Otto Penzler Collection To Auction Block

On Thursday, April 8, Swann Galleries will offer The Otto Penzler Collection of British Espionage and Thriller fiction. The sale represents a select portion of the private library of the well-known mystery fiction specialist and bookseller who amassed his collection over 40 years. Penzler befriended many noted authors, including Eric Ambler, Ken Follett, John Gardner, and others, who inscribed copies of their works.

“British spy novels are among the greatest of all works in the mystery genre,” Penzler said in the introduction to the auction catalogue. “This is the first auction ever devoted entirely to this important literary genre.”

Among the best known of the British espionage works are Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, the source material for the iconic films spanning the last several decades. The auction offers more than 25 such books, the most notable being a first edition of the first Bond book, Casino Royale, in near perfect condition, 1953 ($20,000 to $30,000); a fine copy of Moonraker, inscribed and signed by the author to Fleming collector Eileen M. Cond, 1955 ($15,000 to $25,000); and a signed limited edition of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the first novel published after the debut of the film series and an immediate bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic, 1963 ($6,000 to $9,000).

Other Fleming highlights include first editions of Live and Let Die, 1954 ($2,000 to $3,000); Diamonds are Forever, 1956 ($2,500 to $3,500); From Russia with Love, 1957 ($3,000 to $4,000); and two first editions in different bindings of Dr. No, 1958 ($3,000 to $4,000 for the pair).

There is also a fascinating archive of correspondence between Fleming, illustrator Richard Chopping—who created many of the best known dust jacket images for the series—and others, containing details about jacket art, payment information and more, 62 letters in total, 1950s-60s ($12,000 to $18,000).

The sale offers many James Bond novels written in the 1980s and 90s by John Gardner, including an original typescript for License Renewed, with editorial corrections in Gardner’s hand throughout, 1980 ($1,200 to $1,800); and signed copies of his first four Bond titles, inscribed to the Penzlers ($1,200 to $1,800 for the set).

A run of works by Eric Ambler includes a rare first edition in the scarce dust jacket of Cause for Alarm, 1938, signed and inscribed to Penzler ($5,000 to $7,000); a first edition of Journey into Fear, 1940, which was made into the popular film noir starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton ($2,000 to $3,000); and signed first American editions of both books.

Among notable first editions of Graham Greene's works are a copy of Stamboul Train, 1932 ($2,000 to $3,000); and a wartime printing of The Ministry of Fear, written during his Foreign Service appointment in West Africa, 1943 ($1,000 to $1,500).

Also featured are several works by Dennis Wheatle and a selection of titles by John Le Carré, including a beautiful first edition of his first work, Call for the Dead, which introduced the character John Smiley, British Secret Service Agent, 1961, and a bright first English edition of his second book, A Murder of Quality, 1962 ($8,000 to $12,000 each); plus several signed editions.

Among books signed and inscribed to Penzler are a first edition of Len Deighton’s first book, The Ipcress File, 1962 ($1,500 to $2,000); plus books by Desmond Bagley, Frederick Forsyth, and Ken Follett.

Rounding out the sale are works by early masters of the genre, William Le Queux and E. Phillips Oppenheim, early 20th century authors who pioneered the spy novel and inspired Fleming, Greene and many others; plus books by Geoffrey Household, Francis Beeding, Manning Coles, Brian Freemantle, Andrew Garve, H.C. McNeile (known as Sapper), Baroness Orczy, Anthony Price, and more.

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Copyright 2009 AmSAW

New No-Yard Gardening Book Gets Big Librarian Boost

Here's a look at what the influential Consortium Librarian Express had to say about one of its select April 2010 new-book pitches:

Featured Titles

From Container to Kitchen by D. J. Herda

More and more people are recognizing the need for nutritious, local, sustainable food, but organic options can be costly and the produce in most supermarkets is anything but local. In From Container to Kitchen, D.J. Herda shows that there is a way for urban dwellers to enjoy the benefits of traditional gardening and, for those even without yards, to maximize the harvest of fresh, healthy edibles. Herda is an award-winning freelance author, editor, and photojournalist who has written several thousand articles and more than eighty books. He is an avid organic gardener and test grower.

