I am neither a physicist, nor the son of a physicist, but it’s undoubtedly a fascinating topic.  Here are the top 10 current best sellers:

1) The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom
Farmelo, Graham
Basic Books
2009. ISBN 0465018270 [9780465018277]. $29.95

2) Einstein’s Generation: The Origins of the Relativity Revolution
Staley, Richard
University of Chicago Press
2008. ISBN 0226770567 [9780226770567]. $98

3) The Speed of Light: Constancy & Cosmos
Grandy, David
Indiana University Press
2009. ISBN 025335322X [9780253353221]. $50

4) What Color Is the Sacred?
Taussig, Michael T.
University of Chicago Press
2009. ISBN 0226790053 [9780226790053]. $65

5) Plastic Fantastic: How the Biggest Fraud in Physics Shook the Scientific World
Reich, Eugenie Samuel
Palgrave Macmillan
2009. ISBN 0230224679 [9780230224674]. $26.95

6) Cracking the Einstein Code: Relativity and the Birth of Black Hole Physics
Melia, Fulvio
University of Chicago Press
2009. ISBN 0226519511 [9780226519517]. $25

7) Lives in Science: How Institutions Affect Academic Careers
Hermanowicz, Joseph C.
University of Chicago Press
2009. ISBN 0226327612 [9780226327617]. $55

Quantum Theory: A Philosopher’s Overview
Cannavo, Salvator
State University of New York Press
2009. ISBN 0791493474 [9780791493472]. $60

9) Deciphering the Cosmic Number: The Strange Friendship of Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung
Miller, Arthur I.
W.W. Norton
2009. ISBN 0393065324 [9780393065329]. $27.95

10) Collider: The Search for the World’s Smallest Particles
Halpern, Paul
John Wiley
2009. ISBN 0470286202 [9780470286203]. $27.95

Via Library Journal.  Click here for the full list of the top 20.

Heather McCormack of LJ's BookSmack!

With last week’s sad announcement that Kirkus is being shuttered, we thought it might be nice to spotlight some of the creative people and places who are doing their darnedest to provide book industry pros and general readers alike great reviews and book news. One such place — Library Journal’s fantastic online newsletter BookSmack!

For just over a year,  BookSmack!’s seasoned library-type editors have been been delivering high-impact reviews of street lit, genre fiction, graphic novels, audio, and DVDs, along with edgy RA, in-depth prepub info, and industry buzz. I recently had the pleasure of corresponding with Heather McCormack,  BookSmack’s editor (and conflicted novelist in training), who shared not only what makes BookSmack rock, but a little bit about her own love of things literary.

What prompted the creation of BookSmack!?

As I recall, a push for electronic newsletters came from on high two or three years ago in Library Journal’s parent company, Reed Business Information. My colleagues and I took what was essentially a corporate mandate and created something meaningful we’d wanted for a long time: both a supplement and a complement to the print Book Review; an avenue for reviewing more books, pop and niche, that strengthened our connection with our audience and showed our sense of humor.

That’s where I come in—I felt strongly from the start that being funny and left-of-center could be the clincher. Comedy is hard, but being boring about books in this day and age is criminal. With BookSmack! I knew we had the opportunity both to capitalize on librarians’ reputations as book authorities and to smash the tired stereotype of them as Uptight Protectors of Silence. Long story short, I hired Douglas Lord to write the Books for Dudes column—which I can only describe as an absurdist lollercoaster cum collection development tool—and encourage other contributors to inject their voices into book reviews. The effects are more often than not blog-like and just as authoritative as what you find in the print magazine. In fact, I think we might have more authority because we sound so invested and honest.

How do you choose the reviewed titles, themes (like the breast cancer theme), and features?

Our regular columnists Neal Wyatt, Douglas Lord, Angelina Benedetti, Vanessa Morris, and Rollie Welch are whip-smart librarians who know their audiences, so they decide what makes the cut, taking into account suggestions from their editors. I do assign what we call Short Takes for perennially popular categories like memoir, topical themes like breast cancer, and areas that I think might be building momentum or have mostly been ignored (e.g., autism-themed fiction). Our goal with the coverage is to alert librarians to great books old, recent, and forthcoming. It’s dicey-as-hell prognostication coupled with what some of our readers call “catch-up collection development,” meaning, “You might’ve missed these titles upon their original publication, but order them now.”

