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On November 19th, 2009 Victor R. Volkman and Irene Watson interviewed media release guru Paul Krupin about whether Press Releases are still revelant to marketing your books in 2009. Krupin is the author of numerous books about publicity, search engines, and other topics. His latest book Trash Proof News Releases is also available as a free eBook download. We covered a wide-range of talking points, including
So What Exactly Is A News Release?
Why Is This So Hard To Do? What Makes This So Special?
So What Exactly Do Media People Look For When They Receive A News Release?
So What Do You Need To Do To Write A News Release That Really Works & Truly Gets Media Attention?
How do you know when you’re ready?
What Specifically Should Authors Do To Create This Galvanizing Candy – This Magic Script .
What is the Magic Formula (DPAA+H)? (“Dramatic Personal Achievement in the face of Adversity, plus a little Humor”)
Which Are Better For Authors To Aim At - Book Reviews Or Feature Stories & Why?
How do you know when you achieve success with a news release?
So once you have a trash proof news release, what do you do with it
Paul J. Krupin is a former US government scientist and once-upon-a-time lawyer (best kind) would much rather be fishing on the Columbia River, which is less than a mile from where he lives in Eastern Washington State. He’s has hundreds and hundreds of publishing clients who range from NY Times best sellers (like Dan Brown, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Andy Andrews) to first timers and seasoned self publishers and small press publishers we know and talk with on all of the online discussion group lists.Favorite Quote - You reach happiness and success when you help the people you can help the most and get rich at the same time.
Winter online course registration now open YALSA opened registration this week for its winter session of online courses. Get teens engaged with reading after taking Booktalks Quick & Simple with Nancy Keane and rev up your special events with Power Programming for Teens with Amy Alessio. Classes last four weeks. Pricing starts at $135 for YALSA members (10% discount for groups of 10 or more). Learn more at YALSA’s Online Courses page or by contacting Eve Gaus at egaus@ala.org.
YALSA Events at Midwinter Join us for our two ticketed pre-Midwinter events, Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition and Games, Gadgets and Gurus. Details and how to register for them after the jump (you can read about everything we have planned for Midwinter Meeting at the YALSA Midwinter Wiki).
Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition: Join YALSA from 9-4:30 p.m on Jan. 15 to learn how you can take advantage of free online tools and social networking options to enhance and expand the services for teens, discover strategies to gain funding for technology initiatives and buy-in from administrators, and hear speakers like Stacy Aldrich (futurist & acting California State Librarian), Cory Doctorow (BoingBoing.net, Little Brother), Laura Pearle, Wendy Stephens, and Buffy Hamilton. Lunch included! Libraries 3.0 costs $195 for YALSA members, $235 for ALA members, and $285 for nonmembers. Full details on this event, and all of YALSA’s plans for Midwinter, are available online at http://bit.ly/yalsamw2010.
Games, Gadgets & Gurus: Join us from 8-10 p.m. on Jan. 15! Spend a fun evening networking with colleagues and learning new skills to take back to your library! Come play games – both board and video; demo gadgets like e-readers, mobile phones, digital audio recorders, video cameras and the latest software; and take advantage of the opportunity chat one-on-one with a tech guru. Other participants include Galaxy Press, PBS’ Digital Nation, and Tutor.com. Mingle with colleagues! Enjoy some refreshments! Play with neat tech toys! And go home with great swag! Tickets cost $40; full details online at http://bit.ly/yalsamw2010.
Sign up for both and save! Tickets for both cost $215 for YALSA members, students and retirees; $255 for ALA members; $300 for nonmembers. Register through Midwinter registration or, if you only want to attend these two events, by downloading this form (PDF; skip section I) and following the directions at the YALSA wiki. Want to add these events to an existing registration? You can add events two ways: (1) By phone: Call ALA Registration at 1-800-974-3084 and ask to add a workshop to your existing registration.; (2) Online: Add an event to your existing registration by clicking on this link. Use your log in and password to access your existing Midwinter registration and add events in the “Your Events” section (screen 6). Then simply check out and pay for the events you’ve added.
Apply for $40K in awards & grants from YALSA YALSA members can apply for more than $40,000 in grants and awards! This year, we will award up the YALSA/Baker & Taylor Conference Grants, theYALSA/BWI Collection Development Grants, the YALSA/Greenwood Publishing Group Service to Young Adults Award, the MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens, the Frances Henne/YALSA/VOYA Research Grant, and the Great Books Giveaway. Applications for all YALSA member awards are due by Dec. 1. Details on all the awards and grants are available online at www.ala.org/yalsa/awards&grants.
