Print On Demand

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly Feb 3, 2010

Do you have a book in you? Dumb question. Who doesn’t? Ron Williamson wants to help get it out of your head and onto the page. He is teaching a new class for the first time - How to Publish Your First Book: The Print on Demand Revolution.

“This is a type of new technology that allows literally one book to be printed at a time,” the writer and Hill Country resident explained. “You can print small runs of books and get them in a rapid fashion.”

Williamson has had success doing this with his most recent and best-selling work - “The Texas Pistoleers.” The book on Wild West history was published completely using print-on-demand (POD) technology and is now available online around the world.

“If someone in Arkansas, London, New York, or Winnipeg wants a copy, they can buy it through Amazon. This has been a terrific boon to online book sales.”

The key difference with this technology is that an aspiring author can print as few as one book at a time. Gone are the days when a new author had to buy a thousand books that ended up sitting in the garage. Williamson calls POD technology one of the greatest boons to publishing since the Gutenberg press.

In addition to saving large print runs, POD saves time.

“Using traditional publishing, the time from submitting a manuscript until the book comes out in print can be one to three years. With POD you can be up and running in two to three months. I know, because I’ve done it.”

Another advantage is that your work can become an “ebook” giving you instant online access to the growing market on personal reader devices like the Kindle (Club Ed also has a class on that!). Williamson cited the example of a woman who wrote a book on Alzheimer’s. No publisher wanted it, so she got it printed-on-demand, then picked up so many online sales the publishers came to her.

Of course, no matter how you publish it, you must still write your book. Williamson notes that his is not a “how to write” class (Club Ed offers that, too). This class is more about “how to format.”

“You have to have it in a format ready for online printers,” he said. “That is quite different than formatting for traditional publishers.”

Another advantage - or disadvantage - with POD is it allows the writer to bypass that bane of the creative - the editor.

“The way you print it is the way you wrote it,” Williamson said. “That could be good or bad, but either way, editing slows the process of taking the book from your pen to the reader.”

Williamson notes that POD is a good way to get information out there, even if you don’t plan to write the Great American Novel. It might be your personal memoirs, a family history, your own cookbook. Those topics have an audience that doesn’t require printing thousands of copies.

So no matter where you are in the writing process - a seasoned pro, working on your first book, or a dreamer with an idea in your head - Williamson estimates this 3-hour class will save attendees 30-40 man hours in the process.

Best of all, with print-on-demand, every book is a first edition!

xxx

Print On Demand is offered on Feb 13 and Feb 27. Information on other writing classes and Kindle is available at www.clubed.net or 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.

Knowers vs Learners

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly Jan 20, 2010

Are you a “knower” or a “learner?”

Here’s how to tell the difference. A “knower” lives in the past. A “learner” is moving into the future. Another way to portray it is that “knowers” talk, “learners” listen.

We all are familiar with someone who “knows” it all. No matter the topic - from world geography to political nuance - they chime in with facts, opinions and trivia that leave no room for conversation. One buddy described it as if people carry around scripts in their head on every topic, ready to unleash one at the even the most tangential moment.

“Knowers” show up in all walks of life. The stereotype is the old fellow who remembers how it was in the good old days, when he walked to school in the snow, uphill both ways. A more insidious type is the quintessential salesman who won’t stop talking. Back in my selling days, I have been in meetings with account executives afraid to appear not to know everything. They filibuster the conversation, drowning everyone with all they can do to serve the clients.

I learned something on one of my first sales visits. We went into a meeting with a large potential client. After listening to their marketing director describe the company’s current campaign, I stood up and announced, “I’m not sure you really need us. You have a perfectly adequate situation.”

I can’t say who was more startled - my account executive or the client. After a pause, the client said two things: 1) I’ve never had a vendor say that before, and 2) You get the account.

She was impressed by my honesty, but more important, by my ability to listen. We sat back down, probed deeper, and came up with award-winning campaigns and a relationship that went on for years.

The point is that I was willing to learn - to learn more about my client’s needs. Those types of learners are the people I meet walking into our doors day after day. They come in all ages. We had the 80-something retired engineer who decided to learn how to weld. I am just as impressed by the 18-year-old college student who enrolled in a Spanish conversation class to supplement her language studies at Schreiner University. Now that’s a learner.

So now is the time to ask yourself what type of person you are - a knower or a learner?

If you are a learner, we have a class for you.

If you are a knower... well... maybe you can teach a class.

XXX

For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter@clubedtx.

Life-wide Learning

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly  Jan 13, 2009

As a statewide and national advocate for Community Education, I always speak of life-long learning, as in learning that never ends.

Lately I’ve realized a better way to explain the concept might be “life-wide learning.”