How is it being received by the librarian community?

BookSmack! is but a wee baby, only a year and three months old. We did our first formal readership survey last summer, and people are happy for the most part with the review coverage, tone, and look. There’s definitely room for improvement—readers want more book information, faster—but our first steps were steadier than I originally thought.

Are you proactively trying to reach out to the younger, hipper, more urban reading audience by boosting acquisition of those kinds of titles? Is that one of the hoped for outcomes of BookSmack!?

I would love it if BookSmack! became an e-bible for book fiends unconnected to librarianship, no matter their age or zip code.

But, no, I am not consciously trying to be hip with BookSmack! I think that would be a mistake. I resent the logic that librarians should have to aspire to haute coolness because most of them are already such individuals—they just get slammed with that dowdy label.

Are the titles/ other content that you cover in BookSmack aimed at any one age group?

The columns Books for Dudes and 35 Going on 13 cater to specific audiences in theory, but there is mucho crossover appeal in Doug’s and Angelina’s selections. The aim overall is to showcase damn good books for different tastes and moods. General readers can easily dip into those sections.

Books for Dudes cracks me up, but I can see how it might be filling a void. Do you think library collections seem to hold more titles that are of interest to women, then they do to men?

A library in wealthy suburban Connecticut is very different from one in inner-city Detroit and another in rural North Dakota. A good collection meets the needs of its users, so it’s not wise for me to say that most libraries are tipped toward women. That said, the “dude” demographic—twenty- to fortysomething males—is not noted for using libraries, and that’s why we created Books for Dudes. Librarians asked for guidance in attracting Gen-X, Gen-Y, and millennial males. My two cents: they read a shit-ton, but they could use pointers in getting beyond graphic novels, David Sedaris, and porn (so could a lot of women, for that matter).

What titles from 2009 have most surprised you?

If you mean “surprise” in the sense that they were surprisingly good, not many. I am a notorious jerk when it comes to books. I love them, and I hate them in the same way people can be ambivalent about friends, family, and lovers. Books mean a lot to me, but because people so frequently screw them up in terms of writing, editing, and marketing, etc., I get angry with them. I used to silk-screen my own T-shirts in high school, and I’ve often thought about busting out my squeegees to make a BOOK LOVE HURTS line.

To the point: Most fiction and nonfiction reads formulaically to me. In the bloated memoir category, however, I found a friend in Danny Evans’s eloquent and profane Rage Against the Meshugenah: Why It Takes Balls To Go Nuts and Alex Lemon’s electric Happy. Graphic novels à la David Small’s Stitches have also put me under their spell. I think they are beautifully in synch with the 21^st-century attention span, a delicate balance of just the right amount of text and image for our info-bombarded brains.

What titles are you excited about for 2010?

A few months ago, I had the great pleasure of attending the Association of American Publishers Libraries Committee Spring 2010 Book Buzz, where I first heard about Keeping Chickens with Ashley English [stop laughing at me, Kat]. This is a classic example of a how-to book I will never likely use for its stated aims. I love the idea of raising chickens in Brooklyn; of using the nicknames of The Clash (Jonesey, Simmo, etc.) to christen my flock; and collecting fresh eggs in a basket and preparing omelets for my friends. But will I do all this? Probably not. This is akin to armchair travel, except we’re talking about rearing fowl as pets.

P.S. I heart Nick Flynn, so very curious about The Ticking Is the Bomb. Anyone heard about Zadie Smith working on a new novel? I’ve always connected with her.
What kind of titles do you enjoy reading the most?

These days, I have such a short, fragmented bus-subway commute that I can only handle comics or graphic novels. Besides being fun to ingest, they’ve given me great ideas about how to approach finishing my novel and what to write in the future.

I’m a big multiple-reads person. I like to mix up fiction, nonfiction, and glossy/semiglossy magazine. On my bedside table (that is, the floor), I have Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (about a quarter through); Alan Moore’s Watchmen (its new smell gives me migraines, so can’t get past page 15; someone please lend me an older copy!); and several back issues of Yoga Journal.
What is your favorite part about working in the book biz?

My job has steeped me in the world of librarianship, home to some of the smartest, funniest, and most bizarre people I’ve ever met. They have taught me about great music and literature, helped me through personal trials, and inspired me to take a stand on important ideas. I’m a better reader, editor, and person because of my interaction with them. Really, really glad I never got that copyediting gig at Glamour.