Connect with YALSA members for First Wednesdays YALSA’s new networking initiative launches Dec. 2! Use YALSA’s informal monthly online chats as a centerpiece for face-to-face networking in your area. Find out how to get involved on YALSA’s First Wednesdays page.
YALSA’s Lit Blog Manager Search extended Interested in editing YALSA’s new blog, focused exclusively on teen literature? We’re extending the application period until Nov. 30! Find out what we’re looking for and how to apply here.
Apply for a YA Lit Symposium travel stipend Join YALSA in 2010 for the Young Adult Literature Symposium, Nov. 5-7, 2010, in Albuquerque, N.M, with a theme of “Beyond Good Intentions: Teens, Literature and Diversity.” We’re also giving away two stipends to offset travel costs, one for someone whose worked directly with teens in a library setting for ten years or less and one for a student in an ALA-accredited MLS program (you must be enrolled in an MLS program at the start of the symposium); stipend applications are due by Jan. 4, 2010. Details on both are available at www.ala.org/yalitsymposium.
Teen Tech Week registration open Register now for Teen Tech Week 2010! This year’s theme is Learn Create Share @ your library. Registration gives you access to this year’s theme logo. Teen Tech Week will be March 7-13. Visit the Teen Tech Week website for activity ideas, planning and publicity resources, and more!
That’s it for this week’s update! To stay up to date on the latest from the YALSA Office, sign up to follow YALSA on Twitter or become a fan of YALSA on Facebook!
I know, I know, salad isn’t a food we usually associate with Thanksgiving. (Stuffing is not salad. Nor is green bean casserole.) But in my reading this week, I came across a quote disagreeing with the concept of America as a melting pot. Instead, “Everyone keeps their different shapes and forms but still contributes something to the salad.” I like that; it’s both more accurate and a better ideal.
I’m still not going to eat salad on Thanksgiving, but we can give thanks for the great Salad Bowl of America, imperfect though it is.
And whence comes that great quote, you ask? From this great City Room post on a unique new college education program in a Connecticut prison. Selected for their essays and academic potential, these incarcerated students take classes from Wesleyan University professors, using the same syllabi and the same standards of grading as are used on Wesleyan’s campus. The classes are the same, but the students bring a much different perspective: a view from inside a justice system with, among other things, much higher rates of incarceration for Blacks and Latinos than for whites.
Disney’s The Princess and the Frog is coming out soon, featuring their first African American princess, a waitress in 1920s New Orleans, and it’s really great that we’ve come that far . . . but that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be very careful looks taken at the movie. Here’s a post looking at the skin and hair colors seen in the trailer, and the biracial American experience.
Meanwhile, today is Unviersal Children’s Day and the twentieth anniversary of the Convention for the Rights of the Child, but the condition of many children is still bleak, particularly in developing nations and among ethnic minorities, such as the Roma in Europe.
0 Comments on This Week in Diversity: Salad as of 11/20/2009 7:46:00 PM
In his National Book Awards acceptance speech this week, biographer T. J. Stiles thanked everyone in a book's traditional production chain, from the agent to the bookstore clerk. Stiles concluded with an note of apprehension: "The advent of the eBook is fooling some into thinking that these people are not necessary anymore."
As the digital publishing industry grows over the next few years, publishers, authors, and readers need to reconcile these fears about the future. Earlier this week, GalleyCat writers and readers mingled at the eBook Summit preview party, trying to start a more productive conversation about the future of eBooks.
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published by an American publisher in the United States in English during the preceding year. There are no limitations as to the character of the picture book except that the illustrations must be original work. The award is restricted to artists who are citizens or residents of the United States. For additional information on the terms and criteria for the award, you can find the Caldecott Manual on the ALSC Web site.
Congratulations to Lisa Graves. I chose Lisa's "Major" as the winner for the Chicken challenge. Lisa's incredible character design, smartly balanced composition, and clean coloring, makes this one super rooster! I love the epaulets.
Amazing work everyone! I am blown away at how you all stepped up to a "chicken" challenge and aced it! From realistic to silly, you are all awesome artists.
2 Comments on And The Winner Is... Lisa Graves!, last added: 11/20/2009
Comic author and radio personality April Winchell is the latest author to turn a blog into a book deal. She just sold "Regretsy," a title based on the her blog that highlights the oddest creations on Internet craft sites.
