Sketchnotes 2009 & 2010
By Eva-Lotta Lamm

This book contains 2 years worth of illustrated notes (also called sketchnotes) that Eva-Lotta took at dozens of UX / Design events and conferences, featuring talks from over 100 speakers and panelists. Some of the events covered in the book are UXweek 2009, d.construct 2010, Flash on the Beach 2010, etc.

1) What came first, the idea for the book or the sketches?

The sketches came first. For the last few years, I’ve been attending quite a few design talks and conferences and as I have a really bad memory, I need to take notes to not forget everything within days. I’ve always been drawing, sketching and playing around with my handwriting, so it came naturally to include little sketches and some nicely drawn type in my notes. Over time (and with the discovery of others doing these kinds of notes as well and giving them a name: ‘sketchnotes’) my style slowly became more and more visual. Since 2008, I’ve shared my notes online on flickr, but at some point I wanted to make the notes available to people in their original format as well: on paper. So the idea for the book was born. As the sketches are quite detailed, the format of a book is ideal: you can sit down and take the time to discover and let the eye and mind explore.

2) I love the concept, but I have to ask … with the explosive growth of online video and conferences like TED where talks are recorded and posted online, what advantage does one gain by consuming content via a format like sketchnotes?

First and foremost the sketchnotes are a personal tool for me to remember the parts of the talk I was interested in. They are my interpretation of what was said rather than a complete summary. I don’t see them in competition with the video recordings or as an alternative to actually attending a talk. They are an addition, an interpretation, a sort of digest and maybe an intriguing way of getting someone interested in actually watching the video or going to see a talk of the speaker. I leave it up to my ‘readers’ to decide if and why they are interested in looking at my notes.

3) How long have you been illustrating for?

I’ve been drawing all my life, sometimes more and sometimes less. I had 2 years of drawing lessons at university with an excellent teacher. After that, I focused more on interactive design and lost the habit of drawing regularly for quite some time. I’m glad I rediscovered it a few years ago, partly thanks to sketchnoting.

4) Why do you think it’s important for people to write about their passions?

It feels good. Sharing your thoughts forces you to go deeper, be more precise and think about what exactly it is you are interested in and why. It’s like going on a journey which makes you discover new things and -as a bonus- meet interesting people on the way.

What’s your passion? Post a comment and let us know what compels you to write. If you have a story, please share it with us. We’d love to hear about it.

The Skateboarder’s Journal – Lives on Board 1949-2009
By Jack Smith

This book was written by those for whom the ride is never-ending: by the 15-year-old grom who falls asleep dreaming of skateboarding; by the 40-something “pad dad” you see at the local skatepark; by the women whose stories have never been told; and by the 73-year-old architect who didn’t begin skateboarding until the age of 65. Over 170 stories and 200+ photographs.

1) What made you decide to self-publish instead of going through a traditional publisher?

Since it was my first attempt at putting together a book of my own and really don’t know how the traditional publishing system worked, I decided to give Lulu a try. Previously I had done the layout for a friend’s book that he published on Lulu.  I found Lulu very easy to work with.  I also thought that by self-publishing, I would have greater control over the content.

2) Where does your passion come from to both skateboard across America (three times) and write a book?

The passion for skateboarding across America came from three very different places during three very different times in my life. In 1976, I was 19 years old, living in Morro Bay, California where pretty much the only job for a teenager was working in restaurants, which I had my fill of! 1976 was at the beginning of the urethane era of skateboarding, and I was looking for a way to make a name for myself. One night a group of us were hanging out and someone jokingly threw out the idea of skateboarding across America, within a few minutes the talk turned serious and we decided to give it a shot. I sent a letter to Roller Sports, a wheel manufacturer in Florida asking for sponsorship. A couple of weeks later they responded with a yes and a month later we were underway. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Heck, we even took a .22 rifle with us, after all we would be skating across the wild west. This was during a time when a long distance phone call was still a big deal; we would call home every few days, with one set of parents relaying our progress to the others. We might as well have been on the moon. We made the crossing in 32 days.

The second trek came about through the urging of some younger friends who had heard all the stories about the first crossing. We decided to do the trip as a fund raiser for Multiple Sclerosis. We had great sponsorship, including a van from Chrysler that we scored when one of the team members, Paul Dunn, wrote a letter to Lee Iacocca. The equipment was quite a bit better than the first time, allowing us to finish in 26 days.  (Thrasher Magazine wrote an article on the 1984 trip, click the following links for shots from the magazine: part 1, part 2, part 3).

The third time was very personal. In 1988 my son, Jack Marshall Smith, was born with the very rare Lowe Syndrome (about 350 known cases worldwide). When he was born we were told he wouldn’t live past two, he fooled them all and lived to be 14. He was an incredible boy and taught me so much about life. In May of 2003, he passed away from complications due to Lowe Syndrome. Being so rare, there is not much in the way of research funds for Lowe. I decided to skateboard across America with three friends to raise awareness and research funds. The internet allowed for us to get our message in front of a great number of people and companies who ended up supporting us. We were able to raise thousands of dollars for research, and to also let people know about Lowe. One of the best things that came out of this trip is that it inspired other people to make long distance rides, many of whom used their treks to benefit the Lowe Syndrome Association. We made the crossing in 21 days, due to great equipment and some training before the trek.

