Publisher's Catalog in Publication—Got it!

It looks like the book is a little more official now.

Quality Books created a Publisher's Catalog in Publication for Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1, and it's now printed on the copyright page of both the hard cover and paperback editions of the book. There was a brief burp while the new text files were uploaded to the printer, but that's all finished and both editions are back in stock. And looking pretty official.

A Catalog-In-Publication is usually given out by the Library of Congress, but they're not really interested in working with publishers who aren't yet "established" (meaning they have published less than three books). But it's not like somebody else can't do the work for you.

The Catalog in Publication is there to help the librarian catalog your book. That's it. Here's how The Donohue Group (another PCIP vendor) describes it:

"PCIP gives librarians all the information they need to quickly add a record for the book to their database or card catalog. This means improved service to library users (and happy librarians)."

So if you know somebody who knows what all the CIP symbology is about (like a really cool librarian), they could make one for you, if you ask them nice. Otherwise, there are companies that provide the service online for a fee. I think just having happy librarians around makes it worth it.

Lake Benton Public Library, Minnesota

One of the libraries I sent a free copy of Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1 to was in Lake Benton, Minnesota. Lake Benton is a really small town, but they can still claim an Opera House (the first image below would be it) and a barber shop. The library even wrote about receiving the book in their newsletter, and they were kind enough to send me a thank you note (hand written, of course). That doesn't happen so often these days (and really, they were the only library that did).

So thank you, Lake Benton Public Library, and if another volume of this book ever hits the shelves, watch for your copy in the mail soon after!

(And special thanks to Eileen Stephenson for taking the Lake Benton photos right in the middle of a Minnesota winter and getting them safely to my inbox.)

ePubs and ebooks and mobis

Over the past couple of months I've been teaching myself the ePub thing in Adobe InDesign CS5.5 (a Christmas present from my lovely husband), which wasn't so hard except when you have images that kind of have to be where they are, the way they are. Figured it out, sort of. It just got to the point where I had to decide how much I was willing to give up in exchange for my sanity.

The short version of this is, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1 is now available for immediate download on your Kindle! Yay!

I've checked and double-checked and triple-quadruple checked to make sure this thing works on Kindle, Kindle Fire, Kindle for iPhone and Kindle for iPad. No small feat.

Next victim: the Nook at Barnes & Noble!

As an aside, I just noticed the URL for the book uses the phrase "Twisted-Tales-Your-Brain." I wonder if the "Rot" in the middle of that was too offensive for them.

Cool.

Reviewed at the Madhouse #twistedtales

Sending out a special "thanks" to Stephanie Wytovich for her review of Twisted in her latest post in the Madhouse. It warms my cockles when somebody gets it:

http://joinmeinthemadhouse.blogspot.com/2012/02/featured-author-in-madhouse-nora.html

"...it fuses the worlds of literature and art together in such a macabre fashion where it’s suitable for kids, but still really creepy and entertaining for adults."

If you (or someone you know) are interested in reviewing the book, send me an email, and we can have ourselves a little talk.