Top O’ the Morning to Ya!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day or Lá Fhéile Pádraig to all those that celebrate it! Enjoy your Guinness or Green Beer on this day celebrating the awesome Irish.
It’s been a whirlwind two weeks and I can’t believe it’s Sunday … again. On Thursday and Friday I spent at a publishing conference and learned so much.
This is a dynamic industry with many players - big and small. There are many different kinds of mediums to deliver publications through. Technology has come a long way and is in a constant state of change. As such, everyone is trying to figure out how best to deliver the content that they have and reach the most number of people possible. There are mobile apps, mobile friendly websites, there’s Android and Apple and now BB10. How to deliver and on what? What part does Social Media play?
As most of you know, I embrace technology and all the exciting options that come with it. Which is why it might be surprising to discover that the message that stuck with me the most is: regardless of medium - paper or electronic - content is king. If you don’t have a product that people are interested in, then it doesn’t really matter what the medium is.
I’m fortunate to be in touch with so many amazingly talented authors that are willing to provide the content for this magazine. The stories that will be published in this magazine are highly entertaining, thought provoking and in some cases a bit risque. In the fiction industry, stories never get old or dated. A classic novel can live on for centuries if it is a well crafted, entertaining story.
As I think about all the stories that have been published through Pages Of Stories and all that will be published through Ficta Fabula, I am so excited for the future. I know that this content will survive and we’ll keep working with the technology of the day to deliver it in the best possible format to reach even more people. But we won’t forget traditional mediums either. So that we can ensure that everyone can enjoy the talent within the pages, the magazine will also be offered in print as well as online.
And speaking of amazing fiction writers, we have the pleasure of a guest article from Allan Kalupar. In our continuing examination of different genres of fiction, Allan is discussing Horror. We’ve published 3 of Allan’s stories - and one of them is Gary’s absolute favourite. Read through to the end of the newsletter. There’s a surprise there for you.
Please feel free to send an email or comment on our blog or Facebook page (Pages Of Stories FB page) about what you love to read or write.
You can send an email to info@pagesofstories.com to get the whole newsletter. It's Free!
Take care and happy reading!
Darlene Poier
Publisher, Ficta Fabula
Inspiring Creativity and Imagination
A wholly owned subsidiary of Pages Of Stories, Inc.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
New Logo and Westerns
Hello Everyone!
If you would like to receive the entire newsletter, please send an email to info@pagesofstories.
The third month of the year has now begun and for us it’s coming in like a lion. We are in the middle of a blizzard and I’m quite happy to stay put and send this out to you.
I’ve found a company that will be able to publish a mobile app the way that I would like to see it done and fairly cost effective as well. I wouldn’t have thought that it would be so challenging but I’ve learned so much about the whole mobile application process that the next time it should be a breeze.
The new logo for Ficta Fabula is included. I’m so excited to have this done, and it was all thanks to the wonderful interpretation of what I was asking for by Zenna, owner of Zen Garden Graphic Design (zengardengraphicdesign.com) . Let me know what you think of it!
Laura and I have our 1 day workshop (http://123yourepublished.eventbrite.ca/# ) approaching. This is such a jam packed 1 day session that it will be tough to fit everything in. This is a good workshop regardless of the stage of writing that you are at.
To date, we’ve received 45 story submissions with more on the way. I’ve read some of them and have been entertained. Just a quick reminder, we have a minimum 1,000 word count.
In this issue of the newsletter, we’re examining Westerns. I’d never read a Western before this past week and I can honestly say I was surprised. Without giving away the whole article I’ve written, I was expecting something fairly formulaic and action oriented, so I was a little surprised by what I read.
The Western genre isn’t one that would appeal to many people, on the other hand I think 20 or 30 years ago it was a good way to get many boys interested in reading, similar to what Harry Potter did 10 years ago. From what I’ve seen it’s a huge challenge getting many boys to read, but it seems they are among the perfect audience for this genre.
What do you think? If you’d like to share your thoughts about the Western genre, we’d love to hear from you.
If you are an avid reader of all things fiction, what is your favourite genre to read? Why? I’d love to get a discussion going about this so please feel free to send an email or comment on our blog or Facebook page (Pages Of Stories FB page) about what you love to read or write.
We are now accepting story submissions to our new magazine.
Take care and happy reading!
Darlene Poier
Publisher, Ficta Fabula
Inspiring Creativity and Imagination
A wholly owned subsidiary of Pages Of Stories, Inc.
If you would like to receive the entire newsletter, please send an email to info@pagesofstories.
The third month of the year has now begun and for us it’s coming in like a lion. We are in the middle of a blizzard and I’m quite happy to stay put and send this out to you.