The Regretsy blog has featured everything from miniature paintings to those knitted spats. The title puns off the name of the popular craft site, Etsy. Jill Schwartzman at Random House's Villard imprint bought the title for trade paperback publication. Meg Thompson at LJK Literary Management negotiated the deal.
The site also features a fascinating page counting successful sales of strange crafts. Here's more about the forthcoming book: "The book will feature a collection of the oddest, most hilarious, and most disturbing crafts the world has ever seen, along with hilarious commentary provided by the author."
Elsewhere in the blogosphere, the New Yorker’s Book Bench blog posted a covers contest so challenging that even previous winners Jim and I couldn’t get ‘em all. (Seriously, people, what are #2 and #4? They haven’t posted the answers yet, and it’s driving me a bit nuts.) They also interviewed a seriously awesome 4-year-old on his love of books and monsters. Everyone talked about the eminently deserving Colum McCann’s win of the National Book Award. Eric at Pimp My Novel pointed out that we’re writing a lot of books about people’s daughters lately. Michael Cairns at PersonaNonData analyzed e-book pricing. The author behind Belle de Jour, blog-turned-book-turned-TV-show about a prostitute in London, turned out to be a research scientist. And Nathan Bransford made a pretty compelling argument for the eventual supremacy of e-books because people gravitate toward efficiency (on the one hand, I dream about one day having a home library with rolling ladders to reach the higher shelves; on the other, I’m kind of an efficiency nerd).
And now I’m off to figure out how to efficiently fit a library large enough to require rolling ladders in a New York City apartment.
2 Comments on Where has the week gone?, last added: 11/20/2009
Little, Brown has just released an eBook-only update of the print title, "The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child"--an instantaneous publishing response to public concerns about H1N1 flu (or Swine Flu) vaccines.
To find out more about how eBooks can help medical publishing, GalleyCat interviewed the book's author, Robert Sears, M.D., about the digital addition. He hoped that more medical publishers could adapt a similar digital book strategy: "Since I wrote "The Vaccine Book," several important changes have occurred that I wish I could have immediately updated. This is true for virtually any medical book, and it takes many months before such changes can appear in a subsequent book printing. eBooks can be immediately updated as new information comes out, and breaking health news topics can easily be added to compliment any health book," he explained.
He also outlined the timely information included in the eBook extra: "The H1N1 flu, or 'swine flu,' vaccine [requires] two extra doses that parents have to give their infants and children this year. Educated parents will naturally wonder about this new vaccine--How is it made? What are the ingredients and side effects? How risky is the disease? Should I add this vaccine to my child's already busy vaccine schedule? And pregnant moms are also concerned; the disease poses risk for them, but there is uncertainty over using an untested vaccine during pregnancy."
A manuscript that’s sitting somewhere untouched with dust so thick you could etch your name in it. Maybe you shelved your picture book because the gaggle of geese which deftly honked out the meaning of life in iambic pentameter just didn’t fit the market. Or your YA characters dressed flashy, talked trashy but didn’t do much of anything else. For whatever reason you shelved your piece, it’s there, either waiting to be discovered post mortem or dying the slow death of manuscripts that just don’t work.
Enter Cynthea Liu and her Revision 9-1-1 Workshop.
When I found out Cynthea was giving a workshop in my area, I jumped at the chance to attend. So many conferences solely focus on networking and subbing your work that craft often gets overlooked. This was an opportunity to focus on revision for four delicious hours. I dusted off my beloved manuscript, the one that I shelved because it was “too quiet” (still wondering if in editorspeak it simply meant – it stinks!) and went, coffee in hand, to find out how I could revive it.
Cynthea began by having us go through our manuscripts and circling –ing words. Using too many -ing words can give your work an “echo” and make YOU, the writer too obtrusive. I have to admit I was a bit surprised at how many –ing words my ailing manuscript had.
Hmmm…really, I sent it out this way!!??
She also touched upon characters – and how to make the generic “Hot Guy” or “Soccer Mom” leap off the page. One word - specificity. (say that ten times fast, I dare you) Surely my manuscript didn’t suffer from that…oh, wait, eek! It did. While I know I saw my characters having depth and being unique, a quick read of my first ten pages didn’t exemplify that. How could I make my protagonist’s version of what was going on different than any other funeral scene? Seeing the world through her own unique filter is how and while I know that’s what I always try to do when I sit down to write, looking back over my work with an objective eye – really helped hit that lesson home.
