Thursday, January 14, 2010

“Table of Contents - News & Review” plus 2 more

“Table of Contents - News & Review” plus 2 more

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Table of Contents - News & Review

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 12:24 AM PST

GREEN GUIDE


Sustainability Beware the mute swanSome invasive species of birds are more welcome in Sacramento than others.

Homegrown Cultivating businessFrom cremini to truffles, Sacramento-area fungus farmers are cashing in on the mushroom craze.

Plug'd In Blow your topGo crazy and scale a volcano.

LOCAL STORIES


Feature Story ¿Qué pasa, Del Paso?

News Del Paso or bustSN&R's new sustainable building on Del Paso Boulevard is a work in progress.

ARTS&CULTURE


Arts & Culture DJ Slaughter's opus

Stage Love at the end of the worldThe world goes boom, and the people in Boom will find a way to make love work.

Poet's Corner RedemptionA poem by Adrienne Andrews of Sacramento.

Night & Day Pick Wild & Scenic:The Next GenerationThe country's largest environmental film festival features documentaries, short films and Capt. Picard.

Book Reviews Head for the desertHeyday's anthology of writing on California's deserts is pure gold.

Book Reviews Don't be evil, pleaseIs "Don't be evil" an admonition or an embarrassing mantra?

Book Reviews Lost in Rio LindaTattooed Love Dogs is full of stories about the dangerous life in Northern California.

Curtain Call Lambda needs lootLambda Players becomes the latest local theater group to issue a distress call for money to keep operating.

DINING


Eating Adventures in fondueGreg Lucas eats Japanese shabu-shabu—and shakes it like an udon noodle.

Smorgasbord Noodly appendagesForgo Top Ramen and learn how to make Japanese noodles.

Corner Table Cabbages and kingsUdupi Cafe offers everyday food from India.

Food Stuff Lazy girl's health tipCSAs from the Capay Valley? Delivery never tasted so fresh.

MUSIC


Music Feature Whores after darkWhen the sun sets on artist Dan Osterhoff, he becomes DJ Whores.

Sound Advice Like an unhinged assclownDJ Larry Rodriguez, Jackson Griffith, Mom, Tinkertoys, David Byrne, Eppie's Restaurants, 86'd in Las Vegas, DJ Hailey, James Brown, the asshole factor, Home Depot, The Park Ultra Lounge, Chuck Taylors are forbidden, DJ Jus James, perverse feeding frenzies, Shire Road Club, all-ages, Boats!, Baby!, the Secretions, Sharp Objects, Wallpaper., Doom Bird, Kris Anaya, Citystate, Luigi's Fun Garden.

Music Pick of the Week Precious, worldwideWhere in the world is the new Vampire Weekend album?

Music Pick of the Week One Eyed RhynoSacramento's underage band One Eyed Rhyno gives hope to classic-rock fans everywhere.

Music Pick of the Week Agnostic FrontPotpourri is the wrong word to describe this band, but Josh Fernandez makes it work.

Music Pick of the Week The ShantsSkip Allums of Estereo returns with the Shants.

Music Pick of the Week Prayers for AtheistsJared Paul will have one hell of a story to tell.

FILM


Film Reviews The Hughes brothers do old hat.

Cinema scoped A reason to careJames Cameron's Avatar needs Billy Wilder.

Short Reviews Broken Embraces

Short Reviews Leap Year

Short Reviews The Lovely Bones

Short Reviews The Spy Next Door

Short Reviews Youth in Revolt

In The Mix - DVD/Video Big FanPatton Oswalt is Paul Alfiero, a pathetic New York Giants fan.

In The Mix - DVD/Video Cloudy With a Chance of MeatballsIt's like a bad plate of spaghetti.

OPINIONS


Race to the Bottom No justice possibleSacramento County Superior Court Judge Peter J. McBrien is doomed.

Bites Draft Deborah?Will Ortiz heed "draft Deborah" call?

Popsmart Say anythingWhy is boorish the status quo with online comments?

Ask Joey Bangers and smashedThis drunken manwhore needs to grow up and be a real man.

Letters Letters for January 14, 2010

Editorial Art of the possibleHealth-care bill will be the best that is possible, at least for now.

15 Minutes 'You should just do popsicles'Fatface in Davis also makes inventive sandwiches.

Essay Secret thingSN&R staffers name the one thing most people don't know about them.

Greenlight Forever KingAs we remember Martin Luther King Jr., let's not forget his teachings moved beyond civil rights.

Ask a Mexican ¡Ask a Black Elk!The Mexican on immigration history and Native Americans.

Cut&Paste Perry v. Schwarzenegger, day oneFrom the SN&R blogs.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Top 10 Book Promotion Strategies for 2010 Revealed by Survey - TMCnet

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 03:44 AM PST

TMCNet: Top 10 Book Promotion Strategies for 2010 Revealed by Survey

Top 10 Book Promotion Strategies for 2010 Revealed by Survey

Jan 14, 2010 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) -- A recent survey by a national book marketing firm reveals that authors and publishers are anxious to leverage the benefits of social media marketing as they promote their books in the coming months.

According to Dana Lynn Smith of The Savvy Book Marketer, nearly all - 94 percent of the respondents - said they plan to promote their books with social networking and other social media this year.