The difference is similar to the one of that exists in pursuit of advanced degrees. One wag observed that the goal of a Ph.D. candidate is to learn more and more about less and less, until he knows everything about nothing.

But even those of us with advanced degrees find satisfaction in gaining knowledge in many unrelated fields. It might be said this wide learning has lead to mankind’s great discoveries. Consider the serendipitous events, such as the discovery of penicillin from bread molds, and radiation from the accidental placement of uranium on a film negative.

Maybe you already have a degree in Nuclear Physics, but you need to fix a fence. That’s where our class in welding comes in.

Or maybe you run a small business that is growing so fast you can’t keep up with payroll and inventory. But Quickbooks can, and Club Ed has a class to teach you how to use it.

Or maybe you’ve retired from that military career, where you were in charge of platoons and divisions. But you have always wanted to learn to paint (or knit, or crochet, or dance, or play guitar). That is a wide array of choices. That is life-wide learning.

Not sure what you want to learn? We have classes for that! Coaching courses put you one on one with a professional who will help you lay out a path for personal fulfillment. Or take a course in journaling, where you discover your inner voice.

Lifewide learning is also “learning to learn.” The first step to learning any skill or knowledge is an having an awareness of how you learn, to recognize and monitor your  learning style. Are you a visual or auditory learner? That is, do you prefer seeing the information written on the board, or do you prefer listening to a lecture? Or are you kinesthetic - do you have to get your hands on something in order to understand how it works? Knowing the answer will guide you in the kind of class you should take.

Whichever way you learn, the key to lifewide learning is that the very act of learning should be a source of enjoyment. Learning is something you immerse yourself in.

Even if you discount the worldly benefits, the act of learning can be a source of enjoyment.

Opportunities for “lifewide” learning are endless and ever changing. Each session brings about 200 new classes. You don’t even have to wait for the catalog. You can go online year round, or go to your favorite bookseller and get a book.

So don’t ever wait to start learning. Come on in - the water is warm and the river is wide!

XXX

Registration for Spring classes in Club Ed is now underway. For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.

Resolutions You Can Keep

 by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly Jan 6, 2010

As we turn over a new year, we resolutely make resolutions, all of which fail or are forgotten by the turn of the new month.

I believe this is because we focus on the ends rather than the means. When we want to lose weight, we misguidedly proclaim, “I will lose 20 pounds,” as if that were a waypoint to program on our life’s GPS. We forget that once we reach the fictional city of “Twentypoundia” we must continue traveling, else we wind up back at our starting point.

Better to pledge “I will enjoy eating my broccoli and kiwi, while I walk and talk with a friend each evening.” Isn’t that more appealing than your vision of standing on a scale?

In that vein, and with credit to a blog by Scott Young on www.lifehack.org, here are 10 steps to follow on your journey to improving your life through lifelong learning.

1) Keep a “To-Learn” List

We all have to-do lists. Try to also have a “to-learn” list. Maybe you would like to take up a new language, learn to dance, or read the works of Shakespeare. Whatever motivates you, write it down.

2) Get Smarter Friends

Start spending more time with people who think. Not just people who are smart. But people who actually invest much of their time in learning new skills. Their habits will rub off on you. Even better, they will probably share some of their knowledge with you.

3) Guided Thinking

Simply studying the wisdom of others isn’t enough; you have to think through ideas yourself. Spend time journaling, meditating or contemplating ideas you have learned.

4) Put it Into Practice

Skill based learning is useless if it isn’t applied. Studying painting isn’t the same as picking up a brush. If your knowledge can be applied, put it into practice.

5) Teach Others

Any teacher knows the best way to learn a subject is to teach it. At Club Ed, you can try out your class ideas and have fun doing it.

6) Learn in Groups

Lifelong learning doesn’t mean condemning yourself to a stack of dusty textbooks. Workshops and group learning events can make educating yourself a fun, social experience.

7) Start a Project

Set out to do something you don’t know. Forced learning in this way can be fun and challenging. If you don’t know anything about computers, try building one. If you have two left feet, learn the two-step.

8) Follow Your Intuition

Lifelong learning is like wandering through the wilderness. You can’t be sure what to expect and there isn’t always an end goal in mind. Letting your intuition guide you can make self-education more enjoyable.

9) Reap the Rewards

Learn information you can use. Understanding the basics of computing will help you join the rich online world, communicate with your family, or help you start a new business.

10) Make it a Priority

As I always told my students, no one can make you learn. The desire has to come from within. It is up to you to make lifelong learning a priority in your life.

As you’ve guessed, Club Ed addresses all 10 points. But even if you never take a class, my wish is that you use these tips to guide you on your learning journey.

xxx

The Spring 2010 Club Ed catalog is now online and in the mail. For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.