Tag Archives: self-publishing

August 23, 2014 · 5:25 pm

Awkward Botany and Daniel Murphy

By Dave Whitinger (http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/80166/)
via Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday I received a note from Daniel Murphy, who has been a friend of mine for years. We first met as pen pals/zine traders. It was back when I started self-publishing my little zine Greenwoman (scroll waaaaay down to the bottom of the link to read about the zines) in around 2007. These zines were 100% handmade by me—photocopies hand-tied with jute. Rough, but, if I do say so myself, rather charming. In his zines, Dan wrote about gardening, punk rock, skateboarding, and trying to save the world. He bought my first zine and wrote me, by LETTER (as that’s the way the zinesters roll), and we immediately became friends.

Oh, those were the simple days! Dan was on his way to grad school, working at a community garden, publishing his own zines, and connecting with the garden-lovin’-freaks of the zine world. I was raising kids, gardening obsessively, raising chickens in the backyard, and wondering what would be possible with self-publishing.

We’re still working hard on our dreams, and Dan’s now at the Idaho Botanical Garden. As much as he loves plants, he loves writing too, and tries to fit that obsession into an already chock-full life. He’s doing some writing through his blog, Awkward Botany (how I love that name) and he shared the story about our very odd passalong plant yesterday. That’s what he was writing me about—well, that, and he was very curious about the Fifty Shades of Green book! I’m going to send him and his love (her name is Flora!) a copy next week.

I hope you’ll check out his post. The carrion flower is such an amazing plant. It has one of the most beautiful and strange flowers I’ve ever seen. I bought my cuttings from eBay; it was one of those instances where I read about the plant, became absolutely obsessed with getting one, and, well, you can find most everything on eBay.

To share a little more about Dan. He’s every bit as obsessed as I am about the world of plants and how we connect with it. Here’s one of my favorite essays of his, from Greenwoman, issue #4.

—Sandra Knauf

The Seed, the Radicle, and the Revolution

by Daniel Murphy

Many people are familiar with the “one straw revolution” proposed by Japanese rice farmer Masanobu Fukuoka, but what about the simple, revolutionary powerhouse that is the seed? Seeds have often been referred to metaphorically when discussing revolutions, new movements, new beginnings, social change, spiritual awakenings. It only makes sense that the first thing to emerge from a seed during germination is the embryonic root known as the radicle (pronounced radical). It has been said that it only takes one individual to start a revolution. It only takes one seed to start a forest. The process may be slow, but the potential is there.

A tiny seed finds its way into a small crack in the sidewalk. The radical emerges. Before you know it, a plant strong enough to push apart two concrete slabs has grown. A radical radical pushes headlong through a pile of dirt and much that has collected in a rain gutter on a rooftop. Up sprouts a renegade plant, adamant about making a human-made structure its home. Devastation can come in the form of a seed; ruins can be made of structures that were ignorantly thought of as eternal. Radicals rise up as radicles force themselves downward, rooting in new lives, and readying themselves for battle. Yes, the seed is revolutionary.

Words are like seeds, and their influence can cause a social sea change as the message spreads. The Juniper zine is microscopic proof of that. As letters have trickled in to the Juniperbug mailbox, this editor has noticed a thriving (albeit grassroots) social movement as readers have recounted their stories of gardening, biking, and going back to the land. Rusty bikes have been retrieved from dusty storage areas, tuned up and taken for a ride. Derelict areas of backyard lawn have been turned over, and gardens have sprouted up. The slow life is spreading just as fast as the seeds can germinate, and off we sprint toward ecotopia.

Spring is for sowing seeds and encouraging growth. Love is in the air, and heaven knows that the revolution needs much more of that. Cynicism can be brushed away for a while. Spring cleaning allows us to pull some of our skeletons out of their hiding spots and send them packing. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed while we’re at it. Certainly a seed recognizes the pressure that lies on its tiny self to thrive, flourish and produce. But there is potential in all of us; potential that will not be compromised: neither blacked-out by black hearts nor whited-out by whitewash. The subversive seed and its radical roots will be our mascot. Let’s make our gardens grow. Let’s not rot in the soil, but instead sprout and rise up. Your neighborhood is your seedbed. That’s where the movement starts.

I have mad green love for Daniel Murphy.

Mad green love for Mr. Murphy.

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Filed under Garden Writers We Love

Tagged as African starfish flower, Awkward Botany, Carrion Flower, Daniel Murphy, Fifty Shades of Green, Greenwoman Magazine, Greenwoman Publishing, Greenwoman zine, Idaho Botanical Garden, self-publishing, Stapelia

May 3, 2014 · 1:04 am

Greenwoman Innovation: An Interview with a UCCS Student

Quote from Zera and the Green Man (drawing by Mike Beenenga). All posters are by Lisa Repka.