From Container to Kitchen | D.J. Herda | New Society Publishers | Gardening | 9780865716650 | April 2010 | $19.95 | Trade Paper

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Vampire Novels Biting the Dust?

With the enormous success of the Twilight series of vampire books and their spin-offs into a thousand similar titles, one has to ask the obvious: is it curtains for Vlad and all his impalers? It just may be. And the newest literary genre to take Publisher's Row by storm may indicate just that.

But before I make that jump to conclusion, listen to what one major publisher's representative had to say to me recently.

"Vampire books are a dime a dozen. We're no longer looking for novels true to the genre. We're looking for something different. If it doesn't stand out from the pack, we're not interested."

Enter the mash-up.

What, you ask, is a mash-up? If you have to ask, it's safe to assume you haven't yet gotten your hands on a copy of the surprisingly successful Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a work centered around a classic historical figure meeting vampires, zombies, and other things that go bump in the night.

It has been a year since Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was unleashed upon the unsuspecting masses. Instead of running for their lives, readers ran to their favorite bookstores--in droves--in order to see what the combining of two literary figures, Jane Austen and the much more contemporary Seth Grahame-Smith, would lead to.

What it led to, of course, is the first literary mash-up from Quirk Books. The result has been a steady flow of unearthly creatures set against the backdrop of the literary classics. It's a curious combination, as Carol Memmott of USA Today put it, of "classic literary icons doing battle with B-movie demons.

"In Sherri Browning Erwin's Jane Slayre (Gallery Books), hitting stores April 13, Charlotte Brontë's plain Jane Eyre is an indomitable zombie killer."

There have been (or soon will be) other quirky titles, as well, such as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim (Coscom Entertainment) and Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter (Eos). All of which leads one to ask, Et tu, Vlade?

And if the latest literary genre trend (remember "chick lit"?) is destined for a quick if showy demise, the question remains. What's going to step forward to take its place?

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Beating Writer's Block

A writer recently wrote in asking for help:

"I know this may sound silly but how do you suggest handling writer's block? I have been having a real doozy case of writer's block that is (pardon my language) a real pain in the ass and need some suggestions as to how to get through this thing. Believe me, if you want a frustrated writer, then I'm your girl :)."

Writer's block? Is that what's bothering you, bunky??

It's a common malady, of course--common enough to have its own moniker. Here are a few proven suggestions on how to beat it.

1. Have more than one writing project going at any given time. I have 20 books, a few columns, and several articles underway constantly. If I don't feel like working on what I should be working on, I work on something else instead until the writing juices begin to flow, after which I can get back to the project I need to complete.

2. If you're working on a book-length property, try sitting down and reading what you wrote the last time you were at the computer. Read it out loud to give you a better chance of "hearing" how it sounds. You'll likely catch a few typos, change a few phrases, substitute a couple of words here and there, perhaps even add or subtract some sections in the piece. By the time you're finished with that, you'll be all warmed up and ready to tackle the next section in the book.

3. If you're working on a shorter piece, such as an article or a column, and you just can't get into it, try writing something else. Something ridiculous. Something offbeat (for you, at least). Write a limerick or a poem. Write an ad to sell your bongo drums on Craig's List. You get my point. By the time you're done fooling around, you'll be geared up to tackle what you really need to be working on.

4. Write something under a subjectively imposed deadline. Make it a letter to your fifth-grade teacher or a note to your mom. Give yourself 15 minutes, the way your editor would give you if you were working on a breaking story for the local newspapeer or a TV or radio news department. Do you think you'd have writer's block then? There's something very liberating about someone telling you, "I want it in 20 minutes or else!"

5. Try turning on several distracting contraptions, such as a television, MP3 player, and radio. Contrary to what you might expect, that often forces you to "block out" the distractions and focus solely on your writing.

Writer's block doesn't have to control your life. You have to control it. I've used all of the above tricks from time to time, and they have all worked for me. Believe it or not, I don't have writer's block anymore. Nada. Never. And I haven't had it for more than 30 years. I have become so used to writing all types of different-length genres under deadline that nothing interferes with my work anymore.

