Calling all short story authors: The January 31st deadline is quickly approaching for the Chicago Tribune annual Nelson Algren Short Story Contest. This highly esteemed contest, established in 1986, has launched such writers as Stuart Dybek and Louise Erdrich. There is no entry fee. Winners get cash prizes and their stories are considered for publication in the Tribune’s Printers Row Journal. Submission guidelines are available online from the Chicago Tribune.
You probably don’t give it a thought but your enjoyment of a book is enhanced or diminished by the look of the letters that form the words that form the phrases that lead you through the pages. The design of those letters is a craft that has developed over centuries.
In traditional typography, the specific size, style and weight of a typeface is referred to as a “font”. This harkens back to the casting of metal dies for seals and currency in ancient times and, later, to the development of movable type when letters were molded in metal. A typeface comprises an assortment of fonts that share an overall design. With today’s digital technology, the terms “font” and “typeface” are often interchanged.
Most of the common, classic typefaces we use today – including Roman, Italic, Garamond, Caslon, Fleischmann, Bodoni, Baskerville – were created before the 1800s. Fewer typefaces were created in the 19th and 20th centuries but industrialization of the printing industry brought major advances in print technology. Computer digitization of typography in recent decades resulted in countless new typefaces, including such contemporary type designs as Times, Helvetica and Futura, as well as variations of the classic styles. Today, there are thousands of different typefaces, and new ones continue to be developed.
Quantity equals quandary for the self-publishing author. Being familiar with typefaces and their effect on the reader’s experience is one more opportunity to soar or sink. Fortunately, someone decided to create a list of the most popular book fonts, based on the Top Ten Typefaces Used by Book Design Winners.
If you look at older books, especially those produced by major publishing houses, you are likely to find a note about the typeface that was chosen. That lovely piece of information is rarely mentioned in contemporary books, especially those that are self-published. It’s a pity. Not that you would choose to buy or read a book based on the typeface of the text; simply to appreciate the art in the creation and the selection. It’s worth another look.
Do you remember the 1982 sci-fi movie Tron? It’s about a computer programmer who is transported inside the software world of a mainframe computer, where he interacts with various programs as he tries to get back out. I feel like that programmer nearly every time I start working at my computer. An endless universe of cyber-choices, with tentacles reaching out, sucks me into a virtual vortex, devouring real time.
This dizzying experience happened again as I started preparing my blog about Self-Publishing. My original goal was to provide an update of industry statistics about newly published titles in 2012 and show the value of Book●ed as an innovative marketing concept. I started with Bowker, the official ISBN agency for the U.S. and its territories. “ISBN” stands for “International Standard Book Number”. An ISBN is a number that uniquely identifies a published book or book-like product, facilitating the sale of the product to booksellers and libraries.
Bowker’s report for 2012 says ISBNs show nearly 60% more self-published works than in 2011. Self-published titles in 2012 jumped to more than 391,000, up an astonishing 422% over 2007. Just one year earlier, Bowker had reported nearly 346,000 new titles published (traditional plus self-published), of which self-published titles accounted for 43%. Ebooks continue to gain on print, comprising 40 percent of the ISBNs that were self-published in 2012, up from just 11 percent in 2007.
Critics of Bowker claim the figures should be far higher because an increasing number of books are coming into the marketplace as direct author-to-reader sales without the ISBN numbers that enable tracking. That means self-published titles are even higher than reported!
The bottom line for authors is that it is easier than ever to get published but harder than ever to compete for sales and readership. This is true for traditionally published books but much more so for self-published works. Authors can no longer view themselves purely as artists creating literary works. They now have to also don the hat of business owner; the business is selling their book.
Our rapidly evolving literary marketplace has created a new service infrastructure in publishing to fill the needs of authors with books to sell. In addition to companies that actually produce print, digital or audio books, companies offer a variety of post-production services. For the uninformed author, the new infrastructure is a dangerous minefield. As I wrote on this Blog back in February, authors need to be aware of “the good, the bad and the ugly about self-publishing.”
And so we return to Tron, trolling the internet, seeking information about resources for authors and feeling overwhelmed with choices. It has never been easier for authors to get published, or to be separated from money without getting adequate help to sell their books.
If you have written a book you want to publish, whether you pursue traditional or self-publishing, print or digital, traditional booksellers or direct to reader, tread carefully! “Biggest” is not always best and “cheapest” is rarely a bargain.
