Booksquare

It is rare that I hear something on the radio that makes me go “Yeah, tell it like it is, sister” (okay, brother), but there was a great story on the Marketplace Morning Report last Friday about social networks and mailing lists and who owns your list. If I were a better person (I’m not), […]

I’m still trying to create some coherence from this year’s SXSW Interactive Festival. Lots of ideas coming in, very few coming out. I think there’s a high level meeting happening in my brain. Presumably, the neurons will let me know when it’s time for me to get involved. In the meantime, one quick thought about […]

While I wait patiently for the kind folks at Hatchette to send me a Sony eReader (surely I am the next logical step in their process), I am thinking about the myth of Sisyphus. You recall it, of course: Sisyphus mails tons of ARCs and press releases to a closely guarded mailing list, only to […]

I swear this is going to be my last TOC 2008-related post*. There is one more topic that has been rattling around BSHQ and, well, it’s time to get it out in the open. Blogging. It’s good, it’s bad, it’s ugly, and it’so misunderstood. We need have some frank discussion.

There is no such thing as […]

One of the privileges of being me (as opposed to one of the privileges of living with me) is that I have brilliant, smart, creative friends. And I don’t brag about them (brag on them? I am told this is proper English, but my people don’t speak this way) often enough. And I should. So […]

Thanks to the magic of TiVo, I rarely see commercials these days. In fact, I am at the point where a commercial is a wondrous thing: Oh look, I think, someone is trying to sell me something. Serendipity is a great thing. Every now and then I’ll mess up on the fast-forwarding and discover that […]

A few months back, HarperCollins launched its “Author Assistant” project (example here. In a nutshell (meaning, yes, I’m going to get into more detail in a few paragraphs), the service allows HC authors to easily build dynamic web presences with a smattering of Web 2.0 features that allow for community building.
Authors must be active participants […]

So, yeah, you’re thinking that the Apple announcements yesterday were interesting. You’re thinking, wow, I didn’t want to spend a month’s worth of book money on a phone, but, hey, they lowered the price. Or maybe you’re thinking you didn’t need a new phone. But everyone can use an iPod. Especially since iPods are now […]

Sometimes something comes along and you think, “Why hasn’t this been done already?” Or maybe you think, “I’m so glad that someone is finally doing this right” Or a combination of the two. And it’s always a joy when the good idea builds upon other good ideas by people you like.

A multi-pronged approach increases the […]

On most Wednesday nights Diana Allandale can be found reading to a small audience of dedicated fans at Passionate Books. The shop is one of four that Diana owns and operates. When she’s not reading at one of her own stores, Diana travels to far away places where she invariably finds a receptive new […]