And that's an awfully nice feeling, especially when you earn your living from writing.

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New Book Excerpt: Ten Rules of Writing

Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing is scheduled to be published in March 2010 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. It's worth a sneak peak:

1 Never open a book with weather. If it's only to create atmosphere, and not a charac­ter's reaction to the weather, you don't want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead look­ing for people. There are exceptions. If you happen to be Barry Lopez, who has more ways than an Eskimo to describe ice and snow in his book Arctic Dreams, you can do all the weather reporting you want.

2 Avoid prologues: they can be ­annoying, especially a prologue ­following an introduction that comes after a foreword. But these are ordinarily found in non-fiction. A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want. There is a prologue in John Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday, but it's OK because a character in the book makes the point of what my rules are all about. He says: "I like a lot of talk in a book and I don't like to have nobody tell me what the guy that's talking looks like. I want to figure out what he looks like from the way he talks."

3 Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But "said" is far less intrusive than "grumbled", "gasped", "cautioned", "lied". I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she asseverated" and had to stop reading and go to the dictionary.

4 Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said" . . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances "full of rape and adverbs".

5 Keep your exclamation points ­under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful.

6 Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose". This rule doesn't require an explanation. I have noticed that writers who use "suddenly" tend to exercise less control in the application of exclamation points.

7 Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly. Once you start spelling words in dialogue phonetically and loading the page with apos­trophes, you won't be able to stop. Notice the way Annie Proulx captures the flavour of Wyoming voices in her book of short stories Close Range.

8 Avoid detailed descriptions of characters, which Steinbeck covered. In Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants", what do the "Ameri­can and the girl with him" look like? "She had taken off her hat and put it on the table." That's the only reference to a physical description in the story.

9 Don't go into great detail describing places and things, unless you're ­Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language. You don't want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.

10 Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them.

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: if it sounds like writing, rewrite it.

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Build Your Writer's Platform for Success

I recently heard from my agent about how she wished she could get across the notion that a publisher's interest in a book is often only as good as the writer's platform. "I have explained it on our agency site, but I'm still not getting through. I have writers confusing their platform with their bio. Can you help get the message out?"

Well, I can try.

Think of a platform in terms of the number of people you can reach when you need to. I'm not talking about strangers but, rather, about those who know you, trust you, and want to help support you and your work.

That's an important concept to most acquisitions editors (those who actually specialize in acquiring new book properties) because the size of an author's platform directly relates to sales.

Sure, sure, I know. It's a publisher's job to market your book and generate sales. But publishers learned long ago that, if a writer could directly influence the sales of, say, 1,000 books, those sales are pure gravy--they're sales the publisher reaps in addition to its conventional marketing efforts. If a writer can influence the sales of 5,000 books, that's five times better.

Get the point?

So how do you build your writer's platform? Get your name out. Influence people. Contribute knowledgeable articles and comments to blogs, Twitter, Facebook, on-line magazines, etc. If you belong to an organization willing to promote your book, say so in your platform and list the number of members within that organization. VFW? The Rotary Club? Your college alumni association? All add to the strength of your platform.

In short, wherever you can come up with a thousand or twenty thousand followers, you're adding to the strength of your platform.

Once you have developed an impressive looking platform, get in the habit of including that information with all of your book proposals (and even article pitches, for that matter). You'll be increasing the chances of landing a lucrative book-publishing contract a thousand-fold.

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Kirkus Reviews Dodges Ax

Good news for authors everywhere. The venerable Kirkus Reviews, the American book-review journal founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980), which was expected to close a few weeks ago, has received a new lease on life. According to a report in Daily Finance, the business has been sold to shopping-mall mogul and bookstore owner, Herb Simon. Simon is better known as the owner of the Indiana Pacers NBA franchise.

This marriage may seem unusual, but regardless, it's welcomed relief. Kirkus will keep its editors and maintain its bi-weekly publishing schedule. It plans to "beef up" its digital offerings--where there should be plenty of opportunities.

Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and fifteenth of each month. Reviews appear two to four months prior to a book's publication; the periodical features approximately 4,500 titles per year, which include fiction, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, translations, nonfiction, and children's and young-adult (YA) books. Kirkus is the definitive pre-publication review source for the literary and film industries.