Get a first, second and possibly third opinion from people with experience at successfully producing and marketing books in your genre. Join writing groups, attend conferences, talk with consultants and network. Read leading industry magazines, take classes, read the insides of books to look for names of publishers, editors, agents and others who helped bring the book to you. Get to know published authors. Immerse yourself in the literary world, including both the writing craft and the marketing know-how. Read the Book●ed blog! Feel free to contact me for more information. You may feel overwhelmed at times but, like the programmer in Tron, you will emerge victorious.
There could be nothing so important as a book can be. – Maxwell Perkins
In all the arts, perhaps no collaboration is more underappreciated than that between a book’s author and its editor. Other than the rarely read acknowledgements page, you’re unlikely to connect an editor with the book you love or hate. Yet the editor often makes or breaks a book. One editor who is nearly as celebrated as the authors he worked with is Max Perkins.
Considered by many to be the best editor ever, Max Perkins (September 20, 1884 – June 17, 1947) was the guiding hand behind such literary luminaries as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, James Jones, Ring Lardner, Erskine Caldwell, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Alan Paton and Thomas Wolfe. Working for the highly esteemed publisher Charles Scribner’s Sons, Perkins respected his writers. He said, “I believe the writer… should always be the final judge. I have always held to that position and have sometimes seen books hurt thereby, but at least as often helped. The book belongs to the author.”
Perkins’ writing skills are evident in letters he exchanged with the authors he mentored, promoted and befriended. He advised them, “If you are not discouraged about your writing on a regular basis, you may not be trying hard enough. Any challenging pursuit will encounter frequent patches of frustration. Writing is nothing if not challenging.” Perkins’ special gift was his ability to see where an author needed to take his or her work and to illuminate a path the author had not seen.
Perkins was also a fierce advocate of untested talent, often fighting the bosses at Scribner’s on behalf of young, fledgling, sometimes controversial authors. Scribner’s rejected Fitzgerald’s first novel with the working title, The Romantic Egotist. Perkins worked with Fitzgerald to revise the manuscript, which was renamed This Side of Paradise. After much coaxing, he convinced Scribner’s to publish the best-selling novel in 1920, launching Fitzgerald’s remarkable literary career and a new literary generation.
Perkins’ visionary approach, along with an extraordinary ability to understand the intent of the authors he worked with, attracted writers. Rawlings’ Pulitzer Prize-winning The Yearling (1938) was born of suggestions from Perkins. Perkins guided Jones away from the novel he was working on and set him on the path to what would become From Here to Eternity (1951). With gratitude for their many collaborations, Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952), was dedicated posthumously to Perkins’ memory.
In today’s literary marketplace, with traditional publishers appearing to be more interested in numbers than in letters, and with the incursion of self-publishing, how likely are we to see another editor of Max Perkins’ spirit, talent and vision?
The next time you read a book that moves, informs, enlightens or greatly entertains you, find out who the editor was. And say a quiet “thank you.”
MAX PERKINS: Editor of Genius by A. Scott Berg is the National Book Award winner and best-selling biography of the man many refer to as “the most admired editor in the world.” In the words of Newsweek, this is “an admirable biography of a wholly admirable man.”
Editor to Author: The Letters of Maxwell E. Perkins is a compilation of correspondence showing the genius of Max Perkins. It was published by the Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1950, three years after Perkins’ death.
The dictionary offers two definitions for “kindling”. The most common use is the noun, meaning easily combustible small sticks or twigs used for starting a fire. In science jargon, it is a verb that means a process by which a seizure or other brain event is both initiated and its recurrence made more likely. I think it’s time to add a third definition: Kindling is the debut publication of a book solely via Kindle.
When Kindle and other eReaders first arrived on the market, they were used to bring print-publication books to readers in a conveniently portable, less expensive digital form. As the Kindle gained in popularity, publishers realized they could bring new books swiftly and more economically to eReaders, bypassing traditional print publication altogether. Now, some books publish first in eReader format and, if reader demand justifies a publisher’s investment, proceed to print publication.
From traditional publishing houses producing direct-to-Kindle book, it was a natural progression to authors self-publishing on Kindle as their first step in producing their books.
On the bright side, the confluence of eReader technology and self-publishing availability makes it easier than for authors to get their work published and offers readers more choices than ever. On the dark side, it is getting harder than ever for authors to compete for readers’ attention and sustained interest while readers will have a harder time discerning what’s worth reading. I want to share with you an excellent example of self-publishing a direct-to-Kindle book: The Survival Girls.
