As you know, ICE, WIND AND FIRE is going through the scanner at this time (see my previous post about why, and how), and the book will be back out in paperback and ebook form, in time for its own Twentieth Anniversary...
So, the IWF experience is all about OCR.
Now, the OCR process is actually easy; and the software today is virtually foolproof, so long as you scan an a high-enough dpi for the system to know what it's looking at...
The problem is in the hardware.
Hands up, all those people who paid $300 for a scanner in 2002, and having paid that much, don't really want to consign it to the bin?
Now, hands up, all those people who were running Win98 back in those days; and since then they've wandered through XP Home, XP Pro, Service Packs 1, 2, 3, Vista, Service Packs 1 and ... the dreaded SP2.
I have a computer that NASA would have drooled over. This Quad Core, with is 4x 2.4G processors and its 6G of Ram, and its unlimited storage space, would have run Project Apollo and sent Voyager to the planets -- at the same time.
And all it took to knock this paragon of cybernetics flat on its can was --
Vista, Service Pack 2. God alone knows what happened, but as soon as the "update" went through the system forced a re-start for the third time in a row, the computer went haywire. Wouldn't stay online. Wouldn't run the big, complex applications properly. The browser would lock up, and kill the whole thing. Restart (which takes 15 minutes or more). Over and over.
To top it off, Microsoft's security system had, in its infinite wisdom, decided that Lenovo's automatic update facility was a spam generator, and demanded that it be shut off ... so Leonovo was not even able to fix the problem on the fly.
After a week of cussing, bitching and getting very little done, I yelled from Dave from DreamCraft, who went into the system and worked magic on it. Turns out, Vista Service Pack 2 is so bad, Lenovo had to issue a patch to put right the damage; but with the auto-updates turned off at Microsquash's insistence, you had to go to Lenovo and *get* the patch...
Which got the computer back up on its four processors, so I could start to look at the OCR job.
Which brings me back to the point where I started ... if you can remember that far back.
My scanner is a few years old. It worked perfectly under XP Service Pack 1, and even 2. SP3? Nope. Vista? Wellll ... it's sudden death up to a point. To get scans, you have to reinitialize the scanner after every scan.
So here's the routine for the OCR work on ICE, WIND AND FIRE:
Start TOP OCR
Place Page 1 on the scanner
Acquire ... scan ...
20 seconds to get the page into text...
select all and copy;
paste into the open Word document...
UNPLUG the USB cable to the scanner!
Plug it back in.
Twiddle thumbs for 30 seconds...
Star TOP OCR
Place Page 2 on the scanner
Acquire ... scan ...
And by far the most critical part of the process is not the scanning or remembering to turn the page. It's UNPLUG the USB cable, then plug it back in, give it half a minute to reinitialize the scanner, and *then* start the software and acquire the scanner.
Because if you don't, the scanner crashes; it crashes the software; and sometimes the whole thing won't come back up without a reboot on the computer.
Repeat process 242 times.
But it beats the hell out of typing! And I have nothing bit good things to say about a little program called TOP OCR, which is free, and phenomenally accurate. I'm absolutely delighted to give them a plug here. http://www.topocr.com/ ... they do a range of software, too. Imagine being able to capture text with your digital camera, or your phone --! What won't they think of next?
So ... ICE, WIND AND FIRE is going through the scanner, and the process is simple. It's just a little bizarre.
Cheers,
Mel
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
ICE, WIND AND FIRE heads for the scanner!
It's been out of print for eons, and it was published 20 years ago, in October. Its Twentieth Anniversary is coming up in a matter of weeks, and as you'd expect, it's been on my mind for a long time, to do a special edition. Especially as most people (2 out of 3) these days prefer an ebook over paper.So ... I put the word around in my last newsletter: does anyone have an old copy of IWF that they would like to trade?? The deal was, you give us your old one ... we give you the brand new one, with a glorious new cover that you won't be embarrassed reading on the bus ... plus, we'd send the ebook version of it, which will be out virtually as soon as it's scanned and corrected ... plus, pick three other ebooks to receive right now.
Six people responded, and the first to reach us with an offer was a reader from Aus. The book has been received --
I took it over to DreamCraft, and they put it through the big paper cutter to whack the spine off it in one chop. Next: it goes onto the scanner, gets OCR'd, corrected, repackaged, rejacketed, and sent off to the ebook hosts, and Amazon itself.
The process is underway ... I'll keep you posted!
Cheers,
Mel
Sunday, September 13, 2009
GROUND ZERO - Launching now!
