Month: July 2014

Time to choose this week’s flash fiction winner

Lightning sign
Flash Fiction Ahead…

It’s time once again for IU readers to select a winner  for this week’s flash fiction challenge.

Remember, the winning entries will all be included in the next edition of the IU Flash Fiction Anthology.

Check out this week’s entries here. Make your decision, then use those share buttons at the bottom of the post to spread the word.

Voting polls close Thursday at 5 PM Pacific time.

Which author do you think wrote the best flash fiction entry in this week's challenge?

  • AL Kaplan (41%, 13 Votes)
  • Lois Nelsen Lewandowski (22%, 7 Votes)
  • Jon Jefferson (16%, 5 Votes)
  • MatoSka (9%, 3 Votes)
  • Morgan Winters (9%, 3 Votes)
  • Mary Ellen Courtney (3%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 32

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NOTE: Entrants whose submissions exceed the 250 word limit are eliminated from the poll. ONE VOTE PER PERSON, please. Duplicate votes will be deleted. The results displayed above are unofficial until verified by administration.

How Kids Make Books Their Own

Author Jacqueline DooleyGuest post
by Jacqueline Dooley

When I started writing my first book, Doorways to Arkomo, I knew I wanted to reach readers around age 10 through about 13 or 14 – an age where kids still believe in magic (I hope), but are old enough to crave a story with real depth and breadth.

My own experience as a young reader was constantly on my mind. I used to get so obsessed with books that I’d read them again and again. It was kind of personal – the experience of reading and loving a book. But this is an old fashioned notion in today’s world of oversharing.

As an author, I didn’t (at first) fully appreciate how much things have changed for young readers since the days I’d quietly obsessed over my favorite books – graduating from Roald Dahl to Terry Brooks to Stephen King as the eighties turned into the nineties. Continue reading “How Kids Make Books Their Own”

Book Signing Check-Lists

Bowersock Book SigningThere have been several excellent guidelines posted here in IU about book signings. To mention a few: K.S. Brooks (1), Brooks (2), Storey,  Wyer, and Hertzberger.

If you’ve been taking notes, you’ve probably noticed that book signings can be wildly different depending on the venue, the time of day and the planning. You may have also figured that book signings can require a lot of effort and may show little in the way of monetary payoff, but the fact is they can be invaluable for getting your name out there and may result in sales spikes after the fact.

I recently did a book signing and felt it was very successful, so thought I’d share my experience here. Continue reading “Book Signing Check-Lists”

How to Resize a Photo – Mac Edition

So you want to resize a photo and you own a Mac. The process is really simple and you only need the software that came on your machine. (For instructions on how to resize a photo on a PC this article is for you.)

To start, simply find the photo you wish to resize using the Mac’s Finder (the little happy face you use to find files), and click to open it. Mac automatically opens photos in its Preview software. Presuming you still want a copy of the image at the original size, the first thing you are going to do is SAVE AS and rename the file.

IMG1_cover_resize Continue reading “How to Resize a Photo – Mac Edition”