Dissecting a Debut is a feature that is similar to book reviews, but I want to focus exclusively on author debuts and consider why each book was embraced by the publishing community. My hope is that these posts will give the sprouting authors a bit more buzz, offer readers book suggestions much like any other review would, and … Continue reading 
Bringing up copyright around authors can be a bit like opening Pandora’s Box, but let’s have a go, shall we? After all, a renown scholar, author, and lawyer Leslie Klinger has just sued an author’s estate on whether a particular character is in the public domain. The character in question? Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective, … Continue reading 
Thinking today of the lovely Jane Austen on the 200th anniversary of her most popular novel’s publication. Her brother Henry acted as her literary agent, and Thomas Egerton paid her 110 pounds as an advance, just two months before Pride and Prejudice‘s release. Today’s writers have it a bit different — not that you’re paid much … Continue reading 
As Hurricane Sandy was rolling up the east coast, I was switching back and forth between NAOO’s website for weather updates and Publisher’s Marketplace, because the rumors about Random House and Penguin were confirmed. Two of the biggest publishers in the world were combining forces. For anyone working in the publishing industry, this raised … Continue reading 
Dissecting a Debut is a feature that is similar to book reviews, but I want to focus exclusively on author debuts and consider why each book was embraced by the publishing community. My hope is that these posts will give the sprouting authors a bit more buzz, offer readers book suggestions much like any other review would, and … Continue reading 
It’s been a long month. Correction, a long six weeks. Of course, even before Hurricane Sandy hit NYC, I was remiss in adding new posts in October. I took on my first client as an agent and I was running around the city with editors — coffee here, lunch there, and a Halloween Happy Hour … Continue reading 
Dissecting a Debut is a feature that is similar to book reviews, but I want to focus exclusively on author debuts and consider why each book was embraced by the publishing community. My hope is that these posts will give the sprouting authors a bit more buzz, offer readers book suggestions much like any other review would, and … Continue reading 
Dissecting a Debut is a feature that is similar to book reviews, but I want to focus exclusively on author debuts and consider why each book was embraced by the publishing community. My hope is that these posts will give the sprouting authors a bit more buzz, offer readers book suggestions much like any other review would, and … Continue reading 
Last week, I posted about the importance of platform for a nonfiction author. But platform is leaking into fiction as well, albeit in a slightly different form. At the beginning, the quality of the writing, and whether the book will fit into the marketplace at the time, is what matters. Agents and editors looking for fiction … Continue reading 
John Updike just told me that the key to finding a writer’s true voice is to go into an empty room and hum. Speaking voices can be shy or squeaky but a nice solid hum is the essence or your voice. Since I was alone at the time, I paused Updike’s presentation and did just … Continue reading 
Platform is a word that publishers throw around as something they look for in an author. But what exactly does it entail? A slogan? A mission statement? Tall shoes? Just kidding. It really depends on the type of book you’re writing. Let’s start with non-fiction. I worked for a short stint in consumer health books, … Continue reading 
I’d like to introduce what I hope will be a regular feature here at Lamplight & Ink: Dissecting a Debut. These posts will be similar to book reviews, but I want to focus exclusively on author debuts and consider why each book was embraced by the publishing community. My hope is that these posts will give the … Continue reading 
Self-publishing doesn’t seem like such a bad idea lately. Everyone is babbling about what it means and debating whether it’s a good thing, but one thing is for sure: more authors are having better success with self-publishing now than perhaps ever before, and the stigma is going away. Four Smashwords authors made this Sunday’s NYT … Continue reading 
A couple weeks ago, I encouraged you to find a thought-provoking read, something perhaps out of your comfort zone. I decided to read True Believers, a novel by Kurt Anderson, which as it turns out, wasn’t too far out of my comfort zone once I got started. Karen Hollander reflects on her teenage choices as … Continue reading 
I remember walking to work one morning with my husband a couple years ago, when he commented that the biggest problem with digital publishing was the file format. At the time, academic publishers were launching fantastic online platforms for research journals and articles, e-readers were starting to appear on Christmas wish lists, and it was clear that … Continue reading 
Albert of Adelaide, the debut novel by Howard L. Anderson, surprised me in the same way that Fantastic Mr. Fox surprised me in the theater. It’s adult entertainment in the guise of something created by Beatrix Potter — a bedtime story where animals talk and wear clothes, but where they also concoct schemes, shoot guns … Continue reading 
The last bookstore in my town closed in March 2010. No more browsing bookshelves for hidden gems or stopping in for a quick pick off the front table of New Fiction. More than half of the books I read now are e-books, because it’s fast and it’s easy. But like most readers, I love bookstores. … Continue reading 