2048: the city of Adelaide – the capital of South Australia – has grown, developed, changed. The population has doubled, and the city’s livelihood is high technology. A new university has grown up since the Twenties – Franklin University, in the hills above the city. It’s the home to Doctor Robert Strachan’s Paranormal Studies department, where Lee Ronson and Brendan Scott head the data analysis team.They’re the best in a difficult business, and they’ll be tested to their limits in an assignment handed to Strachan by Metro’s most senior criminologist, DCS Maggie Jarmin.
It’s winter when the city suffers a series of bizarre murders, robberies at high-tech labs – and a virus which sprang from nowhere. Every two days, a fresh body is discovered … entirely drained of blood. Every two days, a weapons research or energy technologies facility is robbed of a seemingly bizarre list of oddments. Meanwhile, the virus known only by a codename – 2048-3a – is so new, no part of the community is immune and the city is crippled.
Murders, robberies and virus are intimately connected in a mystery that will astonish. Lee Ronson and Brendan Scott find themselves taking point in an investigation filled with unexpected hazard – and equally unforeseen reward.
Sexy very-near-future gay action/adventure from the pen of the maestro.
Read the first 10% of the novel, free!
(Caveat: material in this free sample is not suitable for juniors. Consider youreself warned!)
Novel length: 103,000 words
Rated: R (18+; sex, violence, language)
ISBN: 978-0-9807092-0-9
Publication date: September, 2009
Publisher: DreamCraft.
Price: $9.99 - ebook; $19.95 - paper (due)
Cover: Jade
Current availability: eBook, in many formats. Paperback: due at Amazon in October 2009
eBook as PDF for iLiad, BeBook; PDB for Sony reader and iPhone; MOB for Mobipocket reader and Kindle; LRF for Sony Reader.
eBook for Screenreaders -- $9.99:
Thursday, August 27, 2009
New Mel Keegan book: GROUND ZERO
What's this -- another new book from Mel Keegan, in the same year?! In fact, it is -- and Keegan might even be able to get a third one out this side of Christmas (three books in 2009: woah).First off, I want to hand out kudos: Jade excelled on this one. This cover is outta sight. We are talking about serious delight. I confess to performing a couple of laps of the office without touching the ground, when I received the proof.
So, what's the book about? I'm describing it as "a sexy very-near-future SF thriller, set in the fair city of Adelaide, South Australia, in the winter of 2048, where a couple of gorgeous guys are investigating a series of weird murders and high-tech robberies, which lead them to a specific location, at a certain time ... and a life and death struggle they didn't see coming."
I've had a lot of fun "tweaking" the present through four more decades. How will this city change and grow? How will technology affect us? I've had a blast with this book, and I know it shows in the narrative. The heroes are a couple of beauties, Lee Ronson and Brendan Scott. They're a couple; and one of the advantages of living in '48 is that the GLBT community is fully integrated into society -- prejudice has been left behind.
Once again, I've set the book in winter. I did this with Storm Tide too. Two Aussie gay novels set in winter. Why?? Well, for one thing, I prefer the winter. Also, by 2048, global warming is going to so rough, I have a feeling our summers will be so hot, running around, full-tilt, will be a right royal pain. Also (fact!) everyone expects an Aussie novel to be about beaches and barbies and sweating, and I wanted (and still do) to be different.
The book is about 95,000 words, about 250pp in paperback; and it'll be launching in eBook and paper, so everyone should be happy here.
Sample chapters will be up in a few days, and the eBook will be available next week. The paperback will follow in September. (Speaking of which, the paperback of Winds of Chance will also be coming out soon: I'll update you on that next time.)
So -- yes, Virginia: two new Keegans in the same year, and a possibility (no promises) of a third before Christmas.
Cheers!
Mel
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Gay Rights: the more things change, the more they stay the same...
Some days, you want to stand up and scream? Read this and you might weep ... but they'll be tears of anger:
The names of Seattle municipal employees who belong to an LGBT affinity group will not be released for at least a week, but the city argued yesterday before a King County judge that state law requires it to release the names to an anti-gay activist who has requested the list.
Philip Irvin, a city employee and right-wing activist who claims he’s been barred from attending the club’s meetings because he is heterosexual and opposed to gay rights, has requested that the city release the names of employees who belong to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning and Friends (LGBTQF) Club at Seattle City Light, a municipal electric utility.
Private lawyers for LGBTQF members, have asked the court to order the city not to release their names.
After a hearing yesterday, Judge John Erlick continued a temporary restraining order that blocks release of the names until at least next week when both sides will be back in court. Erlick could decide then what and how much should be released...