(From the Amazon website) “In the summer of 2011, writer, artist, and development worker Ming Holden journeyed to Kenya with the goal of creating a performance with refugee girls for World Refugee Day. At the end of her seven weeks there, she had founded the Survival Girls, a theater group comprised of six Congolese refugee women ages 18-23 living in a Nairobi slum. The Survival Girls have stayed together since then, an independent and self-sustaining women’s empowerment and artistic expression group that has doubled in membership, competed in local competitions, and been contracted by the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees to perform all over Nairobi about female genital mutilation and other social issues.
The Survival Girls is a literary nonfiction book fully illustrated by Seattle artist Jody Joldersma. Proceeds benefit university education for the Survival Girls in Nairobi. Written in the first person by Ming, this is just one story of the group’s genesis, a story of how the concept and enactment of ‘safe space’ to assist with trauma recovery impacted women’s empowerment in the refugee community in Nairobi’s slums.”
The Survival Girls has been warmly endorsed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
While hoping to find a traditional publisher, the creators of The Survival Girls invested their own time and money to bring the book to readers by self-publishing in Kindle format. Hopefully, good sales will also attract a print publisher who can advance this well-written, compelling book to the form it deserves.
Learning to read is probably the most difficult and revolutionary thing that happens to the human brain and if you don’t believe that, watch an illiterate adult try to do it. – John Steinbeck
It was disheartening to learn that a study conducted in late April by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy found that 32 million adults – 14 percent of the population — in our nation can’t read. Among high school graduates, 19 percent can’t read; and 21 percent of adults in the U.S. read below a 5th grade level. Only 29 percent displayed a “basic” reading level. The U.S. illiteracy rate hasn’t changed in 10 years.
Illiteracy impacts so many aspects of society in general and countless individual lives. It denies people economic security, access to health care, and the ability to actively participate in civic life. Illiteracy is often a legacy handed down from one generation to another; parents who don’t read are much more likely to have children who don’t read.
For those of us who love reading, it may seem unimaginable that others are so diminished by their inability to read. What we need to understand is that, like many skills, there is an optimal period of brain maturation in which to develop reading skills. For many reasons, children may miss learning to read during this period, finding themselves illiterate by the time they graduate from high school. Having lost the chance to fall in love with reading at a young age, they may feel unable to learn this crucial skill and lack the motivation to take on the challenge.
Schools and libraries have developed programs to encourage reading and to help those struggling to become literate. As booklovers, there are some things each of us can do to support literacy. We can read to the children in our lives. We can volunteer at schools, libraries, houses of worship and other places that offer literacy mentorships. We can also get involved with World Book Night, an annual celebration dedicated to spreading the love of reading, person to person.
Each year on April 23 –Shakespeare’s birthday– tens of thousands of people in the U.S. go out into their communities and give a total of half a million free World Book Night paperbacks to light and non-readers. World Book Day is celebrated in the UK and Ireland by giving schoolchildren a book token. World Book Night was introduced in 2011 in the UK and Ireland to bring attention to books for adult readers.
With its launch in 2012, World Book Night U.S. chose to continue the focus on adult readers,
with a few books for teens and middle readers included. Many, many other wonderful programs already exist to get books to young children, and they are essential. But World Book Night U.S. fills another important need: Encouraging reading in the teen and adult population, especially those who may not have access to printed books for reasons of means or geography.
The goal of World Book Night is to seek out adult readers wherever they are, in towns and cities, in public settings or in places from nursing homes to food pantries, low-income schools to mass transit. We owe it to our society to help lift others out of illiteracy. As booklovers – readers, writers, editors, agents, publishers, booksellers, librarians and teachers – we can join World Book Night to spread the love.
There’s encouraging news for those of us who value our local independent bookstores. The American Booksellers Association, a non-profit industry association founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores in North America, reports that its membership rolls have gone up every year since 2009, from 1,401 four years ago to 1,632 this year.
At the same time, the National Endowment for the Arts reports that only 47% of Americans say they read a book for pleasure last year. Read my Spreading the Love blog post to learn how you can help improve this statistic.
The First Indie Authors Book Fair (expected to become an annual event) will be held on November 2 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at Re-Event Gallery in Lake Forest, IL. Visitors can meet the authors, buy some holiday gifts, get their books signed and hear snippets of the works read throughout the day. Books range from children’s picture books through young adult and adult fiction and nonfiction. Light refreshments, kid friendly.
The 2013 Chicago Book Expo will be held on Sunday, November 24, 11am-5pm in Uptown at St. Augustine College (1345 W. Argyle). The centerpiece of the event will be the expo of the Chicago area’s independent publishers in St. Augustine Hall. Authors and publishers are invited to rent exhibitor tables at very reasonable prices to sell books and promote work. There will be several literary events around Uptown in the week leading up to the Expo.
