Wikipedia Loves Libraries 2013

I'll admit I've been a closet skeptic of Wikipedia, but this is too good to ignore: Wikipedia Loves Libraries is a real, live, in-person event hosted by libraries worldwide, or as Wikipedia puts it,  

"a general initiative for improved Wikimedia engagement with libraries (and archives), and more concretely an annual campaign of wiki-workshops and edit-athons at libraries around Open Access Week in October/November."

Those workshops and hands-on "Edit-athons" are among the actual activities for real people - although most of the time, those real people will be sitting in front of screens, not old-fashioned books. But that's OK, because libraries aren't *just* about books, they're about information and knowledge. So. Go, if you can. Bug your local library to join in and host an event.

This is cool!

~Diane Stresing

Back-to-School Reading Quizzes

These reading quizzes provide a fun challenge for students heading back to school, grownups bent on self-improvement, and anyone looking for a socially redeemable way to waste time on the computer. (e.g., if it's not Facebook or online gambling, it must be OK.)  Put on your thinking caps; good luck.


This one's hard!
http://www.cityu.edu.hk/elc/quiz/reading1.htm

Fun reading comprehension practice
http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/mathlabplanets.htm

Lots here, including vocabulary quizzes, for K-8th graders.
http://www.quiz-tree.com/English_smain.html

Thoughts on "the curse" of self-published books

Kirkus Reviews has long offered self-published authors the chance to have their works reviewed by the very well-respected publication. A few even receive stars. Here's what you, dear reader, need to know: self-published authors pay a reasonable fee of several hundred dollars to get those reviews, and no, they can't buy a good one.

Kirkus clearly identifies those reviews as "Indie" works, and with a few clicks, curious readers can find out that the reviewed works weren't selected by Kirkus editorial personnel, they were submitted, with payment, in order to obtain those reviews.

Kirkus has a pretty demanding list of qualifications for its reviewers - for all of its reviewers, "even" the indie reviewers - and it aims to enlist critics who take seriously the works of the authors, regardless of how those works are published.

I happen to know a number of self-published authors. One even got a starred review from Kirkus (yay, Charlie!). I also review a fair number of self-published works - but not all - because, well, you know what the bumper sticker says, right? "So many books...so little time."

Look, it's about time we realized - we, meaning readers and writers - that there's room in the publishing world for many different business models. I've read some dogs published by THE GREAT, BIG PUBLISHING HOUSES and I've enjoyed some high quality works from self-published authors.

Regardless of how the book comes to print, the good ones have some things in common. Like cohesiveness. Evidence a deft editing job has been done. Few if any typos. The only illustrations they include add something to the book (other than just another page).

Why bring this up?

I recently responded to an author who was clearly upset by my review of her second book. Her comments included several personal insults as well as the opinion that I viewed her book as sub-par simply because it was self published. She deemed it "the curse of self-publishing." I heartily disagreed.

Authors can wait forever - literally - for a response from publishing houses. It's a terribly frustrating business and yet another example of how life just ain't fair. Oodles and oodles of books (at least) never make it to print. Oodles and oodles of good ones do - many because their authors quit waiting and published those books on their own.

Look, I can't take on the failings of the publishing industry and the shortcomings and misconceptions of self-publishing in a single blog post, or a hundred. Obviously, the industry has changed dramatically in recent years. So I'll sum it up thusly:

Readers, don't judge a book by its cover or publisher. 

Writers, don't publish your work until it's really, really ready. And when you publish too soon, or without the help of an editor, don't take it out on the reviewer. She's just doing her job.

_______________________
Want to recommend an excellent editing service? Got a self-published title that deserves some praise? What R U Reading? welcomes your comments and reader reviews. 

Better Than Most Political Bios

Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford is not chock-full of remarkable remarks by the 38th president of the United States, but it is a fitting tribute to the man, who I believe was one of the country's truly great statesmen.

Unfortunately, the writing was sloppier than I'd expected from Thomas DeFrank, a Newsweek and Daily News reporter. With the author's considerable experience and credentials, I was stunned to find redundancies and out-of-sequence segments in almost every chapter, pluse a few just plain grammatical gaffes. Why it was allowed to surf through copyediting at publisher (Putnam) may be because they wanted to hurry to market, but still... the oversights were disappointing. (On page 12 readers can marvel at the gem, "Usually, we never knew which.")

Grumblings aside, the book is worth reading for those who like a little - but not too much - political perspective.

I knew how the story would end, of course - Ford died in 2007 - but I found myself surprisingly sad as I read the final chapters. Grumblings aside, I believe this redeems DeFrank's writing. I'm pretty sure (that is, I sure hope!) DeFrank could've written a better quality book, overall, I'm glad he wrote this one.

Certainly, what readers take away regarding Mr. Ford is subject to individual interpretation. Personally, I gained a greater appreciation for the man who seems to have lived every day, and served many decades, according to an (unfortunately) uncommon set of principals - and I think that's worth slogging through a few sloppy paragraphs.