—————————————————————————–

If you aren’t already a subscriber, go sign up for BookSmack! right away. It’s a fantastic resource and a fun read – plus, this Thursday’s issue includes BookSmack!’s second-annual gift guide featuring books and multimedia. Follow Heather on Twitter at @hmccormack and @LJBookReview.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has once again been designated a “Five-Star” library. This is a due in large part to the support and patronage we receive from you, the people of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Thanks!

Wondering what a Five-Star Library is? It’s the highest possible rating given out by the Library Journal, and it’s similar to the Michelin and Mobile guides used for restaurants and hotels. They’ve actually given it to use twice: first in February 2009, then again in November 2009. You can read more on our website.

Come on in to the Library or visit our website at www.cmlibrary.org to find out what’s going on at the Library. Not only can you help us celebrate our five stars, but your very presence can help us keep our Five-Star designation in the future! How’s that, you ask? The Library Journal Index is based equally on four things: visits, circulation, program attendance, and public Internet computer use.

Phantom, an anthology of “literary horror” edited by Sean Wallace and Paul Tremblay, is now available on Amazon and in shops in general. I just came across the Library Journal review, which says:

The most outstanding piece is Lavie Tidhar’s “Set Down This,” a devastating story of YouTube videos, the Iraq War and the unknown lives on both sides of the conflict.

Nice!

18 November 2009

Just came across this October pre-pub mention of Long for This World.  Kind of exciting!

Featuring Sonya Chung, Chang-Rae Lee, Mark Spragg, and David Cruise

By Barbara Hoffert — Library Journal, 10/1/2009 10:31:00 AM

Books can take you places. In this edition’s fiction, Sonya Chung and Chang-Rae Lee travel to Korea, while Philip Kerr and Craig Nova visit 1930s Berlin. Also in fiction, Mark Spragg heads out West, as do nonfiction authors Laura Bell, memoirist of her life in Montana, and David Cruise and Alison Griffiths, biographers of Wild Horse Annie.

[The blurb on LFTW:]

Having fled Korea for America in 1953, Han returns with his daughter, a war photographer injured in Baghdad. What recommends this first novel? Chung’s many honors, including a Pushcart Prize nomination and the Charles Johnson Fiction Award. Plus publisher support, as evidenced by the reading group guide and other book club materials. See Chung’s Facebook page.

Here’s the link to the full Library Journal entry.

Gordon Bell and I published an article in the Library Journal 9/15/2009

The rise of digital records of daily life means unmatched access to our pasts, presenting both challenge and opportunity to libraries

When Stanford University obtained the Buckminster Fuller archive, it heralded it as “one of the most extensive known personal archives in existence.” Taking up 2000 linear feet of shelf space, including hundreds of thousands of pages and over 4000 hours of audio/video, Fuller’s collection does indeed sound impressive. But Fuller, considered an eccentric for leaving behind such an enormous corpus, will be put to shame by the vast repository of electronic memories (e-memories) created by the average Joe of the next generation. And these e-memory archives will take up a lot less shelf space.

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DATE: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 | TIME: Noon–1:00 PM EST | REGISTER TODAY
Libraries are continuing to evolve and are using new technologies to expand their presence as virtual knowledge centers for information sharing communities. Patrons conducting research remotely are increasingly using mobile devices and accessing resources in multiple languages.

Librarians as 21st century knowledge technologists as well as electronic information experts need to offer easily accessible library-specific solutions tailored to the unique data and information needs of their users. Technology solution providers are working with publishers and are moving towards more sharing of data, interoperability standards and electronic workflow required to meet these needs.

Listen to three industry notables share their view of how the industry is responding and changing to meet these evolving needs of the library ecosystem using today’s emerging technologies to meet the needs of patrons today and for the future.

REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBCAST TODAY AT www.libraryjournal.com/futureofthelibrary
PANELISTS
Peter McCracken, Co-Founder & Director of Content and Business Development, Shipindex.org
Rob Mercer, General Manager, Serials Solutions
Andrew Pace, Executive Director, Networked Library Services, OCLC
Can’t make it on November 18? No problem!
LJ webcasts are archived for 12 months after the live event. With your webcast registration, enjoy the ability to access this event on-demand as often as you’d like.

