Big Bear Lake

Ring in 2014 at Big Bear with Torchlight Parade

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

The holidays have come and gone, and New Year’s Eve is right around the corner! This year forget the noisy, crowded bars and ring in 2014 at Bear Mountain and Snow Summit for an unforgettable New Year’s Eve experience!

At Snow Summit, the annual New Year’s Eve Torchlight Parade will begin at 7 p.m. The parade is free and open to all ages for viewing. It begins when over 200 staff and employees descend the mountain on skis and snowboards, each caring a torchlight. This amazing display illuminates the night sky and gives the mountain an astounding glow.  After the parade, onlookers are encouraged to join Big Bear Mountain Resorts to help ring in the New Year. Guests will have two parties to choose from this year, one at Snow Summit and one at Bear Mountain.

Continue reading →

Dead Tree Books, eBook, Success Stories

Over 150 KDP Authors Sold More than 100,000 Thousand Books in 2013 EACH!

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Amazon has announced a record-setting holiday season for Amazon Prime.  From the Amazon Media Room:

Amazon today announced a record-setting holiday season for Amazon Prime, the annual membership program offering unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items. More than one million customers around the world became new Prime members in the third week of December. On Amazon’s peak shipping day, more Prime items were shipped worldwide than ever before. The entire 2013 holiday season was the best ever for Amazon, with more than 36.8 million items ordered worldwide on Cyber Monday, which is a record-breaking 426 items per second, and millions of customers unwrapped Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire tablets this holiday season. Continue reading →

Success Stories

Indie Success Story: Maya Cross’s Intimate Connection with Readers

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Alex Palmer has posted an article over at Publishers Weekly about the success Maya Cross is having reaching her readers.

From the article:

Among self-published authors’ major advantages over published big-names is often a more personal connection with readers. Whether exchanging comments on Twitter, posting updates to their blog, or taking other steps, these writers tend to ingratiate themselves with readers in a more direct way than a formal marketing blitz it likely to accomplish.

That has been part of the reason that Australian author Maya Cross has seen each installment of her three-part erotic romance Alpha Series become a bestseller. But while an unimpeded connection with readers has been key to Cross’s success, also important has been maintaining a certain privacy.

Continue reading →

State Parks

California State Parks Announces 150th Anniversary Annual Park Pass Program

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

California State Parks has introduced a new Annual Park Pass Program to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of State Parks. From the press release:

The Pass Program will include a variety of options for visitors, including a 150th Commemorative Pass, the Surf Explorer pass, the Off-Highway Vehicle pass, a Historian Passport pass, and the California Park Experience day-use pass. The new passes will be available to purchase starting today.

Continue reading →

National Forests, National Parks

Record of Decision available for Mariposa Grove Plan

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

The National Park Service (NPS) at Yosemite National Park is pleased to announce that the Record of Decision for the Restoration of the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias Final Environmental Impact Statement (Mariposa Grove Final EIS) was approved by the Regional Director on December 10, 2013. The Record of Decision (ROD) formally selects Alternative 2, South Entrance Hub for implementation. Alternative 2 was identified as the park’s Preferred Alternative in the October 2013 Mariposa Grove Final EIS. The Selected Action in the Record of Decision is substantially the same as described for Alternative 2 in the Final EIS.

Continue reading →