Author: Samuel Young

Thanks For the Memories!

During my time at UNG Press, I have been able to explore the world outside the classroom. Working here has given me the ability to become a developed marketer and figure out what I want my future to look like. This opportunity has given me the chance to learn more about the Press industry, hone my skills, and work in a busy office full of kind people.

This office let me have many experiences that I was not be able to have in the classroom. Here, I was able to use my skills that I have acquired throughout the years. Whether that be through creating a birthday post or developing a proposal for future projects, I was given the opportunity to be creative and diversify my portfolio. This has helped me to understand the process of developing an idea, refining it, and executing it.

UNG Press has really opened my eyes to the publishing industry. I have poured over articles about different kinds of editing, the process of publishing a book, and what the future of the publishing industry may look like. I never really put a lot of thought into what it takes to publish a book. All I knew was that I could go down to my local bookstore and purchase the title I was looking for. This position has really given me a newfound appreciation for the behind the scenes work that goes into getting a book onto the shelves.

The Press office has been a wonderful learning environment. Every time that I struggled with an assignment, I knew that this staff was available to help me complete any tasks given to me. My supervisor, Jillian, was especially helpful throughout my time here. I want to thank her for all the time that she put into helping me create and edit my work to make it better.

Working here for two semesters has been a wonderful experience. I have learned a lot about myself and the publishing industry. This position has opened my eyes to the possibilities for my future and for what it may have in store. Everyone that goes into this position should know that this office is a good one. Thank you for making my last year at UNG a fun and creative one.

Happy International Book Giving Day Blog

Books are the gateway to understanding the world around us. Whether that be through a history book or Harry Potter, there is something that can be learned from these stories. In our formative years, it is essential for us to have these stories to learn, fantasize, and grow. However, many children do not have the same access or encouragement to read as others do. This sparked the creation of International Book Giving Day.

International Book Giving Day originated in the United Kingdom and has spread across the world. On this day, people are encouraged to share the power of reading. Participants do this through sharing their favorite books and stories by giving them to someone else.

Interested in giving a book or two? We have a few ways that you can participate locally in International Book Giving Day.

1. Donating books to a Free Little Library

Ever see a little birdhouse full of books? These are Free Little Libraries! They are places where you can take a book and, in turn, give a book back to keep it stockpiled. There are many of these set up in public spaces that you can find in towns and cities across the globe. Looking for one in Dahlonega? Go to the Conner Memorial Garden across from Shenanigan’s and exchange a book or two!

2. Book Collection/Recycling Programs

There are also many programs that are both local and international that you can donate to. These programs donate books to people that may not have access to libraries or other places where you can get books. Programs that the organizers suggest are Room to Read, The Book Bus, and First Book.

3. Donate to someone you know

Want to do something more personal? Then you can just go to your closest friend or family member and give them the opportunity to read something new. This will help to learn something new about the world around them and get them excited about reading.

International Book Giving Day is on February 14th, or Valentines Day! Share your love of books by sharing one of your favorites. Use some of our tips above on how you can share your favorite novels. Got any more ways that you think people could share reading to the next generation? Comment your strategy in the comments or tell us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!

Books to Motivate Your New Year

The start of a new year always begins with hopes and dreams of everything you want to accomplish. That usually means resolutions, purchasing a gym membership, and adding more books on your TBR list. Or maybe you’re a frazzled mess that needs a little bit of guidance. We have a couple of books that will help you start the new year right.

 

1. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

A bold title for bold beginnings. This book is here to give you the raw and real advice necessary to kick start the year. Through entertaining anecdotes and ruthless humor, this book forces you to dive deep and be introspective. This will help you to determine your goals for this new year and actually start on the path to achieve them.

 

 

 

2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

If you have been down any self-help aisle in a bookstore, you’ve seen this book. This is a world-renowned book chock-full of stories from presidents, CEOs, educators, and individuals across the world. These stories are ones of improvement through integrity, service, dignity, and success. Qualities like these are necessary to be successful in your new year, so check this book out for more insight on how to put your best foot forward.

 

 

3. The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin

Looking for a transformative year? Then this is definitely the book for you. Follow along as the author uses all of the methods in the title (and more) to find true contentment. Rubin dedicated a year to her happiness project, and this light-hearted but inspiring read will encourage you to be the best you that you can be.