Read the full story here:
http://lgbtqnews.com/gaynews/Names-of-gay-city-employees-private-for-now-but-Seattle-argues-they-must-be-released.aspx
The names of Seattle municipal employees who belong to an LGBT affinity group will not be released for at least a week, but the city argued yesterday before a King County judge that state law requires it to release the names to an anti-gay activist who has requested the list.
Philip Irvin, a city employee and right-wing activist who claims he’s been barred from attending the club’s meetings because he is heterosexual and opposed to gay rights, has requested that the city release the names of employees who belong to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning and Friends (LGBTQF) Club at Seattle City Light, a municipal electric utility.
Private lawyers for LGBTQF members, have asked the court to order the city not to release their names.
After a hearing yesterday, Judge John Erlick continued a temporary restraining order that blocks release of the names until at least next week when both sides will be back in court. Erlick could decide then what and how much should be released...
Read the full story here:
http://lgbtqnews.com/gaynews/Names-of-gay-city-employees-private-for-now-but-Seattle-argues-they-must-be-released.aspx
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Welcome to the launch of THE WINDS OF CHANCE
Welcome to the launch of Mel Keegan's
LEGENDS: The Fall of the Atlantean Empire
Book One: The Winds of Chance
At last ... fully edited, impeccably proofread, perfectly formatted for your ebook reader, desktop, laptop or netbook ... no typos, no shuffling from one blog post to another ... just read and enjoy, as a fully-featured ebook from DreamCraft!
In an era of storm and chaos, One will be born who will command the Power, but the ancient magic that flows in his veins like blood is his curse as well as his gift.
In this time of cataclysm and ordeal, the upstart Empire of Vayal has placed a bounty on the heads of all scions of the lineage of Diomedas, for the oracle foretold the doom of Vayal, and it rides on the shoulders of the One.
He lives and breathes already, hiding the old city of Zeheft and in the slowly drowning outlands. He is Faunos Phinneas Aeson, still dangerously young -- and he has one dread: the witchfinders of Vayal, who are charged with the hunting of those like himself.
Twenty years, Faunos has hidden and learned, until the gods of sea, storm and earth destroy Zeheft --and one night destiny brings Vayal's young witchfinder to the camps of the water gypsies, where a youth like Faunos should never have been. Galen lies dying; the City of the Sun is celebrating the coming of age of Soran -- althlete, hunter, beautiful as the night, Vayal's heir and greatest witchfinder ...
The Empire of the Atlantan has one slender chance to survive, and its struggle will begin on this night.
Read the first four chapters, on GLBT Booshelf!
See the Legends art gallery -- art by Jade...
And save 30% ... indulge yourself in the "blog special," right on this page!
- Published by DreamCraft
- Ebook edition: July 2009
- 98,370 words
- For PC, Mac, Laptop, desktop, netbook, BeBook, iLiad, Sony Reader, Palm Pilot, Kindle, iPhone, Blackberry, Microsoft Reader, smartphones.
Like to see more of the Mel Keegan novels? Start here:
Friday, June 26, 2009
GLBT Bookshelf launches publicly ...!
Hi guys ... you must be wondering if this blog has been abandoned -- and after it suffered the Great Google Krunch (had its page rankings zeroed out for no reason whatsoever), it probably wouldn't have surprised you if it was abandoned, right?!
However, it's not. It's just neglected, the reason being that my other project, GLBT Bookshelf, is such a time-gobbler, there's not a minute left after I get done there, to do anything here.
Today, for example, all I have time for is this personal note, and a swift paste-in of the press release which is going out even as I type! We registered a domain for the Bookshelf, and the first advertising campaign has begun. All very exciting, and -- here's the official press release!
Cheers,
Mel
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sara Lansing, Press Secretary
GLBT Bookshelf
Email: saralansing762@gmail.com
GLBT Writers and Readers
Launch Revolutionary Online Community
Gay Indie Literature Industry Unites
Adelaide, South Australia – June 25, 2009 Bestselling gay author Mel Keegan has masterminded a web-based cohesive organization combining the skills of writers, publishers, editors, agents, reviewers and artists in the GLBT community to provide an unprecedented public access portal to independent- and small-publisher titles. GLBT Bookshelf is an online resource designed to counter the perceived discriminatory practices of major players in the book retail scene.
Frustrated by the infamous “AmazonFail” fiasco of early 2009, in which the online retail giant was suspected of attempting to deny GLBT literature the benefits of its promotional systems, Keegan conceived of an online community in which all such systems were circumvented -- replaced by “community promotion” with direct links to authors’ and publishers’ pages.