It’s not uncommon for movies to be adapted from books. It’s far less common for a movie to be made about books. And even less common for that movie to be a documentary. One that comes to mind is the 2002 film, Stone Reader, produced by Barnes & Noble about the 1972 novel Stones of Summer (referred to in my February 17th Blog posts, “Language Vs. Plot” and “Recommended”).
Another documentary about books is in the works and I’m looking forward to its debut. The title is simply Books, A Documentary but I don’t expect it to be a simple movie. It is the story of one man’s passion for books. That man is Larry McMurtry, American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter, a prolific writer best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Lonesome Dove.
What is less known about McMurtry is that he is so passionate about books that for more than 40 years he amassed a collection of 450,000 second-hand books by rescuing the inventory of 26 failing bookstores and more than 200 personal libraries. Those books filled four converted warehouses that comprised his Archer City, Texas, bookstore, aptly called “Booked Up.”
McMurtry lamented the loss of independent bookstores that couldn’t compete with discounters and internet marketers. “It’s tragic,” he said. “It’s just clear that bookselling as it’s been basically since Gutenberg — a form of dispensing culture, if you will — is clearly passing away. I don’t think we have a reading culture anymore. Five years ago, I would have thought I was leaving my son and my grandson a great asset, and now I’m not sure I am.”
In August 2012, Booked Up auctioned more than 300,000 antiquarian books from its inventory. Through the personal story of McMurtry’s life-time love affair with books and his 40-year journey as a collector-seller, Books, A Documentary promises to be a compelling look at the past, present and future of the American antiquarian book trade.
A dear friend of mine with a biographical book that was published in Italy, is now planning to publish the English translation in the United States. With an intimate knowledge of her subject and fluency in English as well as Italian, translation was relatively easy. The spirit and flow of the book remains delightfully intact. Most authors do not have these advantages. They must rely on others to translate their books.
Unlike translations we might hear at the United Nations, in a corporate setting or in a textbook, translation of literature is a special craft. Beyond getting the words right, literary translators must climb into the mind and soul of the author, accurately conveying the imagination, the intentions and the artistry of the original work. Translations of poetic works must also maintain the cadence, and in many instances choose rhyming words.
Some translations work beautifully. Some don’t. Some books have been translated multiple times with mixed results. The most obvious is the Bible. The United Bible Society has tallied 1,257 languages into which the New Testament has been translated. Along with religious books, children’s books stand high in the ranks of most-frequently translated literature. They include such works as The Little Prince (originally written in French, translated into 216 languages), Andersen’s Fairy Tales (Swedish into 153 languages), Pinocchio (Italian into 100 languages) and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (English into 97 languages).
Mark Twain noted, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is really a large matter — it’s the difference between a lightning bug and the lightning.” So if you’re thinking of reading a book that was translated from another language, it is worth doing some research to be sure you get the best possible version. Huffington Post recently released A Literature In Translation Starter Kit, listing “14 absolutely indispensable in-translation books to get you started.”
Renown author and essayist Salman Rushdie said “It is normally supposed that something always gets lost in translation; I cling, obstinately to the notion that something can also be gained.” So why are only 3% or less of the books published in the United States translations? A majority of the 400 or so original translations of fiction and poetry books published annually in the States already achieved success in their own country. That leaves countless excellent translations of lesser known quality books out of the realm of public awareness.
Kudos to Chad W. Post, director of Open Letter Books, which specializes in great books in translation, as well as the web site Three Percent. In a recent post on the Publishers Weekly website, he wrote about this unfortunate oversight. Based on his experience and expertise, he shared his list of the 20 best books in translation that you probably never heard of before.
I recently chatted with two writer friends about why we write. This is a question I’ve pondered frequently since becoming aware of The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida, recently published in English by Random House. What makes this best-selling book especially intriguing is that the author (only 13 years old at the time of first publication in Japan in 2007) is autistic and his autism built steeps walls over which it seemed impossible to express his thoughts or feelings.
The translator of the book into English is bestselling novelist (Cloud Atlas) David Mitchell, whose son also has autism. Mitchell has noted that the physical and mental challenges Naoki faced in writing a book is a powerful testament to the human need for connection. In a Slate Book Review, Mitchell compared the writing challenge Naoki has to how “the act of carrying water in cupped palms across a bustling Times Square or Piccadilly Circus would be to you or me.”
In a Publisher Weekly article, Mitchell said, “Naoki does have autism, and pretty severe autism at that. And yet, he both experiences and analyzes emotions, even if he can’t express these in direct speech, and has to type about them. If we ‘neurotypicals’ don’t think this is possible, I believe it shows the paucity of our imaginations and understanding.”
