Can You Compete for an Agent’s or Editor’s Time?

Aspiring authors often seem puzzled that their work isn’t read more carefully, or positively, or even at all, when they send their work out to an agent or an editor.

Those would-be authors aren’t thinking enough about the competitive pressure on the gatekeepers’ time. Editors and agents have a lot of hot projects, and to add another to their list means you need to deliver a truly compelling work . . . good enough to make them put aside something else.

Yes, your work may be perfectly fine. Readable and enjoyable. Yeoman plot. Likable hero. All that. But agents and editors have a lot of that already. You need to compete for their attention, and compete hard. You need to knock their socks off.

And quickly. If you are a new author, it had better happen in the first few pages.

Here’s how it looks from a busy editor’s point of view. This is a perspective shared at a WisCon 2009 panel a few weeks ago by James Frenkel, senior editor of science fiction titles for Tor Books.

Frenkel was talking to an audience of mostly would-be authors. He said, okay, it might help to understand my professional priorities as an editor. The top projects on my desk, he said, are sequels by bestselling authors already in the Tor line-up. (Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? These are lucrative projects with a built-in audience, likely to sell and also will promote earlier work in the series.)

Then, he said, next in line are new queries or manuscripts by other bestselling authors at Tor, although not necessarily sequels. (Makes a lot of sense; these are proven authors in which Tor already has a relationship and an investment. More work by these good authors will likely pay off.)

Then, Frenkel looks at new work by bestselling authors from the outside, pitched to him by top agents. (Makes sense; these are from authors and agents who have proven themselves, although not at Tor.)

Then, he looks at proposals from new authors . . . sent to him via top agents who also represent bestselling authors. (Makes sense; these agents know the business and have a track record of identifying successful writers and material.)

Then . . . Frenkel paused and looked at the aspiring authors in the room . . . “If I have time, I look at you.”

Clearly, there’s not a lot of time left. That’s the way the business works. Publishers, editors, agents, marketing departments, all are busy working with people who have already shown signs of success. They already have a lot of viable projects on their desks.

Frenkel clearly would love, as does any editor, to discover new talent. But his and others’ time is limited.

No, it’s not impossible to break in. But to do it, you need to gird your loins to compete, and compete hard. If one of those agents or editors does get a few moments to riffle through a slush pile . . . you need to make your manuscript sparkle . . . quickly, convincingly, without any quibbles or concerns or dull spots or wasted words.

We all have to compete, even (as you can see from Frenkel’s hierarchy of attention) those much higher in the queue than you or me.

So . . . make the most of any chance you get. Write a couple of first pages that are teeming with the “wow!” factor, that are really outstanding (not just competent), that fire a reader’s immediate curiosity about what comes next. Make us say, “Hey, that’s remarkably good. I’ll read some more.”

“I’ll read more . . . despite all the pressures on my time . . . despite all the other projects piled on my desk that are so likely to succeed and fund my paycheck.”

Can you do that? The opening lines should be fantastic. The first page must be great. And the following several pages should be brisk and bold and brilliant with the promise of a wonderful story.

Art of the Self-Interview – Web Marketing for Book Authors

If you’re a book author, a great feature for your professional website is an author interview.

Surprisingly, one of the best approaches is a self-interview.

At first glance, this might seem immodest or an inferior version of a “real” interview with an outside journalist. But done well, it can be as good . . . if not better.

There are some things you can do in a self-interview that you can’t in a regular one.

1. Get it done, anytime, on your schedule.
2. Control the questions, to highlight the best features of your book or other work.
3. Range freely, to bring in any offbeat, auxiliary, cross-marketing info.
4. Show your humor, skill with words, insight, and all-around scintillating presence . . . which may lead to additional outside interviews, while impressing web visitors about your book.