Elaine Szewczyk is the editor, handling fiction; Eric Liebetrau is the managing editor and nonfiction editor; Vicky Smith is the children's and YA editor; and Molly Brown is the senior editor in charge of Kirkus Supplements. Sales director Beth Werner handles all sales, advertising, and marketing efforts.

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Keep Cranking Out Those Proposals

I know it's tempting. You've pitched your novel, you've pitched your how-to book, you've pitched your article, you've pitched your brains out. All to no avail. So why go on pitching?

Here's one reason: because you're a writer.

Here's another: because editors are editors. And that's not always a good thing.

My agent pitched an editor with a financial book proposal I worked up more than a year ago. Nada. Nothing. No word. No interest? No, not so.

The editor whom she pitched e-mailed her the other day and asked if the property was still available because, if so, she wanted to take a closer look at it. Which is, of course, the very first step toward landing a contract.

Was I pleased? Are you kidding??? Was I upset that it had taken the editor so long to get around to requesting a look at the manuscript? Are you kidding???

But, while slow responses to seemingly timely proposals (a year ago, you'll remember, is just about when the financial crap hit the economic fan) are frustrating, they are nonetheless part of the editorial process. For every twelve book ideas we pitch, eleven will come back positive or negative within a couple of weeks. One will come back six months or more later. Don't ask me why.

The bottom line: Keep on plugging. Sooner or later, someone is going to find something you're pitching of enough value to offer you a contract on it. That's the good news. The bad? You'll never know when it's going to happen...until it happens.

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Tight Economy Creates New Freelance Opportunities

When the going gets tough, the tough get outa town. That's what I always say. And that's what a lot of Americans have been doing in this tight economic crunch we've seen for the past year, with little hope of change. They've literally been getting outa town--not buying, not investing, not saving for the future, not spending as they did once.

That's the bad news. The good news is that with every economic downturn come new challenges and opportunities--especially so for financial writers. People can benefit now more than ever from sound financial advice, and most people readily admit that they need it.

In fact, according to one source (the Harris Interactive 2009 Financial Literacy Survey), 41 percent of U.S. adults gave themselves a grade of C, D, or F on their knowledge of personal finances and economics. Another 80 percent believe that, even though they know something about the subject, the could benefit from some expert advice.

What's that, you say? You're not a financial expert? Perhaps not, but you are a writer. As such, you have the ability to interview and interpret and pitch your economic features to magazines, newspapers, and book publishers everywhere. Are you beginning to see a common thread emerging here?

Don't expect to land hefty assignments from the Big Four. Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, and Money magazines rely heavily on material produced in-house for their copy. That leaves few opportunities for freelancers to break in.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of other markets around just begging for articles offering solid financial advice for their readers, particularly general-interest trade publications such as Cosmopolitan, Esquire, and others.

The same holds true for local newspapers. Brian Johnson, managing editor of Arizona's Ahwatukee Foothills News, admits he has seen a marked increase in demand among readers for more finance-related articles in the past twelve months. While the Wall Street Journal and major magazines tackle the technical side of the financial markets and investing, Johnson's small community paper tries to educate average Americans on the basics of sound financial practices.

"I'm not looking for the sophisticated article about building a multi-million dollar stock portfolio," he said. "I'm just looking for the stuff that can help real people in our community--families with kids--learn about budgeting, credit cards and other financial 101 information."

And that, it seems to me, is exactly the market freelance writers are best able to fill.

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New Imprints Mean New Author Markets

Two new imprints are good news for authors, offering them, at least potentially, new markets to which to peddle their books.

The first is Grand Central's newly christened Grand Central Life & Style imprint, starting in fall 2010. They will publish between eight and twelve titles a year across categories including style (beauty and fashion), food (cooking), body & mind (diet, fitness, self-help, and inspiration), home (organization, design, and green living), and personal connections (relationships, parenting, and pets). Karen Murgolo will oversee the new line as its editorial director.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Pan Macmillan publishing director Maria Rejt will run her own imprint, Mantle, which launches in May with Scott Turow's new book. Publishing up to 20 books a year, the line will pull together many of Rejt's existing authors from Pan, Picador, and Macmillan. Managing director Anthony Forbes Watson says, "She has a rare eye for high quality writing with broad appeal, and an unstinting focus on her authors. Mantle is the perfect vehicle for her talents."

