Disqus - Latest Comments for LaraD

Re: Ron Rosenbaum Attacks Anonymous Web Commenters - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

LaraD — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:56:23 -0000

I agree he's fighting a bee swarm with a switchblade (nice image, btw). My company has a strict "don't feed the trolls" policy after being savaged by them twice. We learned that even responding in a professional manner with facts to counter their fallacies just contributes to the frenzy. Yeah, I know Mr. Rosenblum can't fix it, but he has the right to fight back in any way he sees fit. And the truth is, even though I don't have the stomach for doing it myself, I can't help enjoying watching someone take them on once in a while.

Re: Ron Rosenbaum Attacks Anonymous Web Commenters - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

LaraD — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:00:38 -0000

Actually, journalists don't always sign their opinion pieces, annie48. The OpEd pages of newspapers are filled with unsigned pieces that I guess we are meant to take as the papers' official positions. I've always found that curious and not quite kosher.

Recently, there was an interesting piece (column? oped?)somewhere that said we should value anonymous internet posts because they reveal our true, unvarnished nature and show us we still have a long way to go to deal with our inner beastliness. I think there's a grain of truth in that, but doesn't the news tell us every day that our species still harbors plenty of hatefulness, violence, bigotry, ignorance and all around willful stupidity?

I've seen plenty of ugliness as a social worker and later as a journalist, and thought I could no longer be shocked by what ordinary people do--until the company I work for was targeted by digital lynch mobs. It takes a lot of guts to call them out after you've seen the venom they can muster. I applaud Mr. Rosenbaum for doing just that. Interestingly enough, I've found some of the nastiest blog trolls do not seem to see themselves as vile cowards but rather as crusaders for truth. Their self-righteousness is their sword and their shield.

Re: Dan Baum's <em>New Yorker</em> Twitter-versy - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

LaraD — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:20:42 -0000

Fascinating to observe the birth of a new narrative medium and see what people do with it. I saw a story in 3 tweets by meganganz:

tweet 1
"A story in 3 tweets: The other day, I was walking down the sidewalk & a guy pulled his car over to ask me where the closest pet store was.

tweet 2
I spent the whole time I was answering trying to figure out how it was secretly a perverted question. Because only perverts pull cars over.

tweet 3
I also stared at his crotch the whole time (to be sure he wasn’t trying to flash me) and mumbled incoherently. So, really I was the pervert.

One of the more interesting aspects is that if you aren't reading in real time, the story is backwards. Wonder if anyone is experimenting with that yet.

Re: New College Textbook Rental Partnership - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

LaraD — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:31:11 -0000

With the cost of text books rising, wouldn't this be a perfect time for text book publishers to start publishing in ebook form at hugely reduced prices (and costs)?

It's been a loooooong time since I was in college, but I can imagine how much easier it would be to carry around a 2-pound laptop and a 3-ounce zip drive with all my text books on it. Not to mention being able to search for specific words and phrases, highlight and bookmark passages and make notations on the pages without worrying about reducing the resale value.

Re: Publishing's Million Dollar Question: What Price E-Books? - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

LaraD — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:56:45 -0000

Digital books are outrageously overpriced. There's no reason for such high prices. I think it amounts to a form of price gouging not unlike those $5 ATM fees we see in some places. The only costs for ebook production are design, editing and formatting. No printing, paper, ink or transportation costs.

Cerridwen Press and Ellora's Cave started as ebook publishers and have now moved into print. Their ebooks are less than half the price of their trade paperbacks. A $5.99 ebook sells in trade paperback for $12.99. A $6.99 ebook goes for $12.99 in print. CP and EC ebooks range in price from $2.99 for novella-size to $9.99 for longish novels, with most $5.99-6.99.

We need to make ebooks more affordable to encourage people to buy them. They are much more "green" for one thing. No consumption of trees for paper, no petroleum-based inks, no fuel for shipping. The text book industry seems especially far behind in adopting ebooks. Imagine how much cheaper etext books could be. Kids wouldn't have to tote 30-pound backpacks filled with books, they could highlight, bookmark, add notes, search for topics while studying... Why are we not doing this on a massive scale yet?

Re: Want to Find New Readers? Try Changing Your Tune - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

LaraD — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:37:12 -0000

Wow. Made me want to the book. To me, what the video sells is the book's voice and attitude. A new way of selling an age-old story.

And, LLoudRIP: you understand archetypal, right? And stereotypical? And the use of quotes to indicate the writer is conscious of the unreality of the thing in quotes? I think it's clear he wasn't claiming to know what's actually inside the head of every McSweeny reader.

Re: One Trailer, One Weekend, One Bestseller - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

LaraD — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:14:50 -0000

The Watchmen trailer was pretty awesome. Sorta made me want to go out and buy the book, and I've never bought a graphic novel in my life. I think it certainly showed the power a book trailer could have, despite what MJRose says. I agree, though, that just because you make a book trailer doesn't mean anyone's gonna see it, let alone be moved to buy and read the book.

I'd love to have a book trailer for my little noir roman a clef playing in all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, with a smoky saxophone and angsty, attractive actors wearing fedoras.

Your question about a letter is interesting, though. At first I thought a letter seemed a futile if charmingly anachronistic way to promote anything. Then I remembered my last job at a newspaper where I received stacks upon stacks of mail every day, though nothing compared to the number of emails flooding my inbox. The things I read first were the envelopes with handwritten addresses on them just because they stood out, I guess, and because someone had taken the time to get an envelope and stamp together and actually put pen to paper. I'm not sure who I'd send a letter to, though. Maybe socialists, anarchists and cultural tourists who love the smell of coffee and garlic and who and can't resist an unsolved mystery.

Re: mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

LaraD — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:16:29 -0000

Great picture! If my Alice weren't in the contest, I'd vote for Gummo and Zeppo!

Re: mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

LaraD — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:38:05 -0000

Thanks, Hadrian. She likes noir crime and mysteries but will read almost anything when she's bored. I couldn't quite get all the titles to show in the pic, but in that stack are The Maltese Falcon, The Satanic Verses, Man Gone Down, The Blind Assassin, A Long Way Down, Travels With Charlie, Again Dangerous Visions, Geek Love, The Exile, The Politics of Lust, Native Tongue, and collections by James M. Cain and Shakespeare.