 

 

 

4. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō

Take spring cleaning to a whole new level with this book. Kondō is a Japanese cleaning consultant that helps you find the best method to have a more organized space. This will help you not only be able to navigate your space, but be able to find the drive to start the new year right.

 

 

 

 

5. Yes Please by Amy Poehler

I always find that auto-biographies by my favorite comedians are just as helpful as any of the other books listed above. This book follows the life and times of Parks and Rec star Amy Poehler. It chronicles all of the best, worst, and in-between moments that led her to be who she is today. Its vulnerable and honest writing is relatable and full of advice for your new year endeavors.

 

 

 

Whatever your plans may be for the new year, we hope that these books can help you be on the right track. Got any other self-help suggestions for us? Leave a comment or visit us at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to tell us!

Book Gifts for Non-Book Lovers

Photo by Kari Shea via Unsplash

The holiday season is right around the corner. That means dinner parties, visiting relatives, and last-minute gift searching for your friends and family. Buying gifts for people can be one of the most difficult tasks, especially when they don’t like to read. Don’t fret! We know a few books that even non-book lovers will love.

  1. S is for Southern by Editors of Garden and Gun, David DiBenedetto                           This is an A-to-Z guide for all things Southern. Whether it be humidity or boiled peanuts, this book has encapsulated many of the peculiarities of southern life. What’s the best part, you may ask? The illustrations, of course! This book is an encyclopedia of southern living and a great addition to any coffee table.
  2. National Geographic Night Vision: Magical Photographs of Life After Dark                   Everybody knows National Geographic for their photography of anything and everything. Their pictures are always stunning, well curated, and captivating. This book is specifically photos of the world after the sun goes down. Just flipping through the table of contents will tell any reader exactly what they’ll get out of this book: Energy, Harmony, Mystery, and Wonder.
  3. The Art of Harry Potter by Titan Books                                                                                               Anyone that has read or seen the Harry Potter franchise knows just how incredible it is. There’s magic, romance, mind-blowing fight scenes, magic, mythical creatures, and did I mention magic? This book takes you through that world once again with a collection of art from the series. It includes anything that a Harry Potter fanatic could want. Go ahead and pick up a copy of this for your next gift. You’ll thank us later.
  4. How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum by Keri Smith                                     Searching for something a little more interactive than a coffee table book? Then look no further! This book is for anyone wanting to adventure out into the world and gain a new perspective about the place they inhabit. It’s filled to the brim with activities for you to analyze your environment not only as a scientist, but as an artist too. Help someone get their feet on the pavement and discover something new just outside their doorstep by making this one of your gifts for this holiday season.

Gift giving can be intimidating when you don’t know how to buy for someone. We hope that these books will help you find something for the ones that don’t even have a bookshelf.

Got any other good book suggestions for non-book lovers? Leave a comment or visit us at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to tell us!

Books to Gift Your College Grad

Have a friend or family member that is graduating from college this fall? Still haven’t found the perfect gift for them? This is both a time of change and of new beginnings for an almost graduate, so they need all the help that they can get.  A book can be a wealth of knowledge and stress reliever that will be desperately needed in the coming months. We have a couple of book suggestions that could be the perfect fit for your college grad.

  1. Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson                                                                                            The whimsical and philosophical adventures of Calvin and Hobbes are a classic. You can be 6 or 84 and still learn something from this series. These two fun-loving characters provide a comical, witty, and new perspective on any topic that comes to mind. College grads can turn to this for life advice or just something to laugh at after a stressful day. The final line of the series is something that they can definitely resonate with. You don’t know where you’re going. You have no clue, but “it’s a magical world out there. Let’s go exploring.”
  2. Grow the F*ck Up by John Kyle                                                                                                    This provocative title is the jump start that some recent grads may need to kick it into high gear. There are some things we don’t know, and it’s too embarrassing to admit it, but this book can tell you without having to ask it. Learn how to jump start a car, change a smoke detector, and how to actually iron your cloths. A plus is that there are pictures included in the book, so if you cannot figure it out just by reading, they got you covered.
  3. Happy Little Accidents: The Wit & Wisdom of Bob Ross                                                                If you have watched an episode of Bob Ross’ show, then you probably know him for being great at painting, soft-spoken, and sprinkling some everyday wisdom into his TV specials. These tidbits of advice can be great for the psyche of an overwhelmed college grad. It is light-hearted, enlightening, and helpful in your greatest of existential crisis needs.
  4. Lean In For Graduates by Sheryl Sandberg                                                                                  This book is the one stop shop for all your work-related needs. Chalked full of information from business gurus, this a read that you do not want to skip out on. The real world can be daunting and full of questions that may not have been answered in the classroom, but this book was made to help bridge the gap. Think about this book when you are deciding between what gift to get at your nearest bookstore.