Here’s a glimpse of a self-interview, done very, very well. It is by author James Morrow, author of The Philosopher’s Apprentice, The Last Witchfinder (Starred Review, Publisher’s Weekly),  Only Begotten Daughter (World Fantasy Award), and other impressive books. He’s been interviewed elsewhere often, but chose to do self-interviews for his books on his website.

It’s a great tip for book marketing for writers of all sorts. The same kind of thing can be done by freelance writers, poets, anyone with a glimmer of moxie (and a creative personality).

For the Morrow interview, I’ll just give some of the questions. To enjoy the fun, interesting answers, you’ll just have to visit the James Morrow website!

James Morrow Interviews James Morrow on
The Philosopher’s Apprentice

Q: Your new novel, The Philosopher’s Apprentice, has an intriguing title. Who is the philosopher and who is the apprentice?

Q: Does Mason succeed in giving Londa a moral compass?

Q: Why is Londa’s mind a blank slate?

Q: So what is The Philosopher’s Apprentice really about?

Q: Morality is a mystery?

Q: It sounds as if you’re a novelist who benefits from interacting with editors.

Q: Is that why you’ve described the book as a cross between Shaw’s Pygmalion and Nabokov’s Lolita?

Q: Your previous novel, The Last Witchfinder — which is quite a good book, by the way …

Q: The Last Witchfinder also centers on a teacher-student relationship. The heroine, Jennet Stearne, is tutored by her beloved Aunt Isobel in “natural philosophy,” that is, science.

Q: Those scenes, yes. What the heck is going on here? On one level, the immaculoids are sympathetic, but I don’t think of you as being in the “pro-life” camp. The Last Witchfinder was a very feminist novel.

Q: You’re avoiding the question, Morrow. By bringing those wretched immaculoids on stage, don’t you end up endorsing the anti-abortion position?

Q: You obviously have a taste for grandiose themes. Where does that come from?

Q: So, for you, novels are a good way to keep experts from impoverishing our minds?

Q: We’ve talked about Shaw and Nabokov as influences. One of your pre-publication critics, covering the book for Kirkus Reviews, notes that The Philosopher’s Apprentice also “tips its hat with style to Mary Shelley.”

Q: It’s always nice to meet a fellow geek.

Q: Somebody once remarked, “Henry James chewed more than he bit off.”

Q: Nevertheless, when you named your main character Londa Sabacthani, you were obviously trying for a symbolic effect. Her name evokes Jesus’s famous cry from the cross in Matthew 27:46.

Q: You’re lying.

Q: I’m afraid we’re out of time.

Words Can Change the World, I Think

Words can change the world . . . or a small piece of it.

Or so I believe.

However, in a writer’s discussion not long ago, someone asked: what are some examples as proof of that?

I’ve been thinking about that ever since. Writing is so often meant to carry our thoughts and words far beyond us, to places where we won’t always see their effect.

Well, here’s something. A little fable. Not proof of anything, since it’s fictional.

It’s a link to a beautiful 5-minute film. I ran across it on a Milwaukee marketing firm’s blog, so I’ll send it to you via their page. Check it out (and thanks, Data Dog, for helping us discover this.)

Click here to watch:
Historia de un letrero (A short original film, with subtitles)
written & directed by Alonso Alvarez Barreda

Take a few moment to check it out.

And let’s keep thinking about that question.
As writers, can we make a real difference in the world with our words?

How? (And if we do . . . will we know?)

Plaques on Places? No Thanks!

I love sense of place! As a strong advocate of sense of place, in literature and real life, I recommend stories well rooted in a specific site or region . . . it will make your stories more compelling.

However, I find this a bit disturbing:

“Project Bookmark Canada Puts Stories in Our Spaces”

On Thursday, April 23, 2009, Mayor David Miller and author Michael Ondaatje will be at Toronto’s Bloor Street Viaduct to launch Project Bookmark Canada, a national initiative to bring the imagined landscapes of stories and poems into our physical spaces.