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Our Advice to Authors: Drop Dead

With the year 2009 solidly wrapped in history, news of last year's book sales is, umm, frightening. According to a study of all book sales tracked last year, books about vampires, ghouls, zombies and other "undeads" garnered at least 17 percent of all books sold. Stephenie Meyer led the pack with her Twilight series, but that wasn't the only story behind last year's best sellers.

There were other, less frightening, winners, including a couple of fems known as Julie and Julia, a Harvard symbologist who cracked The Da Vinci Code, and a nerdy bespectacled kid and his diary all flexed their muscles in 2009.

Still, when nearly a fifth of all books sold revolve around things that go bump in the night, writers have to take notice. A true trend (albeit one that could come to a crashing end tomorrow), the undead sales were up from 14 percent of all books tracked in 2008, which was up from a paltry 2 percent in 2007. Are you starting to see a pattern developing here?

Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels that serve as inspiration for HBO's True Blood, had nine titles in the top hundred sellers of the year, and P.C. and Kristin Cast, the mother/daughter team who write the House of Night series, had six.

Not only that, but experts expect the trend to continue this year, again based upon Meyer's continuing popularity. Whether or not she introduces a new book in 2010, the film version of Eclipse, based upon the third book in the Twilight series, comes to life in theaters in June, while the paperback reissue of her 2008 adult hardcover The Host will hit the stands on April 13.

And the ghouls just keep on coming.

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Do Publishers Require a Completed Manuscript?

We received a question the other day about selling full-length fiction to publishers.

I heard somewhere that fiction usually needs to be finished to sell to a publisher and non-fic can be the first three chapters and outline, but I'm not sure how accurate that really is. - M. B., Florida

Well, M. B., I'm glad you brought that up, because it's not true. At least it's not always true. I'm sure that the vast majority of novels are sold complete, simply because most of them come from newbies to the novel-publishing world, and that's how they write--from start to finish. Only then do they begin shopping their masterpieces around for publication. You know, the First-Step, Second-Step, Third-Step approach to writing.

The truth, however, is that many novels, particularly from well-tested and reliable writers, sell on the basis of a couple of completed chapters and a strong, detailed outline. In fact, I sold my very first novel on the basis of an outline only. It was 23 pages long and pretty complete, but the editor never did ask to see a sample from the book.

Which was good news for me, since I hadn't started writing it yet.

The fact is that professional writers--freelancers who earn their living from writing--couldn't possibly take the time to complete a book before selling it, running the risk that it might never sell. Full-time writers need to roll over their words continually into income. When a writer typically spends a year working on a novel, that means he's spent a year without generating any appreciable income unless he's working under contract and receiving author's advances.

Of course, an editor has to have faith in a writer's being able and willing to finish the book properly to offer a contract on the basis of an outline and a few sample chapters. Sometimes untested novelists do best selling their first properties as completed manuscripts. But it all boils down to the individual editor and the policies of the publishing house.

But for a professional writer working in these tough economic times particularly, that dog won't hunt, and most editors know it!

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Alexa Ranks AmSAW Tops

The first time I visited this site, which says it's a professional media organization designed to bring writers together with editors, publishers, producers, and all those other people whom writers absolutely need to get published or produced, I was blown away. The graphics and layout are unique and actually hauntingly beautiful. All the links seem to work. General navigation around the site is different from most sites that use a conventional nav bar, but it's actually easier to find your way around after you explore the home page for a minute or two. Best of all is the free information and resources--updated regularly--to help writers and media professionals do their work. The paid portion of the site seems to offer a ton more stuff, and I like the idea that there's a free look at a sample newsletter, so you know what you're buying before you join.

So far, I've just been enjoying the freebies, but I might spring for the annual fee and become a member. I have a feeling this is just the site for professionals run by professionals that amateurs like me need to take that next step forward and start publishing more often.