Naoki Higashida still writes. He keeps a nearly daily blog and has become a respected autism advocate. He continues to face – and overcome – formidable obstacles to writing.
Which brings me back to the question: why do writers write? It is probably for the same reason dancers dance, singers sing, visual artists paint, draw or sculpt, and musicians play instruments. It begins with the need to express our humanness. We say we are compelled to do it; we give birth to a brainchild (or brainchildren), much as one must give birth to physical children once they have formed within us. And though we would likely do it even if no one paid attention, we are most gratified when people do notice, especially if they respond positively.
From the art of prehistoric cave dwellers to Twitter fans today, we need to leave an imprint that claims our moment in time. That says, I was here and I had value.
Ask a writer why he or she writes and you’ll invite any number of answers. I think it comes down to survival. We write in order to connect something within ourselves to something bigger than ourselves. We write to feel a sense of belonging to something beyond ourselves. To belong means to not be alone. To not be alone improves our chance to survive. Finally, to write means to “survive” beyond our mortality; to continue speaking. To hope there will be at least one person listening.
The Chicago Tribune will host a series of Printers Row conversations with nationally recognized authors and discussions on Chicago’s rich literary scene from October 8 to November 3, 2013. For details and tickets visit Tribune Events or call 312-222-4369.
For obvious reasons, the focus of Book●ed is books. Great writing can also be found in literary periodicals. A favorite of mine is Glimmer Train. One of the most respected short-story journals in print, Glimmer Train has been discovering, publishing, and paying emerging writers since 1990. In addition to publishing stories for readers, this journal provides excellent advice for authors in their Writers Ask publication. Glimmer Train also offers free monthly bulletins in which you’ll find essays by creative-writing teachers and other published authors on craft, perspective, and the particulars of writing and getting published.
Elmore Leonard died August 20th. Working on his 46th novel, Leonard was acclaimed for his masterful crime stories, many of which were turned into successful movies. You can find Elmore Leonard’s 10 fundamental rules for writers by clicking here.
We tend to think of creative writing as something to read, to ingest through the eyes. But, as I wrote in last week’s blog, most of us hear voices in our head when we read. Our brains translate what our eyes see into words we “hear”.
Writing that is meant to be spoken (think of speeches) is approached a bit differently from writing that is expected to be read with the eyes. Speeches that sound good also read well. But what seems good in print doesn’t always sound good when spoken. You can test this yourself by picking up a handful of novels and randomly reading passages aloud. See if the writing holds up when you speak it.
The best writing, in my opinion, satisfies when read and spoken. This is why writers, especially of fiction, are advised to read their work aloud, either to others or in solitude. That exercise often turns up awkward, unrealistic dialogue, repetitive verbiage or other weaknesses that need improvement.
One way for readers to test the satisfaction quotient of a book before committing to it is to attend a reading by the author. Increasingly, authors are arranging readings from their latest book as a way to market their work. These events are usually free and open to the public — at the public library or a neighborhood bookstore. Sometimes venues require a reservation and a fee – a secluded room in a restaurant, a literary conference or an arts retreat.
Large or small, free or with a fee, bare bones or full menu, there are opportunities to hear authors read their work throughout the year. You can find out about these events by checking your community newspaper and your library’s schedule of events, your neighborhood independent bookstore’s newsletter, literary periodicals that carry event news, or simply Google “author readings”.
I attended a recent book reading hosted by Janes Stories Press Foundation (JSPF). Three poets and one memoirist read from their contributions to JSPF’s fourth anthology, Bridges and Borders. Hearing lilting rhythms of poetry and a lightly accented poignant memoir directly from the authors added much to my reading of this evocative book.
You can learn more about the women behind Bridges and Borders – creative oral histories, both real and imagined — and Janes Stories Press Foundation by watching my Book●ed interview with JSPF president Shobha Sharma who is also a co-editor of the anthology. This thoughtful half-hour, exploring how women from a variety of backgrounds view the world and express it through their unique, personal writing, becomes available starting Monday, July 29th at 8 PM (EST) at www.bookedwebcast.com.
The newest edition of Book●ed is shown on Watch Now and in the Archives, while all previous shows remain available in the Archives. And while you’re visiting the Book●ed website, check out the Book Excerpts page where you can purchase any book reviewed on my show. To find out more about JSPF visit www.janesstories.org.
What a wonderful start for the Book●ed webcast shows! Thank you to everyone (from the U.S. and around the world) who have been watching and, especially, to those who took time to congratulate me and my team on our successful launch on July 8th.