There are far too many other tips to list in one blog post, so I’ll leave you with my favorite. One – which I suffer from a little bit more than I’d like to admit – is if you’re working on a scene and you feel like it’s something you could see on television, CHANGE IT. Turn it on its head – do we first meet “hot guy” leaning up against a locker? How can you make it different? Maybe hot guy rides a bicycle to school because he’s a budding environmentalist. Or we first meet him barfing up his lunch behind the bleachers. Anywhere but the locker.
I have to say, when I first left the workshop I felt a little bummed – very caught up in the “I really sent this out like this?” blues. Then something great happened. I got a vision of how the opening scene could work better, how my character could come to life – how I could turn my story on its head and work on it again to make it a truly unique. I’m once again psyched to work on it. So thanks Cynthea!
Cynthea Liu is so generous with her writing expertise and loves to talk shop! For more great tips you can visit her website.
And now – if you leave a comment, you will be entered in a drawing to win Cynthea’s YA novel The Great Call Of China. You have until Sunday to leave your comment. It will be random so don’t worry about being witty, just join in the conversation!
So what are some of your favorite tips when handling revision? And how do you feel about it – love it or hate it!
For your weekend reading pleasure, here some publishing news briefs...
Oprah Winfrey announced today that she will end her popular show in 2011, closing the televised side of the most influential book club in America. Author Edwidge Danticat told the Wall Street Journal why she will miss the club: "When she calls to tell you that your book has been selected for the book club, she sounds so excited that you feel as though she's both your ideal reader and your biggest cheerleader."
Kat Meyer interviewed Angela James, the executive editor for Carina Press on Twitter for her weekly Follow Reader Twitter chat. Read the whole exchange at #followreader.
Today the NY Times reported a digital reading milestone for one bookseller's upcoming device: "Barnes & Noble says customers ordering a Nook will receive their devices the week of Jan. 4. So that stockings are not left completely empty, the bookseller will furnish buyers with a special holiday certificate."
GalleyCat has been tracking the stock performance of the major companies that influence the bookselling business. We created this chart with eight publicly-traded publishing stocks hand-picked by our readers--including company name, symbol, current stock price, and price increase or decrease at week's close.
-Name- -Symbol- -Last price- -Change-
The McGraw-Hill Co.. MHP 30.99 -0.74
Books-A-Million, Inc. BAMM 7.41 -0.14
Borders Group, Inc. BGP 1.94 0.02
Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN 129.66 0.67
Barnes & Noble, Inc. BKS 22.3 -0.01
Wiley John & Sons Inc. JW.A 37.26 -0.06
Scholastic Corporation SCHL 26.4 -0.17
News Corporation NWS 14.13 -0.59
Google Inc. GOOG 569.94 -3.05
Apple Inc. AAPL 199.92 -0.59
Sony Corporation SNE 26.8 -0.18
People often tell me that I’m very productive, so it was a shock recently to take a procrastination test and come out in the top 10% of pracrastinators!
It said I scored 80 out of 100 possible points and “when it comes to putting things off, you often do so even though you know you shouldn’t… Though you are likely incredibly productive just before a deadline, you might not get all your work done and there is a lot of unwanted stress.”
Hmmm…
I wanted to mutter “stupid test,” but I was aware that certain bad writing habits (dare I call it procrastination?) were affecting the quality of my work. Oh, I got the writing done, but too often lately the quality was less than it could be because I delayed starting. I was submitting writing that was less than my best because it was hurried.
I think I had deluded myself into thinking there was no problem because I was busy all the time. I am never late with student lessons, and usually early. I am never late for my M-W-F blogs or paid critiques. I don’t even procrastinate on writing nonfiction books. Just fiction. Just the “pulling words out of thin air and making up people and whole worlds” kind of writing.
Check Yourself Out
Why is getting started so hard? In a recent magazine article on procrastination in Children’s Writer, the following quote struck me as true–of me, anyway:
“In many cases, we procrastinate because we are anxious about the work at hand. It seems too difficult or onerous. ‘The hardest part of any task is the first five minutes. It’s like cold water. It’s just getting in that’s the hard part. Once you’re in, the water feels great,’ says Steel [a university professor who studies procrastination]. ‘Usually after procrastinating, once people finally get around to the task, they say, ‘I don’t know why I thought this would be so much worse than it was.’”
That struck me as true, so this week I’ve been starting my NaNoWriMo writing by setting a timer for just five minutes. Then I write furiously for five minutes, with permission to quit if I hate it at the end of five minutes. Have I stopped yet when the timer went off? No. I’m on a roll by then, and it wasn’t nearly as hard as I’d made it in my mind.
