Goodbye to Susan Sontag
And, sometimes, there’s not much more to say than that. Author and activist Susan Sontag dies
And Then There’s the Hollywood Approach
Martin Literary Management offers a twist on the Hollywood style: rather than pushing fiction (even the truest of true stories is fictionalized for your viewing pleasure), they focus exclusively on non-fiction. Non-fiction with a People magazine sensibility. Yes, non-fiction that appeals to a wide range of readers and tastes. Sharlene Martin likes works that can be marketed to studios, and she likes authors who are willing to invest in their careers. To learn more, as always, check out the MediaBistro interview. The details: Martin Literary Management, 17328 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 138, Encino, California 91316. Pitching an Agent: Martin Literary Management
It All Depends On Your Definition of Obscure
Milwaukie-based Dark Horse is now enjoying another growth spurt thanks to the popularity of a once-obscure Japanese comic style called “manga.” We’re presuming the author of this fine article means that manga was once obscure in the United States, as it wasn’t particularly obscure in Japan. But that’s not our concern at the moment. As it turns out, retailers are devoting increasing floor space to manga (as they are anime — much to our delight). Apparently, humans are visual creatures and like pictures. Yeah, that’s why we subscribe to so many magazines. It’s not like we’re reading the articles or
Will The Last Person To Be Surprised Please Return The Books?
Genre fiction is popular with library patrons. Yes, yes, we know. Blurting out shocking news is rude. We should have prepared you. To be honest, we tried to ease our way into this post, but found the best approach was fast and blunt. It’s how we’d want to hear this. So, as it shakes out this week (which apparently closely resembles other weeks, except more people are on vacation), mysteries are hot. Romances are almost as hot. Mysteries with romantic sub-plots or romances with mystery plots (yes, we typed correctly…no matter how much you try, “romance” isn’t really a plotline)
On Marketing Run Amok, also On Cooking Tips
Houghton has put more than a little marketing steam behind its “Polar Express” line. It’s brought schools across the country on board, encouraging teachers to take the Polar Express into the classroom with not only the classic book but “Polar Express” teaching units, math problems, train-track reading logs, puzzles, crafts and party recipes. Success `Express’: Houghton Mifflin’s ship, er, train has come in
On Altruistic Heroes
Halfway through Michael Crichton’s new thriller, “State of Fear,” the hero, John Kenner, finds himself trapped with a comely blonde, dodging bolts of artificial lightning. Fortunately, Kenner, an agent for the government’s National Security Intelligence Agency, has the presence of mind to advise the blonde to strip down to her underwear, and, as a result, the two survive long enough to save the world from a diabolical plot. Getting Warmer
Back To The Real World
We stretched our vacation as long as possible (you know it’s a conspiracy to avoid reality when even the cats get in the act), and now we’re (theorectically) revived and ready to get back to whatever it is we do to fill our days. Probably that means acquiring food while revisiting the New Year’s goal of quitting eating. Life is always full of contradictions. We cannot thank Jill enough for taking over while we were gone — especially after all the hard work she’s done here this month. We returned to find the flowers blooming, the mail neatly sorted, and
This Is Why I Could Never Cut It In Sales
Bill wrote in the comments section earlier this week: BTW, Jill, you do all this work for the site, but I don’t see any links to your romance novels? Can’t you at least get some publicity out of this site? I can’t believe it, but I haven’t posted a single link on how to purchase my book, nor have I mentioned my title very much. It’s Never Naughty Enough (NNE) by Jill Monroe. A December Harlequin Temptation. So, using my new ability to post links, here you go: Jill Monroe’s NNE at eHarlequin Jill Monroe’s NNE at Barnes and Noble
What Every Writer Should Have…
After that first initial barrage of questions I received after getting “The Call” I was asked about a website. Okay, talk about panic. What’s a gal with little money, and even less amounts of website creativity to do?The first thing I did was use the free resources at my disposal. Since I use cox for e-mail, one of the benefits is free web space. Okay, first hurdle down. Secondly, where to get it? Godaddy.com was the logical choice, came highly recommended, inexpensive and easy to use. But there was a problem…JillMonroe.com was already taken, so after a quick discussion with
Writer Contests
When it comes to promotion, I have become basically a follower. Most all romance writers have a website. I have a website. Most all romance authors do a contest. I’m having a contest. A lot of romance writers have a yahoo e-mail loop – I have a yahoo e-mail loop. The best thing about these – they are just about free, which fits my price range quite nicely. Romance writers typically will run a contest of some sort to get people excited about their book and coming to their site (here’s where the follower part comes to play). As I