Yvette's Inner Geek Blog

I just returned from my monthly League of Utah Writers meeting, where author Rebecca Shelley spoke about researching and submitting to the national publishing market. She logged in to the Publisher’s Marketplace and showed us via a projector what it was all about. I’m always fascinated to watch other people do things in internet browsers, like search and toggle between their open tabs or windows, because it’s different than how I do things, what with my alt+tabbing and my cmd+f’ing.

It was interesting to learn her tips and tricks for sending emails directly to editors—querying for fiction books—that are more likely to be read. Now I just need to get some of my writing to the point where it’s completed enough to submit! Querying nonfiction is a lot less intimidating to me. I think blogging has increased my comfort level with writing nonfiction.

While she was showing off the Publisher’s Marketplace website, I noticed that they have a Twitter feed (@PublishersLunch) so just now I was looking at the recent updates to see if it’s something I’d want to follow. I clicked through to an article titled “Trade paperbacks thrive in tough times” and was amused by this little snippet of marketing wisdom:

“If we want to appeal to a twentysomething audience, we have to do it at an affordable price,” says Carrie Kania of HarperPerennial, which will publish a record 100 or so paperback originals this year. “And a trade paperback is the price of a new CD.”

Ms. Kania is perhaps not yet aware that a large percentage of their target market doesn’t even bother with CDs anymore. It’s 2009. Time to start measuring in MP3s.

Green contemplations for the day:

• Utah is a state so red that even the grass is too intimidated to grow its natural color.
• My drive to be environmentally conscious is strengthened every day that I see [dickheads in] gas-guzzling vehicles in the majority on Utah roadways.
• If it wouldn’t be such a waste of paper, I would propaganda our conservative neighborhood with helpful suggestions for how to be more environmentally friendly, i.e. STOP LETTING YOUR CHILD DRIVE HIS FOUL AND NOISY DIRTBIKE UP AND DOWN YOUR DRIVEWAY FOR HOURS ON END. He will grow up to think it’s okay to selfishly waste precious natural resources by revving his 4-wheeler up and down the street and on the hill not far away. Oh wait, you’ve already set that example for him…
• Ben and I are in the minority of residents in our town who participate in household recycling. We have to pay $5 a month for the honor. Other residents in our town do not seem to have a problem filling their garbage bins with cardboard boxes and plastic.
• Hoo boy, this is turning into a rant. All I’m saying is that Utah has a long way to go in many areas—politically speaking, and as a result, environmentally speaking.

This week, Ben did something radically eco-friendly (for Utah, anyway): he ordered us a Scotts 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower. It’s retro*, but engineered to be a lot lighter and easier to use than the pre-1970s Gold Standard of manicured lawns. It’s also 100% pollution-free and the only maintenance required is to sharpen the blades.

Our first mower, which is a hand-me-down gas mower from my dad, is clunky, hard to push, and a general pain in the ass. We’ve been talking about buying a new one for some time.

I’ve been following @LighterFootstep on Twitter, and they recently linked to a 2008 blog post on their site by Chris Baskind featuring three gas-free and earth friendly lawn mowers. We have a small-ish flat lawn that doesn’t need to be mowed very often in Utah’s dry climate, so the solutions they provided were all reasonable for our situation. Read more…