BOOK EXPO | 2014 Short Takes

The BookExpo America autograph area.

A NewYork Times story this morning by David Carr about BookExpo America says:

Someone forgot to tell the book business that it was dead. ... I walked over to the Javits Center... The immense space was brimming with optimism.

Autograph Lines. That was my impression as well. The lines for autographs were huge. One reason is that the books are given away to those who take the trouble to sign up and wait in line - a good move.

 Another reason is that people who are reading books online are hungry for physical contact - ideally, with the authors.

The entry point to the autograph lines.

At the back of each line is a publisher's representative, who stays with the author and gets more books from boxes behind a curtain. At the front of each line are people in yellow T shirts, mostly young women, who shepherd the fans to the author they want to see.

I talked with one of them, who said that she was a volunteer and was recruited via a summer publishing program.

The autograph lines are cheerful.
What's not to like?

 Some lines are so long there are extra waiting areas to one side to control the crowds. Other lines are very short.

At the end of the corridor of waiting fans is the author with a pile of books.

These are not the only autograph areas. Headline Books, for example, has a table in its exhibit area at which its authors sign books, and they even offer space to authors who do not publish with them.

Book Support Services. Besides publishers, the exhibits include publicists, printers, trade associations, collateral products (stationery, cards), distributors, remainderers and government agencies.

Sarah Miniaci, Publicist for Smith
Publicity.

I stopped by Smith Publicity, run by Dan Smith and his wife. Boissevain Books has used them to promote A Meaning for Danny, a Boissevain Books title. We have also used PR Web to promote Time Bomber.

Sarah Miniaci was on hand to talk to authors. She likes bloggers about books because collectively they are effective at getting the word out about authors.

The Casemate Group targets specialized markets. 

Specialized Publishers. Another exhibit that interested me was that of Casemate, which has developed an extensive line of historical nonfiction that they can deliver to academics and training programs for specialized courses.

I spoke with Jennifer Tanz and others at this stop.

Their array of books about Normandy, D-Day and World War II was impressive.

May 20 - "Time Bomber" Now on Sale

Time Bomber is a Sci-Fi novel based
on real person, Dr. Willem J. van
Stockum, pilot of an RAF Halifax
bomber shot down in June 1944.

Time Bomber is the first book in a new Boissevain Books LLC series, "Science Fiction/Historical Fiction". It is for adult readers or young adults with some background in the history of World War II and a tolerance for mild swear words such as were common among military personnel in action.

It is now available on Amazon as a printed book OR Kindle eBook. To order, go to our new web site at www.boissevainbooks.com or directly to the book's page on Amazon.

The book is written by Robert P. Wack, who is a U.S. Army Major and a pediatrician in the Washington, DC area.  

The first half of the book adheres fairly closely to the biography of Willem Jacob van Stockum (brother of Hilda van Stockum), who is known to time-travel enthusiasts as the first person to have demonstrated to a broad audience a scientific basis for time travel. 

Van Stockum showed how Einstein's equations for his special theory of relativity generate time-like curves and provide a basis for conceptualizing time travel. Van Stockum is the first scientist listed as providing a scientific basis for time travel in David Toomey's synoptic view of the idea of time travel. 

Van Stockum was also a bomber pilot in World War II and was shot down over Laval, France during the week after D-Day. The second half of the book explores a "What if?" question about Willem's life. Publicity for this book is being oriented to the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

May 2014 - Boissevain Books Update

Seven Boissevain Books Published so far (Click title to order from Amazon):

Logo for Boissevain Books
Children's Series 

Pre-School Children and Early Grades (up to 10 years old), by Hilda van Stockum

Little Old Bear, for young children and their grandparents; suburban setting, England.

Patsy and the Pup, for young children who would like to have a puppy; in rural Ireland. 

Kersti and St. Nicholas, Dutch girl charms St. Nick into leaving gifts for naughty kids; rural Holland.

Older Children and Young Adults (7+ years old), by Hilda van Stockum 

Penengro, about gypsies; teaches tolerance and also its limits; Ireland

King Oberon's Forest, life among the animals, environmental message; magical forest setting.

Memoirs/Biography - 

To Africa with a Dream, by Olga Marlin, about her half-century in Kenya

A Meaning for Danny, by Brigid Marlin, about her son with Asperger's; England.