I’ve found a company that will be able to publish a mobile app the way that I would like to see it done and fairly cost effective as well. I wouldn’t have thought that it would be so challenging but I’ve learned so much about the whole mobile application process that the next time it should be a breeze.
The new logo for Ficta Fabula is included. I’m so excited to have this done, and it was all thanks to the wonderful interpretation of what I was asking for by Zenna, owner of Zen Garden Graphic Design (zengardengraphicdesign.com) . Let me know what you think of it!
Laura and I have our 1 day workshop (http://123yourepublished.eventbrite.ca/# ) approaching. This is such a jam packed 1 day session that it will be tough to fit everything in. This is a good workshop regardless of the stage of writing that you are at.
To date, we’ve received 45 story submissions with more on the way. I’ve read some of them and have been entertained. Just a quick reminder, we have a minimum 1,000 word count.
In this issue of the newsletter, we’re examining Westerns. I’d never read a Western before this past week and I can honestly say I was surprised. Without giving away the whole article I’ve written, I was expecting something fairly formulaic and action oriented, so I was a little surprised by what I read.
The Western genre isn’t one that would appeal to many people, on the other hand I think 20 or 30 years ago it was a good way to get many boys interested in reading, similar to what Harry Potter did 10 years ago. From what I’ve seen it’s a huge challenge getting many boys to read, but it seems they are among the perfect audience for this genre.
What do you think? If you’d like to share your thoughts about the Western genre, we’d love to hear from you.
If you are an avid reader of all things fiction, what is your favourite genre to read? Why? I’d love to get a discussion going about this so please feel free to send an email or comment on our blog or Facebook page (Pages Of Stories FB page) about what you love to read or write.
We are now accepting story submissions to our new magazine.
Take care and happy reading!
Darlene Poier
Publisher, Ficta Fabula
Inspiring Creativity and Imagination
A wholly owned subsidiary of Pages Of Stories, Inc.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Interview!
Hi Everyone,
Just a quick note to tell you about a little interview I did with Susan Palmquist.
Take care and happy reading!
Darlene Poier
Publisher
Ficta Fabula
Inspiring Creativity and Imagination
Just a quick note to tell you about a little interview I did with Susan Palmquist.
Take care and happy reading!
Darlene Poier
Publisher
Ficta Fabula
Inspiring Creativity and Imagination
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Romance is in the Air!
Hello Everyone!
We’re already halfway through February! This is a good month with lots going on: it’s a fairly romantic month as countless marriage proposals are made at this time, it’s the shortest month of the year and for those of us in the northern hemisphere, it’s the last full month of winter. There’s much to celebrate.
As always, it’s been fairly active here in our publishing company. The logo is almost ready to , the mobile app won’t be too far behind, and Laura and I are inching ever so much closer to our 1 day workshop (http://123yourepublished.eventbrite.ca/# ), and the website will also be coming very soon. There’s a lot to do and somehow 24 hours in a day just isn’t quite enough.
To date, we’ve received 39 story submissions with more on the way. I haven’t yet had a chance to read through them yet, but we have a long weekend coming up so I think I’ll take advantage of that time.
In this issue of the newsletter, we’re fortunate to have Susan Palmquist give us her take on all things Romance. In the last issue I’d mentioned that we were going to be examining different genres of fiction and Susan has generously provided us with our first instalment.
There’s a lot of good in romance novels. I like reading them from time to time if I need to turn my mood around to a happier disposition. Besides which, growing up they were a useful source of information about those "romantic moments" in life.
I went on to the Harlequin Romance website a few weeks ago and was surprised to discover that there were many sub genres inside the romance genre. There must be a great demand and I applaud all the authors that aim to fill it.
If you are an author, what is your favourite genre to write in? Have you tried something different? Is the genre you’re writing in the one you enjoy the most?
If you are an avid reader of all things fiction, what is your favourite genre to read? Why? I’d love to get a discussion going about this so please feel free to send an email or comment on our blog or Facebook page (Pages Of Stories FB page) about what you love to read or write.
We are now accepting story submissions to our new magazine.
Take care and happy reading!
Darlene Poier
Publisher
Ficta Fabula
Inspiring Creativity and Imagination
A wholly owned subsidiary of Pages Of Stories, Inc.
We’re already halfway through February! This is a good month with lots going on: it’s a fairly romantic month as countless marriage proposals are made at this time, it’s the shortest month of the year and for those of us in the northern hemisphere, it’s the last full month of winter. There’s much to celebrate.
