The Montague Bookmill, which Seth Godin says might be the "bookstore of the future."
In this vision, the bookstore becomes the center of an intellectual community. Much in the spirit of a English Coffee House in the early 1700's. As Ned Ward wrote around 1700:
"There was a rabble going hither and thither, reminding me of a swarm of rats in a ruinous cheese-store. Some came, others went; some were scribbling, others were talking; some were drinking (coffee), some smoking, and some arguing; the whole place stank of tobacco like the cabin of a barge. On the corner of a long table, close by the armchair, was lying a Bible..."
For the modern coffee house cum bookstore maybe add to the "rabble going hither and thither," high speed wireless access, and a large flat screen display with authors giving 'web seminars.' Or perhaps the flat screen will be showing TED or Fora.tv videos.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
My yoga reading list
“Yoga is of very little use, if studied theoretically." Pancham Sinh
1. Iyengar's "Yoga" and "Light on yoga", as well as his daughter Geeta's "Yoga: A gem for women." .
2. Eric Schiffman's "Yoga: The spirit and practice of moving into stillness."
3. Miriam Austin's "Cool yoga tricks."
4. Silva, Mira and Shyam Mehta's "Yoga the Iyengar way."
5. Gary Kraftsow's "Yoga for wellness."
6. David Swenson's "Ashtanga yoga: The practice manual."
7. Bikram Choudhury, "Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class"
8. Leslie Kaminoff, "Yoga Anatomy."
9. David H. Coulter, "Anatomy of Hatha Yoga"
10. Richard Rosen, "Yoga for 50+"
11. Paramahansa Yogananda, "Autobiography of a Yogi"
12. Rajashree Choudhury, "Rajashree's Pregnancy Yoga" DVD and audio CD
13. Yoga Challenge video #1 by Tony Sanchez. Beginner's series.
14. Yoga Challenge video #4 by Tony Sanchez. 160 minute advanced class with the Bishnu Ghosh 84 asana series.
15. Kids Yoga, Sanda Wong-Sanchez and Tony Sanchez. Beginners series for kids, also suitable for the elderly, and students with certain physical limitations.
For yoga philosohy:
1. Georg Feuerstein's "The yoga tradition"
2. Peter Connolly's "A student's guide to the history and philosophy of yoga."
3. Desikachar's "The heart of yoga."
4. Eliade's "Yoga: Immortality and freedom."
5. Carrera's "Inside the yoga sutras."
Online
1. Ashtanga yoga demo. 1.7 million viewers...
2. Elephant Journal: 20 hottest yoga videos
1. Iyengar's "Yoga" and "Light on yoga", as well as his daughter Geeta's "Yoga: A gem for women." .
2. Eric Schiffman's "Yoga: The spirit and practice of moving into stillness."
3. Miriam Austin's "Cool yoga tricks."
4. Silva, Mira and Shyam Mehta's "Yoga the Iyengar way."
5. Gary Kraftsow's "Yoga for wellness."
6. David Swenson's "Ashtanga yoga: The practice manual."
7. Bikram Choudhury, "Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class"
8. Leslie Kaminoff, "Yoga Anatomy."
9. David H. Coulter, "Anatomy of Hatha Yoga"
10. Richard Rosen, "Yoga for 50+"
11. Paramahansa Yogananda, "Autobiography of a Yogi"
12. Rajashree Choudhury, "Rajashree's Pregnancy Yoga" DVD and audio CD
13. Yoga Challenge video #1 by Tony Sanchez. Beginner's series.
14. Yoga Challenge video #4 by Tony Sanchez. 160 minute advanced class with the Bishnu Ghosh 84 asana series.
15. Kids Yoga, Sanda Wong-Sanchez and Tony Sanchez. Beginners series for kids, also suitable for the elderly, and students with certain physical limitations.
For yoga philosohy:
1. Georg Feuerstein's "The yoga tradition"
2. Peter Connolly's "A student's guide to the history and philosophy of yoga."
3. Desikachar's "The heart of yoga."
4. Eliade's "Yoga: Immortality and freedom."
5. Carrera's "Inside the yoga sutras."
Online
1. Ashtanga yoga demo. 1.7 million viewers...
2. Elephant Journal: 20 hottest yoga videos
practice, practice, practice.
A great line from the BBC drama "Waking the Dead."
"Practice, practice, practice. Nothing else works."
This is true for writing, filmmaking, yoga, teaching, relationships... nearly any meaningful accomplishment. A flash of genius is great for getting the initial idea, for seeing a direction. But only practice develops competence. Or, as someone once said, "A professional is just an amateur who didn't quit."
"Practice, practice, practice. Nothing else works."
This is true for writing, filmmaking, yoga, teaching, relationships... nearly any meaningful accomplishment. A flash of genius is great for getting the initial idea, for seeing a direction. But only practice develops competence. Or, as someone once said, "A professional is just an amateur who didn't quit."