Every Monday, at 8 PM (EST), a new show is featured on the Watch Shows page of the Book●ed website. The show is also streamed on UStream (with 50 million unique viewers of their shows every month). Don’t fret if you miss a featured show because it is always available at www.bookedwebcast.com and www.fenmark.net in the Archives.
If you are a new visitor to this Blog, I hope you will take some time to browse through the weekly posts since its inception earlier this year (more than 6,400 visitors and more than 95 registered fans so far). You’ll find a wide variety of fascinating topics relating to books, written in a light, reader-friendly style and supplemented with links to additional information. With the launch of our webcasts, my blogs will alert you to the next book review and author interview. Of course, I’ll continue to bring you news and fun factoids. So come along and read with me!
My debut interview with Renee James — talking about her multi-award-winning murder mystery, Coming Out Can Be Murder, her challenges in getting published, and how her own life experience as a transgender woman helped shape her novel – was so fascinating, we extended it to a second ½-hour interview. If you missed part one, visit my Archives page to watch; then check out part two, starting at 8 PM (EST) on July 15th. I promise you won’t be bored! To read an excerpt from Renee’s book, go to the Book Excerpts page on this website. If you like what you see and want to purchase the book, there’s a “Buy the Book Now” link.
Take a moment to look at the sidebar of this Blog. You can register on the RSS Feed to follow my weekly posts with helpful reminders when the updates appear. You can even let me know what you think about my Blog, ask for future topics to be covered, or share information you think other readers would be interested in. After all, as I’ve always said, this Blog is for you!
Few readers pay attention to the typography employed in the books they read; few authors play a role in the typography choices for their books . But we should pay attention because typography enhances or detracts from the reading experience. Typography is a centuries-old, ever-evolving art. To learn more, visit Ben Barret-Forest’s entertaining short animated video about the history of fonts and typography.
Pop the champagne corks! After nearly a year in the making, the debut global webcast of Book●ed happens at 8 PM (EST) on Monday, July 8th. The book reviews and author interviews you’ve been waiting for will be just a mouse-click away, 24/7 anywhere in the world that you have internet access. You’ll be able to watch interviews, read excerpts and buy books via one very user-friendly website: www.bookedwebcast.com. The webcasts will also be available at other websites, including www.fenmark.net, and UStream.
As a writer moving in writing circles, I’ve learned that authors are very interesting people! And there’s almost always a back story to their book that is as interesting as the book itself. Meeting an author enhances the reading of their work. This is what my webcasts are about!
Book●ed will entertain, inform and enlighten you. It’s an innovative concept tying in modern technologies with time-tested communications techniques to connect authors and editors with booklovers. I invite you to join us on this exciting journey and let me know what you think. This concept is all about serving YOU!
For my debut show, I selected a multi-award-winning book that has broken new ground with a character that stays with you long after you’ve turned the last page. Bobbi Logan is the memorable protagonist-narrator in Renee James’ contemporary suspense/mystery/thriller, Coming Out Can Be Murder. Bobbi Logan, a sensitive, articulate transgender woman takes us on her personal journey as she transitions from a life as Bob Logan to her true gender. The very difficult, often heart-wrenching challenges she faces in her own life are entwined in the search for the brutal murderer of her best friend, another transgender woman. This page-turner takes place in and near Chicago, in evocatively-painted places that may be familiar or new to the reader.
The theme of “familiar” and “new” run throughout Coming Out Can Be Murder — in plot, place and character. Renee James brings years of editing experience to her forceful writing. She takes people, places and situations we may think of as “other than us” and helps us see the human qualities that make us more alike than different. She knows this well because she is a transgender woman.
Please join me for a fascinating book review and author interview with Renee James, starting July 8th at 8 PM (our shows are always available for viewing by visiting the Archives at www.bookedwebcast.com).
Could be!
Who knows?
There’s something due any day;
I will know right away,
Soon as it shows.*
I’m thrilled to report that Book●ed will debut its weekly half-hour video webcast on July 8th!
You’ve waited patiently. Now come the rewards. Every Monday, starting July 8th, Book●ed will present a lively new book review with an author or editor interview. From the moment the show is first broadcast, it will be available 24/7 from any computer with internet access. After one week as the featured show, it will remain available in our Archives. You’ll be able to find our shows at several websites, including (my favorite, of course) www.bookedwebcast.com and www.fenmark.net; also via UStream.