Original drawing by Mike Beenenga. Poster design by Lisa Repka.

These last few months I’ve had the pleasure of working with a team of students from the local university (UCCS). They are among the first in UCCS’s new Bachelor of Innovation Program. The students major in several disciplines but all have Innovation Core classes in common—27 credits geared toward innovation and entrepreneurship. Part of that core includes opportunities for students to work with a business on a project during a semester. I signed up (as I could use plenty of help on my usually-one-person publishing venture) and was accepted!

We decided to focus on trying to market my new novel, Zera and the Green Man, through social media and the internet, using methods that were, basically, no cost. The four students I’ve been working with Jordan Yee, Courtney Hammock, Lohitha Aayyanar, and Lisa Repka. All but Courtney are computer science majors (Courtney is a marketing major).

The team’s work spanned a variety of tasks—from working on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on all the websites, raising Google rankings, and installing and interpreting Google Analytics, to working on promoting the book through social media, including Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. They also participated in a Sustainability Fair, made posters of the book, helped me with writing scripts for a series of commercials, and the list goes on.

I learned a lot from these bright students and they learned from me, too. I was impressed with most of their work, but I have to say that the one thing that really stood out for me was the artwork that Lisa Repka created for Zera and the Green Man‘s Pinterest pins. We thought it’d be great to have some artwork with quotes from the book to share that would hopefully be eye-catching and thought-provoking. Without much input from me, Lisa did just that—times ten!

Since it’s only a few days before the end of the semester and I don’t have the time to do a post on each of the members of the Innovation Team, as I would like to, I decided to interview Lisa for this post and show some of the work she’s created.

Lisa Repka - her first "selfie" - at Manitou Springs Arcade Photo Booth!

Lisa Repka – her first “selfie” – at Manitou Springs Arcade’s Photo Booth!

Lisa’s 21 years old and is in her third year of college at UCCS. She lives in the dorm, which she says is much quieter than living with her two younger siblings (both sisters) at home.

Flora’s Forum: You told me earlier that you came to Colorado from California. What part of California and when did you get here? What did you like/dislike about your change of home?

Lisa Repka: I came to Colorado from the Silicon Valley back in 2005. At first it was hard to get used to the snow (the most I remember it snowing for in San Jose was for 5 minutes), but after shoveling so many snowstorms I’ve gotten used to it. I’m still perplexed by the sudden weather changes, however. The mountains are pretty cool, too.

Flora’s Forum: What made you choose to enroll in the Bachelor of Innovation Program?

Lisa Repka: It sounded interesting to me. I liked how it united the fields of business and computer science, which have both become hugely important in the workplace, and how it encouraged creative thought and teamwork. With knowledge of a lot of different fields, I feel it can help me make changes to the world through innovation. I am passionate for a lot of different fields so it felt like a loss to choose a single topic of interest and stick with it. It also allowed me to take some classes I enjoyed under the Communication Core that I wouldn’t have normally considered taking, such as creative writing and computer music. It acknowledges that it is important to discover multiple subjects and to think from different perspectives.

Flora’s Forum: You’re a computer science major but you revealed at our first meeting that you had an interest in publishing. Do you still, after seeing some of the difficulties in today’s market? Especially with self-publishing? If so, what area of publishing are you interested in?

Lisa Repka: I don’t think there’s anything in the world that can discourage me from wanting to publish a novel, but it does worry me about what it will take me to get any work out there—mentally and financially. My expectations are certainly changed. I see now that self-published authors, especially those just starting out, could dedicate all of their time to promoting their book and it still may not reach a point of national bestseller that many of us dream about. It comes down to research and commitment, and to marketing to the right audience in the right way, and there doesn’t seem to be a clear path to success that works for everyone. From what I learned, I see that the platforms for selling and marketing books are still rapidly changing, and so are the audiences on these social networking sites. I really need to continue to watch the trends of online publishing very closely from now on. One day I want to publish some urban fantasy and science fiction work. I see that the path to get to a successful book might become frustrating at times, but overall I don’t feel discouraged.

Flora’s Forum: I’m relieved to hear that! What type of books do you like to read? And what were your favorite books from childhood?

Lisa Repka: I’ve been slowly becoming more of a visual person when it comes to books due to having so little free time (yay graphic novels!), but I always enjoy a good fantasy story. I love to be immersed in the rich worlds that people create, and I love to experience it along with complex characters. I have a very fond memory of reading children’s encyclopedias to look at outer space images and types of trees. I remember wearing out those books with those plastic transparent pages with flowers on them after so many reads. At one point I loved to look at the types of trees so much I started collecting pine cones.

Flora’s Forum: You decided to work on Pinterest and Twitter in this project and you created these marvelous images with quotes from Zera and the Green Man. Do you have an arts background? Can you describe the process on creating these images? (In case others might want to do the same!)