DATE: Thursday, October 29, 2009 | TIME: 12:00–1:00 PM EDT | REGISTER TODAY

You know that selecting highly ranked scholarly content ensures high quality, current information for your institution. But what do you need to know about some of the most widely used rating and ranking systems to put them to work for you?

Join Ovid, the leading aggregator of current, trusted scientific and medical content for an informative webinar that takes a closer look at two leading systems used to evaluate scholarly books and journals. Plus, get insider tips on the how, why and when of leveraging these systems as part of effective collection management.

Dan Doody from Doody’s Review Services® will explain the methodology his company uses in reviewing medical book content, shedding light on how to use those reviews as a tool to assist with acquisition decisions. On the journals side, Jevin West from Eigenfactor.org will offer insight into the Eigenfactor™ score and the Article Influence™ score and how these are used when considering titles in journal collection management.

REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBCAST TODAY AT

www.libraryjournal.com/ovidworksforyou

PANELISTS:

Dan Doody, Doody’s Core Titles in the Health Sciences, Doody’s Book Reviews and Doody’s Star Ratings®

Jevin West, Eigenfactor.org and ARCS Fellow at the University of Washington

MODERATOR:

Jennifer Robinson, Wolters Kluwer Health Medical Research Systems

Can’t make it on October 29? No problem!

LJ webcasts are archived for 12 months after the live event. With your webcast registration, enjoy the ability to access this event on-demand as often as you’d like.

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DATE: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 | TIME: 2:00–3:00 PM EDT | REGISTER TODAY

Gate counts keep going up, but staff levels are not. Patrons’ technological needs are increasing as many have lost their jobs and access to computers at the same time. Older patrons with little computer experience are finding that many insurance and financial forms need to be completed online. Is your staff ready to serve?

Library employee training budgets aren’t exactly getting fatter either, often forcing staff to just learn on the job or stagnate. And what about new hires? Are they expected to have already learned about your library’s technology as part of their education?

A group of training experts will discuss how ‘training up’ library staff can help stretch and boost the level of technological customer service your library can offer to patrons, and to the library itself. The webcast will also cover Web 2.0 tools and applications that make training sessions, documents and support readily accessible and available on-demand, 24/7. From academe, we’ll hear how one library school program is preparing its students for high touch high tech careers in our public, school, special and academic libraries.

REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBCAST TODAY AT

www.libraryjournal.com/polaristrainingup

PANELISTS:
Bud Hunt, Instructional Technologist, St. Vrain Valley School District, CO
Kerry McGeath, City Librarian/Deputy Director, Community Services, Southlake Public Library, TX
Claire McInerney, Department Chair, Associate Professor, Library and Information,Science, Rutgers School of Communication and Information, NJ

MODERATOR: Brad Rogers, Director of Implementations, Polaris Library Systems
Can’t make it on October 20? No problem!

LJ webcasts are archived for 12 months after the live event. With your webcast registration, enjoy the ability to access this event on demand as often as you’d like.

Library Journal posted a great article the other day profiling libraries migrating away from DDC to alternative classification systems. I found it pretty fair and balanced and definitely worth the read. Check it out if you have a minute.

DATE: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 | TIME: 2:00–3:00 PM EDT | REGISTER TODAY
Gate counts keep going up, but staff levels are not. Patrons’ technological needs are increasing as many have lost their jobs and access to computers at the same time. Older patrons with little computer experience are finding that many insurance and financial forms need to be completed online. Is your staff ready to serve?

Library employee training budgets aren’t exactly getting fatter either, often forcing staff to just learn on the job or stagnate. And what about new hires? Are they expected to have already learned about your library’s technology as part of their education?

A group of training experts will discuss how ‘training up’ library staff can help stretch and boost the level of technological customer service your library can offer to patrons, and to the library itself. The webcast will also cover Web 2.0 tools and applications that make training sessions, documents and support readily accessible and available on-demand, 24/7. From academe, we’ll hear how one library school program is preparing its students for high touch high tech careers in our public, school, special and academic libraries.
REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBCAST TODAY AT

www.libraryjournal.com/
polaristrainingup PANELISTS:
Bud Hunt, Instructional Technologist, St. Vrain Valley School District, CO
Kerry McGeath, City Librarian/Deputy Director, Community Services, Southlake Public Library, TX
Claire McInerney, Department Chair, Associate Professor, Library and Information,Science, Rutgers School of Communication and Information, NJ

MODERATOR: Brad Rogers, Director of Implementations, Polaris Library Systems
Can’t make it on October 20? No problem!
LJ webcasts are archived for 12 months after the live event. With your webcast registration,
enjoy the ability to access this event on-demand as often as you’d like.

