Category Archives: Book Publishing

Author Interview: Artie Knapp

by Cimaxion

Artie Knapp’s new children’s book, ‘Living Green: A Turtle’s Quest for a Cleaner Planet,’ is available!  Tired of seeing the land he loves cluttered with trash, Thurman the turtle decides it’s time to take action.  He’s a very environmentally conscious turtle who simply won’t take no for an answer.

Here’s a recent radio interview Artie Knapp did on a show called ‘The American Perspective:’

 

Get the book at Amazon

Get the book at Barnes & Noble

 

 

 

A delightful story that uses whimsical animal characters and engaging art to show younger readers that everyone can make a difference, no matter how small!

Sharon Martin, Newspapers in Education Manager, the Detroit Free Press

A determined turtle named Thurman shows us all that following your heart and doing what you believe in, no matter what others say, can make a difference. This story, like many of Artie Knapp’s other tales, is sure to entertain, educate and inspire our youth!

Kristin Garrison, Newspapers in Education Manager, the Cincinnati Enquirer

Kids are great ambassadors for the environment and Living Green makes the issue of human impact on the planet even more real through a brave, animal hero, Thurman, who literally risks his neck for earth.

Brandie Weikle, Editor of the Toronto Star’s parenting website, ParentCentral.ca

There’s even a special web site for Thurman the turtle.

Living Green: A Turtle’s Quest For a Cleaner Planet

by Cimaxion

Artie Knapp’s new children’s book, ‘Living Green: A Turtle’s Quest for a Cleaner Planet,’ is out today!  Tired of seeing the land he loves cluttered with trash, Thurman the turtle decides it’s time to take action.  He’s a very environmentally conscious turtle who simply won’t take no for an answer.

We feature many of Knapp’s children’s stories here and this one is a nice big bright addition to his list of wonderful and charming stories that teach a few simple lessons.  This book is 36 fully illustrated pages and is aimed at readers 5 to 10 years old.  The illustrations are by M.J. Illustrations and the publisher is Mightybook, Inc.

 

Get the book at Amazon

Get the book at Barnes & Noble

 

 

A delightful story that uses whimsical animal characters and engaging art to show younger readers that everyone can make a difference, no matter how small!

Sharon Martin, Newspapers in Education Manager, the Detroit Free Press

A determined turtle named Thurman shows us all that following your heart and doing what you believe in, no matter what others say, can make a difference. This story, like many of Artie Knapp’s other tales, is sure to entertain, educate and inspire our youth!

Kristin Garrison, Newspapers in Education Manager, the Cincinnati Enquirer

Kids are great ambassadors for the environment and Living Green makes the issue of human impact on the planet even more real through a brave, animal hero, Thurman, who literally risks his neck for earth.

Brandie Weikle, Editor of the Toronto Star’s parenting website, ParentCentral.ca

There’s even a special web site for Thurman the turtle.

Why Ayn Rand is Wrong (and Why It Matters): Kindle Book by Levi Asher

by Cimaxion | 1 Comment

Levi Asher, the writer behind the long-running Literary Kicks site, has decided to move into the world of Kindle ebook publishing.  He’s starting the series off with a philosophical essay on the Objectivism of Ayn Rand.  Why Ayn Rand is Wrong (and Why It Matters) expands upon several posts Asher has made recently in his ongoing Philosophy Weekend discussions.  The focus on philosophy and its requirements for logical thinking and argument is especially needed right now in a political and ideological world of harsh opinion and attack masquerading as argument.  I often do this kind of attack-dog arguing myself.  It’s fun and it clears the sinuses effectively.  But it does not really serve much purpose.  Rational philosophical debate does serve a purpose and tends to foster respect between opposing parties.

Ayn Rand, for me, is simply the author of a very readable but rather simplistic novel, The Fountainhead.  I tried to read Atlas Shrugged, but gave up after two hundred pages, finding it so belabored and filled with lunkheaded ideas that I simply couldn’t put up with another speech from one of its cutout characters.   However, Rand also has a body of philosophical writing that seems to have been very influential and is having some kind of a resurgence lately among mostly conservative-minded people.

