Readers Choice: Top Ten

domingo, 13 de octubre de 2013

#Write A #Review, or, #What to #Do When You Get A #Free #Book

#Write A #Review, or, What to Do When You Get A #Free #Book

from: Jesenia Sanabia
to: profesorbaker@gmail.com
date: Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 10:00 PM
subject: Book Review Complete
Hello Thomas,
I truly enjoyed your book. I couldn’t put it down till I finished it. Great work. Thank you for sharing :-) I have attached the book review. Have a great night :-)
God bless,
Jesenia Sanabia
**
Jesenia Sanabia is the author of,Poetic Heart:
Book Description
Publication Date: September 22, 2013
The poetry in this book was inspired by a major life decision that changed my whole path. You will recognize all my thoughts and emotions as I journeyed towards my life’s true destiny after leaving my old life behind. My goal for sharing my thoughts through poetry is to help heal broken hearts, inspire, motivate, and/or open up your way of thinking.
Think and relate the poems to your own experiences. Not everything means the same thing to every individual. This is something fun about poetry. Open up your mind, your way of thinking and get creative. Have fun :-)
*Added bonus quotes page just for you :-)
Jesenia Sanabia a Hispanic American who loves the creation of expression. A true Artist. Has and will continue to express feelings, thoughts, and experiences through various artistic outlets. Examples writing, music, modeling, and acting. With the hopes of inspiring, motivating, helping, and entertaining others.
**
Write a review. That’s what you do when you get a free book. The author is confident that the reader will enjoy the book. In return for having received a free book, the author also hopes that the reader will be generous, in one of two ways:
1. Help spread the news about the book so other people will want to buy the book. Write a review, and you will be a big help to both the reader and the writer, because it is your review that brings these two people together.
2. Maybe you didn’t like the book. In this case, the author is hoping that you won’t write a negative review. Instead, the author hopes that the reader will honestly inform the writer where the book fails to achieve its purpose, whether to be informative or entertaining. This gives the author a final opportunity to polish the story, in the face of genuine constructive criticism.
3. Three? Yes, there is a number three, a third option. The reader can write a genuinely honest review, whether good or bad, and it is up to the author to grow from the experience. That means to keep up the good work if the writing is good, or to seek improvement if something can be improved.
As a writer, I always do my best. I try to please myself, first, and at the same time, create a multi-layered narrative that permits the reader to have multiple opportunities to find satisfaction from the reading of the book. This enjoyment is not some utopian ideal, but rather recognition of the fact that no two readers will ever be alike.
All readers bring something of themselves to the reading of the text, in terms of prior knowledge, opinions, beliefs, and experiences. This affects how the book will be understood, and ultimately, whether the reader will enjoy the book.
In this sense, no book will ever give up all its secrets, be fully understood, on the first reading. This is why it is possible to read a book you have already read once before, and find yourself able to learn new things you did not notice the first time you read the book.
I would like to demonstrate what I am talking about by having you read the review sent to me by a writer who read my book, Story Tellers: In Pursuit of Happiness. After reading the generous review, I ask you to take a look at the reviews of the other people who reviewed the book.
All of the reviews make me feel very happy, because they are all 5 star reviews. A 5 star review means the reader loved your book. Yet what is important is this: all the reviews are different.
It is possible for a hundred people to read Story Tellers: In Pursuit of Happiness, and every one of them can find a 100 different reasons to love the story. That is the power of the story, its capacity to provide enjoyment to the reader in a multitude of endless possibilities.
Finally, that is why the reading and writing of books will never go away, because of its inherent potential to nourish the soul, promote intellectual and emotional growth, and entertain both the reader and the writer, in a variety of ways. Let’s take a look at the review that I received from Ms. Jesenia Sanabia:
**
Reviewed byJesenia Sanabia
Storytellers: In The Pursuit Of Happiness, is a mystically enchanting read for the whole family. Wonderfully written and creative. I could not put it down until I finished reading the whole book. Thomas used a creative writing strategy that keeps you focused and intrigued with the story.
In book one, the storyteller involves the boy in the narration of the story. By asking questions and asking the boy to repeat to him the main points before moving on to the next main point. Making them both narrators of book one.
This writing strategy introduces a great reading technique in general for parents reading to their children. The boy became fully engaged in the story. This reading technique can help develop an interest in reading for kids.
In book two of Storytellers: In The Pursuit Of Happiness, I was pleasantly surprised how Thomas turned the narrators into the main characters. Which was a beautiful twist in the story. I also truly enjoyed the linking of Bible scriptures to the story.


miércoles, 9 de octubre de 2013

Help Choose the Audiobook Cover for Storytellers: In Pursuit of Happiness! Please Vote for Cover 1 or Cover 2. Thanks in Advance!