Of all the upcoming reviews for Lakeshore Christmas, I was probably sweating this one out the most–Library Journal. Because the plot involves saving the library, I reeeealllly wanted them to like it.

Starred review! Sha-Zam!

thanks, Library Journal!

As she’s both thrilled and terrified to be leading the annual town Christmas pageant, the last thing proper, by-the-book librarian Maureen Davenport needs is former child star/recovering alcoholic Eddie Haven appointed by the court as her codirector. But as the pageant comes together (with a little angelic help), so do other, more difficult aspects of their lives—in a most romantic way. The threat to close the library adds purpose to the plot, but it’s the characters and their interactions that make this story sing. VERDICT Wiggs hits all the right notes in this delightful, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant Christmas treat, which will please “Lakeshore Chronicles” fans as well as garner new ones. Wiggs (Just Breathe) lives in the Seattle area.

Wiggs, Susan. Lakeshore Christmas. Mira: Harlequin. Oct. 2009. c.384p. ISBN 978-0-7783-2689-2. $21.95. Contemporary

The 6th Library Journal Design Institute will be at the Dallas Public Library this year December 10, 2009 from 9-6pm. Limited to 100 attendees  – but free! - who are those considering a new building project or renovation, and are  in the fundraising or pre-bond stage, or in the early building process. To apply to attend you must submit a double-spaced word document (maximum 200 words), describing  either the larger design problem you are tackling with your new building, renovation, or addition, or a particular aspect of it and included supporting documents as needed.  Sign up here.

I used to manually add all of Texas and Ohio State football games to my Google Calendar, but NOW you can subscribe to your favorite sports team and their schedule will show up on your calendar with a cute little icon.

AND!  AND!

When the game is over it posts the score!

How great is this?

Example from Agenda View

That was my geeky joy of the day.

Also, I really enjoyed reading through the 2008 Architectural Issue of Library Journal.

So many pretty pictures.

…With news of a brand new review of The Apex Book of World SF in Library Journal, saying:

From S.P. Somtow’s World Fantasy Award-winning "The Bird Catcher," a restrained horror tale of a young boy’s friendship with Thailand’s most infamous human "monster," to "Wizard World," Galaxy Award winner Yang Ping’s story of high-tech gamers, this extraordinary anthology of 16 tales introduces English-speaking readers to some of the world’s best writers of sf, horror, fantasy, and metafiction. Contributors include Jamil Nasir (Palestine), Aleksandar Ziljak (Croatia), Guy Hasson (Israel), Kaaron Warren (Australia/Fiji), and Jetse de Vries (Netherlands). VERDICT This literary window into the international world of imaginative fiction, the first in a new series, is sure to appeal to adventurous sf fans and readers of fiction in translation.

And though not officially released yet, the book does appear to be already available on Amazon, and itcan also still be pre-ordered directly from Apex Books.

via The Distant Librarian

Please Join Us for Part 3 of Library Journal’s “Returning the Researcher to the Library” Webcast Series

“Why can’t I search the library the way Google searches the Web?”

Librarians have been fielding that question for more than a decade as popular general search engines have set new expectations for service, searching and responsiveness. The complexity of multiple formats and the sheer scale of library collections have proven formidable barriers to simple, speedy, single search box interfaces. However, a new technology called a unified search index—the core of the groundbreaker Summon™ web-scale discovery service—offers the promise of answering that question with “You can.”

Join us for an insightful panel discussion that explores the emerging framework of web-scale discovery and what distinguishes the unified search index from existing library technologies. Expert panelists Marshall Breeding and Eric Lease Morgan will define the unified search index, as well as web-scale discovery – both their mechanics and their impact on library users. This intriguing discussion will examine the library’s new ally in taking back its role as the starting point for research and exposing the expanse of its content riches.
PANELISTS
Marshall Breeding, Director for Innovative Technologies and Research for the Jean and Alexander Heard Library at Vanderbilt University
Eric Lease Morgan, Head of the Digital Access and Information Architecture Department, University Libraries of Notre Dame
MODERATOR
Andrew Nagy, Senior Discovery Services Engineer, Serials Solutions

