2011 Clarion West Write-A-Thon Clarion Call

2011 Clarion West Write-A-Thon Clarion Call

In a little less than two weeks, the Clarion West class of 2011 will begin their 6-week intensive workshop. At the same time, the CW Write-a-Thon will begin. A write-a-thon is a lot like a marathon. Instead of sponsoring someone per mile, you sponsor them per week. If they reach their writing goals for the week, you pledge to send Clarion West a certain amount of money. There are six weeks of write-a-thoning to mirror the six weeks of workshopping at Clarion West.

The deadline to sign up for this event is June 18th. There are a couple dozen people signed up already, but Clarion West needs more folks to sign up and get sponsored to reach their fundraising goals. I think that you (yes, you. No, not that other person, You) should sign up to participate.

Last year I didn’t do the write-a-thon because I had far too much to do work-wise to commit to anything and didn’t have much time to find sponsors. Thus, I completely understand if other people have the same doubts. But, in thinking about this the past couple of days, I realized that there are ways to do this that don’t require an huge time commitment. Setting micro goals instead of big huge ones; allowing myself to be a little bit silly, experimental, or completely off the wall; taking challenges from others.

I have some ideas on how to pull this off (and will share them with you in time), so I’m ready to commit to participating in the write-a-thon. Thing is, I’d really like to see at least 20 more people join me in this effort. I know many of you are busy, have stuff going on, and have stress in your lives, just like me. So think about it in these terms: do you have 30 minutes a week to commit to writing? Do you know three people off the top of your head who will sponsor you and pledge a little to Clarion West because they love you/are awesome? If the answer to both is yes, then you’re set. Yep, 30 minutes, 3 people — that’s all it takes.

Now we come to the portion of the post where I sweeten the pot a little. Usually with fundraising things such as this it’s customary to offer prizes to people for pledging money. I’m going to do something different, because my goal is to get people to sign up. So, anyone who participates in the Clarion West Write-A-Thon, has at least 3 sponsors OR has at least $100/week in pledges, and meets at least 4 out of their 6 weekly goals, will be entered in a drawing for a free eReader.

The eReader in question is the new Kobo eReader Touch Edition, out this month. If you want a taste of it, there’s a hands-on post here. On Monday or Tuesday there’s likely to be a full review.

I have some other new or like new gadgets in my possession that I may be able to offer up as well, but the Kobo eReader is for sure.

Some disclaimers: I don’t work for Clarion West or represent them. This drawing is being run solely by myself with products I own personally, not offered by any corporate entities. I plan to choose the winner based on random number generation — a digital version of pulling a number out of a hat.

Excited yet? Good. The first step is to head over to the Write-A-Thon sign up page to join. The next step is to find at least three sponsors. Ask them to pledge a certain amount each week if you meet your goals or to pledge a flat amount if you meet all of your goals over 6 weeks. The last step is to decide what your goals will be. I’ll tell you mine next week.

Holla back, people. Raise your virtual hand if you’re in this with me.

They Say: Children more likely to own a mobile phone than a book. I Say: Good.

They Say: Children more likely to own a mobile phone than a book. I Say: Good.

I’ve seen this Telegraph article linked to at least seven times amongst my geeky, book reading friends, usually with much anger or sadness or both and a lot of fist shaking. The gist is this: studies say that kids who have access to books at home are more likely to stay in school. Also that kids who had their own books are better readers. But many kids don’t have their own books or access to books in the home, but a ton of kids have their own mobile phones.

While the article is full of people going OH NOES! I am like: dude, this is a wonderful opportunity.

It doesn’t say what kind of mobile phones these kids have. Maybe they’re not smart phones, but I’ll bet a lot of them are. I’ll bet a lot of those smart phones are the kind that utilize apps (even WinMo can handle apps, they are just crappy apps). If the phone has apps, there’s an eBook reading app that exists for it.

