Tag Archives: United States

Nov 20 2011

Understanding The ISBN

Seal of the United States Library of Congress....

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For more than thirty years International Standard Book Numbers or ISBNs have been in existence. They were created through the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) in 1970. Currently R.R. Bowker is the United States agency for ISBNs and there assignment. Publishers and self published authors currently in the U.S. Can get ISBNs from www.isbn.org.

The ISBN is a books ordering number/identifier, in regards to it’s title. ISBNs are not required , anyone an publish a book without them. The problem with doing this makes it difficult for potential readers to find your book in the market place. Printed books, pamphlets, audio books, CDs and DVDs will have an ISBN assigned to them. Journals, periodicals and newspapers are a few examples of items that won’t ever have an ISBN assigned to them.

The format of an ISBN is broken up into 5 parts. You probably have seen the 978 or 979 prefix, which is always 3 digits. After the prefix is the registration number which is the country, geographical region or language area. This element can be 1 to 5 digits in length. The numbers next will indicate the publisher or imprint and my be up to 7 digits in length. The publication element is next and will identify a particular edition or format of a title. The length of this segment can be up to 6 digits. Finally, the check digit, it validates the rest of the numbering sequence. It is calculated by a Modulus 10 system in alternates of 1 and 3. when its all said and done an ISBN number will look like this:

978-0-7387-2644-1

EAN

Group

Publisher

Title

EAN = European Article Number, now the International Article Number (IAN)

Group = English Speaking Area

Publisher = Llewellyn Publication (in this example)

Title = True Police Stories of the Strange and Unexplained (in this example)

Check Digit = This is used and is a method of verifying redundancy.

Confused yet? You are certainly not alone. With all that is involved in assigning an ISBN number that is unique to a title, it’s no wonder only a few agencies have this task. To learn more about ISBN numbers, please visit www.isbn.org or visit the Library of Congress site at www.loc.gov or Publisher Services at www.isbn-us.com.

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Nov 7 2011

Writing Workshop At Rosehill Elementary School

As a parent, author, blogger and book reviewer I feel that it is my duty to promote reading. Reading is as important to a child as breathing. At Kristi’s Book Nook I review books and offer them as giveaways so that parents have a chance to build their home library and to share the latest books with their children. Recently I had an opportunity to share with young children the writing process. My experience has been if kids are writing they are also reading. I attended an annual event at Rosehill Elementary School in Lenexa, Kansas with several other writers and illustrators.  Each year Carmen Chopp, the Chair of the Creative Writing & Illustrating Workshop at Rosehill Elementary,  invites local writers and illustrators to participate in the workshop to get kids reading, writing and illustrating. It’s a great program that every school should embrace.

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“Rosehill elementary is a Title 1 school, with 65% of its students receiving free or reduced-fee meals. It also enjoys a very diverse student population. The kids look forward to this workshop every year, and they are bright and eager to participate and learn,” says Carmen.

I had the opportunity to visit three classrooms. I shared my writing project with 4th, 5th and 6th grade kids. Each student was handed a picture of a mouse holding a piece of cheese. I asked the kids to answer ten questions telling me about their character mouse. We discussed what the characters name, favorite color, food and what the character likes and dislikes,these were just a few of the questions. I opened up the room so that students could share information about their character mouse. It was so much fun and everyone was so creative.

Some of the mice were from another planet, lived in the stomach of a mole with its family, some were daredevils and others saved the world. No mouse character was the same. Each student wrote down their story and some shared so much more than was asked. Each student was eager to learn and incorporated regular classroom studies into their stories. Vocabulary words were used and science facts too.  This was a great learning and sharing experience for me. Thank you Carmen and Rosehill Elementary for allowing me to come and write with the kids. I hope I will be invited back to share another experience.

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Oct 30 2011

Know Your Copyrights!

First page of Constitution of the United States

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As writers we know we risk our work being copied or plagiarized every time we put something out there for the world to see. For the most part it shouldn’t be a concern. Writers should just write. Making a statement or sharing an idea is what writers long to do. Self expression should not be inhibited because someone doesn’t have enough talent or creativity within themselves to produce their own project. Having said that, your work is protected.

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of “original works authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.

Just in case you were wondering what isn’t protected by copyright:

  • Choregraphics not recorded
  • Improvisational speeches or performances not written or recorded
  • Ideas
  • Works that come from common property and contain no original authorship

Want to learn more? Visit www.copyright.gov

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Oct 16 2011

Writing For Middle Grade: Where’s Your Voice?

Choir Practice

Image by Regina Folk Festival via Flickr

Writing for the middle grade genre does not feel like it should be a difficult task. As a matter of fact, I am having a lot of fun doing it. It’s my first project and I just want to write the story. Now that I am almost done with the first draft, I’m wondering if I am using the write voice and words for my characters.

I found some information that helped me clear any questions I might have about voice. Kids are very intellectual these days and we as writers need to be sure not to dumb down our manuscripts. Here are some helpful tips I found at YA Highway. Kristin Halbrook has written an excellent article on The Middle Grade Voice.

It’s important as a writer to capture the essence of each character, one way of doing that is to hang out with kids in the age group you want to write for. I have done that am hope that my manuscript will connect with my middle grade audience.

What has been your experience writing for the middle grade audience?

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Sep 9 2011

Best Links for Writers and Publishers (September, 9) « 40kBooks

books

 

 

Best Links for Writers and Publishers (September, 9) « 40kBooks.

I came across this wonderful site that has loads of information for authors. Especially those who are wanting to self publish. Check it out.