Why do we do this to ourselves over and over? It feels silly to have to “trick” my muse with a kitchen timer. But hey, it works, so I’ll probably keep doing it until I find something that works better!
What about you? What tricks do YOU use to get started?
REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services, is pleased to announce that the San Francisco Public Library, Topeka & Shawnee County (Kan.) Public Library, have been selected to be the recipients of the 2009 Estela and Raúl Mora Award for their commendable efforts in promoting El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros.
The Estela and Raúl Mora Award was established by author and poet Pat Mora and her family in honor of their parents to promote El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), also known as “Día. This family literacy initiative is now housed at the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Día is a daily commitment to link children and books that culminates in celebrations around the country on April 30th. The Mora award is presented annually, in partnership with REFORMA, to the most exemplary celebration(s). The San Francisco Public Library and Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library will each receive $1,000 and a plaque commemorating their efforts.
The San Francisco Public Library hosted its 10th El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros event celebrating 10 years of bringing children, families and books together in San Francisco. A series of special programs were held in neighborhood libraries throughout the month of April. These programs included bilingual storytimes and crafts, Native American stories, and dance performances. The library also hosted a Día exhibit in which original artwork, posters, and memorabilia from the past 10 years were displayed. A 10-year anniversary reception was also held to recognize volunteers, community supporters, funders, activity sponsors, and the event organizers for all the work they had done over the past 10 years. The grand finale for El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros was held at Dolores Park with approximately 1,000 participants and included multicultural performances by Asian storytellers, Spanish bilingual puppeteers, an Afro-Brazilian dance, drumming and stilting ensemble, and a kid-centered hip-hop group. The event also included many activities such as interactive art, 3-D animation, book making, lotería, and a free book distribution where approximately 825 multilingual books were given to children and their families.
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library celebrated its 4th El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros celebration on April 30, with more than 550 participants attending the event. The library partnered with 18 community agencies, and targeted 35 pre-schools and 20 elementary schools. The library in its effort to reach the Hispanic community targeted agencies that worked with the Hispanic community to help them promote the event through community meetings, bulletin boards and flyers. These agencies also encouraged their clientele to participate in the event. The celebration included a bilingual puppet show, bilingual reader’s theater, traditional dancers from Bolivia, a high school mariachi band, and bilingual storytelling and book displays. Participants also had the opportunity to receive a free book and to participate in book-making activities, arts and crafts, lotería, and other activities.
Illustrate a feast! Up in the northern hemisphere, we have a lot of eating holidays this time of year. The U.S. has Thanksgiving on November 26 this year, Canada had Thanksgiving on October 12, Hanukkah begins at sundown on Friday December 11, Christmas is December 25, and many other religions celebrate the harvest of fall, the shortest day (Winter Solstice, December 21), and Yule celebrations. Of course, Christmas is also celebrated in the southern hemisphere on December 25 - must be really odd to sing about snow in Summer. Hindus celebrated Diwali (festival of lights) on October 17th. For Islam, the New Year is December 18 (not a feast day but a time for religious reflection). So let's celebrate!
A PRIZE!
For this challenge, the winner will receive an actual prize! I will mail a prize to the chosen winner (the winner will need to supply an address). The prize will be announced next week. You have 2 weeks so get busy, artists!
The "Chicken" and the "Werewolf" challenge is over. The new challenge is "Feast" and ends on December 7, 2009. Another new challenge, "Gratitude," ends on November 30, 2009.
2 Comments on New Challenge - Feast!, last added: 11/20/2009
Congratulations to M. S. Corley. I chose M. S. Corley's "Werewolf" (Lycaon) as the winner for the Werewolf challenge. Why? Because it's AWESOME! M. S. Corley is a fantastic illustrator and designer. I've actually been a fan of his for sometime. Many of you may remember his incredible redesign for A Series of Unfortunate Events, made to look like classic Penguin Books. Check out his blog and enjoy!
0 Comments on And The Winner Is... M. S. Corley! as of 11/20/2009 3:57:00 PM
I am back! I return, the prodigal son, sheepishly with hat in hand. I am so sorry for keeping you all waiting and in the dark about what was happening with me and Monday Artday. I was sick from radiation therapy and couldn't bear to approach the Internet. But I feel good now and I'm here to make amends.
Let's draw! I have a new challenge for you all today and winners for the Werewolf and Chicken challenges. I also want to thank all of you for your concern and especially Gunther for stepping up in my absence. You are all awesome.