Keegan is highly motivated toward the success of this venture. “Nothing convinces you to act like being forced to the margins of an already marginalized community. In a way the AmazonFail business was a desperately-needed kick in the pants. Now we have a public contact venue and direct sales channel which is not dependant on the big boys, their promotional tools, their advertising -- not even their search engines.”
In creating GLBT Bookshelf, Keegan set out to answer the needs of most GLBT writers and artists: Create a place for their works to be cataloged, described and sampled, linked to their publishers and independent sales pages -- and promoted by joint funding amounting to peppercorn contributions from community members. In this way, all writers benefit from wide media exposure while no individual foots the advertising bill.
The site takes the form of a “wiki,” where users sign up (free) and a pilot page is created for them. They then use editing tools to flesh out their pages with text, graphics and video. They develop their own virtual website within the wiki, which is built on the EditMe engine, operated by EditMe.com.
Visitors find authors, titles and publishers via multiple, categorized contents lists, as well as the fully-featured Search function. The site features user forums, book reviews, author pages, and directories for publishers and cover artists. A free PDF user’s manual is available, and the public launch is underway.
After just one month GLBT Bookshelf boasts around 200 “authors and others” online. Writers are booking low-cost advertising in high-traffic page locations, months ahead. More than 1000 user-pages have been created, and 500+ books are currently cataloged. Projected growth rates suggest this is the tip of the iceberg.
Find GLBT Bookshelf at www.glbtbookshelf.com, and watch for developments in the months ahead. While it remains early days, Mel Keegan is highly optimistic. “We could be seeing a quiet revolution in GLBT book marketing, in which the community takes its fortunes into its own hands. Technology has freed us from the restrictive practices of the traditional industry -- the Bookshelf is the joint venture of a lifetime. We must evolve new ways of thinking to take full advantage of our opportunities.”
Mel Keegan lives with an eccentric family in South Australia and is the author of more than 25 books. “The Deceivers” won the Stonewall Fact and Fable Award in 2003, while “Death’s Head” was nominated for the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1992. GLBT Bookshelf is the culmination of Keegan’s creative vision.
###
However, it's not. It's just neglected, the reason being that my other project, GLBT Bookshelf, is such a time-gobbler, there's not a minute left after I get done there, to do anything here.
Today, for example, all I have time for is this personal note, and a swift paste-in of the press release which is going out even as I type! We registered a domain for the Bookshelf, and the first advertising campaign has begun. All very exciting, and -- here's the official press release!
Cheers,
Mel
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sara Lansing, Press Secretary
GLBT Bookshelf
Email: saralansing762@gmail.com
GLBT Writers and Readers
Launch Revolutionary Online Community
Gay Indie Literature Industry Unites
Adelaide, South Australia – June 25, 2009 Bestselling gay author Mel Keegan has masterminded a web-based cohesive organization combining the skills of writers, publishers, editors, agents, reviewers and artists in the GLBT community to provide an unprecedented public access portal to independent- and small-publisher titles. GLBT Bookshelf is an online resource designed to counter the perceived discriminatory practices of major players in the book retail scene.
Frustrated by the infamous “AmazonFail” fiasco of early 2009, in which the online retail giant was suspected of attempting to deny GLBT literature the benefits of its promotional systems, Keegan conceived of an online community in which all such systems were circumvented -- replaced by “community promotion” with direct links to authors’ and publishers’ pages.
Keegan is highly motivated toward the success of this venture. “Nothing convinces you to act like being forced to the margins of an already marginalized community. In a way the AmazonFail business was a desperately-needed kick in the pants. Now we have a public contact venue and direct sales channel which is not dependant on the big boys, their promotional tools, their advertising -- not even their search engines.”
In creating GLBT Bookshelf, Keegan set out to answer the needs of most GLBT writers and artists: Create a place for their works to be cataloged, described and sampled, linked to their publishers and independent sales pages -- and promoted by joint funding amounting to peppercorn contributions from community members. In this way, all writers benefit from wide media exposure while no individual foots the advertising bill.
The site takes the form of a “wiki,” where users sign up (free) and a pilot page is created for them. They then use editing tools to flesh out their pages with text, graphics and video. They develop their own virtual website within the wiki, which is built on the EditMe engine, operated by EditMe.com.
Visitors find authors, titles and publishers via multiple, categorized contents lists, as well as the fully-featured Search function. The site features user forums, book reviews, author pages, and directories for publishers and cover artists. A free PDF user’s manual is available, and the public launch is underway.
After just one month GLBT Bookshelf boasts around 200 “authors and others” online. Writers are booking low-cost advertising in high-traffic page locations, months ahead. More than 1000 user-pages have been created, and 500+ books are currently cataloged. Projected growth rates suggest this is the tip of the iceberg.
