Feb 26 2010
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Feb 08 2010
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Nessa Altura: Each place should have a story of its own
Who are you and in which way do you work with books?
I am a short story author – of criminal, erotic or humorous content. The stories are published by numerous German Publishing Houses such as List, Ullstein, Gmeiner, Insel, Grafit, whatever. If a publisher wants to launch an anthology he can ask me to contribute. I very much like going to places I haven’t yet been to – to set a story in there, such as in the moment in Kleve, a German city in the Lower Rhine Valley, near the Netherlands. Thus I - step by step - get to know almost all of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Each place, village, city, museum, sight can, no, should have a story of its own! All business is local. Readers like it when they recognize their home grounds. And yes, I do also write thematic apostilles, funny ones – , net-published, every Tuesday. I entertain a blog, www.autorenexpress.de, where I share my knowledge about the book market and writing techniques with my colleagues, no matter, if newbies or wisecracks. Sharing is the thing.
How do digital media and the Internet change your work?
They keep changing it, of course. Thank heavens, now the drawers here get cleared out – via blog and website one can publish one’s creative output, and newsletters and tweets can lead other eyes to these ideas. Attention is the net’s new gold, isn’t it? By the way, twitter: this informal office is fun – being an author is a lonely business – but also a means of distraction. I think it’s fabulous that through what we in Germany call “twittagsessen” (twitter+lunch) the Virtual goes Real World: twitterers meet spontaneously for lunch. What else? Of course, the net changes the way one frames the words. And it makes recherché so much easier. But never forget that things although not to be found in the internet do exist. Oncoming generations will find this idea strange.
What is a typical problem in your work you would like to have a solution for?
Short stories and other short formates are not much valued in Germany. This makes me angry, next to bad payment, agents’ disinterest, publishers’ neglect, lecturers’ carelessness. Small is beautiful and adequate these days – this word hasn’t come around yet. And content is king? I doubt it. What I also regret: There is still no net solution for nano-payment around. Authors and others who deal their ideas for free, could profit. I, for instance, would be willing to pay for certain content – if the originator had won my interest and trust over some time.
Where can we find you on the Internet?
www.nessaaltura.de
www.autorenexpress.de
nessaaltura@online.de
http://twitter.com/nessaaltura
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These 4 questions are answered regularly by people in the book industry. The interviews are published in this blog. This way, attention is drawn to people who work with books and to the challenges they face in the industry. If you would like to participate, please send your answers and a picture of you to Leander Wattig.
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Dec 19 2009
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Cathleen Schine: The Internet offers endless opportunities for procrastination
Who are you and in which way do you work with books?
My name is Cathleen Schine and I write novels.
How do digital media and the Internet change your work?
The most obvious benefit is enormous: research is so much easier. I rarely have to go the library. I fall asleep in libraries. I fall asleep at home, too, but it’s less embarrassing. The most obvious negatives are enormous, too: endless opportunities for procrastination. I have a website and a blog and I’m on facebook, which is a benefit in that I can stay in touch with readers in an informal way. But of course it’s also another chance to procrastinate.
What is a typical problem in your work you would like to have a solution for?
Earning a living. A solution to that problem would be wonderful!
Where can we find you on the Internet?
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These 4 questions are answered regularly by people in the book industry. The interviews are published in this blog. This way, attention is drawn to people who work with books and to the challenges they face in the industry. If you would like to participate, please send your answers and a picture of you to Leander Wattig.
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Dec 14 2009
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Michael Bresser: I think the development of information technology is a blessing for authors
Who are you and in which way do you work with books?
I’m Michael Bresser and write alone and together with Martin Springenberg funny novels. Our common Dieter-Nannen-crime-series is published by Ullstein. Until now three books are available. Dieter Nannen, a company clerk from Essen, inherits a farm deep in the middle of Münsterland, in the lowlands of northwestern Germany. Unfortunately, the farm has no agro-economical assets aside from exactly one pig and an uncertain quantity of rabbits. How to earn a living then? Why not as a private detective? All right then, and he even gets a case right away: he is to observe a doctor’s daughter, who has been skipping school and is apparently involved in a drug scene. When the girl is found dead on the same day, Nannen has the feeling that it might have been better to have passed on this case…
We’re looking at the world from an angle of humour and irony. In July I published my novel “Bestseller” with the wannabe-author Horst Stengel on his hard way to fame. This book is a funny portrait of the generation of people above thirty trying to live their dreams.
How do digital media and the Internet change your work?
Without internet I probably wouldn’t have published a book. In 2002 we published our first novel “Schafe & Killer” by Books on demand. Because it sold very well on Amazon (more than 4000 copies) a big publisher recognized our work. In the meantime they have printed three of our novels. Other books are in work. We advertise our books via internet. This is cheaper and more efficient than printing ads in newspapers. In the meantime Martin Springenberg and I live 250 miles away from each other. Therefore we exchange our texts only via e-mail. This is easier than sending 200 pages by mail. My father was also an author. He wrote his stories with a mechanical typewriter. When he pressed a wrong key, he had to type the complete page once again. I don’t know if I would be patient enough to work in that way. I think the development of information technology is a blessing for authors.
What is a typical problem in your work you would like to have a solution for?
I would appreciate if I could easily understand google ranking. Then I could reach more exactly my target group.
Where can we find you on the Internet?
My homepage
My Twitter account
My Facebook fanpage
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These 4 questions are answered regularly by people in the book industry. The interviews are published in this blog. This way, attention is drawn to people who work with books and to the challenges they face in the industry. If you would like to participate, please send your answers and a picture of you to Leander Wattig.
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Dec 13 2009
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Profile of Chris Chuckry, founder of FrogRocket - a comic book colouring firm
FrogRocket - New Media Manitoba Business Showcase from BlinkWorks -James Swirsky on Vimeo.
via: Nerdcore
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Dec 09 2009
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Pål H. Christiansen: It all challenges my wish to keep on publishing oldfashioned printed books
Who are you and in which way do you work with books?
My name is Pål H. Christiansen, I’m a writer of several novels and children’s books in Norwegian language. I also work as a journalist and have my own little publishing company Fabula.
How do digital media and the Internet change your work?
First of all it means much more direct contact with readers and potential readers of my work than before, as well as publishers and media. It also means sharing bits of text with the web community and discussing it here. It all challenges my wish to keep on publishing oldfashioned printed books.
What is a typical problem in your work you would like to have a solution for?
To reach through the “noise” to a larger group of potential readers that obviously are there. This includes getting in contact with publishers abroad. One can’t rely on a domestic publisher doing this for you.
Where can we find you on the Internet?
http://www.facebook.com/pal.h.christiansen
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These 4 questions are answered regularly by people in the book industry. The interviews are published in this blog. This way, attention is drawn to people who work with books and to the challenges they face in the industry. If you would like to participate, please send your answers and a picture of you to Leander Wattig.
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