting. Most publishers get way more submissions than they want, but maybe this company is filling a need by getting publishers better content?</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInVxJVtjUA-HNah4xoylS0WpK0EAfS3eUFalXwF8A5TMJD_EkVbl9YYtFYZ2MkUhGKxn8H617uDJs73g2kp_myrXmAfX_SxJaT73E-VFM31YfaS3V65xynX8H0t_KeQpg_dFoTA/s1600/IMG_0050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInVxJVtjUA-HNah4xoylS0WpK0EAfS3eUFalXwF8A5TMJD_EkVbl9YYtFYZ2MkUhGKxn8H617uDJs73g2kp_myrXmAfX_SxJaT73E-VFM31YfaS3V65xynX8H0t_KeQpg_dFoTA/s640/IMG_0050.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madison Brooke from Submittable</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
In the micro-press area BEA sold tables for authors to show their books (see background below.) One table had a very interesting tome; I'd never seen such a title before... targeted to children... <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28682625-someone-i-know-lives-in-prison" target="_blank"><i>Someone I Know Lives in Prison</i></a> by Rebecca Myers. This could be a big seller for her if she can market it well. I'm sure she could get on every talk radio and TV show. I hope she does.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLSJ8HL9nolweY72FbJkv8eKIm1VTRbWCB-fXcTi6D7uS3-37ZNpu_LxyQqHWalwMQy6KXGydEDvEwuhyphenhyphenqly2B1bzaO46OLwipoCYL68_x0oYNA5NYb9WcXq8SqR9eUlU4L2rOA/s1600/IMG_0052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLSJ8HL9nolweY72FbJkv8eKIm1VTRbWCB-fXcTi6D7uS3-37ZNpu_LxyQqHWalwMQy6KXGydEDvEwuhyphenhyphenqly2B1bzaO46OLwipoCYL68_x0oYNA5NYb9WcXq8SqR9eUlU4L2rOA/s640/IMG_0052.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look for her on The View one day</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I saw very few authors pitching mystery books this year. It seems everyone had a kid's book instead. Barbara Nachman brought one of her books called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Catwalk-Killer-Who-Done-Who-Wore-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00MEKK0RW" target="_blank"><i>Catwalk Killer</i></a> a mystery genre in the fashion industry. She had a lot of personality and I'm sure she will get some exposure... although I've always said that it is crazy to publish fiction and compete against the large New York houses. Fiction is a tough game to win for small, independent publishers. I don't think there is an easier / faster way to lose money except maybe to give it to your wife (or husband!)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5yrXv8TMcdLDPVYpU88xu_b-Iz_Iz3587mT_fqyV0WIRn_bkdKdgXhSpgn8BD5f__TU5Wa9FAWWeMQClTwt_IzsgKXUhcMdBXZX4_zRQ7VAJWmey3suV1s3k2p57supFS6Bt6UA/s1600/IMG_0053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5yrXv8TMcdLDPVYpU88xu_b-Iz_Iz3587mT_fqyV0WIRn_bkdKdgXhSpgn8BD5f__TU5Wa9FAWWeMQClTwt_IzsgKXUhcMdBXZX4_zRQ7VAJWmey3suV1s3k2p57supFS6Bt6UA/s640/IMG_0053.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Barbara Nachman</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I always look for someone in costume, especially dressed as a character from their book. This year I didn't see anyone except a young woman with a sci-fi/paranormal book wearing a great shirt. I don't know much about the book because her website doesn't say much... but it looks interesting: <a href="http://www.enlightenedbook.net/books" target="_blank"><i>Enlightened</i></a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjNFvHVUI2XwuxaTWxUUCoiiVByLfdGIqQa01VyopcZ34GB6sUVElHOdijBPznuh40rv5ZngZYRg5XJ1art16qvsG-gB9MoAkRJr1WUNK0K_4ildt2yUmq8sL8yd2oCudjC5YICg/s1600/IMG_0065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjNFvHVUI2XwuxaTWxUUCoiiVByLfdGIqQa01VyopcZ34GB6sUVElHOdijBPznuh40rv5ZngZYRg5XJ1art16qvsG-gB9MoAkRJr1WUNK0K_4ildt2yUmq8sL8yd2oCudjC5YICg/s640/IMG_0065.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Billie Kowalewski, Author</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Every BEA since the dawn of time has an animal, most often a dog. This year's BEA dog is owned by Lynne Swanson, DMV, author of <a href="http://givesmiles.us/" target="_blank"><i>Smile</i></a>, a book about dog psychology targeted to helping people train difficult dogs. Everyone stopped at her booth to pet her dog. Rumor has it that he tried to take out the Amazon rep! 😋<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUBBLHsQTrjxB2lI4A5PU4kU3cUsAfYbZnsV6tfAjHGzttBYi7jYZ6ZW87BEF17l7KH5o75YM0JQ0ccRn4bdyddT4oaoa3_8IVJRIGkugFR55xlnbSDzvnC0IpjxaCHU6pcKETQ/s1600/IMG_0067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUBBLHsQTrjxB2lI4A5PU4kU3cUsAfYbZnsV6tfAjHGzttBYi7jYZ6ZW87BEF17l7KH5o75YM0JQ0ccRn4bdyddT4oaoa3_8IVJRIGkugFR55xlnbSDzvnC0IpjxaCHU6pcKETQ/s640/IMG_0067.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone (except maybe Amazon reps) loves a booth with a pup!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
One of the most imaginative books I saw at the show is a children's book... <i>The Doll Cat</i>. Shanthi Thiruppathi is the author and illustrator of <a href="http://intotheblueart.com/the-doll-cat/" target="_blank"><i>The Doll Cat</i> book series</a>. She draws her inspiration from the real-life stars of the books, her cats. <i>The Doll Cat</i> books tell a story of a young girl named Fiona and her Doll Cat, and it is just so well done. If you have little girl, get her this book.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYudwFgXYIEWprt8oNBieCtvyY1ypSqrLXzx-wu4CZrO_XCsGjlWHBoD9oX7nusI_qiZHDxf1lP5NaU38zHWL-sUSoqujgkLQlzs_QJO93awqgMq5OLVLrXLaHV0HE_MhNYuA39A/s1600/IMG_0069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYudwFgXYIEWprt8oNBieCtvyY1ypSqrLXzx-wu4CZrO_XCsGjlWHBoD9oX7nusI_qiZHDxf1lP5NaU38zHWL-sUSoqujgkLQlzs_QJO93awqgMq5OLVLrXLaHV0HE_MhNYuA39A/s640/IMG_0069.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shanthi Thiruppathi, author and illustrator</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Every once in a while I meet someone roaming the (very wide!) aisles whom I just take an instant like to and <a href="http://www.talkloudpr.com/" target="_blank">Sam Glazer</a> was that guy. Sam is a publicist who works with book authors and publishers to 'get the word out.' I don't know much about his work, but after some thirty years in the business I can can spot people who know their business and those who just talk the talk. Sam knows his biz and I'll be happy to refer people to him<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcY7TN9Wa_jwzhRYC0nIx32etldE_3By4WBRfY5cXmRIIy-TT3osjmhEBiRWL5WL7ZGXr1bvOW3mmBf6kP7GxqrilZPFb5yv8RfrhhFMlOgTDxctlkwXLRFnEWuLYc_ldpoIf5w/s1600/IMG_0068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcY7TN9Wa_jwzhRYC0nIx32etldE_3By4WBRfY5cXmRIIy-TT3osjmhEBiRWL5WL7ZGXr1bvOW3mmBf6kP7GxqrilZPFb5yv8RfrhhFMlOgTDxctlkwXLRFnEWuLYc_ldpoIf5w/s640/IMG_0068.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sam Glazer: I just liked him!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
The last exhibit I saw was very interesting. It was kind of a "kickstarter" for authors providing for an unusual way for them to fund their books by selling pre-order copies and getting publishers interested. It is somewhat complex so I suggest you read about <a href="https://publishizer.com/" target="_blank">Publishizer</a> yourself.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3rcd1PiIzq-oJKHEacZb1mwsZdHCrVTCFbwbCyo7rduy9hmKhYKUlM6H6eszCXbC5_MRFr4JtZbm-NMhbY_y2lGd-OBzNthPYMqTWtj4YEat13Qe7GwoY2iRtlvBFTIMdR2upA/s1600/IMG_0073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3rcd1PiIzq-oJKHEacZb1mwsZdHCrVTCFbwbCyo7rduy9hmKhYKUlM6H6eszCXbC5_MRFr4JtZbm-NMhbY_y2lGd-OBzNthPYMqTWtj4YEat13Qe7GwoY2iRtlvBFTIMdR2upA/s640/IMG_0073.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tian Daphne from Publishizer.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
CONCLUSION</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
I liked the show. It was way smaller in both booth-space sold and of course in attendance. But that was not actually a bad thing for those covering it because with less to see it was possible to spend more time at each booth.<br />
<br />
I also saw about as much diversity in titles as well as sidelines as I've seen at the larger shows in the past.<br />
<br />
What I didn't see was a lot of what used to be called 'blue badges' meaning bookstore buyers. I also didn't see all that many media people either. Most of my journalist friends simply didn't bother to cover the show. I don't know why, but I do intend to ask.<br />
<br />
There has been a lot of criticism of this year's show... the best known published in Huffpost by Brooke Warner titled <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-incredible-shrinking-bookexpo-a-2017-recap-from_us_593406fce4b0649fff211a14" target="_blank">The Incredible Shrinking BookExpo: A 2017 Recap From An Indie Publisher’s Perspective</a>.<br />
<br />
Another <a href="http://www.ibpa-online.org/news/349191/IBPA-Report-from-BookExpoBookCon-2017.htm" target="_blank">notable negative review</a> came from the influential CEO of IBPA, Angela Bole who said:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The show floor chatter about the health of BookExpo wasn’t positive. Many people speculated that ReedPOP may, in fact, be phasing out BookExpo in favor of BookCon. Bets were made as to how long this phase out might take and where the industry would go for its B2B interactions should it happen."</blockquote>
<br />
Angela might have heard 'chatter' but I heard loud yelling and screaming from exhibitors asking "Where are the people? Why did I spend all this money?" I had no answer for them.<br />
<br />
Even the popular speaker events did not draw large crowds... the show organizers didn't even bother to fill the space with chairs... that would not be filled.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYs78VJEo-kXyw6xK7knYRwjjqem3W0aEZ-OFd9AwMp3pfBL1H-BpFUz6lGeCnF7Eqke87dvnQaEws6WfGSqgIibaX7w2kIUOBidFGkjnH-H0IevUwb4YF5WFBXsG6yYSWZNfGUQ/s1600/IMG_0074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYs78VJEo-kXyw6xK7knYRwjjqem3W0aEZ-OFd9AwMp3pfBL1H-BpFUz6lGeCnF7Eqke87dvnQaEws6WfGSqgIibaX7w2kIUOBidFGkjnH-H0IevUwb4YF5WFBXsG6yYSWZNfGUQ/s640/IMG_0074.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of empty space</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In years past I would see twenty to thirty close friends. We would have dinners and attend parties. None of them came this year. I was the last man standing such that I found myself on Thursday night eating dinner alone at my <a href="http://www.lycheehouse.com/" target="_blank">favorite Chinese restaurant</a> on the East Side... a few blocks from <a href="https://lombardyhotel.com/" target="_blank">the hotel I always stay at</a> when in NYC.<br />
<br />
Will I attend in 2018? If they have it, I will go. I love the show. I get energized. I get ideas. I meet new people and make new friends. I get new web business <a href="http://newmediacreate.com/" target="_blank">for our company</a>. But I'd be hard pressed to convince anyone else to go, unless they get the same energy jolt from the show that I do or who love New York City as most ex-New Yorkers do.<br />
<br />
I do not understand why the large publishers spend huge amounts of money for floor space and expend a great deal of time and effort getting people and product to the show. What do they get out of it? If anyone knows please write and tell me.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
-30-</div>
<br />
Thanks for reading this... a lot of work went into it and I hope your time was well spent. Below are Diaries of previous shows, should you be interested.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 19.6px;">2017: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2017/06/bea-diary-2017.html" target="_blank">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2017/06/bea-diary-2017.html</a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 19.6px;">2016: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2016/05/bea-diary-2016_21.html" target="_blank">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2016/05/bea-diary-2016_21.html</a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 19.6px;">2015: </span><span style="color: #4d469c; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.6px;"><a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2015/06/bea-diary-2015.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2015/06/bea-diary-2015.html</a></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 19.6px;">2014: </span><a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2014/06/bea-diary-2014.html" style="color: #4d469c; line-height: 19.6px; text-decoration-line: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2014/06/bea-diary-2014.html</a></div>
<div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
2013: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2013/06/bea-diary-2013.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2013/06/bea-diary-2013.html</a></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2012: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2012/06/bea-2012.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2012/06/bea-2012.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2011: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2011/06/bea-diary-2011.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2011/06/bea-diary-2011.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2010: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2010/06/bea-diary-2010.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2010/06/bea-diary-2010.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2009: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/bea-2009.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/bea-2009.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2008: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2008/06/bea-diary-2008.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2008/06/bea-diary-2008.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2007: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2007/06/bea-diary-2007.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2007/06/bea-diary-2007.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2006: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2005: <span class="s2" style="color: #4d469c;"><a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2005/06/bea-diary-2005.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2005/06/bea-diary-2005.html</a></span></span></div>
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You MAY (and are encouraged to) share the link to this piece or reprint any part of it without prior permission so long as you use the following attribution:<br />
<br />
Alan N. Canton, Managing Partner<br />
NewMedia Create<br />
<a href="http://www.newmediacreate.com/">http://www.NewMediaCreate.com</a><br />
"Websites for authors, publishers, and small businesses at an affordable price"<br />
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<b>Per usual, if you have comments or corrections, please send them to bea-diary at adams-blake dot com</b><br />
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<br />Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-25693345142038804682017-03-12T20:13:00.001-07:002017-03-12T23:22:43.732-07:00EDS: My Experience In The House That Perot Built<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br />
</i> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJxTtgdOVQkPAM7IOzg0Qv0aBHY62HNNd05sUciuqegxEKCBQSltnk7qseRhiBQsR6jrkznNW9rRQnRiGZFKnquzpTRCePaIpLJHszoa9D8rdZLhv_OGvyQSBO0zvuautcg05Q_w/s1600/eds-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJxTtgdOVQkPAM7IOzg0Qv0aBHY62HNNd05sUciuqegxEKCBQSltnk7qseRhiBQsR6jrkznNW9rRQnRiGZFKnquzpTRCePaIpLJHszoa9D8rdZLhv_OGvyQSBO0zvuautcg05Q_w/s320/eds-1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br />
</i> <i><br />
</i> <i>Note:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br />
</i> <i>SED = System Engineer (in) Development ( a job program and title)</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">SE = System Engineer (a title)</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Phase 1: about a year as a low-life SED doing studies and getting coffee</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Phase 2: three months in programming school in Dallas... fully, paid... very hard.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Phase 3: like a ‘residency’ often a year... before earning SE status</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It was in the early 70s when I got hired by EDS into the SED program. I was already a programmer but not at the level where I’d be a professional hire SE. I was somewhat of a ‘different hire’ for the company because I not only had <u>not</u> been in the military but I also had a MA degree and real life/business experience. I had worked as a teacher (you can read <a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/bsab/#company" target="_blank">http://www.adams-blake.com/bsab/#company</a> ) and while I was only 26 years old, I was not fresh out of the service or school like so many other young people EDS hired at the time. EDS was not my first rodeo.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I walked up to the security desk at 100 Northpoint in San Francisco, the large EDS Blue Shield Medicaid account and told the guard I was a new hire. A phone number was dialed and in a few minutes the SED manger, Hank Betts came down to meet me. He said nothing... turned around and motioned me to follow. I guess he was having a bad day because when we got upstairs to a large room full of people working at desks... he scowled and told me to first find a desk and a chair and then find something to do. It was a very strange introduction to a new job.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But that’s not what I remember the most about that first day. After finding a desk and chair, but not something to do, I went down to the Blue Shield cafeteria alone for lunch. There were a bunch of SEs in the corner... you’d think that they would call over a new guy and maybe make him feel at home... but that was not (and never would be) the culture of EDS. I stood on line and got a sandwich, went to an empty table, took off my suit jacket and sat down.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">About a minute later Mr. Betts comes into the room but I didn’t see him as my back was toward the door. But I did notice how odd it was that all of a sudden the room got really quiet. Obviously the SEs knew something was up... or was about to be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I then hear this squeaky grating voice loud enough so that all could hear saying: “What do you think you are doing? You stand up and put that jacket on right now. We never take our coat off in a customer area.” He was red-faced and I thought he was going to bust a gut.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I heard one of the SEs say “Welcome to the NFL, rookie!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now do understand that Betts and I were only a couple of years apart in age, but I was in tip-top shape and he was a short, fat, balding guy, way out of his physical prime, assuming he was ever in it. And I’m from New York... and well... you f—k with me and I’m going to f---k you back (and you are going to think you were f—ed by an elephant!) so it was all I could do to check my temper and not ‘take him out’ right then and there. I think I heard a voice inside my head say that it probably would not be a good idea to be arrested for assault and battery on your first day on the job!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I swore to myself that I’d get even for that humiliation. The SEs were laughing their heads off... it made their day. Mine, not so much!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Remember the book they had us read before our final job interview... “Tough Minded Management?” I was to soon learn that at SOME of the lower levels in EDS it was more like “No Minded” management. I found over the years there that if you could not code and you could not sell, you were made a manager of the coders and the sales people. Perot followed the military system where most people rose above their level of incompetence!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Above Betts on the management food-chain was Dennis Schafer. A lot of people didn’t like him and I never knew why. I didn’t have much contact with him, but he knew my name and was aways nice to me and I rather liked him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Everyone liked Schafer’s boss Ken Hill. I used to volunteer to take large reams of sysout to Sacramento (about a 100 mile drive) .... leaving in the late afternoon... anything to escape Commandant ‘Clinger’ Betts. I’d get gas money (cash) from Hill’s secretary, Beryl Kay whom everyone loved and respected as they did Ken Hill... I didn’t know about demons he fought with substance abuse until much later.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Betts thought his job was to be the DI “Sergeant Carter” of new “Gomer Pyle” recruits... and maybe it worked with guys with a military mindset, but the few of us who had been recently hired without military experience, found him unbearable. He didn’t ‘ask’ he ‘ordered.’ He thought he was still in the military. Most of the SEDs longed for the day that Betts would be gone and Jim Hienitz would take over. Everyone loved Jim.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Betts was not really a bad guy... I think he was just rather shy, somewhat overwhelmed by his job... and it was obvious that he didn’t have much management training. I’ll bet that if you asked him today he would admit that he could have done better. All he really had to do was maybe show some appreciation to his SEDs... perhaps take us a lunch or bring in a pizza or something trivial. Stuff like that goes a long way. If you be nice to people they will be nice to you. Many managers at EDS never learned that lesson. They never understood that giving orders is NOT motivation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” - General Dwight D. Eisenhower</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I loved being an SED in San Francisco... there was a large contingent of us since it was a large account. It was great working with Barry Ross, Mary Ann Gunderson, John Amoa, Mark Sadler, Dennis Strange and a bunch of others whose names have receded too far back into my memory to recall.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">These were good, smart people whom you could trust to carry their share of the work... and there was a lot of it. We worked long hours, but we were young and for the first time some of us had some real “walking around” money in our jeans... and we loved to ‘do the town’ together... drinks at Ginsberg Pub dinner at the Top of The Mark, crawl the single bars on Union Street. We were a good group... and enjoyed our own little clique knowing it was temporary and we’d all be sent to Phase 2 school and probably scattered around the country after that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">EDS did not have too many rules but there was one we all broke. You know the rule about not having a drink at lunch and coming back? There was a Chinese SED who knew the back streets of Chinatown and once a week we’d take the Stockton bus down there and he would bring us to a tiny restaurant that no one could ever find and we’d have dim sum and Tsingtao beer... and lots of breath mints afterward.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Besides trying to learn the MIO system and stay out of the way of the SEs who treated us with a level of disdain... to them we were a time-sink with endless questions about how the system worked... like what was the big MAMU, we kept busy with tasks trying the make the workflow more efficient.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Most of the customer people liked our SED team. Blue Shield had some deadwood managers at the top, but some of the middle people were quite good. Smart or dumb, they were all nice people and the company had a supportive culture... totally different from the militaristic EDS. I enjoyed working with Bill Cathcart, Kay Fields, Laura Durant, Cliff Hong, Bob Pollard, and others.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Because I had experience working with people (unlike many of the SEDs and SEs right out of the military) I was popular with the Shield staff, much to the distain of both Betts and the SEs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We were not supposed to ‘fraternize’ with the customer, but most of us were young and single and often we would end up at the same bars on Union Street. And of course there were secret liaisons.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I did my best to keep out of Hank Betts way, but I never forgot that first day of humiliation. About five months after that first day he was sent to run an account in Tacoma, Washington. It was a plum assignment... everyone wanted the job... and Hank got it. I never found out why or how. Perhaps it was the “People who can't code...” rule? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Instead of Jim Heinitz as a replacement SED manager, in came a guy named Ray McKinney. With his red hair and chubby cheeks and mostly good humor, Ray was OK.... not the best manager by most corporate standards, but a decent guy... he had a pretty good personality!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The first thing Ray did was send a bunch of us to learn industrial engineering (IE)... in a week. The class was taught by PK Agarwyl whom everyone loved. EDS at the time was not keen on minorities... there were not many of them... Bal Berde and PK were the only ones I knew in semi-management positions. (As for woman... well EDS... along with most of the IT community... had a saying... that women had a very important position in data processing... on their backs! Outside of Ruth Kamina who ran the the online system, I can’t remember any other women in senior positions.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So we all went to IE classes held at a hotel on the Fisherman’s Wharf for a couple of weeks to learn Motion, Time, (MTM) Management... from these red books they gave us... I think I still have mine. They expected us to learn in two weeks what would be taught in two semesters at any engineering college. I doubt we met or exceeded their expectations!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">After the classes ended, Ray came up with what he thought would make his ‘name’ in EDS management. It was called the Performance Improvement Project... or PIP. The concept was to do in-depth studies of every workflow in the claim shop and instigate new procedures. He probably didn’t know that SEDs had been doing that for the past couple of years... and there really wasn’t much more cost-saving efficiency that could be wrung out of the manual processes. But we went ahead anyway.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There was a rather elderly woman named Mary Hyatt who was the manager of the Blue Shield microfilm research section. She had been with Blue Shield since the dinosaurs roamed The City. She was known as a ‘terror’ and most of the EDS (and Blue Shield!) people were afraid of her, but since I once taught under a school principal like her, I knew how to be deferential... and we got along fine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">She told me about all of this microfilm that was sent up to her area... maybe 40 boxes of the stuff... it was stacked up in a corner, stayed around for a month... and was taken away to be replaced with another forty boxes No one ever used it... because they had the same data on easier-to-use microfiche.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So in good SED fashion I did a study and learned that Shield would save about $100,000 a year by not making the film. And having been taught that in EDS you got just enough rope to hang yourself, I made the presentation to Shield’s second-level managers, who then presented it to Bill Cathcart and his senior managers (all hoping to take credit for it!) I didn’t consult anyone at EDS. (“The first one to see a snake, kills it....” Ross would tell us.** ) It was a big hit and EDS was a big hero and for a week or two as the word got around... everyone loved us. “Wow, EDS actually saved us money... for a change” people said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There was only one small glitch. Guess who made the microfilm? You got it. EDS Federal had some little company they owned that made the film... and so I ended up costing the company a 'hundred large'... and that was a lot of money in those days.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Someone had to be blamed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Guess who it was?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ray called me into his office and said he had the famous “One-time, good deal” for me... they would send me to Phase 2 school early if I left for Dallas tomorrow and ‘play’ industrial engineer for a few months. They had signed two new states and needed to know how many people to bring in for a claims processing shop. And with a whole two weeks of IE training I was supposed to tell them!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ray and Dennis basically sentenced me to Dallas so that I could not do any more damage! Since I didn’t have a choice, I had nothing to lose... so I told then I’d go ONLY if they paid for my housing in Dallas (like they would if I were in school) AND my rent for my apartment in Daly City (south of San Francisco... a low-rent area at the time.) I guess they really wanted to get rid of me... and they could not fire me without a lawsuit, so they happily agreed and two days later I was haulin’ ass to Texas... travel expenses paid... and I did NOT stay at the no-tell motel nor did I eat fast food. I was on expense account, baby! I was livin’ high!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The home office (7171 Forest Lane) had a great culture... it was way different than the Shield account... they had managers there who actually knew how to manage (with one glaring exception.) I was assigned to Dave Guild (guy-uled) who was terrific. I got to know Les Alberthal, Mort Myerson, Dave Beede, Tom Marquez, and of course we all saw Ross on a regular basis.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unlike San Francisco, the home office boys valued guys with college degrees and brains and so I fit in quite well. I also made a good friend named Don Fried (who ended up with EDS in Europe.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I didn’t know squat about industrial engineering, but I could draw elaborate flowcharts with circles and arrows and write parapraphs of (academic sounding) verbiage to obfuscate what I didn’t know! (I learned years later that the numbers I pulled out of a hat... where surprisingly accurate... like the number of mail sorting people and data entry people needed for expected volumes of claims. I guess I paid attention in IE class although I don’t remember doing so!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dave’s team was tasked with providing research to the sales guys seeking new Medicaid processing biz in states across he country. We also helped to write the RFP responses. Dave was a great boss and the guys who worked for him (names I don’t remember) were first-rate. Dave and I put on a bunch of successful dog-and-pony shows to senior management (there is nothing <a href="http://newmediacreate.com/webster/" target="_blank">like teaching the 8th grade</a> to train you for making presentations) and so they knew us well and we both had influence “upstairs” with Ross and Les.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It wasn’t long after I got to Dallas that EDS won a contract in some crap state.. maybe it was Alabama or Arkansas... wherever it was no one wanted to go there to manage it. But I knew the perfect guy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I remembered (and have never forgotten) the humiliating incident in the Blue Shield cafeteria my first day on the job and I thought that if anyone should have to move to some s—t hole account it should be Hank... because he deserved it... and so I pitched his name to Les (who was the decider) and in no time at all Hank was selling his new house in Washington and moving his ass to someplace no one wanted to go. I felt pretty good about it. What goes around comes around.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Life in Dallas was good. For those who have never been to the corporate compound of the day, Ross had bought a country club. He kept the pool and nine holes of the golf course and built the office building and datacenter on the rest of the land. It was a fortress with fences and at least one security checkpoint, but I think that there might have been two. I never played golf there, but I would use the pool each day to keep in shape.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dallas had lots of good bars and dance clubs and incredibly beautiful girls. The workload was nothing like it was on the accounts so we actually had weekends and evenings off. For an SED (there were a handful of us) it was good duty, until Phase 2 started.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With all the new biz that EDS was signing, partly due to the work that Dave’s team (and I) did, the company was running low on SEs and needed to pump out some Phase 3s in a hurry. Every account was clamoring for them. So in the summer of 1976 I was sent into KS4 ... the class ID of Phase 2... run by the wicked warlord of the west.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The class monitor or sponsor or whatever the position was called was a man named Vern Olsen. Remember when I said that everyone in the Dallas office was first-rate? Well, not Vern. Vern had worked on and traveled with the 1972 Nixon campaign and was the Halderman and Erlichman of EDS. He was roundly feared and disliked by all the students... we were all warned ahead of time by the outgoing classes not to cross him. I don’t know why Ross kept him around... I guess every company needs a ‘bad ass’ for certain functions... and Vern was that guy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The first day of Phase 2, big, bad-ass Vern comes in and tells us to look at the person sitting to our left and to our right because one of them would washout and probably end up flipping steaks down at the Golden Coral not far from the office. I give him credit. He was an intimidating guy... even a hard-ass, New Yorker like me could feel the chill he radiated... and wondered just what evil he might be capable of.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I already had a good background in programming, and except for the first two weeks on assembler language where I did put in some extra hours, after that when we moved into COBOL and JCL and procs and macros, it was all pretty simple to me, I was exceptionally good at programming, and I didn’t spend near the amount of time on the programs that others did. For some reason that fact really irked Vern. I didn’t like him and he didn’t like me... and I knew it was not going to end well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Attendance in class was mandatory but it didn’t have to be because EDS had the best teachers I’d ever seen. I had been through a zillion years of school and had been a teacher myself and I knew good educators from bad. EDS instructors were great. We all loved going to class.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I hardly ever participated in class. I knew most of the material being presented and I didn’t want to sound pretentious... like a know-it-all, so I kept to myself and kept my mouth shut... except for once.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Every week or so during the three months of Phase 2 Vern would come down from his office and hold these PPDs or Policy and Procedures Discussions... which was pretty much basic company propaganda and served to rationalize some of the dumb-ass rules that the company had... like white shirts and short hair and not revealing salary... and of course there were the fantasy-land stories about being offered free vacations if you did an outstanding job. The PPDs spent a lot of time telling us why we were being paid 10%-15% less than prevailing wages and why we should be happy about that. It was all B.S. and we all knew it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Vern would call on people asking them if they agreed with whatever he was pontificating on and the smart people would say yes and that would be that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well, in one of these two-hour indoctrination sessions I got irked by some stupid thing he said and I got into it with him on some subject or another... and I simply took his argument apart piece by piece, word for word.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">OK, it was not a fair fight... I was far more educated than he was, and far more erudite than he was. I had done his job (as a teacher and manager) and I was better at it then he was. I could argue with devastating logic while all he had on his side was a nasty disposition that intimated everyone... but me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yeah, it was not the smartest thing I’d ever done. I didn’t like the guy and he didn’t like me... we were both type-A personalities, and so it was no surprise that one day we would go at it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was not in fear of Vern. Look. A few days after I graduated college with zero experience in teaching I was in front of 33 eighth graders in a eight-room schools house in Diana, West Virginia. You want to know fear? That was fear. Compared to that, Vern was a pussy (cat) and while he might have intimidated the rest of the class, he was just an 8th grader bully to me and I had learned how to deal with that personality type. You stand up to them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Three months after starting, we finished Phase 2 school and we all had to go through the exit interview where we were told what account we were going to be assigned to. And of course, we’d get the Phase 3 raise that had been promised.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Um... except for me. I’d made the earlier deal that, I was going back to San Francisco since EDS had been paying my rent there. And given our ‘history’ when I walked into Vern’s office, I was not expecting a raise... and I was not disappointed. He told me that he wanted to fire me... because I had ‘attitude issues.’ Yeah, right. Like he didn’t?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Actually, had he fired me, I would not have cared all that much. I had EDS on my resume and I could write my own ticket with almost any company in San Francisco. BoA, Crocker Bank, Levi Strauss, PG&E, and a whole bunch of companies were crying for anyone who could spell “C O B O L” or “ A L C.” My car was packed and ready to go no matter what Vern told me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But what he did say did surprise me. He said that Dennis Schafer ‘saved’ my job. He said that Dennis had called him and wanted me (me?) back there. I didn’t find out until later that it wasn’t all about me... Dennis had been promised a certain number of Phase 2s and that I was one of them and he wanted me... attitude and all. Anyone who could code was a ‘hot property’ to every EDS account manager.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Vern said that if it had been up to him I’d be fired but that Dennis (being an account manager) overruled him and so I was staying but was not getting a raise... because I didn’t deserve it. And of course he said it in his most officious German military officer style.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wanted to tell Vern to go f—k himself, but I didn’t. It was five o’clock, it was raining and getting dark on a chilly November afternoon... and I wanted to get on the road and hit Wichita Falls where I’d spend the night. Dallas was nice, but I wanted to go home to where I had “left my heart” in my “city by the bay.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Upon returning to San Francisco I was assigned to the Medicaid Provider System... a group of sequential VSAM databases of doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, etc., who could submit claims and receive compensation. It was not nearly as important as working the ‘front end’ or the ‘back end’ of the system, but it was important enough because each ‘end’ required the use of the provider files. The manager of the system was a wonderful man named Bill Bogges ... a terrific manager. He had a good heart and wanted his people to succeed. I was mentored by a woman named Yvonne Wong who was wonderful to work with as was another Phase 3 on the small team, Andy Au.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">At first all I did was WAAPDSUT programs but eventually I was allowed to start making changes to the system... which was a large group of spaghetti-code modules. No one really knew how all of it worked. It was written years ago in ALC by guys who were told by management “We don’t want it good, we want it Tuesday!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Provider System was not an area where you could really ‘shine’ as it was all maintenance coding... nothing new being needed or added, unlike the front and back ends of the MIO system. After several months I was bored and frustrated. I was a really good programmer (I still am!) and I had no opportunity to use my abilities. I figured I’d be a Phase 3 forever and it would be years before I would ‘make’ SE working in the backwaters of the Provider System.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But I caught a break. One late afternoon about six months after returning from Dallas the phone rang and I found myself on a conference call with several of the senior VPs in sales... the only name I remember was the well-liked Gary Fernandez.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Everyone had gone home and I was the last man standing. They told me that they absolutely needed a complex set of reports by 8AM (Dallas time)... that a huge account was at stake (they never told me which one) and that it was up to me to make it happen. (I think they actually said “Failure is not an option!")</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This was before the days of SQL or even network databases (IDMS.) All we had were a collection of un-normalized sequential files. There was no email or fax machines... they told me on the phone the report headers and the break points and what totals they needed. It was complex as hell. They called the datacenter at 1 Beach Street and told them to give my jobs (compile, link, run) the highest priority.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>//JOB-NAME JOB (ACCT-INFO),’PROGR-NAME’, CLASS=class-name, </i><i>MSGLEVEL (M1, M2), PRTY=priority-number</i></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">(The datacenter people didn’t like to be told how to run their shop, but they did what they were ordered to to... I got a priority parameter... something we poor Phase 3s never got from the datacenter people!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Finally I had a chance to show what I could do. This was a very complex set of reports they needed and I guess the priority was very high because they stayed up all night with me while I wrote the code and they reviewed the sysout sent down to Dallas. They told me the changes, I coded them, re-ran the system... there must have been ten iterations of this. I think I wrote 800 lines of ALC code in about two hours and spent the rest of the night tweaking it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">By around 5:30 AM it was all done (7:30 AM in Dallas) and the home office guys were happy as hell. They had no idea who I was. I told them that no one in the SF office thought that I could code myself out of an infinite loop and that it would be nice if maybe they might tell someone that I was a halfway good programmer. I didn’t expect that they would... but it didn’t hurt to ask.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I went home, went to bed for a few hours and took the day off figuring that if they needed me they knew how to find me (It was common back then to be called in the middle of the night to fix a production problem... usually a SOC 7 from some code you put in earlier that you didn’t test well. (We often ‘tested in production’... no time to do otherwise!))</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When I came back to my cube the following day I got a call from Beryl Kay saying that I was to be in Dennis Schafer’s office at ten sharp. I figured I’d screwed up and I was going to be chewed out... it was going to be another Vern Olsen session!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I walked in and there was Bill Bogges, Dennis Schafer, and Ken Hill. Man, I must have really screwed the pooch on this one! I wasn’t going to be chewed out, I was going to be mustered out! I looked around for the Pinkerton security guy that usually escorted fired personnel to pack up their stuff and then lead them out of the office and on to the street. I was sure my ass was grass!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It turned out that the guys in Dallas from the other night were really major players in the company and that they had called San Francisco and told the senior managers about the all-night session and how I had saved their ass and that I was to be assigned to the group where my skills would be better utilized. It was a direct order, non-negotiable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So I was told that effectively immediately I was classified as a SE, that I would be getting the raise I didn’t get from Phase 2, plus some extra... and that I was to be transferred to the elite implementation team down the street in the Acron Building run by the highly popular and highly respected Jack Gaither. His team were the ‘top gun’ of the West coast programmers. Finally... I had arrived!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I thought I was a good programmer, but when I got over to the Acron I learned that I was not even mediocre by EDS standards. Guys like Gary Wilson, Jim Ewoldson, Roy Swackhamer, and Bal Berde were the best of the best. All of these guys were terrific... supportive of the new people coming into the group, and were always there to help out. These men were great programmers and great guys, but there was one guy who stood above them... the ‘top gun of the top guns’ was Lou Everett. Unfortunately he was a world-class, arrogant asshole... the forerunner of the arrogant, millennial, Debian Linux programming or Google ‘dude’ of today. It was too bad because he could have been a great mentor.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was assigned to work in Roy Swackhammer’s ‘squad.’ The job of the implementation group was to bring up a new Medicaid system for the new business that EDS had written... and most often these accounts gave us only 90 days to do an incredible amount of work. There might be hundreds of major changes we need to make to our base-legacy system to accommodate the needs and nuances of the different states we would be doing claims for. And there might be many large new sub-systems that we had to write and test and integrate with the rest of the system. It was a total team effort and it was a hell of a good team. The pressure was intense... failure really was not an option.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I loved leaning from Roy (we became good friends) and loved working for EDS and Jack Gaither. I could not think of a better place to work. Roy was very popular in the company. I remember that after Roy’s wife had twins, she had some major medical issues that insurance didn’t cover. It was like $10,000. When Ross heard about it he had the company cut Roy a check to cover it... no strings attached. I was in the room. I saw the check. What a great company... even if there were a few Vern Olsen’s in it! (About two months later Roy left EDS to take a management position with Evans Products, a lumber company somewhere in OR or WA. I never heard from him again.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Except for the arrogant Everet, life was great there... and it was good that it was... because none of us ever left there! At times we would work 15-18 hour days, ten in a row... code, eat, sleep, code... rinse and repeat. You could learn more in one month on the implementation team than you would in a year anywhere else. I got a break when I was able to spend some time with Ruth Kamena and the OLS team (EDS’s home-grown CICS system. I later became a CICS programmer and earned top-dollar as a consultant after leaving EDS... all thanks to Ruth.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I loved working in the Acron Building with the men and few women in Jack’s rag-tag SE army... and of course everyone loved working for Jack... he was easily the best manager EDS had... he loved us and we loved him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Next, of course, was the wonderful Bal Berde... an incredible programmer and a man who was always ready to teach the newbies better coding techniques. When your module did not run and you could not figure it out, Bal was the go-to guy. He could read the code and in an instant tell you where the problem was.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The only problem I had with EDS was the pay. And we all griped about it privately. Around 1978 opportunities in Silicon Valley were starting to explode and the corporate head hunters who got an EDS call list were telling us about incredible offers. Guys who were making $20K a year were getting offers of $35K to leave EDS... and SEs started taking them. EDS simply believed that they could replace senior talent with Phase 3s instead of paying us what we were worth on the open market. No one was a better capitalist than Ross, but he never ‘got it’ I don’t think.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thus, guys were leaving, creating even more work for the rest of us... which was not well compensated compared to what they were getting (and yes, they told us about it.) In the SF area you simply could not afford to marry, buy a house, have a baby, and pay the bills on what EDS was paying. You can’t take company loyalty and job-satisfaction to the grocery store and trade it for milk, meat, and eggs!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was reading the Sunday help-wanted adds and saw a huge ad for a company in Cupertino called Four-Phase who were looking for MIS people and said they were paying top dollar salaries and had great perks and benefit.s (The ad said that they closed the whole company from Christmas to New Year and gave everyone an extra paid vacation!) They were having an open house with on-the-spot hiring interviews on a Saturday morning and I decided to drive down there. What the hell, right?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I handed my resume to the young woman at the security desk in the lobby (with about six or seven other job-seekers... none thankfully from EDS!) and waited. After a few minutes out came... guess who... Jim Heinitz... the SED manager we all hoped we would get years ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I had no idea he had left EDS a couple years back for a management job at Four Phase.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How could it get better for me? I’d work for a company who would pay and treat me what I was worth, work for a manager I really liked, and could get an apartment for half what it cost in the SF area. After years of doing ‘impossible’ work for EDS at what I thought were slave wages, it was a no-brainer. Many of my SE friends had left ...some for other accounts or other companies... the demand for good programmers was there for us all across the country and there was nothing holding me to EDS anymore. The workload was impossible after so many defections... and the pay was terrible. Why stay?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I told Jack that I was leaving, what I was going to be paid, and whom I’d be working for. He said his hands were tied pay-wise and that he wished me well. I never saw him again, but I’m told he eventually landed in Sacramento with EDS where my wife (who was a Blue Shield girl... we kept THAT quiet!) and I ended up moving to some 35 years ago... and I’m still here... with the same wife... in the same house!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I liked Four-Phase and loved working for Jim, but my fiancee lived in Marin and going back and forth between there and Sunnyvale where I had moved to, was just not ‘working’ for us. She was a surgery RN and had a great job at a small hospital she loved. She was not going to move. Since I could get a job anywhere in San Francisco, I decided that I’d leave Four-Phase when my project was finished and installed. I owed Jim at least that much, if not more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Back then most guys took full-time jobs at various companies... most with the hope of moving out of the technical arena and into a corporate management career. But ‘gear heads’ like me went down a different path. I learned that there were these “life forms” called contract programmers... the nice word for them was ‘consultants. but at the end of the day we were just ‘hired guns’ brought in to fix a problem. put out a fire, or do something the regular staff didn’t have the skills to do. “Have code... will travel” was the card of us all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You could work as a self-employed, sole-prop 1099 and get $25 an hour. If you could bag 1850 hours that was over $46,000 a year. Do you know how much money that was back then? It was not a dream. Given the demand, it was very possible... guys I knew were doing it and they had no reason to lie about what they said they were making.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When my project was done with Four-Phase and I had a couple of weeks of vacation time to take, I decided to send some letters with resumes to various companies in San Francisco seeing if they needed a contractor. A day or two later I get a call from a manager at Pacific Gas and Electric (the utility company) saying that they have a huge ‘dinosaur’ Gas Control Accounting System in IBM ALC with hundreds of change requests that had been stacked up for a few years. Their management decided it would be cheaper to hire a contractor to come in and go through the stack and make the changes instead of re-writing the system in COBOL.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I went for the interview. I asked for $35 an hour. They didn’t even blink. I probably could have gotten $40. They said they would give me my own cube, my own workstation (a rare thing back then... we used to share terminals) and would leave me alone for a couple of years to do all the work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I took that assignment. I never had another full-time job again. I married my nurse, and when the contract was over we moved to Sacramento where we could afford to buy a beautiful home, and I worked as a hired gun for just about every major state agency, as well as a number of private sector companies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">These days I am the managing partner of a web design company <a href="http://newmediacreate.com/" target="_blank">http://newmediacreate.com</a> .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’ve been rather successful and I owe a lot of it to the training I got at EDS.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">EDS was indeed a “One-time good deal.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> ** “I come from an environment where, if you see a snake, you kill it. At GM, if you see a snake, the first thing you do is go hire a consultant on snakes. Then you get a committee on snakes, and then you discuss it for a couple of years. The most likely course of action is -- nothing. You figure, the snake hasn't bitten anybody yet, so you just let him crawl around on the factory floor. We need to build an environment where the first guy who sees the snake kills it.” - Ross Perot</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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</style>Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-3786947574630065122016-10-24T14:51:00.003-07:002016-10-24T14:53:41.796-07:00A New Ham’s Take on Pacificon 2016I’m a morning person but even 4:30 AM is early to me. But I wanted to be on the road at 6AM for the almost two hour drive from Fair Oaks, CA to San Ramon for the 2016 Pacificon hamfest. It was my first one since becoming licensed (General) nine months ago. I was stoked.<br />
<br />
I took the advice of a ham friend and went down highway 99. I was told that going the “Google Maps” way via 80 and 680 could or would be a nightmare. That was a mistake because the fog in the Stockton-Tracey area made driving difficult around dawn. But the traffic was not bad, I made good time, and I arrived around 7:30.<br />
<br />
So where would I park? Even at that early hour the hotel lot was packed. I think I got the very last space before they closed the lot and shifted everyone else over to a garage about a mile away… and I heard several complaints about it and the lack of close-by parking.<br />
<br />
I didn’t plan to attend any of the sessions, I just wanted to see the exhibits, perhaps pick up on a bargain or two… especially a mag-mount antenna for 2 meters.<br />
<br />
The registration process was painless, mainly because so many people pre-registered (and saved $5) so the line was short.<br />
<br />
The exhibits were housed in different rooms and the hallways zigged and zagged such that lots of people (including me) were continually lost in trying to find their way around. Bottom line, this convention was just too large for this hotel. I heard a bunch of hams say that the Santa Clara venue of past years was much better… both for parking and for direction-finding.<br />
<br />
I love shows where there are lots of exhibitors and this was a good one...but I had a couple of disappointments.<br />
<br />
I was surprised that Kenwood did not have a booth, especially considering that they have just brought out a new $650 D-Star handheld. What’s the matter with their marketing people? You know the saying “You can’t work ‘em if you can’t hear ‘em?” Well you" can’t sell ‘em if you don’t see ‘em!”<br />
<br />
ARRL was there but were not selling any books… only taking new memberships and giving books away to new signups. I was hoping to get a “show special” on the Extra Class license book (especially the spiral-bound.)<br />
<br />
The major radio vendor whom I found had the most knowledgable sales people as well as the best set-up was Icom. They arranged the radios in a wall ‘rack’ so it was easy for newbies like me to push buttons and turn dials and tap touch screens (i.e. the 7100 which I am planning to buy right after I win the lottery.) The Icom booth-people, especially a young woman from Indiana, knew their product line and were happy to answer dumb questions from know-nothings like me. I was really impressed with how Icom did the show.<br />
<br />
The most popular product at the show was the Icom 7300. They put it on its own shoulder-high podium and there were always hams gathered around it pushing the buttons and looking at the display. Everyone was raving about it. There is no doubt that Icom hit a home run with this radio (and Kenwood has its work cut out for it!)<br />
<br />
Yaesu had their radios on a somewhat low table in bad lighting so that you had to bend over to play with them, much less to see them. But the real surprise was that they brought the same radios that they have brought to a hundred previous shows and they were all scratched and just looked like beaten-up used equipment you’d see at a swap-meet. It was a poor presentation. I noted that the Icom stuff looked out-of-the-box new.<br />
<br />
The busiest booths were a tie between HRO and Elecraft, both of whom took about 40 feet of space. Elecraft had people two or three deep trying to see and touch their beautiful radios…. they were the ‘stars’ of the show, for sure.<br />
<br />
HRO brought a lot of equipment and was doing a land-office business as they had some radios that they were selling at ‘show special’ prices.<br />
<br />
One of the busiest booths was the guy making personalized name-badges and license plate holders. I would have bought a badge but didn’t want to wait on line.<br />
<br />
There was one vendor who had a rack of Comet mobile antennas but I didn’t know the difference between them and they didn’t have enough people to handle their booth traffic so I never got a chance to ask, even after waiting for over five minutes.<br />
<br />
There was a vendor selling linear amps. I’d never seen one before and was surprised to learn that I could buy one of these big $800 boxes and attach my little Kenwood HT to it and have a 600W station! I don’t know who would want to do that, but it was an interesting display to see.<br />
<br />
I was surprised that none of the Chinese radio manufacturers were at the show. Powerwerx was showing the Wouxun as well as a radio called the Tera which I’d never heard of but there seemed to be a lot of interest in it.<br />
<br />
The Flex people took a large booth and were showing off color computer screens with charts, graphics, and other data I had no idea about but there seemed to be a lot of interest in their stuff.<br />
<br />
I got to briefly meet Dr. Ed Fong of the j-pole antenna fame… and he was selling them like hotcakes there.<br />
<br />
I had lunch with Gordon Fuller WB2OVH and his wife. Gordy lives about two miles from me and is one of my two unofficial Elmers. He has been licensed since the dinosaurs roamed the valley! The conversation was great… but the lunch was horrible. The hotel had catering tables outside. The $7 hamburgers which had been cooked three days prior were overpriced by $6.95. The smart hams were the guys who left the hotel and walked two or three blocks to Whole Foods and the other eateries in the shopping center near the hotel.<br />
<br />
I saw a number of call signs I recognized and got to meet and talk with with Armand WB2ZEI (of swap-net fame.)<br />
<br />
I wanted to learn how to solder in the kit-building area but it was always filled up… sometimes with younger people which was a good sign.<br />
<br />
The overall age of the show was… gray! Where were the young people (you know like in their 40s!!!) I think the hobby (perhaps via ARRL) needs to do a full-court-press in getting younger people interested in the hobby or it is going to die (with dignity) when those of us in their 60s and 70s… which was easily 95% of the attendees... become silent keys.<br />
<br />
I’ve not been in a large group of hams before and one thing I immediately noticed is that hams as a group are NOT all that much into fitness. A lot of guys need to spend a bit less time in the shack and a bit more time at the gym!<br />
<br />
There are two things I liked about the hams I met at the show. The first is that no one is on the fence about anything radio related. Ask a ham about his favorite radio… and he or she won’t hold back. Everyone has an opinion about everything… both radio-related and political. The guys I talked to were eager to tell me about their radio, their opinions on digital transmission (from what I was told, D-Star is NOT the wave of the future… but that is hardly a scientific poll!) and a lot of the guys are supporting Trump (I didn’t see anyone there with a Hillary button or t-shirt!)<br />
<br />
The second thing I liked about hams was their genuine congeniality. They love to answer questions no matter how stupid (I’m the king of stupid questions) and no matter how many times they have been asked. I hung around author/speaker Gordon West’s booth for about five minutes and he must have been asked twenty times “What’s the best way to study for the General” and he politely answered everyone’s question with a smile. And it was the same with guys I met at the booths who were looking at radios. I’m somewhat of an extrovert (working as a Medicare insurance agent all these years has trained me well… http://www.ancins.com) and I’m used to talking to strangers. Every ham I met was happy to converse. (Don’t ask any ham whether digital radio it ‘real’ radio because you will be in for a long lecture… pro or con! Ask me how I know!)<br />
<br />
It was a good show… and a very educational experience for me, as well as a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to next year when I may stay the night and attend some of the sessions… as I’ll know more radio theory and technology by then… perhaps have my Extra. Also perhaps my first, current, and very expensive XYL (that’s one XYL, not three!) will be licensed and will go with me. (It might be the only way I’ll ever get a K3S!)<br />
<br />
My suggestion for the club that puts on the show is to move to a larger venue. The Marriott was simply not large enough to handle the crowd… and the parking. Other than getting Kenwood to attend, I can’t think of anything else they should do differently next year.<br />
<br />
73s<br />
<br />
<br />
Alan N. Canton<br />
KM6AAI<br />
Fair Oaks, CA<br />
<br />
A.N. Canton Insurance Services - Medicare Only<br />
Fair Oaks, CA<br />
916-962-9296<br />
broker@ancins.com<br />
CA Lic # 0F31110<br />
http://www.ancins.com<br />
<br />Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-83445244922850501812016-05-23T16:28:00.000-07:002016-05-24T14:09:34.121-07:00BEA Diary 2016<br />
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<span style="line-height: 19.6px;">By </span><b style="line-height: 19.6px;">Alan Canton</b><span style="line-height: 19.6px;">... with invaluable editorial assistance from </span><b style="line-height: 19.6px;">Mayapriya Long</b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6px;"><i>[Note: Click on any pix to see it enlarged.]</i></span></div>
<br />
Dear BEA Diary:<br />
<br />
I can't believe this was the 20th BEA that I've covered. While I'm missing some of the earlier ones, the last fifteen years or so are at the end of this electronic fish-wrap. And almost all of those earlier BEAs were held in Chicago, just as this one was. However, there was a difference: Size!<br />
<br />
But I'm ahead of myself here.<br />
<br />
Do you know how cold it can be in Chicago for someone from sunny California? How cold is the North Pole? The answer is "warmer than Chicago was last week! And what is this rain all about? It does not rain in California in May (not that we couldn't use it!) I found myself standing in freezing drizzle waiting for my car service to show up at the airport to take me to the hotel I booked (Hilton Garden Inn.)<br />
<br />
I guess everyone outside of California knows to bring a warm coat to Chicago! So if you don't have a warm coat, what is the next best thing? Good booze.<br />
<br />
As usual, I come to the BEA to cover it for other media we contract with (mostly Asian and European) but to also prowl around looking for web clients for our <a href="http://newmediacreate.com/" target="_blank">NewMedia Create</a> web design service. This year we are rolling out a new platform called "Less is More" which are shorter, less expensive websites for authors and publishers. These sites go up in a day or two.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.newmediacreate.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzdIUtImWorFHL1qLoSjk7xwtWAGCX38p_SzAnkNQcApv8jcFRT1uW-VbnL2h77UN-Mxm61jWrQlKZmDdrlamd1FwEa78atR4VDMTeM7507XsSdSk9yFIR1ezLckZ4x2SP6oaAw/s640/NewMediaCreate-logo-2.png" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
* * *</div>
<br />
I took a quick shower, grabbed about an hour of ZZZs, threw on some clean clothes and headed off to the annual IPPY party. But wait! How would I keep from freezing to death before I could get a cab to pick me up? Well Chicago is prepared for that because on every block there is a least one official warming center... and on my block was the Rock Bottom Bar.<br />
<br />
When you order two shots of straight whiskey in most bars the bartender looks at you like you just landed from Planet Zardo. Well I came from drinking stock, not sipping stock. How this country went from twelve year old Scotch to 'a glass of white wine' I'll never know but I think it has contributed to the continuing downgrade of our county from world leader to world wus... but that's another story.<br />
<br />
The first shot of Maker's Mark was not really for me... it was for my old, dear friend Dan Pointer, the man who virtually invented the 'small press.' Dan passed to the other side a few months ago. We had a drink at every one of the past BEAs... all twenty that I attended. <br />
<br />
I put the shot glass on the edge of the bar, held up the other and toasted my old drinking buddy from those BEAs long ago. I said quietly, "Say hello to Steinbeck, Hemingway, and Salinger for me in the Russian Tea Room, wherever you are!" I could see Dan sitting there next me with his infectious smile.<br />
<br />
As the booze warmed my body I saw the level of the bourbon drop in the other glass and I knew I was with my old friend for one last time. It was our last drink together... there would be no others.<br />
<br />
Closure.<br />
<br />
People need closure. I wiped away the tears in my eyes, took the glass from the edge of the bar, downed what was left, and walked out into the cold to hail a cab. When you feel sad you don't much feel the cold.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqVuxJ6Ns7qRsA4Spb_WrHP4Xu_eJZMwkk5aEQu60hQmEUtm5u72hJxlPGVOlYTylZsBCiEe08-GPXvEOnvODou-rPQ2Dwgxw1X7uwnVbr2qTvbk43GU6huQTAakTwl3aq7C8ZQ/s1600/DanPoynter2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqVuxJ6Ns7qRsA4Spb_WrHP4Xu_eJZMwkk5aEQu60hQmEUtm5u72hJxlPGVOlYTylZsBCiEe08-GPXvEOnvODou-rPQ2Dwgxw1X7uwnVbr2qTvbk43GU6huQTAakTwl3aq7C8ZQ/s400/DanPoynter2.jpg" width="338" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good-bye to an old and dear friend, Dan Poynter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * *</div>
<br />
I've known Jerry Jenkins almost as long as Dan Poynter. He's always been a trusted friend. Jerry's company had their annual IPPY at the Willis Tower this year (aka Sears Tower.) It was good to see Jerry again and meet with some of the IPPY winners.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidO2xBw8LKPUpW65I4KeAilInKKGYKgpdIV_PAgJaq7BxbQvUbLacspgBclUuZYVjzPg_t1tu3-ctcajV4n4HHUakPPmBoczykJhXKoCFGzz__VWFky6WXmJMIqtDiAgnyrVB-cw/s1600/IMG_0334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidO2xBw8LKPUpW65I4KeAilInKKGYKgpdIV_PAgJaq7BxbQvUbLacspgBclUuZYVjzPg_t1tu3-ctcajV4n4HHUakPPmBoczykJhXKoCFGzz__VWFky6WXmJMIqtDiAgnyrVB-cw/s640/IMG_0334.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The author (left) and Jerry Jenkins </td></tr>
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<br />
The view from the Willis Tower was incredible... and even better after a little more warming tonic. At one point the fog rolled in and we were above the clouds. We could see the stars but not the buildings and streets below.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpy3Gx7jpJIy5giNiQbBfn2kbphvDyCQCCt903MHhEnIRfjbRknKX9_qnqn9-4jRgPVY8hmbP8FWylJJ8ED_BjEktIsxTzdxa6RChIrx8hhFgwVc8eBM3om71IeYSIZ-nYy7oBZg/s1600/IMG_0331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpy3Gx7jpJIy5giNiQbBfn2kbphvDyCQCCt903MHhEnIRfjbRknKX9_qnqn9-4jRgPVY8hmbP8FWylJJ8ED_BjEktIsxTzdxa6RChIrx8hhFgwVc8eBM3om71IeYSIZ-nYy7oBZg/s640/IMG_0331.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Willis Tower close to sunset</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
It was not a long party... over by around 10 PM and I was pretty tired (but not feeling much pain.) I didn't see any cabs in the area so I used the Uber app. A car came in about three minutes. It's a great service... if you have not tried it you should.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * *</div>
<br />
The BEA convention hall seems like a million miles from the hotel district so they run free buses back and forth. And usually the busses are packed by the time they hit the last hotel for a pickup. My hotel was the last pickup and I expected I'd have to stand for the entire ride. But the bus was half empty (or half full if you are trying to 'spin' this!) Well, that's not how it is supposed to be. Something was amiss.<br />
<br />
I found out when I arrived. The crowds just were not there. Where were they? I didn't know. Maybe they would come later or the next day? All I know is that I didn't have to wait in line to get my BEA badge because... there was no line!<br />
<br />
I was still half asleep so I went to get some coffee and whom do I run into? It was my old friend Brian Jud who runs a terrific organization for publishers involved in non-bookstore (special) sales called <a href="http://community.bookapss.org/" target="_blank">APSS</a>. Brian is a master bookseller and the information he provides his members is priceless. If you sell to niche markets this is the only organization you ever need to join.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4p7yVQ46luTiwmyGMkuaFFJSB8kD4FHBV_sN0-CveLfRsjfMq5TZrJGOu2RhEZSubfDuDWzLXFvqIiLIxvCWPv1Vsh0wUpTTBQEOtcqK0iBuEQCuAzFimAUZkXw_3xwuy4EQrkg/s1600/IMG_0339-brian.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4p7yVQ46luTiwmyGMkuaFFJSB8kD4FHBV_sN0-CveLfRsjfMq5TZrJGOu2RhEZSubfDuDWzLXFvqIiLIxvCWPv1Vsh0wUpTTBQEOtcqK0iBuEQCuAzFimAUZkXw_3xwuy4EQrkg/s400/IMG_0339-brian.JPG" width="291" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brian Jud of Association of Publishers for Special Sales (APSS)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In past BEA's a well-known porn publisher called Ellora's Cave would have a large booth with busty babes and beefcake biceps, but this year they decided not to exhibit. The only other erotic publisher I came across was <a href="http://cleispress.com/" target="_blank">Cleis Press</a>. I liked the sign; I thought it was an upcoming book but it's not. Anyway you should check out their list if you are into sex (is anyone not?)... they cover it all... straight, gay, kink, S & M... you name it they have a book on it.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpAsAN0R6vX4jqk2I9eaIuLI7epn8VL6GI7_3QoQHnupkhEImWHlu0OFwv8iJSiVuOmWPIy2fbZkd_usscLu2kiMuBt0RX3CAwxSMHfoDK1rXVRLrQJyee427MFAsXZSlYJFrU-Q/s1600/IMG_0342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpAsAN0R6vX4jqk2I9eaIuLI7epn8VL6GI7_3QoQHnupkhEImWHlu0OFwv8iJSiVuOmWPIy2fbZkd_usscLu2kiMuBt0RX3CAwxSMHfoDK1rXVRLrQJyee427MFAsXZSlYJFrU-Q/s640/IMG_0342.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stephanie Lippitt of Cleis (no, not Cialis... but same concept!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I didn't see a lot of religious books this year. In the old days there would be a ton of Christian publishers and even a few non-Christian belief foundations at the show. Not this year (are you starting to see a theme here?) I did see one interesting book. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/blpusa/" target="_blank">Buddha’s Light Publications</a> offers quality translations of classical Buddhist texts as well as works by contemporary Buddhist teachers and scholars. They say they embrace Humanistic Buddhism, and promote Buddhist writing which is accessible, community oriented, and relevant to daily life. I'm more into Krishna Consciousness myself, but I've always found the Buddhist approach to life rather interesting.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PD17Jbtbh1rOZVigsdp1opCaQOB5D-Uaim1udP0zMQyZJqZfUVfW_Cu76WcKVPb41m46b5qICI0-AmqZNZDR6pWrCASo3tR4z-QryO79wxxxmjfDT3nFlLXQkJCa6Ni9iZ6Bww/s1600/IMG_0345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PD17Jbtbh1rOZVigsdp1opCaQOB5D-Uaim1udP0zMQyZJqZfUVfW_Cu76WcKVPb41m46b5qICI0-AmqZNZDR6pWrCASo3tR4z-QryO79wxxxmjfDT3nFlLXQkJCa6Ni9iZ6Bww/s640/IMG_0345.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ven. Miao Hsi for Buddha's Light Publications, USA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There were very few small press booths this year... for good reason... most small presses can't afford BEA space rental. So instead there was a section of tables for small publishers, and it was right up front (as opposed to being in Mongolia as in past shows.) There were only a dozen or so of them and most were novels like this one from Vanessa Leigh Hoffman. I have no idea what it is about because she didn't put anything <a href="http://vanessaleighhoffman.com/" target="_blank">on her website</a> about it.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTao9g7djerGaHidA6q-1jsdgKZ7aI4TyHWODxiIPTkQ0maU1o1XkjmK_NqX6o3nP_xiouj2GNA0Zk9NGK4LCXANfieBihBleP7x8vuPEVl5CkxhyFoM7cqY30Zs8JtJlofkmR2Q/s1600/IMG_0347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTao9g7djerGaHidA6q-1jsdgKZ7aI4TyHWODxiIPTkQ0maU1o1XkjmK_NqX6o3nP_xiouj2GNA0Zk9NGK4LCXANfieBihBleP7x8vuPEVl5CkxhyFoM7cqY30Zs8JtJlofkmR2Q/s640/IMG_0347.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm not sure what it is about but I liked the cover</td></tr>
