Creativity Friday: Goddess Tarot iPhone 5 update
Good news! I’m thrilled to announce that an update of the Goddess Tarot app for iPhone 5 is in production. Besides being redesigned to take advantage of iPhone 5′s taller screen height, the app will include the gorgeous retina screen graphics used in the HD version. As before, the app will be available as a free Lite and paid Full versions. It will work on iPhone 3, 4, and 5 as well as on iPads and iPods.
When the Goddess Tarot apps update will be available? Best case scenario: by the the middle of December, just in time for all those new iPhones being given as gifts. Here’s more good news: If you’ve already paid for the Goddess Tarot Full app, the iPhone 5 update will be free. 
Above: Sneak peek at the Goddess Tarot app Full version home screen. Pretty, isn’t it?
Cyber Monday: The Book of Goddesses on sale
To mark the holidays, THE BOOK OF GODDESSES e-book is on sale for $3.99. It’s usually priced at $9.99 so this is quite the coup! It can be purchased from Amazon, BN.com, iBookstore US and UK, and can even be given as a gift. I think it would make quite the delectable stocking stuffer for a new e-reader.
More information:
Drawing inspiration from the many goddesses honored throughout history, this lavishly illustrated, greatly expanded anniversary edition of Kris Waldherr’s beloved classic pays homage to one hundred of these revered women.
THE BOOK OF GODDESSES is a celebration of the Divine Feminine. Drawing inspiration from the many goddesses honored throughout history, this visually stunning book exquisitely presents one hundred goddesses from traditions and cultures all over the world, along with their stories and symbolic significance. This expanded anniversary edition is structured around the important feminine rites of passage: beginnings, love, motherhood, creativity, strength, and transformations. THE BOOK OF GODDESSES is a testament to the power, passion, wisdom, and beauty of women everywhere, in all stages of life.
With over 130 illustrations and personally designed by Kris Waldherr.
In other Cyber Monday news, more gifts featuring my art are available via Cafe Press. Newly added: goddess jewelry, iPhone cases, and laptop skins.
To learn more, click here. And thank you for your support of my work!
It's here: Goddess Tarot for Android app!
After months of work, here it is at last!
As you can see, we’ve kept the design of the Goddess Tarot android app as close as possible to the iPhone version but with one important upgrade: the Android app has been designed for both phone and tablet screens. So it’s two-for-one, so to speak. It’s also on sale at a special launch price of $1.99 at Android Market. (Eventually it will be available from Amazon’s App Store too.)
I hope you’ll go forth and download. Here are a few additional screen captures of it.
On Sale: Goddess Tarot HD for iPhone 4
I’m pleased to announce that Apple has just released the HD version of the Goddess Tarot app! Like the “regular” Goddess Tarot app, it’s available in a free Lite version and a paid Full version. To celebrate, the full version app is on sale this weekend for $0.99 (regular price $3.99). Now’s the time to upgrade if you’re currently sporting the non-HD version on your iPhone 4 or iPod Touch with a retina display.
You may be wondering what’s the difference between Goddess Tarot HD app and the “regular” Goddess Tarot app. The only difference are the high definition graphics which have been optimized for the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch retina display from the original art and design. Otherwise, the apps are exactly the same.
So, if you have an iPhone 4 or iPod Touch with retina display, go forth and enjoy the sale!
Goddess Tarot HD app
Publishing Monday: PubIt! with a side of Slush Pile Hell
Two things this rainy Monday in Brooklyn:
1. PubIt!* As evidenced by recent actions, Barnes and Noble is desperately embracing the e-book world. No surprise, but Nook displays have gained significant real estate in their retail stores. During a recent visit to my local Barnes and Noble**, a kiosk devoted to the Nook dominated front and center; if I hadn’t known better, I might have wondered if I’d walked into a computer store. Secondly, and more of interest to authors and independent publishers, they’ve launched PubIt!, a self-distribution endeavor.
Here’s PubIt!’s aggressively friendly graphic which greets visitors to their home page:
This pitch appears after they invite you to “Live the Dream.” Which begs the question, What and whose dream?
I’m still digesting how I feel about PubIt!. On one hand, it’s a new distribution channel for independent publishers and authors—what’s not to like? So far, I’ve been distributing my own e-books and apps through Apple and Amazon; I’m glad to have a new market via Barnes and Noble. However, the disturbingly jaunty tone of “Just don’t forget about us when you’re Big Time” makes me want to…. Well, you can fill in the blank.
Someone asked me on Twitter what I think about PubIt! so far. The truth is that I don’t know yet. Though I’ve signed up for an account, I had some problems with registration. I’m set up with New York State with a business EIN (Employee Identification Number). I run my business from a commercial storefront. Regardless, there were issues regarding tax addresses and EIN addresses and other fussy technical stuff that required a telephone call to a rather bored-sounding PubIt! employee. Though he did his best to be helpful, I had the impression the poor guy had spent all morning fielding similar questions.
Several e-mails later, I think I’m good to go with Pubit!. Part of me expects another e-mail from Barnes and Noble announcing there’s still an issue with my account. Time will tell.
2. Slush Pile Hell. Though I discovered this site some months ago, it never fails to crack me up. Billed as “one grumpy literary agent, a sea of query fails, and other publishing nonsense”, it’s snarky as all out. But, like jokes about New Jersey***, I hope I’ve earned the right to indulge in some publishing humor. After all, I started out in the biz reading hundreds of unsolicited submissions for a major New York publishing company.
Based on my personal experiences, I suspect the letters published on Slush Pile Hell are drawn from real life. Here’s one example—what follows is the agent’s imagined response:
Every agent I’ve encountered thus far has been a complete idiot. Let’s see if you can prove you’re different by representing me and my book.
Stop. Your seductive charm is making me feel woozy.”
And another:
Hello dear. I want to present to you my nonfiction work.
Dear? Mom, I’ve already told you that just because you raised me doesn’t mean I’ll give you preferential treatment.”
————————–
* Yes, the exclamation point is intentional on Barnes and Nobles’ part. It! Makes! Publishing! Sound! So! Exciting!
** Yes, I usually support indie bookstores, but they had a book I needed badly and immediately. (Hangs head in guilt.)
*** I spent my formative years in New Jersey. No Snooki jokes, pretty please.
Kris Waldherr is an author, illustrator, and designer whose art has been exhibited in the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She is the acclaimed author of DOOMED QUEENS, THE BOOK OF GODDESSES, and other publications which celebrate beauty, imagination, and wit. Her upcoming books include THE LILY MAID, a novel set in the art world of late Victorian England.