Even non-smart phones have the ability to read some eBooks. And given that mobile makers are looking for ways to make non-smart phones more interactive, engaging, and enticing by asking developers to get on making apps for them, too, if your phone doesn’t have the ability to read eBooks, it will soon.

While it’s true that most apps can’t read eBooks with DRM, that should not be a barrier. Let the books be DRM-free or, if you really, truly care, develop some apps that can read ACS4 encoded files and release it to the world.

You say 80% of kids have a mobile but you want them to own books? Then sell them books for their mobiles. You want to run a program to give free books to kids so they’ll read? Budget money for both paper books and eBooks. You want kids to read more? Then you reach them where their interests clearly lie instead of trying to drag them back into the habits of an old and curmudgeonly generation. This isn’t hard.

In other words: stop your whining and do something. Or hush up.

5 Links Make Up for Radio Silence

I know you all think I’ve dropped off the face of the Earth. Maybe what I need to do is promise a post a day with interesting links. That would at least be something.

  1. Today at Tor.com you can see the latest installment of Tech News For Nerds, a weekly thing I’m doing over that way. This one is all about cell phones and wireless technologies. Netbook fans should take special note of the smartbook section.
  2. My dear friend John Klima is raising money for a new genre magazine showcasing underrepresented cultures. Go vote for his idea and help him win $25K to get started. (Yes, you need money to start a magazine, people. And John is good at it.) It’s a great way to stick it to Norman Spinrad.
  3. Did you know that I’m in an ultra-cool non-fic anthology called Chicks Dig Time Lords? I so am. It’s such an amazing book and filled with all kinds of smart writers and fans and actors and Doctor Who goodness. Women talking about their fan experience across time (and space) and being very smart about what they love and don’t love about the show and fandom. I, of course, wrote a controversial essay on Martha Jones. I know Paul Cornell has the book, I just hope he doesn’t hate me for what I said about Human Nature. Go buy Chicks Dig Time Lords right now and then go listen to the podcast of Hour of the Wolf featuring several contributors and read about our shenanigans the night before.
  4. Speaking of books, remember the list of eReaders I said people should be on the lookout for? Several of them now have full reviews, including the Alex eReader, which is my favorite. If anyone asked me right now which eReader they should buy, I would say the Alex without hesitation. The list of other eReaders is on Tor.com as well.
  5. This weekend I watched the BBC miniseries Lost in Austen and have the following things to say about it: (a) When did it become okay to present fanfic as legitimate television? (b) Does the BBC have only 20 actors? Because I have seen a third of this cast on every show I’ve watched. (c) After the clusterfuck that was Hex, Jemima Rooper and Christina Cole shouldn’t be allowed on screen together again nor should they be allowed psuedo-lesbian encounters because they wouldn’t give them to us on that horrendous show. (d) Jemima is awfully hot. (e) Judging from the 700+ comments for this movie on Netflix, I’d have to say that it’s successful insofaras it’s made people feel strongly that it’s the best thing ever or a piece of crap. (f) Where can I get a job writing badfic for money?

Now back to my regularly scheduled seclusion.

Addendum to eBook Post: Other eBook Stores

Addendum to eBook Post: Other eBook Stores

John Sclazi has an excellent post about supporting the authors affected by this whole Macmillan/Amazon war by buying their books, then he goes on to list many fine places one can purchase said books both online and in real life.

I realized upon reading this that, in my last post, I hadn’t mentioned some good places to buy eBooks that aren’t attached to specific readers and are also worth looking in to if you’re an author or other publishing entity. I don’t know about all of them, so if you know of some I missed, please let me know in the comments.

The American Bookseller’s Association has made it easy for independent booksellers to create an eBook store through their IndieCommerce initiative. Hundreds of stores have taken advantage of it, and I believe Powell’s books is one of them. They definitely have an eBook store. You can find eBooks on IndieBound as well. If you have a favorite bookstore and they have a website, it’s worth checking it to see if they offer eBooks. WebScription.net is Baen’s eBookstore, though they sell non-Baen’s books there.

Like I said, if you know of any others, please let us know in the comments.