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<br />
Some authors just perplex me when their <a href="http://yolandaledesma.com/" target="_blank">website</a> is not in English yet they are exhibiting to an English-speaking audience at BEA. Yolanda Ledesma made great use of her booth by having a life-sized pix of herself. If anyone can figure out what her book is about let me know!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16H1Rv-oUzwAjv3WXTXD_6BQ0Z0_2u6mAXNXhkmYbn6vMhx1yyaPyEVXs8L9cEPImmQlmsYzpYANjdQch-_bgCueHqgDWrqzJ-02SH2N07HjbbnfNtaeQdeiGtItagcGs_y1FrQ/s1600/IMG_0349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16H1Rv-oUzwAjv3WXTXD_6BQ0Z0_2u6mAXNXhkmYbn6vMhx1yyaPyEVXs8L9cEPImmQlmsYzpYANjdQch-_bgCueHqgDWrqzJ-02SH2N07HjbbnfNtaeQdeiGtItagcGs_y1FrQ/s640/IMG_0349.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She only had a table, but it got a lot of attention. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I don't usually spend much time with kiddie books... I find most of them the same. But this one by <a href="http://wildivypublishing.com/" target="_blank">Wild Ivy Publishing</a> had a good message. <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #000b00; font-family: "open sans" , "arial" , "helvetica";"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Caring, compassionate Billy wants to help a friend buy a backpack to stay organized for school, but how will he get the money? This book teaches children social responsibility and kindness while showing that kids can earn money by WORKING!</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1UAVp3jDHm0ddJ-6hJqY6EpdULfueulnTJPDepBec8Jw963FlpJyBVM3Bs7_va8_6Pb3OBRkUYRt_UOqlPz8Ue6uf671hhi68c6x46e4k3Djhn8uWCYY8adR4DhDOrGlgZZMEw/s1600/IMG_0350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1UAVp3jDHm0ddJ-6hJqY6EpdULfueulnTJPDepBec8Jw963FlpJyBVM3Bs7_va8_6Pb3OBRkUYRt_UOqlPz8Ue6uf671hhi68c6x46e4k3Djhn8uWCYY8adR4DhDOrGlgZZMEw/s640/IMG_0350.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ivy Pate shows one of her books.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When I think of kids these days I think of them playing mindless video games. Well not twelve year old Thomas Aaron. I don't know what <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/MAGYKA-Fifth-Element-Thomas-Aaron/dp/099160301X" target="_blank">Magyka</a></i> is about because again here is an author without a web page. However, it looks like a <i>Raiders of the Lost Ark</i> kind of book. I thought the cover was terrific. Honestly, how many twelve year olds write books? It gets a mention here for that alone!</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichrAhF60egUZvqGtHfvTZfF5ywDYqJCNs2xmma8iGbFkIZ2Lny8413bLNWOY0eiKY0BuAxPVpeOmTAZlhRTEe019SjfGO7vbN449VQ1G6itvbzOzoHehxGDwsM1gAdZHa1NFYcw/s1600/IMG_0354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichrAhF60egUZvqGtHfvTZfF5ywDYqJCNs2xmma8iGbFkIZ2Lny8413bLNWOY0eiKY0BuAxPVpeOmTAZlhRTEe019SjfGO7vbN449VQ1G6itvbzOzoHehxGDwsM1gAdZHa1NFYcw/s640/IMG_0354.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The young author of <i>Magyka</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Not only were fewer publishers represented but the crowds had also vanished. Normally aisles are, if not elbow to elbow, at least rather full with visitors looking at new books. Not this year. I don't know why but Reed (the folks who put on BEA) did get out in front of the issue and stated their Show Daily publication that the this year had 20% fewer booths than last year. I noticed that a lot of publishers and distributors bought half the space that had purchased in New York in previous years.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUl2w-NoveOdsrw2GDk5tZvRDgcUVg8J4kX3tF4BtEFaKrK3f8XibasJoHT2z_X7w4P-wTVvZw-szaLJgZdSGr1B6yCtoUFkhgJHLwYDjquQ8xiqfXUzWt0I4DuW_GBGkvU-j0tA/s1600/IMG_0355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUl2w-NoveOdsrw2GDk5tZvRDgcUVg8J4kX3tF4BtEFaKrK3f8XibasJoHT2z_X7w4P-wTVvZw-szaLJgZdSGr1B6yCtoUFkhgJHLwYDjquQ8xiqfXUzWt0I4DuW_GBGkvU-j0tA/s640/IMG_0355.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Were where the people? They were not here in Chicago, that's for sure!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5nKIBgDxs7fXeS_YkDGJ0qbydMoDJnDQUk5-DI18dv0xVkEBU5vUvvjGC_opS2aWg5y9lEXA0IfYf6XGBr1u-NlBuJ4opW1LrizFDB-GayEzGN0NAGYx5AVN5IZV_R1No_5TGkQ/s1600/IMG_0358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5nKIBgDxs7fXeS_YkDGJ0qbydMoDJnDQUk5-DI18dv0xVkEBU5vUvvjGC_opS2aWg5y9lEXA0IfYf6XGBr1u-NlBuJ4opW1LrizFDB-GayEzGN0NAGYx5AVN5IZV_R1No_5TGkQ/s640/IMG_0358.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In previous years all of this space would have been sold. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There are lots of interesting booths at BEA, but a few are way more interesting then others. Some people put a lot of work and imagination into their little two day sales "office" and one of the best was <a href="http://www.oblationpapers.com/" target="_blank">Oblation Papers</a> and Press of Portland Oregon. They call themselves "a 19th century print shop designing wedding invitations for the 21st century, offering fine papers, artful cards and ephemera." Their products were beautiful. I will buy from their online store.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMOcd18ruY35AJFODt2jMXj2c3l7QAUr9sWJONYGxHDgPlboepve3K-iwR74hh7x17j-2u08-6eozYymwHewJi3ubfu7X3-fTwd3J-_lnRo-I-aET567KmVjACrCC0vUJuqYt9wQ/s1600/IMG_0357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMOcd18ruY35AJFODt2jMXj2c3l7QAUr9sWJONYGxHDgPlboepve3K-iwR74hh7x17j-2u08-6eozYymwHewJi3ubfu7X3-fTwd3J-_lnRo-I-aET567KmVjACrCC0vUJuqYt9wQ/s640/IMG_0357.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jennifer Rich of Oblation Papers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Every journalist who attends BEA is a sucker for someone in costume. This year I saw very few authors willing to go 'all in' and dress as their character. Mario Garnet is the author of <i><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wizards-handbook-mario-garnet/1104252963?ean=9781452536088&st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Core+Shopping+Books_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP648&k_clickid=3x648" target="_blank">The Wizard's Handbook </a></i>and really enjoyed the roll he was playing.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH6YPhcquK1-cI_ql212LVLinx87iR1DYr0RlD96xgW544SAbiJuSa5e6mK4f1wWlKRAanZxm1-NlQliipKBm39nVly4tpKBEvOdxI4-YhqJF3ew7g9x_xqU_V-I_JHGztdzJFTg/s1600/IMG_0359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH6YPhcquK1-cI_ql212LVLinx87iR1DYr0RlD96xgW544SAbiJuSa5e6mK4f1wWlKRAanZxm1-NlQliipKBm39nVly4tpKBEvOdxI4-YhqJF3ew7g9x_xqU_V-I_JHGztdzJFTg/s640/IMG_0359.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not exactly Harry Potter!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There were a few small technology booths this year, most of them selling digital book conversion services. But there was one that was very unique. They could take a book and couple it with an iPhone app to make it somewhat interactive. Unfortunately I didn't get the name of the company that did the app as I was so taken with the demo. I thought I'd find out by <a href="http://christopherstraub.myshopify.com/" target="_blank">looking up the author and book</a>, but no luck.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2YdDW3M2AURKALvGUAOBZEqvUUPoDZNJria_zKG1wsWWN-xiq6ZIooDOPOegnQEpAczYZ3ZQLbE3BhyLPHcebrgxwJEusQ-Do_Sg8od8QyOpe-JAtH_Lajv7Kc0TpMc89tIkbg/s1600/IMG_0366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2YdDW3M2AURKALvGUAOBZEqvUUPoDZNJria_zKG1wsWWN-xiq6ZIooDOPOegnQEpAczYZ3ZQLbE3BhyLPHcebrgxwJEusQ-Do_Sg8od8QyOpe-JAtH_Lajv7Kc0TpMc89tIkbg/s640/IMG_0366.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Albert The Confused Manatee</i> is the book by Christopher Straub that is also an app.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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There are always off-shore printers at BEA, but most are from China. This year one of the larger booths was from Turkey. I've never known anyone to ever have their book printed there... which is probably why Turkey came to BEA!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLUzKuMCDTnGQTu58j1qHRvNrl30QIgTeFEBFPBnCq2p19GaaEe9xcjtmFEaiZrOkAlnwtD9_ySjrmQLTxkw8NvRnHsrM6nug_Q2ioDHb1Egnu-zKg30WH4K5YNblmb8Sg5SKyw/s1600/IMG_0367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLUzKuMCDTnGQTu58j1qHRvNrl30QIgTeFEBFPBnCq2p19GaaEe9xcjtmFEaiZrOkAlnwtD9_ySjrmQLTxkw8NvRnHsrM6nug_Q2ioDHb1Egnu-zKg30WH4K5YNblmb8Sg5SKyw/s640/IMG_0367.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice booth... no one in it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I was surprised that there was so many adult coloring books this year. The folks at <a href="https://www.kaisercraft.com.au/newsite/index.php" target="_blank">KaiserCraft</a> also sells a kit with terrific glitter-ized gel inks. They are from Australia and have a large assortment of craft products. These pens are really cool... try them out if you get a chance.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguHopOqkRSqgIWJmyvBspcgLgCXvbQwL7oiIKAkWvAjsONxnPWEjcd1igeg1yfG8o46L4r-eKUXWnlaMuVNIlRelNe5WNvslvR3IRPcvaGNaIn9zsETHVr-bo_gOoh0gx6hiYiGw/s1600/IMG_0369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguHopOqkRSqgIWJmyvBspcgLgCXvbQwL7oiIKAkWvAjsONxnPWEjcd1igeg1yfG8o46L4r-eKUXWnlaMuVNIlRelNe5WNvslvR3IRPcvaGNaIn9zsETHVr-bo_gOoh0gx6hiYiGw/s640/IMG_0369.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tahli Smales of KaiserCraft</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Again, another coloring book. These from <a href="http://stuff2color.com/" target="_blank">Stuff2Color</a> were also nice, but I was captivated by the huge sign they brought with them. You could not miss this booth!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgX331Z8e_5umCHVtQNV9OJ8ZSR2_bqexmBhGycxyrmMLBN4ufqS0xJgUuDDlKrdaNwPANOS0Psg9k6T8bcCwX_brmMmvTp2xGxD9Avh5l-ItbYXu_wguW9Ks00PgJY-5aR194ig/s1600/IMG_0370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgX331Z8e_5umCHVtQNV9OJ8ZSR2_bqexmBhGycxyrmMLBN4ufqS0xJgUuDDlKrdaNwPANOS0Psg9k6T8bcCwX_brmMmvTp2xGxD9Avh5l-ItbYXu_wguW9Ks00PgJY-5aR194ig/s640/IMG_0370.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lacey Hornecker showing her books. If you are going to have a sign, have a BIG one!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Just as there were fewer publishers, there were fewer marketing consultants at this show. <a href="http://nativesgroup.com/" target="_blank">Digital Natives</a> looks like a one-stop shop for everything related to digital media... branding, social media, apps, etc. They have done some nice work and seemed rather personable. Don't they look like the perfect, young, newlywed couple? I thought so but they are not related. I asked!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjuFIVCVpmCZMBabcQxQi1JIrZ9WPZ7da1cSK2caPJUQOyZeKDGF9-uRRLiwkmrQT5dDvKfOOk3eateCmS1JPG29v9XzNdYqZRVV1xVKF5gzePH-X_Pi-F7zdvaf8M2IMUdxggQ/s1600/IMG_0371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjuFIVCVpmCZMBabcQxQi1JIrZ9WPZ7da1cSK2caPJUQOyZeKDGF9-uRRLiwkmrQT5dDvKfOOk3eateCmS1JPG29v9XzNdYqZRVV1xVKF5gzePH-X_Pi-F7zdvaf8M2IMUdxggQ/s640/IMG_0371.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Guttmann and Ellie Eckert of Digital Natives Group</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Librarians have always been a part of BEA, if for no other reason then to score free stuff for their library. However, this year I saw many more of them than I've seen in NY the past few years and I'm not sure why. BEA was not a big draw for book buyers... but the library folks came out in droves!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4tOCZ8RbLK9AECfRi3pnMETdihIc9Ct58TJDHgAYPxivhFyz2YjjDPkFuWirOGBAk5LyeLKxjjtf9ogAT8WoqqizD2OWtYx0pFt45-knAVca53TKrcD0HtMx_bnJSNBVnAmoa9A/s1600/IMG_0375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4tOCZ8RbLK9AECfRi3pnMETdihIc9Ct58TJDHgAYPxivhFyz2YjjDPkFuWirOGBAk5LyeLKxjjtf9ogAT8WoqqizD2OWtYx0pFt45-knAVca53TKrcD0HtMx_bnJSNBVnAmoa9A/s640/IMG_0375.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lot of librarians attended BEA this year</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There are always a lot of kids books at BEA, but I rarely see books targeted to parents. <a href="http://wholechild.co/index.html" target="_blank">The Whole Child</a> program covers all aspects of child development: cognitive, social, environmental, creative, health, etc. It's a series of program-books for parents. Looks like a good idea if they can get some press and distribution on it.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYqKDN4meNL7NTjZi8lG6WmoQ1Ph3HidIdF6d2w9IpAkKlVYI6Q-inYPuHFhb6zNsw2SN5oSxbHgl3i8ALyVw9j3l_zf6mBlOhUC3Gj7LJ-KJGWaClMfI5cQZ4KpjP_nf3vznMQ/s1600/IMG_0376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYqKDN4meNL7NTjZi8lG6WmoQ1Ph3HidIdF6d2w9IpAkKlVYI6Q-inYPuHFhb6zNsw2SN5oSxbHgl3i8ALyVw9j3l_zf6mBlOhUC3Gj7LJ-KJGWaClMfI5cQZ4KpjP_nf3vznMQ/s640/IMG_0376.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kasey Beinlich, Valeriya Kratsova, Kalya Bachman of Whole Child</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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There is always an impersonator at the BEA. In past years it was the Pope, Obama and the First Lady, Madonna, Lady Gaga, etc. Well this year we got The Donald.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpjZWOw185NQ0MxkM6Rc0o-6-r9460B_ckZnlKwz0351T4imIUNq_DJNRMS7qiaMNLHOqqd6SDEAKAvx6nljd275sRwfk3b_TwYRz8GZzWc7VJUzgGtY7FM08HvgtnSdgJzRIZxw/s1600/IMG_0390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpjZWOw185NQ0MxkM6Rc0o-6-r9460B_ckZnlKwz0351T4imIUNq_DJNRMS7qiaMNLHOqqd6SDEAKAvx6nljd275sRwfk3b_TwYRz8GZzWc7VJUzgGtY7FM08HvgtnSdgJzRIZxw/s640/IMG_0390.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's everywhere!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Each year the <a href="http://nytimes.com/" target="_blank">New York Times</a> comes to BEA with yet another new idea to boost the number of paid subscribers. I always try to help them out because I truly believe that each community needs a local paper to do investigative reporting and that the nation especially needs the NYT. This year they are going into the virtual reality (VR) biz via an app on the iPhone that is placed in a cardboard box you hold up to your eyes. It was a video of a porpoise swimming in a pool. Big deal. Had it been a girl in a bikini maybe they would have had more interest in the offering!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKV8qRlgheB1HkSnC7-vUdb1e-jDkRCK9BkZHRWGzMaSwoPYZRSnZRCTsW62LuKrAK8O-nQ85fBIVilAh2xSuyHMrzuDxuI7cfA-PDLEUQf9Cijjg7iNIxeumimjdWKTgtsiWVuA/s1600/IMG_0380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKV8qRlgheB1HkSnC7-vUdb1e-jDkRCK9BkZHRWGzMaSwoPYZRSnZRCTsW62LuKrAK8O-nQ85fBIVilAh2xSuyHMrzuDxuI7cfA-PDLEUQf9Cijjg7iNIxeumimjdWKTgtsiWVuA/s640/IMG_0380.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The NYT is going into the VR market... with a porpoise... and good luck with all that!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="http://housingworks.org/" target="_blank">Housing Works</a> is a healing community of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. They say their mission is to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and entrepreneurial businesses that sustain their efforts. They collect all of the books that publishers don't want to ship back and then sell them to raise funds. It's a great idea.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHzqR5UtHWt65H_0nhADppCGWhbw7JwVsnw5qV3xbWC3cZcF76iMNacmYmf_V_bi-Dw4DRscssBUeylFKInhbzEyqcumOMPZ0rOMi9vDHRtuPUCXPLg9flbTxBdK0VSJU9VxJHw/s1600/IMG_0381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHzqR5UtHWt65H_0nhADppCGWhbw7JwVsnw5qV3xbWC3cZcF76iMNacmYmf_V_bi-Dw4DRscssBUeylFKInhbzEyqcumOMPZ0rOMi9vDHRtuPUCXPLg9flbTxBdK0VSJU9VxJHw/s640/IMG_0381.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merril Spec, Bookstore Manager of Housing Works</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Each year someone brings their entire store to BEA via a bus or a truck or (one year) a covered wagon! This year we had both a bus and a truck. They got a lot of traffic. I guess that if you exhibit at a lot of shows this is a cost-effective method of doing it.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOCSHIqh88kW_3r0Q-VsZ3xie_bPP-lrGlCDfAulnMI8W29mfTNPoRU0x22YUZVpYmJCEH8vBF5lwukrgJaskSBPgms1JWQ_Coh8-SzfaEYOw-gOvzinJudPGJCqrqf-AN5Fdbw/s1600/IMG_0382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOCSHIqh88kW_3r0Q-VsZ3xie_bPP-lrGlCDfAulnMI8W29mfTNPoRU0x22YUZVpYmJCEH8vBF5lwukrgJaskSBPgms1JWQ_Coh8-SzfaEYOw-gOvzinJudPGJCqrqf-AN5Fdbw/s640/IMG_0382.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A company called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/QuartoPublishingUSA/" target="_blank">Quarto</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4HrLQt3NwZPr7WLAdOLn6AEGnfQnS5ixb_KfnLEgzUZTHtWZJOBh28SIXxHcvWyEbaI0WRlzK8cFtI4soD0B96Pga2udH3WeE7VFjgeHHot0iHvWlYQYCo95hKfUPINTUla2wg/s1600/IMG_0384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4HrLQt3NwZPr7WLAdOLn6AEGnfQnS5ixb_KfnLEgzUZTHtWZJOBh28SIXxHcvWyEbaI0WRlzK8cFtI4soD0B96Pga2udH3WeE7VFjgeHHot0iHvWlYQYCo95hKfUPINTUla2wg/s640/IMG_0384.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A children's publisher called Readbrightly owned by Random House</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Even the autographing area was often devoid of people. In previous years this area would be packed with book lovers (most often librarians and store owners) seeking to get free books or to have a few words with a favorite author. Where was everyone?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhRetB2BdtHL33nfLPs3TO8RQXrZfIlKv8VnP7dCoBp92bFHLowy0ONX0qyNtCJpnIO564NJf4r8GoWacpaTdbCNFS3rIZM8NKjIKMv5PzKUxlXi8svuL9SEIhUUte6Vo3rkasg/s1600/IMG_0383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhRetB2BdtHL33nfLPs3TO8RQXrZfIlKv8VnP7dCoBp92bFHLowy0ONX0qyNtCJpnIO564NJf4r8GoWacpaTdbCNFS3rIZM8NKjIKMv5PzKUxlXi8svuL9SEIhUUte6Vo3rkasg/s640/IMG_0383.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you see lots of empty space? Yes you do.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This has to be the year of the adult coloring book! The concept is that coloring will help you relieve stress. Maybe it is true, but for me it increases stress because I become unglued when my pencil strays beyond the lines. We were taught to keep within the lines! I swear it seemed as if every other booth at this year's BEA was a coloring book? Who has the time for this? Not me, that's for sure. No doubt this is yet another 'flash-in-the-pan' that hits the book biz every so often. Anyway, I loved <a href="http://www.bluestarcoloring.com/" target="_blank">Blue Star's</a> booth.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_-nI5GTKG3LwHAzwu3Ewl-cD-Gg9tVipMDWEF5-GSQV9XY5e2C-vLmsLfkieEd-ZgBPVlN7X6_DA3cKD9J9cFybUyAp8RMlXyd7CnjDBITcyp01qWCGHOmNHimDSMc9sq3C95Q/s1600/IMG_0385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_-nI5GTKG3LwHAzwu3Ewl-cD-Gg9tVipMDWEF5-GSQV9XY5e2C-vLmsLfkieEd-ZgBPVlN7X6_DA3cKD9J9cFybUyAp8RMlXyd7CnjDBITcyp01qWCGHOmNHimDSMc9sq3C95Q/s640/IMG_0385.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You just have to love the backdrop here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The large publishers usually have large posters if they have their booth along a main aisle. I really liked this graphic and I was not the only one as a lot of people were taking pictures of it. What was strange is that in the booth I could not find a copy of the book! <a href="http://www.amazon.com/They-All-Saw-Brendan-Wenzel/dp/1452150133" target="_blank">Chronicle</a> is a very good West coast publisher.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSOi5SgyZ9MMhfBBcPX-VWNqW9uxf96xNsZ-wvEemSBH7J43B_LNsiBSbuflF-oeLSodlyV8SB4ddS_CVmpbjPFBeIkVSpKIyDW7yLZksIK2lTYy_srw5m3B9kBzbFASmXAyhKw/s1600/IMG_0387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSOi5SgyZ9MMhfBBcPX-VWNqW9uxf96xNsZ-wvEemSBH7J43B_LNsiBSbuflF-oeLSodlyV8SB4ddS_CVmpbjPFBeIkVSpKIyDW7yLZksIK2lTYy_srw5m3B9kBzbFASmXAyhKw/s640/IMG_0387.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love cats. So sue me!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Sometimes a cover and title just go so well together... but you don't often find it from a first-time author/publisher. "Two small-town Alabama boys, Aleks and Adam, grow up in the midst of Civil War reenactments at the Fort, but when they discover a time window in the backyard of The Griggs House, their real-life 1860s adventure begins." YA's (young adults) love historical fiction and this will be a winner.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsmxUJw4XeIyJrSboX7evAb_mVQ2cm3pfJ5F-t9VOlQSjpu35qYcPhkKgDi2Fn5zpiSxnOTzN_6jNd3XMyC29-wEVvTB36Q2SOecZWM5FESD11MYjihHuyISP81yEgt0PzVfbRqQ/s1600/IMG_0394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsmxUJw4XeIyJrSboX7evAb_mVQ2cm3pfJ5F-t9VOlQSjpu35qYcPhkKgDi2Fn5zpiSxnOTzN_6jNd3XMyC29-wEVvTB36Q2SOecZWM5FESD11MYjihHuyISP81yEgt0PzVfbRqQ/s640/IMG_0394.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author <a href="http://www.sheilawslavich.com/book/" target="_blank">Sheila Slavich</a>. Great cover, great title</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>This was the most interesting book I found at the BEA this year</b>. Inspiring equal parts wonder and wanderlust, <a href="http://www.workman.com/products/9780761169086/" target="_blank">Atlas Obscura</a> celebrates over 600 of the strangest and most curious places in the world. Atlas Obscura revels in the weird, the unexpected, the overlooked, the hidden, and the mysterious. Every page expands a sense of how strange and marvelous the world really is. And with its compelling descriptions, hundreds of photographs, surprising charts, maps for every region of the world, it is a book you can open anywhere. But with caution: It’s almost impossible not to turn to the next entry, and the next, and the next. This is a great book from a great publisher<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKc8TbegHSdWNYY4Oo2rr4_g6k2XzW37-UB5tDCkWyafAYFhLs4bOpMnE7u94m9Npo8mxuP4-8FSixDG88YFWal1nhb8j15yYx7ntjY9TtBjktb6A_ACvOT8cMsrBquNC-WhUCg/s1600/IMG_0395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKc8TbegHSdWNYY4Oo2rr4_g6k2XzW37-UB5tDCkWyafAYFhLs4bOpMnE7u94m9Npo8mxuP4-8FSixDG88YFWal1nhb8j15yYx7ntjY9TtBjktb6A_ACvOT8cMsrBquNC-WhUCg/s640/IMG_0395.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liz DeBell showing off what I thought was the most interesting book at the show.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
According to their web-blurb "<a href="http://bookbub.com/" target="_blank">BookBub</a> is a free service that helps millions of readers discover great deals on acclaimed ebooks while providing publishers and authors with a way to drive sales and find new fans. Members receive a personalized daily email alerting them to the best free and deeply discounted titles matching their interests as selected by our editorial team. BookBub works with all major ebook retailers and devices, and is the industry’s leading ebook price promotion service." I'd never heard of this but I'm going to check it out.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSkEf1dZdNegN24CRBbYNU59VLP5SnLlEJ19hMRS6R76fhzkh4cQJ0MJLSmX0OuVS5_9QBNztQIkG9twdd1bGE9eqYQ9aMN96leh_7gZzb_fcMjswgP_MngfIgSp3Qe_0ICP74w/s1600/IMG_0396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSkEf1dZdNegN24CRBbYNU59VLP5SnLlEJ19hMRS6R76fhzkh4cQJ0MJLSmX0OuVS5_9QBNztQIkG9twdd1bGE9eqYQ9aMN96leh_7gZzb_fcMjswgP_MngfIgSp3Qe_0ICP74w/s640/IMG_0396.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Briana Duff and Caitlin Ellis of BookBub</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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So-called 'sidelines' (non-book stuff sold in bookstores) used to be a big thing at BEA... there would be aisle upon aisle of them. But with the demise of retail outlets the vendors have moved over to the gift shows. I was happy to meet the people from <a href="http://greentoys.com/" target="_blank">Green Toys</a> which are 100% made-in-the-USA out of recycled materials.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk7BTNffIzxr3F3hS-2I990qhRg0UJb2dSu__AiKKwB7vEy5Q7K52SsDViPXhqlv4o2wrtZZdKFmwvsu4IHBPhyphenhyphenGh_yxS3Kmc-eD1eGZc6AYLzkiYC8b3rymQAN5BgCtGsGUHVyg/s1600/IMG_0397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk7BTNffIzxr3F3hS-2I990qhRg0UJb2dSu__AiKKwB7vEy5Q7K52SsDViPXhqlv4o2wrtZZdKFmwvsu4IHBPhyphenhyphenGh_yxS3Kmc-eD1eGZc6AYLzkiYC8b3rymQAN5BgCtGsGUHVyg/s640/IMG_0397.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amy Shoemaker of Green Toys</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
A high-end Chinese printing company named <a href="http://en.artron.com.cn/about.aspx?CateId=28" target="_blank">Artron</a> was showing this HUGE and amazing picture book. It was not for sale. If it was you would need a crane to lift it! It was terrific and I enjoyed looking at it. I tried to get more info but the reps had limited command of English and could not figure out why I was taking a pix of the book!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXxUZkvz4DCcWkMcqus49TS-rLEJ5xKF5TpqKsa0g_hDShYaQ8P8qZZy70dlI4Sky5kQByx4jNug8IIXLFGoYJ3fstGM9JX2k70lxp_iLIRa_CoiL5-MHGtEquSliNvFwXGIU5tw/s1600/IMG_0403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXxUZkvz4DCcWkMcqus49TS-rLEJ5xKF5TpqKsa0g_hDShYaQ8P8qZZy70dlI4Sky5kQByx4jNug8IIXLFGoYJ3fstGM9JX2k70lxp_iLIRa_CoiL5-MHGtEquSliNvFwXGIU5tw/s640/IMG_0403.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The reps from Artron Printing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
You always see great graphics at BEA but I thought <i>The Good Dog</i> was 'best in show' for artwork. An 8-year-old boy named Ricky finds a puppy on the side of the road and decides to adopt him without his parents’ permission. Mom and dad agree to let the puppy, Tako, stay under one condition: he must be a good dog and always follow the rules. Tako wants to stay with the family more than anything; but when a competing businessman sets out to secretly sabotage the family’s bakery, the only way Tako can protect them is to break the rules. Ultimately, Tako and Ricky’s family discover sometimes you have to be a little bit bad to be very good. It's a good story with super graphics.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jC18K9FmDjcjh4jB80zWM6fLtjNineoUwqOosKZ_75bm_QO-bUAty-3D1g4iVP7ifN1IKqt8BqXi7Gkh0QZ9rvRujSux1nCFfAGaLMmk9xbfNfsOwPX_3j-XTTDMy8QHDX7PVg/s1600/IMG_0405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jC18K9FmDjcjh4jB80zWM6fLtjNineoUwqOosKZ_75bm_QO-bUAty-3D1g4iVP7ifN1IKqt8BqXi7Gkh0QZ9rvRujSux1nCFfAGaLMmk9xbfNfsOwPX_3j-XTTDMy8QHDX7PVg/s640/IMG_0405.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jessica Salans of <a href="http://takoandricky.com/books/" target="_blank">Coralstone Press</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I've never figured it out. Every year there are tons of remainder companies who take booth space at BEA and every year their section of the hall is devoid of visitors. It is no secret that used bookstores are doing well... they can buy a book for a quarter and sell it for $2.00... a pretty good markup. So where are all the used bookstore buyers?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwjHOjEmA4sWQXEm0ZNUWSuwS45JSyJjQOqub1Rxh3H2V-S93PMH4aJ5KjvOcmTux3NsOK2B0NXsH6hZ24LoUqiPtUMfGChN8pQNiW4f3SCsQTP0OXodwFpabRIBOwsEXlAQ1pQ/s1600/IMG_0414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwjHOjEmA4sWQXEm0ZNUWSuwS45JSyJjQOqub1Rxh3H2V-S93PMH4aJ5KjvOcmTux3NsOK2B0NXsH6hZ24LoUqiPtUMfGChN8pQNiW4f3SCsQTP0OXodwFpabRIBOwsEXlAQ1pQ/s640/IMG_0414.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always at BEA... never a crowd</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/" target="_blank">London Review of Books</a> had a small booth at the show but it had one of the best crowd-draws in the building. It was an old typewriter that had been modified to capture sign-ups on an iPad for their newsletter. Everyone wanted to try it out and if you did you also got a well-made tote bag. It was a hit.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnUXrU6q65EUVcyJmfzomUDcrmKfN1tppAgjbaxUI0vJnGzQDvgWd3MAGwzCkqeqON-WexY6DF9sm_jYG3-iS8fEhEHJY4k6pX7wlzcuh5FiBxGXFfgPGbiXuDLlw0ou16FghBA/s1600/IMG_0415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnUXrU6q65EUVcyJmfzomUDcrmKfN1tppAgjbaxUI0vJnGzQDvgWd3MAGwzCkqeqON-WexY6DF9sm_jYG3-iS8fEhEHJY4k6pX7wlzcuh5FiBxGXFfgPGbiXuDLlw0ou16FghBA/s640/IMG_0415.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best sign-up gimmick I've seen in a long time!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As I was getting ready to leave the show I tried to come up with a song-title that summed up this BEA. Then I turned a corner and I saw the Beatles and it came to me... the movies <i>A Hard Days Night </i>and <i>Help!</i><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXM_I8w3yWEE_RlbAz0wkmjbTj2wIXzLBqjd51uRHKy0y6Jwl9lIvWRdOnAQ29D4kTakfUBEcz7B26Y51_BE0rFdiv2vn5f2pxUVK1sAhVu_5CYmjCJDpcW4ZEJ1ARmov_6BJMFA/s1600/IMG_0417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXM_I8w3yWEE_RlbAz0wkmjbTj2wIXzLBqjd51uRHKy0y6Jwl9lIvWRdOnAQ29D4kTakfUBEcz7B26Y51_BE0rFdiv2vn5f2pxUVK1sAhVu_5CYmjCJDpcW4ZEJ1ARmov_6BJMFA/s640/IMG_0417.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Or maybe "The Long and Winding Road?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I thought it was a good show. There was a good mix of publishers, even if some of the majors decided not to come (like Houghton Mifflin.) But the show really needed some help... perhaps a big-name author or some other personality. Thus, for the vendors that I spoke with it was a "hard day's night."<br />
<br />
Reed did one major thing right this year. They made it slam-dunk easy to get a press credential. In the past years they made journalists like me and Mayapriya Long jump through a ton of hoops to be approved.. we had to show tear-sheets of published material that was <u>specifically</u> about the show. You had to be re-vetted each year! It was a PITA and each year some of my media friends basically said "screw it," did not want to deal with Reeds process, dropped out and didn't come.<br />
<br />
This year, Reed took the position that anyone who was vetted last year would receive a press credential by just asking for it. Wow. What a difference. I saw a lot more writers covering the show than in the past, so I'm guessing that they have liberalized the credential process for first-time writers. Of course, as I've said many times over the years in this electronic fish-wrap the BEA has become more of a media show than a selling show so it makes sense for Reed to encourage media attendees... and that has not been the practice in the past.<br />
<br />
I think Reed worked their buns off to put on a good show and I was sorry to see the attendance so low. Judging by how the aisles were not packed and how there were no lunch lines, my bet is that there were no more than 10,000 attendees. One bright spot for Reed is that they said there were a lot of first-time attendees mostly from the midwest who would not spend the money on the NY show.<br />
<br />
Reed Exhibitions is the <i>prima donna</i> of impresarios. I don't think anyone on the planet can plan, organize, staff, and bring off a large trade show better than Reed. I go to a number of them and Reed outdoes them all.<br />
<br />
The move from New York to Chicago was a gamble. Reed took the bet that publishers would find Chicago less expensive and would be eager to meet book-buyers who would not travel to costly NYC. Well, they lost that bet because in the first place Chicago is not less expensive and in the second place for New York publishers it was a major hassle. As mentioned there were many first-timers at the show, but I don't know if they were buyers. Anyway...<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJRQNGsi4AJ5ED_2EFLE_e_GGbAY7ET3AwZLUDnLRpF4cD4cHnT4LWkk-bxG-T5_MdTFmr_bByprLymfkUwv1B2AqVKrA3Hnql5Jc_5cLsaPMee0sf3Iqs69jYXTMvHQ9VQIPsfQ/s1600/BEA-2017-Save-the-Date.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJRQNGsi4AJ5ED_2EFLE_e_GGbAY7ET3AwZLUDnLRpF4cD4cHnT4LWkk-bxG-T5_MdTFmr_bByprLymfkUwv1B2AqVKrA3Hnql5Jc_5cLsaPMee0sf3Iqs69jYXTMvHQ9VQIPsfQ/s1600/BEA-2017-Save-the-Date.jpg" /></a></div>
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The best way to judge if a show is successful is to see how much space is bought next year. I hope that with the extra "sales' day of BookCon (which we didn't cover this year because we did not have a media outlet that would pay us to) maybe BEA can return to its former glory. I've always thought that if the show were held in a less expensive convention town like Orlando or Vegas or Atlanta or Dallas, where Reed could charge less per square foot for hall floor space and where lodging was more reasonable perhaps the show would attract more exhibitors and attendees. </div>
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Thanks for reading this... a lot of work went into it and I hope your time was well spent. Below are Diaries of previous shows, should you be interested.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">2015: </span><span style="color: #4d469c; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;"><a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2015/06/bea-diary-2015.html">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2015/06/bea-diary-2015.html</a></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">2014: </span><a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2014/06/bea-diary-2014.html" style="background-color: white; color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-decoration: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2014/06/bea-diary-2014.html</a></div>
<div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
2013: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2013/06/bea-diary-2013.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2013/06/bea-diary-2013.html</a></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2012: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2012/06/bea-2012.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2012/06/bea-2012.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2011: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2011/06/bea-diary-2011.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2011/06/bea-diary-2011.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2010: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2010/06/bea-diary-2010.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2010/06/bea-diary-2010.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2009: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/bea-2009.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/bea-2009.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2008: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2008/06/bea-diary-2008.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2008/06/bea-diary-2008.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2007: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2007/06/bea-diary-2007.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2007/06/bea-diary-2007.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">
<span class="s1">2006: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2005: <span class="s2" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2005/06/bea-diary-2005.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2005/06/bea-diary-2005.html</a></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
* * *</div>
<br />
You MAY (and are encouraged to) share the link to this piece or reprint any part of it without prior permission so long as you use the following attribution:<br />
<br />
Alan N. Canton, Managing Partner<br />
New Media Create<br />
<a href="http://www.newmediacreate.com/">http://www.NewMediaCreate.com</a><br />
"Websites for authors, publishers, and small businesses at an affordable price"<br />
Fair Oaks, CA <br />
916-962-9296<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * *</div>
<br />
<br />
Per usual, if you have comments or corrections, please send them to bea-diary at adams-blake dot com<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-30798131114531755842016-04-16T15:40:00.002-07:002020-12-27T12:00:54.525-08:00A 50th High School Reunion: No One Took My Picture<div class="MsoNormal">
Every generation must go through an awakening and I suppose
ours is no different. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You wake up and realize that we have more good days behind
us than ahead of us and it becomes most apparent when you attend your 50th high
school reunion. The good and the bad memories flow back to you and if you are
lucky you can't tell the difference... they will all seem good. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of us are not that lucky.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Earlier in the day of the reunion I visited the high school
as they opened it for the alumni. Same walls, same floors, same smell, and for
the most part even the same colors. If you are looking for ghosts, this is
where you will find a few.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of my activities in school was the theatre club, called
Junior Players. When I walked on to the stage in the auditorium I felt the same
excitement the first time we had a production... <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tall Story</i>... I was just a stage hand with another guy and we were
in charge of door-backings. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Being backstage, doing something rather unimportant, out of
sight, part of the background...well, it pretty much summed up my high school
experience! My only regret is that I didn't know then what I know now... a
common regret I'm sure. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I went upstairs to the classroom I had 11th grade algebra
in, taught by Mrs. Jablonski, a witch of a woman who hated me. I sat at the
desk I was sitting at when around 2 PM the announcement came on the PA system
that JFK had been killed. It all came back. Some things you never forget and
some feelings never go away. We all aged into adults that day, at that hour.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don't know what others felt when visiting the old school, but
for me it was a re-living of the trials, tribulations, and pains of growing up.
