ALVA Press, Inc. efforts to expand services have been all consuming this last month leaving little time for other than the absolute essentials. And while blogging can be a publisher's essential, this past month it fell pretty far down the list of priorities. That's because between this blog and the last one two important things occurred: the distribution of the ALVA weekly newsletter was regularized and agreement was reached for the distribution of ALVA's eBooks on some seventy plus distributor sites including, B&N, Apple, Sony, Kobol, Borders, and Diesel, to name a few.

Newsletter Distribution: Newsletter distribution now runs a constant of about two thousand emails per week, eighty per cent of which are radio, television, newspaper, magazine, and online blogger addresses. Newsletter reception has been positive with a number of readers not only opening the mail but writing ALVA with congratulations on some of the various bits of news.

Kudos to Chelsea for her reliability and skill and to Roberta for pulling it together.

dBook Distribution Expansion: The first title to benefit from the new eBook distribution expansion will be Jolt: a rural noir, the cover design of which will now include the image of the sticker that celebrates its receipt of the Jenkins 2011 Living Now Award in Inspirational Fiction. 

Reviews and Interviews: In other, news has come in of the MidWest Book Review Small Press Bookshelf having given Jolt: a rural noir a rave review on its Mystery and Suspense Shelf, referring to it as a page-turning thriller. www.midwestbookreview.com/sbw/nov_11.htm#Mystery/Suspense

Also, Michael Edward McNally provided Roberta M Roy with a really great interview that brought in a goodly number of congratulatory communications. http://sablecity.com/2012/01/31/tag-line-tuesday-with-roberta-m-roy

Upcoming New Release: On the publishing front, Kristen Henderson's book, Drum Machine, goes to press to be released first as an eBook. So do check back and if you have not done so already, sign up for the newsletter which will for the first 30 days offer a 10% discount on copies of the eBook of Drum Machine when ordered through this website.

Roberta in Po-Town, Lookin' up!

Well, thanks to Chelsea, ALVA has successfully distributed its first truly national online newsletter announcing a ten per cent discount on the eBook edition of Jolt: a rural noir!

Meanwhile, Roberta has been reading the New York Times Bestseller The Black Swan on 'The Impact of the HIGHLY IMPROBABLE.' According to Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan's author, humans are afflicted by a kind of tunneling of our thinking that prevents us from even considering most unexpected life-changing events that are referred to in the field of probability as Black Swans.

Why Black Swans?

Well, the Black Swan, whenever one occurs, demonstrates the effect of ignorance  secondary to the narrow scope of our experience (in view of the limitless possibilities for it) and the poor scope of our knowledge (secondary to not only the expanse of all there is to know but also to our unwillingness to explore ideas which seem outlandish, unlikely, or uncomfortable). (Could the effects of nuclear meltdown--the subject matter of Jolt: a rural noir--be one?)

After centuries of belief that all swans were white were blown from view by the discovery of Australia and the sighting there of a black one, the term Black Swan eventually came into being as a name for any unexpected (or unrecognized but lurking) world-changing event.

Alva Press, Inc., however, and its titular head, Roberta M. Roy, turns out to be rather enamored of Black Swans. As a result one can expect publications here to smack of the unusual. One is not surprised therefore to learn that having read both Jolt: a rural noir and a prepublication copy of Kristen Henderson's book of heart-felt and moving poetry, Drum Machine, a reader suggested that while 'quirky,' both books 'sustain the interest of the reader.'  

However, missing from that reader's equation is the fact that Roy's Jolt grew as a result of years of reading and writing culminated by the event of 9/11 and an ensuing 100 hours of study with the military in mass event survival while Henderson's poetry represents the crystallization of learnings resultant from life events over a period of ten or twenty years or more.

That said, it is safe to note that not only may the two books be read for pleasure and entertainment, they also offer some things to be learned about survival and healing from life's challenges both real and potential.

Henderson's poetry speaks from her life experience. Roy's book informs on the effects of mass events (terrorism/nuclear meltdown) on relationships, infrastructure, and community.

Regretfully not all of those in the area surrounding Vermont Yankee (or Fukushima) had read Jolt: a rural noir when their problems began to occur- just as most of those near, but outside the thirty mile limit of all the other nuclear power plants in the USA and world have yet to read it.

But 2012 is a New Year and ALVA now has an up and running news release source. So who knows. Perhaps both Jolt and, when it is released, Drum Machine are headed for the New York Times Best Seller List, too.

To sign up for the ALVA Newsletter, go to the home page and click on the link in the upper left hand corner and be ready to keep up on ALVA's news as well as avail yourself of any discounts on books ALVA has available--like its current offer of a 10% discount on the Jolt: a rural noir in eBook mobi (Kindle) and ePub (Nook).

Your readership is most appreciated!

Roberta in Po-Town, Wishing you a very Happy New Year 2012!