4 Comments on Where Is Mike R. Baker?, last added: 11/20/2009
A little while ago, INTERN posted about a fictitious Character Transformation Bazooka which could make characters have deep realisations and catharses instantly, with no justification.
There are a few other weapons of mass manuscript destruction (WMMD) in the arsenal.
One is the Triumph Bomb, or T-Bomb.
If you go see just about any movie that's playing in a mainstream theatre, there's bound to be at least one scene involving a Moment of Triumph: the submarine crew realizes they've fixed their leaking vessel just in time (hugs, shouts, and meaningful apologies ensue) or a pair of starcrossed mental defectives realizes they're meant for each other and triumphantly race to the nearest marriage office.
These moments of triumph usually happen after about ninety minutes of false starts, dissapointments, and disasters.
One comment INTERN finds herself writing frequently in novel critiques is that the moments of triumph in the story come too soon, or make no sense, or seem to drop out of the sky with nothing to warn their approach but a faint whistle on the breeze. There haven't been enough obstacles or disasters to make the triumph meaningful—or the stakes were too low for anyone to care.
T-bombs are especially rampant in manuscripts that involve the following:
-unrequited love -battles (literal battles. like, with axes and longswords). -stories with quirky mysteries (particularly in YA and MG books) -stories about overcoming bullies (particularly in YA and MG) -characters with diseases -stories involving sports
Actually, it is possible to drop a T-bomb in just about any kind of novel.
INTERN has been doing a lot of research into this triumph thing, and has found that really effective triumphs in novels happen only after one or a few of the following have happened in the story:
-a character has had to sacrifice something -a character has had to make a high-stakes choice or moral decision -a character has tried several other options and failed -a character has suffered a hard loss or injury over the course of struggling towards a particular goal -a character has, indeed, been struggling in some way, not floating along easily. -a character has been forced to change significantly -a character has undergone real trials and conflicts pertaining to the goal
If none of these things have happened, but your characters are still smiling weepily and holding each other while Chariots of Fire plays in the background, they're probably the victims of a T-Bomb. Edit at will!
**
INTERN is heading out for an extended Thanksgiving visit with her family, so she will be away for the next week. Have courage, revisioneers, and good luck!
0 Comments on NaNoReVisMo #5: galumphing towards triumph as of 1/1/1900
Are people born writers? Or are writers created by years of practice and strong teachers?
Today's guest on the Morning Media Menu was Geoff Colvin, senior editor-at-large for Fortune magazine. The veteran reporter and author explored his recent book, "Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everybody Else." He talked about how we overvalue talent in our culture, arguing that writers are shaped by teachers and practice--not innate talent.
Here's an excerpt from the interview: "Most of us, especially in the early days of our development, are not well-qualified to design our own deliberate practice. We don't know enough about the field as beginners to know where we should be pushing ourselves next or what abilities we should be developing. We also need an outside set of eyes, somebody who can observe the performance and give us an honest session of feedback. Anybody who is a writer really needs someone who can help them design their practice, tell them what to do next, judge what they've done, and make them do a lot of work."
Way back in October the OUPblog announced that in honor of the National Book Awards we were hosting a friendly contest, to see who could predict the most winners.
Well, now that the National Book Awards winners have been announced, and congratulations to all the winners, it’s time to share which lucky OUPblog readers will be getting free books in the mail!
In third place with one point was Christopher Elias who will get a copy of Garner’s Modern American Usage (3rd edition).
A great big thank you to everyone who participated and to all the fabulous authors who wrote books we enjoyed this year. 2009 was chock-full of great literature and we can’t wait to read what you publish next year!
0 Comments on National Book Award Contest: Winners! as of 1/1/1900
Bainbridge Island's Eagle Harbor Bookstore hosted local authors Sharlene Martin and Anthony Flacco for a dual signing last Sunday afternoon to promote the book they collaborated on—Publish Your Nonfiction Book—and Flacco's The Road Out of Hell (which tells the real-life story behind events touched upon in Clint Eastwood's Changeling). The event was followed by a fundraiser for the Kitsap Regional Library Foundation, where the couple were joined by local bestselling authors Susan Wiggs, Gregg Olsen and Suzanne Selfors.
Comic author and radio personality 
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For your weekend reading pleasure, here some publishing news briefs...
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People often tell me that I’m very productive, so it was a shock recently to take a 
Are people born writers? Or are writers created by years of practice and strong teachers?