Friday, March 12, 2010
The 10 awful truths about book publishing
The 10 awful truths about book publishing, from Steven Piersanti, President, Berrett-Koehler Publishers. (Read the whole article here)
Mr Piersanti writes:
1. The number of new books being published in the U.S. has exploded.
2. Book industry sales are declining, despite the explosion of new books.
3. Average book sales are shockingly small, and falling fast.
4. A book has less than a 1% chance of being stocked in an average bookstore.
5. It is getting harder and harder every year to sell books.
6. Most books today are selling only to the authors’ and publishers’ communities.
7. Most book marketing today is done by authors, not by publishers.
8. No other industry has so many new product introductions.
9. The digital revolution is expanding the number of products and sales channels but not increasing book sales.
10. The book publishing world is in a never-ending state of turmoil.
STRATEGIES FOR RESPONDING TO “THE 10 AWFUL TRUTHS”
1. The game is now pass-along sales.
2. Events/ immersion experiences replace traditional publicity in moving the needle.
3. Leverage the authors’ and publishers’ communities.
4. In a crowded market, brands stand out.
5. Master new sales and marketing channels.
6. Build books around a big new idea.
7. Front-load the main ideas in books.
Mr Piersanti writes:
1. The number of new books being published in the U.S. has exploded.
2. Book industry sales are declining, despite the explosion of new books.
3. Average book sales are shockingly small, and falling fast.
4. A book has less than a 1% chance of being stocked in an average bookstore.
5. It is getting harder and harder every year to sell books.
6. Most books today are selling only to the authors’ and publishers’ communities.
7. Most book marketing today is done by authors, not by publishers.
8. No other industry has so many new product introductions.
9. The digital revolution is expanding the number of products and sales channels but not increasing book sales.
10. The book publishing world is in a never-ending state of turmoil.
STRATEGIES FOR RESPONDING TO “THE 10 AWFUL TRUTHS”
1. The game is now pass-along sales.
2. Events/ immersion experiences replace traditional publicity in moving the needle.
3. Leverage the authors’ and publishers’ communities.
4. In a crowded market, brands stand out.
5. Master new sales and marketing channels.
6. Build books around a big new idea.
7. Front-load the main ideas in books.
book blurbs... great article about getting them
Excellent article on how to get book blurbs from Berrett-Koehler publishers. Clearly explains why the author must focus on his or her community.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Digital Video Secrets sample on Scribd
Scribd seems to be kind of a "youtube for writers." Easy way to publish, and unlike youtube, you can even sell your work on Scribd. Here are a couple examples...
A sample of my book Digital Video Secrets.
A chapter from a Lonely Planets book which explains Moving To San Francisco, with a "buy now" button.
A sample of my book Digital Video Secrets.
A chapter from a Lonely Planets book which explains Moving To San Francisco, with a "buy now" button.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
50 Top blogs and magazines for moviemakers (Updated 8/23/2013)
****************************
Top blogs
Most of this list is lifted straight from the February 2010 issue of highly recommended MovieMaker Magazine. (I posted the list on this blog so I don't lose it.)
Go. Go now. Go subscribe to MovieMaker so they can continue to do good work like this! The list:
• All About Indie Filmmaking *
• All These Wonderful Things *
• The Anonymous Production Assistant’s Blog *
• The Art of the Title Sequence *
• Ben’s Blog *
• The Big Picture *
• Blog Stage *
• Bright Lights After Dark *
• Cinema Tech *
• Cinematical
• The Documentary Blog
• The Edit Foundry
• The Editblog
• Fast, Cheap Movie Thoughts
• Film Dailies
• Film School Rejects
• The Film Sensei
• Filmmaker Blog
• Filmmaking Stuff
• FilmSound.org
• FreshDV
• GreenCine Daily
• Hammer to Nail
• HD for Indies
• Hollywood Elsewhere
• The House Next Door
• In Contention
• The Independent Eye
• JohnAugust.com
• The Joy of Film Editing
• Just F*ing Entertain Me
• Living Your Dream: An Acting & Film School Blog
• Making the Movie
• A Moon Brothers Film
• The Movie Blog
• MovingPictureBlog
• OnSuper8.org
• Persistence of Vision
• Projector Films
• Scriptwriting in the UK
• Some Came Running
• StudioDaily
• Thompson on Hollywood
• Totally Unauthorized
• Travel Day
• Truly Free Film
• Twitch
• The Unknown Screenwriter
• Workbook Project
Top Movie Magazines
Most of this list of top movie magazines is lifted from World Newspapers.com. I'm posting it here for convenience and so I don't lose it.
Boxoffice
Bright Lights
Cineaste
Close Up
Creative Screenwriting
eFilmCritic.com
Empire
Errata
Eye For Film
Film Comment
Film in Context
Film Journal
Film Threat
Filmink Magazine
Filmmaker Magazine
Films in Review
Future Movies
Guardian Unlimited Film
Hollywood Reporter
iF Magazine
Images Journal
Indie Film Slate
Inside Film
Kamera
MovieJuice
movieScope
MovieMaker
Premiere
Preview
Rotten Tomatoes
Screen
Screendaily
Senses of Cinema
Sight and Sound
Strictly Film School
Uncut
Other magazines (that I know about)
DV Magazine.
Videomaker
American Cinematographer
Microfilmmaker magazine
Movies.Answers.com
World Newspapers
TV and Film Magazines
Boston area
www.newenglandfilm.com
ourfilmspace.com
ourTVspace.com
http://www.mafilm.org/
http://www.hssw.info/ Harvard Square Scriptwriters. Click on LINKS.
San Francisco
BVAC.org (Bay Area Video Coalition)
http://cinesourcemagazine.com/
reeldirectory.com (resource)
sffs.org (SF Film Society)
Oregon
Oregon Media Producers Association
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)