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Story Collections Poised for Comeback?

Our friends at Publisher's Marketplace, who like to track such things, have an update on the growing popularity of short-story anthologies. Though such collections traditionally sell poorly, 2009 enjoyed a variety of critically acclaimed anthology releases.

For starters, Entertainment Weekly recently picked Daniyal Mueenuddin's In Other Rooms, Other Wonders as their top work of fiction for the year. And New York Magazine's list of top-ten picks (below) puts Lydia Davis's collection on top.

On PM's own compilation list, pulling together over twenty of the best of the Best of 2009 lists, four of the top 10 fiction titles are story collections. Drawing on the additional lists published since PM's tabulation, Daniyal Mueenuddin moved into a tie for third place; Lydia Davis's The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, took sole possession of fourth place; Alice Munro's Too Much Happiness, remained in the top 10, and Wells Tower's story collection, Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, also joined the list.

Among the runners-up receiving at least some "best of the year" votes are Maile Meloy's collection, Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It.

Then there was Oprah Winfrey's first book club selection in almost a year--yes, stories, by Uwem Akpan. In May, short-story master Alice Munro won the third Man International Booker prize. And at the November National Book Award ceremonies, for the 60th anniversary "best of the NBA" fiction, four of the six nominees were story collections, with The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor taking the prize.

Here is the New York Magazine list:

1. The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, by Lydia Davis (FSG)
2. Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, by Eric W. Sanderson (Abrams)
3. The Book of Night Women, Marlon James (Riverhead)
4. Lowboy, John Wray (FSG)
5. Newton and the Counterfeiter: The Unknown Detective Career of the World's Greatest Scientist, by Thomas Levenson (Houghton Mifflin)
6. This Is How, by M.J. Hyland (Black Cat)
7. Imperial, by William T. Vollmann (Viking)
8. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, by Wells Tower (FSG)
9. The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy, by Bill Simmons (Ballantine / ESPN)
10. There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales, by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya (Penguin)

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AmSAW Interviews Author Janet Kay

Author Janet Kay had something to say. And she said it. Choosing to go the alternative-to-conventional-publishing route, she is, by and large, pleased with the results. And she said it.

AmSAW caught up with her near a sprawling lake in the sprawling mountains of scenic sunny (in summer) Montana, where she spends her winters.

Don't ask us why.

Q: Although you have been writing for much of your life, Waters of the Dancing Sky is your first published novel. How did you feel when you received your first bound copy from the publisher?

It was like a dream come true - one of my lifelong ambitions finally fulfilled. After basking in the glow of this accomplishment for a few minutes, the reality set in. So... now that I'm a published author, now what? What's next?

Q: In what ways did the entire publishing experience surprise you?

I was surprised at the complexity of the process - all the steps involved in creating and marketing a quality product. However, I was fortunate to have a publisher who guided me through the process, involving me in every step along the way. I was able to maintain control, something that was important to me.

Q: A lot of first-time authors in particular don’t realize how much successful marketing depends upon the little things they can do to help the publisher sell books. What are some of the self-marketing tips you’ve learned over the past several months?

I've learned that in today's changing world of publishing, ALL authors are expected to play a significant role in marketing their books. Some of the self-marketing tips that have worked for me include establishing a web site for my book (check it out at Waters of the Dancing Sky), setting up a contest in which my readers can win prizes, using the Internet including Facebook and other sites to promote my book, mailing out promotional postcards and press kits, doing interviews for the news media, hiring a consultant to create a video book trailer promoting my novel, etc.

I've learned that book signings and book fairs aren't nearly as effective if I don't also do a book reading. And I've learned how important it is to solicit and utilize book reviews in my marketing efforts.

One of the keys to success, I believe, is networking - working with and learning from the pros, people who have connections that most authors do not have when they begin their careers. There is a wealth of resources out there to help you promote your work. One great example is the American Society of Authors and Writers promotional services.

Q: Were you disappointed about anything in the publishing process that you might have felt didn't go quite right or didn't meet your expectations?

Overall, I was quite pleased with the process. However, it took longer than I had anticipated. I was continually pestering my publisher, trying to rush the process. Since I'd already done a fair amount of pre-publication publicity, I had people anxiously waiting for my novel to come out. They were trying to schedule book readings and launching parties...but I was still waiting for the product.

