Film Review

blackblue asked:


My photo class only uses black and white film but I have some colored rolls of film that I’ve already gotten developed by a photo lab. My question is, can I put my colored negatives in one of my school’s enlargers and print a picture? Would the paper we use for black and white photos work?

Thanks guys!

Shary

Melinda Copp asked:


Everyone has at least one book in them—I firmly believe that. But bookstore shelves are packed with titles, all competing for readers’ attention. So how can you tell if your book idea is ready for the competitive publishing business?

The key is to target your market and zero in on an unfilled need. Because, yes, the shelves are packed with books—but trust me, there’s plenty of room for you and your book, as long as you can shape your idea into a winning concept. You can use the following strategies to help hone your book idea.

Define Your Book’s Purpose in One Concise Statement

You’ve probably heard of an elevator speech—an intriguing statement about what you do that can be delivered in about a minute. Your book needs one of those, too—a brief, one-sentence statement of the book topic and big-picture benefit readers will gain from it.

Consider your book’s topic. What is your book really about? How will your book benefit your readers? What problems will it solve? If you want to write a creative work, what impact will your story have on your readers?

Be as specific as possible, such as, “My book will help people live within their means and eliminate credit card debt for good.” Distilling your book topic and benefits into one concise statement will give your book the direction it needs to stand out.

Define Your Target Audience

As a writer, the most important person in your professional life is your reader. You have to know your audience, their concerns, their challenges, and their needs. So think about who you’re writing your book for. Who needs/wants the information in your book?

Keep in mind that you can’t be all things to all people, so “everyone” is not an appropriate audience. You need to target a specific market with a specific need that you know how to fill. Going back to the previous example, if you’re writing a book about how to live within your means, your audience is people who are carrying significant credit card or “bad” debt. This is still a huge audience, but it isn’t “everyone.”

Regardless of what topic you plan to write about, you should take time to get a sense of the market. Consider how well books on topics similar to yours have sold in the past, and talk to your clients about whether or not they would buy the book you’re thinking about writing. Writing according to market demands will only help your book sell.

Know Your Competition, and Say Something New

If you know what’s been written about your topic, then you’ll know how to write it better. To find out what books yours will be competing with, go to Amazon.com and search your book topic. What titles come up? Have your read these titles? What will make your book different? How is your book better? What gives your book an edge over the others? Also consider reading a few of the titles—if not all—just to see how the other authors handled the material.

Don’t be put off by a list of hundreds of books on your topic, because that only signifies a healthy market. And if you can fill a gap in the market by providing a different take on the topic, you will be able to get your fair share of book sales despite a long list of competing titles. And don’t think your book has no competition, even if the topic is unique. Every book competes against other books. Even if you’re writing your memoirs and no one else has ever written about you, you are still competing against other books in the memoir genre. How is your story different?

Your Bestseller

Writing a bestselling book starts with developing a bestselling book concept. When you use these strategies for defining your book’s purpose, targeting your market, and moving the conversation forward, your book will have the foundation it needs to stand out on the bookstore shelf.



Max

Franjo Tarandek asked:


Large print books, for obvious reasons, can get rather expensive, which is not a small problem for book enthusiasts with impaired vision. More often than not, even online book stores do not offer their customary 30-40% discount on large print titles — usually it’s 10% off or not even that much. Fortunately, not everything is as black as it seems: by joining a book club it is still possible to save substantial amounts even on large print books. The only question is: which book club to choose?

Basically, you have two choices: Doubleday Large Print and BOMC2.

Doubleday Large Print has been established to cater exclusively to people with less than stellar eyesight. The club relies on a tried and trusted operational procedure for book clubs: an enticing introductory offer is combined with an obligation to buy a certain amount of books within a certain amount of time at a discounted price, and spiced with an attractive catalog that helps the members wade through the myriad of reading choices. In this particular case you are offered 5 books for 50¢ each at the enrollment, but you need to agree to buy 4 more books at the club’s discounted prices within the next two years. If this seems too good to be true, it’s because it is. Well, sort of. Shipping charges need to be added to the equation and that deflates the magnificence of the deal to an extent. Still, you get first 5 large print books for just over $3 apiece, total, and that’s hardly an offer you will find elsewhere.

Doubleday Large Print, for the most part, prints their own books, and this has several advantages. First, all books are printed in 16-point typeface, plus the spacing between words and lines, and the ink, have been deliberately chosen with reading comfort in mind.

