History Turned On

How the Creative Process Got Me Cooking in Sicily

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How the Creative Process Got Me Cooking in Sicily

The lifecycle of creative activity. We've all lived it:

It starts with an idea that leads to a process that becomes a book or a play or a faster computer; a film or the latest trend in teen fashion; a painting or an innovative new way to teach.

Its development spawns many unexpected experiences along the way to realization, and brings with it sufficient highs as well as innumerable lows – doubt, rejection, failed attempts, multiple revisions – before the day it finally falls into the hands of others. Then, it begins to take on a life of its own.

Much to my surprise, this has also been the path of fulfilling our Kickstarter promises, which, now in the rewards creation phase, continues to kick my butt with its downs, elevate me with its multiple ups, and excite and surprise me with its numerous twists and turns.

Today, I want to share one of these experiences with you...

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Teen Read Week with Author Mary Hoffman

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Teen Read Week with Author Mary Hoffman

It's Teen Read Week! A literacy initiative created by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) in 1998 to encourage teens to read and to support their local libraries.

You can join the conversation on Twitter with #TRW15, where we'll be sharing this chat with Time Traveler Tours & Tales launch author, Mary Hoffman. But before you bounce, check out this exclusive interview with the author, herself!

Mary has written numerous books for teens, and future teens besides. Her books have touched many lives for many years, as you'll see in the interview below. I caught up with her to find out about the inspirations for her settings and characters...

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Who am I? Where do I fit in?

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Who am I? Where do I fit in?

Last week was a busy and eventful one. It started and ended with my submission to the first annual BookTech Award and Pitch Challenge, sponsored by FutureBook, with two conference events sandwiched in between. The pitch challenge application forced me to get laser focused on communicating the problem I’m attempting to solve as a publisher. It all started with the opening question, “What is your target industry?” which threw me into a familiar tailspin.

I’ve long struggled with this question, to be honest, because I feel that my work and motivations straddle three sectors: educational tourism, children's literature, and the school and library markets. Yet, every business mentor I’ve ever worked has advocated that I hone my efforts to address the needs of one single audience. But how, when the whole point of our multi-format publishing model is to allow us to go broad?

With this question weighing on my mind, I grabbed my trusty Nepalese walking stick – my best friend after my two-month-long convalescence – and ventured forth into London in hopes, among other things, of gaining some deeper clarification on TTT&T's larger purpose and publishing objectives...

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Taming the Giant: A Peek Inside the Creative Process

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Taming the Giant: A Peek Inside the Creative Process

Last Friday, Mary Hoffman and I met up in London for a good old-fashioned brainstorming session. Our Kickstarter campaign now successfully funded and our much deserved holiday breaks behind us, it was time to crack on with our collaboration: In the Footsteps of Giants.

As with most creative endeavors, the way forward seemed smooth sailing at the outset. But once Mary waded into the breaking tides of the writing process, the route we’d planned proved un- navigable; her intended narrator an inadequate guide. We needed to chart a new course, together.

Our ensuing discussion, which focused on questions of genre and voice, forced us to examine the heart and soul of our mission to Turn History On. It compelled us to ask,

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How the Digital Ecosystem Promotes Generosity

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How the Digital Ecosystem Promotes Generosity

We live in revolutionary times, my friends. And except for the melting ice caps and unfortunate proliferation of weapons and plastic, I like this brave new world. It allows us to be generous. It demands that we be generous. The more generous we are, the better, in fact. Because with generosity, everybody wins.

This was never so obvious to me than during my team’s recent Kickstarter campaign. The success of our Kickstarter can be measured in many ways. Most visibly, 277 backers pledged $41,491 to help bring our project to life. They are all being publicly thanked on our website homepage here as part of our basic reward: the Social Media Shout Out of Gratitude.

But to stop the thanks there would neglect the many contributions of the friends, colleagues, team members, and even a few strangers-turned-friends, who showed up in droves to support our campaign by sharing of themselves. Their in-kind support not only resulted in campaign pledges, it also saved us money, and kept us going through the campaign downs as well as the ups.

It fueled our efforts with kindness and enthusiasm while helping us to grow our community in real and exciting ways...

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