Update, May 2014 - Three More Books in the 2014 Pipeline
1. April 2014 - A Meaning for Danny, by Brigid Marlin co-published with Philadelphia-based Infinity Publishers, has been getting interviews, press coverage and some rave reviews. It tells the story of an autistic boy from the point of view of his mother. Some membership organizations and writers specializing in autism, Asperger's, epilepsy or mental illnesses generally have been ordering the book.

2. May 2014 - Our web site has been redesigned. Next in the Pipeline, Book #8: Time Bomber. The first book in a new series, "Science Fiction/Historical Fiction", is AS OF MAY 17 AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. The book is written by Robert P. Wack.  The first half of the book adheres fairly closely to the biography of Willem Jacob van Stockum (brother of Hilda van Stockum), the first person to have demonstrated to a broad audience how Einstein's equations for his special theory of relativity generate time-like curves and provide a basis for conceptualizing time travel. Van Stockum is the first physicist listed as providing a scientific basis for time travel in David Toomey's synoptic view of the idea of time travel. He was also a bomber pilot in World War II and was shot down over Laval, France during the week after D-Day. The second half of the book explores a "What if?" question about Willem's life. Publicity for this book is being oriented to the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

3. June 2014 - After Time Bomber, Boissevain Books will be publishing Book #9, the third book in its Memoir/Biography series, The Box House, by Brigid Marlin. It is based on a true story about a young girl in a family in England with a mother who virtually abandons her children. The girl takes responsibility for the raising of her younger siblings, and creates a secret home for them out of cardboard boxes in a vacant lot.

4. July 2014 - Boissevain Books returns to keeping in print books by Hilda van Stockum - Book #10, reprinting Andries, is in production.

5. August 2014 - We again plan to participate in the Children's Fair at the East Hampton Library, on August 10. Also, we will move into production two more books (Books #11 and #12) for adults: (1) The influence of Oxford and Cambridge alumni on the 13 original American colonies (Biography), and (2) A biography of Will Woodin, FDR's first Treasury Secretary.

6. September 2014 - The Board of Boissevain Books meets again in Ottawa, where two members of the Board reside.

April is Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month and one of the Boissevain Books LLC titles is about autism,
A Meaning for Danny - a book not for children, but for their parents.

In Brigid Marlin's son's case, the autism was combined with epilepsy and was therefore difficult to treat. The drugs for either illness accentuated the symptoms of the other.

Autism is not easy to deal with in any case. A mother who seems to be coping with TWO autistic sons has written about their story so far here. She notes that autistic children often call out the best in other people and she calls their ability to do this a "superpower".  She blogs about her experience caring for her sons at Life with Greyson and Parker.

Dutch Edition of "The Borrowed House"

Cover of the Dutch
edition.

In 2013, Hilda van Stockum's book The Borrowed House was translated into Dutch and has become available everywhere in Holland. My source - a relative in Holland - says that the translation is good. The translation was requested of the publisher (Mozaiek) by a teen novelist, Ineke Kraijo.

The English edition,
ranks 6th out of 123.

The Dutch title - Dutch people are still unforgiving about the Nazi Occupation of their country - is Het Gestolen Huis ("The Stolen House").

The book in English ranks #6 right now (March 2014) among the top 123 Books for Children about World War II on Goodreads.com.

This new translation is hugely significant for Hilda van Stockum and her family. In her obituary in Het Parool, the newspaper that came to prominence as an underground newspaper in Holland during World War II, Hilda van Stockum is described as someone famous throughout the world except in her own country. Although translations have been made into a dozen languages, none of her books had ever been translated into Dutch.

The new translation will be the first translation of one of her books into Dutch.  I hope it will not be the last. She would be so proud.

Ranks 11th out of 123 books for
 children on World War II..

The Goodreads list of the 123 Best Books for Children on World War II has three books by Hilda van Stockum. Two of them rank in the top 11. The Borrowed House ranks 6th and The Winged Watchman ranks 11th. The Mitchells ranks 36th.

People have asked me how the Goodreads voting works on lists on a particular topic. So far as I can figure out, two different metrics are used. One is overall popularity, based on general reviews. On this score, Hilda van Stockum books do very well. The second metric is voting on a particular list.

