Two interesting blog posts about children and ereaders

(picture from Clipart ETC)

About a year ago, my sister sent me a link to a blog post by Eric Kimmel about whether we'll be seeing e-picture books.

Mr. Kimmel was responding to an article in the NY Times which describes the development of color monitors on ereaders. The article's author strongly believes that the spread of these devices will attract child readers.

Mr. Kimmel brings up many salient points, both pro and con ereaders for children. On the pro side: producing an ebook is much cheaper than producing a full-color picture book with glossy paper; children might be attracted to the format. On the negative side: whose device are they reading on? Is a small child able to handle an ereader independently? Is the gimmick of the format going to wear off? Is it going to become another excuse for publishers not to acquire and produce picture books (which is already a big problem)?

I recalled that post today when I read another article, this time on the Motherlode blog of the NY Times. http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/why-books-are-better-than-e-books-for-children/
The author, KJ Dell'antonia, recently read a Time Magazine article about children's literacy and ereaders. The Time article suggests that children interact differently with ebooks than with print literature--and so do the adults facilitating the reading experience. These habits negatively impact their ability to learn to read.

In the Jewish community, there's an additional issue: a lot of relaxed family time takes place on Shabbat and Yom Tov. That's when Ima and Abba have time to curl up with Junior and Juniorette and read. For many of us, that means no electronic devices. Sure, we'll read an ebook, but not on Shabbos.

Maybe e-picture books do have a future--actually, I'm betting they do. But they'll need to address at least some of these failings in order make them take over the picture book market entirely.

Great link to a book review site for those of us who want a good clean book to read

I've just discovered this fabulous resource, the Library of Clean Reads, a blog by Laura Fabiani.

http://libraryofcleanreads.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html

There are a few other similar sites out there, most of them by LDS women. However, this one has no references to Mormon or Christian beliefs and doesn't review religious books. Definitely worth checking out.

Exciting 2012 AJL Conference Announcement

Wahoo! 

In 2012, the national AJL conference will be held in the Los Angeles area! It will be Sunday, June 17th in Pasadena, at the beautiful Langham Hotel. All the info will soon be on the www.jewishlibraries.org website.  Writers, librarians, teachers, illustrators or parents can attend the entire conference or opt only to visit select daytime events. One highlight is hearing the winners of annual Sydney Taylor awards speak.  The wonderful librarian Lisa Silverman of Sinai Temple Library says that attendees will have opportunities to meet a lot of people in the field. (She also assured me that the food will be kosher.)

Because of this exciting local event, Lisa informs me that they will not be holding a West Coast Children’s Jewish Literature Conference this April. That's too bad, but I'm very excited about the opportunity to attend the conference without having to book plane tickets or a hotel! Pass on the info to any L.A. area book-lovers who might be interested. Additionally, if you want to present a session at the conference, you can still submit a topic until December 31st. Follow the link below:

http://www.jewishlibraries.org/main/Events/AnnualConvention.aspx

Don't get taken advantage of!

Recently, I've had a few friends who have approached me about sketchy sounding publishing deals they were being offered.

This is not a new problem. For example, for years, there have been people who advertise that they are compiling a book of poetry. They request submissions, but in order to be included, you have to pay. Then, you must pay additional money to receive each copy you might want to own or distribute to friends.

However, with the advent of self-publishing, the problem has escalated. It can be very hard to tell the difference between a self-publisher that's genuine (like CreateSpace or Lulu or many if not all the major Jewish ones) and someone like Publish America who doesn't charge you up front, but then demands extraordinarily high prices for any "needed" services (like editing) and then overcharges on shipping every copy you want and sets prices so high that buyers are turned off. Not only that, but the wrong publisher (even some traditional ones that are big names) can sneak things into the contract that limit your rights regarding overseas sales, translations, ebook or film rights, and so on.

Additionally, even many legit self-publishers will forget to tell you that the average self-published book will never sell more than 100 copies--so it is highly likely you'll never recoup your investment unless you study book marketing and prepare to premote yourself like crazy.

If you want to be taken seriously as an author, there's another concern: there's less prestige associated with self-publishing than going the traditional route. (By the way, this is less true in the Jewish world, where it has always been common to self-publish, co-publish or to pay for publication through donations.) However, self-publishing isn't the no-no it used to be so long as you are sufficiently informed about the process.