But I'm glad I went. If you have the choice, make the visit. It's a learning
experience... pain and pleasure. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I looked into the room where the yearbook group worked. One
fact that came back to me after all these years is that beyond the obligatory
senior headshot, no one ever took my picture for the yearbook. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The town of Great Neck, NY had changed a lot in the past
fifty years since I left... but that was to be expected. I saw faces that
looked familiar, but with names I didn't remember, walking around the village
streets looking for a store, any store, that remained from our salad days. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There was only one that I found... a <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/poultry-mart-great-neck" target="_blank">place that made broiled chicken</a> for take-out. Who would have thought that the memorial to my
generation would be a chicken take-out place... not a record store, not a teen
pizza hangout, not an Archie comic 'malt shop'... but chicken. One thing is for
sure. I know there are no pictures of me in the chicken place. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In an earlier missive I wrote about Janice, the girl I took <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2009/09/shangri-las.html" target="_blank">to the senior prom</a>. I drove over to her house and parked in front as I had so many years
ago... I remembered the prom, the beach, and thought a bit about the road not
taken. I wonder if she will go to her 50th reunion a few years from now and
think about me. I kind of doubt it. She never took my picture.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The hotel where the reunion was being held was on a site
that used to be a lumber yard, now long gone. My room was in the back, about
thirty feet from the venerable Long Island Railroad tracks. Every half-hour two
trains, one from New York City and the other from Port Washington on the way to
the city rolled past. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We all took the train about a million times when growing up.
It never dawned on me or any of us that the sound of the cars clacking down the
track would bring back so many memories... the first time our parents let us go
to the city... the times we took dates to a Broadway show... and the trips we
made to our summer jobs in the city when we came home from college. There was
also the train ride to the 1964 World's Fair... which we all went to a thousand
and one times with our Super-8 movie cameras or a Polaroid. No one ever took my
picture at the fair that I can recall. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What do you wear to your 50th reunion? Do you dress as the
hipster you never were (and still aren't?) Maybe a suit with a vest... the
Brooks Brothers "my-son-the-lawyer" uniform our parents all hoped for
us... or perhaps the California designer-jeans and t-shirt (maybe tie-dyed)
that we sort of invented? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The women had it easy. They were going to show their old
bling and their new boobs in a dress that says "I bet you can't afford
this" or perhaps "I bet you wish you had the work done so you could
fit this." <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Men? Decisions, decisions. I put on a pair of gray slacks, a
blue blazer, and a fashionable tie. I hadn't worn a tie since my father's
funeral ten years earlier. Literary guys wear ties, at least most do and I
thought someone might take my picture.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I stood in front of the full-length mirror assessing just
how much age had changed my looks... and I was pleased. All in all, I looked
pretty good... slim, fit... younger looking than the sixty-seven winters I've
weathered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you remember the ads in the teen magazines and comic
books where the muscled-up guy on the beach is kicking sand in the face of the
skinny kid with bad skin... while the girl in the bikini with the Jane
Mansfield body is looking on? It was an ad for barbells... the 'Joe Wieder system'
or something like that. In high school I was that skinny kid and there was no way
anyone would take my picture at the beach!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was when I was around 24 in grad school at William and
Mary that I decided I didn't want to be that kid anymore, getting the sand kicked
in my face (by girls!) so I quit smoking, quit using certain illegal substances
and started working out, running, and eating well. In about six months of
weight training I was the guy able to kick the sand... and still can (to anyone
eighty or older!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then there was hair. Hair was really important to us in
the 60s... we wore it short like the Beach Boys or long like the Beatles and it
was a never-ending bone of contention with our parents, to say nothing about
our bosses (or school principals in my case as I started out <a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/bsab/#company" target="_blank">as a teacher in West Virginia</a>...
and taught <a href="http://newmediacreate.com/webster/" target="_blank">the entire 8th grade</a>
in an 8-room schoolhouse.... like out of Walton's Mountain!) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I looked in the mirror. I had most of my hair. Of course,
the year of using Rogaine probably helped a bit, but all in all I looked good
and I felt good. Too bad there was no one to take my picture.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I ran the lint-roller over my jacket to get the rest of the
dog hair off of it, made sure my fly was zipped (hey, we're old... we forget
things!) opened the door, took a deep breath, walked to the elevator and went
to the reunion dinner.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The line outside the ballroom was pretty long to check-in to
get your name badge... with the picture of your yearbook headshot on it. It was
awkward standing in line next to someone you know you knew but could not
remember... and until we got our nametags, no one recognized anyone. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People were already taking pictures of each other, but no
one took my picture.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Good grief, everyone is so old," I said to the
guy checking us in. "Who are these people (and who are you)?" He just
smiled at me and handed me my nametag. I got a feeling that everyone asked him
the same question!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the things about being a shy, wall-flower in
high-school is that you become a great observer... which was actually good
training for the literary career I chose in later life. And so while I knew
almost all of the names, few people knew mine. It was obvious that I would be more
of an observer at the event and less of a participant. Since I was one of the
few men wearing a coat and tie, and since I was standing around looking very nonchalant, I'm sure most people thought I was a member of the hotel restaurant
staff... probably the head waiter!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Facts are facts. To the vast majority of the 150+ people in
the room I was the "nowhere man" right out of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93rSXA8aeG4" target="_blank">Beatles song</a>... just as
I was in high school. It was as if I were a ghost... any of you remember <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcQE9Pvek-8" target="_blank">Cosmo Topper</a>? I stood
there while people just walked and talked through me. No one knew me. I thought
that maybe I was dead. No one asked to take my picture.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a youth I was cursed with a scrawny frame and a funny
face... but I was blessed with an incredible memory. Once I saw everyone's name-tag
I remembered everyone's 'resume.' It wasn't that difficult if you take into consideration
that many of us knew each other from elementary school all the way through high
school... all 500 +/- of our graduating class.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In front of the double doors to the ballroom was a easel
with a large poster-board on it with a long list of names. These were the names
of people who would not be attending the reunion... not because they didn't
want to... but because they were dead. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For those who had not met their mortality face to face
before, reading the board of names was their wakeup call. I knew every name...
some well... David, Wally, Steve, Ginnie, Lois... it was a long, sobering list.
For sure, no one was going to take their pictures either.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I spoke to a few of the men standing around... they faked
knowing me... offering big smiles and asking the "Weren't you in Phys Ed.
with me?" question... which was a good bet since Phys Ed. usually had 50+
guys in it. I smiled and said they were probably right and reminded them how
much we all hated the Nazi coaches and the tortures they visited upon us. Talk
about instant <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">camaraderie!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There were lots of pictures being shown of us when we wore
younger clothes... but there were none of me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While I was a shy, frightened, pathetic kid in school, I
grew out of it in adulthood when I learned that good looks are transient, but
stupid was forever... and realized that I was not stupid... actually I was
pretty damned intelligent (even though they had to almost burn down the high
school to get me out!) I learned to not be afraid to walk up to people and
introduce myself... and I rather enjoyed seeing the looks on their face when
they tried so hard to convince me that they knew who I was (although a few did
from my books and writings over the years.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I saw the "leader of the band"... of our high
school local rock group who actually cut an album... they were well-known in
Brooklyn, but nowhere else. He was an arrogant you-know-what back then, as all
musicians tend to be, but I immediately noticed that he had mellowed in his adult
years. We were in elementary school together, he lived up the block from me but
I might have been living on the moon seeing that I was never good enough for
his crowd. Still, I said hello, and while he was cordial he had that vague look
on his face of "Who is this guy and WTF am I talking to him for?" I
got that a lot that evening... but didn't take offense. As a writer and journalist
I'm comfortable talking to strangers... these folks weren't.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I walked over and spoke to the beauty-queen of our era...
she was not just a cheerleader but one step beyond... a member of the exclusive
Kilties... the elite of elite of cheerleaders. Everyone knew her and unlike her
friends of the time she never developed the snobbery that cheerleaders of the
era were famous for. She came from major money and married a guy with more
money... he even had his own jet fleet. But recently he traded her in for a new
model... it made us all sad to hear about it. I felt badly for her and wished I
had some consoling words. Like an idiot I told her to get a good lawyer... yeah
like she didn't know that already? She's smart and attractive and wealthy...
she will survive just fine ... and she looked so lovely in her designer dress
and Tiffany jewelry that I would have liked to have had a picture of her and
me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember the guy who was everyone's All-American? He was the
guy who shaved in 9th grade and whom girls would drop their pants for.
(Actually that's just a metaphor because back then no one went much beyond
second base... but not me as I was always thrown out at first base... even
years and years afterward!) Anyway, in front of me was the guy who in 1965 had
the Paul Newman looks and the Robert Redford smile and the Elvis hair and the
body of Fabio and who could bench-press 200 lb., hit a softball 250 feet, and
throw a perfect pass fifty yards. He was now sixty pounds overweight, jowly, sported
an alcoholic red nose, wore coke-bottle glasses, was totally bald, with a face
like thirty miles of bad road. I wish someone had taken a picture of the two of
us so that for the rest of my life I would be reminded that on some level there
is cosmic justice!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I remember Driver Education taught by Mr. Ring. In those
days we actually went on the road... five of us per car (including the
instructor... remember cars were much, much larger then.) One of my car mates
was a small, thin, shy, blonde girl with a nice smile and who was unusually
smart (for a girl :-) ) I got to know her fairly well in my senior year sitting
in the back seat while others took their turn trying to not get us killed on
the Long Island Expressway. She was a terrible driver... I mean the worst. She
was afraid to go more than 20 miles an hour... and if you do that while getting
on the LIE you should have a ramp on your car as they will go right over you! She
could not drive... scared the crap out of us... I think she flunked Driver Ed...
but she flew the NASA Space Shuttle.... twice! I asked her why she could pilot
a space craft but couldn't drive a car? She said she learned to fly before she
learned to drive! I wish I had a picture with her!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was great to see the radio-boy again. In school most of
the guys envied baseball players and the girls envied movie stars... but I
envied the radio-boy... actually his dad. He and his father were ham radio
operators and had this huge antenna at their Great Neck Estates home. He would
invite me over and we'd talk on the radio to Europe and Mexico... and I was
bitten by the radio-bug. I thought radio-boy was about the coolest kid in
school! He still looked fit and young... and he had a hot new wife whom I think
was about half his age. I thought she was his daughter. He turned a hobby into
a career and made zillions putting up sophisticated antenna systems for the
government and others. To me, he was still the coolest kid in the room!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There was a dinner buffet, but no one ate much... well at
least the popular kids didn't eat. Most people were wandering around the
tables, seeing old friends. You are not supposed to eat at these things... because...
everyone knows... <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it was the class
losers who were the ones sitting (usually) alone at a table eating. I was a
class loser... and actually kind of proud of it (now)... and I was hungry... so
I ate dinner! I wasn't one of the popular kids back then and I wasn't going to
be now... and honestly... the food was quite good. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How did people look? The honest truth... with a few notable
exceptions... the men looked like crap. Few of them kept in shape and most have
aged badly... some looking like they had never seen the sun... spending most of
their lives in their offices under fluorescent lights, breathing stale air,
drinking too much Scotch, and eating way too much fast food. It was evident
that most of the men never renewed their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Tanny" target="_blank">Vic Tanny</a> membership!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the women... the women without an exception looked
terrific... no sags, no bags, good butts, and better boobs (than when we were
in high school... and believe me all the funny-looking, nerdy guys like me
noticed boobs!) The women were radiant... and beautiful. I've been married for
35 years (some of them happily!) but if any one of them had made a pass at me
I'd be hard pressed to turn down such a proposition. Of course at these kinds
of events, the past is prologue and few of them noticed me, much less talked to
me... and not one of them took my picture.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back in school most of us guys never had much (if any)
romantic interaction with the girls in our class as they almost always went out
with older boys, and the senior girls had college boyfriends. There was one
girl in our class whom I had a terrific crush on but was always afraid to ask
her out because I was sure she would say "I can't go out Saturday because
I have to give my cat a bath" and when you hear that you kind of know how
you stand with the girl. I heard it a lot. We were just friends and stayed
friends over the years. About four years ago she had some major financial issues
and I sent her $1000. She was appreciative and said she would pay it
back when she can. I told her it was a gift. It was good to see her radiant and
happy and if I helped in some small way it was money well spent.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now here is a coincidence. There is this classmate of mine
who is a master jeweler. We have the same first name. We went to the same
summer camp. We went to the same university. We look somewhat alike. We lived
in the same city, San Francisco, for a while. We were never friends in camp, high
school or college and didn't connect until many years later. It was good to see
him again... obviously a brother in some parallel universe! A picture would
have been good.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We had three guys in our class whom today would be called
bullies... I'm not sure what we called them back then... because there really
wasn't such as thing as a Jewish bully... their mothers would not allow it!
These are the guys you knew would push you against a wall and throw your books
all over the hall... and enjoy it. I (and others) got pushed around a few times,
one of them actually beat me up... but it wasn't something we talked about back
then. You just sucked it up, kept quiet, and moved on... but the damage went
beyond a few bruises and a broken ego... way beyond. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now I'm not exactly Bruce Lee here, but I've kept in
shape... For the past thirty years I walk three miles a day and run one, and
work out with light weights three times a week. Years ago I also took
elementary martial arts classes. I'm not proud of saying the following, but I
was hoping that all three of them would show up so that I could have a 'few
words' with them, maybe in private... perhaps make them an offer they couldn't
refuse? They didn't show, and I guess it is probably for the best... I still
carry the wounds... and the fantasies. One day their karma will catch up with
them and I won't be shedding any tears, that's for sure. I'll be looking for
their obit pictures.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After dinner there was music and dancing. I'm a terrible
dancer. I'm fairly coordinated and somewhat athletic. I can drive a golf ball 250 yards, I can hit a
70 mph. baseball in the batting cage, I can rope a steer from a horse (it's
true,) but I can't dance... I just can't. I like to dance... but I'm terrible
at it. That put me at somewhat of a disadvantage in school because all the cool
kids were also good dancers... Mitchel's Dance Studio made a fortune on our
generation. The studio expelled me as hopeless! I mean if you can't even do The
Twist, what chance do you have with the Lindi Hop? (Hell, I couldn't even do
the Bunny Hop!) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At every reunion there is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that girl</i>... who never aged... she looks and acts much as she did
in school. She was striking back then... and is striking now. She is still the
teenager on the outside that most of us feel we are on the inside. It is
usually the girl who marched to a different drummer... who was an original...
who didn't care what other said or thought... almost the prototype counter-culture
girl... whom you expected would be an artist living in Sedona. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our reunion had <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that
girl</i>... not an artist but a psychologist from Aspen... who wore a low-cut,
backless, form-fitting, spaghetti-strap little dress that no one could take
their eyes off... and she being she... no one was surprised she wore it...
because she really could wear it! I loved her back then. Everyone loved her back
then. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was standing around the dance floor watching the popular
kids dance to The Rolling Stones <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Satisfaction</i>
("I Can't Get No Girlie Action" was my theme song fifty years ago!)
when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that girl</i> walked over, grabbed
my arm and dragged me on the floor. OK, now I said earlier most of the men
looked like hell, but there were a couple of guys there who still dripped
sex-appeal... like the tall, wealthy guy with great hair from Florida who owned
everything in the state with a nail in it. But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that girl</i> picked me. Me. Not him... me! There are events in the
universe that I will never understand. I would give anything for a picture of
us on that dance floor. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the evening wore on and the small talk wore thin, people
started to drift out. Some went to the lounge in order to prolong the ecstasy
of better times... and the agony of lost youth. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I went upstairs as I had to catch an early flight to
Virginia the next morning to see my business partner in our <a href="http://newmediacreate.com/" target="_blank">web design company</a>. She also is a world-class
<a href="http://bookwrights.com/" target="_blank">book designer</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the vast majority of the attendees the evening was a
huge success. I had an enjoyable evening... and while it probably does not
sound like it from this electronic fish-wrap I'm very glad I came and I'm glad
I got to see everyone... even though most had no idea who I was. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But for me (as well as a few of us I learned later) there
was also a sadness about the reunion that as a writer/observer I was expecting
but which I thought I would be emotionally able to handle better than I have. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The bottom line is that this is last time we will get
together as a formal group in our hometown. Why would we meet again? What would
be the point? All that we could say has been said... and all that can be
remembered has been remembered. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The 50th reunion is a milestone to be sure... it signifies
that we've come a lot of miles to get here... but it also foretells that there
are not that many miles ahead of us. Yes it was (somewhat) a celebration of our
life, our generation, our 'culture,' ourselves... but there were the elephants
in the room... old age... sickness... death. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There we were, some of the best minds of our generation (to
use one rather trite phrase) all gathered in one place but somewhat lost in
space (to use another trite-ism) trying to roll back the years and hold in the
tears (ok, trite and trite again!) In the near future we won't be getting
wedding invitations and birth announcements. We'll be getting emails about
funeral arrangements and we'll be reading obituaries. Yes, I felt a sadness.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I felt joy too.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We came, we saw, we heard, we remembered.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was pleased that the evening was not about showing off the
status of occupation or the pride of children or the results of fortunes made
(or lost.) This event was not about bragging rights. This was not about the
material world. To our credit, it wasn't any of those.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me it was about the joy in our souls, the uplifting of
our spirits, and the final opportunity to partake of the camaraderie and good
fellowship of our old friends (and some old enemies) who helped make us what we
are today (for better or worse.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a final chance to say "Look where we came
from" and a chance to say "Look where we are." We indulged in
probably our last chance, a final opportunity, to talk about how it all
happened, and maybe figure out "why."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So many people contribute to a life. We have spouses (often
more than one), and we have children (often many) and we have colleagues (long
lists of them) but we only have one set of collective individuals who shared
our childhood and early youth... who experienced what we experienced and whom
have a special commonality with us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some of us have already passed on. Some of us will pass from
this life soon, and some a bit later. But one thing is certain: we are in the
twilight of our days, in the autumn of our years. If a life is a play we are
all in Act 3, but this act won't run as long as Act 1 and Act 2. And when the
curtain comes down and the show closes, it won't reopen again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This reunion was a chance to push back time, if only for a
weekend... to if not be young again, to at least feel young again through the
shared smiles (and some tears) of our youth and from the memories of our town,
home, school... our past... and even our better selves.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Knowing that sickness and death are not that far off, it was
good that we availed our collective selves of a chance to re-live and
enjoy a weekend defined by youth, vigor, optimism, in what Thornton Wilder
would call <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our Town</i>; long ago, in
what we all probably feel was a better world than the one we will leave.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are still good days ahead, although not as many as
there are behind.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A weekend with old friends in the one place we all call home
was an event I and most others will cherish and one we will remember.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There was joy to be had there. There was happiness that was
shared there. There were memories to remember, and songs of the heart that were
sung, and feelings of youth that were again felt.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was our 50th reunion. It will never come again. For most
of us it was the last chance to remember and re-live good times, better times,
and important times... providing much for us to savor... as we pass into the
ages.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No one took my picture.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I have <a href="http://newmediawebsitedesign.com/vid2.html" target="_blank">the memories</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Alan N. Canton, Publisher</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Adams-Blake Publishing</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
-30-<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-58954819678114085522016-03-06T13:15:00.002-08:002020-01-02T08:51:38.244-08:00I Am Now KM6AAI And It Only Took 55 Years!<br />
<br />
(Note: Since posting this I have passed the Extra exam, changed the call to a shorter one... dropping the "M"... becoming K6AAI... <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2018/01/how-i-chose-my-new-amateur-ham-radio.html" target="_blank">here is how I decided on the call</a>. I also wrote this piece on <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2017/12/hints-and-tips-for-passing-amateur.html" target="_blank">tips and tricks to help pass the Extra</a> (or any) ham exam. I hope it helps.)<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * *</div>
It took a lifetime, but I finally did it.<br />
<br />
Ever since I was in my early teens I wanted to accomplish a specific goal in life.<br />
<br />
In the early 50s our family was wealthy. My father ran a dress business with my grandfather (who started the business.) They manufactured what were called "cotton frocks"... basically cotton house-dresses for woman... the kind of thing a woman wore around the house and nice enough to go to the grocery store in.<br />
<br />
It was the kind of dress Donna Reed and June Clever wore (June wore pearls with it because we know that all housewives of the era wore pearls when they were dusting!) and you still see these thin, cotton dresses worn by some women in the southern states. <br />
<br />
We had a thirty-foot boat which was docked in a marina not far from our Long Island, NY house. On the boat we had this huge Zenith multi-band radio. It not only had the marine stations for weather, but you could hear Europe and the amateur (ham) bands. It was portable (weighted a ton) and was so much fun to listen to. Here is a pix of the model:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://hepcatrestorations.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/img_4472.jpg">https://hepcatrestorations.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/img_4472.jpg</a><br />
<br />
In the late 50s the business failed... factories went to the South and women started wearing slacks and jeans... and my father just didn't change with the times.<br />
<br />
We were broke.<br />
<br />
My parents got divorced when I was 11 and as part of the settlement my mother got the radio, which she gave to me and I put it in my room where I spent hours listening to Europe ("BBC Calling", "Radio Moscow", etc.)<br />
<br />
But what I loved more than anything was listening to the ham radio stations talk to each other... often across the nation and to Europe as well. I was fascinated by radio and wanted to get MY ham license (there is no age limit.)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
I would also visit Elliot Gross's house. He had been licensed when he was around 10 years old and I was amazed at how he could talk to people all over the world in his father's ham 'shack.'<br />
<br />
Back then the entry license from the FCC (called the Novice class) required that you take a written test that was fairly easy... and you also had to be able to send and receive Morse Code at five words-per-minute. It was not hard, even for me.<br />
<br />
But it wasn't the entry license that I wanted. That one was limited to low power transmission which basically worked for "around the block" communications.<br />
<br />
I wanted what was called the General class license because that allowed you to 'work' the "DX" (distance) bands and talk to people across the country and throughout the world.<br />
<br />
The General license required you to pass a (more) difficult written exam and be able to send and receive thirteen words-per-minute of Morse Code. That was a super-high speed (for me!)<br />
<br />
But there was a problem.<br />
<br />
I simply could not receive the code at that speed. I could send it, but receiving just didn't work. If dit-dit-dah was sent I might hear dah-dit-dit.<br />
<br />
It was not until years later that I learned that I had a minor audio dyslexia issue. I always wondered why someone might say "That's a large dog" but sometimes I heard "That's a dog large.”<br />
<br />
Anyway, it was never much of a problem and it was random, usually triggered by stress, and I was not bothered by it... music sounded fine... and although I might have heard some of the sounds a bit differently than others, it was no big deal. But it was (obviously) a big deal with hearing code at higher speed... so I had to end my quest for getting the General ham license.<br />
<br />
I recently learned that several years ago the FCC dropped the code requirement and so I started studying for the "new" entry level (now called the Technician License) which is rather easy and I passed that a few months ago (January 2016) and was assigned the callsign of KM6AAI.<br />
<br />
Then I started on my real quest... learning the more difficult material for the General exam.<br />
<br />
How many of you remember how to compute the square root of the reciprocal of a sum of reciprocals:<br />
<br />
1<br />
___________________________<br />
√ <br />
1 + 1 + 1<br />
--- --- ---<br />
x y z<br />
<br />
or can figure out the answer to this... even after studying?:<br />
<br />
What signal source is connected to the vertical input of an oscilloscope when checking the RF envelope pattern of a transmitted signal?<br />
<br />
A. The local oscillator of the transmitter<br />
B. An external RF oscillator<br />
C. The transmitter balanced mixer output<br />
D. The attenuated RF output of the transmitter<br />
<br />
<br />
This was not an easy test and I had to re-learn a lot of college algebra.<br />
<br />
Yesterday (March 2016) I took the exam, only missed one question and achieved a life-long goal... and now... 55 years since my 13th birthday... I am the proud recipient of the Amateur Radio General Class FCC license.<br />
<br />
Just a small thing to most... but a huge thing to me.<br />
<br />
73s<br />
<br />
ANC<br />
<br />
Alan N. Canton, Managing Partner<br />
NewMedia Create<br />
http://www.NewMediaCreate.com<br />
Fair Oaks, CA<br />
<br />
Alan Canton<br />
K6AAI<br />
Fair Oaks, CA<br />
<br />
<div>
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<br />Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-57808818517478023242015-12-16T14:46:00.000-08:002016-01-01T15:03:50.625-08:00An Open Letter to Theme and Plugin Developers: Why I Can't Buy Your Products Any Longer<div class="p1">
<br />
Web designers like myself rely on our theme and plugin vendors (like you) who have many excellent products I want to buy, and in the past I did buy them, many of them, and would continue to. </div>
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<br /></div>
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But now I can't.</div>
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Many of you rely on web designers for a large portion of your revenue base.</div>
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<br /></div>
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If I can't buy from you, how are you going to remain in business?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Up to about eighteen months ago premium (i.e. paid for, not free) WordPress additions (themes and plugins) were sold with a one-time fee perpetual license for updates and support. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
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But today, a large number of products are no longer sold, they are rented and buyers have to pay a yearly 'update' fee, often the same amount as the first purchase.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Some vendors give us unlimited use but require a yearly fee for updates. </div>
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<br /></div>
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But there are others that restrict us to using the product on one site and requires a yearly update fee for each install. </div>
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This just does not work for us!</div>
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<br /></div>
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In the past, our web design company (<a href="http://newmediawebsitedesign.com/">NewMediaWebsiteDesign.com</a>) as well as others would buy lots of premium themes and plugins. But we can't do that anymore. We can't take what could become a large financial liability for many dozens of yearly rental (ransom) payments.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Yes, it might be possible for us to buy a license for our clients and put the yearly payments on their backs, but not only is that an administrative hassle on the front-end of the sale, clients don't want to be 'captive' to vendors anymore than we do.</div>
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<br /></div>
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While some vendors offer a 'developer' license, it is usually fairly expensive... and we especially don't want to pay you for that when we are not sure that your product will be continued or that we will continue to use it should better solutions present themselves in the market... or that your company will even be around next year!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Here are the four dirty little secret fears that web design shops don't tell you:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Our FIRST biggest fear is that we believe theme and plugin developers will put version-checking code into their products such that when WordPress updates to a new version, the theme or plugin will not work until the site owner pays the ransom for an "upgrade."</div>
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<br /></div>
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The SECOND biggest fear is that the vendor will "cable-TV" us with a low teaser first-time license fee and then double it or triple it (or worse) at license renewal time. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
The THIRD biggest fear (a corollary of the first) is that vendors will eventually put in code that if the license is not renewed the product stops working... and the famous 'white screen of death' is the result. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
And the FOURTH biggest fear is that developers will put out updates with features our clients have no need of... or worse... they take away features they like.... or the vendor doesn't upgrade anything... they just collect the fee. </div>
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<br /></div>
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These would not be illegal events; there are no laws that I know of that require disclosure (especially from non-USA or non-EU vendors.)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Yes, perhaps market forces and community "awareness" would mitigate the above, but it hasn't done so with the cable-TV industry, cell-phone service providers, or the oil/gas sector. I have little faith in the so-called 'free market' anymore. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
We used to buy many themes and plugins for clients, especially from vendors who gave us unlimited use of the product as well as updates. But now the paradigm is shifting to one-payment, one-site, with a yearly payment requirement for updates. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
(Note, I'm not mentioning support here because I think that can and should be a separate issue... my bet is that good designers hardly ever require on-going email or phone support. I believe the consensus is that 20% of the buyers are the creators of 95% of the support tickets. Support could be charged on a fee-per-ticket basis, like Apple does.) </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
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So, while I like the products of many developers, I can't put my company in the position of being held hostage by them, at least not while I have options.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Will I pay the yearly costs for Microsoft Office or the Adobe suite? Yes. Why? Because I have to... until Word files are not the <i>de facto</i> standard and until there is an alternative graphic suite, I'm trapped. </div>
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<br /></div>
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But I have alternatives with WordPress... they may not the best alternatives, but the developer community has basically forced them on me and other small design shops. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I now need to find cost-effective solutions with either open-source no-cost products or those that offer a license that has far less financial risk to our company and our clients. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Please understand. I know that developers need a revenue stream to create new or better products. But I don't think the current paradigm of 'ransom-ware' is the answer, at least not in the long-term.</div>
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I think most design shops would like to see some changes.</div>
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The first and most important change and one which I think is mandatory is that vendors guarantee that their product will always be supported... that the version the customer buys will run (be supported or replaced) forever WITHOUT any yearly fees. However, if the customer wants support and/or upgrades to newer versions, they need to pay for them. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
This gives designers the peace of mind that the products they put on/in client sites are not going to 'die' with a WordPress update or on a non-renewal. Designers cannot live with the threat of becoming a hostage and having to pay what the underworld calls 'protection.'</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Developers could also offer a license option of yearly renewals for support and updates for those customers who will always want the latest and greatest version. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Perhaps developers could offer a multi-year license with a refund if the product is discontinued? (And we all know how many designers have bought an expensive 'developer license' only to see the product (or company) disappear (a month or year later.)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Let me say it again for emphasis. I used to buy many themes and even more plugins. I can't and won't do it if I'm going to be put at risk of being held hostage for a 'ransom' payment each year. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
