EP Presentations - Due November 1

Students will work in groups of two or three to create a 10-minute presentation about their assigned Electronic Publishing topic, along with 20 copies of a one-page presentation synopsis to be distributed in class.

The presentation should address:

• What tools/electronics do I need to get started? Does it cost anything, or require any special skills?
• What is the intended use of this tool?
• How could I stretch the intended use for either 1) a more creative purpose or, 2) self-promotion as a writer?
• Are there any exceptional examples of creative use we should know about?

The topics are (to be assigned):

• YouTube: Vinnie & Mike
• Literary E-Magazines: Jessica & Brad
• Twitter and Tumblr: Liz & Cate
• Facebook: Roger & Lori
• Podcasting: Sam, Eli & Kari
• Flickr: Akesha & Amberly
• Etsy and other e-commerce sites: Tabitha, Marie
• E-book publishing sites: Kristi & Kimberley

For October 11

Don't forget, mid-term projects are due on October 11. Please bring the two-page paper printed out with your name (and URL, if applicable) at the top. During class, we will quickly view everybody's sites.

We will spend some time looking at optimizing InDesign documents for use in e-Readers, and then the lovely Meredith will tell you a little bit about the upcoming video editing segment.

Good luck finishing your sites! :)

A few Wordpress-driven online mags

Shaking Like a Mountain

The Light Ekphrastic

Harvest Magazine

Share

Search engine optimization!

A student asked about how to go about making her site more searchable by Google, Yahoo and other search engines.

Here's a decent article (with links to others) with a few tips on how to do it without throwing away all your savings:

Ten Search Engine Optimization Myths: Debunked!

Homework due September 27

In addition to three blog posts on the topics of your choosing, please also write the content you plan to use in your mid-term project. Bring a print-out of the content, along with thumbnails of any graphics you plan to use.

Midterm Project - Due October 11

For the mid-term project, students will create writer websites for themselves, using either Dreamweaver or a Wordpress blog for design.

The site should have at least four pages, all of which contain:

• A clear navigation back to the home page
• Content that suits the writer
• One graphic per page

Students who create their sites in Dreamweaver may choose to upload their sites to a purchased domain, or to the student space available to them via UBalt. (See old post about how.) They may also hand in their projects on a flash drive (which will be returned).

All students must write a two-page paper describing the process, the outcome, and hopes for where the site may go in the future. The paper must be printed out and handed to the professor on October 11, and should contain the student's name and the URL of the site, if applicable.

Homework due September 20

To follow up on our conversation from Monday, your three homework blogs this week will center around brainstorming ideas for your very own writer's web site. Think about what you might include in your own site, and write one blog each on these topics:

• Content
• Navigation
• Graphics/Design Elements

Next week, we'll learn more about your mid-term project, and we'll jump right into Dreamweaver. Please remember to bring the photo files you edited this week (2 jpgs of any subject, edited so they are 300 pixels wide). Don't forget, we'll be breaking around 6:45 p.m. so we can attend Kendra's reading in the Bogolmony Room.

Have a great week!
jo'g