The lesson from all is this is do your research BEFORE submitting to a publisher or agent, and certainly before signing any paperwork. These two sites are must-sees for anyone contemplating a book or article submission:

Writer Beware
http://accrispin.blogspot.com/

Preditors and Editors
http://pred-ed.com/

Electronic Publishing

On a couple of my LinkedIn groups, there have been some fascinating conversations lately about self-publishing. At this point in my life, I can't imagine starting such a project--unless we're discussing ebooks.

As I have mentioned before, the novel I'm currently working on is so quirky, I'm a little afraid of its publishing possibilities. I'm also considering an anthology of my stories (including ones that have previously appeared in magazines). I can't imagine spending the money on self-publishing up front--but ebooks can be printed with services like Lulu for virtually nothing. Moreover, if you price your book in the magic window of $.99 to $2.99, you can get a lot of downloads. The author's share of the profit is higher, and they can accumulate into a little pile of spending money.

I tested out a Kindle last week.

Definitely a weird experience for me. The sound, smell and tactile experiences of reading an ebook are so different than with a print one, and your eyes and hands operate so differently, that it was a little off-putting. 

I visited the Lulu site, too. There are a LOT of details, details traditionally published authors don't handle.

Additionally, I have concerns about how well ebooks are penetrating the Jewish market. My most recent Artscroll and Feldheim catalogs do boast ebook offerings, and here are some links to Jewish e-book sites online:

http://www.jewish-e-books.com/

http://www.publishersrow.com/ebookshuk/

Definitely more research is in order.

Wonderful reads this weekend

I had one of those weekends where I spent a lot of time enjoying magazines. On Motzei Shabbos (Saturday night), I got my Winter 2011 edition of The Mulberry Tree (the official magazine of St. Mary's College of Maryland), and it included a tribute to the late professor Alan Paskow. Dr. Paskow's wife, Jacqueline, was my French professor for several semesters and the couple was notable not just for their intellectual brilliance, but for their kindness and dedication to their students.

The Mulberry Tree article excerpted a talk Dr. Paskow had given shortly before his retirement from SMC, entitled "On Writing an Academic Book." I'm finding that I identify with a lot of what Dr. Paskow says in it about the process of writing his 2004 book book, The Paradoxes of Art: A Phenomenological Investigation. Take this:

"One of the first things I experienced in beginning my work was a periodic reminder that no one had asked me to write it...One of the most difficult tasks in writing the book was to suppress thoughts about how it would be received, even whether it would be received at all. I would think: No one will publish this thing."

This is precisely the thought that has run through my head about the novel I'm supposed revise (and which I keep finding excuses not to). It's really a great comfort to share your most recent existential crisis with someone you really admire, and even more a comfort to know that he was able to persist, completing his book and successfully publishing it. Here's a link to Alan Paskow's book. http://www.amazon.com/Paradoxes-Art-Phenomenological-Investigation/dp/0521828333 I think it's out of print, so if you want to get your hands on it without spending a lot, your best bet is probably borrowing it from a university library.

(The book addresses the idea of why fictional characters and even images of people that appear in paintings affect our emotions, even when we are fully aware they are not real. Personally, I think this quality of art is a defense of both the arts and arts education. Dr. Paskow concludes, interestingly, that the fictional subjects of works of art achieve a sort of quasi-reality that allows us to interact with them. While at first glance, such an assertion seems peculiar, think about the legions of Harry Potter and Twilight fans who talk about the characters as if they are personal friends of theirs and dress in costumes appropriate to the books. Or think about the Cornelia Funke book Inkheart and the story "I Remember the Future" by Michael Burstein.)

The other interesting read this weekend was an outstanding profile of Gadi Pollack in the Inyan Magazine (HaModia) for Parshas Vayeishev. Most people are more familiar with Mr. Pollack's artwork than his name. Here's a link to some of the books he has illustrated.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&ie=UTF8&field-author=Gadi%20Pollack

The article in Inyan detailed how Mr. Pollack integrates his artwork and his spiritual life in an inspirational way. I recommend picking up the article while last week's magazine is still on the shelf.

How sharing literature, movies, and music can lead to important conversations with your kids

I just read this interesting article in the Chicago Sun-Times about how reading/watching the final episode of the Twilight trilogy is a great jumping off point for mothers to address serious issues with their teenaged daughters. http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/9007549-452/vampire-fantasy-can-spark-real-life-dialog.html