Continuing from the self-publishing topic of last Thursday, "I've made up my mind to self-publish, now what?". I will outline a few concepts I felt were important and critical in my early success and steps I (wish) I had not avoided early on.

Step 1: Determine a DBA (Business Name) & publishing company name

DBA stands for “doing business as” and you will need to create a DBA—if you plan on operating your publishing business apart from using your own name. Having the DBA will also help simplify critical banking transactions, especially when you are working to separate what money is actually used for the sake of your publishing business and what money is for your “regular” lifestyle.

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Right about now I’m wishing that I had thought up this whole Oscar blog thing in time to have been able to dedicate one blog per nominated film.  I say that out of complete selfishness because I want this entire blog to be about There Will Be Blood and how absolutely, insanely, genuinely brilliant it is.  I don’t want to have to spend any time on No Country For Old Men, but I told you I would, so I’ll keep my word.

I saw No Country For Old Men on a double feature day.  The first feature was Lars and The Real Girl, which will be afforded its own blog one day, but suffice to say, I was extremely moved by that film in ways I still don’t fully understand.  So maybe that’s part of the reason that I didn’t appreciate No Country For Old Men as much as the friends I went to see it with did. Continue Reading

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Hello, my name is Bob, and I want to the next President.  Now, I know a lot of you will be asking, who is Bob?  Bob is going tell you who he is; he is also going to explain why you do not, nay why you can not vote for the any other candidate running for President.  To quote from the movie, Grease, “Bob is the one that you want, he is the one one, ooh ooh ooh, honey, the one you need, oh yes indeed.”

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Britney… (sigh!) I’d like to say that I’m tired of hearing about her and her craziness, but I’d be lying. I watch TMZ.com, read US weekly and pagesix.com. When People magazine splashes her face across it’s pages, I’m the first one to buy. The most recent has a black and white photo that looks similar to a mug shot, declaring that she has been committed. But when the most the most recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine arrived in my mail box this week, I had to step back and think.

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NetSuccess, one of the oldest, most established interactive agencies in the Dallas area is looking for another web designer. We have a lot of new work coming in and we need assistance creating killer design comps. We handle clients of all sizes and industries. Dallas is booming with work to be done, and we hope you're the person to join our team. 

Our primary concern is assistance with designing quality website comps. Basic HTML and CSS is a major plus, but not required. The position will be tailored to suit the right designer. 

For more information contact Ben Jordan at bjordan(at)netsuccess(dot)com. Tell him you read about the opening on CultureFeast.com so he can keep track of which method of job posting is most effective.

Thanks.

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I am not calling myself an expert on the topic of colic. I am merely one woman with a small family that survived it. You may be thinking, “Surviving colic, what the heck is this woman talking about. Colic isn’t a fatal disease!” True, it isn’t a fatal disease or condition. However, it is heart-breaking, mind-blowing, exhausting and depressing, among many other descriptions that I could use.

Let me draw a picture of the circumstances around which I experienced colic. During my last month of pregnancy with my second child, I was pressing certain stressful issues with my first child that was going turn two years old, ten days after the baby was due.

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One of my Twitter friends, DougH, notified me a couple days ago that Starbucks is ditching T-Mobile and moving on to greener pastures. If AT&T can be considered greener pastures, that is. The original story released on WiFiNetNews says that all Starbucks Card holders will receive two free hours of wifi access per visit with purchase of caffeinated yummies. On top of that, even the hourly rate will be cheaper.

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I’m totally conflicted. I just turned 30 last week (January 30th). [Thank you, all of you that didn’t remember. And thank you, all of you that reminded me every day for the last 6+ weeks. I appreciate both of those groups in my own *special* way.] My conflict comes from all of the statements that friends, family, and completely random strangers (wtf?) offered up to me. I am not kidding when I say that I was told the following statements:

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Last week someone asked about a review of local music.  There are many bands based out of Dallas who are on the same path to national success as Blue October, Flyleaf, and more recently Miser.  They’re the ones that did the Cranberries’ “Zombies” cover that was played every 8 minutes on 102.1 The Edge for an entire semester (Hey, life of a student…time is always measured by semesters).  That is a band to check out if you want some a taste of local Dallas rock.

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Congratulations on your decision to self-publish your own title! Trust me when I say it was a decision I know that did not come easily and if you are truly standing at this cross-roads in your literary career, then by now (I hope) you have done the homework. You will need it and every bit of help you can collect along the way. Rule number one to successful self-publication is smart effective research with a good solid networking plan.

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I cannot overemphasize the importance or significance of this. J. M. W. Turner is one of my top three favorite painters of all time. When I studied European art history for a semester in Copenhagen, it was Turner who caught my eye first and held it the longest. 

What is it about his art that makes me pause to enjoy?

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