I have always thought that Rand was basically reacting violently to the mass-mindedness she saw everywhere in the first half of the twentieth century.  That mass-mind quality led millions to death via the trenches of World War I or the concentrations camps and genocide of Hitler and Stalin.  In the face of such horror, I think I too would have found solace in elevating the individual above all else.

I have purchased my copy of the Kindle book but I have not read it yet.  When I do finish the book and if I feel competent to do so I will try to write a little review.  But since I know Levi Asher’s writing very well from his fascinating blog I can certainly recommend that you head over to Amazon and buy a copy of a book that is for thinking.

Get Why Ayn Rand is Wrong (and Why It Matters) on Amazon

Artie Knapp Children’s Book Announcement and Online Tales

by Cimaxion

Artie Knapp writes marvelous, cheerful and gently humorous tales for children.  He’s been offering his stories to this site for years and I always look forward to a new one.  Knapp’s latest accomplishment is an illustrated book of stories published by Mighty Book, Inc. and illustrated by Mike Motz. The stories included were previously published by Detroit Free Press/Yak’s Corner.  It will be available soon and I’ll post an update when it hits the shelves!

In addition to the upcoming print collection, Knapp has begun offering his children’s stories through Mighty Book’s web site.  His recent story, Stuttering Stan Takes a Stand, is available as an animated read-aloud/read-along that is a perfect way to introduce your kids to the Artie Knapp story universe.  I am proud to say that I produced the audio and narration for the read-along and I think Mighty Book has done a wonderful job creating an interface for children.

It has also won some recent awards, including the Speech Woman’s Speech-Language Pathology Site of the Month Award for January 2011 and the Stop, Think, & Speak Award, which was a student nominated award from Penn State University.

You can also buy Stuttering Stan Takes a Stand from Amazon.

Mighty Book will soon publish more Knapp stories, including The Wasp and the Canary, The Hummingbird Who Chewed Bubblegum, and There’s a Crocodile in Our Pickle Jar, as fully illustrated Flash-animated books.

Inside Penguin’s Publishing Offices

by Cimaxion

Guy Kawasaki over at Holy Kaw! posts about the various team members and office spaces at his publisher, Portfolio, which is an imprint of Penguin.  He’s put up a bunch of photos he took inside the Manhattan office building where all the book work goes on.

It’s all more or less just fine… until we get to the photo of the art department (although I don’t trust smiling publishers).  The poor art people are given those brutally unprivate low-walled cubicles to work in.  All management teams use the exact same excuses for these open work areas:  fosters team spirit, allows easy direct communication over cubicle walls, lets the window light spread throughout the work area.

The real reason management installs low-rise cubicles is for observation and control.  It puts all employees, even the most dedicated and creative ones, in the position of monitoring each others’ work habits and arrival/departure times.  Low-rise cubicles are an insult to employees and do not foster team attitudes.  Professionals build teams by sharing their skills, not by watching each other.

Here’s Kawasaki’s book at Amazon.  And the cover really just truly sucks.  It’s about how to convince people to do the things you would like for them to do in business.  It probably helped convince the art designers to work in this cubicle hell.  His next book should be about how to smash furniture.

Do Books Work as Memory Theater?

by Editor

Open Letters Monthly has an article called In Defense of the Memory Theater, by Nathan Schneider in which he argues that books on shelves perform the function of reflecting memories back at us.  They are a constant reminder of the various events, stages, and emotional states of our lives.  We look at our shelves and can instantly catapult ourselves back in time to events surrounding our reading of various volumes.

Schneider mentions a 16th-century memory theater that used images and symbols of the cosmos to inspire observers and enhance their intellectual powers.  Books, for Schneider, do something similar when they are visible on our shelves.  I agree up to a point.  I am often taken back in time by my own books upon their shelves.  But so am I transported by nearly every object in my home.  Objects all have this power.  Books are not exceptional in this regard.

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