I'm not even going to take a chance on products from most new companies. If I'm going to have to pay 'tribute' it will be to those companies who have been around for years and years and have a track record seeking feedback on what their customers would like to see in the next version, and then incorporating these' updates, instead of just 'fluff' code.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
If you are a new vendor with a new theme or plugin and you come to me saying "Buy my product for $50 now and $50 a year thereafter" I'm simply not going to bother with you. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
And if you are an established vendor, you need to sell me on what your roadmap for the product is; that you are going to incorporate features that are worth the yearly update fee.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
The days of design shops like mine buying hundreds of themes and plugins each year are over. </div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
I don't think that is good for us or the theme/plugin developer community. A good business 'deal' has to be 'win-win.' The new "pay us now AND pay us later" looks like a win for the developers, but I believe that except for a few very well-run companies, it will become a loss. </div>
Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-27837432581981933802015-10-24T09:08:00.000-07:002015-10-24T11:55:52.039-07:00Oh Cry Me a River, Steve<i>[Note: Steve Litt wrote a post that appeared in one of the book publishing chat boards. The discussion was about Apple's launchd program vs. what Linux uses to start up and schedule programs to run. No, this is not really about launchd... it is about how the Linux community is the Republican Party of the computer world. He writes:]</i><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Process Identifier 1 (PID1) [in Apple's OS X] contains an entire XML</i><br />
<i>parser. Who knows, maybe next version the Ghost Of Jobs will add a</i><br />
<i>marching band to PID1.</i></blockquote>
<br />
Oh cry me a river, Steve.<br />
<br />
Jeez, Louise. That’s the best you got?<br />
<br />
Well, it’s not enough, not hardly.<br />
<br />
PID1 is the launchd program which is far and away a huge, huge, huge improvement over the (Linux/Unix) antiquated cron (which Apple still has but does not use) as well as the arcane init system.<br />
<br />
Cron is the utility that can be configured (if you know 'voodoo') to schedule and start programs.<br />
<br />
From a user standpoint launchd is the cron replacement utility Apple uses to start (and stop) various programs that it needs to run at various times and it is user configurable as well (like cron.)<br />
<br />
You can 'program' launchd to run your 'jobs'... such as nightly backups or uploads to your server, etc.<br />
<br />
Of course you need 'scripts' that actually do the work, but there are lots of these on the net you can get and then configure launchd to run them when you want. We have a bunch of scripts that upload files to our server as well as download a few as well. For example, one of them takes the Apple Contacts, converts it to a text file and uploads it to our server as a backup... each night.<br />
<br />
The launchd daemon essentially replaces the old Unix/Linux:<br />
<ul>
<li>init</li>
<li>rc</li>
<li>init.d script</li>
<li>rc.d script</li>
<li>SystemStarter (OS X)</li>
<li>inetd / xinetd</li>
<li>crond / atd</li>
<li>watchdogd</li>
</ul>
<br />
Since the dawn of time no one but unbathed, sugar inebriated geeks could figure out how to use the cron utility as well as all of the other arcane geek-ninja-only 'init' group of systems.<br />
<br />
Cron and its partner programs are some of the most complex black-arts of Unix/Linux, the secrets of which are only handed down from master-geek to grasshopper-geek in Linux User Group (LUG) meetings held in Pizza Hut restaurants serving bad pizza and over-caffeinated cola.<br />
<br />
There are lots of articles on launchd vs. the antiquated array of obtuse Linux utilities <a href="http://bfy.tw/2Rqp" target="_blank">you can read here</a>.<br />
<br />
Apple created launchd and even put it in the public domain thinking that the Linux folks would have the required brain cells to adopt it. Of course, the Linux community which years ago (as often today) were/are basically the Luddites of the computer world (sounds like a contradiction in terms, but not if you know the Linux mindset imbued with antipathy against anything new and better) refused to adopt it.<br />
<br />
Big surprise!<br />
<br />
A little history, courtesy of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launchd" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>:<br />
<br />
A port to FreeBSD was done as part of Google Summer of Code Project in 2005.<br />
<br />
The Ubuntu Linux distribution considered using launchd in 2006. launchd was rejected as an option because it was released under the Apple Public Source License.<br />
<br />
In August 2006, Apple relicensed launchd under the Apache License, Version 2.0 in an effort to make adoption by other open source developers easier.<br />
<br />
It took the Linux community, which hates all things Apple and Microsoft, a long time to 'get it' that launchd was a better system. But when they did, they instead decided to write their own version of launchd which is called <i>systemd</i>… and ever since the release of it, there has been a holy war waged in the Linux community over its use… and those flavors of Linux which have adopted it (which are most of the more popular distributions,) are shunned by the high-priests of Linux... the Druids and troglodytes of the computer ‘world.’<br />
<br />
They kept cron intact (like Apple did) but added <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd/Timers" target="_blank">systemd/timers</a> as a replacement (it's not a bad system, but not quite as flexible as launchd, IMO.)<br />
<br />
Launchd is based on XML, which adds a layer of complexity to it, but at the same time exposes many layers of flexibility.<br />
<br />
Years ago I wrote a well-received and popular tutorial on launchd called: <a href="http://answer123.com/misc/launchd_notes.html" target="_blank">Apple Mac OS X launchd For The Complete Idiot</a>.<br />
<br />
Since that article was published several easy-to-use front-end utilities have been written… the best of which is called <a href="https://www.peterborgapps.com/lingon/" target="_blank">Lingon</a> which makes it slam-dunk easy to schedule any program or script that you might want to run.<br />
<br />
Yes, we can use the old cron, but Apple has deprecated it which is their way of saying “One day we may drop it, so use the new ‘stuff’ instead.” And the Apple community, being the Jefferson and de Vinci personas of the computer world, have adopted it and are happy with it, for the most part (yeah, there are a few Luddites in the Apple world as well, but they are more a curiosity than a majority.)<br />
<br />
I have great respect for Steve Litt, his writing ability, his tech knowledge and the content of his <a href="http://www.troubleshooters.com/" target="_blank">many technical books</a> (even though his web site looks like it was done in 1997!) But at times he is the Ted Cruz, the Huckabee, and the Heritage Foundation of the tech community all rolled into one… and there are many like him who start their LUG meetings with cold pizza and Jolt cola singing that old arch-conservative Linux ‘spiritual:’<br />
<br />
Old stuff is good<br />
New stuff is crud<br />
Let’s all beat our feet<br />
On the Mississippi mud<br />
<br />
One day, a leader will rise up in the Linux community and say “I have a dream!”<br />
<br />
I doubt it will be in my lifetime.<br />
<br />
I like and respect most Linux people... and I run Linux on some of my older hardware. I like to kid Linux people about their hoodies and Jolt cola, just as they rib me about my Apple 'uniform'... NorthFace jackets and black "Steve Jobs" mock-turtles.<br />
<br />
But for the life of me I'll never comprehend the amount of anger that some members of the Linux community hold for anyone who dares differ with them... sort of like those in the Republican Party.<br />
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<br />Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-52755077346771514152015-10-18T11:29:00.000-07:002015-10-18T11:29:13.333-07:00A Case for the "Less is More" Website Platform<i>[On well-known <a href="http://pub-forum.net/home/about-pub-forum/" target="_blank">Pub-Forum publishing chat group</a>, a well-respected publisher and consultant was critical of our upcoming "Less is More" (LIM) website 'platform' (see <a href="http://newmediacreate.com/" target="_blank">NewMediaCreate.com</a>) and this is my reply. I will only use the author's initials so as not to identify said person.]</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">JM, as usual, makes an interesting argument. She come across to me as a traditionalist and there is a place for her in the book publishing industry if for no other reason than most authors as well as most publishers don't see the business as it is today and will be in the future, but view it as it was twenty or thirty years ago. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">There is no industry that I can think of (except maybe the taxi cab industry) that is and has been more resistant to change, be it technical or structural, than that of publishing. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">JM says "Most authors except first-timers have more than one book and want to build a following that (ideally) will buy all of them... " I agree but the harsh reality is that if the first one does NOT sell, most often there is not going to be a second!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">JM says "No offense, but one-page, five-section site simply can't do everything..." and she is correct, but one does not have to do 'everything’ ...one only has to do ONE thing... and that is SELL the book.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">As you all know I have the ability, knowledge, and experience to write a 20,000 word, detailed, and very convincing argument refuting JM and her traditionalist approach to bookselling... but I won't. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">It won't change any minds... and to be honest most of the subscribers to this board are not in my target market to begin with... there are not a lot of newbie authors-cum-publishers here... most are in the Yahoo based <a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Self-Publishing/info" target="_blank">Self-Publishing group</a>.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Here is the "<a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tl%3Bdr" target="_blank">tl;dr</a>" version. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I only know and concentrate on what works. That does not mean I know everything that works... I only know what I know that works. I also know what does not work (most of the time.) This is not a benefit of knowledge or clairvoyance... but one of age and experience… almost to the extent of Pat Bell… whom I’m told has an autographed copy of the original Ten Commandments.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Small sites work the same way that short novels work... many (most) readers LIKE them. A small site makes one convincing pitch to a surfer who has the attention-span of a gnat. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">There are places for longer sites... such as if you are selling something complex and big-ticket... like a car or a camera or a washing machine. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But a book is not complex. It is a rather simple product. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The key for all non-fiction and genre fiction is to find the audience and convince them to buy the book you have to sell to them. The faster and simpler you make the pitch the better your odds of making the sale. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">You don't need a 10 to 20 page website to do that. I contend that if you don't do it in the first paragraph about the book (or the author) the sale is probably lost. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The web today reminds me of the 'scene' in <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/alices-restaurant-massacre-lyrics-arlo-guthrie.html" target="_blank">Alice's Restaurant</a> when Arlo is arrested and then taken to court for dumping trash down a cliff. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /><span class="s1"></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1">They took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles</span><span class="s1">and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each</span><span class="s1">one was to be used as evidence against us.</span><br /><br /><span class="s1">Man came in said, "All rise." We all stood up,</span><span class="s1">and [sheriff] Obie stood up with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy</span><span class="s1">pictures, and the judge walked in sat down with a seeing eye dog, and he</span><span class="s1">sat down, we sat down. Obie looked at the seeing eye dog, and then at the</span><span class="s1">twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows</span><span class="s1">and a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the seeing eye dog.</span><span class="s1">And then at twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles</span><span class="s1">and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one and began to cry,</span><span class="s1">'cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American</span><span class="s1">blind justice, and there wasn't nothing he could do about it, and the</span><span class="s1">judge wasn't going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy</span><span class="s1">pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each</span><span class="s1">one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. </span></blockquote>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">When it comes to a book, people are just not going to look a the "twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy </span>pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was."</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">They used to look... but most don't anymore... especially younger people.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Bottom line, what traditionalists like JM preach, makes logical sense, but basically does not work anymore. How do I know? Jeez Louise, I've been doing long-form websites for years now. Our clients have come to us and said "We don't need it. People read one page of the site and go to Amazon to buy... or they don't.” </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This is what authors and publishers tell me. Why would I make it up? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Don't you think we make more money on a 15 page site that <a href="http://www.newmediawebsitedesign.com/" target="_blank">we charge $1500 - $2000</a> for than a 5 page site for $399? Of course we do. But authors can't afford that and even if they could, they are going to Facebook instead of us (FB does not work either... but the price is right!)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">We've researched this short-form concept for a long time. Some of you who are consultants to the industry know that I've been talking to you for over a year on this getting professional feedback. I've been on this board asking for peer-review <a href="http://www.newmediacreate.com/web/html/#portfolio" target="_blank">of our templates</a> as well as the concept in general. I didn't 'invent' this concept... I'm following what our customers are telling us here... not leading. (FYI, most people on this board agree with JM and/or don’t like our templates.)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">We are going to formally roll out our “Less is More” (LIM) platform during the holidays... between Thanksgiving and New Year. (Why? Traditionalists say its a 'bad time' for 'new' stuff. But the publishing biz is 'dead' during the holidays, authors are not writing... everyone is taking a breather... I won't have to fight through as much clutter... and may even get more electronic 'ink' in the blogosphere than later on.)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">To many authors it is all about price. They don't 'grock' the LIM concept yet. What they see is that they can get a site for $399 that will sell their first (and for some, ONLY) book. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Most of our market are not authors who WANT to be publishers... they simply want to get their book 'out there' and make a side-income from it via selling it from their kitchen table or via Amazon (and Amazon/Smashword is the better approach because selling via mail-order entails more costs than are apparent.)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">My market are new authors as well as publishers who 'get it'... one book... one domain... one website. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Same with small one-person service businesses. Would you buy insurance from this guy?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><a href="http://www.ancins.com/" target="_blank">http://www.ancins.com</a></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
Bottom line:</div>
<div class="p1">
</div>
<ul>
<li>A domain cost $19 (you can pay less, but we recommend www.pairNic.com) a year.</li>
<li>A host cost $65 a year (we are going to host our client's sites soon but now suggest www.pair.com)</li>
<li>The LIM site cost $399 ... what you see from the template is what you get... we change colors.)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Who can’t afford that?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">With your own domain for the title and with your own site for the title and with a one-file site (even though they look like separate pages... they aren't) for the title you get better SEO as well as loading speed. graphic depending.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"> (And we know HOW to optimize graphics… after all the owner of <a href="http://www.bookwrights.com/" target="_blank">Bookwrights Design</a>, Mayapriya Long, is my partner in this… of course we know graphics, composition, design, and color.) </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If the client can write good content the search engine web crawlers will find it easily. If they can’t, we can help them with it (for an extra fee, obviously.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">No doubt, JM believes my approach is wrong. She would never say that, but I believe that was the intent of her posting. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">And she my be right. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">All I know for certain is that her approach to the web is costly, cumbersome, lengthy, inefficient, and bottom line, does not work all that well. I know this as a publisher, I know this as a technologist, I know this as an experienced marketeer.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But there is another dynamic working here. Just about everyone in the publishing business, like JM, have told that the LIM concept is… crap ... and wont’ work.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Well, after being in this biz for 35 years (after reading <a href="http://parapub.com/sites/para/information/business.cfm#selfpub" target="_blank">Dan Poynter’s ‘little red book,'</a>) I’ve leaned that there is one and only one certainty about the publishing business: that when everyone agrees on something, it's always wrong... always. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Of course people say that about me too... and there is some truth in that. I have an award-plaque given to me years ago that says just below my name:</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">"Often wrong... but never in doubt!”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Alan N. Canton, Managing Partner </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">NewMedia Create</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><a href="http://www.newmediacreate.com/">http://www.NewMediaCreate.com</a></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">"Short (and affordable) websites </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">because on the web today… Less is More."</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-53841098381968281322015-08-29T11:26:00.000-07:002015-08-29T12:10:02.817-07:00"I Feel Ripped" (Da da da da da da da!) By Overnight Prints! (Da da da da da da da!)<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Remember the old song by James Brown called “I Feel Good?” </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I have a new 'take' on it:</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I Feel Ripped” (Da da da da da da da!)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span>By Over Night Prints (Da da da da da da da!)</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">…. although technically I wasn’t.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I needed new biz cards for my insurance agency since I changed direction and decided to only write Medicare coverage. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">So I shopped around looking at designs and settled on one by <a href="http://overnightprints.com/">Overnightprints.com</a>.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I opened an account, designed the card, and paid (via AMEX) $22 plus shipping of $17 for <b>***500***</b> cards:</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><a href="http://ancins.com/mcare/med-biz-card.jpg">http://ancins.com/mcare/med-biz-card.jpg</a></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ancins.com/mcare/med-biz-card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ancins.com/mcare/med-biz-card.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The next morning I got an email ‘blast’ from them about a huge sale... </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><a href="http://bit.ly/1JDtgQw">http://bit.ly/1JDtgQw</a></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">where they were offering <b>*** 5000*** cards</b> (yeah, <b>FIVE THOUSAND</b>) <b>for $30</b>.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFmUwtM7J4SRYtx-e6rYfCGMDlP24h43lfslAcgI-cCqln1NJ0IwKkbiqxE4qtC6GFlodoq0sby3Pu7o40SheI32kaTHt_vk4xawhFKVyISvVNgz2zll914m9AQD-CvN0O9eFMYg/s1600/overnightprint-sale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFmUwtM7J4SRYtx-e6rYfCGMDlP24h43lfslAcgI-cCqln1NJ0IwKkbiqxE4qtC6GFlodoq0sby3Pu7o40SheI32kaTHt_vk4xawhFKVyISvVNgz2zll914m9AQD-CvN0O9eFMYg/s400/overnightprint-sale.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Wow… that is a HUGE deal compared to what I paid!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I wrote them and asked if they would give me the sale price because I’m sure they knew a day in advance that there would be a sale… and that it would be a ‘nice’ thing for them to do. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">I told them I'd blog about their decision as well as comment on it on FB and LI, etc., and that this COULD be good publicity for them. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">They didn't see it that way. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">They got real snarky... and defensive. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">My guess is that they have had this issue arise before. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">They wrote back:</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKmDMArFaHmIFYyKKa468XcgtAqP0hzF80wLr62lfQfb9IrGHUDECXcqqrYm_gfFu5-nWlJlm1tcwwPke0D1YxBJlC_QTMYm5tUEiIvfvwoFRRt__mwA8rwgQIoVALukMfb8U_kA/s1600/overnightprint-sale-reply.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKmDMArFaHmIFYyKKa468XcgtAqP0hzF80wLr62lfQfb9IrGHUDECXcqqrYm_gfFu5-nWlJlm1tcwwPke0D1YxBJlC_QTMYm5tUEiIvfvwoFRRt__mwA8rwgQIoVALukMfb8U_kA/s640/overnightprint-sale-reply.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Now I guess I could have refused delivery yesterday and told AMEX that the quality was poor… but to be honest the quality is terrific… I love the cards… so I can’t do that in good conscience. I run an honest house.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
If I were running Overnightprints and if a new customer wrote me a polite letter asking for the sale price since it is so much different from what was paid, I’d do the deal… especially when it was a publisher who knows how to ‘work’ the media and (as Mark Twain notes) buys “ink by the barrel.”<span class="s1"></span><br />
<br />
Always send happy customers out the door, even if it cost you a few bucks. If you do that you will be in biz forever. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Honestly, the cards are great… thick, clean stock, clear printing, exactly trimmed, well packaged, and beautifully matte finished. While I run an insurance agency and a software company, I'am also a publisher (<a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/">www.adams-blake.com</a>) and I know good print work when I see it. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I highly recommend them for quality… but I won’t buy from them again. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">Why? </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">Simple. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">Maya Angelou said it best:</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.quotesvalley.com/images/47/people-will-never-forget-how-you-made-them-feel-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.quotesvalley.com/images/47/people-will-never-forget-how-you-made-them-feel-8.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I Feel Ripped (Da da da da da da da!)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span>By Over Night Prints (Da da da da da da da!)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-73381794844046277862015-06-02T14:09:00.000-07:002015-06-04T16:59:54.435-07:00BEA Diary 2015<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">By </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Alan Canton</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">... with invaluable editorial assistance from </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Mayapriya Long</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><i>[Note: Click on any pix to see it enlarged.]</i></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">The free BEA bus from the (fashionable) East side took about an hour to get cross town to the hall, but it was OK. The anticipation of the first day is always enjoyable... sort of like on a first date!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">When the bus pulled up, we all piled out, expecting to have to elbow our way up the stairs and onto the line past the badge-checkers to enter the exhibit area.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">But as soon as we walked into the show, everyone noticed something different from previous shows: <b>space</b>... <u>both more AND less of it</u>. It was unmistakable. It was totally obvious. This year there was <u>less</u> booth space sold... and there was a lot <u>more</u> elbow space in the booths that were!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8rP2Z4SurtDz_92NcWJinA8zgizXVZXrskmp3lEVpmKJK71WOqkl0CeStlqN6ASBnuPyl4uETUWk4WuuknmHHS9TvCiNNsl1FiX5HVYfEUCLGOad-H-t8ra19k0XJCdTXIKwoyw/s1600/BEA-5.28_ShowFloor1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8rP2Z4SurtDz_92NcWJinA8zgizXVZXrskmp3lEVpmKJK71WOqkl0CeStlqN6ASBnuPyl4uETUWk4WuuknmHHS9TvCiNNsl1FiX5HVYfEUCLGOad-H-t8ra19k0XJCdTXIKwoyw/s640/BEA-5.28_ShowFloor1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><br /></b>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was really looking forward to BEA this year, not only to see friends as well as the next bestsellers, but because our company has rolled out a new web design service called <a href="http://www.newmediacreate.com/" target="_blank">NewMedia Create</a>...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2PKwJN0tbkJ3rjUgP1zNbszlTtEFvRZhyAGH02APQRSK48eBTelFJsPHrXppnzW7Ypby4IsyUoEeN2Ie5w7QHm3yu4qDk6OZKEv6iA5z5yWtcxHWdp9FIhyphenhyphenPdW5-KFr1HC7TWig/s1600/NewMediaCreate.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2PKwJN0tbkJ3rjUgP1zNbszlTtEFvRZhyAGH02APQRSK48eBTelFJsPHrXppnzW7Ypby4IsyUoEeN2Ie5w7QHm3yu4qDk6OZKEv6iA5z5yWtcxHWdp9FIhyphenhyphenPdW5-KFr1HC7TWig/s640/NewMediaCreate.png" title="NewMedia Create" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
... which is targeted to authors and publishers who have no money (which is most of them!)<br />
<br />
For one thing, attention spans are shorter than they were years ago and many people don't need expensive 15-screen sites. Indeed, "less is more" on the web today.<br />
<br />
Our research shows that a lot of small biz people want a nice website and they want it up in a day or so, but can only pay around $399!<br />
<br />
So there we were at BEA to meet with consultants, book shepherds, printers, and other industry vendors who will refer their clients to us.<br />
<br />
And while there were lots of people for us to see and talk with and while we got lots of positive feedback on the new web design service, the show was simply not the show I had come to love and enjoy these past 19 years.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * *</div>
<br />
There is a specter haunting the publishing world and more
specifically this year’s BEA, the specter of <b>irrelevance</b>. For those of you who do not
believe in ghosts, a visit to this year’s annual book show at the New York City Javits Convention Center would
probably convince you otherwise; as this show was a ‘ghost’ of its former self.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The good people at <a href="http://www.reedexpo.com/" target="_blank">Reed Exhibitions</a> put on a great trade event, and
being someone who has a lot of experience in going to shows and writing about them (see <a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/" target="_blank">Adams-Blake Publishing</a>,) I know a ghost when it is staring back at me. Reed is the BMW and
Mercedes Benz of the trade show impresarios but there are only so many ways to
make a hall seem ‘filled’ when the space is not sold.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If BEA 2015 was not half the size of former events it seemed
as such. The space-planners at Reed performed as much magic as they could in
making the hall seem larger than it was, but everyone and their Amazon-hating
dog knew it was smoke and mirrors. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Making the autograph area larger and adding many more lounge-seating areas and food vendors in the middle areas helped fill the room, or at least give the appearance of it being filled. However, there was still a lot of space roped off with yellow curtains. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
One quick look and it was easy to tell that many of the large houses bought less space this year. Usually some large publishing entity takes "center stage," the area front-and-center, which is the most expensive.<br />
<br />
So who bought the high-priced real estate?<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We all know that the best way to sell something expensive is
to sell it to someone who is not using their own money to pay for it. In the
book world whom might that be? The answer is foreign governments.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This year it looked as if one half of the space was sold to
the embassies of wealthy Middle Eastern Arab oil states, European countries, and Asian
governments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOluPJ4_OtTRsHfQDjoigmGRdT0eemZC2onXtwubmX9wSmeP3vQ1Emr-Mqo00xn08JPmR3gH08QhPQ6I6Nio8fqaC42DhlRvZQcSE_vfUHgC9KpYFRGFh-P7jIOyMhhbLhGo2Cw/s1600/IMG_0261.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOluPJ4_OtTRsHfQDjoigmGRdT0eemZC2onXtwubmX9wSmeP3vQ1Emr-Mqo00xn08JPmR3gH08QhPQ6I6Nio8fqaC42DhlRvZQcSE_vfUHgC9KpYFRGFh-P7jIOyMhhbLhGo2Cw/s640/IMG_0261.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
I never figured out what country this was, but it had the most comfortable chairs. I sat and rested!</div>
<br />
<br />
There were more European countries represented this year,
and Italy bought a lot of space and had a nice booth.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRdQ6NxpY_j-0sP6rp8sU8wb_51RG3IKw1WWlWSG5pep7OgVEdJ6qpYIqezZJUXiykpG8MgDdVKg98Zn0reXLR7yRsFAAEbK2e_y1t3M6-q4-lIEHX5el0470wt9vCYKvQyP3DVA/s1600/IMG_0281.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRdQ6NxpY_j-0sP6rp8sU8wb_51RG3IKw1WWlWSG5pep7OgVEdJ6qpYIqezZJUXiykpG8MgDdVKg98Zn0reXLR7yRsFAAEbK2e_y1t3M6-q4-lIEHX5el0470wt9vCYKvQyP3DVA/s640/IMG_0281.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
When it comes to booth-babes the Italians always win!</div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then there was Turkey which was the first time I’ve ever
seen them exhibit. They had a lovely booth with beautiful books. However I
never saw anyone in the booth to greet visitors.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLVh-Y3_4QNnTfhe4JavD-V4UfQoANEKCbRKGmMdxHdPak_cJcgCKh5ZzPO_JZvNwEazhZzRPE8MaL5Dzfxuagu89PSM_uQHKcjliaURZKRbZ6OtoMonkcJxtkQUTd6iHMoiH_g/s1600/IMG_0288.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLVh-Y3_4QNnTfhe4JavD-V4UfQoANEKCbRKGmMdxHdPak_cJcgCKh5ZzPO_JZvNwEazhZzRPE8MaL5Dzfxuagu89PSM_uQHKcjliaURZKRbZ6OtoMonkcJxtkQUTd6iHMoiH_g/s640/IMG_0288.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
I always wonder why a booth is empty!</div>
<br />
<br />
Another country that I had never seen before was Armenia. I
have no idea what the Armenian reading population in the US is, but I suppose
it must be substantial enough for them to travel to the show.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pvYnvNJBdUjV_-jQzMWOiagtaKEu-B7iTVg5Hrd0Dl7uF0naRUF8APJ_P-14b6E1quvsAgS3rU4Pw18vfQ44-9Qac_w5p27dXIAAx_tdTQqO2HIkAF59M9txCTMNm0z5F7kPdA/s1600/IMG_0280.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pvYnvNJBdUjV_-jQzMWOiagtaKEu-B7iTVg5Hrd0Dl7uF0naRUF8APJ_P-14b6E1quvsAgS3rU4Pw18vfQ44-9Qac_w5p27dXIAAx_tdTQqO2HIkAF59M9txCTMNm0z5F7kPdA/s640/IMG_0280.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
The booth had no traffic when I was there and she would have shown me every book she brought if I had the time!</div>
<br />
<br />
Finally there was China.<br />
<br />
Honestly, it looked like China had bought 30% of the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hall. I’m sure it was less, but that was the
impression. They had a series of interconnected booths with furnishing that
spared no expense... along with what looked like a booth-staff of over a hundred.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjap34hUhHvg6xzd95glOKK7_vW6vGnASaa_hP-dS1hJGKuj5R0r3UlRRH2lDrDXUM6PDv36yvTyvYP550R1l9sGZxx5ycjlY0Fu75XDCV3rG3lgyD3UKfJDj1vEn1fOLeIkyijCQ/s1600/IMG_0268.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjap34hUhHvg6xzd95glOKK7_vW6vGnASaa_hP-dS1hJGKuj5R0r3UlRRH2lDrDXUM6PDv36yvTyvYP550R1l9sGZxx5ycjlY0Fu75XDCV3rG3lgyD3UKfJDj1vEn1fOLeIkyijCQ/s640/IMG_0268.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Look at the size of this area… and it was only one part of the Chinese exhibit!</div>
<br />
<br />
It looked like China was trying to make some political
statements. I spoke with some of their press people and they know the bad rep
they have in the USA for censorship of the Internet.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARlzgCgb_FF-J7ylu3H-hNM5jEDdEVCu2IwQBCmpnPAJo73GzWsXPVRB2vnic_BivfOeK5ZTE5Ai8xVCsIxus75zN89hIzXQ0lQkMxJKc1OsbP9DmZBhCp730DpviehkfdZeLpg/s1600/IMG_0267.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARlzgCgb_FF-J7ylu3H-hNM5jEDdEVCu2IwQBCmpnPAJo73GzWsXPVRB2vnic_BivfOeK5ZTE5Ai8xVCsIxus75zN89hIzXQ0lQkMxJKc1OsbP9DmZBhCp730DpviehkfdZeLpg/s640/IMG_0267.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
One thing they didn’t talk about were Chinese knockoffs of US books and software which is a ‘shared memory!’</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
I’m trying to impress upon you just how large the China
presence was. It was HUGE compared to any other country, or publisher. If it
was not one-third of the hall, it sure looked like it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxW35faDxmLbMzoS9Fu2BsCpB5dsFjhf8WgOJZlMCr-AVVO9S4KJg6LrzwSzEg-sRc9fzXmRY3x8CHjrkwGrR_-3ULnI8yMkY0i_zEdaBkCQtb5hWXNXSRE6Ev4Ccj8vWwJH72A/s1600/IMG_0266.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxW35faDxmLbMzoS9Fu2BsCpB5dsFjhf8WgOJZlMCr-AVVO9S4KJg6LrzwSzEg-sRc9fzXmRY3x8CHjrkwGrR_-3ULnI8yMkY0i_zEdaBkCQtb5hWXNXSRE6Ev4Ccj8vWwJH72A/s640/IMG_0266.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
I think China brought a thousand books to the show!</div>
<br />
<br />
If there was one book that stood out, it was this one that
came in a bunch of different languages. It looked like propaganda to me, but
I’m hardly an expert on the politics and government of China. I do know a lot
about Chinese food!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3Muh3XqnGe-ip7EbR3CFzFWhxbhSr0oGnxdmvVVLQFFaE3CkCGQvIYar58aCOTbgFDyuO42BdHdBEM5or475Z86yum5Cf0BOIJ4GWvvXL3_N4eciZL_IY5rYI22xYWVRUURP7w/s1600/IMG_0265.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3Muh3XqnGe-ip7EbR3CFzFWhxbhSr0oGnxdmvVVLQFFaE3CkCGQvIYar58aCOTbgFDyuO42BdHdBEM5or475Z86yum5Cf0BOIJ4GWvvXL3_N4eciZL_IY5rYI22xYWVRUURP7w/s640/IMG_0265.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Obviously a front-list book! Do you wonder why?</div>
<br />
<br />
The usual suspects were present from the large press, but
the size of most of their exhibits was scaled down from previous years. It was the same with the large vendors like Bowker and Ingram which took less space and
had fewer people this year; and many of the tech companies like Book Baby who
had large spaces last year were not to be seen this year.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a two and a half day show, but it could easily been
seen in a day and a quarter. And this year it opened with a half day. What was that all about? People
told me that they were not going to schlep from their posh hotels on the East
side all the way cross-town over to the West side (Javits Center) for just a few hours. For the
life of me I can’t figure out what Reed was thinking by opening the show in the
afternoon and I (and a lot of others I spoke with) would advise them not to do it again. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another ghost of the past was the small press. In previous shows the small press was relegated to the “Outer Mongolia” of the hall… way off on
the far-right (geographically, not politically!) side of the hall. But at least
for their money they got real booths… you know with signage, drapes, a long
table, chairs, etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not this year. For about $3000 they got a small table (and I do mean small... like in TV tray small!) in the
central area of the hall. Think of a park with lots of small picnic tables all
in a row.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And many of these micro-booths
were shared! I think the tray-table on the Delta flight that I’m writing this
electronic fish-wrap on now is larger than what these small publishers had in
order to show their books! Yes, the location was terrific and the traffic was
increased, but these were so small that it was difficult for anyone with more than one or two books to show their list.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Again this year there was the “DZ” or Digital Zone where
Reed put these cute little kiosk booths, most of them from Indian firms doing
e-book conversions and content-enhancement.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For an obviously smaller show, except for the too-tiny small press mico-tables, the show-floor was well designed. But then again, no one can create a show floor plan as well as the talented people at Reed.<br />
<br />
I think Reed and their publicity partners did a great job publicizing the show. There were tons of pre-show press releases to the media, they had an excellent mobile app with all sorts of helpful functions, and I'm positive that everyone in the industry knew when and where the BEA was (which was not hard since it has been in the same place the past six years!)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So where was the traffic?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I simply don't know. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0_Dm8fFTOi1WNXgUMgqso-iipHMDEVoSzILVYlt_BLDnd2ra85ebk8LbfiWw6ZDVaDCjs9o4FepNPpYDyArF4GZMtIywaChBsYqRUrCW6OetQZ1_E0bFe4p0-zghbLuUmOz19w/s1600/IMG_0293.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0_Dm8fFTOi1WNXgUMgqso-iipHMDEVoSzILVYlt_BLDnd2ra85ebk8LbfiWw6ZDVaDCjs9o4FepNPpYDyArF4GZMtIywaChBsYqRUrCW6OetQZ1_E0bFe4p0-zghbLuUmOz19w/s640/IMG_0293.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
The traffic was sparse in much of the hall. </div>
<br />
<br />
Every trade-show on the planet spins their numbers and
inflates the attendee count by some percentage or another. Some include booth
staff, security staff, vendor staff, or they use the number of tickets ordered, not
actually picked up etc. Many shows will
scan a badge each time it enters the exhibit hall, so if someone goes in, then
comes out to go to lunch and then goes back in, they count it as two visitors!