For example, in my own family, The Borrowed House and The Winged Watchman are both viewed as important WWII books because they use first-hand reports to describe the Nazi Occupation of Holland. But there is some disagreement whether The Mitchells is really a WWII book. It is about the same period of time, in Washington, DC, but it takes place in a country that was not attacked. The action is in Europe, where the adult men in the family are posted.

Voting about a list seems therefore to be partly whether a book meets the criterion for the list. Anne Frank's diary has moved from first to second to third place as new books about World War II come out. But her diary has by far the largest number of reviews. If you want to check out the rankings, go to the link in the third paragraph. If you want to vote, the site for the Goodreads list: http://bit.ly/19SWY2E.

Ranks 36th out of
123 books on WW II.

If you would like a free HvS book sent to you to review for Amazon or to vote on a Goodreads list - let me know and I will send it - at least to the first 20 people who ask me. Email me at teppermarlin@aol.com.

These lists are looked at by librarians, teachers, home-schooling parents and curriculum designers. 

The important thing to know is that on this list, your vote counts.  A single vote can move a book several places up. 

Also, chapter books tend to be read over the summer as part of reading lists targeted by period or by country. For example, in England, World War II is required reading for 10-year-olds. 

PORTUGUESE | Rights to Translate or Republish Offered

From John Tepper Marlin, Tiradentes, Brazil, February 11, 2014:

I'm in Brazil for nearly three weeks. With Boissevain Books LLC's setup administrative chores are in place and I have been in touch with a few people here about a publisher in São Paolo and Rio translating into Portuguese the two dozen books by Hilda van Stockum or others to which Boissevain Books LLC has rights.

Two books by Hilda van Stockum have already been translated into Portuguese by Portuguese publishers - The Cottage at Bantry Bay and The Mitchells: Five for Victory.

The Cottage at Bantry Bay is translated as Quatro Criancas e um Cao (Four Kids and a Dog). A Portuguese edition was published in Porto, Portugal, by Livraria Civilizacao Editora in 1971, authorized by the Viking Press, New York, which published the original work in 1938. An edition has been published by Bethlehem Books by contract with the author and (since 2006) the author's estate. All residual rights have been transferred by the estate to Boissevain Books LLC, which is based in New York City. Illustrations are copyright until 2076 (70 years after the death of the illustrator). The literary copyright is valid until 2056 (50 years after the death of the author.

The Mitchells: Five for Victory is translated as A Familia Mitchell (The Mitchell Family). A Portuguese edition was published in Porto, Portugal, by Livraria Civilizacao Editora in 1974, authorized by the Viking Press, New York, which published the original work in 1945. An edition has been published by Bethlehem Books by contract with the author and (since 2006) the author's estate. All residual rights have been transferred by the estate to Boissevain Books LLC, which is based in New York City. Illustrations are copyright until 2076 (70 years after the death of the illustrator). The literary copyright is valid until 2056 (50 years after the death of the author).

In preparation for visiting Brazil, I checked out a few Brazilian publishers that publish books for children. Here are five that I found:

Rio 
Grupo Editorial Danprewan. Publishes Christian books, books for children and youth. Also books on demand. Motto - changing lives. 

Campinas
Editora Autores Associados. Recently it started a new imprint, Ciranda de Letras (books for children and young readers) E-mail: coordenacao@autoresassociados.com.br.

São Paulo 
Callis Editora Ltda. Hardback and paperback publishers of fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults in Portuguese and Spanish languages. Children's Books (Age 1-7) Juvenile Fiction (Age 8-12) Juvenile Non-fiction (Age 8-12) Young Adult/Teenager Fiction (Age: 13-19) 

Editora Biruta Ltda. Hardback and paperback publishers of fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults in Portuguese. Children's Book (age 1-7) and juvenile fiction (age 8-15). 

Ciranda Cultural Publishing Limited.  Children's books that reach an international quality standard. Phone 55 11 3761-9508.

December 24 - Rondo, Santa's Delivery Dog (Superseded)

This post has been superseded by this one:
http://boissevainbooksllc.blogspot.com/2014/12/rondo-goes-where-ups-fedex-and-usps.html

This stub is kept in place so that links are not destroyed.