Editorially Speaking

        --Gayle Schreiber


Well, this seems to be getting easier every month. I still have to do everything the old-fashioned way--a page at a time. But it's only the fifteenth. I may be screaming by the end of the week--especially since the printer is still taking fits.

The Cover Artist this month is, again, our Russian prospective member Yelena. Since we have two holidays this month, Goundhog Day--if Groundhog Day can be considered a holiday--and Valentine's Day, Yelena drew us a cute Mensan Valentine Groundhog.

Want to wish Ann Stewart, our own Groundhog Day birthday girl, a very happy birthday. As Publicist, President, Program Chair and regular Mind Bets contributor as well as other positions over the years, Ann has been a major strength for SNvMensa.

Robert Spurlock has put Stan Armstrong's The Forgotten Battle of Fort Pillow on our Around Town events. It's a semi-Mensa event since I put in a lot of work with Stan on the project. If you're interested in the Civil War, you should find it interesting. It's a topic that hasn't been done before in documentary form.

This last week of January Terry Moran is back in the hospital. John Hunter goes in a couple of days. There are probably a few other members having health problems we don't know about.

We have Mind Bets within Mind Bets this issue. The info on Mind Games 2002, Region 8 Leadership Conference and the Volunteer form are all behind the calendar so you just have to yank it out if you want to go to any of these events. With the Volunteer form, please cut that out and send to Carole or hand it to an ExComm member with your ideas.

Themed issues are going by the wayside. I have to beg for theme-oriented submissions or do them myself and there is so much going on that doesn't relate to the theme it's really of no value. This issue is expanding every day and I have more stuff but I need to stop. I apologize to Edwin Slade for not publishing his essays on the Kabbalah. It will be done--eventually.

We have also given up on the advertising. The advertisers weren't getting any response and it makes extra paperwork for Ev at the Post Office.

Hope you all have a terrific Valentine's Day.

*****

The Guttenberg Printing Press

Fire. The wheel. The Internet. What is the most important invention of all time? Perhaps it is the printing press. While Guttenberg did not invent the press, his innovations made it possible for the mass dissemination of information. He hammered 264 characters into the ends of steel punches to create movable type; produced ink from heated oil, resin and soap; and modified a wine press for mass printing. If it is not the most important invention, it would certainly make the top one hundred list.

*****

Hotel to use Mensa name in ads

TV ads for a large hotel chain in Chicago and eighteen other markets will soon be using the Mensa name. Watch for the ads starting in April.

Mensans are rightly proud of our name and logo. When we find it being used without permission, we move quickly to stop the abuse. In fact, of those that apply to use our name, only one in three survives the appropriate process. And, in most cases, the user pays a royalty fee as well.

ePublishing


So you want to get published. ePublishing has opened a whole new world for writers and would-be writers. If you fit that description, you might want to check out the following sites.

eBooks N'Bytes - www.ebooksnbytes.com Gives a comprehensive list of ePublishers. A great place to start.

Llumina Press - Offers books and eBooks, self-publishing, print on demand, editing and ghostwriting.

Adverbage - Offers ghostwriting, editing and proofreading, help with illustrations and ePublishing.

Electric Book Publishers - Publishes novel-length books, children's books, illustrations.

Jacobyte Books - Based in Australia, they offer editing and cover design services.