(If it is a 3-day show as someone does that each day, they record it as six
visitors!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reed tends to be more conservative in their numbers than
other trade show organizers, but since they did not scan badges this year, they
won’t have an accurate count of ‘hits’ so to speak. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Normally it is wall-to-wall people… escalators are jammed with lines to get on, people are elbow-to elbow… but it was not crowded this year.</div>
<br />
<br />
I’ve not seen any published figures yet, but this was the
least visited BEA I’ve ever been to, and this was my 19<sup>th</sup> show in a
row. There were parts of the hall (especially in the DZ) where the booth
attendants were actually asleep because they had no visitors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Nap time!</div>
<br />
<br />
Anyway, the number of attendees is not important. If you get
one visitor to your booth who either buys your entire inventory (i.e. enough to
pay for your booth and the trip) or they get you on a segment of <i>Oprah</i> or <i>60
Minutes</i> or <i>Today</i>, the show is a worthwhile investment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the past there were tons of ‘blue badges’ (badge-color
denoted if you were a buyer or a vendor or press or exhibitor. The non-buyer colors
changed from year to year but buyers were always blue.) Every
bookstore in the nation used to send someone to BEA (which used to be called ABA) to
buy the year’s inventory. Now there are two buyers… Barnes & Noble, and
Amazon… and I didn’t see a rep from either one at the show!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There were a fair number of librarians from the NY metro
area, but we all know what library budgets are these days… and most of these
wonderful people that I saw were waiting on line to get signed (free) copies of whatever
was being given away by the major houses.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifxqopxJ8yhmKIzOTZgHA35zr-mjTuYhiaNRnGPEORaMs44z4OSux9hj4jfzyDo4Kmohorz8e0xERsluSkThqKOS6xfuFaUOfnuG3JdA92QuU2lrcmjyLJMZFJMhx4DnnZkDiPAw/s1600/IMG_0260.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifxqopxJ8yhmKIzOTZgHA35zr-mjTuYhiaNRnGPEORaMs44z4OSux9hj4jfzyDo4Kmohorz8e0xERsluSkThqKOS6xfuFaUOfnuG3JdA92QuU2lrcmjyLJMZFJMhx4DnnZkDiPAw/s640/IMG_0260.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
My bet is that two-thirds of the people on line in the autographing area were librarians.</div>
<br />
<br />
While there was more traffic at the booths of the large
publishers, especially those giving away free books or totes, it was nothing
quite like previous years when you had to fight your way through the aisle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1cJfqU-fo526ORUcZVkv1xsuiPvg3viS8ntNt4Qe1OBtfCC3wetjb_Kw6seHkadC4nDl8WBKvZl-3tkT8WQoo_wnITd4Fpw9lr1uNt7a670Q_16q-lRTluXMKR3BNWq1NtrCfMA/s1600/IMG_0310.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1cJfqU-fo526ORUcZVkv1xsuiPvg3viS8ntNt4Qe1OBtfCC3wetjb_Kw6seHkadC4nDl8WBKvZl-3tkT8WQoo_wnITd4Fpw9lr1uNt7a670Q_16q-lRTluXMKR3BNWq1NtrCfMA/s640/IMG_0310.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
In years past it was unheard of to see “open space” in the both of any large publishing house.</div>
<br />
<br />
Bottom line, there just was not as much excitement at this show
as I’ve seen in previous years. It was painfully obvious that the enthusiasm
that large publishers have had for BEA has waned… many of them bought far less
space and obviously showed fewer books.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Uz3K4Mm7HhDRzJNaqeSweL43fuHEztNX_fkGvJSAwkqdFUS2lM5USi1_c80H2bxde2XazWQgdd58ABebt1KoPCLTkRan0FOrCYbdcziH3IUklvh8b0XwKkl4-NHcmxc6oTBJDw/s1600/IMG_0237.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Uz3K4Mm7HhDRzJNaqeSweL43fuHEztNX_fkGvJSAwkqdFUS2lM5USi1_c80H2bxde2XazWQgdd58ABebt1KoPCLTkRan0FOrCYbdcziH3IUklvh8b0XwKkl4-NHcmxc6oTBJDw/s640/IMG_0237.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This is not the official motto of this year’s show but it could have been since there was not much excitement.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * *</div>
<br />
There used to be lots and lots of parties. Not so much
anymore. In the past there were two really great parties… both of them award ceremonies…
the <a href="http://ibpabenjaminfranklinawards.com/" target="_blank">IBPA Ben Franklin Awards</a> and the <a href="http://www.independentpublisher.com/ipland/ipawards.php" target="_blank">IPPY Awards</a>. The IBPA basically pulled out
of BEA and now holds their own show, this past year it was in Austin, TX. </div>
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However, the IPPY Awards are still held during BEA and it is
easily the party everyone wants to go to, but only 300 can (as that is the max
allowed in the building and so it is by invitation only.)<br />
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Jerry Jenkins owns the company that does the IPPY and he knows how to throw a great party. The past six years it has been held in a large two-floor night club on 8th Avenue and 57th called the Providence.<br />
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And no IPPY party would be complete without seeing Jerry with a knockout book-babe on his (very married) arm.<br />
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It’s all show biz… nothing going on here, except in Jerry's dreams!</div>
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Standing on the second floor (actually a mezzanine) you get
to see all of the action on the floor below where Jim Barnes announces the winners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Note,</span> the winners know in advance that
they won which is why they spend the money to come to NY to accept.</div>
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Jim Barnes who runs the IPPY Awards is at the podium.</div>
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Jerry told me that he received around 6,000 entries for all
of his award programs which is way more than any other award program that I
know of. In my opinion the IPPY Award has surpassed the Ben Franklin award in
prestige and stature, perhaps because the competition pool is larger than the
1500 or so entries that IBPA gets for their award.</div>
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The author of this electronic bird-cage liner and Jerry Jenkins</div>
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When I first entered the exhibit hall I stopped at the IBPA
booth. What a huge change. In past years IBPA would buy up a couple of aisles of space (at a discount,) carve them up, and re-sell standard 10x10
booths to its members for about $4,000 giving the buyer a prime location that
was sure to get traffic. In the past there would be upward to 20 of these
booths, giving IBPA a nice little profit.</div>
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Not this year. I don’t think they sold more than five or six
booths, maybe not even that many. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And in the main IBPA area there used to be 30 or 40 feet of shelving where IBPA was being paid to
exhibit books for their members (for a modest fee.) The concept is that buyers would browse and contact the publishers for more info (or buy from Ingram) Again, not this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were only a few shelves... a far cry from ghosts of BEA past!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our <a href="http://www.newmediawebsitedesign.com/" target="_blank">web design company</a> did the website for the <a href="http://thedoomsdaykids.com/" target="_blank">Doomsday Kids</a> series by Karen Folen. I wasn’t expecting to see them there. Nice surprise for me!</div>
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I always like to cover the sidelines because it gives me an idea as to what direction the remaining retailers are going toward (since most sell other things besides books these days.) It was impossible to tell this year because there are very few new sideline vendors. But one that I found is <a href="http://bits.ogosport.com/index.php" target="_blank">Ogosport</a> which has a popular bunch of build-it characters.</div>
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I'm not sure what these are even after Thomas explained it. But they looked like fun!</div>
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Every BEA has a vendor for reading glasses, but most of them are more boring than Jeb Bush (and that's pretty boring!) But <a href="http://www.2020visionusa.com/reading-glasses/read.php" target="_blank">2020 Vision USA</a> has frames that are just downright cool. If I could wear readers I'd have a bunch of these.</div>
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Denise Foster shows come cool red frames. </div>
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Years ago we had numerous G/L as well as 'alternative lifestyle' presses that came to the show, often bringing what were then 'shocking' books. But we don't see too many anymore, maybe because the 'shock' has passed and it's all mainstream now? I don't know, but the German publisher <a href="http://www.brunogmuender.com/content/about-us/" target="_blank">Bruno Gmunder</a> brought a few of their tomes which I thought looked interesting.</div>
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<i>The Art of Looking</i> is not quite as shocking a subject as it once was.</div>
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This year there were still a bunch authors who came to hawk their own books. <a href="http://www.nelycab.com/" target="_blank">Nely Cab</a> is just such an author and while I don't know much about her genre, I thought that her books were so totally professional that they looked better than most tomes from the large houses with unlimited budgets who publish in this genre.<br />
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Ms. Nely Cab and some of her books. </div>
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Many books I simply don't understand. But they have great covers making me think that there must be something inside them. The blurb for <i><a href="http://www.incorgnitobooks.com/the-chronicles-of-ara/" target="_blank">Creation</a></i> is: "The entirety of the world’s art and invention has been inspired by a corrupted muse, who has implanted a series of codes within the works of history’s most influential authors, warning of humanity’s end and a new dawn of time."</div>
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A great cover will sell a book. I wish I had a close-up of it. See the website.</div>
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In the middle of the small press section was the perennial booth of one of the foremost publicity agencies in the lit biz... <a href="http://www.smithpublicity.com/" target="_blank">Smith Publicity</a>. They claim to be the "most experienced book marketing and book promotion agency in the industry." I don't know if that is just a bit of hype, (from a publicity agency? I'm shocked!) But I've always heard good things about them so my guess is that they are what they say they are.<br />
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Marissa Madill of Smith Pub holding one of the buttons we gave out.</div>
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Everyone at the BookExpo loved this button!</div>
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There is one and only one really great magazine about books in this industry and that is Foreword. One of their divisions is <a href="https://www.forewordreviews.com/" target="_blank">Foreword Reviews</a>, where publishers can pay to have a book professionally reviewed. Years ago when this concept was first floated, there was outrage. But they stuck with it and now paid reviews are mainstream in the industry.</div>
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Stacy Price of Foreword Reviews</div>
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Each year there are a couple of aisles filled with remainder sellers. There are hardly ever anyone viewing those booths but each year the sellers keep coming back so I assume that they all must make a lot of sales. And the profits margins in a used bookstore is far better than a new one. Most new books get a 40% markup. But a used book can get a 100% to 400% markup... which is why you still see lots of used bookstores around. Buy for dollar and sell for three? Not bad!<br />
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The aisles are always empty but I guess a lot of biz is done because the remainder vendors always come back!</div>
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I remember years ago when there were tons of characters in costume. It's a sure-fire publicity-getter but for some reason it isn't done much anymore. Maybe everyone feels too sophisticated. It's too bad because lots of kookie costumes add a lot of fun to a show. This year, the only one I saw was from the Dummies people.<br />
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The author and the "dummy." Which one is which? :-)</div>
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One of my oldest friends in the business is the owner of Stone Bridge Press which has always done books on or about Japan and Japanese topics. They had not exhibited at BEA for many years but this year they exhibited through their distributor. I was hoping to see Peter Goodman, but he didn't come. They have a new imprint called <a href="http://www.threelmedia.com/about/" target="_blank">ThreeL Media</a>, (which are Love, Live, and Learn.)</div>
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Gregory Kaplan of ThreeL Media. </div>
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<a href="http://chbooks.com/catalogue/fifteen-dogs" target="_blank">Coach House Books</a> is a fairly good-sized "literary" publisher out of Canada with a list of somewhat eclectic titles. There was something about this title that just caught my interest: "A bet between the gods Hermes and Apollo leads them to grant human consciousness and language to a group of dogs overnighting at a Toronto veterinary clinic. Suddenly capable of more complex thought, the pack is torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change." It's rather interesting to me.... <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ymmv" target="_blank">YMMV</a>.<br />
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Alana Wilcox of Coach House Books</div>
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There is a young woman... well she was younger when I was too.... who started at the bottom with <a href="http://dacapopress.com/our-staff" target="_blank">Da Capo Press</a> in Boston and has worked her way up the food-chain to VP and Acquiring Editor. I have no doubt that one day she will run her parent company Perseus Books, who also own a number of other publishing enterprises. This year she thinks "vegan" is in! If I were a large company looking for someone to run it, Lissa would be first on my list. (And yes, she is older than she looks!)<br />
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Lissa Warren of Da Capo Press</div>
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One area where there didn't seem to be a shortage of entries was the children's section. Many of the same publishers were there... with the same books. Most years there are a few publishers who come along and believe they have the next 'disney' character. Most never come back, but one that I thought might have a shot is <i><a href="http://tailsofwhimsy.com/home" target="_blank">Tails of Whimsy</a></i>.<br />
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Daryl Slaton, illustrator and author for the series.</div>
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I think it is smart to publish to market segments, and I've always thought it smart to publish in the religious sector. Believers buy books! Ann Koffsky was in the Apples and Honey Press booth showing off her fun Judaica books. Their blurb: "<a href="http://applesandhoneypress.com/content/hanukkah-cookies-sprinkles" target="_blank">Apples & Honey Press</a> brings together the best authors and illustrators from North America and Israel to create memorable stories for children that illuminate the values of family, community, having fun, and being the best we can be."<br />
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Ann Koffsky is the author of some 30 children's books.</div>
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With kid books you just never know what people will buy... and there is nothing that can be too weird or strange in that genre. Sometimes I think the weirder and stranger the topic is the better it will sell! Anyway, I thought <i><a href="http://www.tugandthetooth.com/" target="_blank">Tug And The Tooth</a></i> was about the weirdest and strangest book I saw at the show, so it would not surprise me if it becomes a hit.<br />
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Heidi Whitaker, author</div>
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For what is called the middle-grade-child segment (grades 3-5,) the one publisher that I think has breakthrough potential is Connective Arts with their inspiring <a href="http://www.mclittles.com/the-stories.php" target="_blank">McLittles</a> collection. There is enduring and endearing story-power here and it's the kind of thing that could get picked up by a Disney or Hallmark. I think <i>McLittles</i> has a shot. It's nice to see good quality stories directed at the elementary school market.<br />
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Andrew Metcalfe, author</div>
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Almost every show has a booth with some musical talent, and this year was no different. There is a company called <a href="https://www.schoolzone.com/little-scholar" target="_blank">Little Scholar</a> that makes an iPad-like tablet targeted to young readers, and a well-known singer Brian Vander Ark (from <i>The Verve Pipe</i>) is involved with it. I enjoyed listening to him.<br />
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Singer Brian Vander Ark</div>
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In the small press "pod" area (the small tables I mentioned earlier) was an interesting service I've never seen offered at BEA before. This is <a href="http://www.book-hive.com/" target="_blank">BookHive</a>. "BookHive offers online focus group research for authors who want to test finished manuscripts in target markets. Both quantitative and qualitative online research are conducted via carefully selected members of the targeted readership. Test readers review finished manuscripts and give honest feedback. Results are available to the author to provide useful information for editing the book. Favorable test results can be a powerful tool for promoting the book to agents and publishers--as well as the general public, if self publishing is contemplated." Market research before you publish. What a concept!!<br />
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Jennifer Bowen calls herself "QueenBee" of BookHive</div>
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I talked to Kathy Ann Meis at <a href="https://www.bublish.com/" target="_blank">Bublish</a>. When I spoke to her what she said sounded like a good idea. But when I got to her website, after forgetting what she had told me, I could not figure out what the program is. It sounds like a good idea, but I'm at a loss to explain it. Take a look and maybe her program will work to help sell your book. It might be worth a shot.<br />
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Kathy Meis of Bublish</div>
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Some things are just silly enough to sell and apparently <a href="http://www.gigwailgum.com/publications/a-visit-from-santa-clops/">Santa Clops</a> has done just that for several years. I'd never heard of it. "It's a monstrous take on the holiday classic The Night Before Christmas. In this new adaptation, Santa Clops®, the beastly one-eyed cousin of Kris Kringle, stops by a slumbering family's house on Christmas Eve to put some coal in the stockings of the children that live there." I got a smile out of it.</div>
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Cig Wailgum, author</div>
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Some publishers just get it altogether... the right story, the right character, the right market and the right strategy to become an acquisition target. I hung out for a while at the <a href="http://www.beautylandcouture.com/index.php?p=product&id=1590" target="_blank">Madison K</a> booth and watched as reps from major house after major house came by to see if they could acquire not only Nina Kaplan's books but her entire line of products as well. I didn't stay long enough to see if anyone made the deal.<br />
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The rep for Madison K</div>
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Finally, I found what I thought was the most creative publisher at the show. Actually, they are more designer than publisher, but since they were at a publishing show I guess they are publishers. Their books and designs and products are just so.... unique (in a good way!) that in my opinion they win the "Best in Show" award. Take a look at <a href="http://obviousstate.com/" target="_blank">Obvious State</a>. You will understand why I think they are so good.<br />
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Evan and Nichole Robertson of <i>Obvious State</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
OK, so the show was not as large as it used to be and to my count it was not as well-attended as in years past. <b>But it was still a good show</b>. Reed did an excellent job, per usual, both in running the show and publicizing it. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The issue, (i.e. specter) facing the BEA as well as the entire industry is <b>relevance</b>. Where are books in relation to the rest of the media? When it's easier to make a video and takes less time to consume it, is the written word still a viable means of communication?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I instinctively say 'yes' but young people whose total reading ability is 140 characters of a Twitter post, often say 'no.' </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I love books, book fairs and trade shows, and the BookExpo in particular. But as each year goes by I'm at more of a loss to explain just how a show is relevant to each of the players... the publishers, the authors, the middle channel, and the retailers. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The 'rationalization' I hear from other show reviewers (like <a href="http://writerunboxed.com/2015/06/01/what-you-would-have-learned-at-bea/" target="_blank">Jael McHenry</a>) is that it is now all about making 'relationships' with the other players. I want to believe that, but I'm having a hard time substantiating it.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I think shows like the BEA are just fun. That's right. Fun. And in a highly profitable industry, people and companies will pay for fun. But publishing, for most of us, is not a high-margin business any longer.<br />
<br />
There is an abundance of product and a shortage of consumers of said product.<br />
<br />
And why is that?<br />
<br />
I think it is simple.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We sell books when we ought to be selling reading. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hollywood never sold the story... they sold the romance and the adventure of going to the theatre and escaping from real life for a few hours (as well as sex in the dark.)<br />
<br />
Theme parks don't sell rides... they sell an 'experience' and 'adventure' and even 'danger.'<br />
<br />
Cruise ships don't sell clean air and rest and relaxation, they sell luxury and gourmet food.<br />
<br />
But we're still selling story-lines, plots, characters, and information, when we need to be selling reading as an experience, adventure, and escape.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Take away the 'fun' of BEA and what is left? It's not sales. And judging by the few press creds that I saw, it's not publicity.<br />
<br />
No one is buying anything anymore. It's become a "look what we're doing now" kind of show... and while there is nothing wrong with this, I fail to see how the corporate bean-counters at the large houses can make the case for the expenditure.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
New York is 'easy' for the large houses that support the show. They are there, their books are there, their people are there, and the "there is there." </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Next year .....<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgww_bB97_y0FJ8Lu9m3qhKjsYyKyZT2UW_vqdynBDj0ngwuCGDO8FX-wapK0v0osUHZOIo1zJTdeS4OuYPxPU-PxSL3O26O67-mMo1RkX6FD2CL6Bf5y-E1_W9Dip6tSc9yZH6bA/s1600/slide-save-the-date.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgww_bB97_y0FJ8Lu9m3qhKjsYyKyZT2UW_vqdynBDj0ngwuCGDO8FX-wapK0v0osUHZOIo1zJTdeS4OuYPxPU-PxSL3O26O67-mMo1RkX6FD2CL6Bf5y-E1_W9Dip6tSc9yZH6bA/s640/slide-save-the-date.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I am wondering if the large houses will go out-of-pocket to ship their booths, books, and people half-way across the country for what does not look like much of a return for them. And I believe that it will only take a couple of the large houses to say "We're just not going to do it" and the rest of the large houses will drop out as well.<br />
<br />
Either Reed got enough commitments from the large houses to book McCormick... or McCormick let them book the house on spec with wiggle-room to bug-out if they can't sell the space by a certain date. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I love the BEA. I enjoy seeing the products, talking with the people, and the overall 'high' I get in the 'big hall.' But it will not surprise me if Reed decides to cancel the show. I hope it doesn't happen, but the specter is there. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
-30-</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I hope you enjoyed this year's wrap. It's a lot of work for me and my colleague (Mayapriya Long) to do but it is a labor of 'love' and we will continue it... so long as BEA continues to give us a press credential.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">If you want to see some of the past ten editions, here they are:</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" />
<br />
<u></u><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">2014: </span><a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2014/06/bea-diary-2014.html" style="color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px; text-decoration: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2014/06/bea-diary-2014.html</a><br />
<div class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">
2013: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2013/06/bea-diary-2013.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2013/06/bea-diary-2013.html</a></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">
<span class="s1">2012: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2012/06/bea-2012.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2012/06/bea-2012.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">
<span class="s1">2011: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2011/06/bea-diary-2011.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2011/06/bea-diary-2011.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">
<span class="s1">2010: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2010/06/bea-diary-2010.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2010/06/bea-diary-2010.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">
<span class="s1">2009: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/bea-2009.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/bea-2009.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">
<span class="s1">2008: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2008/06/bea-diary-2008.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2008/06/bea-diary-2008.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">
<span class="s1">2007: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2007/06/bea-diary-2007.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2007/06/bea-diary-2007.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">
<span class="s1">2006: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">
<span class="s1">2005: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2005/06/bea-diary-2005.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2005/06/bea-diary-2005.html</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">
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<br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px; text-align: center;">
* * *</div>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">You MAY (and are encouraged to) share the link to this piece or reprint any part of it without prior permission so long as you use the following attribution:</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Alan N. Canton, Managing Partner</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">New Media Website Design</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">http://www.NewMediaWebsiteDesign.com</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">"Websites for authors, publishers, and small businesses at an affordable price"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Fair Oaks, CA </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">916-962-9296</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Per usual, if you have comments or corrections, please send them to bea-diary at adams-blake dot com</span><br />
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Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-67658103115316292162015-05-04T12:05:00.000-07:002015-05-04T15:54:19.314-07:00Why the road is hard for premium WordPress theme/plugin developers these days.<br />
<br />
[Note: I wrote this as a comment to a blog by Carrie Dills titled <i><a href="http://www.carriedils.com/market-premium-genesis-themes/" target="_blank">Is There a Market for Premium Genesis Themes</a>?</i> But she won't post it... and I guess I don't blame her since it does not support her business model... indeed it pretty much says why she and others like her... will fail.]<br />
<br />
There are a bunch of free Genesis child themes out there but we've never used any. We like premium themes because we know good code from not-so-good code and a lot of free themes are simply badly written.<br />
<br />
One thing going against the individual premium theme developer is having to compete against a Studio Press who offers the web design shop like us an excellent deal.<br />
<br />
For example I used to buy many themes a year, at least 3/4 of them from an array of non-Studio Press vendors.<br />
<br />
In the "old days" when we got unlimited support and upgrades from vendors, no problem.<br />
<br />
But now with vendors offering one-year licenses and expensive support/update yearly fees, we don't want to deal with a zillion different vendors and the administrative mess of renewing licenses each year, to say nothing about the cost.<br />
<br />
(Yes we could pass this on to our customer, but that's also an administrative hassle... and customers don't want vendor lock-in any more than we do. It makes our sale in our market (authors and publishers) harder.)<br />
<br />
In our experience, customers keep their theme 3.5 years on average. So that means our customer will pay for the theme FOUR times (if they want updates and support which most do.)<br />
<br />
This is where Studio Press offers a 'better deal' than most other vendors.<br />
<br />
We have a 'developer' license with Studio Press which gives us unlimited use of all their products including the framework. These days we are always going to buy from them before we even consider an outside source. It makes economic sense for us and our customers. <br />
<br />
That said, what I see a lot of shops like ours starting to do is 'rolling their own.' <br />
<br />
We have a developer license for a Genesis child theme by CobaltApps called Dynamik Web Builder. This basically lets us design our own layouts without a huge learning curve and without (much) PHP code, nor much CSS. Yes, it is a bit more work, but when we can't find a Studio Press theme that 'works' for the client, we see if we can build one ourselves.<br />
<br />
Sure, when necessary (i.e. like for a special market like a restaurant or a biz directory) we will buy a non-Studio Press (and/or non-Genesis) offering, but the economics of our business have changed since theme vendors started charging recurring fees... such that shops like ours (who have the ability to use a theme-builder products like Cobalt's Dynamik or Elegant's Divi or Headway, or Pagelines, etc.) are exploring an option that frees us and our clients from a constant outflow of money, sometimes without much in the way of value received beyond security updates.<br />
<br />
I agree with her that the best way to survive competition is to offer me something I can't find anywhere else. But if I or my customer has to pay 4X for a theme, you can bet we will be looking for an alternative.<br />
<br />
It's just good business.<br />
<br />Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-45651797615693438512015-02-17T14:23:00.000-08:002016-05-22T06:42:25.133-07:00The 50th high school reunion is special<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
[<i>Note: This year (2015) is the 50th anniversary of my high
school graduation. I thought there would be a wonderful gala held in my
hometown, but there does not seem to be a shared sentiment among some of my 530
classmates. A few want to have a casual meet/greet in some hotel 1500 miles
away from where this event should be held. So I write this piece in the effort
to convince them to think about a 50th reunion in the hope that they will attain
a bit more clarity on the issue.</i>]<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The 50th high school reunion is special.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is important that we have it and important that we
attend.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And it is important that it be held where it SHOULD be
held... where we all were when last all together; where one part of our lives
stopped and the rest of our lives started.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There will not be a 55th or 60th... because no one goes to
those... because there is not much reason to. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The 50th is a rite of passage. It is a true milestone. It is
a tradition that generations before us have gone through. It is the "last
hurrah" and a final "good-bye" to people that had an influence
on our lives. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is a last chance to re-live some of our salad days and
past glories. It is a last chance to remember our youth and it is a last chance
to put our lives in perspective <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">vis</span>-à-<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">vis the trials and tribulations we have faced
and have overcome... but have not forgotten.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A reunion gives us a
chance one last time to look past the gray hair, the bulging waistlines, the
age-spots, the wrinkles, and other loses of our physical youth and to
collectively join together and celebrate lives well lived.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The 50th is not
about showing off the status of occupation or the pride of children or the
results of fortunes made (or lost.) This is not about bragging rights. This is
not about the material world. It is not any of these. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The 50th is about
the joy in our souls, the uplifting of our spirits, and the final opportunity
to partake of the camaraderie and good fellowship of our old friends (and some
old enemies) who helped make us what we are today (for better or worse.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Here is a final
chance to say "Look where we came from" and a chance to say
"Look where we are." We have one last chance, one final opportunity, to
talk about how it all happened, and maybe even "why." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So many people contribute
to a life. We have spouses (often more than one), and we have children (often
many,) and we have colleagues (long lists of them) but we only have one set of
collective individuals who shared our childhood and early youth... who
experienced what we experienced and who have a special commonality with us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We're not getting
older... we are already about as (mentally) old as we will get. No one wants to
say it, but it is true. And while some can convince themselves that 65 is the
new 45, damn few of us really believe it to be true... because it isn't. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Some of us will pass
from this life soon, some a bit later, but one thing is certain: we are in the
twilight of our days, in the autumn of our years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">If a life is a play
we are all in Act 3, but this act won't run as long as Act 1 and Act 2. And
when the show closes, it won't reopen again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A 50th reunion is a
chance to push back time, if only for a weekend... to, if not be young again,
to at least feel young again through the shared smiles (and maybe tears) of our
youth and from the memories of our town, home, school... our past... and maybe our
better selves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Why would you not
want to attend your 50th reunion? Why would you want to have it where it
doesn't belong... in some city far away from where the true heart wants to
go... our home?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Knowing that
sickness and death are not that far off, why would you not want to avail
yourself of a chance to relive and enjoy <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a weekend defined by youth, vigor, optimism, in
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OUR town; in what we all probably feel
was a better world than the one we will leave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There are still good
days ahead, although not as many as there are behind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A weekend with old
friends in the one place we all call home is something we should cherish and
one we should look forward to. It isn't something we should minimize or avoid. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There is joy to be
had here. There is happiness to be shared here. There are memories to remember,
and songs of the heart to sing, and feelings of youth to again feel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The 50th reunion is
a magical event. It will never come again. Why you would not want to make the
effort for this one last chance to remember and relive good times, better
times, and important times, is beyond my comprehension.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Alan N. Canton, Publisher</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Adams-Blake Publishing</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
www.adams-blake.com</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-11142311813774495662014-12-25T14:14:00.002-08:002014-12-28T09:38:49.823-08:00A nice tool: Dynamik Website Builder by CobaltAppsIt's been a while since I blogged about something technical so today I want to say a few good words about a terrific tool that we've been using as of late and which we may 'standardize' on.<br />
<br />
Many of you know that we do our websites in WordPress and with it we use the <a href="http://www.studiopress.com/features" target="_blank">Genesis Framework</a>. For those who don't know what a framework is, it is enough to say that these beasts add facility, ability, and stability to WordPress. There are lots of good frameworks out there. We like Genesis.<br />