Mayor Miller and Mr. Ondaatje will unveil a plaque (or “Bookmark”) bearing a scene from Ondaatje’s legendary Toronto novel, In the Skin of a Lion, in which a nun falls from the Bloor Street Viaduct during its construction.

The Bookmark is the first in a planned cross-Canada series intended to create a permanent presentation of literature in public spaces.

Yes, a project in Canada is putting ceramic plaques with text from stories in the actual locales. Seems like a nice idea.

“Many cities have tributes to writers. What makes Project Bookmark Canada unique is that these literary scenes will be read in the exact locations where the stories and poems are set,” says Miranda Hill, Founder and Executive Director of Project Bookmark Canada. “Readers can step right into the stories, experiencing the authors’ visions and the real locales simultaneously.”

But, hmmm . . . does this seem a bit . . . self-referential?

“These words by Ondaatje, Michaels and Lee inspired this project, so I am glad that we can pay tribute to them first. But there are countless stories and poems set in recognizable locales⎯from St. John’s to Toronto to Vancouver,” Hill says.

“I think it would be wonderful to Bookmark them all. My vision is that you should be able to read your way right across Canada.”

My questions: Only for literary fiction? What about genre fiction – romance, science fiction, fantasy, mystery – that uses real locales? Will they be similarly honored? Or is that less worthy?

And what about non-urban settings? The prairies of Willa Cather? The North of Jack London? Fiction set in the canoe wilderness Boundary Waters? Will there be a square foot or two of prairie or tundra or bog flowers removed to insert a ceramic plaque?

Sure, I like the idea of sharing public knowledge about writers and their homes and the settings of their stories. I like the idea of a walking tour, like that offered by the James Joyce Centre,  “In the Footsteps of Leopold Bloom”:

a special walking tour of Dublin, the setting for all of James Joyce’s works. . . . Join us for a walking tour of historic Joycean Dublin and take in some of the monumental and ordinary sights and sounds of the city in which Joyce staged all his works.

But do I need to see the text sprinkled all over Dublin?

(Here’s a great article by writer Mike Karsnak, on the Literary Traveler website, about his Joycean tour around Dublin, downing pints in Davy Byrne’s pub, “A ‘Moral Pub’ Crawl Through Dublin.“)

Hey, I don’t want to be too negative. Yes, I understand the role of a good PR stunt (I mean, public celebration of literature). Kudos to inventive and attention-getting literary events. But a permanent plaque?

And I find this goal either naive or chilling: “. . . countless stories and poems set in recognizable locales . . . it would be wonderful to Bookmark them all.” Yikes! To cover the landscape?

What about the next person who wants to write about that place? When they describe that place, do they include a description of the plaque from the previous writer (literary mirrors within mirrors within mirrors . . .)?

Does it smack of naming rights? Ondaatje Viaduct?

I’d say at least make it a temporary sign. Up for a year, then remove. Or make it of pressed paper, something will dissolve in the rain and snow.

And then, everybody . . . back to the book!

Tell the Story Behind the Story

Every book has a story about itself.

The story of the writing of a book-length work (or a substantial article) – how the work came to be – is grist for your publicity mill. It’s an effective and easy-to-use tool in your efforts to establish Brand You, your personal brand.

Why? Because it tells two stories: one about the work itself, and one about you as a person writing the work. Hearing why an author picked a given topic, how he/she researched it, designed its telling, and populated it with happenings and ideas and and characters . . . is of great interest to many readers.

Here’s a great example:
Clues in the Shadows (A Molly Mystery): The Story Behind the Story

Here, author Kathleen Ernst uses a wonderful batch of photos from the Library of Congress to illustrate and talk (on a page on her excellent, content-rich website) about the research she did in writing this middle-grade reader, Clues in the Shadows, a mystery in the immensely popular American Girl line of books, doll, and zillions of accessories.

In this piece, Ernst shares how she came upon ideas that she incorporated into the story:

Many of the programs urged children to compete against each other, seeing who could collect the most paper or scrap metal.  Sometimes children struggled to meet expectations.  When I read about that, I decided that was an important idea to introduce in Clues in the Shadows.