To view on demand Part 1 and Part 2 of Returning the Researcher to the Library Series, register here:

* PART 1: Understanding the Next Gen User  http://www.libraryjournal.com/webcastsDetail/2140374033.html
* PART 2: Building ROI through Discovery http://www.libraryjournal.com/webcastsDetail/2140391674.html

Publisher’s Weekly on IRAQIGIRL:

IraqiGirl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq. Haymarket (Consortium, dist.), $13 paper ISBN 978-1-931859-73-8

In 2004 in Mosul (the third largest city in Iraq), a 15-year-old girl started a blog detailing her life in the midst of the Iraq War. Her journal encompasses the day-to-day trauma the American invasion has caused her city, her family and friends. “Today is like every day in Iraq. No electricity, no fun, and no peace,” writes Hadiya (all Iraqi names in the book are pseudonyms). Her struggle against helplessness is agonizing, though her view modulates somewhat over time (her blog is still active, but the book covers her writings only through 2007). “I sense that my country is still beautiful in spite of everything that has happened to it,” she says during a hopeful moment. Poems and photographs accompany her thoughts on her academic struggles, Islam and growing up in a war zone; comments from her blog are interspersed, and Hadiya responds to others in several entries (“Another anonymous said, ‘You certainly don’t deserve this life.’ I want to ask you something—is this really a life?”). Hadiya’s authentically teenage voice, emotional struggles and concerns make her story all the more resonant. Ages 12–up. (July)

If you happen to be in the San Francisco area this week, please consider heading to Modern Times independent bookstore this Thursday, July 30, at 7 PM. IRAQIGIRL’s developer (i.e., the guy who discovered the IraqiGirl blog, had the idea to make it into a book, and assembled the initial manuscript), and former human shield in Baghdad, John Ross, will be talking about how the book came to be and reading some selections.

And now having shamelessly promoted the book, I’m going to even more shamelessly brag on behalf of the press publishing it. Here’s Library Journal, post-BEA:

Small presses, big books

Essays by Arundhati Roy and Wallace Shawn, plus reflections on the contemporary world by Noam Chomsky and Breyten Breytenbach. Top picks from a big New York house, right? Wrong. These authors are all being published this fall by Chicago-based Haymarket Press, truly a small press that thinks big and my top find of the convention. Roy’s Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers (Sept.) argues that Hindu nationalism and economic reform are thwarting India’s democratic efforts, turning the country into a police state. Shawn’s Essays (Sept.), his first collection and ranging over his entire career, move from the act of playwriting to considerations of privilege, while Breytenbach’s Notes from the Middle World (Nov.) considers the artist’s role in a shrinking global environment. Chomsky’s Hopes and Prospects ponders political activism in the Western Hemisphere.

And now I am going to stop bragging. For this week, anyway! Real posts coming up.

A book review is an indispensable tool for making your book known.

There is perhaps no published author out there who shuns getting a book review. Whether it’s a positive, negative or a so-so evaluation, a book review greatly contributes to creating awareness of your published work and your existence as an author as well.

However, getting a book review is one of the most common challenges published authors face. In order to create more buzz to your book, it is but a must to have your book reviewed by a credible medium.  A positive evaluation of your title can have an immense impact on your credibility as an author and boost your book sales as well.

Self-published and independent authors can now get a chance to get a balanced and professional review of their book through the Kirkus Discoveries program. This review service is written in the same format as the standard Kirkus Reviews and is an indispensable tool for pitching your book to your target readers and publishing agents.

Through the Kirkus Discoveries service, you get unbiased, no-frills evaluation of your published work. Your review is then posted on Kirkusdiscoveries.com and may also be listed in the Kirkus Discoveries monthly e-newsletter. This online newsletter features the best submissions and reaches a targeted base of editors, literary agents and librarians. This allows your book to get discovered and recognized as it should.

The Kirkus Discoveries Review program comes in different packages to suit your book marketing plan.

YOUR BOOK CAN SELL MORE.
CLICK FOR YOUR FREE MARKETING GUIDE.

There’s a plethora of books available in the market today, and nothing could be worse than for your own book to drown from among a sea of other books. For the more driven author, it’s either you sink or soar. Just having a published book is not enough. One needs to market his/her book and make it stand out from among the rest.

Marketing is perhaps the toughest part of publishing a book. A book that is not properly marketed is just as good as not having published a book at all.