Lisa Repka: After I picked out a quote I found inspiring, I would begin with a solid background and add a few layers with some Photoshop layer effects to create subtle borders or gradients to make it slightly more interesting. As the focus was on the text, I had to try not to get too carried away and overdress the images. I tried to keep them very minimalist, but to have bright colors (except then the tone was very anxious, and then I used black). I wanted not only the text to be noticeable, but the mood and theme. And most of all I wanted them to add a little fun to a Pinterest or Twitter page. The hardest part about making them was choosing which font out of hundreds was the best to use. That alone could take 15 minutes.

Flora’s Forum: What are your hobbies/interests/obsessions?

Lisa Repka: I definitely enjoy art as a hobby, especially painting and mixed media work. I am particularly enthusiastic about painting flowers. I just love working with bright colors, and flowers seem the most fit for that.

Spring Flowers by Lisa Repka

Flora’s Forum: Does anyone in your family garden? (Had to ask!)

Lisa Repka: Unfortunately, no one does any gardening. I don’t think they’d be very good at it, either, given that the few trees in my backward have been browning for years.

Flora’s Forum: In your work on Twitter you tweet a lot of great information and quotes about our food supply these days. Before you started this project, were you aware of GMOs and the issues that surround them?

Lisa Repka: I had known that produce was being genetically modified but I used to think it was to make food healthier or to make it last longer. I had no idea that pesticides were being added to the DNA of foods we eat. It really opened my eyes to be more mindful of what’s in our food. I am also quite surprised how little testing has been done on these GMOs, especially in the wake of many studies that strongly suggest that GMOs can be harmful for both the environment and human body. I am glad to see so many social networking movements taking action to label GMOs.

Green Man image by Mike Beenenga; poster design by Lisa Repka

Green Man by Mike Beenenga; poster design by Lisa Repka

Flora’s Forum: What are your dreams for the future?

Lisa Repka: I haven’t thought about my immediate future, but one day I would love to work in computer animation. I’ve always been fond of animation as an intersection between art and storytelling, and with a computer fascinating things can happen. It even has very practical uses from making everything from flight simulators to educational games. And if it’s not already, maybe it can be used to promote a greener world. With innovation added to the mix, a lot of new ideas are possible.

California Poppies by Lisa Repka

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Filed under Art & the Garden, Garden Writers We Love

Tagged as Green Man, Green Woman, Greenwoman Publishing, self-publishing, UCCS Bachelor of Innovation Program, Zera and the Green Man

March 28, 2014 · 10:36 pm

The Devil Wears Converse, Revisited

I'll admit that lately I've been wearing moccasins, but I''ll never lose my love for the Chuck Taylors.

Chuck Taylors forever.

Let’s call it Throwback Friday.

This week I went through my first blog, Greenwoman Zine, looking for posts about starting my business. Words that described not only the process but my feelings about why I’m doing what I’m doing. By that, I mean sacrificing dollars, time, and sanity in an attempt to be a publisher in this genre of literature I love most—garden writing.

I found what I needed. Oh, how much more starry-eyed I was back then! Every victory was huge. Every discovery was full of sparkly-specialness.

Would I trade now for then? Today I would say yeah, probably. But ask me in a month or a year and it could be a very different story. I hope so. That’s why I keep on keeping on.

I’m sharing this old post because I thought you might find it amusing, and this week I’m revisiting the agony of straddling the gulf of business while wearing the hats of creator and “boss.” I’ve always felt I was a teacher, and at times a good leader, but being a boss is a very different manner. To be a boss, it sometimes seems that there has to be an inflation of ego (that I cannot muster) combined with a talent to firmly deal with those you’d prefer to tell to (insert imaginative insult here). That, too, is a skill I do not possess. So it’s a struggle and often I wonder if the Grace and Anna (you will read about them below) will ever be in balance.

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(This essay first appeared in Greenwoman Zine on June 14, 2011.)

At the end of last summer I watched the documentary September Issue with my daughter Lily. While I’m not a huge fan of haute couture (and Lily is) I appreciate the art of fashion and I’ve always dug Vogue‘s articles.

I’d also seen, and loved, The Devil Wears Prada, so I had a preconceived notion or two about the subject of the documentary, Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour. The Devil Wears Prada portrayed her as 1) shockingly insensitive to others’ feelings, and, 2) cruel and boundary-less when it came to using employees for personal needs. If you think about it, those were her only “crimes;” but for a woman they are felonies.

