The Wannabe Journal

for

September 2013

We collected three books for the LLI Lounge at our September meeting.  I know there other authors and poets who have produced books in the last few years that I would love to have a copy of for this special collection.  Please bring a signed copy of your book to UD's River Campus and provide them to either Gina or Denise until I can collect them.  I am going to make a sign which will be placed on the shelve with the books notifying the reader that the books are a gift to the LLI program and as such are to be kept within the LLI Lounge for the pleasure of the students who take classes.  You may also mail me a copy of your book to my home address 7623 Old Woods Court, Springboro, Ohio 45066. 

Now to a review of this months meeting with Kathi Kargl. Kathi is a Lecturer at the University of Dayton and teaches Graphic Design to the students there. 

Here are some of the pointers that Kathi reviewed in her discussion of Formating and Editing using In-Design Software 

Using In-Design:

Download the templates from Createspace, Blurb, Kindle, Pubit, or others for the cover and text of your project.

Create master pages:

                        • Can use for either your own or add to a provided template file from the downloaded templates

                        • Allow InDesign to do the work for you, they are efficient and accurate

                        • Use to set up page numbering, headers and footers( i.e.: Blurb)

Type: alignment, size, font size are potential type issues

                        • Smaller than 6 point could cause printing issues

                        • White type over a color could cause problems when ink hits the paper

                        • Type within a photo could cause legibility issues

                        • Small type in color could print badly

Scanning:

•      Resolution: Tips on improving your pictures

                        • The higher the resolution, the more pixels per inch, the more detailed the image can be reproduced—the better it looks when it’s printed
            • The fewer the pixels per inch, the larger the pixels will be—and the less detailed the image will be when reproduced

                        • If the resolution of the image is too low, the pixels will be larger, and you will clearly see that the image is made up of a mosaic-like pattern

            • Check the size of your digital image in Photoshop

                        • Adjust for the resolution the image should have in print

                        • Once this number has changed, you will see the actual dimensions of the image and will know if it can be used as large as you need it in print

Illustration:

                        • If you need to scan a hand-done element (illustration, painting) for use in your book, you would use the same settings as if you were scanning a photo

Printing Images:

•      For printing, you want to have your images at 300ppi at 100% of their FINAL size. If you need your images larger, you’ll have to do the math and then multiply that by 300 to determine your scanning resolution.

          • The higher resolution you select to scan at, the more detail the scanner will translate and record, resulting in a larger file

          • If you make the resolution higher than what is necessary, your image will take up more storage space and be slower to process when printing, saving and redrawing the screen

Member Highlights:

Here are some of the topics that the group members are participating in this month.  

Don H.  Reminded the group that on October 12th a free writers seminar will be held in nearby Cincinnati.  The event is one of the largest events in the area. It is called:  

 

Mission

Books by the Banks is the region’s premier book festival with the mission to entertain and enrich the lives of the citizens of Southwest Ohio/Northern Kentucky by presenting and promoting authors while celebrating the joy of literacy and lifelong learning through reading.

Vision

Books by the Banks vision is to encourage literacy among the Southwest Ohio/Northern Kentucky communities by promoting an annual festival showcasing organizations, and individuals, in support of fostering education and the love of reading.

Overview

Books by the Banks, the region’s premier book festival, brings literature to life through programs and activities for all ages. Books by the Banks is free and open to the public. Attendees can meet local and nationally known authors and illustrators and purchase autographed copies of their work. The Cincinnati area has a long history as a community that appreciates and values books and reading, annually earning distinction as one of “America’s Most Literate Cities.” Books by the Banks embraces the region’s love for literature, books, and reading. Books by the Banks inaugural event was held November 3, 2007, at the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati. In 2014, Books by the Banks will debut outdoors on the Ohio riverbanks with anticipated 10,000 attendees and numerous local partners.

Faye:  Working on her Memoir

Linda M    Attended a Writing Lab at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York(roughly an hour or two north of Poughkeepsie, New York.  Check out some of their upcoming seminars.  http://www.eomega.org/learning-paths/creative-expression

Rosie:  Her Painting Poetry will be featured in an upcoming article that will appear in a upcoming article in UD Magazine.  She is currently teaching a class in the current session of the LLI program at the University of Dayton.  The title of her class is "Connecting Art and Spirit: Painting Poetry".

Wanda:  Working on getting her Illustrations scanned and digitized for a planned children's book.

Carl H:  Wants some help in creating video files into a memoir project. 

Ann H:  After the writing prompt last month she has continued to work on her memoir and even extended the original story of "Your Delicious".

Bill:  Still working on writing short stories involving his friend in California...she is a nun. 

Other Seminars and Education:

There are a number of seminars at the Dayton Public Library, Kettering Library and Books and Co. in Beavercreek.  Upcoming classes include Journaling and writing a memoir. 

Next Meeting:  We will have a guest speaker.  A well know local artist who recently moved from Yellow Spring to Dayton will be our featured poet.  The exact details of her session with us are still in the planning stage and will be finalized the first week of October.  At that time I will publish another email with the details of our meeting.  Stay tuned.........

   
   
Next Meeting on October 18th.