"Online book promotion through social media is clearly a popular strategy," says Smith, a book marketing consultant. "But, it's important that authors and publishers learn to use these new book promotion tools effectively." According to Smith's late 2009 survey, here are the top 10 book promotion methods that authors and publishers plan to use this year: 1. Social networking and social media: 94 percent 2. Blogging: 84 percent 3. Seeking book reviews: 75 percent 4. Seeking testimonials and endorsements: 73 percent 5. Press releases: 68 percent 6. Ezines or email marketing: 62 percent 7. Radio and television talk shows: 62 percent 8. Speaking or teleseminars: 60 percent 9. Article marketing: 57 percent 10. Book signings: 56 percent "Despite the emphasis on online book promotion in 2010, more traditional activities like book reviews and radio interviews are still important," explains Smith. "An effective book promotion plan should use a variety of online and offline tactics for the widest reach." Of the 136 people responding to the book promotion strategies survey, 42 percent are independently or self-published authors, 25 percent are authors published by a traditional publishing house, 12 percent are aspiring authors, and 21 percent are publishers or others in the publishing industry.


Smith, who develops marketing plans for nonfiction books, is the author of The Savvy Book Marketer's Guide to Successful Social Marketing (http://www.savvybookmarketer.com) and several other book promotion guides.

For book promotion tips, visit The Savvy Book Marketer blog at www.TheSavvyBookMarketer.com. Subscribers to Smith's complimentary newsletter, The Savvy Book Marketer, get a copy of the Top Book Marketing Tips e-book when they register for the newsletter at www.BookMarketingNewsletter.com. For more book marketing tips, follow Smith on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BookMarketer.

### Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/01/prweb3439154.htm.

PRWeb.com

[ Back To Election 2008 Technology Impact Community's Homepage ]

Amish stories take over the romance genre - Cumberland County Sentinel

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 05:46 AM PST

Share
Article Rating
Current Rating: ( /5)

In Focus

Title: Going Home

Author: Wanda E. Brunstetter

Publisher: Barbour Publishing Inc

Release Date: September 2007

Pages: 288

List Price: $12.95

ISBN: 978-1-59789-609-2

By Larissa Boyer, Sentinel Copy Editor, January 14, 2010

Last updated: Thursday, January 14, 2010 9:14 AM EST

No comments posted.

Over the past several months, there has most definitely been a theme present in my book reviews — vampires. In fact, this theme has taken over far more than publishing; Hollywood has joined the hype, creating a frenzy for anything mythical and dark.

But there's a new trend emerging.

Rather than cold, lifeless yet strangely sensitive lovers, the romance genre has turned to warm, strong and quite possibly overly sensitive lovers. No, I'm not referring to werewolves, although Taylor Lautner has done a fantastic job of getting those furry guys back in the news. Actually, the new trend focuses on a group of people commonly found right in our own back yard: the Amish.

"Bonnet books" are a new kind of romance novel that creates scandal over — wait for it — a simple kiss before betrothal. In "Going Home" by Wanda E. Brunstetter, my first foray into an Amish romance, the word "kiss" only appears four times in the entire book, according to a search on Amazon's handy Look Inside! feature.

The most scandalous two are in the final pages of the novel: "Relief flooded his soul as he stared down at Faith, sitting beside her daughter on a bale of straw with a horse blanket draped over their shoulders. His chest rose and fell in a deep sigh as he fought the temptation to kiss her."

Immediately following, from Faith's perspective: "From the look of desire Faith saw in Noah's dark eyes, she was fairly certain he wanted to kiss her. She leaned forward slightly, inviting him to do so, but to her disappointment, he moved away."

Bonnet books are a far cry from your typical romance novel, where the hero and heroine rip each other's clothes off in practically every chapter.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, "Most bonnet books are G-rated romances, often involving an Amish character who falls for an outsider. Publishers attribute the books' popularity to their pastoral settings and forbidden love scenarios à la Romeo and Juliet. Lately, the genre has expanded to include Amish thrillers and murder mysteries. Most of the authors are women."

'Going Home'

"Going Home" follows Faith, an Amish woman from Webster County, Mo., who fled her home as soon as she hit 18 in order to pursue a career in the English world as a comedian.

After her abusive husband is suddenly killed in a car accident, Faith must return home to provide her daughter, Melinda, with a stable environment. Faith plans on helping her daughter get accustomed to the Amish way of life before abandoning her with her grandparents so she can resume her career.

Where's the romance in that? Enter Noah, four years Faith's junior and a quiet man who loves to bake. Noah takes an interest in Faith immediately, but is uncertain of her intentions — and her faith in God.

For 284 pages, we follow this cat-and-mouse game of Faith and Noah yearning for each other, but neither wanting to give in. Faith must battle her past, and reconcile the Amish way of life with her desire to tell jokes and yodel; Noah must bake a lot of scrumptious sweet things with Scripture attached to lead Faith back home.

In the end, "Going Home" is utterly predictable, yet still captivating, even if it's not particularly written well.

First, Faith is a little hard to sympathize with when she continually seems apathetic toward leaving her daughter behind. Plus, it's one of those books where it seems the characters' inner turmoil has to be pointed out over and over and over again. We get the point.

Second, telling jokes and yodeling? Really? The examples of jokes given in the book are pretty corny, and I find it hard to believe someone could make even a somewhat successful career out of the routine described as Faith's. For instance, this doozy is told during a quilting party: "Has anyone heard about the English man who met his wife at a travel agency? Well, he was looking for a vacation, and she was the last resort."

Yet, despite these downfalls, I found myself enthralled by the story; even though I knew what was going to happen, I needed to read to the very last page.

Perhaps it's just the idea of a forbidden romance; maybe the Amish are really that intriguing. Whatever it is, I never thought a G-rated book about Amish people could be so naughty.



Larissa Boyer is a copy editor at The Sentinel. E-mail her at lboyer@cumberlink.com.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
Posted by at

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)