Inspiration

With thanks to Jan Phillips for sharing this quote:

"Writing is saying to no one and everyone the things 

it is not possible to say to someone." Rebecca Solnit

Infinity Publishing

Infinity Publishing offers several great pointers from Jack Canfield, of the Chicken Soup fame, on seven strategies for writing and publishing nonfiction.

Details here.

Book list

From the Release Your Writing website, which I am retiring soon:

Helen Gallagher is author or contributor to:

		Essay contributor
Computer Ease Price: $14.95		Lonely Planet Traveler's Tales Price: $16.95		Release Your Writing Price: $16.95
All of these books are available through the publisher at links above, through major online retailers, or direct from the author, Helen Gallagher, at Helen@cclarity.com.

If Barnes & Noble closes stores...

The New Republic has an important article on the last great bookstore chain, Barnes and Noble.

Excerpt:

"If Barnes & Noble were to shut its doors, Amazon, independent bookstores, and big-box retailers like Target and Walmart would pick up some of the slack. But not all of it. Part of the reason is that book sales are driven by “showrooming,” the idea that most people don’t buy a book, either in print or electronically, unless they’ve seen it somewhere else—on a friend’s shelf, say, or in a bookstore. Even on the brink of closing, Barnes & Noble still accounts for as much as 30 percent of all sales for some publishing houses."

Link to full article: Pulp Friction    https://newrepublic.com/article/133876/pulp-friction

Writers: a reminder of the basics, courtesy of J.K. Rowling

Thanks (again!) to Infinity Publishing for this great post.
"J.K. Rowling may be one of the bestselling authors of all time, but she's never forgotten where she came from. Her roots as a poor single mother struggling to publish an unusual book cause her to help out other beginning authors whenever she can. Rowling's been interviewed on writing hundreds of times, but she emphasizes the same basic lessons each time she's asked."


Here is an excerpt:

1. Planning is crucial.
   The worst way to create a great book is to dive into it without any plan at all.
   
2. Write in what time you have. 
   If you want to be an author, you have to make the time or steal it, one small bit at a time.
   
3. Rewriting is as essential as planning.
   Rowling wrote the first chapter of her first book 15 times before she was satisfied.
   
4.  Pay attention to pacing and plot. It's possible to ruin the pacing of a book or series by excitedly telling too much, too soon.
   
5.  Write your passion. Rowling has said that what you write becomes who you are, so it's important for you to love what you write.

I am especially grateful to see this quote from her:

Sometimes you have to get your writing done in spare moments here and there. 

J.K. Rowling

See the full article at Infinity Publishing

On the American essay

What Makes An American Essay ‘American’?

From this week's New Yorker... 

“The essay, in its American incarnation, is a direct outgrowth of the sermon: argumentative, insistent, not infrequently irritating. Americans, in my observation – and despite our fetish for the beauties of individuality and personal freedom – are always, however smilingly, trying to convince somebody, somewhere, of something, and our essayistic tradition bears this out.”

Consider a workbook companion for your nonfiction.

Something new from Infinity Publishing blog:

Turn Your Non-Fiction Book into a Workbook

By Arthur Gutch, Mon, May 16, 2016 @ 09:29 AM

While it's true that independent authors make more money on digital books than hard copy, traditional publishing can offer additional income through add-on books. If your non-fiction work is in the self-help category, or if it teaches how to do something, creating a companion workbook can give you another income stream. Older books can benefit from this treatment, as well. If your book's been out for six months or more, publishing a workbook that features your non-fiction book can uncover additional sources of readership you might never have found before.

Here is the full link to the article...

Write today

Here is a brief essay on not-writing by Rita Mae Reese on Poets & Writers.
http://www.pw.org/content/rita_mae_reese_2 

Take it to heart on this rainy Saturday and write about what's on your mind today.

Natalie Goldberg writes again...

If ever there was a writer who can persuade us to settle down and write, it is Natalie Goldberg. She is as down-to-earth in print as she is in person. Treat yourself to her newest book, The Great Spring, Writing, Zen and This Zigzag Life.


With decades of experience, she looks both backward and forward, knowing there are many ways to manifest our true life. Join her on her journey and pick up a pen to explore your own.

Finding time to write well

Does this seem familiar? The writer, Hilary Mantel, writing in The Guardian, exemplifies what so many of us experience in trying to put writing first, and hoping for the essential sense of flow will stay around for a while.

"I used to be a late starter, but now I get up in the dark like a medieval monk, commit unmediated scribble to a notebook, and go back to bed about six, hoping to sleep for another two hours and to wake slowly and in silence. Random noise, voices in other rooms, get me off to a savage, disorderly start, but if I am left in peace to reach for a pen, I feel through my fingertips what sort of day it is. Days of easy flow generate thousands of words across half a dozen projects – and perhaps new projects. Flow is like a mad party – it goes on till all hours and somebody must clear up afterwards."

Enjoy the full essay here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/16/hilary-mantel-my-writing-day

Annie Dillard and essay

Poets & Writers issue of March-April 2016 has a pleasant feature, "Such Great Heights," covering the career of Annie Dillard and celebrates her "masterful essays."

Take time to enjoy reading of her life and work, in this piece spanning about six terrific pages.

Such Great Heights: A Profile of Annie Dillard 

The article itself is in print only, not online. Stop by your local library if you are not a P & W subscriber.

A free guide to better online visibility

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Book Baby is offering a free guide you can download to improve your online visibility.
Click here to access Book Baby's Twitter for Authors in ten minutes a day...

Ready to write in Hemingway's home?

The winner of a fiction-writing competition is to have the opportunity to work in the Key West writing studio that was once the sanctum of Ernest Hemingway, one of America's greatest authors...  

Here is the link to the official website at fla-keys.com/flashfiction. 

Applications begin January 14 through March 31, 2016.