Blog 1 – ‘The Importance of the Written Word and the Visual World’.

Why a Blog?

In discussions with Bryan Davies and Tony Cavaliere of Tagona Press, Inc., my publisher, on how best to promote my books, the creation of a blog came up. In my research on blogs, the following questions were frequently asked:

• Who would be interested in your blog?

• What topics and questions are they most interested in?

• What value can I provide readers through my blog?

There is a significant part of the population, who enjoy reading books, whether for educational purposes or for entertainment. I have attempted in my books to provide a little bit of both. Some education on a topic and some entertainment, hopefully, will be provided in each blog. In building a relationship with my readers, we can arrive at topics and questions, in which book readers would be most interested. There is value in getting to know the backgrounds of the authors, painters and photographers. What were their thoughts and intentions in creating their work? Who were they attempting to reach? What was their journey like to complete their work? Were they happy with the result? 

It is also the intention of the blog to stimulate an interest in reading and experiencing the visual world by supporting and marketing the creative works of authors, painters and photographers. The early blogs will provide some insight into my background and interviews with Bryan Davies and Tony Cavaliere of Tagona Press, Inc. on their approach to publishing and their involvement in creative art in the written word, paintings and photography. We will discuss their backgrounds and the different roles that they have in Tagona Press, Inc. The following areas will be covered:

• How did they get interested in publishing?
• How did Tagona Press come about and when?
• How many clients does Tagona Press have?
• How important are the written word and the visual world?
• What does Tagona Press provide to authors, painters and photographers?
• How important are front and back covers?
• How important is the title of the book?
• Is it important to have a foreword and have it written by someone other than the author?
• How important is it to have a publisher’s postscript?
• Tell us about Fresh Eyes and how did it come about?
• How did the books of photographs come about?
• What does the future of Tagona Press look like?

The following blogs will discuss each of my books take a look at each of them: “Community Mobilization in a Small Canadian City’, ‘A Special Place: Sault Ste. Marie’, ‘The West End, a Magical Place Created by Giants’, ‘Hound Town, One of the Best Hockey Towns Anywhere, 2^nd edition’, ‘Hound Town Revisited’ and ‘The Thinking Chair: Mobilizing Your Community to Create Positive Change Together’. Each blog will tell the story of that particular book; why it was written; its target audience; any value to the public; and the satisfying result.

The future blogs will centre on interviews with authors, painters and photographers. The following are some of the interview questions:

• What are the individuals’ backgrounds?
• What were the reasons for their work?
• In discussing the work, what were the topics in which they were most interested?
• Who is their target audience?
• What was the intended value to the public?
• How satisfied were they with the result?
• What are their future projects?

All of my books can be ordered on line at www.tagonapress.com.