tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.comments2010-07-25T22:55:43.841-04:00Liviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15805379309049803903noreply@blogger.comBlogger861125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-80336027723306004332010-07-25T22:55:43.841-04:002010-07-25T22:55:43.841-04:00This was a timely post for me. I want to start including more images in blog posts, but I never know where to start looking. Thanks for the resources!christihttp://writingunderpressure.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-56571902877043179952010-07-23T20:32:14.374-04:002010-07-23T20:32:14.374-04:00It may also be good to point out that you should be careful taking images from deviantART as well - many dArters are young and don&#39;t understand licensing themselves, and may have reposted someone else&#39;s work as their own without realizing the legal implications! Double check all sources, but that goes for everything in life, I guess :)j. m. leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12528070273611992249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-47675273341131245742010-07-23T12:18:32.414-04:002010-07-23T12:18:32.414-04:00The Stock Exchange is a great free stock photo website: www.sxc.hu.<br /><br />Also, as a graphic professional who is an aspiring author, I think it&#39;d be a good idea for you power-bloggers to offer a trade. You could offer 1 or more guest post spots on your blog in exchange for a simple header graphic. I&#39;m sure anyone who&#39;s trying to be a bigger part of the online writing community would jump at the opportunity.<br /><br />Thanks for the post!Sara Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463632021684427524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-26973222956181689442010-07-23T10:44:00.136-04:002010-07-23T10:44:00.136-04:00Great post, Livia. I&#39;ve bookmarked it. I&#39;m always looking for good image resources.davidkubicekhttp://davidkubicek.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-33879020037715910102010-07-22T19:07:59.811-04:002010-07-22T19:07:59.811-04:00Thanks for the offer, Michelle! I think I&#39;ll probably go with a designer from etsy who had a sample similar to what I wanted, but if that falls through, I might take you up on it. Your headers are beautiful. Now I know why your book cover&#39;s so nice :-)Liviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15805379309049803903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-43050692288915004512010-07-22T10:59:16.095-04:002010-07-22T10:59:16.095-04:00A good variety of resources. I&#39;d just caution that anyone looking for graphics on deviantArt must realize that every single artist&#39;s copyright and permissions vary, and nothing can be assumed &#39;up for grabs.&#39; <br /><br />Searching in the right categories though, there&#39;s a lot of great stock art to work with, and stock artists post clear guidelines in their journals. Also plenty of prospective artists to contact about doing custom work.<br /><br />I look forward to an insightful discussion on adverbs and erectile dysfunction, a problem that truly needs more attention and honest discussion ;)Hayley E. Lavikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09896649083961644485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-50049309751245668542010-07-22T10:12:30.993-04:002010-07-22T10:12:30.993-04:00Thank you for making me laugh really hard with your first paragraph!Shoshanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05280318814624346561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-61872251326883793442010-07-22T05:29:47.487-04:002010-07-22T05:29:47.487-04:00Great resources, Livia - thank you! I&#39;m going to bookmark this post.dirtywhitecandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10088813423467048081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-14226162471697958422010-07-21T23:15:02.049-04:002010-07-21T23:15:02.049-04:00Great post! I need more photos for my new outing...<br />www.sideventuresome.comLaurenhttp://www.sideventuresome.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-70451243157062079012010-07-21T22:56:53.673-04:002010-07-21T22:56:53.673-04:00That&#39;s awesome about your post! <br /><br />Those are great links for graphics. I usually end up doing my own, but I&#39;m a photographer, so that works in my favor. :)<br /><br />I&#39;m always willing to help you do a blog header with included custom art and design for a small fee or trade for editing or something, if you&#39;d like. I&#39;ve done some around the blogosphere - Sarah LaPolla from Curtis Brown (http://bigglasscases.blogspot.com/), The Public Query Slushpile (http://openquery.blogspot.com/), I Blame Jane (http://www.belleausten.blogspot.com/) are a few. <br /><br />I&#39;m not a professional or anything, but the offer&#39;s extended if you&#39;d like. :) Good luck!Michelle Davidson Argylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09696465137285587646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-26501856465153713622010-07-21T15:52:28.526-04:002010-07-21T15:52:28.526-04:00Oh, wow. I just read Mary&#39;s article, and I feel like she just hauled off and slapped us all in the collective face. Ow!! What a load of condescending bull****!! I have a good friend who was an editor at one of the big NY houses, and she and I used to talk all the time about how her industry and mine (entertainment) were almost the same these days. Publishing houses want sure things, like celebrity cookbooks or memoirs by Sarah Palin. And if their marketing departments can&#39;t figure out how to sell a book, then they don&#39;t want to buy it no matter HOW brilliant it is. <br /><br />And the heck of it is, you&#39;re still required to do most of your own promotion even if a publishing house DOES take you on. And that much-vaunted &quot;we can get you into bookstores&quot; thing? Well, you get about four months, on average, to become a hit, before you&#39;re pulled off the shelf and replaced with somebody else&#39;s first novel. And good luck if you&#39;ve signed a multi-book contract, if your publisher isn&#39;t interested in pursuing your second one -- but owns it regardless. Now that must be the definition of author purgatory.<br /><br />Very sadly, the bookstore share of the market is shrinking rapidly. Soon, the ability of the mainstream publishers to get their product into the stores won&#39;t count for much anymore. <br /><br />Sorry for the rant. But man, I haven&#39;t read such an insulting diatribe in a long time! (Hers, not yours, Livia. :-) )Shuriya Kendonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-84511699181775369512010-07-18T14:16:12.882-04:002010-07-18T14:16:12.882-04:00Very funny! I went the self-publishing route with my first book, but I went with the wrong company. I highly recommend investigating ALL the options out there, before investing any money or time. As some self-publishers can take years off your life as well!Laura Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822749971171301648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-45687783089429729472010-07-18T11:18:42.383-04:002010-07-18T11:18:42.383-04:00I&#39;ve self published, sold 400 copies, and I&#39;m still alive. Of course, I&#39;ve gained some pounds due to sitting far more than I should. So I&#39;d better get off my butt and make time to exercise because I don&#39;t want time to be taken from me.