Read "The Telling Room"

Flip on over to the Book Review page for a great book recommendation.

Already read The Telling Room? Please add your comments below.

Oh, to write like David Brooks...

In a recent New York Times op-ed page essay, David Brooks wrote about an interesting passage in a biography of Isaiah Berlin. It was in Leningrad in 1945 when Berlin was invited to meet a pre-revolutionary poet, twenty years past his age. The next four paragraphs are a mini-movie, as Brooks teases us to read on and on. Let me just share the beginning line of each paragraph, like so...

Berlin was taken to her apartment, and met a woman still beautiful and powerful, but wounded by tyranny and the war...

By midnight, they were alone, sitting on opposite ends of her room...

By four in the morning, they were talking about the greats...

Deeper and deeper they talked, baring their souls...

In the next seven paragraphs of this thin newspaper column, Brooks discusses how spiritually ambitious people can experience that sort of life-altering conversation, and the "ideal of a certain sort of bond... that happens once or twice in a lifetime."

Please read David Brooks' essay, and enjoy the opportunities for real communication among friends or strangers who become friends, and perhaps capture "the numinous magic of that night" in your own life.

Net Galley reviews get results

For two years now, I've been reviewing books via Net Galley.

Publishers make their books or galleys available electronically and Net Galley        In addition to reading and review the top new books in genres of interest to me, I'm taking the Net Galley 2014 Wellness Challenge, providing feedback to publishers as well as informing my loyal readers.

Introvert? Extrovert?

Introvert vs. Extrovert Writers

In a travel piece on World Hum, Sophia Dembling states:

"Introversion and extroversion are inborn traits, and the difference between them is not that one is gregarious and at ease in the world and the other shy and awkward. Rather, extroverts are outwardly motivated and gain energy from interaction with the outside world while introverts are more inwardly directed and drained by interaction with others. Introverts’ thinking tends to be deep and slow, we require copious time alone, we prefer probing conversation to shallow chitchat, and our social lives are geared more towards intimate one-on-one interactions than “more the merrier” free-for-alls."

Most writers and bloggers share the extremes of introvert or extrovert tendencies in writing as well as in social interaction.

If you love the quiet, prefer to write alone, shun the questions about your writing, and run fast when the conversation turns to critique groups, you're a darn good introvert.

If you're an extroverted writer you probably prefer to hear people tell you their stories, and you write in public, enjoy sharing your work-in-progress, and trading stories with other writers about the craft.

Either way, you're doing what's right for you, of course, but its nice to recognize your tendencies and take comfort in silence or among friends, as long as it feeds your hunger to write and helps you write well.

A look at traditional book publishing via Scratch Magazine

The second issue of Jane Friedman's new e-magazine, Scratch is now available.

If you're not a subscriber, jump here to sign up.

In Issue Two, Jane has an article about traditional book publishing, explaining the facts many first-time authors forget.

Getting an agent to LOVE your book is one thing. Getting an editor to LOVE your book is another. But .... before you can get a big YES from a publisher, they run a P&L [profit and loss analysis].  Friedman shares a sample P&L. It is rare to see this detail shared, so Friedman's insider-information is worth examining.

• Before a publisher decides on a book project, they need to get a sense of the costs for editing, artwork, and marketing.
• Then they figure the manufacturing costs, overhead and infrastructure expenses.
• Then they set the retail price, deduct the manufacturing cost, the discount given to booksellers, and the cost of returns.

So you see they spend a great deal of time and money investing in an author's book. That is why they need to be certain the author has a platform that can sustain continued sales. They are in business to make a profit, and they use the P&L to can determine an accurate dollar amount of net earnings from the book's sales.

Do the work to expand your platform before you ask a publisher to invest in you.
I have fourteen posts on platform here.
and...
Get your Scratch subscription here.

See book review: "Authorpreneur in Pajamas" by Geraldine Solon

Writers, be sure to click on the Book Reviews for Writers tab or click here, for a review of Authorpreneur in Pajamas. Author Geraldine Solon has published three novels, and this book focuses on what she learned in promoting those books.

If you recall my former Pajama Marketing blog, which resulted in the book: Blog Power & Social Medua Handbook, (published in 2011) you're already aware of some author marketing obligations.Solon's book will give your book marketing an edge by explaining how authors can use social media for greater exposure and sales.

If you're a new author in 2013 or 2014, take a look at Authorpreneur in Pajamas for some good resources. As you'll note in my review, though, her book needed at least one more edit before publishing. That serves as another fine example to all authors. Professional editing and proofreading is an essential step in publishing.
 

Submit your ficion to "Reading Out Loud"

Ready to try new avenues to publication of your book excerpt or short stories?

Here's the link to the announcement: http://www.readingoutloud.org/


Subject: Reading Out Loud, Dramatized Short Fiction Podcast, Looking for Submissions of Flash or Full-Length Short Fiction

Reading Out Loud wants to read your story... out loud.
Ideally, we’re looking for character-driven stories with a sense of place and a strong narrative voice. Remember that these are to be performed as fully produced, dramatized audio pieces, and the aforementioned characteristics make it a little easier for us to produce. However, don't let that stop you from sending us that weird, stream-of-consciousness piece you've got. We'd like to read that, too.

