These Four Walls: Thinking INSIDE The Box (Set) For Authors And Readers

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Thursday July 16, 2015 · 11:00 AM PDT

2015/07/16 · 11:00

Anyone who says "thinking outside the box" is the only good way to think is misinformed. The best times to be had can be found inside of a box--just ask a kid or a cat. And if you're an author with a story to tell, or a reader with a hankerin' for more of what you like, the Box is where it's at.

athenap for Readers and Book Lovers

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Thursday February 19, 2015 · 11:00 AM PST

2015/02/19 · 11:00

Sexy, pulpy fun in easy-to-digest doses! New episodes every Thursday!

Once upon a time, book launches involved parties at swanky Manhattan addresses where everybody wore turtlenecks and ate cheese that smells like old socks and pretended to care about things like "purity of artistic inspiration" when they were really just interested in if the author would still be sleeping with the editor after the second print run.

That's because, once upon a time, only a very small cadre of people (most of them wearing turtlenecks) were "in charge" of most of the buzz surrounding books. It was a fine example of trickle-down economics, as the literary crowd from the coasts spread their influence through word of mouth (and carefully-timed magazine pieces) to the flyover states via a controlled distribution network of booksellers and librarians and the mysterious alchemy that went into the bestseller list of the New York Times.

Fast-forward to the "Indie Revolution" where a perfect storm of affordable digital devices and widespread direct distribution turned "Publish" into a button and democratized the face of publishing like never before.

I launched a book today. In my PJs (which are not a turtleneck). Then I made lunch, walked the dog, and did laundry, and played Monopoly Jr. because the kids had a snow day and were bored.

Book launches have changed...and they've stayed the same. Follow me below the spaghetti squash and under the hood of the literary catapult.

athenap

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Friday October 04, 2013 · 7:26 AM PDT

2013/10/04 · 07:26

A facebook friend likened the situation to taking his credit card and buying boats and four-wheelers and vacations with it, then asking for his limit to be raised when he ran out of credit. Then refusing to pay and blaming them for not paying his bills if they refused, then going on vacation and sending them pictures of his hungry kids and blaming them for why his kids couldn't eat. Since he's a casual friend with whom I mostly share things about bacon, I felt it wasn't right to hit his wall with what I almost ended up posting. Then I thought, "Feckit, this would make a good Kos diary."

Follow me below the squiggly-doo for the epic metaphor.

athenap

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Tuesday November 06, 2012 · 8:23 PM PST

2012/11/06 · 20:23

Woo!

http://www.nbcnews.com/

athenap

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Monday November 05, 2012 · 6:13 PM PST

2012/11/05 · 18:13

Infrequent diarist here, but more frequent commenter. Just got clued into a trending Twitter topic...

Like the tweeter, I agree it's kind of hilariscary...but not as hilarious and scary as an actual Romney presidency.

athenap

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Thursday December 09, 2010 · 11:29 AM PST

2010/12/09 · 11:29

I think I saw this coming when the President spoke after the election and said, "I didn't reach out hard enough" in terms of reaching across the aisle to compromise. In the long lead-up to this tax debacle, I've given the President I worked hard for and donated to a lot of benefits when I was growing increasingly doubtful. In every move he's made, Obama hasn't been playing 2d checkers, or 11d chess or even Go.

He's been playing Operation.

athenap

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Friday November 06, 2009 · 9:18 AM PST

2009/11/06 · 09:18

I am so angry I can barely speak today. If someone thinks equating giving more people health insurance to putting them in ovens and baking them en masse, they need to be slapped stupid. No wait...they're already there.

To think so many GOP reps stand behind these idiots really makes me ashamed to think these people have a hand, no matter how small, in running the country. So I took my rep to task today and sent him a letter. I wish something more could be done, but alas, if I pimpslapped all the people I wanted to these days, my slappin' hand would fall off.

athenap

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Wednesday November 05, 2008 · 4:20 AM PST

2008/11/05 · 04:20

I'm all choked up and teary-eyed. Never before have I been so happy to see CNN. To keep hitting "refresh" over and over again on the Kos map. To have two laptops and eight channels on the boob toob at the same time.

And I have never been prouder to be an American.

athenap

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Thursday October 30, 2008 · 10:56 AM PDT

2008/10/30 · 10:56

I've been phone-banking for Obama twice a week for the past few weeks and have gotten the chance to talk to a lot of my neighbors (relatively speaking--they don't live on either side of me per se, but they are local). The majority of my calls have been either supporters, whom I offer more info and a little push about early voting, undecideds, whom I also offer more info ranging from issues info to a simple, "well, I dunno if it'll change your mind, but here's why shy me is out here calling up my neighbors on behalf of Senator Obama..." and go into one of the many reasons why I think he'll make an awesome president. Occasionally, I'll get a McCain supporter, whom I thank for their time and hang up and cross off the list.

But yesterday, I got my first asshat.

athenap

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Saturday December 08, 2007 · 3:16 PM PST

2007/12/08 · 15:16

So my local paper (the Cincinnati Enquirer) regularly requests reader opinions on subjects, from which they pick and choose a few to print in the Saturday Editions. Well, I had something to say about Mitt Romney's religion's place in an election, so I posted a short (you're limited to 500 characters) personal opinion.

You can imagine my horror at what confronted me when I opened the paper this evening.

athenap

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Monday May 07, 2007 · 8:28 AM PDT

2007/05/07 · 08:28

Immigration is an issue that I'm conflicted about, and not well enough versed in the nuances and complexities to offer up an opinion that's any more than a gut instinct that says, "hey, give people a chance and let 'em go where they want." I never feared that an illegal immigrant would come along and steal my job, although I understand the pool of candidates vying for jobs is more diverse and maybe a little bigger by a fraction.

But I never suspected I'd need to fear for my immortal soul! O_O

athenap

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Saturday September 30, 2006 · 6:02 AM PDT

2006/09/30 · 06:02

The Cincinnati Enquirer features a "Your Voice" guest opinion column. The Enquirer is not known for its left-leaning tendencies, and neither is the region it covers. But this editorial seems to me to illustrate the very real disconnect with what's going on in the halls of power and what goes on in the I-75 corridor.
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