The Book●ed website will also debut a Book Excerpts page where you can find every book we’ve reviewed, easy to locate by the book’s cover, air date, title or author. Each excerpt will include a “Buy The Book Now” link, among other user-friendly features. You can go from watching an interview to reading an excerpt, or vice versa, then buy the book — all through the Book●ed website.
Book●ed is an innovative concept. Our marriage of new technologies with proven PR techniques is attracting great authors with noteworthy books that we present to booklovers around the world. The authors I interview have fascinating back stories that enhance the reading of their books.
As I writer, I know it is easier than ever to get books published but harder than ever to get read. Many worthwhile books get lost in a vast universe of 350,000 new titles annually. As a former award-winning public relations pro, I know how to build awareness among target audiences. As a booklover, I’m thrilled to find shining stars in the book universe and bring them to you.
Starting next week, this blog will feature details about upcoming shows.
Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something’s coming, something good,
Come on, something, come on in, don’t be shy,
Pull up a chair!
The air is humming,
And something great is coming! *
*with thanks to Stephen Sondheim whose lyrics from “West Side Story” I’ve borrowed and re-arranged
Would you turn down an award for something you created? Of course not! Everyone wants recognition for their efforts. If money is part of the recognition, so much the better but (especially when the effort comes from the heart) financial gain is often of secondary importance.
The proliferation of writing competitions is the result of economics. The income from contest entrants often subsidizes publications that cannot rely solely on advertising or subscriptions for their existence. Some organizations have built their business on contests.
The May/June issue of Poets & Writers devotes a lot of space to a discussion about writing contests and literary prizes – have they lost their value to authors? To readers?
With writing contests appearing around every corner and under every rock, has the increase in awards diminished how we view them and the work that earns them? The consensus of agents, editors, publishers and writers is no. So keep submitting your work! BUT, as you do with everything else that matters in your life, proceed with careful consideration.
Well-managed competitions serve everyone: authors, agents, publishers and readers. Winners have their work recognized by more audiences and boost their chances for future work being published. Those who don’t win get practice in their craft and in the skill of submitting their work for review. Literary publications that sponsor competitions remain in business, offering their books and magazines at affordable prices.
Like most things that proliferate, you get a lot of bad along with the good. Entering contests willy-nilly can suck the life out of you. Before you know it, you’ve thrown away valuable time as well as money, either because the contest has a poor reputation or because you have no chance of winning. Your work is your brainchild – why entrust your child to just anyone?
Poets & Writers offers “seven strategies for a more efficient (and hopefully more effective) process of submitting your work to contests”: Finish first; Know your sponsoring organization; Judge your judge; Follow the rules; Don’t get fancy; Keep track; Keep writing. If you are considering entering writing competitions, or improving your chances of winning them, this article provides invaluable specific advice. If you want to understand the impact of literary prizes in today’s competitive publishing world, this issue of Poets & Writers should be on your reference shelf.
Accepting the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature, Ernest Hemingway said, “Writing, at its best, is a lonely life.” He was, of course, one of America’s all-time literary giants. But, despite his adventurous lifestyle, he was a lonely man who, in the end, took his own life.
I disagree with his assumption that writing only comes to those who acquiesce to a lonely life. Creating literature begins long before the commitment of words onto paper or into computer. The very act of writing invites voices and characters into one’s mind that take on their own life. While writers need time alone to contemplate what is churning in their minds, interacting with the world is how writers spend most of their time.
One of the most helpful activities writers can – and should – engage in is connecting with other writers. Absorbing the energy of other creative minds, getting feedback on works in progress and getting support when progress feels thwarted pays off in big dividends: possibly financially, usually creatively, always emotionally.
Fortunately, the internet has broadened opportunities for writers to connect. From almost anywhere in the world, we can find similar-minded individuals and groups that meet in person or via the internet. Writing groups may specialize in a genre or be open to all literary forms. Some are free and some charge a fee.
One such group, Jane's Stories Press Foundation (JSPF), is an international organization promoting emerging and established women writers, focusing on women under 25, over 50, and women of color. Programs include online writing circles and an annual writers retreat. Member Kamala Sarma says, ” Jane’s Stories Press Foundation has helped greatly in unblocking the writer in me, truly liberating!”
The Off Campus Writers Workshop (OCWW) has offered a weekly group meeting in Winnetka, Illinois for more than 60 years. Writers gather to hear acclaimed speakers address every conceivable genre and hone their writing skills. OCWW president Brenda Rossini says, “We have thrived because of the program’s excellence, a focus on essential cogs in the writing wheel, and, most important, the bonhomie and creative exchanges amongst our speakers, members and guests.”