Well-researched background like this impresses educators and reviewers. And readers themselves (in this case, kids) always like to see “behind the scenes” . . . to peek behind the curtain, to feel that special sense of privilege when someone takes you backstage and gives you a personal tour.

Of course, this is great stuff for any published (or soon-to-be-published) writer’s blog. Here’s another example (from a project I’m working with), the story of writing a historical novel for young readers, by two sisters, Hilda and Emily Demuth, centered around a historic plank road that ran by their childhood home in southern Wisconsin:

Plank Road Summer blog

Why does this behind-the-scenes storytelling work so well?

Because at the core of storytelling is the desire to be connected with each other. This goes back to the roots of oral storytelling, where the story never existed without the teller.

So take the time to create and share the story behind your major pieces of writing. It will draw in the reader and extend your personal brand, presenting you in a most-favorable light: how you (as a skilled, thoughtful pro writer) take raw ideas and turn them into literature.

Don’t just serve the dish. Let them see and appreciate the making of the dish. As brand-meister Martha Stewart would say . . . “And that’s a good thing.”

Four Reasons Not To Self-Publish a Novel

Is self-publishing a short-cut to fame . . . or a short-circuit?

Here’s a bit of tough love for novelists. I’ll give you four good reasons not to self-publish your novel. Instead, stick it in a drawer! Better things might happen to you if you do.

First, I’m not a big fan of self-publishing as a great option for most writers. When you hear success stories . . . remember: your actual results may vary!

But writers are hopeful and by their nature persistent. Novel writers, especially so. After a zillion hours slaving at a keyboard, what if your novel sits unpublished, on a shelf or forlorn inside your computer?

Self-publish! many will say. But below are some counter-arguments, why deciding not to publish a novel may lead to more positive outcomes.

Yes, it’s nice to be able to tell friends that you are a “published author.” If this is what you desire most, then certainly you may put up your own money to publish your own book.

Yes, others have self-published; a few have even achieved fame and fortune. But it is also the source of a tremendous amount of sub-par writing – work that is poorly edited, meandering, overblown, inconsistent.

Frankly, because of the quality problems in the self-publishing world, most book buyers (individuals or stores) are not going to look for their next purchase in the ranks of POD novels. There may be lovely, shining needles in those literary haystacks; your novel may be one of them. But if someone wants a needle, let’s be honest, there are easier ways to find one than searching through gigantic mounds of moldy hay. Most readers will look elsewhere.

So even if your novel is well-written, self-publishing it will likely throw disappointment in your face. You may sell only a few dozen copies, plus those you give to friends and relatives.

To complicate the matter, there are those who gain from encouraging you to publish to “fulfill your dream.” Magazines and the Internet abound with ads, rich with tales of writers who have succeeded in this way. The advertised services have a vested interest in encouraging you to print your work, whether this is best for your career or not. So their ads suggest grand things ahead if you are bold and ambitious. Take advantage of the wonders of POD! It’s cool, it’s modern, it gives you control. Publish your work, and it is “available worldwide!”

But let’s think a bit more deeply about your choices and likely outcomes. Take a moment to look at some positives . . . if you set it aside. Consider how you might benefit by deciding to stick an unpublished novel in a drawer.

1. You can give it a long rest. A sojourn from endless tinkering can offer a fresh perspective later, an insight to fix a fatal flaw. Too often, beginning writers undermine their work by reworking it too often; such manuscripts might have been saved if set aside, then returned to later . . . much later, when your skills have advanced!

2. You can recycle pieces. If a work is unpublished, you can freely recycle major elements: characters, plot twists, dialogue, anything. If you’ve gone ahead and published it, you can’t. Many beginning authors write first novels with lots of good pieces. But overall, the work just doesn’t form a compelling whole. But certain elements – an engaging character, a plot twist, a wonderful scene – can invigorate a next new work. (A good bit of your first novel might even become a secondary plot within your next novel.)

