Daily Archives: November 9, 2014

Holly-would

I’m not off to see the wizard but from November 13th through the 17th, I will be in the land of wizardry: Hollywood. I’ll be there for the final events of a 7-month-long Centennial Celebration of screen legend Tyrone Power. This is also the final leg of promotional activity for the Centennial Limited Edition of Searching for My Father, Tyrone Power, written by his daughter, Romina Power. I’ve played a pivotal role with the book, most notably in the past year as editor, publishing supervisor and marketer.

In the past year, I’ve moved from writing about what it takes to produce and promote a book to actually doing it. I’m glad to say that what I’ve written holds true in the real world. Books are like a 3-legged stool. The legs represent: writing, publication and promotion. The stool will not stand and the book will not sell without all three legs sturdily in place.

Writing means the original work and good editing. Publication means production and distribution. Promotion means reader awareness from day one going forward. While writing might be a singular effort, one must partner along the way if success is to be achieved. I invite writers to read my past blogs for helpful information about taking a book from conception to celebration. You’ll find these posts by clicking the category: For Authors.

As every author knows, there is always an interesting story behind the story; how a book is conceived and born. The goal of Booked is to enhance books for readers by bringing the back story forward. That is what our webcast interviews do. Last year, I took a hiatus from the interviews to work on the Tyrone Power “project” (book and centennial events). Along the way, I’ve been asked to work on other book projects. I hope to return to the webcasts but until then, I will continue my blog posts and invite you to watch past shows in the Booked Archives.

Recommended

This week’s Booked webcast re-broadcast (starting November 10th) will move and inspire you as you learn the moving true story of Lt. Col. Mark Weber, author of the bestseller Tell My Sons. At the age of 41, Mark lost a valiant 3-year battle with cancer. He spent the last year of his life transforming his lifelong personal journals into a book with the help of co-writer David Murray. While Tell My Sons began as a legacy to Mark’s children, it took on a life of its own as an inspirational memoir with remarkable wisdom we can all apply to our own lives. David Murray shares the incredible backstory of this transformative book this week on U-Stream and, as always, in the Booked Archives.

The third annual Chicago Book Expo will be held Saturday, December 6, 2014, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Columbia College Chicago, 1104 South Wabash. The centerpiece of the event will be an expo of Chicago area independent publishers and literary organizations on the first and eight floors of the building. This will be an expansion of last year’s event, which was named by New City as one of the top five literary events of 2013.

Footnotes

If you’re going to be in Los Angeles November 13th-15th, you have a last chance to join in the Centennial celebrations honoring movie legend Tyrone Power. Since May, celebrations have occurred around the U.S. to great response. For more information about events (and some photos of me with the Power children in Ohio), visit Movie Memories Foundation.

Collector’s quality limited first editions of Romina Power’s moving memoir/biography, Searching for My Father, Tyrone Power are now available. Please send an email to request a special order while quantities last. In film historian Matthew Hoffman’s book review of this handsomely produced book, he says it is “… a work of love that his fans will certainly love. Considering that Power himself was an avid collector of first edition books, this was a nice homage to him. Though it took years to see the light of day in this country, I can tell you that it’s been worth the wait. This is a beautifully written and compiled book for the global fans of Tyrone Power.”