Vote Here!!! Audiobook Cover Contest

Cover #1
Story Tellers Cover by Samantha Fury
Cover #2
Storyteller Cover by Samantha Fury
Vote For the Cover You Like Best
New Poll

sábado, 5 de octubre de 2013

Venus Cover Contest: Who Can Convert Boticelli’s “Birth of Venus” Into An ACX Audiobook Cover?

Venus Cover Contest: Who Can Convert Boticelli’s “Birth of Venus” Into An ACX Audiobook Cover?

Can you put Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” on an Audiobook cover? Let me describe you, your talents, skills and abilities. You are:
Talented & Gifted.
Artistic & Authentic.
Creative & Innovative.
You are a wizard, a goddess, a genius.
You are both mortal & immortal.
You are a legend in your own time,
You are a legend in my mind.
You are a storyteller and a creator,
You are an artist and inventor,
You are revolutionary,
You are visionary.
You are motivated,
You are dedicated.
Are you without fear?
Then, and only then,
Now is the time when
You must bring Venus to life.
Bring her here.
Ancient sacrifice
Ancient religion
Can you put Venus on the cover?
Venus whispers to you: “Join my admiring legion
Will you be my storyteller?
If I have accurately described you, and you believe you have what it takes, the journey you must make is a difficult one. The requirements of your challenge is below:
- Submit your contest entry within the next 7 days
- The winner will be decided by public vote
- Voting will be conducted by reader response on this blog
- The vote will last for seven days and seven nights
- Winning entry will be announced here and amplified by social media all throughiout the internet (over 8 billion webpages)
- Title: “Storytellers: In Pursuit of Happiness”
- Author: Thomas Jerome Baker
(Title & Author must appear on the cover)
- Any questions? Write to ==> profesorbaker@gmail.com
** Opportunity knocks. Show off your talent to the world. Are you ready? Can you bring Botticelli’s Venus to life? Yes?
Here are the requirements your Audiobook Cover must meet:
Image Requirements
Cover art submitted to ACX must meet the following requirements:
Technical Requirements
• Images must contain both the name of the title and author(s).
• Images must be no smaller than 2400 x 2400 pixels in size.
• The resolution of these images can be no smaller than 72 dpi.
• Images must be squared. The squared cover must be a true squared cover and cannot be rectangular with colored borders on the side (e.g., CD case cover/jacket).
• Images should be at least 24-bit.
• Images cannot refer to physical CD’s or media other than the audio presented.
• Jewel cases, promotional stickers, and cellophane are not allowed.
• Pornographic and offensive materials are not allowed.
Acceptable File Types
• JPG in RGB format only.
Delivery Methods
• Upload through ACX.com only.
File Naming
Each image file should be named with a condensed name of the title. Alpha numeric characters only.
Adhering to Image Specifications
Below are image samples that depict what a properly formatted cover should look like, and some examples that would be rejected.
Source: ACX
Source: ACX
Cover A displays an appropriately formatted image that would be accepted into production.
Native size 2400×2400 pixels (not to scale in this document), with a resolution of 72dpi. Some elements had to change size or placement to accommodate the square size.
Cover B is an example of a cover that’s been rejected for not meeting spec.
Although sized appropriately, we do not accept covers that add borders on the sides (in this example, white bars) of the original cover sized for print editions.
We are asking for true square covers (which may mean layout changes) to add into our production.
Another incorrect example is C.
It is essentially the same rectangular image in B, stretched to meet our image spec. This also goes for smaller sized images, Cover D, being scaled up to meet the size spec.
Although this does meet our size requirements, there is too much noise and pixelation added to the image when scaling up that prevents sharpness and readability.
Source: ACX
Source: ACX

martes, 1 de octubre de 2013

Is hearing a book as good as reading one?

The Audiobook: Is hearing a book as good as reading one?

