Can’t afford a good cover artist for your latest book project? Try the oldest method known to man(kind)…just ask for one.

The cover design to a book can sometimes be as important as the very content that falls between Once Upon a Time and The End. You know as well as I that many times when you are out shopping for a book but aren’t sure what you want but still very aware that you want something new, something catchy and something moving—oftentimes we browse the aisles until we see something jump out and catch our attention. I do it all the time. I know I am all caught up with my previous stack of books but yet, something inside me yearns for something new, something different; it’s like my soul is seeking out another world to meet characters I don’t quite understand in places I haven’t seen and the one thing I am relying on to suck me in and take me there is the cover of the book.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

I understand if you want to vote for Hillary, I understand if you want Barak.  I know people who want Mitt and I of course am a fan of Johnny Mac.  What I do not understand is someone who wanted to vote for a candidate and then because of the mysterious force known as “momentum” choose to vote for someone else.
 
I would like to think that just because people in Iowa and New Hampshire think something is a good idea that others will not just blindly follow.  This is not a knock on those two States, they take their politics seriously and make thoughtful choices.  Every State, every Primary should be that way.  When a candidate gets a bounce in the next State’s Primary it shouldn’t be called momentum it should be called the lemming bounce.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

I first saw the trailer for P.S. I Love You in October. I could barely contain my glee.  A movie with Gerard Butler AND Harry Connick, Jr. AND Jeffrey Dean Morgan – oh my!  And as if that weren't enough, part of it's set in Ireland?!  Be still, my heart.

I'd read the book, so I knew what to expect.  Young woman loses her husband at a tragically young age, and the story follows her coping and recovery from the loss.  What I didn't expect was to cry during most of the film.  I admit that I'm a crier, and I always shed a few tears during almost every movie, but this one was heart-wrenching – translated: bring some tissues with you, or at least stock up on napkins at the concession stand.  By the end of the movie, everyone in the theater was sniffling.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Now, before I go on, let me tell you about me.  Those of you who know me may be shocked by my statement, those of you who really know me, probably think that I am being sarcastic.  
 
In August of 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned I cried like a little baby.  Mostly it was because I was a little baby; I was born about two and a half months before that fateful day.  While the big people that cared for me probably thought that I was upset because I was hungry or because I had a poopie diaper, I was really upset because I lacked the vocabulary to say what was on my mind.  “Nixon is innocent, Watergate is meaningless, he should have been elected back in 1960”.  However, what it came out as was just “Waaaaaa!!”

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Popularity: 4% [?]

OK, so to all my single people out there who think they are ready to be in a relationship, what is really going on? Online dating sites say that 80% or more single people find love on their sites. Now, most of us think "Wow! Maybe that percentage includes me!" And with our hearts wide open to all the wonderful possibilities of love, we set up our profiles, take our very best pictures, and truly believe anything is possible.

Then you anxiously await the first round of messages to come pouring in. Once they do and you go through them you find one in every ten to be exciting. You talk to them and you get that "Butterfly Effect" in your stomach and you stay up later than usual on the computer or maybe you even exchange phone numbers. The next step is you start to feel like "This could be the One" you will find yourself falling in love and then just as fast as it starts it is over.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

Here is a different take on a popular idea. In children’s rooms and nurseries around the globe, a good majority of parents seem to agree on a single detail. Letters that spell the child(ren)’s name are hung up on the wall. Usually the letters are wooden and painted to match the room’s theme. Either the parents paint the letters themselves or are purchased pre-colored.

I also considered this idea when my daughters were born, but I did not want to pay the ridiculous cost for the wooden letters. Even the unpainted ones were pretty expensive, especially if the child’s name has a lot of letters.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

I can still remember the day that I bought my first comic book. It was a summer day in 1989. My mother had made me go to the mall with her and I wandered out of Dillard’s (department store) to the B. Dalton Bookstore next door. For some reason, my eyes were immediately fixated to issue #318 of The Amazing Spider-Man.

I don’t know if it was the art or the action, but either way, I was not leaving that store without that issue. Unfortunately, I did not have a dollar and I ended up “eternally borrowing” (a.k.a. shoplifting) my first comic book. I am not in the least bit proud of my early burglary years, but we all have things from our childhood that we regret. Chili bowl haircuts and tight-rolling Bugle Boy pants immediately come to mind.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

If I was a young up and coming actor in Hollywood, I would probably consider turning down any roles that involve a dark, gothic theme, white clown makeup, bad eye liner, and long, greasy hair. Although Heath Ledger was far more established in the acting community, Brandon Lee had a lot of potential as well. Although purely speculative, my gut tells me that Heath Ledger's death was accidental, similar to Brandon Lee's death. They both died at the age of 28 - another eerie similarity between these 2 young actors. I'm not particularly superstitious, and it's probably just a coincidence. But it made me pause and think. 

I wonder what kind of work Brandon Lee would have done had he lived. And now, Heath Ledger joins the ranks of unfortunate unmet potential. 

Popularity: 15% [?]

David Byrne (Talking Heads) said that rock and roll as he knows it is dead.  It may be true that we no longer have the vastly influential music of the 60’s being created, but that music still influences modern rock.  Rock seems to have forgotten its roots.  The Velvet Underground were largely commercially unsuccessful at the time during the late 60’s when they were producing music but those with keen ears and eyes for influential art took notice of them. 

Other vastly influential artists such as Andy Warhol and Brian Eno connected with the Velvet Underground when it was still beatnik poetry set to music and guided their success. Warhol opened many doors to the Velvet Underground during his time as
their manager, including a record deal with MGM’s Verve Records, and designed the artwork for the album now known as “the banana LP;” a now iconic symbol of 1960’s rock.  Eno claimed that the thousand people who bought The Velvet Underground’s album all went on to create bands of their own.