The second advantage is selection of books. The majority of latest bestsellers are available at DLP as hardbound large print editions as soon as they’ve been published. The same, however, cannot be said for either brick-and-mortar or online book stores; they will have regular editions, this is never a problem, but: retailers depend on publishers to provide large print editions, and publishers don’t always seem to find it in their interest to produce such an edition at all, while sometimes they print the softcover version only. So, this is a big advantage of Doubleday Large Print: they always have the latest stuff in large print, and you are sure to always get 30% discount on publisher’s price — again, something you can’t count on even with the largest online retailers.

Of course, latest bestsellers are not all you can find at Doubleday Large Print. There is plenty of older titles as well, mostly by major authors such as Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, John Grisham etc. This is actually an additional perk of DLP membership; many of these books are often difficult to find elsewhere (the hardcover versions, anyway), and, what’s more, they are often offered at bargain prices.

The other excellent source for large print books is BOMC2.

BOMC2 (or Book-of-the-Month Club 2, formerly known as Zooba Book Club) is a novel, subscription-based book service. It works like this: you compile a list of books you’d like to read (your Reading List), and the club sends you the top book from that list each month and charges you a $9.95 monthly fee, which includes shipping and handling costs. Additional books you buy are also $9.95 in most cases (some select titles are $12.95) and are also shipped to you free of charge.

$9.95 for a hardbound large print book, with free shipping, you will agree that this sounds like a great deal. But what about selection? Do they have as many large print books as DLP has? The answer is yes. They do, actually. BOMC2 and Doubleday Large Print are part of the same parent company, which in practice means that everything DLP has to offer is also available at BOMC2. For $9.95 per book. And with free shipping. Always.

Conclusion

So, which of these two book clubs should you choose? That, of course, depends on your preferences. If you’re not into long-term relationships, then Doubleday Large Print might be a better choice. You can join the club, take care of the obligation immediately, and cancel. You’ll wind up with nine books (5 introductory and 4 obligation books) for a total cost of about $80-100, depending on which books you choose and whether or not you take advantage of some money-saving concessions DLP offers. The procedure is repeatable, and many people do actually take advantage of it.

The cost of nine books at BOMC2 is in the same ballpark, so, savings-wise, for the first nine books, neither of the clubs holds a real advantage. However, if you don’t like the join-swoop-up-the-books-cancel approach mentioned above (some people are not comfortable with it), and would prefer a more solid, long-term association, then BOMC2 might prove to be more to your liking. At Doubleday Large Print, most of the savings you’ll make are due to the incredible introductory offer. Afterwards, you get 30% off on new titles, which is still better than what online stores usually offer, but not even close to BOMC2’s fixed low price. Admittedly, DLP does carry plenty of older books at much lower prices, and they do often feature special offers, sales and discounts to encourage loyal members to stay loyal, but still — $9.95 per book, with freedom to order your books at a whim granted by the free shipping policy — just sounds better.



Bonnie

Phyllis Zimbler Miller asked:


There are thousands of ways to market your book. And after months of marketing my book MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL, I’ve come up with a list of what I’ve found to be the most effective and important tips for getting the word out on a limited budget about your book.

Tip #1 – Get a website:

Have a website ready to go the moment your book is out. And then connect your website directly to your book’s page on Amazon (and other sites too). (For example, see www.mrslieutenant.com.)

Tip #2 – Write discussion guidelines:

Have discussion guidelines available to download as a pdf off your website. And if you’ve written an adult book, consider including a section of questions for teens.

Tip #3 – Provide free chapters:

Have the first few chapters available as free pdf downloads off your website. This is a great way to get readers “hooked” on reading the rest of the book.

Tip #4 – Do read some books on promoting your book:

Some of the books I found particularly helpful are:

Sell Your Book on Amazon by Brent Sampson (terrific ways to establish a presence on Amazon)

Red Hot Internet Publicity by Penny C. Sansevieri (you can sign up for free email info at amarketingexpert.com)

Plug Your Book by Steve Weber (subtitle: Online Book Marketing for Authors)

1001 Ways to Market Your Books (sixth edition) by John Kremer (huge book so for now I only read Chapter 12 — “How to Sell Books Via Computer”) (you can sign up for free email info from him at bookmarket.com)

Tip #5 – Collect all the publicity tips you can and jump on any opportunities:

Joan Stewart the Publicity Hound (sign up for free email info at publicityhound.com) has great pr tips. And sign up on helpareporter.com to get email updates for story sources that reporters need.

Tip #6 – Start a blog as soon as possible, preferably before your book is published:

Unfortunately I only learned this wisdom right before my book was published, but I did jump right in once I did learn. (See www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com.)

