“Please keep in mind; this is just my first book.” This is what I began telling friends and family several months ago when I was still up to my eyeballs in anxiety and final edits of my memoir, Pieces of Me: Rescuing My Kidnapped Daughters. I followed the announcement with a bunch of reasons why […]
Guest Blogger Lizbeth Meredith | Three Things I Wish I’d Known as an Expectant Author Read More »
A few months before publishing my memoir, I was drowning in book-related expenses. And while some of them were discretionary—contests, book marks and cards, shipping of the paperbacks I wanted to sell directly during events, and website upgrades, to name a few—they seemed important to my book’s success. I considered a second job, but didn’t
Guest Blogger Lizbeth Meredith | Grants: Beyond the Cash Benefit Read More »
I have a confession to make. I hear voices in my head. Male, female, young, and old. Since I was a kid, they’ve spoken to me for hours on end telling stories. It’s like magic. In 2006 I learned the secret of the magic, the secret that enabled me to actually become one of those
Basil Sands | Voices in My Head: the Wonderful World of Narrating Audiobooks Read More »
A crazy thing happened the other day. When I catch my students writing language similar to the previous sentence, I often ask them to think of the word “thing” as a great opportunity to replace a word with little meaning and instead insert words that reveal specific details, clarity, passion and power. Sometimes, however,
It’s an old saw that, once writers release their creations into the world, they sort of relinquish control over them. Released like birds, words come home to roost or fall prey to sniping ambush. I am not speaking of rights signed over to publishers here, or of the comments sections of online publications—home for truculent
Michael Engelhard | Breitbarted Read More »
That title is borrowed from an essay by venerable writer and publisher Nick Lyons that appeared in the New York Times Book Review some years ago. Lyons himself borrowed the title from a 1935 animated short film starring Betty Boop. In the cartoon, Betty wails those words to a villain trying to seduce her. But
Guest Blogger Rich Chiappone | No! No! A Thousand Times, No! Read More »
Short Editions vending machine dispenses a story. Image: www.travelandleisure.com I’ve become rather notorious for reading the latest sensation, the must-read pick of the season, a good ten to fifteen years after everyone else does. I could try to convince you that I do this on purpose, in order to savor the story after the furor
Deb: The Book, Reimagined Read More »
I’ve been at this publishing game for a while now—twenty years, seventeen books, six different publishers. From a writer’s perspective, it’s a complicated business. You may think your contract spells out everything related to your book deal, when in fact many details that can make or break your publishing experience won’t be covered in your
Book Deals: What Authors Don’t Ask Their Publishers Read More »
from http://2-infinity-and-beyondxx.tumblr.com/ A short story by a relatively unknown author gets top billing with a major urban news outlet. Sounds like fantasy, right? Last week, KGW Portland, opened 6 pm news with an author reading from his recently published speculative fiction, an unconventional short story set in the moments following a big Cascadia earthquake. Disasters—even fictional ones—tend to
Deb Vanasse: Publishing – It’s Bigger Than You Think Read More »
I’m sitting in window seat 15 E. My elbows are tucked tight against my side—my feet propped up on my carry-on bag crammed beneath the seat in front of me. After two weeks in the lower 48 on a book tour, you would think I’d be sleeping—or finishing Brendan Jones’ wonderful novel, The Alaskan Laundry.
Guest Blog by Debbie Clarke Moderow: On Being a Writer Read More »