Q: Which was easier, the writing or the publishing/marketing of your book?

Good question! I LOVE writing....when I'm caught up in the flow, it's relatively easy. The words and scenes seem to bubble up from some place deep down. Other times, especially by the time you're buried in revisions and on your third draft or so, it's not as easy. Marketing can also be fun - it's a rush to do a reading and have people lined up to buy autographed copies of your book. But marketing, done right, can be very time-consuming. I'd rather be writing!

Q: What’s your next book going to be?

I have at least two or more "next" books, struggling for first place on my agenda! One will be a sequel to Waters of the Dancing Sky as requested by many of my readers. It will take place, again, on the wilderness islands of Rainy Lake along the Minnesota/Ontario international border but will venture farthar into Canada. I'm also currently researching and developing characters for another novel that will be set primarily in the old western ghost town of Virginia City, Montana. Tentatively titled "Amelia's Revenge," it will flow back and forth in time between the 1860's gold rush days and the world of 2012.

Q: And how about one final piece of advice to share with authors still in search of their first book-publishing contract?

Realize that the world of publishing is rapidly changing. You could wait a long time for a traditional publisher to take you on - and lose a significant amount of control over your work. Do not hesitate to check out some of the reputable non-traditional publishers. Examples include Llumina Press (my publisher), Author House, iUniverse, etc. They also offer an impressive array of editorial and marketing services. If you are determined to go 'traditional', your best bet is to obtain an agent first since many traditional publishers do not accept un-agented manuscripts.

Keep on writing - and best of luck to you all!

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Copyright 2009 AmSAW

New York Times' Reviewers' Top 10 Lists

The venerable (or whatever word you choose) New York Times asked its reviewers to list their top 10 books for the year. Here's a quick look.

Michiko Kakutani's Top 10
Che's Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image, By Michael Caser
The Good Soldiers, By David Finkel
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, By David Grann
Lit: A Memoir, By Mary Karr
True Compass: A Memoir, By Edward Kennedy
A Gate at The Stairs, By Lorrie Moore
Lark and Termite, By Jayne Anne Phillips
Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, By Terry Teachout
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, By Wells Tower
In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic, By David Wessel

Janet Maslin's Top 10
The Age of Wonder, By Richard Holmes
Await Your Reply, By Dan Chaon
The Cradle, By Patrick Somerville
How It Ended, By Jay McInerney
The Imperial Cruise, By James Bradley
The Lineup, Edited by Otto Penzler
Lords of Finance, By Liaquat Aha med
Passing Strange, By Martha A. Sandweiss
Under the Dome, By Stephen King
Zero at the Bone, By John Heidenry

Dwight Garner's Top 10
A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster, By Rebecca Solnit
Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath, By Michael Norman and Elizabeth Norman
Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, By Novella Carpenter
When Skateboards Will Be Free: A Memoir of a Political Childhood, By Said Sayrafiezadeh
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, By T.J. Stiles
Family Properties: Race, Real Estate and the Exploitation of Black Urban America, By Beryl Satter
Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, By Richard Wrangham
Tall Man: The Death of Doomadgee, By Chloe Hopper
Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places, By Bill Streever
Lords of the Sea, By John R. Hale

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AmSAW's "Writer for Hire" Unites Writers and Clients for Free

At the American Society of Authors and Writers, we're devoted to helping our Professional Members find new venues for their writing. New PAYING venues. That's how writers earn a living, from writing.

With that in mind, we're delighted to announce a brand new program that painlessly unites writers with those in need of their talents.

Writer for Hire showcases professional freelance writers before thousands of editors, publishers, business executives, and professionals in search of writers for their most pressing projects. As an independent contractor for hire, our Professional Writer Members maintain complete control of all negotiations, and THEY keep all proceeds. It's free for everyone--writers and clients alike.

Want to learn more? Check out a Sample Listing.

Are you a writer who is not yet a Professional Member of AmSAW? Join Today so that we can begin promoting you and your work soon!

