Book #publishers accepting #submissions

I came across a wonderful (and exhaustive!) list of book publishers, categorized by genre, currently accepting submissions from authors. Click here  for the link.

Importance of Marketing Your Books

In the good old days (does anyone even remember them?) it was enough to let your words speak for you. Not anymore, unfortunately. Because a gazillion books get published annually (esp. with the advent of ebooks and self-publishing) it is vital that one peddle one’s self, distasteful as it sounds. As an author (esp. if you write fiction), your brand is your name. If you write non-fiction, it is a tad bit easier because you can create a platform. With fiction how do you even do it?

The trigger for my completed novel Tell A Thousand Lies [coming soon]  was India’s obsession with fairness and fairness creams (hence my twitter tagline:    My novel in brief – Fairness Creams: Finding Solutions to Life’s Vexing Problems, One Application at a time.)

Having cute taglines doesn’t suffice however. You still have to be all over the internet, though I find that it’s emptying my brain of its creativity.

Check out Kelly Kathleen Ferguson’s blog post on internet promotion and what she’s been up to.

Contests for Novels: Quick Way To Fame and Glory

The 2012 Eric Hoffer Book Award

Some of the benefits it promises:

AWARDS/BENEFITS:
* $2,000 GRAND PRIZE (the Eric Hoffer Award for Books)
* Winner of the Montaigne Medal for most thought-provoking book
* Winner of the da Vinci Eye for best cover
* Winner and First Runner-Up awarded for every category
* Honorable Mentions for every category
* Individual Awards for Micro, Small, and Academic Presses, as well as Self-Published Books
* Coverage in The US Review of Books (www.theUSreview.com) and on www.HofferAward.com
* Gold Seal Certificates
* Worldwide Exposure

Does have a $50 entry fee.

Click here for details.

GUEST BLOG: Boyd Lemon

MEMOIR WRITING: TRICKY, BUT HEALING

 

When I decided that I wanted to publish a memoir about my role in the destruction of my three marriages, “Digging Deep: A Writer Uncovers His Marriages, I struggled with the fact that I would be disclosing intimate details about my marriages and the conduct of my ex-wives. Ultimately, after much soul searching, I came to the conclusion that I must simply tell the relevant truth as I perceived it.

There would be no point in publishing a watered-down version.  The word, “relevant” is important.  The memoir is about my role in the failure of the marriages. It would be unnecessarily cruel to disclose facts that were not necessary to the theme of my book, if I disclosed details for the mere sake of embarrassing my ex-wives, to show what bad people they were or for revenge. But to disclose relevant parts of their conduct in the marriage was necessary to understand my truth.  I was very careful not to talk about extraneous conduct of my ex-wives. In the end, the memoir was my memoir, not theirs, so it had to be from my perspective.  I recognized that.  But I didn’t have to trash them in the process, and I don’t think that I did.

I dug deep to see the issues from my wives’ perspective, but in the end, they collaborated with me in destroying the marriages, no doubt about it. So I decided to tell the whole truth, as I saw it.

I tried to be as factually accurate as humanely possible and as memory allowed, but I concede, I wrote from my perspective and my memory.  I did consult with two of my ex-wives who agreed to talk to me about several specific issues, and I mentioned those in the book, but otherwise, I didn’t ask them for their points of view. I decided not to do this, because it is my memoir, not theirs, and I wanted to keep it as purely that as possible.

I didn’t intend to write a debate about who was at fault.

I told each of them in advance that I was writing the memoir; I didn’t want to hide it from them. I got no reaction to that, except from my third wife, who said it made her nervous, and she hoped I would decide not to publish it. I decided not to show them any pre-publication drafts, because that would have resulted in endless debate about the accuracy and fairness of what I wrote.

Their reactions after publication: My first wife said it was well written and that she thoroughly enjoyed it and read it twice. My second wife did not respond to me, but from our adult children, I understand she was very upset. I’m sorry about that. My third wife told me she would not read it because it would upset her too much.

