LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Four leading animators from the Zhebe Studio in Kazakhstan will be in Los Angeles July 14 - 21 as part of an effort to revive the production of cartoons in their country. While in Los Angeles these distinguished International Visitors will meet with their professional counterparts to gain first-hand knowledge of [...]

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. — Publishers Newswire, an online resource for small publishers and first-time book authors, has announced its latest quarterly “Books to Bookmark” list, for Q2/2008. This list is a roundup of new and interesting books which are often missed due to their nature of not originating from “big name” authors, or major publishing [...]

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Museum of Robots in Second Life will announce the winners of its first annual “Build-a-Robot” Competition at an event on July 19, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. PDT. A Linden dollars prize will be awarded to 10 winners and all entrants receive a merchandise prize. Winners will be selected by a panel [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Giving musicians and music lovers more power and flexibility than ever before, BETA Records (betarecords.com) has launched a newly expanded site combining search-and-match music selection, virtual commerce, and social interaction. Technology partners took part in a global 2-year effort to transform BETA Records into a music ecosystem to accommodate the way [...]

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Museum of Robots (www.MuseumofRobots.com) in Second Life announces the “Build-a-Robot” Competition, and invites all Second Life residents to participate. According to the organizers, “Our goal is to explore what a robot is, how it can be expressed within the parameters of Second Life, and to encourage creativity and originality. Our definition [...]

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Local author Jim Musgrave is featured on Sniplits’ beta test site. Anyone with a digital music player, smart phone or laptop understands the hunger for new content. Now, with the launch of Sniplits.com, there’s a new source for entertainment on the Internet. Sniplits(SM) is publishing audio short stories, packaged as DRM-free [...]

CLAREMONT, Calif. — Life-Changing Coaching, a professional life coaching firm established in 2001, announced today a new and improved web site to enhance usability and to complement a book series launch - the first of which is titled, “Moving Forward: Turning Good Intentions into Great Results by Discovering Yourself, Your Place, and Your Path” (ISBN: 978-143-434-2836, hardcover).

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A new interactive publication brings great flexibility to every photographer using Adobe Photoshop 7 through CS3 running on Windows or Mac. The just-released eBook includes literally hundreds of new, productive and exotic treatments, effects, transformations and conversions of almost any digital image. The work is “Lights…Digital Camera…ACTIONS!” (ISBN: 1-882383-39-7) by Peter iNova, and is the first digital photography eBook available on a USB Flash drive.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Readers, writers and book-lovers of all ages will come together Saturday, April 26th and Sunday, April 27th to participate in the highly anticipated 13th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the UCLA campus.

CARPINTERIA, Calif. — Holland Scott Gallery today announces the debut of the Environmentally Responsible Green Energy Fine Art Lamps. These lamps combine energy-efficiency technology with fine-art design. Elegant photographic floral images and art-deco linoleum patterns from the 1930’s are the result of energy efficient LED lamp technology and the Giclee fine-art printmaking process.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. and MANHATTAN, N.Y. — The Los Angeles Music Network’s “LAMN Jam” heads for the Big Apple. Launched three years ago in Los Angeles (where performances continue), LAMN Jams go beyond traditional showcases by featuring artists performing original songs, followed by instant professional critiques from a panel of industry experts. This year, artists will perform for $20,000 in prizes.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. and NORMAN, Okla. — Last year, images of Britney Spears’ shaved head were splayed all over the media. And, in celebration of Spears, Mainsite Contemporary Art in Norman is exhibiting an appropriated image for public viewing through March 28. Los Angeles artist, known as XVALA, set out to define Spears’ spiritual, emotional and economical value.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Former TV anchor, author, and celebrity presenter Kelly Lange will give the Best Pop Campaign Award to Dee Dee Phelps for her 2007 promotion of “Vinyl Highway, Singing as Dick and Dee Dee” (ISBN: 978-1-934321-75-1). The award will be presented at the 13th annual Book Publicists of Southern California Awards Dinner on Thursday, October 18th, 8 p.m. at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Gallery of Historical Figures announces “The Holocaust,” a realistic sculpture by artist G. S. Stuart pays homage to the millions of victims slain in the death camps of World War II. After extensive research, Stuart set a working prisoner in Auschwitz and then carefully modeled the tableau in quarter life size.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Libreria Martinez, the landmark Latino bookstore in Santa Ana, California will host a book signing for a limited-run edition of the controversial new novel, “America Libre” (ISBN: 0-595-42606-9) on Tuesday, October 9th at 7:00 p.m. After five months as a self-published edition, “America Libre,” by Raul Ramos y Sanchez, was acquired by Grand Central Publishing.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — James Nemec, LMT, CST-D, raised on the Atlantic ocean, begins to question the power of touch and collective emotions in the CraniOcean Media release of, “TOUCH THE OCEAN: THE POWER OF OUR COLLECTIVE EMOTIONS” (ISBN: 978-09792805-0-4).

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Wetpixel LLC announces the arrival of a new quarterly print magazine devoted to high-quality underwater photography. Wetpixel Quarterly brings fans of the underwater realm spectacular imagery in a landscape-oriented, high-resolution format. As well as celebrating the beauty of the deep, Wetpixel Quarterly provides a forum for a necessary dialog on marine conservation.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Originally designed to help people take photos of themselves without the inevitable arm extension, XShot, LLC, announces a product that is gaining popularity in still photography, and the video industry as well. What is the XShot? The XShot is a hand-held, monopod-like product that allows the user to capture their picture when no one is around to take it for them.

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. — First time author Aimee Schmidt releases a new children’s book today focused on teaching kids about the value of being a unique person. The book, “Abner Finklestein” (ISBN-13: 978-1-933732-16-9), focuses on a troubled child that finds himself getting made fun of on a consistent basis by his peers. To cope with being put down, the main character creates an imaginary friend, and in the process finds that being unique is not so bad after all.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The Los Angeles Times announced today that in its 12th straight year the Festival of Books drew between 130,000 and 140,000 people and featured the largest number of writers, panel discussions, exhibitors, and activities in its history. Held on the beautiful UCLA campus on Saturday, April 28th and Sunday, April 29th, the event drew higher than expected attendance and drove record book sales for sponsors.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — John Waguespack, a unique San Francisco Surreal Artist, launches his latest exhibit “REINCARNATION” at District in San Francisco on Thursday April 12th. This exhibit ties history, pop culture, and surrealism into a colorful display of American iconography. “REINCARNATION” shows the affect of a former president’s “reincarnation” on the economy.