Tip #7 – Optimize your Amazon presence:

Make sure you take full advantage of author tools on Amazon, including having your blog feed into your AmazonConnect feature on your book’s page.

Tip #8 – Ask book bloggers to review your book:

And if they say yes, be sure to give them a free copy for themselves as well as a free copy for a contest in connection with your book. Book giveaways on book blogs are major attention-getters for people who read. (And if book bloggers really like your book, they’re often willing to post the review from their blog on Amazon and other book sites.)

Tip #9 – Take a virtual book tour:

I used pumpupyourbookpromotion.com to take a month-long virtual book tour (your book is featured on blogs with either a review or an interview or both), and I found the experience extremely effective for developing relationships with book bloggers.

Sylvia C asked:


I’ve had a bedroom set with mirrors on the headboard and the dresser that have this haze or film on it and it doesn’t seem to come off. I should have returned it but I figured that I could get it off. Well here it is 10 years later. What can I do to fix this besides get rid of it? I’ve tried windex and vinegar and water!

Van

Rahul Rungta asked:


Are you an ardent booklover and always looking out for something new? If books are your passion, then Novel Action is your ideal destination. Novel Action is an online book exchange offering a wide selection of books for book lovers. At NovelAction.com, you can easily get used books, and exchange and share your own collection of books with other readers, in the most inexpensive way. You can also gift books for various occasions with their selection of gift baskets and gift certificates. This online exchange provides you with a never-ending supply of books. So why would you pay for books when you can easily access them for about $1 a book?Once you sign up as a member of this online book exchange, you get an unlimited number of book exchanges a full year. Membership is just $ 25/year. Isn’t that incredible? Besides this – this is a place through which you can send book gifts to your friends and relatives. The book baskets at Novel Action are a wonderful alternative to traditional flowers or other perishable gift items, because books can last for a lifetime. Membership gift subscriptions offer the book lover a full year subscription at NovelAction.com. This can be your new online book gift shop for any occasion — Christmas, Birthdays or even retirement parties. Books are arranged in an attractive manner in these gift baskets, along with bookmarks and a personalized gift message. These gift baskets can be the ideal gifts for travelers, vacationers and the retired. The book gift baskets come in large and small sizes, and there are even baskets shaped like baby bassinets and suitcases for greater personalization. These gift baskets are memorable and fun; one of the best mementos you can present your loved ones. You can be assured that your recipient will surely treasure the gift for years to come.Novel Action offers a number of benefits and features for all its members. Book lovers can browse through an incredible collection of hardcover and paperback books. Exchanging books is hassle free and inexpensive, with excellent customer service provided by the Novel Action staff. Once you exchange books at Novel Action you are assured a flat rate of shipping ($ 4.80 for about 12 paperbacks). You also won’t have to wait long to receive the books, as Novel Action assures rapid delivery — within 24 hours of receiving your exchanges. Among other features offered by Novel Action are the custom e-mail alerts that you can receive for specific authors, genres, and books. Book lovers can access all these features with no transaction fees. With Novel Action you just enjoy and read books of your choice that you order from the comfort of your home. If books are your passion and you want to connect and share with other book lovers, then Novel Action is just right for you. Don’t forget to see their book gift baskets and gift certificates. Go ahead and be a part of Novel Action!!



Isis

chronicalz21 asked:


I am currently working on making a film that shows the struggles of spanish speakers in small town, USA. I plan to visit local stores and restaurants, speak spanish to them, and see whether they are equipped to handle it.

I’ve been trying to get walmart to sponsor it. I’ve called my local stores, and if they understand what I’m talking about, they give me the 1800 walmart number. When I call there, i’m told that sponsorships are given directly from local stores.

Can anyone give me the real deal on who i need to talk to?

Bertha

waddle_waddle_waddle_penguin asked:


I have recently become a wildlife major at Humboldt State University, and I am taking the first required class of that major: Introduction to Wildlife Conservation & Administration.

So far, the class has been little more than a jumbled series of dates and their corresponding policies. This stuff, while perhaps important, is disappointingly uninspiring as a first experience of this subject to which I intend to dedicate much of my life.

I am hoping that people can recommend to me books that I could supplement my education with that will provide me with further appreciation and insight into the subject. I am particularly interested in learning the background of human’s relationship with wildlife, dating further back into history (way back in history), and then seeing how that has evolved into the sort of structures we have now.

Really, I am interested in any book that addresses the topic of humans and their relationship with wildlife that is informative and interesting.Thanks!

Roslyn