The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Breaking Into Digital Publishing

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    Ruth Carter

    Evo Terra, (cc) sheiladeeisme on Flickr

    I spent last Saturday at ePublish Unum’s first Digital Publishing Workshop for Authors. EPublish Unum is a new company started by Evo Terra and Jeff Moriarty to educate and assist digital authors in publishing their work. Between the two of them, they have a host of knowledge and experience in writing, marketing, social media, and podcasting.

    I am at the beginning my writing career. I attended this workshop because I’m ready to take my blog writing to the next level and become an ebook author. This workshop taught me that writing a manuscript is just the beginning of being a successful digital author.

    Jeff Moriarty, (cc) sheiladeeisme on Flickr

    Being a digital author is completely different from using a traditional publisher. I co-authored a book chapter during law school. I wrote the manuscript and had to proofread the draft after it came back from the editor and that was basically it. As a digital author, you don’t have the burden of shopping your work around for a publishing house, but there are so many other things you have to do and consider.

    • A digital author is an author, publisher, and promoter.
    • An acceptable layout on paper may not translate well to an iPad or Kindle.
    • Your cover art has to look good as a thumbnail.
    • Ebooks are a lot cheaper than paper books, but they are outselling paper books.
    • You have to convert your book from a manuscript to an ebook and decide which service to use.
    • You have to proofread your work after conversion to catch any “gremlins” that were created.
    • You have to decide how you will promote your work and interact with your fans.

    And this is just the tip of the iceberg! There was so much information, I felt like a sponge taking it all in. Despite the enormous amount of information that was being presented, Evo and Jeff always presented the material in a nonthreatening way. I walked away inspired and feeling like being a digital author was something I could do successfully as long as I was willing to do the work.

    I currently have three ideas for ebooks:

    • The legal side of blogging,
    • The legal implications of being a flash mob organizer, and
    • The best thing I did in law school was take off my pants on the light rail (how I made law school work for me).

    I am petrified and excited to begin working on these projects. I am grateful that there are successful digital authors I can look to for inspiration and the incredible people at ePublish Unum I can turn to for guidance when I need it.

  • Unexpected Stars of Ignite Phoenix #10

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    Ruth Carter

    I have been involved with Ignite Phoenix since the fall of 2009.  I presented at Ignite #5 and I have been a volunteer at every Ignite Phoenix event since.  I love the Ignite Phoenix crew and the Ignite concept.    It’s hard to describe what Ignite Phoenix is because words alone do not do it justice.  The Ignite Phoenix page describes it as “an information exchange for fostering and inspiring Phoenix’s creative community.  In one evening, you hear 18 passionate speakers from our creative, technical, and business communities talking about their current projects or favorite ideas for just five minutes.  Presentations will educate and inspire you, and maybe make you laugh in the process.”  Each speaker gets 5 minutes and 20 slides to talk about their passion, and their slideshow advances every 15 seconds whether they like it or not.

    Photo by Devon Christopher Adams

    I volunteer backstage on the night of Ignite Phoenix.  My job involves wrangling the presenters before the show, orienting them to the stage and the evening, answering questions and calming their fears, putting microphones of presenters during the show, and running around doing odd jobs throughout the night.  I love what I do, but because I run around so much during the show, I only see half of each presenter’s performance at best.  I watch every presentation in its entirety a few weeks later when the videos of each presenter are posted on YouTube.

    Even though I don’t get to see the show in its entirety on show night, there are always a few presenters who grab my attention.  Usually they are the people I did not expect to be captivating.  Ignite Phoenix #10 was no exception.  These women were the unexpected stars of the show for me.

    • Corri Wells:  I initially perceived Corri as a somewhat sweet and soft-spoken person.  I saw on the program that her topic was “Anger” and I expected her to talk from a psychological perspective.  I didn’t expect her to take the stage with such a powerful presence and advocate for people to use their anger to make their voices heard and create change.  “Publish or democracy perishes.”
    • Bogi Lateiner:  Bogi’s presentation was “How Learning to Change A Tire Changed My Life.”  When I met her I noted how girly she was in her skinny jeans and heels.  She is the epitome of a person you would expect not to know the first thing about cars, yet when as I listened to her speak about her experiences rebuilding her Volkswagen bug and teaching women about automotive basics, I began to picture her working on her car in a pair of faded coveralls and a smear of grease across her face.  The lesson that I took away from her was that it’s empowering to know how to do things yourself, and it gives you a sense of security.  She made me want to know more about the inner workings of my car and just how to do be more handy in general.
    Photo by Devon Christopher Adams

    It’s people like Corri and Bogi that make me love Ignite Phoenix so much.  You never know what to expect and you always walk away from the experience entertained, enlightened, and inspired.

    If you want more information about what it’s like to be an Ignite Phoenix presenter, Jay Thompson was also a presenter at Ignite Phoenix #10 and wrote an excellent post about his experience of being a presenter from his application submission through to his actual performance on the Ignite stage.

    Submissions are currently being accepted for Ignite Phoenix #11 on October 28, 2011 and its big sister show, Ignite Phoenix After Hours #2 on July 29, 2011.

  • Reflections from I Wish Your Wish

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    Ruth Carter

    This past Friday I volunteered at Ignite Phoenix #9.  It may have been the best Ignite event that I’ve ever been to.  The event was held at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, across the way from the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA).  We had some down time before the event and Matt Petro suggested that we take advantage of the break to go over to the I Wish Your Wish exhibit.

    (cc) Nick Bastian from Flickr

    I had seen something in an email about the museum, wishes, and wearing ribbons, but I had no idea of what it was about.  We grabbed Jeff Moriarty and headed over to the exhibit.  I was not prepared to walk into a room where three of the four walls had rows and rows of colored ribbons hanging on them, each one printed with a wish.  The sheer volume of them was breathtaking.  There were sixty different wishes inscribed on six thousand ribbons, each one a ¼ inch wide.  The artist, Rivane Neuenschwander, asked her family and friends and their family and friends to write down a wish and that’s the pool she used for the exhibit.

    There was a little table/shelf on the blank wall that held slips of paper and mini golf pencils.  We were invited to write one of our wishes on a slip of paper, roll it up, and exchange it for a ribbon on the wall.  I felt like I was given an intimate glimpse into these strangers’ lives by seeing their wishes.  There were so many great ones to choose from.  Jeff suggested that I take the one that said, “I wish one day I would have a dog.”  That is one of my wishes but that wasn’t the one that resonated with me the most.  I selected a wish that was printed on a pink ribbon – my signature color – and put my wish in the empty hole.  The ribbon said, “I wish to die with no regrets.”

    The museum employee took my ribbon and tied it around my wrist with three knots.  She said when the ribbon falls off that the wish will come true for the person who originally made it and for me.  The wishes that people leave in the wall will become the pool that the artist uses to create the next set of ribbons.

    Powerful doesn’t even begin to describe this experience.  I’m going to miss having my ribbon when it finally falls off.  The exhibit will be at SMoCA until June 5, 2011.  If you’re in the Phoenix area, you should go.  It’s an experience that should not be missed.

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