Wrapped Up In Books

[BS: Part two from Joshua Henkin. See yesterday’s post here.] A digression, but not really: I teach in two MFA programs, Sarah Lawrence and Brooklyn College, and I have some very talented students. Every year, a number of these students enter their story collections in contests, usually sponsored by university presses, the winner of which gets their collection published. The competition is fierce; many of these contests have several hundred entries. You root for your students, of course, but to be truthful, I breathe a sigh of relief every time they lose. You win that contest and your book gets […]

[BS: Today, we bring back debut author Jennifer Epstein, whose lovely novel The Painter from Shanghai has garnered some great reviews and accolades. Despite glowing words from the NYT, Jennifer has learned that to market a book, one has to market herself. Follow her up and down the blogosphere…and special thanks to Jennifer for her patience: she had this piece ready a month ago, while we were lost in remodelingland] I have pretty much always known that I wanted to be a writer. Having my first short story “published” in ’78 was what clinched it: The Magic Swingset—a piece I’d

[BS: Yes, kids, another guest post. Must be the Internets way of celebrating Spring. This week, we are delighted to bring you Lucia Nevai, an award-winning author whose novel Salvation is due out from Tin House Books within weeks. Lucia, who delighted us with her line “when we all agreed that Salvation was the book it wanted to be…”, shares her experience with her editor, her agent, and her choice of point-of-view>] From three-page short story to 550-page novel My new novel, Salvation, began as a three-page short story, “Cannibals,” published in a literary quarterly a few years back. My

[BS: Yay! Another guest post. We’re really excited to feature Tara Yellen, author of After Hours at the Almost Home, a look at community and family and what happens when one person disappears from the mix. Tara, however, is looking at community of another kind: the importance of mentoring relationships for writers. Just loved this post!] Many years ago, in a graduate writing workshop, the professor—who has authored a long list of novels I admire—surprised us by beginning class with a warning. He instructed us to spend as little energy as possible on the classes that we taught. He told

It is with delight that we bring you a guest post from author Jennifer Epstein whose novel The Painter from Shanghai was recently released to excellent reviews. Of course, with every drop of good news, comes, well, a reminder that at some point in the past, another author wrote a book about a woman in the same part of the world. Epstein had two choices: fight or embrace… Nearly a decade ago, when I haltingly embarked on the project that would become The Painter from Shanghai, I was nothing if not flattered when people in my writing workshop immediately began

[BS: Yes, dears, your fondest wishes have come true! Instead of our regularly scheduled ramblings, today, we offer you a cautionary tale from David Silverman, author of Typo, the Last American Typesetter or How I Made and Lost $4 Million.] “Does anyone die?” the literary agent on the stage asks me. “Yes,” I say, hoping that will help. “Two people.” The agent leans forward, “Did you kill them?” “No,” I say, honestly, and the agents nods sagely. “Next!”

[BS Says: Judging a book by its cover is a time-honored tradition, and we put Timothy Schaffert’s Sex Parties…er, Devils in the Sugar Shop in the “Check it out” pile the moment we saw it. When Caitlin from Unbridled contacted us about the book, we were more than eager to hear what Timothy had to say about his book. What follows is true story. We hope.] Sex Parties in Omaha—that was once the non-unassuming title for my latest novel, a title eventually abandoned for the vaguely more chaste Devils in the Sugar Shop (though I suppose it does bring to

Unless you count reunions, there is nothing worse than high school. It’s as if an ancient sadist stroked his (or her) bearded chin and said, “How, I wonder, can I destroy their psyches for life?” Another moment passes and the answer comes, “High school! Of course. I am both diabolical and brilliant. Also, I had an unfortunate experience in gym.” Oh wait. Releasing your first book might count. Rejections, reviews, and people telling you that your life’s work is all wrong (and they should know, they have an idea for a book). Our friend Joan Kelly, author of The Pleasure’s

Yesterday, we explored the dead business, today we explore a business that can scare people to death: marketing. Lynn embraces self-promotion with a zeal that is awe-inspiring (also a zeal that would send a weaker constitution to the naps). She looks at what has worked for her, what hasn’t worked, and how promoting her new book impacts her first novel. You essentially self-financed your the tour for your first book (My Life Uncovered). Is Red Dress Ink supporting this tour? I am my own entertainment marketing and pr firm. Red Dress Ink has been a wonderful back up support system,