Whether they know it or not, recent graduates need a little guidance after college. It’s a daunting world out there, so we hope that some of these books will help to be on the path to success. Congrats to everyone who made it this far!

Have any other suggestions for a post-college grad book? Leave a comment or visit us at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to tell us!

How to Hit That NaNoWriMo Word Count

This is the fourth post in a four-part NaNoWriMo blog series.

The days are growing short, and your word count for NaNoWriMo is even shorter. Inspiration can be few and far between in these last few days. We here at the Press decided to help you find some creative ways to keep your engine running to the magic 50,000-word count. Here are our four tips and tricks.

  1. Write your stream of consciousness

Sometimes you cannot concentrate on the story at hand and just need to get some words on the page to help get the ball rolling. One way you could do this is by writing a stream of consciousness. This means you will just start writing down whatever you are currently thinking about. It could be an amalgamation of different ideas that may not even link together, but the point is to give you the momentum to continue writing your novel.

  1. Write the same word over and over until you write something else

Maybe you have a word stuck in your head. It’s blocking any work that should be getting done on your novel. Sometimes writing one word over and over and over and over and over can make you forget that it was even a problem in the first place. This will get you back in the zone and typing your heart out.

  1. Type for thirty minutes in pig latin

Some words or phrases just cannot be translated into another language. Take this as an excuse and spice up your writing by writing in pig latin. It may rouse some good ideas and allows you to use some colorful language to jazz up your novel. Ytray itway outway!

  1. Do a handstand and try to write

This may seem like an unconventional idea, but hear us out. There are times in your writing where you cannot type another word. It is even unbearable to look at the word count for one more second. A way to get past this block is to look from another perspective (you know, like standing upside down). With all that blood rushing to your head, all the ideas will start flowing, and you will be writing in no time.

We hope that you try and use some of the recommendations that we have given in this article. Outside of them, we hope that you had a fun time writing during this month. This month is less about completing a novel and more about putting pen to paper and writing some words. That’s how you sharpen your skills, generate ideas, and get something good to come out of your stories. Happy writing everyone!

Thanks for following our NaNoWriMo blog series this month. Leave a comment or visit us at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’d love to see your NaNoWriMo progress!

Native American Author Spotlight: Sherman Alexie

The Native American Renaissance opened doors for many Native American authors to flourish. Authors like these are now able to publish stories about their own experiences and continue to bring awareness to the issues that plague the modern Native American. In this post-renaissance period, we find Sherman Alexie.

Sherman Alexie was born in 1966 and grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. There, he lived around Spokane culture, but was never really accepted by his community. In infancy, he developed a condition that lead to surgery. This caused him to be in and out of the hospital for much of his adolescence and left his head larger than usual. He was constantly teased and not able to participate in many of the activities that are considered a rite of passage for young Native American male’s due to the side effects of that condition. This did not stop him from being academically successful.

He excelled during his high school career, leading him to receive a scholarship at Gonzaga University. After switching his major multiple times, the only place he seemed to find solace was in his literature classes. After a couple of years, he left Gonzaga and transferred to Washington State University. There, he found Alex Kuo, a respected poet that served as a mentor for Alexie. In these classes, he was able to begin writing and publishing his own works.

The themes of these works encapsulate the life of a contemporary Native American person living on a reservation. Despair, poverty, and alcoholism are riddled in this community and directly affects the characters in his stories. Through irony and dark humor, Alexie paints the picture of life as a modern Native American and the challenges they face on a reservation.

While being successful in his literary career, he has also dabbled in film. He created the first all-Native American movie, Smoke Signals, which got top honors at the Sundance Film Festival. Much like his books and poems, this is a story that reflects on the many struggles that Alexie encounted during his time on the reservation.

Alexie now lives in Seattle, Washington and is still active in the literary community. He most recently published a memoir titled You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me which sheds light on his trials and tribulations at the Spokane Indian Reservation.

Have you ever read any of Alexie’s work? Are there any other Native American authors that you think we should know about? Leave a comment or visit us at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to tell us!