Do you dream of rags-to-riches?
The Publishers Weekly book trends blog recently ran a bit about Firmin, a title that was released by Coffee House Press in 2006 and is in the process of taking the entire world by storm. This story hits all the right notes: an unsolicited manuscript by a first-time author gets published [...]
Entries from October 2008
October 31, 2008
Little Books That Could
October 29, 2008
Passing the Hat
Thanks to reader Dara for passing along this link to Ana Marie Cox’s Rate Card. With the demise of Radar Magazine, the author and former Wonkette blogger is asking for donations so she can continue to cover the presidential campaign. (It seems to be working.)
More signs and portents:
The Christian Science Monitor announced it plans to [...]
October 28, 2008
Competitive Works
A reader writes:
I have a book proposal that I’m trying to finish up. I have an intro and sample chapter (both of which I think are solid), but I’m struggling with the “about the market” and related supporting materials. How seriously do I need to take the “about the market” and “here’s how I’ll promote [...]
October 26, 2008
Sublime is Us
I am not a dance guy. I am not against dance. I am not indifferent to dance. I am simply dance blind.
Then I saw this dance review in the Times [subscription required]. The show is called “Sublime is Us” and the picture alone was enough to get me all worked up:
Admittedly, I haven’t seen the [...]
October 22, 2008
Awesome Writing Prompt #1
I’m on deadline this week, crashing out a book review/essay for my friends at Mother Jones. Posting will be irregular, if at all, but this does not stop our work from going forward.
The above image (clicks it to makes it largers) is courtesy of artist Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung. I have more to say about his [...]
October 21, 2008
Eat, Drink & Get Published
Thanks to everyone who showed up last night for my talk at Eat, Drink & Get Published. I had a lot of fun depressing you. [Wink!]
Also, if you thought of that perfect question to ask me, but didn’t think of it until you were already halfway home, please ask it through this site. My e-mail [...]
October 20, 2008
Awesome Introversion Shyness Machine!
Thanks to reader JES for sending along this link to An Introvert’s Bill of Rights, which appears on Shrinking Violet Promotions, a blog dedicated to providing book marketing ideas for introverts. It’s too early to say whether or not the execution of the IBR will match the concept, but idea-wise I give this an A+.
Typically, [...]
October 17, 2008
Five Thoughts from a Short-short Fiction Contest Judge
My friend and fellow author Geoff Herbach was kind enough to ask me to be one of the judges for this cycle of the miniStories short-short fiction contest. Twenty-nine stories to read and assess and mull over equals long walks, lost sleep, the studied avoidance of shaving, more lost sleep, and still more mulling.
As to [...]
October 15, 2008
ManBabies and Taking it “Furthur”
GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!
Thanks to Tom Wolfe’s THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST, when I was in high school I thought Ken Kesey and Merry Pranksters were pretty out there, man. I mean, “tootling the multitudes” in a psychedelic bus named Furthur? How did they come up with that stuff?
Today, if that iconic bus rolled through [...]