3. You can pitch it later. If you write new work that’s accepted for publication, you have a great opportunity to pitch earlier works to your editor. Why? He or she now has a relationship with you, an investment in your name. Naturally, that editor might be receptive to earlier works. Even if those works are flawed, a supportive editor might suggest useful changes. Of course, you have improved tremendously as a writer and now can see ways to fix that earlier work!

4. You can keep the fire in your belly alive. Consider how most successful writers achieved their greatness. Rarely did they get their first work published! Instead, they wrote and wrote . . . and agonized when those first attempts didn’t get published. But they persisted to write new material that carried them to fame. If they had published that first, likely inferior work, it might have proved a detriment, even a blight on their career. Worst of all, it might have dissipated their drive to write something better.

Instead, push yourself to improve. Many unpublished writers are very good writers, but just need to learn to craft a better story – with a more appealing hook, richer characters, a tighter plot.

Don’t get stuck. Start a second work. Keep multiple projects underway; it’s a professional practice that will pay off. Work hard on manuscripts, but understand the difference between persistence and obsession.

Desire to write a new and better work. Create new characters, dramatic scenes, compelling premises. Interweave more small stories and sub-plots. Let your writing skills mature.

This article doesn’t tell you when to stick a novel in a drawer and move on to the next work. But don’t self-publish work if it doesn’t live up to the reasonably high demands of the outside world. Avoid a petulant stubbornness to prove the world wrong . . . by publishing it yourself.

Consider that decision in light of your overall career path. What’s best for you if you want to become a successful writer?

Writing a first work that remains unpublished – a beloved first manuscript reluctantly put aside to begin your next exciting project – is a real and meaningful rite of passage.

[For more articles on related topics for writers, or to sign up for my free Writing Tips email newsletter, visit www.greatlakeslit.com.]

The Wonderfully Eccentric Characters of Charles Dickens

Don’t know about you, but I’ve been enjoying Little Dorrit on PBS the last few weeks.

Reminded me of some lines from G.K. Chesterton (Gilbert Keith Chesterton, 1874–1936, author of the Father Brown mysteries, The Man Who Was Thursday, Orthodoxy, and The Everlasting Man, which had a big influence on C.S. Lewis, among others). Among Chesterton’s many works:  Charles Dickens: A Critical Study (1906).

Here are a few bits by Chesterton (from Chapter 10) on the eccentric, outlandish, quirky characters of Dickens:

The humble characters of Dickens do not amuse each other with epigrams; they amuse each other with themselves. The present that each man brings in hand is his own incredible personality. In the most sacred sense, and in the most literal sense of the phrase, he “gives himself away.”

. . . Now, the man who gives himself away does the last act of generosity; he is like a martyr, a lover, or a monk. But he is also almost certainly what we commonly call a fool.

The key of the great characters of Dickens is that they are all great fools.
. . .
It is impossible to do justice to these figures because the essential of them is their multiplicity. The whole point of Dickens is that he not only made them, but made them by myriads; that he stamped his foot, and armies came out of the earth.
. . .
It may be noticed that the great artists always choose great fools rather than great intellectuals to embody humanity. Hamlet does express the æsthetic dreams and the bewilderments of the intellect; but Bottom the Weaver expresses them much better.
. . .
There is an apostolic injunction to suffer fools gladly. We always lay the stress on the word “suffer,” and interpret the passage as one urging resignation. It might be better, perhaps, to lay the stress upon the word “gladly,” and make our familiarity with fools a delight, and almost a dissipation.

[Found the entire text of Chesterton's Charles Dickens: A Critical Study on a few web pages created by Mitsuharu Matsuoka, Nagoya University, Japan.]

As you may know, I’m a proponent of the quirky character (here’s a recent article, “In Praise of Eccentricity,” from my newsletter).