Guidelines:

Flash Fiction submissions should be up to 1000 words.
Full length short fiction submissions should be 2000 to 4000 words in length.
Please send your work in .doc format to submissionsATreadingoutloudDOTorg. Indicate in the subject of your e-mail whether it is flash or full length.
Please include a brief bio in the body of your email.
Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
"Reading Out Loud" requires “one-time rights” to your piece. We’ll record it, put it on the podcast, and release it back into the wild.
If your work has been previously published, it is up to you to confirm you have retained the rights to republish the work.
"Reading Out Loud" is a labor of love. There is no monetary compensation for anyone involved or associated with its production.

Find our more at our website, readingoutloud.org or listen to us on iTunes.

Fiction writers: Lots to learn from this article.

Read the article "A Novel Like a Rocket" by Akhil Sharma in the current New Yorker, about his struggles writing "Family Life."
Powerful lessons....

Find this in the New Yorker here

Can you be your own editor?

On SheWrites.com, Heather Jacks has a useful post on editing:  Among her six tips for independent/self-published authors, she has this explanation of various editing functions, and why you need an appropriate editor for your book.
Here is a brief excerpt:

"There are a few types of editors. There are copyeditors, who will fix typos, misspellings, grammar, clean up your prose, and correct a fact; there are line editors, who will help you arrange your paragraphs; and then there is a most important type of editor, which I call a ‘planning editor’—that person who will partner with you on the project and tell you things you don’t want to hear, like you need to get rid of half of what you wrote or this isn’t a topic that warrants an entire book or this should be a screenplay, not a novel."

Gadget graph grabs my attention

Have e-book readers, tablets, and portable devices really taken over the world? I thought so until I saw this graphic.
Sure cell phones have reached a 91 percent level among those over 18, and I knew desktop computers were decreasing in popularity, due to the portability and ease of laptop use, which is still increasing.


But for all we hear about ebooks taking over the book market, look at the low usage of e-readers and tablets... below that of MP3 players! So don't give up on traditional or independent publishing. People are still reading books, although their sales may have peaked in 2008, according to Pew Internet. But publishers aren't going away, and neither are readers!

(Click on image to enlarge)
Thanks to Jane Friedman and her blog for linking to this Pew Internet research graphic.

Introvert vs. Extrovert Writers

Introvert vs. Extrovert Writers

In a travel piece on World Hum, Sophia Dembling states:

"Introversion and extroversion are inborn traits, and the difference between them is not that one is gregarious and at ease in the world and the other shy and awkward. Rather, extroverts are outwardly motivated and gain energy from interaction with the outside world while introverts are more inwardly directed and drained by interaction with others. Introverts’ thinking tends to be deep and slow, we require copious time alone, we prefer probing conversation to shallow chitchat, and our social lives are geared more towards intimate one-on-one interactions than “more the merrier” free-for-alls."

Most writers and bloggers share the extremes of introvert or extrovert tendencies in writing as well as in social interaction. If you love the quiet, prefer to write alone, shun the questions about your writing, and run fast when the conversation turns to critique groups, you're a darn good introvert.

If you're an extroverted writer you probably prefer to hear people tell you their stories, and you write in public, enjoy sharing your work-in-progress, and trading stories with other writers about the craft.

Either way, you're doing what's right for you, of course, but its nice to recognize your tendencies and take comfort in silence or among friends, as long as it feeds your hunger to write and helps you write well.

"Still Writing"

Read Still Writing: The Perils of a Creative Life, by Dani Shapiro, (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2013)

Shapiro is a contributing editor at Travel & Leisure. Her one-page essays exemplify good solid writing in each issue. She is the author of two memoirs and five novels, as well as numerous stories and essays that appear in Granta, The New Yorker, and Vogue, among other prestigious publications. Now, in Still Writing, she writes for you. Every writer can admire Shapiro's swift skill stringing thoughts into words, but she also empowers us. She transports readers who hear her views on the privilege of being a writer, and the relentless need to put in the time! Still Writing refers not only to keeping at our craft, but also still writing... being still, getting out of your own way, to become open and aware.

“Everything I know about life,
I learned from the daily practice of sitting down to write.”

-- Dani Shapiro

The web is 25 years old this year!

It was a quarter century ago that a fellow named Tim Berners-Lee created the web as we know it. three cheers for Tim!!!

Here's his story
Twenty-five years ago today, I filed the proposal for what was to become the World Wide Web. My boss dubbed it ‘vague but exciting’. Luckily, he thought enough of the idea to allow me to quietly work on it on the side. 

In the following quarter-century, the Web has changed the world in ways that I never could have imagined. There have been many exciting advances.  It has generated billions of dollars in economic growth, turned data into the gold of the 21st century, unleashed innovation in education and healthcare, whittled away geographic and social boundaries, revolutionised the media, and forced a reinvention of politics in many countries by enabling constant two-way dialogue between the rulers and the ruled.

It has made the work of a writer more powerful, efficient, and far-reaching. We are the first generation to enjoy this benefit. Lets continue to use it well.

Helen Gallagher

Feeling stuck?

If the winter weather has your writing in a rut, consider these wise words from a former US President, and keep writing!

"Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction."

                                                                                                                                  — Harry Truman