As always, it’s been fairly active here in our publishing company. The logo is almost ready to , the mobile app won’t be too far behind, and Laura and I are inching ever so much closer to our 1 day workshop (http://123yourepublished.eventbrite.ca/# ), and the website will also be coming very soon. There’s a lot to do and somehow 24 hours in a day just isn’t quite enough.
To date, we’ve received 39 story submissions with more on the way. I haven’t yet had a chance to read through them yet, but we have a long weekend coming up so I think I’ll take advantage of that time.
In this issue of the newsletter, we’re fortunate to have Susan Palmquist give us her take on all things Romance. In the last issue I’d mentioned that we were going to be examining different genres of fiction and Susan has generously provided us with our first instalment.
There’s a lot of good in romance novels. I like reading them from time to time if I need to turn my mood around to a happier disposition. Besides which, growing up they were a useful source of information about those "romantic moments" in life.
I went on to the Harlequin Romance website a few weeks ago and was surprised to discover that there were many sub genres inside the romance genre. There must be a great demand and I applaud all the authors that aim to fill it.
If you are an author, what is your favourite genre to write in? Have you tried something different? Is the genre you’re writing in the one you enjoy the most?
If you are an avid reader of all things fiction, what is your favourite genre to read? Why? I’d love to get a discussion going about this so please feel free to send an email or comment on our blog or Facebook page (Pages Of Stories FB page) about what you love to read or write.
We are now accepting story submissions to our new magazine.
Take care and happy reading!
Darlene Poier
Publisher
Ficta Fabula
Inspiring Creativity and Imagination
A wholly owned subsidiary of Pages Of Stories, Inc.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
More News!
Hello Everyone!
It feels so good to be getting back into the publishing swing of things! Much has happened since we were last in communication and my only challenge is where to begin.
In the initial announcement, mention was made of Laura Crowe who will become the editor of Ficta Fabula. Laura’s been able to find time out of her busy schedule to write an introductory article for this newsletter.
We’ve been able to get some wonderful exposure thanks to Vanessa O’Loughlin of the writing.ie website (http://www.writing.ie/resource-types/submission-opportunities/). There’s a lot of good and valuable information there suitable for everyone that loves the written word.
Another website that has some very useful information for authors has been created by Phil Aston and he also has an interview with a publisher that we’re all familiar with. You can find it at: http://www.informationforwriters.com/#!interview-with-a-fiction-editor.
As well, we now have an illustrator. The plan is that each story will have an accompanying illustration and Dan Webster will be the one doing it. Dan lives and works in Calgary and I know him from my IT world. One day I walked into the lunch room and there he was, drawing away on his sketch pad. We started talking and he brought in more of his work. One thing led to another and I asked him if he would be interested in doing this and voila! we have an illustrator. You’ll see his work on the Welcome page of the new Pages Of Stories website when it goes live.
That is actually a good lead in to what I wanted to talk about. You see, Laura and I also put on a one day workshop together called ‘1,2,3 ... You’re Published!’. We spend a day going through writing and editing exercises and I spend some time talking about some things an author could do to get a more positive response from an editor/publisher. We’ve been going around and promoting it to as many non-writers groups as we have writers groups.
After more than 20 years of working in the corporate world, it’s my belief that when many people go home from their day job they do what they really enjoy. It could be reading, writing, wine or beer making, cooking/baking, woodworking ... really anything. It’s those people that go home and write that I want to reach, to tell them to keep their dreams alive. Everything starts with the first step.
This unique 1 day workshop has many great learning tools regardless of where you are in the writing process. Please check out the information in this newsletter.
I’m a big believer in people following their passions. The tricky part for many is finding out what that passion is. For me, I always new I wanted to be involved with books. I thought it would be writing one, but I found I much prefer reading and publishing to writing .
I’ve also come to the realization that there is a very important place in the world for fiction. Fiction drives creativity and imagination. Without creativity and imagination, there would be very limited innovation and I believe it is innovation that is one of the cornerstones of society. If Gene Roddenberry hadn’t given Captain Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew "Communicators" what would our flip phones have looked like? I could go on, but I just wanted to give this one example.
I’m fortunate enough to be following my passion, and I hope that you are too. Please feel free to comment on our blog or Facebook page (Pages Of Stories FB page) about what you love to do.
We are now accepting story submissions to our new magazine.
Take care and happy reading!
It feels so good to be getting back into the publishing swing of things! Much has happened since we were last in communication and my only challenge is where to begin.
In the initial announcement, mention was made of Laura Crowe who will become the editor of Ficta Fabula. Laura’s been able to find time out of her busy schedule to write an introductory article for this newsletter.
