Doesn't your book deserve a professional edit? Here's how I found the right editor(s)—for mine.
Your Book Needs An Editor. How Do You Find One?
Commentary on Cranes and Their Creations
Travel back to the future of Austin, Texas—when the cranes came to build condos.
Here's my look back to 2004, when I became smitten with Austin, and soon found it vanishing.
Making the Call: Go Big or Go Indie?
![Guillaume Courtois [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://austindetails.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/800px-guillaime_courtois_-_david_and_goliath_-_google_art_project.jpg?w=600)
There are pros and cons to veering off the traditional path to self-publishing. Ask yourself five questions to decide.
Top 5 Things a Writer Learns at a Publishing Conference
There are a few strategies for making the most of any conference you attend, including these five.
Platform. Got One? You Need One.
Getting a book published, and purchased, is going to be a mean trick without an Author Platform.
Yes, Austin, Funk and Swank Can Coexist
Happy 175th birthday, Austin! As our boom times continue, here's an ode to peaceful coexistence straight out of a Johnny Cash song.
Yes, Ideas Flow from Life—And Also from Inspirational Aids
There’s no doubt that some of our best ideas come when we’re away from the office, in the flow of life. But when we’re stuck at our desks, there are aids to help the flow.
There Is Nothing Fair About Fair Use
How can you respect the rights of image creators? Simple. Don't download their work without permission, and don't claim "fair use" if you do. Check out these royalty-free sources for free art instead.
Attention Small Brands, You Can’t Waste Time on Facebook Anymore
It's time for brands to quit wasting time on Facebook. Its familiarity is comforting, but the results for brands are not. What to do instead?
Why It’s Called Social Sharing
You won’t be noticed, much less discovered—there is too much competition from the entire global community for your one little drop in the big web bucket to get found. Instead, start local, where your roots are.
Creativity comes with practice–daily. It's easy to join the club, but it takes effort to stay in the game.
Raise a Glass to Pressgram: An App That Plays Nicely With Cava and Creative Control
Thanks to a new iPhone app by John Saddington called Pressgram, creatives are able to publish their own images directly to their blogs and -- here's the big concept -- maintain ownership of them, by sharing on a platform that insists they must own their content, too. Unlike Facebook and Instagram, there is no fine... Continue Reading →
"I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares." —SAUL BASS, graphic design icon ♣ SAUL BASS: "I want everything we do to be beautiful. I don’t give a damn whether the client understands that that’s worth anything, or that the client thinks it’s worth anything, or whether it is worth anything. It’s worth it... Continue Reading →
Turned On and Powerful Once Again
Austin Power: "You can't turn me on." Austin Powers: "Au contraire baby, you can't resist me." Austin Power's getting turned back on, after two-plus dormant decades, as its transformation from an Art Deco design icon to a "future urban oasis . . . in downtown Austin" gets underway. Our city can't resist a redevelopment opportunity this... Continue Reading →
Blue is the color of summer in Austin. Blue skies. Blue pools. Blue lakes. Blue neon. Blue tattoos. Blue is happy. Blue is what I see every time I go out with my camera in Austin. If you love blue and live in Austin, you're in luck. Austin has a lot of Blues: True Blue Tattoos (above,... Continue Reading →
Dumping Facebook, Dating Twitter, Avoiding LinkedIn and Flirting with Google+
How social media encourages us to flirt, date, avoid, dump, repeat.
"If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there." —Yogi Berra Being prompted by a WordPress Daily Prompt, State of Your Year, is a great way to start a regular habit: assessing where you're at mid-way through the year, or at any time that's right for you. Why assess where you're at? Well, just... Continue Reading →
What’s Vanished Since 2004?
A lot of Austin has gone missing since I began my Vanishing Austin photo series in the spring of 2004. For one reason or another—losing their leases, making way for condos, hotels, chains and new buildings, relocating for cheaper rents, gentrification, new urbanism trends, losing a long-time customer base, or owners just being plain tired... Continue Reading →
The Pattern of Change
It takes a whole lotta cranes to hoist up a new Marriott in downtown Austin, where change is changing faster than you can say change. Above, the upcoming architecture at 2nd Street and Congress Avenue demonstrates the pattern of change in a city where urban = growth. UPDATE: Today's Austin American-Statesman reports Austin city staff have... Continue Reading →
Jann Alexander :: Pairings 