The Book Broads

Don’t panic! [Angela wrote in large, friendly letters.*]

The Book Broads’ are not suggesting that you READ thirty books in 30 days but I have proposed a task for the Broads and we invite you to play along at home. We’re each going to recommend 30 books based on a series of questions so by the end of the challenge, you’ll have 90 new Book Broads’ recommendations for your reading list.  We’re taking a break May 8  because we’re all Moms who will be pampered on Mother’s Day so the challenge will take place from May 1 to 31.

This plan was inspired by a couple of other women – Rebecca Coleman and Leslye Brown. Rebecca is a Marketing and Media Relations specialist in Vancouver. Her clients are often theatre companies and she teaches social media, just as I do. We cross paths a lot and always enjoy one another’s company. In May, Rebecca’s making 30 training videos in 30 days – an inspiring goal! For her part, Leslye is an avid reader and a friend of mine going back to university days. She recently started a 30 day music challenge on Facebook and asked “And for all you creative types, something like this for books & movies would be awesome!” Well, Leslye, get out your Kobo – this book challenge is for you.

So, as we share our picks, pans and pleasures we invite you to do the same in the comments on our blog or Facebook page or by reply on Twitter.  We’d also love to know if you’re inspired by this idea to do something similar on you own blog. After all, you can never have too many books on your “things to read” list. Look for the question list on Monday here!

 * That’s a reference to one of Angela’s favourite books – Douglas Adams’ The Complete Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

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(Angela here) Next week, we are presenting at the eWomenNetwork’s Women & Words Conference in Coquitlam.  As The Book Broads, we’ll present our talk Flog Your Blog: How to Turn Your Blog Into a Book. In this fast-paced one hour session, we’re going to offer some insight on how the print industry operates… you know, the good, the bad and the kinda ugly. We’ll share case studies and alternatives to traditional publishing.

Peggy and Angela appear again on Saturday while Kim goes home early for a very important family function. Peggy will join Irene Kavanagh for The Emporer Has No Clothes – Why You Need an Editor. Shortly after that, Angela will advocate for social media on the Social Media vs. Traditional Media panel discussion. (No link yet for that session yet).

As a fan of The Book Broads, you can use our name “The Book Broads” to access a $99 / day conference pass. Just email info@pamelachatry.com to get registered at that special rate. We’d love to see you!

UPDATE: We’ve just been informed this special rate expires on Monday, April 25, 2011. Just fyi.

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(Kim here) I know Angela will not write it here. She does not want to be braggy or anything – but I can do it! Angela’s new book is out!  The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating A Social Network (written by Angela Crocker is available from these fine retailers and your local bookseller: (ISBN 978-1-61564-060-7)).

Here is a picture of her and her new book – she looks like a proud mama, huh?

A cute couple - Angela and her book.

Angela and her new book have been seen out in public lately. It’s an official author/book relationship that is now up front for the public to see. Check out Angela and the book on Global TV.  Angela on Global TV – March 13th, 2011

On Tuesday, March 15th at 11:30 am PAC, Angela is on with Bill Good on CKNW. Sweet. Listen live, and call in if you have a question. 980 am on the radio dial, or listen live on line at www.cknw.com.

As you can tell, I am so pleased and proud for my friend. I want to celebrate all the successes of her new book and I hope you can join me in cheering her on!

Thanks!

Kim

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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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The Book Broads enthuse about the upcoming Bookcamp Vancouver conference on Friday, October 1, 2010.  All three of us look forward to the ideas, opinions and research presented throughout the day.   With three concurrent sessions and three Broads we’ll absorb as much as we can. Look for our tweets (hashtags #bcvan10 & #thebb) and Facebook updates live during the conference.

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Shifts in media can mean fewer opportunities for editors. Fewer traditionally-published books being created, newspapers publishing less and less content, and magazines are also changing. The question is – when the shift hits the fan… where are the new opportunities for street-smart Editors? The answer is technology.  On September 25, Kim, Peggy, Angela and special guest George Plumley will be doing a day long workshop on this for the Editors’ Association of Canada.  Hear our thoughts in this podcast as we prepare for this class.

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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 (182)

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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 (144)

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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 (145)

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And a grand time was had by all. Here are Peggy’s top three reasons why she loved Northern Voice 2010.

Reason Number 1) The Incredible Job Done by Volunteers

Anybody who can wrangle a team of hardworking people like this deserves double applause. I met only a couple of the volunteers, including the friendly and clever Travis Smith, and the thoughtful and well-spoken Lauren Wood. This is still a shockingly small group for the amount of work that they all do to get this ball rolling. The conference was well-organized, and with only a couple of hiccups (need larger/more visible signage and bigger rooms and bigger shirt sizes), any disasters that may have happened behind the scenes were totally invisible to speakers and attendees. Venue worked pretty well, and parking was great. All sessions were recorded to view online later. Everyone appeared relaxed and the tone was really laid-back. Nice job.

Reason Number 2) Darren Barefoot

Darren, one of the organizers of the conference, and one of those hip next-gen marketing dudes, is *the best* panel moderator, EVAH. When’s he writing another book, huh? Huh? (When he does, he’s absolutely got to include his definition of a question - funny, clear, and it set the tone for all the sessions.)

Reason Number 3) Focus on Personal Blogging

All of the other conferences I go to are heavily focused on marketing, even Blog World Expo, where delegates are often business bloggers, or at least, very clear about wanting to make money from their blogs, which is pretty darn difficile. This conference’s focus on personal blogging was so refreshing. Being unashamed to focus on content, the very soul and driver of blogging in the first place, reminded me of what is really important. If you shift focus to think of blogging as a business, you run a serious risk of shooting yourself in the foot. Canadian content flourishes here, independent, true north strong and free. Breathe slowly.

Other great things about the conference;

Of the minor improvements that could be made, bigger rooms would have made the greatest difference. I felt bad for all the people squatting and sitting on floors to hear a great speaker. I was one of them at one point, and although it worked fine for me, I realize that this is not the case for all. The venue of the Life Sciences building was still very lovely, and the auditoriums didn’t seem to have a problem accommodating any of the sessions. However, being able to book sessions in advance might help plan for the use of larger rooms for higher-demand topics. This would be an uncommon approach, but I can’t see how else you could manage the numbers. Perhaps one of them could be large enough to accomodate the keynote, as the echo chamber / atriums were less than optimum for this purpose.

I’m really looking forward to returning next year. Thanks to all who attended our talk “Flog Your Blog” on Saturday afternoon, about turning your blog into a book. It’s impossible to teach someone how to create a book out of their blog in just 45 minutes, but I think we scratched an itch for a few people, judging by the emails I’ve received this week. We had such a great time!

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