Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Media
November 16, 2011 | Wednesday | 30 Comments
I had two questions when I opened the Kindle Fire package and started to play with the device last night: 1. Would this device be as easy to use as the other Kindle products, the ones that come with the world’s shortest printed user guide? 2. Who is the ideal customer or customers for the Kindle Fire? No, wait, I had a third question: 3. Could I get through a device demo with Hubby on the sofa next to me without either of us saying, “FIRE! FIRE!” There was a good bit of Beavis and Butthead while we tried out…
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May 04, 2011 | Wednesday | 31 Comments
There is a staggeringly small amount of media attention being directed at the horrific devastation and continued difficulties of the Southern US following hellabad tornadoes from storms that hit the region 25-28 April 2011. Over 300 people were killed from the confirmed 189 different tornadoes - excuse me, according to the NOAA, 305 tornadoes from the storm, and with flooding, destruction, rain, and so many missing, the situation isn’t getting better any time soon. But I haven’t heard anything about it on the tv as much as I have on Twitter. The news hasn’t changed since the storm, though things…
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November 10, 2010 | Wednesday | 30 Comments
ETA: Note: Apparently, *I* have not learned the lesson that the plural of “lesson” is “lessons” - and there was an apostrophe up in that title. All fixed! Color me embarrassed - which if memory serves is a rather sickly shade of puce. Here’s a not-in-any-particular-order list of lessons learned from the Cook’s Source copyright idiot-a-thon of last week. 1. Do not piss off the internet, especially when now, unlike a few years ago, mainstream news media will have no problems with citing Live Journal as a source. 2. Don’t steal. I mean, is that really a hard one? It’s…
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July 26, 2010 | Monday | 45 Comments
Gotta love it when I stick my foot in my mouth! Last night I did an interview with 744 ABC Melbourne about erotic fan fiction. During the interview with Alan Brough, he asked me about why erotic fan fiction so often pairs two characters of the same gender. What I meant to say was that in most countries, popular culture reveals a general discomfort with homosexuality, and that frank portrayals of homosexuality are not common. What I said was that “most people in the world are uncomfortable with homosexuality.” Clearly, these are not the same things. Yes. Everyone in the…
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June 21, 2010 | Monday | 35 Comments
Thursday 17 June I attended The Big Money’s “Untethered” conference, all about publishing in the tablet era (0_o). As predicted, it was high in unintentional comedy, with some sessions that I hope are made available online for their unparalleled awesomeness. Be warned: this entry is HELLA LONG but the sections about NPR (awesome) and the device panel where folks were dismissive of the consumer who asked a question about ebook pricing (me) are probably the juicy parts if you want to skip ahead. Don Graham, CEO of Washington Post, began the sessions by speaking from the perspective of a reader…
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June 16, 2010 | Wednesday | 21 Comments
If all goes well, tomorrow I will be attending Big Money’s Untethered conference, all about publishing on tablet media. I haven’t received a registration confirmation despite being a media partner, woe is I. I think (I hope anyway) that they’re defining “tablet” to its broadest definition to include not only iPads but also smart phones, digital reading devices, and the like, because if it’s all iPad, all day, that’ll get boring in a hurry. But the focus on publishing should be interesting, particularly since the speakers include Sarah Chubb, CEO of Conde Nast, Brian Murray, the CEO of HarperCollins, and…
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June 09, 2010 | Wednesday | 12 Comments
The afternoon sessions began after a lunch of vegetarian and tuna wraps and sushi, with really good cookies, and really long lines for the free Motorola phone. Ms. Harman, American Red Cross: My successes in social media are created in moments of unspeakable tragedy. Social media and the American Red Cross connect people who need help. The American Red Cross belongs to everyone, because we make up the network that allows communities to help each other. “We are only as strong as the network that we have.” (S: In this room, we are shit out of luck, then). They do…
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June 04, 2010 | Friday | 11 Comments
From Laura Dawson on Twitter:
According to the Mashable article, “American composer and conductor Eric Whitacre spliced together nearly 250 submitted YouTube videos to form an online choir” after spreading the word via social media.
