Several members sent me items of interest for my blog (thank you!) and I’ve compiled those links, along with a few of my own finds, for today’s post.
• AudubonMagazine.org
Incite: An independent advocate for the environment, written by OWAA member Ted Williams.
Picture Perfect: Phony wildlife photography in magazines, books, calendars, and posters is giving people a warped view of nature.
Audubon has sent me to lots of wild places over the past 31 years, but I’d seen only one wolf and three cougars (a litter) until December 8, 2009. On that day, before noon in the Glacier National Park ecosystem of northwestern Montana, I encountered not just one wolf but two and not just one cougar but two! What were the chances of that?
Well, they were 100 percent, because I’d rented the animals for a photo shoot. … [Read more here.]
• Keeping photos safe from theft on the Net
Here’s an article on dealing with copyrights and watermarking on the Web. Rob Sylban’s article even includes handy screenshots.
Protecting what’s yours
While it may be impossible to prevent a determined person from using your work without your permission, there are a couple of things you should do to protect your work: Establish yourself as the copyright owner; make it harder for the wrong people to use your work; and make it easier for the right people to find and contact you when they want to use your work with your permission.
• Keyword ideas
Do you publish photos, articles or video to the Web? Want people to actually find what you post? Here’s a useful took for those looking to optimize content for search engines by using keywords. While this Google tool is made for advertisers, it’s also a powerful resource for freelancers, Web producers, etc.
Google AdWords Keyword Tool
• Considering self-publishing?
Then read this. If you are going to be be involved with the design of your book’s cover, this article outlines several factors you should take into consideration. From NYTimes.com, written by Motoko Rich:
In E-Book Era, You Can’t Even Judge a Cover
Even in the digital era, publishers believe that books need graphic representations — if only for the online marketing campaign. Regardless of the format, “they all seem to need what we know of as a cover to identify them,” said Chip Kidd, associate art director at Alfred A. Knopf. Mr. Kidd has designed more than 1,000 jackets for authors including Cormac McCarthy and James Ellroy.
…
“We often get requests to make the type bigger,” said Mario J. Pulice, creative director for the adult trade division of Little, Brown & Company. “Because when it’s on Amazon, you can’t read the author’s name.”
• Customize your Twitter background
A few weeks ago I customized OWAA’s twitter background. It still needs some tweaking because the larger graphics are hidden when users view OWAA’s twitter page on a smaller computer screen. To avoid doing what I did (sometimes the only way to learn is by mistake!), check out this article by Matt Silverman:
How to Customize your business’s Twitter Background
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What did you think of today’s blog post? Did any of the articles inspire thoughts worth sharing? If so, please comment below. ◊
Ashley Schroeder is OWAA’s Publications Editor. Contact her at aschroeder@owaa.org.
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Hello there, My first novel, Cole Creek, is due out at the end of this summer. Most of the story take place in the high Sierra. I am delighted to find the Outdoor Writers Association of America and your blog. I am going to link you to mine which is http://www.julieannemorley.wordpress.com/ My husband took the banner picture this winter after we hiked up on snowshoes to snowboard down a chute in the Big Lost River Valley of Idaho. My platform for my writing is “Personal Evolution Through Outdoor Experience.” All the banner pictures on my website are of also taken in that area of Idaho.