Indeed, let’s “make our familiarity with fools a delight”! And who better to learn from than the great Mr. Dickens?

Plan a Great Book Launch Party

I’m a proponent of well-designed launch parties. When a book is first published, the author is in a great position to plan and host a local event to kick-off the arrival of the new book.

This a key activity for book marketing that authors can do better, more personably, and often more creatively than publishers.

For a book I’m publishing in May through my Crickhollow Books imprint, Plank Road Summer, a historical novel for middle readers, the co-authors Hilda and Emily Demuth are hosting a party in a rural schoolhouse, the Yorkville School in Racine County, Wisconsin. (It’s near the site of where the story takes place.) And one of them plays in an old-time contra dance band, the Hoosier Recruits. So it’ll be a music/dance/book-launch party. It sounds fun to me!

My worst book launch ever? Think Katrina hurricane. I mean, literally. I worked for a year as editor on a book titled Lost Gold of the Republic, about a Civil War–era steamship, headed to New Orleans just months after the end of the Civil War with lots of gold and silver coins. It sank in a hurricane. The book launch site? New Orleans . . . the exact afternoon the evacuation for the whole city was ordered on the eve of Katrina’s onslaught. The museum where the book was being launched closed, and everyone ran for it. The irony it all wasn’t lost on us, but the sales were, and the news media had other things to cover for a while after that.

Why do a book launch party?

Motivation. It gets author and close friends to focus on a local promo campaign, something that only the author can do really well. A launch party is a way to spread the word the book has been published: to colleagues, neighbors, family, and friends, as well as to the local public interested in the book’s topic.

Celebratory Spirit. If family and friends turn out, the event can be lots of fun and enthusiastic. And getting a brand-new published book should be celebrated with gusto! It’s a huge accomplishment.

Spin-off Visibility. A well-announced event builds interest even if people don’t come. They hear about it beforehand – and if the event was a success, afterward.

Press Hook. Local papers and talk shows like to have an event to justify mentioning a book. (They may not see a need to review a book, but will announce events of local social interest – “things to do around town.”)

Circles of Influence. Word of mouth is key. Your neighbor or the receptionist in your office or your insurance agent might know someone influential who could boost your book.

Tips for planning a book launch party?

Location. Inexpensive or free! No need to rent the Grand Ballroom and hire an expensive caterer. But I do recommend finding a public place rather than a private home. Think about local community groups, cultural centers, or restaurants or pubs that serve food and have a meeting room. If you can hook up with an interest group or site that has its own newsletter or place to post a flyer in advance, that’s a bonus.

Theme. If your book has a theme that lends itself to a party, use it! A Jane Austen literary-criticism book will have different theme than a Canadian fur-trade voyageur book). Doesn’t need to be overdone, but it helps to create interest if you add a bit of topical flavor in some food to be served, design of the invitation, etc.

Program? Personally, I prefer to see a launch party as just that: a festive party, without expecting attendees to sit through a full program. An exception is if a sponsoring host wants to you to do a talk or slide show for a regular, well-attended meeting, followed by a reception. Of course, at some point, it’s good to have someone introduce you, to say a few words to the assembled throng.

Sales. Yes, you’ll sell some copies. How many? Depends on the book, the price, and how broad its appeal is! (Will people want to buy copies to give to others? Gift giving is a major impetus for book buying.). Personally, I like to give a small discount on the price, rounding down a bit. It’s an incentive to buy a copy right then, and a little thank-you gift to those who came. Others feel you shouldn’t mark down your work. By the way, have someone else in charge of the sales, to take the money. You need to be working the room, perhaps taking a few moments to sign a few books.

Order Form? I recommend not having an order form (some people will take that as an excuse to not buy at the event).

Send me any creative details (as a comment below, or email me) describing your book launch, and maybe I’ll feature it in a future post!

Self-Publishing: Right or Wrong for You?