Shutterstock/Takayuki
Is hearing a book as good as reading one?
This is possibly the wrong question to be asking in 2013. However, I will give my answer to this question after I share some amazing information with you. First of all, according to a recent CBS News report, Audiobooks have become a $1.2 Billion dollar industry. Evidently, there are a tremendous amount of people who enjoy listening to audiobooks.
Advantages of an Audiobook
Long distance runner? Listen to your favorite audiobook while you enjoy the scenery go by, exercising your body and your mind at the same time.
Commuting to work? Why not listen to Storytellers: The Pursuit of Happiness while commuting to and from work: car, subway, bus, train, ferry, bicycle, walking, your audiobook is the perfect companion. A good audiobook can make your daily commute seem like a walk around the block.
Multitasking: Is there anyone left on the planet who only does one thing at a time anymore? In this busy world we live in, time is a precious commodity. Very few people can afford to do only one thing at a time nowadays.
Who is listening to audiobooks?
74% of those who download audiobooks through public libraries are women. Most are between the ages of 30 and 59 with a college or postgraduate degree, a study by Overdrive downloading service showed.
Most audiobook listeners are commuters. According to the The Times, they make up 47 percent, while 25 percent listen as they’re working around the house, and 23 percent listen while exercising.
Matthew Thornton of AudibleAmazon’s audiobook publisher:
“We’re seeing heavy growth among younger listeners, people in and getting out of college who are part of the emerging app culture.”
Wall Street Journal story (The New Explosion In Audiobooks) described how sales of audiobooks have “jumped by double digits in recent years,” and “shifts in digital technology have broadened the pool of potential listeners to include anyone with a smartphone.” The New York Times noted in June that audiobook sales went up 22 percent from 2011 to 2012.
Digital Innovation
Digital innovation isn’t just changing the way audio books are created, packaged and sold.
It’s starting to reshape the way readers consume literature, creating a new breed of literary omnivores who see narrated books and text as interchangeable.
Last year, the audio book producer and retailer Audible unveiled a long-awaited syncing feature that allows book lovers to switch seamlessly between an e-book and a digital audio book, picking up the story at precisely the same sentence.
So far, Audible, which is owned by Amazon, has paired some 26,000 ebooks with professional narrations. The company is adding more than 1,000 titles a month and aims to eventually bring the number to close to 100,000.
Finally, is hearing a book as good as reading one?
Yes, hearing a book is as good as reading one, there can be no doubt about that. The evidence overwhelmingly points this fact out, and most experts predict that the audiobook trend will continue to increase in the future. We are talking about a Billion dollar industry, after all. The Audiobook industry is big, and it will only get bigger as innovation and technology responds to the demand for more audiobooks in the ears of more people…
I’d like to finish by inviting you to listen to a preview of my new audiobook: Storytellers: The Pursuit of Happiness. It is performed, in multiple voices, by the talented voice actor, Mr. Rich Crankshaw. You will surely agree that he has made this book come alive with his skills as a voice actor. His voice range is rich and wide in diversity, able to play multiple characters, as he does in this book. This audiobook will be coming out very soon. Be sure to get your copy early. I thank you in advance for your support.

Botticelli: The Birth of Venus & Storytellers: The Pursuit of Happiness (Audio Visual)

Botticelli: The Birth of Venus & Storytellers: The Pursuit of Happiness (Audio Visual)

http://richcrankshaw.com/ Audiobook Audition: “Storytellers: The Pursuit of Happiness” will be professionally narrated by Mr. Rich Crankshaw, from Brooklyn, New York. Rich Crankshaw is multitalented. He is a voice actor, writer, producer, and sound designer. As you can see, the Audiobook will be everything that it deserves to be: entertaining, professional, and high quality.
Source: Uffizi Gallery
The Birth of Venus is undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous and appreciated works of art. Painted by Sandro Botticelli between 1482 and 1485, it has become a landmark of XV century Italian painting, so rich in meaning and allegorical references to antiquity.
The theme comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a very important oeuvre of the Latin literature. Venus is portrayed naked on a shell on the seashore; on her left the winds blow gently caressing her hair, on her right a handmaid (Ora) waits for the goddess to go closer to dress her shy body. The meadow is sprinkled with violets, symbol of love.
We can find clear references to the “Stanzas”, a famous poetic work by Agnolo Poliziano, a contemporary of Botticelli and the greatest Neoplatonic poet of the Medici court. Neoplatonism was a current of thought that tried to connect the Greek and Roman cultural heritage with Christianity.
The Neoplatonic philosophical meaning is then clear: the work would mean the birth of love and the spiritual beauty as a driving force of life.
The iconography of Venus is certainly derived from the classic theme of Venus Pudica, covering her private parts shyly. In Florence, another important work of art is the translation in sculpture of the same theme: the famous Medici Venus at the Uffizi Gallery.
The Medici commissioned the Birth of Venus, including the works Pallas and the Centaur and the Allegory of Spring at the Uffizi, and these belonged to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, a cousin of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
As Poliziano was a great poet of written verses, so Botticelli was one of the greatest poets of the line and the drawing. It is worth to mention the exceptional technique and the fine materials used to accomplish the work.
The Birth of Venus is the first example in Tuscany of a painting on canvas. Moreover the special use of expensive alabaster powder, making the colors even brighter and timeless, is another characteristic that makes this work unique.
Behind the interpretation of the painting as a tribute to classic literature, we can certainly read an ode to the wealthy Florentine family who commissioned the work: the beginning of the reign of love finally comes to Florence thanks to the Medici, their diplomatic skills and their vast culture.
This way Sandro Botticelli gives the art history one of its most sublime masterpieces.

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