down the writer's path

The Passion of The Purpose-Driven Life: A marketing maven's dream come true

Although I spent the last several days compiling a final edit on my young adult novel, Divided Loyalties, scheduled for an August 2004 release by Awe-Struck, it's clear the recent media hype of The Passion of the Christ managed to seep into my grey matter. This morning I thought it time to play catch up with the backlog of sundry reading that has piled up. As some of you know, nonfiction has been occupying more and more of my writer-brain space the last couple of years, particularly in the realm of narrative nonfiction, a genre that has become more and more prevalent. If you doubt its popularity, take a stroll down the center aisle of any Barnes and Noble or Borders and chart the number of new books that detail great scientific moments, this plague or that fever, or any number of natural and man-made disasters--or at least the publisher's have identified them as having some popular interest or they wouldn't pepper so many tables and endcaps.

Most folks, writers included, think of the latest John Grisham or the NY Times list topper as the end-all, be-all in writer-achievement. I would certainly not turn my nose up at such an opportunity; however, there are any number of books, some more well known than others, that develop high sales and/or a long run of steady, mounting numbers without ever reaching those illustrious heights.

A contest and $10,000? Mystery writers, on your mark...

Okay all you fledgling mystery writers who have desks full of completed manuscripts, opportunity knocks for the best of the best. Time Warner/Mysterious Press (TW/MP) announces their first Sarah Anne Freed Memorial Award for a First Mystery. Straight, noir, police procedural or historical mystery writers only need apply; male or female, amateur or professional detectives only wanted. Leave your international thrillers, true crime or other types of mysteries in the desk.

In memory of Mysterious Press's "beloved editor" Sarah Anne Freed who died last year, the contest promises to be a real plum for the one who makes the final cut.

Cautionary tales on taking the self-published route

A recent thread on an email list for writers discussed the various problems and decisions authors have regarding even things like size and binding. One poster noted that “Bookshops much prefer hardbacks or perfect bound paperbacks. Something where you can read the title on the spine while the book is filed on a shelf. Other kinds of bindings are a nuisance to display and to pack for delivery.”

Having worked at a Borders Books store in Houston for four years as a community relations coordinator, I can testify to some of the wounds self-published authors self-inflict. Odd sizes can be problematic. I remember our inventory manager complaining about a couple of mystery books we'd accumulated due to the authors having done a signing at our store. Larger than mass markets, they were more difficult to shelve and affected the displays, etc. While the copyright suggested they were small press, the books were in essence self-published. So many things need to be taken into consideration when the self-publishing route is contemplated..

First paragraphs tell the tale of the writer

In a fall 2003 issue of The Writer's Chronicle, I read What We Talk About When We Talk About Flow by David Jauss. He recounted the tale--one I hadn't heard before--of the surprising discovery in 1909 by Ford Madox Ford (editor, English Review) of a new writer merely from reading the first paragraph of a submitted short story. The story had been submitted by a friend without the writer's knowledge and "the moment he finished reading the first paragraph, he laid the story in the basket reserved for accepted manuscripts and announced to his secretary that he had discovered a literary genius--indeed, 'a big one.'" Later that night he repeated his discovery to H.G. Wells who then passed it on to a nearby table of patrons. According to the story, Ford had two publishers "ask for refusal rights to the young author's first book."

All this from the opening paragraph, mind you.

Houston Writer's League puts on Writer's Retreat in March

Well, I'm going to succumb to a little BSP here. The Houston Writers League is presenting a Writer's Retreat at the end of March from Friday, March 26 -- Sunday, March 28, 2004. Here's an opportunity to "escape from the distraction of phones and television, emails and family" and "get your writing juices flowing."

Houston hosts CLMP's Lit Mag Fair

Due to an NEA Challenge Access grant, Houston is a pilot city in a nation-wide inititiative that replicates the highly successful Lit Mag Fair put on by the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses. Editors, discounted books, and plenty of information will be available on Saturday, February 7th when Houston's Brazos Bookstore hosts this great opportunity to meet editors and check out new books and literary journals.