It’s time to create a thread of several posts with some advice on self-publishing. I’m generally not a big fan of it as an option. It’s just not helpful for most writers. When you hear success stories . . . the operative phrase that should pop into your mind: your actual results may vary!

And too many self-published works are, frankly, sub-par in quality and give a bad rap to the field.

Still, I thought I’d start with a more positive perspective! Here’s a link to a blog piece that speaks to the wondrous serendipity of self-publishing.

It’s an odd little story of a poetry chapbook, self-published, stapled, discovered in a used bookstore in Milwaukee . . . and taken to heart.

Here’s the link to the full (brief) piece, by Sarah Marine, a Milwaukee bookseller (with the soon-to-close Harry W. Schwartz local indie stores), who stumbled upon a worn chapbook by one Mike Balisle. An excerpt from Sarah’s post from Nov. 07:

Mike Balisle penned a collection in 1977, entitled Bonesteel. It is self-published, held together by staples and yellowed by years. I found it in a box at the Renaissance Bookshop in downtown Milwaukee. (. . .) So, anyway, I have been carrying this slight volume – Bonesteel – around for about two weeks, taking out and reciting any of the hundreds of amazing prose to whomever happens to be standing the closest – most often boyfriend type person. I have looked online and found nothing on the author or the collection.

Sarah quotes this piece:

“The White Axes of Winter”
years inside a blizzard we awaken
to the questioning of the fact
that last night pale children were stalked
by images of ice

this morning it is seen
the white axes of winter whirled until all
oaths and prayers were split from our faces

there we fell
the cold hills
drifting our shoulders

A little self-published collection of poetry. Amazing. Mysterious.

Witness the effect the published word can have on a distant someone, separated by time and space. You never really know who will read your writing, and what part of it someone might take to heart, and go around quoting it to friends.

Reminds me of Steinbeck’s thought on why we write (I’ve used it before in this blog):

A writer out of loneliness is trying to communicate like a distant star sending signals. He isn’t telling, or teaching, or ordering. Rather, he seeks to establish a relationship with meaning, of feeling, of observing. We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. And one of our ancient methods is to tell a story, begging the listener to say, and to feel, “Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought.”
– John Steinbeck

Self-publishing is first and foremost an expression of that deep human desire, to communicate, lonely writer to invisible reader.

ForeWord Magazine Announces Indie-Press Book Award Finalists

Quick Note: ForeWord Magazine has announced the 2008 finalists in their Book of the Year Awards contest, an annual recognition program for the best of indie-press books.

Hey, March is Small Press Month! I know you’re all out celebrating wildly. Here in Milwaukee, the festivities reach their crescendo on March 17 (which just happens to be St. Patrick’s Day). Lots of drinking and carousing, all to celebrate indie presses. Or something.

Anyhow, the ForeWord awards is a discriminating program, IMHO (disclaimer: I’m a past winner for The New Writer’s Handbook), and it’s worth checking out most of these small but diligent small houses.

It also interesting to note that in the self-publishing arena, iUniverse had a lion’s share of 2008 finalists for this contest, many more than counterparts Author House, Xlibris, BookSense, Outskirts Press, and such.

Without knowing the relative numbers of books published by each of those, to me it suggests something a little bit better about iUniverse.

I do know a little about one of those books, The Cielo, by Paul Salsini, a Milwaukee author and longtime journalism teacher at Marquette University, as summed up by this blurb:

“A moving debut novel of a luscious country too often forgotten when we consider the ravages of the ‘Good War.’”
– Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean

Great blurb, for a novel self-published through iUniverse.

I’ll post more advice in the next days on self-publishing and working with small independent presses, but I wanted to give a salute to those BOTYA finalists.

May the literary road rise to meet you!
May the winds of public praise always be at your back . . .
The sun of great awards warm upon your fields . . .
The rains of many book sales fall soft upon your fields . . .

Slàinte! Let’s all hoist a pint to the finalists. Good work!