As for the passion for writing the book … I started out thinking I would publish a book of my own stories I had written over the years. The more I thought about it, the more I realized there were lots of skateboarders who had stories to tell. I decided to open up the book to anyone who wished to contribute — mainly I was interested in the “everyman/everywoman” skater, not the pros or famous skaters. The pros and other skate notables that are included are for the most part those who I have a personal relationship with. When I made a few postings on Facebook and skateboarding forums the floodgates opened, and as you can see I ended up with over 150 skater written stories from around the world, from all ages of skaters.

3) Why do you think it’s important for people to write about their passions?

I think it allows a truer story to be told than if someone’s story is told by another. Sure the writing may not be as eloquent, but the emotion and feeling is much greater. At first, we were trying to edit each story to be grammatically correct; we soon realized that we were almost stealing the skater’s voice by doing so. We decided to keep the editing light, so that the person’s story would be told in their own words.

4) It takes a long time to complete a 325 page 8.5 X 11 book.  Would you say it was your passion for writing/story telling or skating that helped you complete it?

At first it was my own passion to write a book, the original title was My Life on Board. When I opened up the book to contributions, I changed the name to Lives on Board. As I began to receive and read the contributions, their passion became my passion. I felt compelled to finish the book, so their stories could be told (especially the stories by women, who have long been ignored by the skateboarding world). What started out as something I thought would take a couple of months to put together, ended up taking a year and a half. I actually received the first printed copy at a hotel room in Carlsbad, California (home of the first commercial skatepark), where I was attending an old skaters reunion.

Be sure to check back in next week for part two with Eva-Lotta Lamm, author of Sketchnotes 2009 & 2010.

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.

Here at Lulu, our goal is to help you sell more books.  One of the ways we do this is by providing you with a variety of service options to help you out during the publishing process – from start to finish.

When you buy services from Lulu, you’ll be assigned a project coordinator who will help guide you along the way and answer any questions you may have about your service.

The following are some of what I believe are the best services for getting your book looking its best from the inside out.

Editorial Analysis

Your book is the product of your passion and creativity brought to life by many sleepless nights and empty coffee mugs. You’ve read and re-read it at least two thousand times and there’s no telling how many friends and family members you’ve passed it onto to proofread it too. Why not give someone else a chance to see your book?

Do you know when to use the “em” dash versus an “en” dash? No? Well, I don’t either, but our editors do. They can quote Chicago Manual of Style the way I quote my favorite movies. Our Editorial Analysis service lets one of our experienced editors review your manuscript for inconsistencies in plot and character development, common typos and readability.

The constructive criticism you receive from someone who has never met you is priceless.  You’ll receive a document outlining, in detail, any areas where your manuscript could use some improvements, a sample edit, and a quote for a full copy edit.

Though we always recommend you purchase a full edit, you have our promise that we will in no way pressure you to go forward with the full edit if you choose not to.

Premium Cover design

I’m going to let you in on a little Lulu Services secret.  We are in love with the Premium Cover design service. When we get your files back from our fantastic design team, we ooh and ahh and show each other how wonderful the covers that will soon be gracing your book are.  We each do this at least five times a day.

We see a lot of book covers, and we are still amazed. Imagine what your readers will think.

We love book covers because each and everyone is beautiful and unique.   A good design says you’ve also worked hard on the inside. It’s the entry point to your book, the thing that says “Come read me! I am amazing!”  It’s the exclamation point on a sentence with perfect grammar and the perfect pair of shoes for your favorite dress.

The service allows a high level of customization. Your project coordinator will work with the designers and you to get the best cover you can.  After working with your coordinator to determine your needs, you’ll get two initial designs and then two rounds of changes to your design.

The hardest part will be picking which design is your favorite.

globalReach Distribution

It finally happened. Your book is done. Now what?

It’s time to unleash your book upon the world with GlobalReach distribution. If you have an eligible size, an ISBN and your meets our mandatory distribution requirements, you’re just a few clicks from distribution.

We know you worked hard to get to this point, which is why we’ll distribute the book for you –  all over the world.

Though you earn more when your book is sold directly from Lulu, GlobalReach distribution will allow your book to appear on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and in the Ingram’s database.

Books that go through our distribution channels are able to reach thousands of people, and we do all the work for you.

See our site with a 960 grid overlay

So far, we’ve remade our home page and our Publish section with an emphasis on more concise text and bigger graphics. Our pages are built with using a 960 grid system.

We’ve still got a ways to go. Our Services section is next (I think). We hope you like the direction our site is headed.

A great book cover can open doors for your book, and the new Lulu Cover Wizard provides our creators with the tools to get noticed. The new Lulu Cover Wizard is entirely browser based, so there is no need to download any software. It also auto-calculates the dimensions of your book to ensure a proper full-bleed print.  There are various themes, colors, and fonts to choose from, and you even have the option to use your own personal or professional Fotolia images for your book cover. And, when you sign up with Fotolia through Lulu, receive special discounts, too.

The New Lulu Cover Wizard

The interface is intuitive and the tools are easy to use which allows for quicker cover creation. The expanded feature set and enhanced photo capabilities encourage you to show your creative side. It’s truly never been easier to create a great book cover.

If you created your book cover with the older Cover Designer, don’t worry – you can still try out the new Lulu Cover Wizard by revising your project. If you decide you prefer the older Cover Designer, it’s still available to use.

We at Lulu are happy to provide the tools necessary to empower you to become the world’s next best selling author!

Book covers created with the new Lulu Cover Wizard