So truly beautiful it gives me chills. Have a truly amazing weekend.
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April 19, 2010 | Monday | 51 Comments
Every now and again in our long and storied history of being cable subscribers, Hubby and I have subscribed to HBO and other cable network packages. Every time we did, it was ridiculously expensive given how much time we actually watch tv, let alone HBO, and even more preposterous was HOW MANY HBO CHANNELS we received. Honestly, I think at one time we had 12! Once we had a TiVO digital recorder, we didn’t want HBO so much any more, because by then there were some series out on DVD that we could rent, and we had the ability to…
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February 01, 2010 | Monday | 5 Comments
Thanks to Random.org, we have a winner in the O’Reilly Tools of Change in Publishing giveaway. The lucky winner will receive a coupon for free admission to the conference, which is currently worth $1,245.00 US. As I stated previously, airfare and hotel accommodations are the responsibility of the winner. Without further ado (or any ado at all): the winner! Comment #35, India, who commented at 9:00pm server time, is our winner. Congratulations India! Email me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom to claim your winnings. Thank you to those who entered, and to O’Reilly for providing the coupon for entrance as part of the…
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January 26, 2010 | Tuesday | 40 Comments
I have a huge giveaway today. Huge. Freaking enormous. I’m really excited about it. As part of my media partnership with O’Reilly Tools of Change, I’ve been given a conference code good for free registration for the 2010 Tools of Change in Publishing Conference, being held February 23 through 24, 2010 in New York City. The conference registration online is $1,245.00 US (See? I told you it was rather huge) and if you try to pay at the door, it’s $1345.00. Conference registration includes: Access to: * all sessions (Tuesday – Wednesday) * all keynote presentations *…
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January 22, 2010 | Friday | 26 Comments
Harlequin has a new documentary that goes behind the scenes of a cover shoot, and believe me, it’s a layer cake of eye candy up in here. You don’t even need to have the volume up if you don’t want to. And if shirtless men or gentlemen in well-fitted jeans don’t do it for you, there’s still plenty to sigh at. Just look at the scenery. I’m terrified of horses and I want to go riding out there, like, already. There’s also a 10 minute version here: I think a documentary about a cover shoot is brilliant because it’s promotion…
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January 20, 2010 | Wednesday | 34 Comments
Prince Joe is among the most beloved old categories. It’s a vintage Suzanne Brockmann, featuring her hallmark SEALs fighting terrorists while meeting up with fine noble women. When I mocked a bit of the novel on Twitter, the small taste of outrage that I would snark on Prince Joe leads me to believe that this review will not be too popular. Honestly, Prince Joe didn’t do it for me. Hark! A plot summary: Joe Catalanotto is a Navy SEAL who happens to look just like a selfish, boorish buttnoid of a prince of some small mythical country named -stan, and…
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January 18, 2010 | Monday | 70 Comments
Smart Bitches Trashy Books LLC is a media partner for the 2010 O’Reilly Tools of Change Conference (and if you’d like a discount off registration, click that ad over yonder and use the code toc10sb for 15% off the cost), and I’m preparing for two presentations at the 2010 conference. Nervous? You bet your sweet bippy. Why? In both cases, I’m talking about digital books and digital reading, and while these are subjects that I’ve learned a tremendous amount about, I remain convinced that those who drive the digital reading and digital publishing industries are not always listening to the…
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January 13, 2010 | Wednesday | 13 Comments
There are some big plans on the horizon and the time has come to enter the land of excellence: internship! Below the fold are details on an internship opportunity for Smart Bitches and Dear Author. Feel free to forward, copy and paste and send to all and sundry (but be careful with sundry, as I hear she’s a bit wonky today).
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or email me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom.
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