Although it seems obvious now, I wasn’t aware when I started writing the memoir what its affect on me would be.  As I began trying to see issues from my wives’ perspective, my role in the failure of those marriages became increasingly apparent to me, something I had kept buried previously.  To realize this was emotionally devastating at first.  I consulted with a therapist, initially in hopes that she could shed some light on my role.  But what she ended up doing was helping me with the guilt I felt as I unearthed my contributions to issues in the marriages.  I was especially guilt ridden about the four children of the marriages.  Fortunately (I don’t know how), all of them have turned out to be productive, reasonably well adjusted adults.

What was surprising to me was that after I finished the book, having understood for the first time a lot about my role in the destruction of these marriages, I felt healed, at peace with myself about my marriages.  I hadn’t realized what a burden it was to carry around those unexamined issues, and how rewarding it felt to be relieved of that burden.  I now realize how important it is after the breakup of a marriage or any committed relationship to examine and understand one’s role in what happened, rather than just burying the issues and “moving on” as I had done.

I also realized that not just thinking about these issues, but writing about them, was a big part of the healing.  There is something about expressing these insights in writing that makes them graphic and permanent.  So for anyone who likes to write, I especially recommend writing as a means of healing.  I would have been thrilled to have written this memoir, even if I hadn’t published it, or even if it hadn’t sold a single copy, simply because of how it healed me.

 

Boyd Lemon-author of “Digging Deep: A Writer Uncovers His Marriages,” a memoir about the author’s journey to understand his role in the destruction of his three marriages

http://www.BoydLemon-Writer.com

Harlan Coben’s Interview

Harlan Coben’s interview with the Writer’s Digest (I just LOVED this response) -

Q. You’ve said you used to make fun of “write what you know,” but that you’ve actually made it work for you. Are there other adages you find to be bad advice?

A. The one I hate the most is when writers say, “I write only for myself. I don’t care who reads it.” That to me is like saying, “I talk only to myself. I don’t care who listens.” Writing is about communication. You can call it art and you can call it commerce, but without the other side it’s playing catch and you’re throwing the ball and no one’s there to catch it. And that’s a really important thing to remember. People writing only for themselves, it’s probably therapy.

Click here for the rest of the article. Worth a read.

Davidar Returns to India

David Davidar, the man who, as head of Penguin India, took Indian publishing to new heights, is back. He is setting up the Aleph Book Company in collaboration with Rupa, India. Stay tuned.

South Asian Literature Prize

Prize is US $50,000. Deadline May 15, 2011. Books pertaining to the South Asian region should have been published between Jan 1, 2010 and Dec 31, 2010. Click here for details.

Literary Agent Interviews

Agent interviews are a good way of finding out where a particular literary the agent’s interests lie. I found a site with a few interviews. Check them out. Like always, research before you query. Don’t depend on a single source. Click here for the interview.

Picking A Literary Agent

According to Chuck Sambuchino, Editor of The Guide to Literary Agents , there are 1300 odd Literary agents in the US alone. What makes one decide to pick over another? In your query to the agent, he recommends including a line as to why you are contacting the agent. One easy way to establish a connection with an agent is simply to cite something they’ve said in an interview. He has approximately 150 agent interviews so far on the GLA blog.  Click here for the interviews. If you can quickly explain a compelling reason, then the agent realizes that you’ve done your homework and targeted them for a reason. This is a good thing.

He also lists the best agent blogs of 2011 on his website. Well worth the read.   Click here for details.

Pulitzer Prize Winners Announced

Pulitzer Prize winners have been announced. A few of interest:

FICTION – “A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan (Alfred A. Knopf)

DRAMA – “Clybourne Park” by Bruce Norris

HISTORY – “The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery” by Eric Foner (W. W. Norton & Company)

BIOGRAPHY – “Washington: A Life” by Ron Chernow (The Penguin Press)

POETRY – “The Best of It: New and Selected Poems” by Kay Ryan (Grove Press)

GENERAL NONFICTION – “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Scribner)

MUSIC – “Madame White Snake’” by Zhou Long, premiered on February 26, 2010 by Opera Boston at the Cutler Majestic Theatre.

Click here   for details.