The Book Broads

I do not have the end of summer blues. Well, OK, maybe a aqua blue, but not a blue-blue. I will miss the kids when they head back to school. I will miss the on-the-go adventures that came over us in the afternoons. Heading to rivers, lakes, oceans and seeing friends.

Fall has it’s own rhythm and I enjoy it too. Lots of new projects coming up…. Word on the Street is around the corner and the new fall books get released. Heaven right there.

This summer I met a Nanaimo poet, named Kamal Parmar. I really enjoyed her words. She writes about her love of BC, The Prairies and her home of India. I liked how she had found all of her and put it into words. I am pleased that she did not stick to only Indian poems or poems of the Prairies and BC. I think the variety defines her. It is who she is and what she loves. That was very appealing to me and it was a joy to read her work.

I did a video interview with Kamal. We learn a lot about her past, how she started writing and more. I hope you enjoy it and the poem she reads. All about the end of summer.

Thanks – and keep reading,

Kim

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(Angela here) June Gilbank, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amigurumi, offers great advice for crochet-lovers to create the darling miniature animals and objects of this yarn art form.  Obviously, June and I share a publisher and it was a thrill to share in the excitement of another Canadian author’s book launch. As we got to know each other better on-line, I promised June I’d take a crack at crochet.  I haven’t manage that quite yet (a broken arm will do that to you) but I wanted to share this video I made based on the advice in June’s book. It’s a great introduction to the supplies needed to make your own adorable amigurumi. Once I get the arm back in full swing, I promise to post again with an  update on my first project.

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(Angela here) When we formed The Book Broads we knew we were going to learn and grow as we shared our various talents. And I have to say that Peggy’s contribution has been largely about podcasting and ebooks. She’s taught Kim and I how to do audio and video podcasting, encouraged us both to write ebooks. (Mine’s a work-in-progress, Peggy, I promise!)

Peggy has personally contributed to more than 150 ebooks so far including some technical how-tos, her wildly successful book on rain water collection systems and lots of other writing under various pseudonyms. Yes, Peg’s got some alter egos!

Folks in Nanaimo and Vancouver have the opportunity to learn both podcasting and ebooks from Peggy over the next few weeks. Check out her website for exact details. If you’ve ever considered publishing an ebook or getting into podcasting, you must attend!

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(Kim here) Grace, our Little Book Broad, tells us her thoughts on The Stibil Forest Adventure, written by Cheryl Schenk and “illustrated” by Chris Jammer. Chris is master clay sculptor and the characters in the book are made out of clay. My kids loved them, I found them a bit creepy. But then again, I also was not a fan of  The Thunderbirds and things of that ilk. Yes, this does amuse my family!

My girls loved the stories and asked me to read it a number of times. It is great when they get drawn into the book.

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Kim here… and I think by now, you know I like to cook.  Just got the new book, The Vegetarian Collection, from Alison Kent and the Canadian Living Test Kitchen. I went through it a few times to choose the recipe to try – I landed on page 41 and decided to make Falafels. Soaked the chick peas, ground them up, added the ingredients, fried them, cut veggies and made sauces. Yum. The Little Book Broads got into the mix – did a taste test. Here is the video of our taste test. They were good. We made enough for school the next day, and made a snack for the teachers. The teachers loved the falafels too! Nice recipe and eager to try more!

Vegetarian Collection from Canadian Living Test Kitchen

Thanks for watching and reading. Happy eating!

Kim, on behalf of The Book Broads

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What a delight to talk about WordPress, social media, eBooks, and other online opportunities for editors with participants in the Editors’ Association of Canada [#EAC] workshop. This workshop was held on the SFU campus at Harbour Centre in Vancouver, and we had a large and friendly group that participated eagerly with questions and discussion. George Plumley (yeah, Kim’s hubby, and Author of WordPress 24-Hour Trainer, and another new WordPress-related book coming out shortly) joined us as an Honourary Broad to spearhead our day with one of his famous WordPress talks.

The job of Editors is changing rapidly these days. Much of our discussion revolved around how Editors can profit from new opportunities in the world of digital publishing, whether it be in blogging, eBooks, or in creating and conceiving social media messaging and content. Content is what drives the new digital economy, and Editors are needed more now than ever.

Participants were very generous with their comments after the session, and we were very flattered to hear things like; ”Best communicators I’ve sat in any class with”, “Overall a very interesting [workshop] from a bunch of personable, intelligent, witty folks.”, and ”Brain full. Very full. Thank you! I learned a lot and am really glad I came.” You are most welcome – we’d love to do more of these sessions! WE LOVE EDITORS!

Thanks to everyone who attended the workshop, and to the EAC for having us as presenters. Please keep in touch with us, as we’d love to know how you use the materials.

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Here The Book Broads weigh in on the use of self-publishing companies that we refer to as “puppy mills”, that is, self-publishing companies that really don’t care as much about your book as your wallet.
To hear the podcast, just click the arrow on the player below. The player will expand to play the entire podcast here in this window.

 

 Beware: Puppy Mill Publishers [10:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (147)

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The three Book Broads weigh in on a variety of mobile eBook reading devices, including criticisms, and some factors driving the market.
To hear the podcast, just click the arrow on the player below. The player will expand to play the entire podcast here in this window.

 

 The Book Broads on Mobile eBook Readers [11:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (115)

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This is just a short, fun little podcast where we talk about our favourite reads, and why they’re our faves.
To hear the podcast, just click the arrow on the player below. The player will expand to play the entire podcast here in this window.

 

 The Book Broads on Our Favourite Reads [5:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (109)

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Listen to this great podcast where all three of the Broads talk about the impact of online retailers, eBooks, and other forces on book retailers, both large and small.
To hear the podcast, just click the arrow on the player below. The player will expand to play the entire podcast here in this window.

 

 The Book Broads on The Future of the Bookstore [14:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (116)

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