Midwest Writers Association (MWA) is a networking base for experienced, professional non-fiction writers. Although their members work across the media spectrum, many write books that benefit from the same interaction sought by fiction writers.
Meet-up groups for writers have popped up all over. Finding one that suits a writer’s particular interests is a mouse click away.
I would be happy to help promote any writers support group through my blog. If you lead one, please let me know by clicking on “Book●ed Revealed” at the top of this page and follow the contact link. Please provide details in the message section.
Writing, at its best, can be a lonely life. But it doesn't have to be.
Pity the poor chapbook. Although it has been around for nearly 500 years, it never makes the best seller lists. In fact, many people have no idea what a chapbook is – I never heard of the term until I attended a writers retreat several years ago. Oh, how times have changed!
Chap books are believed to have originated in England in the 1500s as small, cheaply produced books for people whose literacy was limited and who could not afford expensive books of those times. They were printed using woodcuts and were sold by traveling peddlers called chapmen. Chapbooks typically contained romantic tales of chivalry, religious and moral instruction, cookbooks, guides to fortune telling and magic, and bawdy stories full of innuendo (the same topics that sell well today). Some displayed graphic art.
As the process and machinery of printing was refined publishing became cheaper. At the same time literacy improved. Books that once were accessible only to the wealthy and educated became more available to the general population and the need for chapbooks waned.
Today’s vast publishing capabilities have brought back the chapbook in interesting ways. They are enjoying a revival of sorts. They remain a perfect format to present a short story or small collection of poetry but have left their primitive look in the past. Now, the best chapbooks are works of art, emphasizing original design as well as featuring original writing. Their publishing run is limited, typically 100-300 copies. Chapbooks have become the coveted treasures of collectors who appreciate the value of an original work of art that is in limited supply, that can be held in the hand and that touches many senses.
It is less likely that you will find chapbooks in big chain stores and book discounters. So take a trip to your local independent book store and see if they have a Chapbook section. If they don’t, share some of this information with them and suggest they devote a corner of their store to this lovely and growing revival.
To sample chapbooks and so much more, come to the 29th annual Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest June 8th and 9th. This is the largest free outdoor literary event in the Midwest with more than 150 booksellers from across the country displaying and selling new, used and antiquarian books. Several renowned authors will offer insights and entertainment at various presentations throughout the event. All events are free but tickets must be reserved for select programs. For details visit Printers Row Lit Fest.
As noted in last week’s blog, I went to Boston for my son’s graduation. While there, I visited the legendary Harvard Coop in Cambridge. Being in a place so filled to the brim with books and other treats for bibliophiles, I was reminded of a scene in the 1984 comedy-drama film Moscow on the Hudson where Soviet circus performer-turned-defector Vladimir Ivanov (Robin Williams) visits his first U.S. supermarket. Confronted with rows upon rows of various toilet paper choices, he is overwhelmed and faints. That’s how I felt at the Harvard Coop: all that artistry with stories, language, facts and imagination tucked into these magical things called books! I couldn’t buy all of them but how could I choose from among so many temptations?
Away from the obligations and distractions of home, I also leisurely dipped into the New York Times Book Review. It reviews only 2-3 percent of the books that are submitted, only books published in the United States and available through general-interest bookstores, and generally not self-published books. I marveled at the variety of new works that were elevated by appearing in the Review. Those books would soon find their places alongside the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves at the Harvard Coop, other stores around the country, and countless internet bookseller sites. But what about all the great books they didn’t review?
As daunting as it is for readers like me (and you) to choose books in which to invest our time, money and attention, imagine how challenging it is for most authors to get us to choose their books. This challenge is amplified many times over for newer authors, who have not developed a following. Like the Hollywood studio system of yesteryear, the publishing industry that rolled out new authors with national promotions and nurtured their careers no longer exists.
There is a lot of literary talent left in the shadows because most authors are not marketing-savvy. With the emergence of self-publishing services alongside an increase in small publishing houses, authors have new avenues to get their work published. But being published does not automatically equate with selling books, as many a disillusioned novice author has discovered. Authors must maximize their marketing efforts if they want to sell their books.
After months of anticipation, I am happy to announce that my webcast show Book●ed is about to go into production, with a global launch date coming this June. The show will be a lively, entertaining half-hour introducing authors and their recently published books. A new edition of Book●ed will debut every week and then be available 24/7 on our website, as well as other websites and social media. The marketing mix offered to authors is unique among literary webcasts. To find out more about the webcasts and follow our guests, please visit www.bookedwebcast.com. Don’t forget to sign up for email reminders of our weekly blog updates. If you’re an author with a great recently published book, check my website for submission guidelines.
