Well, we’ve been rummaging around in our brains this week, trying to deal with all the technology – the blogs in particular. A wonderful way of getting in touch with people without bombarding them with sales talk but it is a bit of a slog – there’s all the SEO and feeds etc to consider. I’m beginning to think that html is just a manifestation of the inner workings of my brain –chaotic gobbledegook. One very nice guy has offered me a few lessons. A few lifetimes might be needed, me thinks. It’s all so fast and cerebral but I do know the old brain has to get wrapped around it eventually.
That’s the beauty of books….they exist at a decent speed…..pick them up and put them down and make a cup of tea and unlike software/technology they are unlikely to have changed by the time you pick them up again.
I was walking (in a leisurely “I shouldn’t be in here because I have enough books already/ I can’t afford to buy any anyway/I’ll just have a quick shifty along the shelves while I’m here” way) through Waterstones last year and just by chance noticed a very, very slim book tucked away in the Mind Body Spirit section. I always go for the cover first and this was colourful! It’s also very tempting to see very slim books because the mindset goes ‘Ah, that won’t take long to read and at that size it’s probably quite cheap!’ I was right on all counts with this book. Even more remarkable is that it was first published in 1925, reached its 42nd reprinting in 1998 and is still going strong. Now that’s endurance!
It looks as though the publisher, C W Daniel Company Ltd now comes under the umbrella of Random House…..but I’ve checked and the book is still available. Worth checking out if life is being a bit tricky. “The Game of Life and how to play it” by Florence Scovel-Shinn.
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by G.W. Dahlquist
Subscription to book - did it work?
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
We're underway...at last.
It really has been a labour of love putting this website together. The design and arty side is one thing - the technical "putting it all together on the web" is a whole new area (for me, the arty one). Then there is the concept behind it all - why we're doing it etc. Thankfully, we still think it's a brilliant idea. Let us fill you in with the details:
Way back in January we had a brilliant idea - well, anything can seem brilliant in January! It was to provide virtual shelf space for all the less well known writers and independent, small publishers of the world. We loved their work, wanted to see more of it, wanted others to see more. We wanted them to survive!
Our brilliant idea was to enable these unique voices to raise their profile, be seen, heard, bought and read. We wanted to bring them together on one site and so have greater strength in unity.
We think the name Books on Shelves sounds straight to the point and simple (just like us).
We appreciate the lasting value of books and we know that some may need extra time to mature, just like good cheese. Sometimes books (and cheeses) with enduring flavours, a unique after taste, wacky colouts, bizarre names etc. do not get fully appreciated immediately. They need time to loiter on shelves, time to be talked about, time to come into their own. Some will never be flavour of the month......but we still believe that they deserve some shelf space. And the book buying public also deserve a diverse range to choose from. We also know how frustrating it is for writers to survive when their work does not fit within the mainstream.
To this end we came up with the idea of becoming a gateway for writers, independent publishers and readers by providing virtual, limitless shelves for real books - good reads beyond the normal bookshelf fare.
Check us out. We've got a lot of shelf space to fill but we believe that even though we're young cheeses at the moment, the look of our site is still good and will encourage readers to come back again and again. Our aim is to excite. We want to reintroduce that WOW feeling when walking into a bookshop and seeing all those glorious books on the shelves, all ready and waiting to be bought and read.
Way back in January we had a brilliant idea - well, anything can seem brilliant in January! It was to provide virtual shelf space for all the less well known writers and independent, small publishers of the world. We loved their work, wanted to see more of it, wanted others to see more. We wanted them to survive!
Our brilliant idea was to enable these unique voices to raise their profile, be seen, heard, bought and read. We wanted to bring them together on one site and so have greater strength in unity.
We think the name Books on Shelves sounds straight to the point and simple (just like us).
We appreciate the lasting value of books and we know that some may need extra time to mature, just like good cheese. Sometimes books (and cheeses) with enduring flavours, a unique after taste, wacky colouts, bizarre names etc. do not get fully appreciated immediately. They need time to loiter on shelves, time to be talked about, time to come into their own. Some will never be flavour of the month......but we still believe that they deserve some shelf space. And the book buying public also deserve a diverse range to choose from. We also know how frustrating it is for writers to survive when their work does not fit within the mainstream.
To this end we came up with the idea of becoming a gateway for writers, independent publishers and readers by providing virtual, limitless shelves for real books - good reads beyond the normal bookshelf fare.
Check us out. We've got a lot of shelf space to fill but we believe that even though we're young cheeses at the moment, the look of our site is still good and will encourage readers to come back again and again. Our aim is to excite. We want to reintroduce that WOW feeling when walking into a bookshop and seeing all those glorious books on the shelves, all ready and waiting to be bought and read.
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