Posted by Gloria Kelley on January 16th, 2009
In an effort to be bipartisan, author Curtis Sittenfeld is following up her beautifully written novel American Wife that was loosely based on the life of Laura Bush, with a novella written for Slate that will be based on Barack Obama’s inauguration. The five part series entitled, All Along, This Was What Was Supposed to Happen, will end on Inauguration day. Sittenfeld says that her next book will not be politically-based. She is the author of Prep and The Man of My Dreams.
Posted by Gloria Kelley on January 15th, 2009
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the wildly successful memoir and inspirational journal, EAT, PRAY, LOVE was profiled in this weekend’s Guardian.
According to the New York Observer,
Emma Brockes offers a hard-edged take on the journalist-turned-memoirist, writing, “There are lots of paths to self-discovery, but most of them don’t conflate so many lucrative book markets in one handy volume. Eat Pray Love elides self-help, self-improvement, mysticism and a strain of confessional publishing I once heard described as ‘women who write about their yeast infections’…”
Posted by Gloria Kelley on January 13th, 2009
Once again, Suze Orman is allowing a FREE download of her newest book, Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan: Keeping Your Money Safe and Sound. Just head over to Oprah’s website for information on how you can download your own copy for FREE! Giving things away is a common plan of action for gaining attention and in Orman’s case, this works remarkably well, especially when what she is offering is something that people are in desperate need of now: Financial Advice! However, Orman has been building her brand for quite awhile and has such a strong backlist that giving away one title for a limited time will only help to spread the popularity of her brand and have people running to the bookstores to stock up on additional Orman titles.
How many of you have downloaded your own copy? Are you going to read it? Will you print it out or read it on your computer screen?
Posted by Gloria Kelley on January 13th, 2009
We get a lot of questions regarding blogs. Should you have one? Do you need one? What kind of information should be provided on your blog? Will it diminish your professionalism? How do you get traffic to your blog? Will it detract from your published writing?
For authors there are two things you want to focus on with regards to a blog, getting traffic and showing your expertise. A blog is great way to highlight your writing, bring attention to your talent in a public forum and learn new skills. Write about anything and everything that interests you. Create a Facebook page, a Myspace page and link to your blog there. Create a Twitter account and follow other writers. Provide a link to your blog on your Twitter page and consistently update it letting your followers know when you have posted new content.
Sometimes you need a newsworthy hook to gain attention and followers to your blog. Write about something current, whether it be a trend or a news topic that you are familiar with, can provide an opinion on, or somehow relates to your writing. Write about books you are reading and link to the authors. Write about being a writer, provide tips, instruction, guidance and inspiration. If your content is consistently changing, then your audience will grow. If they like your writing, then you may be building a fan base. Blogs are great way to show off your writing skills! They also have the added bonus of helping improve your writing, develop your voice, increase the speed with which you can produce quality material, and fine tune the ability to write with an audience in mind. You are your own best advocate, so use this blog as a way to stand out from the crowd and let your voice be heard.
Writers who worry that blogging will distract from their primary job, being an author, have an understandable worry. Blogging does take time. However, the blog is a wonderful way to combine both the artistic and the business side of being an author. Write about what you know, but also treat your blog like a business card. You want people looking at it! You want them bookmarking it and you want them recognizing your name on a consistent basis.
Here are a few author blogs that shine!
Posted by Gloria Kelley on January 12th, 2009
People ARE reading!!!
According to this article in today’s New York Times, the National Endowment for the Arts has found that a “quarter-century of precipitous decline in fiction reading has reversed.” That certainly deserves an exclamation point!
The report, “Reading on the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy,” being released Monday, is based on data from “The Survey of Public Participation in the Arts” conducted by the United States Census Bureau in 2008. Among its chief findings is that for the first time since 1982, when the bureau began collecting such data, the proportion of adults 18 and older who said they had read at least one novel, short story, poem or play in the previous 12 months has risen.
Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts credits this rise with a number of factors. He attributed the increase in literary reading to community-based programs like the “Big Read,” Oprah Winfrey’s book club, the huge popularity of book series like “Harry Potter” and Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight,” as well as the individual efforts of teachers, librarians, parents and civic leaders to create “a buzz around literature that’s getting people to read more in whatever medium.”
This is great news for a Monday morning!