How to use this Page

Little blurb about The Adventures of Max and Pinky: The Mystery in the Winston-Salem Journal this past Sunday. Take a peak!

Thanks to Fiona for sending this one along. Definitely a weird, weird, mysterious barn. I'm told Fiona is planning on being Pinky for Halloween, and her sister, Lilah is going to be Chuck the horse. Their mother will be one of the groundhogs. I'm guessing she lost a bet or something...

Hey you!

Hey you!

Just got my first glimpse of The Adventures of Max and Pinky: The Mystery all bound and glued and stuck together. Unfortunately, this was just a tease because I had to sign a bunch of copies and send them back east, but it was still great to check out the final product. The best part is always taking the jacket off and seeing the pasted down cover and spine. That's where it really looks and feels like a book. The only unexpected surprise was realizing that since the title page is black I'll have to carry a silver sharpie around with me for the next year or two. Or maybe I'll just scratch my initials into people's books instead of signing them. I think it could be more memorable that way. Or maybe not.

Anyway, this was an uncharacteristically (boy that's a long word) long posting. But I really feel like we've gotten to know each other.

Your bud,

Maxwell

Here's a nice little review of THE MYSTERY at Publishers Weekly...

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6599458.html?industryid=47139

One year on from the introduction of the UK government’s 24 hour licensing laws, the official report finds a “mixed picture” of their impact. I asked Martin and Moira Plant, of the Alcohol and Health Research Unit at the University of West of England, for their reaction to the report as they wrote our book Binge Britain: Alcohol and the National Response. This is their short, hard-hitting reply. What do you make of liberalizing alcohol laws? Let us know in the comments below.

(more…)

Share This

Here's a sneak peek at the cover of The Adventures of Max and Pinky: The Mystery! Coming October 14, 2008! You know you want to pre-order it... Read the rest of this post

I'm cheating here. I put this up on my other blog, but figured no one is reading that one so decided to post it here too. My last post was so black and white, and I needed a little color today.

This is my current "knitting illustration" project. Its taking forever. And ever and ever. I used the Jan Brett formula where she says her art takes her one hour per square inch, which is about right for me too, and at that rate this 8 x 8 piece will take me 64 hours to render. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha (That was crazy person laughter.)
I haven't been keeping track, but that number wouldn't surprise me.

Will some fabulously wealthy person please either commission me to do these for a handsome sum, or give me a licensing contract that will keep me in the style I'd like to become accustomed to, the style I live in in my dreams?

Thank you.

I'm meeting with fellow illustrator Cheryl Phelps tomorrow for a private consultation about my next move into licensing. I believe I'm ready to go to the next step. The problem is--what's the next step?! There are so many ways to go it becomes like a whirlwind in my head. I have a couple of "lines" I'd like to sell, but not sure where to start. She's a great resource and her workshops are fantastic!

“Am I the only one who hears the screams,
And the strangled cries of lawyers in love?”

“Lawyers in Love” – Jackson Browne (Web site ; WCid ; Wikipedia)

In an thoughtful column, “Librarians and Licensing,” [excerpt] in the March 2007 issue of InfoToday, K. Matthew Dames (of CopyCense) discusses the surprising absence of offerings in library science programs of formal coursework in content licensing.

Dames laments “another yawning gap in contemporary information professional education: the lack of training in licensing electronic content.” (The “other” gap being a paucity of copyright education). Acknowledging that in the course of teaching independent content licensing seminars and a graduate seminar at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies Dames has never met a single librarian (other than those attending his seminars) who “has completed a class or seminar on licensing or content procurement as part of his or her library science education,” Dames asks:

Overall he presents a well-rounded development of his theme, “Buying econtent is serious business.” Key points Dames makes:

• It is common for agencies to spend $ millions annually across their econtent portfolio
  
• Econtent procurement competence requires a varied skill set in privacy law, copyright law, digital rights management, and a grasp of the ever-changing publishing landscape and much more
  
• Expertise in e-content licensing is unusual as a procurement competence outside the information profession: for many institutions and companies, in-house counsel will not have this expertise – the responsibility for the institution’s legal and financial investment and risk exposure will often rest squarely with the econtent procurement staff member(s) at the library
  
• The position tasked with econtent procurement may have many names, but if “called a librarian, chances are it will not command the organizational respect, compensation, and resources it deserves.”

Dames offers suggestions for introducing the topic of procurement in far greater depth in library and information studies. I certainly commend the full article to your attention.

Thinking back on my own MLS, I had little graduate training in the legal end of librarianship. Yet looking forward through my professional work even unto now I have had to read, understand, and even help craft licensing agreements. Indeed, management of electronic products was assigned to me as one my first “duties as assigned” extras on my first day in my first professional job. From that point I have found myself studying and learning on my own by necessity, and I also have been fortunate to have persons with genuine expertise to coach me.

I think one might reasonably argue that librarians have long been “technicians of the intersections” – perhaps what distinguishes Librarian 2.0 from Librarian 1.0 is less the new tools applied and more the mix of new stuff. Econtent licensing expertise is surely one of the more richly textured intersections librarians must master. Are we giving the econtent procurement competency its due with respect to preparing professionals, or – as Dames asserts – is it something library science and information studies programs are failing to give the emphasis such deserves in a Web 2.0 world?