I’m honored to be interviewed on the Tactical Guitarist Podcast, Episode #39. Host Jesse McCann, a guitarist and university professor living in the Pacific Northwest, interviews me about a number of topics and tactical areas including approaching a music career part-time vs. full time, writing and publishing for guitar, composing, goal setting and much more. Listen for free on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and at www.tacticalguitarist.com
Read MoreAsk most publishing professionals over a certain age — those who’ve been in the game fifteen years or more — how we came into a career in publishing, and you’re likely to hear a tale of stumbling serendipitously into an entry-level job with some publisher or other, perhaps after an English, journalism, or similar degree, and being smitten for life. Over the past several years, however, I’ve noted that newer entrants, millennials, and the millennial-adjacent, are increasingly intentional about engaging in a career in publishing.
Read MoreFor my article on practical matters of composition for classical guitar (Classical Guitar, Summer 2017), I interviewed three acclaimed composers and a publisher of classical guitar music. This series of posts publishes the full interviews. The first extended interview is with Stephen Goss, based in the UK, one of the most renowned composers for the contemporary classical guitar. The second interview is with Jürg Kindle, one of the most prominent contemporary pedagogical composers for the classical guitar. This third interview is with Chilean composer and guitarist Javier Farias.
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Library publishing is a growing and vibrant field within academic and scholarly publishing. Academic libraries, and sometimes public libraries as well, publish a variety of print and digital publications; often these are focused on open access publications. Some, but not all, library publishing organizations are associated with or partner with a university press at their institutions. Professional development for this field has been a priority for the Library Publishing Coalition and for the Educopia Institute, leading to the development of the Library Publishing Curriculum project, generously funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The first two modules have recently been released, on Content and Impact, and two additional modules will be released soon, on Policy and Sustainability.
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La odisea marina de María Traviesa, un nuevo libro en español para lectores jóvenes de todas las edades ha ganado el Premio Campoy-Ada de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil, otorgado por la Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española (ANLE).
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La odisea marina de María Traviesa, a new Spanish-language book for young readers of all ages has won the Campoy-Ada Award for Children’s and Young People’s Literature, given by the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE).
Read MoreFor my article on practical matters of composition for classical guitar (Classical Guitar, Summer 2017), I interviewed three acclaimed composers and a publisher of classical guitar music. This series of posts publishes the full interviews. The second is with Jürg Kindle, one of the most prominent contemporary pedagogical composers for the classical guitar.
Read MoreA composer creates, above all. Today’s composers must nevertheless navigate a myriad of factors including commissions, licensing and copyright, distribution and digital streaming, on and on. Perchance in Bach’s day it was easier: toiling in obscurity and poverty, or gaining fame—if not riches—most composers labored under the patronage of a wealthy and influential benefactor. Then again, Bach didn’t have the option of sending a performer MIDI files via Dropbox. Composers in the 21st century possess countless options, although most of us will still be unlikely, except under near-miraculous circumstances, to receive rich recompense for our work. Composing can be rewarding and worthwhile in and of itself, but whether an established or aspiring composer, attention to practical aspects and business details may have a great influence over your ultimate success.
Note: This article first appeared in Classical Guitar magazine's Summer 2017 issue.
Read MoreChoice magazine's annual University Press Forum offers the perspectives of University Press directors on a variety of topics. This year's Forum—the 13th in the series—addresses the topic of Innovation at the University Press. Essays from eight University Press directors are included in this year's Forum, including Bruce Austin, RIT Press; Courtney Burkholder, Texas Tech University Press; Faye Chadwell, Oregon State University Press; Steve Cohn, Duke University Press; Linda Manning, The University of Alabama Press; Gianna Mosser, Liz Hamilton, and Jane Bunker at Northwestern University Press; Mary Rose Muccie, Temple University Press; and yours truly.
Read MoreFour hundred years ago, on April 22, 1616, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, died in Madrid. (William Shakespeare died the next day.) Cervantes died in the house on Calle de León that he’d been renting from Francisco Martínez, chaplain of the Convent of San Ildefonso.
Read MoreThe Spring 2016 issue of Classical Guitar magazine includes my article “Guitarreros de Madrid” about the luthiers and guitar shops of Madrid.
Read MoreUniversity press representatives from the US, Canada, and abroad ascended to the Mile-High City for the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) 2015 Annual Meeting, June 18–20, on a high that probably had little to do with the marijuana dispensary across the 16th Street Mall from the host hotel Sheraton Denver. Despite the reality that many presses are necessarily accepting the mantra that “flat is the new up”—particularly for small to medium presses that the AAUP terms Tier 1, 2, and 3—the mood in Denver was decidedly upbeat. AAUP’s membership is a decidedly collegial and supportive group of professionals truly concerned with the creation, production, and dissemination of scholarship. The meeting’s theme “Connect, Collaborate” was not an empty platitude. The meeting’s positive mood can also be attributed to spirit of innovation embraced by many presses, the feeling that while scholarship and the academy are changing, university presses are willing and able to evolve and help drive developments, even if the precise path from here to there is still opaque.
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