<br />
Traditionally developers have two choices when doing a site. a) Start from scratch. b) Use a template, often called a 'theme.' Most developers start with a theme.<br />
<br />
A theme is basically the layout of the homepage and in reality is boxes within boxes where you put content.<br />
<br />
A theme is great if the client likes the layout, but it can get cumbersome to make structural changes... like move a box from here to there or add a new box somewhere.<br />
<br />
One of the current trends is to offer a third option... a "theme builder" theme. There are several of these out there. Most can be rather cumbersome to use, but that's a story for another time.<br />
<br />
The 'builder' we are using is called the <a href="http://cobaltapps.com/downloads/dynamik-website-builder/" target="_blank">Dynamik Website Builder</a> (DWB) theme which only works with the Genesis framework.<br />
<br />
Originally DWB was its own framework, called Catalyst but Eric Hamm, the head-honcho at Cobalt Apps decided to 'throw in' with Genesis, probably thinking "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" I think it was a good decision for him and the rest of the large Genesis community of users.<br />
<br />
There is a ton of documentation on the CobaltApps site about DWB and I'm not going to go over it here. I'm only going to point out some of the reasons we like it and why you might want to consider it for yourself or your clients.<br />
<br />
1) It gives us simple tools to create boxes (known as widget areas.) We can easily create any layout we want without writing any code (besides a splash of CSS.) So when a client asks for a layout with three rows of four boxes where some rows have boxes of varying size, it is simple to do. Before DWB we'd have to find a theme that maybe had 3 boxes in a row and then make modifications as well as add more rows. If you've ever had to deconstruct a theme, you know what a PITA is it.<br />
<br />
2) A lot of thought was put into the product in giving developers what they wanted most... easy menu-driven styling... fonts, colors, widths, etc., so that instead of having to write a ton of custom CSS, you just check some boxes or add color codes or sizes to the design menus... done and done. And the developers have made the chore of getting sites too look good (resize) on small devices much easier.<br />
<br />
3) Having only one learning curve has been a a productivity enhancer for us. Even though most themes that run under Genesis have things in common, often there is enough in differences that each time you use a different theme for your clients you have to learn or re-learn the nuances of it. With DWB it's a "learn it once, know it forever" kind of paradigm. (Sort of like the old "write once, run everywhere" motto of Java in the 1990s!) Yes, there is a learning curve but it's a one-time deal and the curve is not very steep. This is not Ruby on Rails!<br />
<br />
4) The docs, videos and the community are all very helpful. You got a question? Pop it on their forum and in an hour or so someone will tell you how to do what you are having troubles doing. These are nice people... and sometimes "the man" himself (Eric) will pop on and contribute his knowledge. This is NOT a Debian newsgroup (for those who know that wild-ass bunch in the Linux world!)<br />
<br />
Dynamik is a very nice system. Yes, it cost money, and a case can be made that it should not cost as much as it does. And no one likes the "hold 'em hostage" method of support by extorting users each year for updates. Most people will pay a reasonable amount, but 50% of the original license each year? Some would call that 'greed.' Others would not. All I know is that the "hostage" paradigm has made us look very, very carefully at what tools we buy because if we get dependent on them and the vendor decides to raise the renewal price into the stratosphere, we're stuck. But again, that's a story for another day.<br />
<br />
If you do websites for others for a living (or part of your living) you would be wise to check out the Dynamik Website Builder. There is no demo, but you can <a href="http://cobaltapps.com/dynamik-website-builder-screenshots/" target="_blank">see all of the design screens on their site</a>, as well as the video on <a href="http://cobaltapps.com/downloads/dynamik-website-builder/" target="_blank">their homepage</a>.<br />
<br />
You might like what you see.<br />
<br />
We have, so far.<br />
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<div>
Alan N. Canton, Managing Partner </div>
<div>
NewMedia Website Design</div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.newmediawebsitedesign.com/" target="_blank">http://www.NewMediaWebsiteDesign.com</a></div>
<div>
"Websites for authors, publishers, and small businesses at an affordable price"</div>
<div>
Fair Oaks, CA 916-962-9296</div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-66257114020106873452014-12-24T12:14:00.002-08:002014-12-24T12:23:34.873-08:00Annual Holiday Letter - 2014<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">Family and friends:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">This started out as a good year. Everyone was healthy and sane (sanity is somewhat relative in our house!) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">Business was good... a good year.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">The weather was nice, we even had a good crop of cherry tomatoes.... a good year!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">Jane started taking French lessons as well as attended classes in photography... a good year!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">I went to New York City for my annual book convention and landed several good (i.e. paying!) clients for the web biz (www.NewMediaWebsiteDesign.com) ... a good year!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">Our HVAC system didn't crash and burn like we expected, but it's going to... anyone want to give us $10K for a new one? We lived in fear all summer... and we dodged the bullet... a good year!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">We had a wonderful visit with my mother in Florida, who turned 89 this year... still lives independently, still drives, and still thinks I'm ten years old (You'd think I'd know at age 67 to wear clean socks and underwear, but no, not in Florida!) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">It was a good year!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">Then, on a dark, dark day in November it all stopped. Life as I knew it ended. My tranquility and serenity was immediately transformed into total chaos. Nothing was the same, everything was different. My world turned from a bright happy place to one of constant stress, trials, and tribulations. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">What are you thinking? Sickness? Divorce? Death? Catastrophe? No. Wrong. I could deal with all of that if necessary. But what has been impossible to deal with is ... OUR NEW PUPPY. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">He chews everything, he bites everything, he pees on everything, he barks at everything, and he has singled me out specifically as the one life he wants to make most horrible. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">We call him Peppy, or Pepsi or Peps... or "you $#@ing dog!" depending on what shoe or piece of clothing of MINE he has chewed, eaten, or peed on. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">With Jane he's sweet and gentle and even calm. With me he becomes terrorist-dog from Al-Qaida Kennels. I heard TSA put him on a no-fly list! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">Do you know what sleep deprivation is? I do. Oh yeah!. He has a high-pitched yelp that sounds like Rush Limbaugh going off on Hillary! Did you ever have cops show up at your door after they drove by and thought there was a strangulation going on? It's embarrassing! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">And the cost? Can he eat normal dog food? Oh no, his regal-ness has to have premium food... and the more it costs the better he likes it. He does it just to spite me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">And poor Penny, who is actually the wild thing's aunt, is getting beaten up daily. I'm telling you, this will be the first dog sent to Folsom Prison!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">So why did I get a puppy? Because I'm married. (What else do you gottta know?) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">But Jane loves him... and I kind of grudgingly 'like' him... when he sleeps... which is not very often. Still, he's new life in the house... and we lost our older dog, Jack and our older cat Karmi within a couple of weeks of each other this fall. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">I'm told that if we can live through all of this, we'll get a really good dog out of it. I've also been told the Cubs will win the World Series in my lifetime. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">So that's it from here. Of course we wish all of you a safe, healthy, and prosperous New Year... and I'm offering $1200 to anyone who comes and takes the puppy-from-hell home with them! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">Signed,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 13.1999998092651px;">Jane, Al, Ziva (the crazy calico cat), Penny (the sainted Aussie dog) and... Peps (Call now. Operators are standing by!)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="line-height: 90%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="line-height: 14.3999996185303px;">Alan N. Canton, Managing Partner </span><br />
<span style="line-height: 14.3999996185303px;">NewMedia Website Design</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 14.3999996185303px;">http://www.NewMediaWebsiteDesign.com</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 14.3999996185303px;">"Websites for authors, publishers, and small businesses at an affordable price"</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 14.3999996185303px;">Fair Oaks, CA 916-962-9296</span></div>
Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-46488857240216761092014-12-17T11:13:00.001-08:002014-12-17T11:13:54.894-08:00Ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, ho - IBPA Board of Directors - CALL FOR APPLICATIONS<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Hi Angela:</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Thanks for this little piece of holiday cheer. I got a good laugh over the fact that you folks think you're really fooling us with this nominating process. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I mean, lets face it, this is a rigged procedure very similar to how candidates were chosen for the old Russian Politburo of cold-war days.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">It's a contrived system and everyone who has more than a year in IBPA knows it. But just like the Russian days of old, everyone plays along with it, because after all, IBPA is run MOSTLY for the benefit of IBPA and its vendor supporters and not for the membership... similar to how the Soviet Union was run by and for the benefit of the Communist Party of the time. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Does anyone really know who is on the Nominating Committee? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Ms. Hay is supposed to confirm these members. My guess is that there really isn't any such committee. But let's assume I'm wrong and that there is... is it hand-picked by Deltina? Are the names made public? I've never heard or met anyone who was ever on this committee. But I'm not surprised. Let's face it, you can't rig an election out in the open too easily. It takes secrecy and you must limit the participants... and since the fall of the old Soviet block, no one has done it better than IBPA.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If there is a committee, what standards are used to select the nominees? What interview questions are asked? Do you think anyone who disagrees with how the association is run has a chance? I once thought that Pat Bell and then later Peter Goodman would shake some branches, but it never happened. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I'm not saying that IBPA membership does not offer any benefits. If I did I would not be a member. But each year it is getting harder and harder for me to rationalize renewal. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I've been asked by many over the past twenty years to fill out the nomination form and 'run.' </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But I've said for twenty years that I would never serve an organization where I was not elected in a free and open process where the WHOLE membership was involved, and not 'appointed' by a secret committee chosen by who knows whom and voted on by ONLY those FEW members who attend the annual "meeting" when Pub-U is held. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">(How hard would it be to hold an on-line election? Probably very difficult since the IBPA technology is about five years behind that of the average kitchen refrigerator!)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This whole nominating process and subsequent 'election' is a sham and worthy of nothing more than a good laugh. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">It's good that IBPA does this process during the Christmas season because there are commonalities. The process is as fictional as Santa Claus and Mr. Scrooge, but everyone believes! Indeed, it is the season of joy!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">IBPA's board and officer selection process give an added meaning to "Ho, ho ho."</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Alan N. Canton, Managing Partner </span></div>
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<span class="s1">NewMedia Website Design</span></div>
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<span class="s1">http://www.NewMediaWebsiteDesign.com</span></div>
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<span class="s1">"Websites for authors, publishers, and small businesses at an affordable price"</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Fair Oaks, CA 916-962-9296</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span>================================================================</div>
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<span class="s1">On Dec 17, 2014, at 9:54 AM, Angela Bole, IBPA Executive Director <angela ibpa-online.org=""> wrote:</angela></span></div>
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<span class="s1">IBPA Board of Directors: CALL FOR APPLICATIONS</span></div>
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<span class="s1">View this email in your browser</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Reminder: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 is the deadline to apply for a seat on IBPA's board of directors. See information below.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Dear Alan,</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">This is a friendly reminder that those interested should submit their application for a seat on the Independent Book Publishers Association's (IBPA's) board of directors no later than Wednesday, December 31, 2014. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Five seats are opening on IBPA's board. All IBPA members in good standing are welcome to apply. See below for more information and, as always, please let us know if you have any questions. We're happy to help!</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Application Deadline: December 31, 2014</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Each term on IBPA's board of directors is two years in length. Members are allowed to serve two consecutive terms. Potential candidates will be asked for a personal interview in addition to the written application. Here is the election cycle:</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• Nov 14, 2014: Online application opens for IBPA's board of directors.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• Nov 30, 2014: IBPA's Board Chair confirms the members of the 2015 Board Nominating Committee.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• Dec 31, 2014: Online application closes.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• Jan 1 - 31, 2015: Board Nominating Committee interviews potential candidates.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• Feb 1, 2015: Board Nominating Committee chooses a slate of candidates for the five open seats.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• Feb 9, 2015: IBPA sends the Board Nominating Committee's slate of candidates to the full membership for consideration.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• Apr 11, 2015: IBPA membership votes to approve the slate of candidates during IBPA's Annual Members Meeting at Publishing University in Austin, Texas.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• Jul 1, 2015: New board members take office for a two-year term.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Being on the IBPA board of directors is an important way to help carry forth IBPA's mission of educating and supporting independent publishers and self-published authors. As a member of IBPA's board of directors you will directly contribute to the success of our 3,000+ members who pledge to adhere to the following Code of Ethics. . .</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• To uphold the highest standards of our industry, to create works of lasting financial and/or cultural value, and to pursue editorial, design, and production excellence.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• To respect the rights of authors and other creators and stakeholders, to observe all copyright laws and conventions, and to never knowingly publish plagiarized work.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• To reward authors and contributors for their work, to be honest in our financial dealings, to write contracts in understandable language, to resolve all disputes promptly and fairly, and to foster equal opportunity in our workplaces.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• To not mislead readers or buyers with false promises, inflated sales data, or manipulated reviews.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>• To recycle and reuse and to follow green practices.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">In Partnership,</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Angela Bole</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Executive Director</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Independent Book Publishers Association</span></div>
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<span class="s1">1020 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Suite 204</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Manhattan Beach, CA 90266</span></div>
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<span class="s1">P: 310-546-1818</span></div>
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<span class="s1">E: angela@ibpa-online.org</span></div>
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Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690843.post-15830527261794242262014-06-10T12:30:00.000-07:002016-12-08T14:34:06.661-08:00BEA Diary 2014<span class="s1">By <b>Alan Canton</b>... with invaluable editorial assistance from <b>Mayapriya Long</b></span><br />
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Who loves you? Amazon? Not if they won’t stock your books. That was the buzz at this years’ BEA, it’s what everyone was talking about and it may be an issue that will define this industry for the distant future.<br />
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But that's not what I'm here to tell you about. Indeed, this is yet another missive in a long line of BEA Diaries (see end for links.)<br />
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Usually I spend all of "Book Week" in New York City, but I had some conflicts that kept me in my native Sacramento, CA until the exhibits opened. So I took the Tuesday night red-eye to JFK.<br />
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If you go to New York in the summer you don’t expect it to feel like winter. When I left the hotel to walk down to the subway it was cold, with an equally chilly mist blowing through me.<br />
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My first stop this year was the <a href="https://www.ibpa-online.org/" target="_blank">Independent Book Publishers Association</a> Ben Franklin awards.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvZtVM8jGiRELXyfK_0My9c5ZFcRmLwahxRym6tiLpWWYpCjVGorT4Hp7f24vbp1WsEBNLJb9-1xth0xjTDt8PaIVaLvKoIdoMJzR_nAgbZbFRiU8wxLhCbz2WqDyDTSfJIW4SA/s1600/IMG_0013-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvZtVM8jGiRELXyfK_0My9c5ZFcRmLwahxRym6tiLpWWYpCjVGorT4Hp7f24vbp1WsEBNLJb9-1xth0xjTDt8PaIVaLvKoIdoMJzR_nAgbZbFRiU8wxLhCbz2WqDyDTSfJIW4SA/s1600/IMG_0013-a.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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I got out of the West 4th Street station in weather that felt like a Dr. Zhivago winter and walked three blocks in the wrong direction. Yes, thanks Google Maps. Whoever created the Google map of Manhattan probably lived in Nebraska!<br />
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I was saved by Siri who got me back on track after a I sighted what looked like a penguin and an Eskimo crossing Sixth Avenue! Yeah, it was that cold!<br />
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In previous years IBPA (which used to be called Publishers Marketing Association or PMA for short... or PMS by some!) held their award program in a swanky hotel with a full buffet dinner, dessert table... and the entire industry showed up… probably for the free food… but they stayed for the awards and got a good look at what the small press had to offer… and saw the best of it.<br />
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Not this year. IBPA held it at NYU down in the Village in a big room with sushi finger food and a $40 admission charge. While the elbow-to-elbow crowds were missing, there was still a pretty good turnout… but mostly limited to those nominated for awards as opposed to industry professionals (seeking a free meal!)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONDxExFgY6YbtQtxWiqinCVTA7Vf5Ch8Y8u1oIkcQYuGyLSD90LGR7pf2cM-JAYrKtK8C328Lehg2ajHuy5njTkvmX86qW8cLcteD6J7j9RKNkVdJrPK9UTFWzI1AL5DiqVSDqQ/s1600/IMG_0009-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONDxExFgY6YbtQtxWiqinCVTA7Vf5Ch8Y8u1oIkcQYuGyLSD90LGR7pf2cM-JAYrKtK8C328Lehg2ajHuy5njTkvmX86qW8cLcteD6J7j9RKNkVdJrPK9UTFWzI1AL5DiqVSDqQ/s1600/IMG_0009-a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a large crowd, but the room was full</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NWK5ri9FHSexp52vErY4k-C91yEBwYHJjwFdrPeT5JAsz5weMYUF8_sCRNbNBSo1rY8x9IY9OMVBF58G6PtVi-bgul4bUO6M4XrMbos59XCKHHWMWhSSrp7TYjbOqsQ3YqT2pg/s1600/IMG_0008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NWK5ri9FHSexp52vErY4k-C91yEBwYHJjwFdrPeT5JAsz5weMYUF8_sCRNbNBSo1rY8x9IY9OMVBF58G6PtVi-bgul4bUO6M4XrMbos59XCKHHWMWhSSrp7TYjbOqsQ3YqT2pg/s1600/IMG_0008.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The harp player was a classy touch.</td></tr>
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I had a nice chat with Mr. Terry Nathan who is the CEO of the association. He said that while membership is down from the usual 3500 of previous years, is it holding steady and he expects growth.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7wiOE_MkEcsExIp9_xGCzkinhPy7jLajrdo9lUJjQZkHu5MT3Ib2ISS5LKGnZTVQRTAHVgHJH0yzxD1Wt23kfMSyxkXQyPg2clT_EFAQ6rhKPBHVZ2an-CmJc3xTKd9TpXRZjw/s1600/IMG_0010-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7wiOE_MkEcsExIp9_xGCzkinhPy7jLajrdo9lUJjQZkHu5MT3Ib2ISS5LKGnZTVQRTAHVgHJH0yzxD1Wt23kfMSyxkXQyPg2clT_EFAQ6rhKPBHVZ2an-CmJc3xTKd9TpXRZjw/s1600/IMG_0010-a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terry Nathan, the big kahuna of IBPA and a hell of a good guy!</td></tr>
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A lot of this growth is going to be due to the new directions being taken by the new Executive Director, Angela Bole.<br />
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Ms. Bole, who looks like a runway model, understands the digital age and from her previous position at BISG she knows that e-books are the future of this industry and will be the primary revenue generator for her membership. And she understands that marketing programs are no longer the most viable service that IBPA can offer. It is education as well as well-vetted vendors (Note: <a href="http://newmediawebsitedesign.com/" target="_blank">NewMedia Website Design</a> is a preferred vendor of IBPA.)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Tw3OgQVLrYdHVjrHF-yYqyYIiYwjLn2Xk2e7bDUqU5dvVblfNpLYNu_DkiSWKtrHYCOcuvKWBZ8ITQxtJufXVvjppmYNvp0znbzheRRydTCq4PDry8LuMUluCFtOUP0-ivRDwA/s1600/IMG_0011-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Tw3OgQVLrYdHVjrHF-yYqyYIiYwjLn2Xk2e7bDUqU5dvVblfNpLYNu_DkiSWKtrHYCOcuvKWBZ8ITQxtJufXVvjppmYNvp0znbzheRRydTCq4PDry8LuMUluCFtOUP0-ivRDwA/s1600/IMG_0011-a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new "girl" on the block... who is re-making IBPA</td></tr>
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I was fortunate to run into two of the most knowledgeable people in the small press, <a href="http://www.detailsplease.com/peoplespeak/sharon_goldinger.html" target="_blank">Sharon Goldinger</a> and <a href="http://cyrpesshouse.com/" target="_blank">Cindy Frank</a>. Each had clients nominated for awards. Cindy does both book shepherding as well as foreign rights, while Sharon provides just about all services to her author and small-publisher customers. If I were bringing out a new book it would be difficult to determine just whom I’d choose as my mentor.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpBZPXmluJrAS8FX0GBquzGrtWXlIr1evHgPIJ8BqvteyIDI-1E5gm-vXqDKiyatXyXOK4tyqJmMjOb4O4BUKQyfXI1YQkWOSAID8YPkLx7QVIKpVfUO9twy56VBziy_QP_aLKsQ/s1600/IMG_0005-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpBZPXmluJrAS8FX0GBquzGrtWXlIr1evHgPIJ8BqvteyIDI-1E5gm-vXqDKiyatXyXOK4tyqJmMjOb4O4BUKQyfXI1YQkWOSAID8YPkLx7QVIKpVfUO9twy56VBziy_QP_aLKsQ/s1600/IMG_0005-a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sharon Goldinger (left) and Cindy Frank: You got the questions... they got the answers</td></tr>
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After stuffing myself with a ton a sushi and a few stiff shots of an adult beverage to ward off the cold in the frozen tundra of Sixth Avenue (no one calls it Avenue of the Americas!) I trundled back to the subway, catching the E train up to Columbus Circle to attend the IPPY award party. (I grew up just outside of New York City so I know the subway system... it's not hard and if you learn it you will save a fortune in cabs... and not have to speak Hindi to get where you are going!)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJkrjWEaSJSjTGb1RLxMxCdOIjK1oB8B8bh1ZCM5q1LpX_HtfeOpqHxEoG7DK4n4dmxsFWdTwSXqQpPCQxDmFgR1OziUTbY0_VygO_as4NhoMA2XNlcivCe7Ut95qTDDGEqqx7Q/s1600/IMG_0003-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJkrjWEaSJSjTGb1RLxMxCdOIjK1oB8B8bh1ZCM5q1LpX_HtfeOpqHxEoG7DK4n4dmxsFWdTwSXqQpPCQxDmFgR1OziUTbY0_VygO_as4NhoMA2XNlcivCe7Ut95qTDDGEqqx7Q/s1600/IMG_0003-a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you didn't like sushi you were SOL!</td></tr>
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While the Ben Franklin is a traditional award ceremony where the winners give a speech thanking their mother, their 3rd grade teacher, and the cab driver who brought them to the Village for winning the award, the <a href="http://www.independentpublisher.com/ipland/ipawards.php" target="_blank">IPPY</a> is a party atmosphere… while the awards are being announced, people are drinking and visiting and often not paying much attention until their category comes up. Also, there are no speeches… thankfully.<br />
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The host of the party is the venerable Jerry Jenkins the owner of the Jenkins Group. Jerry told me that he got over 2000 entries for this year's IPPY awards; each year this award gets more and more popular.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV47en3RNvhiUN5WIXD_8794qT5w95DhVn7HH9ug2u299IpXt5j0lS1C6rSyBpGQg0_539w1rD7bFz18dyjsRmOtWt3ACIok284TlYE7-ijrdTTEFMM0W3_wT24B0b7wrPl8ydOw/s1600/IMG_0020-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV47en3RNvhiUN5WIXD_8794qT5w95DhVn7HH9ug2u299IpXt5j0lS1C6rSyBpGQg0_539w1rD7bFz18dyjsRmOtWt3ACIok284TlYE7-ijrdTTEFMM0W3_wT24B0b7wrPl8ydOw/s1600/IMG_0020-a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jerry Jenkins (far right) with <a href="http://red14films.com/" target="_blank">Nell Tearse</a> (middle) and <a href="http://media-connect.com/" target="_blank">David Hahn</a>. Jerry has always been a babe-magnet. </td></tr>
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As I mentioned, the IPPY awards don't have speeches but they always have their share of easy to look at 'assistants' to present the awards. Sometimes the title of the book kind of works 'well' with the award being presented:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQ_3qUjVo0IyaY7sWpTkzJNp5cKVbANVa5o8Pm3jyTjG6F00m9hJuI5Q05OIhDEMM_SA0FzkjoU7cKucEmuaBDeLWZZQq4N4uWQ1WJDY1X1SHCpToVK7_RZICJi6FYHUmSyGQLg/s1600/IMG_0017-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQ_3qUjVo0IyaY7sWpTkzJNp5cKVbANVa5o8Pm3jyTjG6F00m9hJuI5Q05OIhDEMM_SA0FzkjoU7cKucEmuaBDeLWZZQq4N4uWQ1WJDY1X1SHCpToVK7_RZICJi6FYHUmSyGQLg/s1600/IMG_0017-a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://jeremyedwardserotica.com/" target="_blank">Jeremy Edwards</a> who won this year's award for erotic fiction. Yeah, I get it!</td></tr>
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The whole bash is held in a night club up on 57th and 8th Avenue that has a dance floor downstairs and a balcony upstairs. It's loud, it's happy, and it is publishing spirit (bottled) at its best!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The place is jumpin'</td></tr>
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Some wise person once said "Wine is a good poison, but not a great poison." It was dark and cold when I stumbled out of the IPPY party and somehow found a cab that whisked me back to my hotel over on the East side. (It's hard to get cross town on the subway, especially when close to three-sheets to the wind (you could easily end up in Flushing... not a place you want to wake up in... the name says it all!)<br />
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I feel sorry for people who don't drink because when they wake up in the morning that's as good as they are going to feel all day! When I woke up that morning I knew I was going to feel better... because I could not have felt much worse!<br />
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After a gallon of coffee I walked on down to Lexington and 49th Street to catch the free BEA Javits bus. I aways wonder at the logic of BEA in having a bus go down 42nd Street and through Times Square (or close to it) during rush hour. But that's what they do and so I just sat back and hoped that my breakfast would stay down! It took almost an hour to go eight blocks.<br />
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For those folks who follow this electronic fish-wrap, you remember the major issues I had last year getting a press credential for myself and my colleague Mayapriya Long to cover the event and do the huge amount of work that this Diary entails. This year was different. The BEA press "Star Chamber" gave us credentials without us having to yell and scream about it.<br />
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So up to the press room I went and who was there but none other than one of the grand marshals of the publishing industry, Irwin Zucker. Irwin runs the <a href="http://www.bookpublicists.org/" target="_blank">Book Publicists of Southern California</a> which does a great job with small publishers and authors who self-publish.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Irwin Zucker (seated) with <a href="http://davidbeakel.com/" target="_blank">David Beakel</a> and <a href="http://waterbuddy.org/" target="_blank">Bo Lebo</a> behind him. Irwin is 80+ years old and still going strong!</td></tr>
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Many of you know that besides being a publisher with <a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/" target="_blank">Adams-Blake Publishing</a> I also run a web design business called <a href="http://www.newmediawebsitedesign.com/" target="_blank">NewMedia Website Design</a>. In past years we've passed out fliers to friends and acquaintances we meet during Book Week, but this year Phil Knight and the nice people at <a href="http://www.colorhousegraphics.com/" target="_blank">Color House Graphics</a><br />
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printed up some "drop cards" for us. These are larger than a business card but smaller than a postcard. The venerable Dan Poynter of <a href="http://parapub.com/sites/para/" target="_blank">Para Publishing</a> (whom I'm told helped invent the printing press!) came up with the idea for his books and I thought it might work for websites.</div>
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I always like to cover what are called 'sidelines' first... these are really gift items... and book stores are becoming more like gift stores every year.<br />
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I loved the boxes of <a href="http://enchantedboxes.com/index.htm" target="_blank">Enchanted World of Boxes</a>. They evoke the tradition of collecting rare books that date from the ancient library of Alexandria and extends through the spiraling bookshelves of secret societies of Europe. Inspiration for their collection comes from the libraries of Nostradamus, Gutenberg, the Geographic Society of London, and hidden vaults from Widener Library in Cambridge. These are very nice... I'm going to get one for my very expensive wife.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These will make great gifts</td></tr>
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I saw another interesting sideline that is made by a company called <a href="http://heartthemoment.com/" target="_blank">Heart The Moment</a>. These are clever and colorful paper tiaras. These vintage inspired designs make great greeting cards with the included "cardlet" and envelope. You could give one to each party goer. I thought this was a good idea... and I must be right because Fern said they sell very well. I was impressed that they are made in the USA. I think maybe these are where the Burger King gets his crown?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6q3_I4a-kG_VIkR73rgH412ae1Km8Z1XOuLrisxzer1a8091Q0FeFeligAE6uIZ7d59XpePrYaFxPyzETeKkfQoOz6t59oSSoRYHLnkmDVCbtppSateoXPfxPwXHlHVjuBsdY4Q/s1600/IMG_0027-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6q3_I4a-kG_VIkR73rgH412ae1Km8Z1XOuLrisxzer1a8091Q0FeFeligAE6uIZ7d59XpePrYaFxPyzETeKkfQoOz6t59oSSoRYHLnkmDVCbtppSateoXPfxPwXHlHVjuBsdY4Q/s1600/IMG_0027-a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fern and Sam Solomon wearing their creations. Ya gotta love creativity like this!</td></tr>
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Yet another sideline that I found interesting was from a company called <a href="http://www.litographs.com/" target="_blank">Litographics</a> which creates art from the books you've read and loved. Their posters, t-shirts, and tote bags are all created entirely from the text of classic books. Here is the interesting part: From a distance, the artwork illustrates a theme, character, or setting from each book. Move closer and the text becomes fully legible. The booth had two guys when they needed two booth-babes!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A good idea that I think will catch on, at least with literary people</td></tr>
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You know the old saying that "whats old is new again." I saw an old, simple 'game' that I played as a kid and it has been brought back via the name <a href="http://cannball.com/" target="_blank">Can 'n Ball</a>. You get a ball and two cans... like those that tennis balls come in and you throw and catch the ball with the cans. Maybe hula hoops and Slinkys are next?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwEPnpi7c4pMJHQ1jNrYm2ySd4Le3_6bg_50Z5Z10YXoE1FXfCqX7My1uV7_WJTTj_N3a4HI4I-uiegJyx-ZL2O-JWV3RNlX2ORxbstNGMHXgSh_DwC_KKz28SPtKty1RsvGRaWg/s1600/IMG_0037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwEPnpi7c4pMJHQ1jNrYm2ySd4Le3_6bg_50Z5Z10YXoE1FXfCqX7My1uV7_WJTTj_N3a4HI4I-uiegJyx-ZL2O-JWV3RNlX2ORxbstNGMHXgSh_DwC_KKz28SPtKty1RsvGRaWg/s1600/IMG_0037.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looks like a good beach game but won't replace bikini volleyball!</td></tr>
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There are always companies that exhibit reading lights but this one by <a href="http://www.mightybright.com/" target="_blank">Mighty Bright</a> was by far the best and most ingenious. You can bend it to any position and it is really bright. If you are like me and still like ink-on-paper when reading in bed, you want one of these. (They are great for finding the bathroom in your hotel room at 3am when you are hung-over. Ask me how I know!)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFW0x5D4tBaIqPAHK5KwTCqQzaKyJR1XPFaja5fsbzM2pFEWnUHZt93Z252rxktDCY8UaXEKud89pvTZ-77kdOwsbVxvTi9AEbNA9s4ndLOIgicgL9H0uqN7_O_UMiZPvnfC9cg/s1600/IMG_0064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFW0x5D4tBaIqPAHK5KwTCqQzaKyJR1XPFaja5fsbzM2pFEWnUHZt93Z252rxktDCY8UaXEKud89pvTZ-77kdOwsbVxvTi9AEbNA9s4ndLOIgicgL9H0uqN7_O_UMiZPvnfC9cg/s1600/IMG_0064.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michelle Haas of Mighty Bright</td></tr>
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The final sideline was terrific. <a href="http://www.black-cards.com/" target="_blank">African American Expression</a> creates (no, not in China) calendars, greeting cards and nice gifts. The company, now the largest black-owned greeting card company in America, began as a single product company selling ethnically sensitive Christmas cards in three designs. Now they are into gifts and other stuff... all made in my hometown of Sacramento, CA.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEIuxZdN-fA40vM0lUJCnaxWvHkRzx6EJ9mh9OhO1vgR8D3b3X2XaEcPyQ8NSIOh1J2XITymKwC-jP6B_1t5EZbZ4VyWGJK4dF2C_to9ovskTTlrZ6e7MuKZkx6310kjks7WWwQQ/s1600/IMG_0053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEIuxZdN-fA40vM0lUJCnaxWvHkRzx6EJ9mh9OhO1vgR8D3b3X2XaEcPyQ8NSIOh1J2XITymKwC-jP6B_1t5EZbZ4VyWGJK4dF2C_to9ovskTTlrZ6e7MuKZkx6310kjks7WWwQQ/s1600/IMG_0053.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful calendars and gifts</td></tr>
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I'm a sucker for anyone who has the guts to wear a costume to hawk their book... and it just wouldn't be a BEA without at least one foodie who claims to have the cure for whatever ails you. I loved <a href="http://bakerdan.com/" target="_blank">Baker Dan</a> and his arthritis cookbook. The blurb says: "“Beating Arthritis” shows you a method of how to prevent and reduce the inflammation of chronic disease and an attitude of never giving up. It is not a magic cure, but instead a way of eating, one that will pay off if you persevere."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's worth a try, but I think maybe smoking a joint would also help</td></tr>
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Per usual there were the publishing arms of various oil-rich countries. No one pays much attention to their booths, which is too bad because some of them are elaborate and have beautiful books in them. I suppose there is a market for these tomes or they wouldn't spend the money for the booths. And we know they HAVE the money!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most comfortable chairs in the hall. I took a short nap in one. No one bothered me.</td></tr>