Apparently, many of those bands went on to wild success of their own. The Cure, David Bowie, The Pixies, The Strokes, Interpol, The Cars, Nirvana, and even the Talking Heads were all part of genres that were heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground.  Their umbrella of influence in modern rock is overwhelming.  Rock music like the Velvet Underground is timeless, but with so many commercialized, financially driven platitudes parading as rock music streaming through our radios it’s easy to believe that rock has breathed its last breath.

The truth is probably a little more frightening.  Rock and Roll is not dead.  Music never dies.  It has been buried alive by commercialism. But digging into bands like the Velvet Underground is the key to its resurrection.
Enjoy.

Tunes to check out:

The Velvet Underground – Pale Blue Eyes
The Velvet Underground – Rock and Roll
The Velvet Underground – Crimson and Clover
The Velvet Underground – I Found a Reason

Popularity: 6% [?]

Black History to Me

You and me

Blood, Sweat, and tears, and dreams, Dreams of old that became true because of those who came before you.

Living a life of struggle and pain just to be treated the same, insane and inhumane conditions, shackled and bound by chains, black skin with no name and no nation to claim∑∑∑∑I remain connected to my past, how long did this torture have to last. Fighting for freedom until the last.

He breathed the breath of freedom, Fighting the fight with no end in sight, living a life of darkness looking towards the light. With power and might he works with no end in sight.

Calloused hands, aching back, bloody and  beaten and torn, worn down to the ground, no mercy to be found, face to the ground.  Bound to slavery for what it seemed to be an eternity. Certainly not what his life was meant to be. The black mans struggle to be free.  Slavery.

The tears of a thousand slaves rain down into muddied cotton fields. Only to produce crops of cotton anchored by the roots of the plant∑∑∑∑∑∑∑∑. but strengthened by the blood of the black man. The Slave.

Black History is blood stained cotton. Black History is fighting for family. Black History is never giving up on me and you. Black History is remembering and knowing where you come from.

Honor your past by what you do in the future. Black History is a
beautiful thing, black people are a beautiful thing.

Togetherness, unity, admiration, cooperation, cohesiveness, this is what
black history is all about.

Black on black crime, attitudes, you tryin to get mine, this is the
wrong attitude to exhibit at this time.

Black History is you and me never forgetting at what cost our people
paid for us to be free.

Black History to me!

Anthony Neil Moss

Popularity: 3% [?]

To truly compete in an already highly competitive artistic marketplace,
it is essential the self-released, independently published author work
diligently to promote and market their work in the same “big-business”
manner and mentality as the country’s top publishing houses.

Over the course of this blog’s future I will be working to identify,
isolate, promote and help the self-released author as they venture on
this journey towards effective marketing and promotion of their work.

Many of the articles I publish will range in subject matter relevant to
the individuals who have already published and released their titles as
well as articles focused on the would-be author who is standing at the
literary crossroads not yet sure they can find the appropriate support
and information to make this critical decision within their writing
careers.

The path to self-publication is a long and tough road, but if you are
open-minded and willing to embrace this venue as an opportunity to help
enrich your life’s experiences all in the name of self-promotion and
self-gratification: then independently publishing is a workable, viable
solution.

The determination and willingness to proceed on this course is one you
should make whole-heartedly in a manner of deep, solitary soul-searching
and a choice you should make on your own. Because in the end, as with
being a writer, many times along the way you will have no one but
yourself to rely on or blame should you not succeed or find yourself in
a critical decision to move forward and grow.

For those of you out there like myself, already riding the wave of
success and enjoying the fruits of your many research intensive labors,
I have compiled a quick list of contest designed specifically for the
self-released/self-published author.

Like with any artistic talent, you can set yourself apart from the crowd
by earning increased attention from individuals readers, groups and
organizations by winning or simply placing in one (or more) of the
various contests designed for the self-published author. As this niche
becomes more and more accepted in the literary world, so too will the
classification and acknowledgment by more and more organizations and
associations. Now is the time to act and unless you prove you believe in
your own work beyond reasonable doubt—no one else will. So set aside
some cash and put those books in the mail!

Best of luck to you this coming year!!!

- Bobby Ozuna, author of Proud Souls

Midwest Independent Publishers Association Any book published within the
12-state Midwest Region is eligible: IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND,
OH, SD & WI Deadline: February 1, 2008
http://www.mipa.org/2007call.html

Readerviews Annual Literary Awards (2008) TBA February 2008
http://www.readerviews.com/Awards.html

National Indie Excellence Awards (NIEA) The awards presents a wonderful
opportunity for all Independent Publishers, Self-Publishers and Small
Presses. Deadline: March 31, 2008
http://www.indieexcellence.com/ 

Independent Publisher Book Awards World’s largest international and
region book awards contest Deadline: April 1, 2008
http://www.independentpublisher.com/ipland/LearnMore.php
 
Writer’s Digest International Self-Published Book Awards Deadline: May 1st, 2008 http://www.writersdigest.com/contests/self_published.asp

2008 New York Book Festival Celebrating books that deserve greater
recognition from the world’s publishing capital Deadline: May 25th, 2008
http://newyorkbookfestival.com/

Premier Book Awards Recognition for books of outstanding merit by
independent publishers and small presses Deadline: August 15th, 2008
http://www.premierbookawards.com/ 

USA Book News National Best Books 2008 Awards Deadline: August 31, 2008
http://www.usabooknews.com/ 

Popularity: 4% [?]