A book, whether traditional or self-published can actually experience the same marketing trouble, which is why it is important to map out your marketing plan. By setting achievable goals, you can be able to do what is best for your book, make it known and ultimately lead to sales success.

Now that your book is ‘publication-complete’ there are a variety of ways to promote your book. Establishing connections and the use of the media can go so far as to making your book known to the world.

One of the most common problems that self-published authors face is how to get their book displayed on bookstore shelves. This is where Bookstore Returnability comes in. Other than compelling your readers to buy your book, you want to prove book buyers that your title deserves a spot in their shelves and assure them that your book is returnable as well.

The Bookstore Returnability Program is excellent for new authors coming out with their first book; authors who want to rev up a previous marketing campaign or those who want to explore a new market.

My parent’s 35th wedding anniversary was celebrated on Saturday. I went up to the Riverhouse to see them and a lot of their friend who still live in this area to be told how much I look like my mom. My aunt came down from Gig harbor. My grandmother passed away last summer and my aunt is taking it really hard. Since my divorce a few I have become a lot closer to my family and since my grandmother’s death. I keep thinking that I really should spent more time with all of them.

One of my friends from Utah was in town for a job interview yesterday. he had a tiny window of time to hang out before another interview so I spent a few hours hanging out with him. It was good to see him. I hope he gets the job because it would be nice to have old friends in town. Paul has a few now and one of them is even subletting in our house right now.

I had a zine symposium meeting last that went pretty well. things are winding down and getting hammered out. We have been getting some crap from people for our strict 51% zines and books on your table rule. We are really trying to exclude the craft tables who just use zine events as a place to sell things because the tables are a lot cheaper than craft fairs. I think that because of the longevity that preserving the zine integrity of our event is really important. If people don’t get that then they don’t understand what a zine event is about.

Did I mention the review of Brainscan I got in the Library Journal? I think it is pretty cool.

Do you know what else is cool? Somehow there are still tickets left to see Jarvis in San Francisco. I think Paul and I are going to fly down just to see the show. Paul missed seeing Pulp in Denver in 1996 because Jarvis was sick so we can’t miss this chance! It is right after the portland zine symposium, talk about a hectic week.

Oh ya, I finally bought a new color laser printer. My old printer wouldn’t network and couldn’t run on Vista and then it ran out of yellow toner. I could have bought a new yellow toner cartridge for $100 or just get a new printer. I now I have a nice but older color laser printer if anyone wants to buy it for $200 OBO.  I’m also going to have a sale on buttons soon in celebration of my new printer!

But, right now I have to clean my office and finish my coffee.

via email

Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | Time: 12:00–1:00 PM EDT

Register for this FREE webcast today at www.LibraryJournal.com/buildingroi

A library’s collection is often its single largest investment. Carefully developed for the specific needs of users, it’s also the library’s unique competitive advantage…until users try to navigate it. Studies point to an increasing level of user frustration in trying to access appropriate library resources and as a result, they’re opting out of the library for their research needs. So, while the vastness and richness of the library’s collection increases year over year, its benefits are contracting as users migrate to more convenient information service providers. What strategy can the University Librarian employ to reverse this trend? How can the library demonstrate a substantial contribution to the institution and strengthen its position at the table?

Join us for an insightful, provocative exploration into the problem that threatens disintermediation of the library from the research process and effective ways to address it.

PANELISTS
Carol Tenopir, Professor at the School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Ann Prestamo, Associate Dean for Collection and Technology Services,
Oklahoma State University Libraries

MODERATOR
Jane Burke, Vice President, Serials Solutions, the innovators behind the Summon™ unified discovery service
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To see Part 1 of the Returning the Researcher to the Library Series: Understanding the Next Gen User, register for on-demand viewing at www.LibraryJournal.com/nextgenuser.

LibraryJournal.com has published an editorial and an article regarding the Ohio library funding crisis.

The Library is now Closed is collecting local updates on how library systems will be affected.

It was a nice surprise to read this blog post at the Princeton University Press blog. Apparently my book (Euler’s Gem) is currently the number 2 best-selling mathematics book for libraries (according to the Library Journal). Cool! It was second to The Princeton Companion to Mathematics, which was edited by Fields Medal winner Tim Gowers.

(By the way, anyone who is so-inclined can follow Euler’s Gem on Facebook.)

Here are 76 May 2009 starred reviews from Library Journal.