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In past years, BEA had an African-American section of small authors and publishers, but no longer. Indeed, I didn't see many authors or publishers from that community and I don't know why. But one that did stand out was <a href="http://www.thepassdown.com/" target="_blank">The Passdown</a> a book designed to encourage the reader to seek, discover and share their legacy with their children. The journals allow you to tell your story in your own words. It's different, and I liked it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13T_nvYry4POR2b60VINJ0uLhaO3M3-BCp33qfEx5QassVyEysOwQTEbCmellamdJaTXBfA_sUmiAMnj0TejyD6f9tOwEk1SlIWRPRiwjSfJR-ywp2fmesBVIWc5gFqkd9mBIFw/s1600/IMG_0036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13T_nvYry4POR2b60VINJ0uLhaO3M3-BCp33qfEx5QassVyEysOwQTEbCmellamdJaTXBfA_sUmiAMnj0TejyD6f9tOwEk1SlIWRPRiwjSfJR-ywp2fmesBVIWc5gFqkd9mBIFw/s1600/IMG_0036.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Autry Alexis with The Passdown</td></tr>
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It has been several years since there was a publishing house from India at BEA... or even a house showing books about Eastern philosophy and religion. This year the Gita Publishing House took a booth to show their many titles, including translations of the Gita. Dressing in traditional clothes made them stand out a bit. Being a long-time student of Bhakti Yoga and Krishna Consciousness I was glad to see their booth, although I know nothing of the yogi whose book they are holding.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7wb99g5JuIEnsIggVSNu11QDGuuOhmFPrSoosWdKKJdqca9GE_GjlzM_uJJbGnloVTLv2sZ6xiIZCSUAN-PijLJF8n1MVQTiXsBs37HUdT-4BTkQyjRjiI0lkgamGDuuuj_3eOg/s1600/IMG_0040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7wb99g5JuIEnsIggVSNu11QDGuuOhmFPrSoosWdKKJdqca9GE_GjlzM_uJJbGnloVTLv2sZ6xiIZCSUAN-PijLJF8n1MVQTiXsBs37HUdT-4BTkQyjRjiI0lkgamGDuuuj_3eOg/s1600/IMG_0040.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Representatives from <a href="http://www.dadavaswanisbooks.com/online-store/books/index.html" target="_blank">Gita Publishing</a>. Hare Krishna!<br />
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In past years we saw a lot of political books which caused a lot of controversy and contention, but nothing like the booth for Chipoltle Publishing's <a href="http://sadefensejournal.com/" target="_blank">Small Arms Journal</a>. They told me that they got a lot of bad press from the show which I think is unfortunate because they seem to be a responsible voice for gun ownership as opposed to the whack-jobs at the NRA. I'm not a gun nut, but I own a shotgun. In my heart of hearts I believe that if every Jew owned a gun and took one Nazi with them, there would not have been a Holocaust.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdxYOjbriNKtlURg0cQ7MrbCEtkg2H54T4BschB_0dpaY5vIeZ5Z2iUru-4B8dSOiVWZbrHXyNqio6hGgDI0TElGWKb3s4qMiKCbcImZ9Ai-_DMaeqI6iDEhTFQO45hlTHorPVmg/s1600/IMG_0043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdxYOjbriNKtlURg0cQ7MrbCEtkg2H54T4BschB_0dpaY5vIeZ5Z2iUru-4B8dSOiVWZbrHXyNqio6hGgDI0TElGWKb3s4qMiKCbcImZ9Ai-_DMaeqI6iDEhTFQO45hlTHorPVmg/s1600/IMG_0043.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See my last line above</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Each year at BEA there is one brand-new tech start-up that is flush with venture capital money who takes an enormous section right up front (most expensive location in the hall) and fills it with a bunch of computers and a large staff of 20-something self-absorbed guys who do their best to ignore anyone over 25 who comes into the area. It took me a while to find someone who wanted to speak with me so I could learn what <a href="http://www.mopro.com/" target="_blank">Mopro</a> is all about. I'm still not sure, but it looks like they have built yet another do-it-yourself web-builder (which looks like they borrowed a lot from <a href="http://squarespace.com/" target="_blank">Squarespace</a>) along with a video service. I wish them well, but like those that came before, I expect that when they burn through their VC money they will vanish.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2-xBoRqJnD1rT_yXAK3Jigzm0lW_mI3sOXxZOj7JVu8RMknRBKPq9YAPPs8enzva1HvF2Ldl5JrlyIM3FRFbRkawn7Wu-nlVrf4tCuGNGSe435B3xauFizAk7X2h2cE6245Hjw/s1600/IMG_0045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2-xBoRqJnD1rT_yXAK3Jigzm0lW_mI3sOXxZOj7JVu8RMknRBKPq9YAPPs8enzva1HvF2Ldl5JrlyIM3FRFbRkawn7Wu-nlVrf4tCuGNGSe435B3xauFizAk7X2h2cE6245Hjw/s1600/IMG_0045.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Johnny Brown from Mopro -- the only guy over 25 years old in the booth (and the only one who would talk to me!)</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Another software company called <a href="http://www.msgl.com/book-management-software" target="_blank">Media Services</a> (such a catchy name!) has a product called Elan Book Solutions (and I'll bet only 5 people in the hall knew what 'elan' means) which, in their words "consolidates customer data into one centralized CRM, seamlessly integrating the database with eCommerce and a full suite of publishing management tools."(I love geek-speak!) Looks like a hell of a nice system. I don't know the price but if you have to ask my bet is you can't afford it!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi829d3-dX_sbWjyvwtHDUN07KWj57zuTiDBdZ-WXa2o-62yI4XJVCbutUEl0g7rK1ogzLlhfcEZyGDzbs3a6JxOLPskyr2ZElE5dHlG1W5Uxxg-pAdE6_Co6FN9gh0MlnZKK2fEg/s1600/IMG_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi829d3-dX_sbWjyvwtHDUN07KWj57zuTiDBdZ-WXa2o-62yI4XJVCbutUEl0g7rK1ogzLlhfcEZyGDzbs3a6JxOLPskyr2ZElE5dHlG1W5Uxxg-pAdE6_Co6FN9gh0MlnZKK2fEg/s1600/IMG_0046.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ted Thomason, Karen Tiesling, and Carrie McEvoy of Media Services, makers of Elan</td></tr>
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You know when I mentioned the arrogance of young 20-something tech guys earlier? Well, arrogance is not just confined to tech... or kids. I went to the Ingram booth and ALL the staff were way too busy talking to each other to pay any attention to visitors. And why should they? They're Ingram... it's their culture and history. The only thing they have going is they are now hated less than Amazon by the publishing industry!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEippBg6gYHUPz1VB6989TaUsdDjmjdNMsPw0IaPObSxhq6Am7DmNffkAuJtouZwtkJW1AlS3HHothk0gnYkpPJb_BHFKJVZolF9dmbAt6N79F2VojXwiOtn1bFOjK0YvwFJkZG7pQ/s1600/IMG_0049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEippBg6gYHUPz1VB6989TaUsdDjmjdNMsPw0IaPObSxhq6Am7DmNffkAuJtouZwtkJW1AlS3HHothk0gnYkpPJb_BHFKJVZolF9dmbAt6N79F2VojXwiOtn1bFOjK0YvwFJkZG7pQ/s1600/IMG_0049.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arrogance raised to an art form!</td></tr>
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Everyone gives stuff away... mostly candy. I think the BEA is a dentist's dream! There are pens too, but most booths have candy. Then there is <a href="http://cntimesbooks.com/" target="_blank">CN Times Books</a>. They had bags and bags or fortune cookies. I loved it. Everyone loved it. Inside each cookie was a ad for their company. The company is a new publisher and distributor that has focused on works about Chinese history, philosophy, culture, and economics.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxlS5HIFCv7DLZavs5zEI3Nl3HdpvkOyT6RWAkSPOBJXlCQNgMZ09ThwVBN4XJSgLGhAf8qDwumCyj4jewIwyy3CFDjQ5mJaR6XKs_2Ji8NVFltlTQV__ClP7uvBQYK2VvCyXzw/s1600/IMG_0050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxlS5HIFCv7DLZavs5zEI3Nl3HdpvkOyT6RWAkSPOBJXlCQNgMZ09ThwVBN4XJSgLGhAf8qDwumCyj4jewIwyy3CFDjQ5mJaR6XKs_2Ji8NVFltlTQV__ClP7uvBQYK2VvCyXzw/s1600/IMG_0050.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hard to see but there are fortune cookies in the bag... a big hit!</td></tr>
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Walking through the aisles you can meet all sorts of people... especially if you have a press badge. There are always several authors looking to find a publisher. I stopped at one of the trash containers to throw away some candy wrappers and standing there was Dr. Leslie Kumer with her book. It looked nice. I told her to get a website.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxHJ0sErV1OX8M5y3s7JEhnJ5_0Z47A-0z5bdHe6nodbz_r2qzvDb-7nukK5rJDQgT5TdoWfwwnvSICmznKy63IqKR309lUUrBZADil-rECmqX52e6gJWo_7aATNJCAkzVCNOpw/s1600/IMG_0054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxHJ0sErV1OX8M5y3s7JEhnJ5_0Z47A-0z5bdHe6nodbz_r2qzvDb-7nukK5rJDQgT5TdoWfwwnvSICmznKy63IqKR309lUUrBZADil-rECmqX52e6gJWo_7aATNJCAkzVCNOpw/s1600/IMG_0054.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A book to make an MRI less scary to children. I hope she sells it.</td></tr>
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One of the best booths that I saw was from an Italian food academy called <a href="http://www.academiabarilla.com/" target="_blank">Academia Barilla</a>. They claim to be the first international center dedicated to the diffusion, promotion, and development of Italian gastronomic culture in the world. Brian Nacht was passing out a terrific cheese-on-cracker concoction and showed his books that are 'cut' in the shape of the actual product. These would be great gift books.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8vcnHPhJ58xe1t1tDMBYaGm0W7XQbK1sOqryPGiWEkSQHrXSy2ySHu0KGWpVaj7kYrbvn2Tyk1IUYH5JnSc7Lzx8TsMChBxqYtvZP91A3oqHbX6uFp0WbAiD2lKInZ18e2nakng/s1600/IMG_0055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8vcnHPhJ58xe1t1tDMBYaGm0W7XQbK1sOqryPGiWEkSQHrXSy2ySHu0KGWpVaj7kYrbvn2Tyk1IUYH5JnSc7Lzx8TsMChBxqYtvZP91A3oqHbX6uFp0WbAiD2lKInZ18e2nakng/s1600/IMG_0055.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Book is at left... note the shape</td></tr>
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There is an old joke about Beverly Hills. Two women have lunch... and a new boutique is started! I'm not sure if this is how <a href="http://peek-a-bear.com/Home_Page.html" target="_blank">Peek-a-Bear Press</a> started but they have a terrific children's book and toy. Peek-a-Bear is an adventure/ discovery peek-and-play book following the journey of Peek-a-Bear. The child follows Peek-a-Bear under water, through the zoo and across the sky. Along the way he introduces the reader to interesting characters and themes. The book provides an interactive element to supplement the story line. If they can get distribution they will sell a zillion of these<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKTEK6hEdVtXsSlMR9qfruVpiC3bp-Np5WZ0drzoqxyp01LrtCIu5pyHvxlo6fdvn5Rdkm3klbjH85FSnaPkCmSBWUSuyAJDiNTSWSIdxGZ2gxNRvdCUYL21fvT_2vN9jMxCRq9g/s1600/IMG_0057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKTEK6hEdVtXsSlMR9qfruVpiC3bp-Np5WZ0drzoqxyp01LrtCIu5pyHvxlo6fdvn5Rdkm3klbjH85FSnaPkCmSBWUSuyAJDiNTSWSIdxGZ2gxNRvdCUYL21fvT_2vN9jMxCRq9g/s1600/IMG_0057.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Jill Weisfeld (center) with Judy Roth and Cindy Weissman</td></tr>
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I love books that actually HELP the world in some way and was pleased to find Kentrell Martin, the owner and author of Shelly's Adventures. <a href="http://www.shellysadventuresllc.com/Articles.asp?ID=1" target="_blank">Shelly's Adventures LLC</a> was created to provide children and their parents with reading material that teaches American Sign Language. What a nice mission to have. They deserve to succeed and I hope they do.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQMtJwZhyphenhyphen3B5YSbIGu6IXJwIR6_bms0vLgPBgWLNGBeUkE0FYc6Yj0eIjWuLTwlclIyuTj2EkIS1qx8wA515K3Jyf6k3Za5Ycw4hT5O_BYWn9WRhCGyLhCRH_eIaMVV7_oyBtrw/s1600/IMG_0058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQMtJwZhyphenhyphen3B5YSbIGu6IXJwIR6_bms0vLgPBgWLNGBeUkE0FYc6Yj0eIjWuLTwlclIyuTj2EkIS1qx8wA515K3Jyf6k3Za5Ycw4hT5O_BYWn9WRhCGyLhCRH_eIaMVV7_oyBtrw/s1600/IMG_0058.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tell someone about this book and help bring a bit of joy to a deaf child</td></tr>
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Each year there are several distributors at BEA... each of them represent a couple of hundred publishers. The publishers pay a fee for a small table and a display of their books. I'm not sure it is worth it, but each year I see the same publishers in the same distributor booths. I think the best distributor in the industry is <a href="http://www.midpointtrade.com/" target="_blank">Midpoint Trade</a>. If nothing else they have always had the best looking book-babes... and Julie Hardison who is now Director of Operations (she started in the warehouse!) has been one of them for years and years now.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiHF2eTKAGa0vGXMfdO6kHAOQqa7xrwz5P0TPgCw3TESMqOXeW_PNcb2pBwaOOUwTyj6HzwRIclsq2D03ueukm01HKtCPYAoXIRWWoV1oNKWjqMvlNieijr-1o9R3htVsgES80qg/s1600/IMG_0060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiHF2eTKAGa0vGXMfdO6kHAOQqa7xrwz5P0TPgCw3TESMqOXeW_PNcb2pBwaOOUwTyj6HzwRIclsq2D03ueukm01HKtCPYAoXIRWWoV1oNKWjqMvlNieijr-1o9R3htVsgES80qg/s1600/IMG_0060.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julie knows what will sell and what won't. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The <a href="http://pinkpigpress.com/Site/Welcome.html" target="_blank">Pink Pig Press </a>is one of the best known publishers at BEA. Yes, they are a mother-daughter company (I think they are really sisters) and they always wear weird outfits and they have an 'eclectic' line of books... but they are well-known because... they always have a booth right in front of the main-entrance restrooms. EVERYONE sees them sooner or later.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiqBnOjrqmIAwjdWpMSJc53srv1XcuY-WB1SaRjDW17TGBWE48T526MoQeydmzZziG48EDGx3bb9VTIhawJakQjTObkh_JSzjnLe3fyqmICfvqQaB2bppuniL6pgXPHNoWLpTx_w/s1600/IMG_0061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiqBnOjrqmIAwjdWpMSJc53srv1XcuY-WB1SaRjDW17TGBWE48T526MoQeydmzZziG48EDGx3bb9VTIhawJakQjTObkh_JSzjnLe3fyqmICfvqQaB2bppuniL6pgXPHNoWLpTx_w/s1600/IMG_0061.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liz and Vell Sweeny. I can't tell who is mother and who is daughter!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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It has been many years since <a href="http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/about.html" target="_blank">Arcadia Publishing</a> was at BEA. This is a really interesting publisher. Arcadia Publishing is the leading local history publisher in the United States, with a catalog of more than 8,500 titles in print and hundreds of new titles released every year. Talk about a profitable niche? They have it. I love their books and when in a new town or city that I'm interested in learning more about I look for one of their tomes.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNulYdAvkAaql7J49fPDZyDnF_moLDzawomUqUF8THYlEWG2VkjYMZYNZ1b9U1u_2FQvNMN97UCKhYJjow9BWO0A8CTZg6DxwhO3mjcn0nnjitojjp1GKi25NahMSYIRf1-HYLwQ/s1600/IMG_0062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNulYdAvkAaql7J49fPDZyDnF_moLDzawomUqUF8THYlEWG2VkjYMZYNZ1b9U1u_2FQvNMN97UCKhYJjow9BWO0A8CTZg6DxwhO3mjcn0nnjitojjp1GKi25NahMSYIRf1-HYLwQ/s1600/IMG_0062.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Arcadia rep... easy to look at and knows her products. This is a terrific publisher.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Old hippies never die... they just go into the book or t-shirt business. There were only two t-shirt outfits that I saw and <a href="http://libertygraphicstshirts.com/index.php/home.html" target="_blank">Liberty Graphics</a> was the best in show. They have been around forever and they have a neat line of literary products. My favorite was the take-off on E.A. Poe above Jeff Lord's head below.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hWpEKwTgBj9Ju44-4R32VLcqM7Q2H7Z2Re8lIq0DK-5G1Qi1E6MYZiNcQFmR8vdLRqHdll0lzWROO0AkDRIK3zAiJ8sRI_qhH0FpVvqxLOSAlKG4a7hoEcYtYOkltXyiCU1sIg/s1600/IMG_0063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hWpEKwTgBj9Ju44-4R32VLcqM7Q2H7Z2Re8lIq0DK-5G1Qi1E6MYZiNcQFmR8vdLRqHdll0lzWROO0AkDRIK3zAiJ8sRI_qhH0FpVvqxLOSAlKG4a7hoEcYtYOkltXyiCU1sIg/s1600/IMG_0063.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">... said the raven!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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There are always a fair number of countries that take large spaces at BEA. Some of the booths are the same year to year, but I think this is the first year Italy has had (i.e. paid for!) such a large presence.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUo4zpcanwbkGfRrnWX83nLqNEnIo91g26fkn7nZdE2LiIYiowIm1hh6TuwaBXFqeekArP-PIjUTSdTtEmHgSM1-ETnkpZNy2JvXrfKizzWB5WVSQcem3mEx4s5OSd83v3epWKg/s1600/IMG_0065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUo4zpcanwbkGfRrnWX83nLqNEnIo91g26fkn7nZdE2LiIYiowIm1hh6TuwaBXFqeekArP-PIjUTSdTtEmHgSM1-ETnkpZNy2JvXrfKizzWB5WVSQcem3mEx4s5OSd83v3epWKg/s1600/IMG_0065.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Italy had a huge booth, but hardly anyone was there. </td></tr>
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We all know about e-books but there are also 'hybrid' books... iPad software that 'works' with a hard copy tome. A small company out of Palm Beach Gardens, FL called <a href="http://mutasia.com/" target="_blank">Mutasia</a> has a terrific interactive group of products. They say that "Somewhere far away, in the uncharted realms of the ocean, lies the mysterious island of Mutasia. As one of the few unexplored places left on Earth, Mutasia is home to a previously unknown collection of wildlife, unique to the island of Mutasia.The inhabitants are called Mutasians and are mixed up mixes of every type of animal imaginable." Personally I think it sounds like the Bronx in New York City!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpQyZ4rSzX7JWA3gkN1-gFC0oUazuCdH-GavFHLjCsCHVMKAvHo5f1_RNhfpHU9f-zXO1SPya7rQDPonE0atsU9cf5Z-zyqTlqTuxWLsR5f8NPRW07qJMhSMnti1KUvCAqIOYgJw/s1600/IMG_0069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpQyZ4rSzX7JWA3gkN1-gFC0oUazuCdH-GavFHLjCsCHVMKAvHo5f1_RNhfpHU9f-zXO1SPya7rQDPonE0atsU9cf5Z-zyqTlqTuxWLsR5f8NPRW07qJMhSMnti1KUvCAqIOYgJw/s1600/IMG_0069.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brigitte VanBaelen of Mutasia</td></tr>
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Every year that I can remember the <a href="http://www.lronhubbard.org/books.html" target="_blank">L. Ron Hubbard </a>company takes a large booth and always does something kind of cool. One year they brought in a dixieland band and served champagne while we danced in the aisle. This year it was pirates... to hawk one of Ron's novels. The man has been dead for a who knows how long, but they push his books like he is still in the building... and I guess that they sell! L.Ron reminds me of Elvis!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdk6V3P0tf8Ochav-h56Fhtyf_P6KtuwpUNML0nwAG3f2xIWEtEY2jFu6rmXcxshFjjV8M9ODqw52Z8GXaDJsZMPf_1m3NyC5HCtenjPjZqiiIh3J4X5KEVTZaH9Zx4AwB2ZsoOg/s1600/IMG_0072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdk6V3P0tf8Ochav-h56Fhtyf_P6KtuwpUNML0nwAG3f2xIWEtEY2jFu6rmXcxshFjjV8M9ODqw52Z8GXaDJsZMPf_1m3NyC5HCtenjPjZqiiIh3J4X5KEVTZaH9Zx4AwB2ZsoOg/s1600/IMG_0072.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shiver me timbers... arrrgh!</td></tr>
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You've heard the old story that if you hang out in Times Square long enough you will eventually meet everyone you ever knew. Well, in the publishing biz, it's pretty much the same with BEA... if you attend enough of them. I went over to the IBPA exhibit and I ran into an old friend, <a href="http://peterberen.com/" target="_blank">Peter Beren</a>. When I say old friend, I mean it... Peter and I went to high school together and lived about three blocks apart. Peter is a literary agent and a publishing consultant to authors, self-publishers and independent publishers. Formerly Vice-President of Publishing at Palace Press International, Publisher of Sierra Club Books, Publisher of VIA Books and an Acquisitions Editor for Jeremy Tarcher, he has more than 35 years experience in the publishing industry. Need an agent? He's 'da man.'<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXr2u0lQHHdJ6Pvoout91F7mqAxQIg38tL0nS3Q4KJZPG5q0FDQ3gTmP4uUWNfodq9rkWX7gNiXY6Mvlkd4KbHInK9U3uRqonJq5Cc8Or5N0iSn-bIqHSv1lEHMVwmZ2DTdI2Ig/s1600/IMG_0080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXr2u0lQHHdJ6Pvoout91F7mqAxQIg38tL0nS3Q4KJZPG5q0FDQ3gTmP4uUWNfodq9rkWX7gNiXY6Mvlkd4KbHInK9U3uRqonJq5Cc8Or5N0iSn-bIqHSv1lEHMVwmZ2DTdI2Ig/s1600/IMG_0080.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always nice to see an old friend</td></tr>
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Being a tech-nerd myself I always look forward to seeing the exhibits from the technology sector. This year BEA had a Digital Discovery Zone, not only booths but kiosks for some small companies to show their e-readers, conversion programs, and other stuff. Unfortunately, it didn't generate too much traffic mainly because it was way off to the far left (west) side of the hall... actually I think it was in New Jersey :-)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRHsVtvWa3kFDte3I7o_8vNzMcpRrkRGd0Xw-YiGOG6fU2UyYY7GfmA0-MmNt5M2_UOAWI605rL74ASNBkhz_daHvKhd0WqDUiyaZhgsMyagLB30hJps3-7MqpiGwfqROzU4JhQ/s1600/IMG_0076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRHsVtvWa3kFDte3I7o_8vNzMcpRrkRGd0Xw-YiGOG6fU2UyYY7GfmA0-MmNt5M2_UOAWI605rL74ASNBkhz_daHvKhd0WqDUiyaZhgsMyagLB30hJps3-7MqpiGwfqROzU4JhQ/s1600/IMG_0076.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a good thing these booths and kiosks didn't cost much as there was little traffic</td></tr>
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I saw one piece of technology that I thought was kind of cool. It is called <a href="http://beneaththeink.com/" target="_blank">Beneath The Ink</a>. Using Beneath the Ink technology, it's easy for authors to embed additional content for readers to access when they choose. These enhancements are called Binks™. Each Bink™ gives readers more insight into the characters, places, concepts, and words that pique their curiosity — without ever leaving their page. It is hard to explain so you just have to go to their site and see it. This could work if the big players ever discover it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCu3fAFNanz5qkZURjR9nVuJV-M8shafBBehjLpmlZvltjXCxYJrwwPDAAtVbHltgQBvzV4gpPfNqOKpofH4tngWyzEArzM-_ltRqnXKB7CrR3ubE3DJP-EFJnPZTnwKIABDQDQ/s1600/IMG_0075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCu3fAFNanz5qkZURjR9nVuJV-M8shafBBehjLpmlZvltjXCxYJrwwPDAAtVbHltgQBvzV4gpPfNqOKpofH4tngWyzEArzM-_ltRqnXKB7CrR3ubE3DJP-EFJnPZTnwKIABDQDQ/s1600/IMG_0075.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Olivia Tufo showing her technology working on the iPad. It's very cool.</td></tr>
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Of course everyone's hated ISBN provider was at the show. The two good things you can say about Bowker is that they are less arrogant and less disorganized than Ingram! I asked them "What is this year's story" and they didn't seem to have one... at least not one I remember. But the three women were so sweet and very kind and it made me forget how the company gouges authors and publishers for ISBN numbers. One day someone will come along and put Bowker's whole ISBN business out of business... can't happen soon enough for most members of the small press who have limited budgets.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-7c71wIDqDjciLEaTOLlSZuxLmSLk7ecFijCfFEwORPkjJqymB_pIUHb-f3NGVXUlIlArT8o_CbBLyqvHLKcsvEh1i3xFtH4sQaXodgxPYlnImndt8QM47pV6iXYuK7Rl4R4dw/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-7c71wIDqDjciLEaTOLlSZuxLmSLk7ecFijCfFEwORPkjJqymB_pIUHb-f3NGVXUlIlArT8o_CbBLyqvHLKcsvEh1i3xFtH4sQaXodgxPYlnImndt8QM47pV6iXYuK7Rl4R4dw/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The charming women at Bowker. Nice people. but an arm and leg for an ISBN? C'mon man!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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About the only vendor who had lots of traffic in the mostly deserted tech area was <a href="http://bookbaby.com/" target="_blank">Bookbaby</a>. BB reminds me of Amazon and WalMart. Each wants to do and sell everything and wants to put everyone who competes with them out of biz. Of course in trying to do everything neither do anything all that well. BB does a few things well, but I think they have their butts on too many pots. However, they hire nice people and so that says something good about the firm. I asked for the twenty-second pitch and I got a dog and pony show... none of it I remember.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7WPyClFNWMdKXC9ELBGWPmun5vb5cg5yyr3q8Amj59SzHBwzyNAHJlgvVu9y0ug6qps9CuGetuDiOzEA97XcDRB0oToiQ_vo-OGWoLcBRuANjI-8qrRmn_HQVfpas_D25iUNVg/s1600/IMG_0078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7WPyClFNWMdKXC9ELBGWPmun5vb5cg5yyr3q8Amj59SzHBwzyNAHJlgvVu9y0ug6qps9CuGetuDiOzEA97XcDRB0oToiQ_vo-OGWoLcBRuANjI-8qrRmn_HQVfpas_D25iUNVg/s1600/IMG_0078.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not sure what Scott McCormick was showing me but it looked interesting. They need an 'elevator' speech.</td></tr>
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One of the big attractions of BEA is the autograph area where people will stand in line for hours to get a signed book by a favorite author. In my experience most of those getting copies are librarians and teachers. It is always a happy section of the BEA hall.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcuZVqMGrx32wpadA7AF2X8XD6qm2lMK5Gfc5Htk2s09ov0IVO8orRS-lld4Lwlou34fCtstz-LvEoQev0ayHPa-dq0qWGF5edV-FIaRRnVf4UueQYhbOvqnVCVq58sdo8Go8tg/s1600/IMG_0083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcuZVqMGrx32wpadA7AF2X8XD6qm2lMK5Gfc5Htk2s09ov0IVO8orRS-lld4Lwlou34fCtstz-LvEoQev0ayHPa-dq0qWGF5edV-FIaRRnVf4UueQYhbOvqnVCVq58sdo8Go8tg/s1600/IMG_0083.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a nice gesture but I never heard of the Book Industry Foundation. Maybe it's like The Human Fund? :-)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51PBRkzem7CmQHyBOCuJCU9ngef2YO0KZmL_gJHZjG28kEjUAhyphenhyphen-OAmtVvuO4jRDNCVUrT9hBtjPYZ2h6un8aPOJ6Of2Wxiv1bDsW5mJjuZd3ctuuT3WAtAiYQ7GQdtbG5XfbNw/s1600/IMG_0084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51PBRkzem7CmQHyBOCuJCU9ngef2YO0KZmL_gJHZjG28kEjUAhyphenhyphen-OAmtVvuO4jRDNCVUrT9hBtjPYZ2h6un8aPOJ6Of2Wxiv1bDsW5mJjuZd3ctuuT3WAtAiYQ7GQdtbG5XfbNw/s1600/IMG_0084.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Want a free book? This is the place!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I love animals. Sorry, but I'm a sucker for pet stuff. This is the first year that I didn't see a real dog or cat or any other animal in a booth. But there was a company called <a href="http://www.pawitforward.net/pages/about-us" target="_blank">Paw It Forward</a> that warmed my heart. They have shirts, and hats, and calendars, and books about Ella and other dogs. They say their mission is to celebrate great dogs who are changing the world by inspiring kids to change the world through kindness. I bet when they go to bed at night they feel pretty good about what they are doing.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3L3kuKlPDG2aSRJIGndHgS_Ot5XXH7G8rmvatIo4lsxzgOpjodDbaWezj6wCToHjv8F5FgGcFCbrqbjA6acRVfNax3PkfLau-SaZF12ElQ3TbYt8DyU9xETtqbVriCYzBGw8qWA/s1600/IMG_0086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3L3kuKlPDG2aSRJIGndHgS_Ot5XXH7G8rmvatIo4lsxzgOpjodDbaWezj6wCToHjv8F5FgGcFCbrqbjA6acRVfNax3PkfLau-SaZF12ElQ3TbYt8DyU9xETtqbVriCYzBGw8qWA/s1600/IMG_0086.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wish them well because I like their mission of inspiring acts of kindness.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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There were a number of other vendors hawking stuff on the floor. This is the first year that I saw BEA actually sell t-shirts... and they were quite good. I was told they sold in years past but never had a front-and-center location like they did this year. They were doing a land-office business as you can see by the empty bins.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYPloR8w84QgGtfyn87CrXPnOSKYesN_E6LyMr0MCgGHXQL4fAn0vVoTQ7nxO7M0zidky-O6BbP6hUiPgeUAvr1s0NwrF2NQPE5kI76oThTm1-sbtSwtGcO_hTR67actf8mbupw/s1600/IMG_0087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYPloR8w84QgGtfyn87CrXPnOSKYesN_E6LyMr0MCgGHXQL4fAn0vVoTQ7nxO7M0zidky-O6BbP6hUiPgeUAvr1s0NwrF2NQPE5kI76oThTm1-sbtSwtGcO_hTR67actf8mbupw/s1600/IMG_0087.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very clever shirts ... they sold well.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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And then there was a cute little cart for a company called <a href="http://starlingeyewear.com/" target="_blank">Starling Eyewear</a> selling eyeglasses in very smart-looking frames. I would have bought them but I can't use non-prescription 'readers.' However, I loved the booth-cart and the quality of their frames.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguRY5bsr-BSHNWGmSjcGDUrPwQSuFQtOR75JlO6xBT_8sDw3eg_TPJPIXbiBlwuSwVZlDH6WstvC2gPwlI2w54pcIWHBWkfghsZ3MOi6I0DRfXvC5G3WXdYPIKMFe92f3EuBYyXg/s1600/IMG_0088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguRY5bsr-BSHNWGmSjcGDUrPwQSuFQtOR75JlO6xBT_8sDw3eg_TPJPIXbiBlwuSwVZlDH6WstvC2gPwlI2w54pcIWHBWkfghsZ3MOi6I0DRfXvC5G3WXdYPIKMFe92f3EuBYyXg/s1600/IMG_0088.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sight for sore eyes?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Finally, in the "I wanna buy it" category was the most terrific and comfortable chair I've tried in a long time. Yeah, we've all seen bean-bag furniture, but this is different. <a href="http://www.yogibo.com/" target="_blank">Yogibo</a> is definitely not the bean bag chair you had as a kid. Unlike the traditional bean bags of the past, the Yogibo reinvents itself with every use – accommodates the most demanding of bean bag enthusiasts. Yogibos are made from super-comfy, cotton-lycra fabric that stretches and moves with you. It feels luxurious against your skin and combined with the near-frictionless beads it completely molds to your body; making Yogibos “shockingly comfortable.” I tried it. I loved it.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbAfvwqUsX-f6R8NZc-z0_qsaz11ZjOLkeHZtAGPeGuB5Q2ayRiQZBpfc7b2y6CuGrw9iHQ-v_4meQXVMnZaNkAcWax7GgdcCR9-EwCEcpmElxMIHDX5a74I_PF2I9HwGe6Dys3g/s1600/IMG_0091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbAfvwqUsX-f6R8NZc-z0_qsaz11ZjOLkeHZtAGPeGuB5Q2ayRiQZBpfc7b2y6CuGrw9iHQ-v_4meQXVMnZaNkAcWax7GgdcCR9-EwCEcpmElxMIHDX5a74I_PF2I9HwGe6Dys3g/s1600/IMG_0091.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You gotta get one of these. I'm going to. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Each year that I do this electronic page-turner (and this is my 19th year) I always present what I think is the best book in the show. By best I mean most interesting... at least to me. You can make your own choice.<br />
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This year there is a tie.<br />
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The first is <a href="http://www.uptowngrowlab.net/" target="_blank">The Kitchen</a>. I'll let them explain it in their own words:<br />
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"UptownGrowLab has been around in one form or another for more than 35 years. Our first and overriding interest in this plant was driven by the need for medicine that could help deal with chronic abdominal pain and discomfort suffered by one of our partners. We have decided to share the fruits of our labor with you, and this is the objective of our website. Like anything, it will evolve, but for now we are trying to keep things simple – primarily displaying images of flowers that are beautiful not just in how they look but in their power to ease people’s pain or discomfort or alter one’s consciousness in a positive way. "<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitTH2eGEhAdKV-9KSMOGVUukEAn_6tJ3d7ux8uHbq_C9HmjXHBkFfxTLhAKP2DUl4zuLfSINQjTFORUaEF2mofANPX7TWmuDH6eG80ZbfuA4ugzOGQM_qtdGQ-VNKZpak7e1kOpQ/s1600/IMG_0093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitTH2eGEhAdKV-9KSMOGVUukEAn_6tJ3d7ux8uHbq_C9HmjXHBkFfxTLhAKP2DUl4zuLfSINQjTFORUaEF2mofANPX7TWmuDH6eG80ZbfuA4ugzOGQM_qtdGQ-VNKZpak7e1kOpQ/s1600/IMG_0093.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A terrific book that is best in show.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Finally, there is a book that words just can't do justice to<br />
<br />
My choice for this year's best book is <a href="http://www.photomohan.us/" target="_blank">Mohan Bhasker's "Seven Continents</a>" landscape photography book filled with 244 photographs from all seven continents including thrilling and adventurous stories enshrining his adventurous spirit. It is HUGE. This was the best book I saw at the BEA and you just have to see it! It cost $295 but it is something you will keep a lifetime and pass on to your survivors. Just see it!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQIc_RM4Lp36Mmb8Fehv8q16DKuGSgU21Sn5PdAVwqr6fB_g7Glro08gGLqIHWJ2LFEIyZ3VYGZi2dC-rgCerO3FHuyos8-SaQ5ImzP_zm-Rc-8ZIWrmZ8ZJyi9JJcz-P-jg6dvg/s1600/IMG_0041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQIc_RM4Lp36Mmb8Fehv8q16DKuGSgU21Sn5PdAVwqr6fB_g7Glro08gGLqIHWJ2LFEIyZ3VYGZi2dC-rgCerO3FHuyos8-SaQ5ImzP_zm-Rc-8ZIWrmZ8ZJyi9JJcz-P-jg6dvg/s1600/IMG_0041.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photographer (right) and Ms. Michelle Parra. Pix does not do this book justice, You have to see it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><br /></b>
<b>Summary</b><br />
<br />
The first thing I noticed this year was that there were even less members of my press brethren than last year. Reed knows how many press people registered for the show, but I and my colleague who brings you this electronic time-waster thought there were fewer reporters than last year... and there weren't that many then either.<br />
<br />
To get a press credential this year was even more rigorous than last year from what people told me. As I wrote earlier, when we made the BEA press committee aware of these many yearly postings as well as the <a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/bsab/about.html">various articles that appear from our coverage</a> in media around the world, we had no trouble.<br />
<br />
By their actions I think BEA is discouraging the media by making the press register and then show <u>actual reporting on the show itself</u>, as well as also taking three weeks to a month to made a decision. Add to that the fact that they didn't open press registration until mid-March... well it is makes it difficult for media to get travel and budget approval, to say nothing about having to make late (and expensive) reservations for lodging.<br />
<br />
To their credit, BEA, via Roger Bilheimer Associates does a great job keeping media folks updated on all of the various activities, and speakers. The BEA iPhone app was also a big help.<br />
<br />
Press and media issues aside, bottom line, Reed knows how to put on a successful trade show. No one does it as well as Reed. They are at the top of their game at BEA.<br />
<br />
People always ask if the show was well attended. I think it was. My bet is that 15,000 people went to BEA this year... maybe a few more not counting the members of the public who were admitted to a special section on the last day. And I think there were at least the same number of booths as last year, although some publishers took smaller ones than in the past.<br />
<br />
Since I make it a point to cover the small and mid-size press who seek exposure, I'm not sure what the business model is for the large publishers who spend upwards to $150,000 for their (large) space, as well as food and lodging for their staff. But I guess it must pencil out since they come back year after year.<br />
<br />
(I always find it ironic that the largest and most important player in the industry does not take a booth... Amazon. And this year Google decided to skip the show.)<br />
<br />
Next year we are back in New York and after that we're off to Chicago.<br />
<br />
I hope you enjoyed this year's wrap. It's a lot of work for me and my colleague (Mayapriya Long) to do but it is a labor of 'love' and we will continue it... so long as BEA continues to give us a press credential.<br />
<br />
If you want to see some of the past editions, here they are:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="p1">
2013: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2013/06/bea-diary-2013.html">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2013/06/bea-diary-2013.html</a></div>
<div class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<span class="s1">2012: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2012/06/bea-2012.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2012/06/bea-2012.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2011: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2011/06/bea-diary-2011.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2011/06/bea-diary-2011.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2010: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2010/06/bea-diary-2010.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2010/06/bea-diary-2010.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2009: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/bea-2009.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/bea-2009.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2008: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2008/06/bea-diary-2008.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2008/06/bea-diary-2008.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2007: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2007/06/bea-diary-2007.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2007/06/bea-diary-2007.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2006: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2005: <a href="http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2005/06/bea-diary-2005.html" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://asaturdayrant.blogspot.com/2005/06/bea-diary-2005.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2004: <a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/wpab/rantlist/rant6-12-2004" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://www.adams-blake.com/wpab/rantlist/rant6-12-2004</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2003: <a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/wpab/rantlist/rant6-7-03" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://www.adams-blake.com/wpab/rantlist/rant6-7-03</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2002: <a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/wpab/rantlist/rant05-11-02" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://www.adams-blake.com/wpab/rantlist/rant05-11-02</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2001: <a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/wpab/rantlist/bea2001diary" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://www.adams-blake.com/wpab/rantlist/bea2001diary</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">2000: <a href="http://www.adams-blake.com/wpab/rantlist/bea2000diary" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;"><span class="s2">http://www.adams-blake.com/wpab/rantlist/bea2000diary</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">You MAY (and are encouraged to) share the link to this piece or reprint any part of it without prior permission so long as you use the following attribution:</span><br />
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Per usual, if you have comments or corrections, please send them to bea-diary at adams-blake dot com<br />
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<br />Alan Cantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16958757621941522051noreply@blogger.com