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Copyright 2009 AmSAW

Grand Central Editors: What They Like

My agent handed me a copy of Grand Central Publishing's latest GCP at a Glance brochure, and I found some interesting reading in it. For starters, the profile of their editors is very revealing, not only about what they like and look for in a new book, but also about what we can assume many editors are searching for.

Want a peek? Here you go.

Executive Veep and Publisher Jamie Raab says she's drawn to "...thrillers that truly terrify me, love stories that move me deeply, books of humor that make me laugh all the way through and political books (all sides of the spectrum) that ignite my outrage. I love books with strong storylines and distinctive voices..."

Editor-in-Chief Deb Futter, in talking about what she's been acquiring lately and why: "...all of these books have one thing in common: a strong pull on my emotions--which comes out either as laughter or tears."

Veep and Twelve imprint Publisher Jonathan Karp says, "Ultimately, great storytelling is what matters most, along with authority and the kind of obsession that can only come from writers who are truly passionate about their subjects."

Executive Editor Caryn Karmatz Rudy, editorial director of the company's 5 Spot imprant, likes "...fresh, original voices in fiction and nonfiction for smart women."

Mitch Hoffman, Executive Editor, says, "...what I look for above all else are great storytellers--writers who entertain us, who inform us, and inspire us."

Senior Editor Karen Kosztolnyik is on the prowl for "...an intriguing voice, great storytelling, and a rollercoaster of emotion."

Associate Editor Michele Bidelspach wants "...fiction with a strong voice, unforgettable characters, and a great hook: think Emily Griffin, Jodi Picoult, and Jane Green."

Well, I think you get the point. After condensing these editors into a single palatable bite-sized package, what you come up with is simple: Strong Literary Voice. Great Storytelling. Passionate Writing.

And if you narrow these elements down to the single most commonly mentioned and sought-after element, you can't help but come up with "strong literary voice."

How's your own literary voice these days? If you're not sure, you'd better think about strengthening it. To find out more, check out AmSAW's "Writing Right," a complete compendium on how to write better, how to write more successfully, and how to get what you write published. All for gratis.

Fair enough?

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Copyright 2009 AmSAW

The Sound of Freedom Falling

And from our Holy Cow, What's Happening to Our Freedom of the Press department:

An anonymous Democratic consultant claims in an L. A. Times, article to have received a call from the White House after making an appearance on Fox News. The friendly advice: Don't do it again!

The caller, according to the recipient, had an “intimidating tone” and a clear meaning. White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, denying any involvement with such calls, says her staff has "encouraged people to appear on Fox." However, former Carter pollster Patrick Caddell—a Fox News contributor—said he had talked to Democratic consultants who claim the White House had warned them too. He refused to name names.

Now my question is this. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, is it really only a Democrat dressed up like a duck? And, if so, why is the White House so paranoid about the people having access to all points of view, including the truth? Isn't that the real purpose of the press--to disseminate the truth so that others may reach studied conclusions?

This country was founded upon two major principles: Freedom of Religion and Freedom of the Press. Without either one, we would have no freedoms at all. Think about it. And let us hear from you!

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Copyright 2009 AmSAW

Keep Your Options Open for New Markets

Most writers spend a good portion of their lives looking for ways to expand their markets and generate new sources of income. Are you one of them? And, if so, do you take advantage of them all, even if they don't quite seem to be "right up your alley"?

I know one writer who had someone approach her about writing a family history for herself and her siblings. Now, that might not seem as if it would be the most exciting assignment around, and certainly not the best paying; but once she finished, one job led to another, until today, that writer is making more money than 95 percent of all freelance writers in America!

Someone else asked a writer I know to co-write a novel. Originally skeptical (what writer doesn't have fifty million of her own fiction ideas to turn into books!), she investigated the offer, fell in love with the story line and the characters, and connected with her co-author. And the rest, as they say, is history.

There are plenty of new and off-the-beaten-track ways for writers to generate income and find new avenues of literary expression. But the key is to remain open to exploring each and every one.

So, the next time someone comes to you saying he wishes he knew of a writer who could help him out...pay attention. It just might be the dream assignment of your life!

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Copyright 2009 AmSAW