Happy day! ALVA's found just the PR person it needs to help with getting the word out on progress. Chelsea Vogg has accepted a short term contract to help ALVA with releases and mailings. Chelsea is studying for her Master's but has lots of great experience in PR in the realty industry. Oddly this translates well into the publishing industry as her previous experience also involved newsletter development and distribution. Just since she started last week things are already better in both the research and the mailings departments.Thank you, Chelsea!

This week, however, for both Chelsea and me, Thanksgiving is the priority. Chelsea will celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family; I'm to be the main cook at my son's house. My oldest grandson who is eleven will be sous-chef. This will be his third year in that position. He loves cooking and he and I will spend the morning shoulder to shoulder. My grandson handles everything from peeling and cutting hard boiled eggs for the creamed spinach to mixing thickening for gravy, mashing potatoes, watching the timing, and keeping an eye on the turkey. My son does the stuffing--rich in sausage and nuts--and generally runs interference. My daughter-in-law takes care of the table and hosting. At this point we have it down to a rhythm.

Just nine of us for dinner. No longer the twenty-one I used to have when my parents were around and their grandchildren younger, and all my sisters closer. Nonetheless, still great conversation and the addition some brief multi-generational piano, guitar, and dance performances by those ensembled. And to add the high point to the laughter for the day, finally the competitive games with the Wii--in which one can never really predict the winners a fact which in and of itself offers a particularly grand source of entertainment.

And then, of course, there are the leftovers next day.

Roberta in Po-Town, wishing you a very warm and joyousThanksgiving!

Having survived a difficult opening to the school year--my caseload burgeons and the paperwork documentation required has been at its worst--dailies, monthlies, and IEPs with an almost all new caseload! The implications of this scenario in a residential setting for emotionally troubled youngsters are several. First, an SLP must document for both the health care and the educational systems. Next, each child new to the caseload requires a review of the records and the collection of new data in order to set of the child's initial forms. And thirdly, many of the new enrollees need evaluations. This semester it was five; this translates into about twenty-five hours of work with only five of them definitely scheduled.

Whew!

Still, I made it through it. So now ALVA can once again gain more prominence in my schedule.

And it has. Veteran's day gave me the chance to catch up on the ALVA bookkeeping for the year. I worked with a CPA and together we installed and updated QuickBooks Accountant. It's a nice system once one has the hang of it and its use should simplify tax preparation for 2011.

Also I put some time into the search for a PR person to work five hours a week, 3:45-6:16 Mondays and Tuesdays in the ALVA home office in Poughkeepsie. ALVA has a critical need for someone who really understands how to do publicity through the internet.

So if you know of anyone who might be interested in helping ALVA with PR on the net, do give them ALVA's phone number and if the recommended person called, we would be forever indebted and for sure pass along a free copy of Jolt: a rural noir to whomever made the referral. The hours are limited, but, relative to the contractor's skill level, the rate is competitive.

BTW: I read in the paper the other day that many of the jobs being created are being offered by little guys like ALVA--who even with limited budgets manage to reach out.

Also, thanks to the Dutchess County Bar Association Free Clinic, I was able get the legal advice I needed to draft a contract for the publication of Kristen Henderson's wonderful book of poetry. The plan now is to release Drum Machine early next year. Very exciting! I can't wait! And neither can Kristen! Our intent is to release both the paperback and the eBook of it at the same time.

So you see, I really have remained dedicated to building ALVA--just too involved to find the time to keep up with my blogging. But this intensity should be letting up now. So do watch for more regular updates. I am going to try for once a week on this blog only, with my personal blog and my one on nuclear survival not forgotten, just lesser priorities at this time.

Roberta in Po-Town, Chuggin'

September was a rough month for an Indie like ALVA because Roberta M Roy, ALVA's president, was back at full-time speech language therapy with an almost completely new caseload and a bouquet of evaluations to do. Then, come the second weekend in October, she left town to attend a wedding in Raleigh, NC. All of which brings us to the fact that it is only now she has the time and energy to again turn her attentions to ALVA. So what is she up to now?

Well, she is negotiating with an attorney in the hopes of drawing up a clear and reasonable contract for the publication of Kristen Henderson' great book of poetry, Drum Machine. The good news is that she has at located an attorney informed in eBook publishing matters. The challenge however lies in the fact that the cost of legal advice is well outside ALVA's financial means. A response to a letter of solicitation that Roy posted just this morning should move the possibility of finding a workable answer along to a more hopeful level. As such, Roy anticipates--hopes for--an early and encouraging reply.

Roy's search for secretarial support from someone knowledgeable in mass mailings and PR has to date yielded no results from either Marist or New Paltz digital design and communications' majors. Somehow it needs to be reworded. Roy will talk with those in charge of such searches at the schools this week and revise the ads accordingly. Meantime, the designer waits the go-ahead to get Drum Machine ready for release as an eBook while Jolt: a rural noir continues toe be available in eBook, Trade paper back, and hard cover forms from the Buy Now page of this, ALVA's website.

Roberta in Po-Town, On hold and waiting