Penguin vs Amazon – Book Fights Reach Libraries

Previously on Penguin vs. Amazon, Amazon cut prices for Penguin’s new releases of ebooks down to a discount price of $9.99. Penguin retaliated on April 1^st by refusing to let Amazon carry any of its new ebook releases anymore. Amazon counterattacked by making those same books, in hardback form, that $9.99 price. Other companies had long since come to agreements with Amazon on pricing deals, but Penguin was stubborn. Eventually, Penguin too came to an agreement, and all seemed finally at peace. The peace was tenuous, however, and all knew that it would only be a matter of time.

SOPA and PIPA Protests: The Government Pokes the Sleeping Lion

Wired online protests

The government is dealing with a whole new breed of opposition this month as it attempts to pass the house bills called SOPA(Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA(Protect IP Act). The Internet community has been known to be a group largely apathetic towards activism, but as major Internet hubs like Imgur, Wikipedia, and reddit go down , Internet junkies everywhere are realizing how these bills are greatly affecting their everyday lives.

Busy, busy, busy but fun, fun, fun

As the busy holiday season descends upon us, I breathe deeply and sigh, “If only we had a week that all we did was catch up!”

Oops! I just remembered one more thing I should have done three days ago. That was Tuesday, though, and Editor Ana Wraight and I were busy critiquing portfolios of advanced public relations students at Baylor University. This was Ana’s first time and my fourth or fifth time to accept Dr. Cassy Burleson’s invitation to critique professional portfolios.

Small Demons: The Devil’s in the Details

Part of any story’s power lies in how we relate with the who, the what, and the where. Characters come to life through their oddities: the whiskey they drink, the way they hold a certain brand of cigarette as they smoke, the places where they eat dinner, the people they interact with, and the brand of boots they wear as they trudge down the street. We, as readers, connect with that as we read, establishing bonds with characters and agreeing to follow them through page after page, book after book.

Saving the Most Exciting for Last: Richardson and Belknap

Fort Richardson

Intern Kristine Davis with Character Actor in Costume

The last fort trip to Richardson and Belknap just might have been the most exciting of the four excursions. After a wrong turn down a curvy road and a stop to take care of carsickness related to said road, we arrived at Fort Richardson.

The sedate entrance gave little indication of the fun that was to come. After receiving our parking sticker, we pulled around to the main parking lot into…

Texas Book Festival Promises Well-known Faces

TSTC Publishing is gearing up for this weekend’s Texas Book Festival in Austin, Texas. We’ve packed up the supplies (from paper fans picturing our latest books to koozies to sweets) and books and are ready to head out bright and early tomorrow morning.

Texas Book Festival Set Oct. 22-23

October is packed full for TSTC Publishing, We started the month with a media tour, inviting local media representatives to ride along with us to sites featured in our forthcoming book Cotton Bales, Goatmen & Witches: Legends from the Heart of Texas.

Kindle Fire: Rekindling the Love for Kindle

Amazon recently announced its newest line of Kindles. They are the Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle Touch 3G, and the Kindle Fire (great pun, right?). Affordable, simple, functional, the new Kindles prove Amazon hasn’t been completely asleep in the tech-race.

Try Submishmash for Collecting Submissions

Have you ever tried to hassle with documents attached to emails? In publishing, it can be an absolute nightmare. One manuscript may come as one document, while another may come as five or six. And, just forget collecting recipes for that new cookbook. Things are constantly getting lost or “archiving” themselves.