We’ve been able to get some wonderful exposure thanks to Vanessa O’Loughlin of the writing.ie website (http://www.writing.ie/resource-types/submission-opportunities/). There’s a lot of good and valuable information there suitable for everyone that loves the written word.
Another website that has some very useful information for authors has been created by Phil Aston and he also has an interview with a publisher that we’re all familiar with. You can find it at: http://www.informationforwriters.com/#!interview-with-a-fiction-editor.
As well, we now have an illustrator. The plan is that each story will have an accompanying illustration and Dan Webster will be the one doing it. Dan lives and works in Calgary and I know him from my IT world. One day I walked into the lunch room and there he was, drawing away on his sketch pad. We started talking and he brought in more of his work. One thing led to another and I asked him if he would be interested in doing this and voila! we have an illustrator. You’ll see his work on the Welcome page of the new Pages Of Stories website when it goes live.
That is actually a good lead in to what I wanted to talk about. You see, Laura and I also put on a one day workshop together called ‘1,2,3 ... You’re Published!’. We spend a day going through writing and editing exercises and I spend some time talking about some things an author could do to get a more positive response from an editor/publisher. We’ve been going around and promoting it to as many non-writers groups as we have writers groups.
After more than 20 years of working in the corporate world, it’s my belief that when many people go home from their day job they do what they really enjoy. It could be reading, writing, wine or beer making, cooking/baking, woodworking ... really anything. It’s those people that go home and write that I want to reach, to tell them to keep their dreams alive. Everything starts with the first step.
This unique 1 day workshop has many great learning tools regardless of where you are in the writing process. Please check out the information in this newsletter.
I’m a big believer in people following their passions. The tricky part for many is finding out what that passion is. For me, I always new I wanted to be involved with books. I thought it would be writing one, but I found I much prefer reading and publishing to writing .
I’ve also come to the realization that there is a very important place in the world for fiction. Fiction drives creativity and imagination. Without creativity and imagination, there would be very limited innovation and I believe it is innovation that is one of the cornerstones of society. If Gene Roddenberry hadn’t given Captain Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew "Communicators" what would our flip phones have looked like? I could go on, but I just wanted to give this one example.
I’m fortunate enough to be following my passion, and I hope that you are too. Please feel free to comment on our blog or Facebook page (Pages Of Stories FB page) about what you love to do.
We are now accepting story submissions to our new magazine.
Take care and happy reading!
Monday, December 31, 2012
ANNOUCEMENTS!
Pages Of
Stories is back! We're really quite excited about 2013 and all that it will
bring but first I promised an announcement.
Over the 7
issue that Pages Of Stories operated with that magazine name, I was fortunate
enough to get feedback about the magazine, what we did and the stories we
selected. I've taken a lot of that to heart and rethought how I was running
this company.
Dynamic.
That's what I want people to think of when they see the new magazine – Ficta Fabula. According to Google
translator ‘Fiction Story’ translates to ‘Ficta Fabula’ in Latin. Ficta Fabula, the magazine will have the
same number of stories (14) and now it will also include illustrations and
perhaps even photographs. We expect this
first issue of Ficta Fabula to come
out July 20, 2013.
In the first
go around of this magazine, one of my mistakes was to take on tasks that I
didn’t enjoy – namely editing. I’m very fortunate to announce that a good
friend of mine has agreed to take on that challenge freeing me up to promote
this brand new high quality magazine. Laura Crowe, owner of Imagine It In
Writing, is a published author and editor with a vast array of successful
projects under her belt will now be the editor of Ficta Fabula. She was also published in Pages Of Stories in Issue
#5 with her short story Mourning.
Ah, but the
announcements don’t end there. I’m currently in talks with a company to create
a mobile application for the magazine. This company specializes in creating
apps for magazines and I’m actually a subscriber to one of their clients. The
app will be available across all platforms to make it much more convenient for
you to take with you wherever you go. The magazine will also be downloadable
off the website.
If you feel
that you are a bit of a Luddite, fear not as the magazine will also be
available in printed format for those that want it. We can send it right to
your door. Printed books and magazines will never go away so all of the titles
that are published by Pages Of Stories from now on will have a print copy
option and an electronic copy option for those that want it.
We (as in
Gary and I) are making some more changes within the company as well. Pages Of
Stories will be the publishing company, giving us the opportunity to publish
other magazines and books under the one name. Yes, we’re going to branch out
into book publishing – fiction of all kinds and word counts and genre specific
magazines.
Lest We Forget will be the only non-fiction
title in our repertoire and we are now accepting story submissions.
The future
looks bright! Welcome Ficta Fabula
and Laura Crowe to the Pages Of Stories family. We are now accepting story
submissions to our new magazine.
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