After watching The September Issue, about the time I started my own magazine, I didn’t come away with a negative impression of Anna Wintour. I, instead found myself in complete awe of her abilities. She also seemed a soft-serve version of the icy Prada-lady, but, then again, who knows the “truth”? Like any art, films are subjective. Though I was in awe of Wintour, I identified with Vogue’s Art Director, Grace Coddington. Coddington, a brilliant photographer and stylist, was fun, a bit impish, and she didn’t give a shit about being a fashion plate herself (defiantly wearing her signature black clothing, which Wintour had declared “out,” and comfortable sandals instead of de rigueur high fashion high heels). Most admirably, Coddington was fearless about questioning Wintour’s editorial decisions. This is what I connected with most—that questioning of authority, as that has been a major theme in my life.

It fascinates me how the “establishment” and the “movement” work against (yet ultimately for) one another—the establishment seeking to thwart evolution, the movement always pushing for it. That dynamic is clear in the film. Coddington (and other artists) push, Wintour reigns them in, yet also engages in the process (and progress). She evaluates and edits the forward push, serving both establishment and movement.

My surprise, recently, was to see my own shift. I now identify more with Anna Wintour—though I actually shook my head while typing those words, as it is such a newly emergent part of my personality.

Here’s how my sympathy for the devil came about. Now I’m doing basically what Wintour does, though, obviously, at a much different level. The point is I’ve become the person who must make decisions. I’m answerable to everything, which is, ultimately, the success or failure of my publishing work. As this enterprise has progressed I’ve come to the point where I’ve learned a single all-important lesson: I simply cannot, must not, fuck around. The magazine comes first. Emotional stuff gets in the way. Decisions must be made quickly and clear-headedly. If something isn’t working, it must be fixed, or dispensed with, immediately.

This is tough. In the last month I’ve had to 1) reject a small piece of art that I asked, as a favor, to be created from someone I didn’t know well—and then deal with a mini-temper tantrum from the artist; 2) find another writer, at the eleventh hour, to replace one who couldn’t fulfill her obligation; 3) make the decision to try to design the entire magazine myself, adding more weeks of training and work to my already overloaded plate, not to mention setting the publication date back a few weeks; 4) consider advice from a person notable in the garden/education field who wrote me suggesting that I should abandon my idea of a subscription magazine and, instead, create a free online publication (having faith the advertisers will come!); and, most harrowing, 4) go through a grant interview in which I had to lay my last 15-20 years of of a life immersed in art, gardening, and writing soul-bare, in order to try to make this project easier on me and my family financially.

All of these trials have had emotional costs, and my decisions had to be made quickly and on a single criteria—what I believe is best for the publication, and, by association, me. I surprised myself on how efficiently and quickly I met each challenge. As I told a friend, I could not have done the things I am doing now ten years ago.

Some of those trials were painful but the only one that really shook me was the grant interview. Although the people conducting it were wonderfully friendly, receptive, and genuinely engaged in my story, and the questions put to me were perfect, I have never felt so naked and vulnerable as then, sharing my hopes, dreams, motivations. The hardest part was doing it in a context that felt, ultimately, like begging. Please approve of me, what I’ve put my heart and soul into for the last two decades! Please consider my vision worthy! Won’t you slice off a little slice of that tasty philanthropic pie for my art? Later that day I wept while working in the garden, feeling angry at what I perceived as failure—that I didn’t have enough money myself to do things without asking for help. I was also angry that I had to expose my soul and ask for my worth to be validated.

My anger was soon replaced by defiance. At one point during the interview I was asked if I’d “accept less than I requested.” Immediately I chirped, “Sure!” Later, I thought, I’ve put in a lot of hours of work and have been through a lot of hoops doing this, endless weeks of waiting around, and I’m going to have to jump through more hoops if I get the award. My friend Edie once joked that we had the same personalities, we were like the little mouse that gives the hawk the one finger salute just as it’s about to be swooped upon and devoured. Hence my next thought: If I don’t get what I applied for, well, then, I don’t want any of it. It’s not worth it.

I know I may happily eat humble pie regarding that little proclamation. It won’t be the first time. Whether it would be selling out, or wisdom, or a bit of both, I’m not sure. What I do know is the very next day I went to the bank and took out a loan—and I felt better.

Last week my horribly unfashionable old pink Converse shoes were showing their wear. Faded, a couple of holes, unfit for wearing in public, though I was still doing just that. I have a weird attachment to this brand of shoes; it’s not just comfort—they also symbolize the girl-me who lives strongly still, who got her first pair (white) at age 11, and the whole rock ’n roll/Coddington-appetite for defiance. Lily, out shopping with me and somewhat scandalized by my lack of good taste (her inner Anna Wintour always in dominance), remarked when I gleefully spotted a new pair for $25: “Mom, you’re almost 50, when are you going to stop wearing those?”

“When I’m 90.”

At home I showed my husband my new shoes and took the old ones to the trash. He asked, “Aren’t you going to save those, to garden in?”

“Hell no,” I said. “I’m wearing my new ones.”

Anna Wintour is rising, but I’m glad the Grace in me is still going strong.

—Sandra

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