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stephentremp.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Stephen Tremp</a>Stephen Tremphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13562766257714556778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-10263886292263952442010-07-18T00:30:51.141-04:002010-07-18T00:30:51.141-04:00As with &quot;regular&quot; publishing, you need to know what you&#39;re getting into before you do it. Self-publishing doesn&#39;t, on it&#39;s face, provide nearly as much rejection, but it&#39;s waiting out there for you no matter which route you take. Either way, you&#39;re in for a lot of work. Be ready for it.T.D. Newtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10141151129135759156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-82911527655754667292010-07-17T12:13:42.191-04:002010-07-17T12:13:42.191-04:00I don&#39;t know that anything but stopping one&#39;s heart from beating will actually kill a person. That aside, however, self-publishing gets every author over a single huge hurdle: getting published at all.<br /><br />But I guess that&#39;s kind of like being nominated for the Nobel prize. On average, self-published books sell around 100 copies. As a book designer who&#39;s paid professional rates and has worked for a steady string of self-publishing authors the last few years, I can say confidently sales of 100 copies do not get it done. In fact, I suppose it could lead to some life-shortening stress.<br /><br />So the trick for winning the prize, not just being nominated, is an integrated plan that begins with writing well about something that readers beyond the &quot;natural audience&quot; of family and friends will find interesting enough to pay for the book. This is why consulting a professional editor and, later, copy editor is a wise investment. A professional book designer (what I do) should also be part of the plan, to create a book that prospetive readers will pick up, thus giving that fine writing and interesting subject a chance to reach the reader. And throughout all this, a smart marketing plan must be hatched, so that the book can reach beyond sales of 100 or so to that &quot;natural audience&quot;.<br /><br />That&#39;s a formula for &quot;going in health&quot; on the path to self-publishing.Stephen Tianohttp://www.tianobookdesign.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-52751333731787674492010-07-16T14:03:52.932-04:002010-07-16T14:03:52.932-04:00What a great post! I do think I`m becoming rather sedentary. I spend too many hours writting. Gotta change that!Clarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062728322162370588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-43627203719944241972010-07-16T13:24:03.532-04:002010-07-16T13:24:03.532-04:00Livia, what a great and entertaining post! Thanks for writing this. I loved it. And, honestly, it was something I had never really thought of. I mean, the 1.4 years isn&#39;t a big deal, but the reduction of stress is definitely something to consider. Whether that results in self-publishing or un-self-publishing is a different matter.Davin Malasarnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09385823575081492949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-20201314825539572722010-07-16T12:19:21.607-04:002010-07-16T12:19:21.607-04:00What happens to lifespan if you use vodka as a preservative? That&#39;s what I really want to know.Simon C. Larterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01628662209746701945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-22089522330734646842010-07-15T23:15:01.498-04:002010-07-15T23:15:01.498-04:00LOL! Yep. Self Publishing is a long and dusty road. Not one I want to go down. But kudos to people who do. There are merits in it. Great post. Here&#39;s to living 1.4yrs longer :)Tabitha Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08196816108272065974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-58877213340533935682010-07-15T22:39:00.055-04:002010-07-15T22:39:00.055-04:00&quot;Make you die.&quot; Livia, I love your humor. <br /><br />I really haven&#39;t given this much thought myself, even though so many are talking about it. I&#39;m (soon) going to try for traditional, because it just doesn&#39;t feel right not to.<br /><br />Awesome discussion!margogremmler.comhttp://margogremmler.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-52736967401674744282010-07-15T20:05:26.750-04:002010-07-15T20:05:26.750-04:00This is hilarious. One of your best posts ever!Audra Krellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14147421200208110684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-64785463918707507592010-07-15T17:28:04.864-04:002010-07-15T17:28:04.864-04:00Thanks for being a good sport and joining in on the discussion, Chris. I appreciate it.Liviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15805379309049803903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-56645857966585071472010-07-15T16:54:58.947-04:002010-07-15T16:54:58.947-04:00Hi Livia:<br /><br />Thanks for linking to my blog - my response to your question is to ask what is important to the author. Is it to see their book in print, to know that they achieved some form of publication, and to have the book commercially available to readers? If those are the author&#39;s motives, then I think self-publishing is going to be satisfying. If, on the other hand, the author would like that book to begin a career in writing, then sales figures for self-publishers must be taken into account, and my opinion is that holding out as long as it takes (and working as hard as is required) to sell the book to a publisher is the way to go.Chrishttp://christopherkeelty.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-63459898601274641322010-07-15T12:08:17.899-04:002010-07-15T12:08:17.899-04:00I went with assisted self-publishing (POD and e-book) because I was getting frustrated with the lack of good new sf I enjoyed reading--lots of reprints of stuff I read fifty years ago. I got an editorial review (Editor&#39;s Choice), 5 star reviews at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and people who&#39;ve bought the book love it. Too early to tell if many sell, but I&#39;m feeling and (I&#39;m told) looking great in my Medicare years.Sue Annhttp://www.sueannbowling.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8503889855562099029.post-67073267830713714172010-07-15T12:00:19.966-04:002010-07-15T12:00:19.966-04:00Fantastic. I&#39;m going to hold out for the Nobel Prize, then.Helen Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07532657035761216045noreply@blogger.com