Find GLBT Bookshelf at www.glbtbookshelf.com, and watch for developments in the months ahead. While it remains early days, Mel Keegan is highly optimistic. “We could be seeing a quiet revolution in GLBT book marketing, in which the community takes its fortunes into its own hands. Technology has freed us from the restrictive practices of the traditional industry -- the Bookshelf is the joint venture of a lifetime. We must evolve new ways of thinking to take full advantage of our opportunities.”
Mel Keegan lives with an eccentric family in South Australia and is the author of more than 25 books. “The Deceivers” won the Stonewall Fact and Fable Award in 2003, while “Death’s Head” was nominated for the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1992. GLBT Bookshelf is the culmination of Keegan’s creative vision.
###
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Flotsam and Jetsam, Take Two
Flotsam and jetsam on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I'm taking a break from other work ... tomorrow is my day off, when the rest of the world is back down the salt mines and saying "I hate Mondays." (I'm not too partial to Mondays either, but they're nicer when you don't have to work on them.)
The news is all wiki news, so I'll be brief. GLBT Bookshelf is growing at a fantastic rate, and looking so good, the boss at EditMe (the company which owns and hosts the engine) has complimented it, and has Twittered about it.
All this is fantastic ... but I have to admit that it's turned into a hell of a lot more work than I thought it would. I still haven't tackled the two remaining HELLGATE books, and tomorrow is July. I want (passionately, desperately) to have the series finished by Christmas, and these are going to be two very, VERY large books... hmmm.
Anyway, the wiki might be a lot of work, but it's also immensely satisfying. It's coming together into something that's already looking superb, and it's only been a month since I started with a blank page.
A few bugs have come out of the woodwork -- for instance, we've discovered the hard way that Mac users can't "shake hands" properly with the interfac, so can't build their own pages. This is damned annoying (and that's a euphemism!), and in the short term, the only solution we've been able to offer is, "so long as you have your materials together, we'll build your pages for you."
So, if there are Mac users out there who are cussing up a storm, don't give up just yet. Get over to the wiki and drop us a line.
In other news, AQUAMARINE has appeared on Kindle: and oddly enough, my Kindle sales have more than doubled lately. They're still not as wide, nor as lucrative, as one would have imagined, given that there are such vast numbers of Kindles out there, but we're coming along...
...That makes eight Keegans available for your Kindle now -- the 9th will be Storm Tide, next week. And then the whole NARC series will "go up" all of a piece -- they'll also go up to Smashwords at the same time, so if you've been waiting for Jarrat and Stone on the phone (and there's a thought worthy of the warm fuzzies), you don't have much longer to wait!
Little else is happening in this neck of the woods. It's just work, same old same old, although I will say that watching the wiki grow is quite exciting.
Cheers,
MK
The news is all wiki news, so I'll be brief. GLBT Bookshelf is growing at a fantastic rate, and looking so good, the boss at EditMe (the company which owns and hosts the engine) has complimented it, and has Twittered about it.
All this is fantastic ... but I have to admit that it's turned into a hell of a lot more work than I thought it would. I still haven't tackled the two remaining HELLGATE books, and tomorrow is July. I want (passionately, desperately) to have the series finished by Christmas, and these are going to be two very, VERY large books... hmmm.
Anyway, the wiki might be a lot of work, but it's also immensely satisfying. It's coming together into something that's already looking superb, and it's only been a month since I started with a blank page.
A few bugs have come out of the woodwork -- for instance, we've discovered the hard way that Mac users can't "shake hands" properly with the interfac, so can't build their own pages. This is damned annoying (and that's a euphemism!), and in the short term, the only solution we've been able to offer is, "so long as you have your materials together, we'll build your pages for you."
So, if there are Mac users out there who are cussing up a storm, don't give up just yet. Get over to the wiki and drop us a line.
In other news, AQUAMARINE has appeared on Kindle: and oddly enough, my Kindle sales have more than doubled lately. They're still not as wide, nor as lucrative, as one would have imagined, given that there are such vast numbers of Kindles out there, but we're coming along...
...That makes eight Keegans available for your Kindle now -- the 9th will be Storm Tide, next week. And then the whole NARC series will "go up" all of a piece -- they'll also go up to Smashwords at the same time, so if you've been waiting for Jarrat and Stone on the phone (and there's a thought worthy of the warm fuzzies), you don't have much longer to wait!
Little else is happening in this neck of the woods. It's just work, same old same old, although I will say that watching the wiki grow is quite exciting.
Cheers,
MK
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