Donna's Blog

Scribd.: the New Self-Publishing Highrise

You send a manuscript to New York agent.  The agent sends it to an editor who buys it for a lot of money.  Soon your book is on the New York Times bestseller list.
A dream? Well, as Bloody Mary sings in South Pacific, “You gotta have a dream/If you don’t have a dream/How you gonna make a dream come true?”

A Hand in History

It has been said that “the Internet is word of mouth writ large.”  (Why yes, in fact, it was first said by yours truly.  Thank you for asking.)  And so it was on the Internet that I “heard” about Lincoln’s Hand a new mystery by Joel Fox, published by Echelon Press, which introduces series hero Zane Rigby, an FBI agent with more baggage than will fit under the seat in front of him.

 

Cheap, but not Always Easy

(First published on FoxandHoundsDaily on August 6, 2010)

    On a busy New York street a young man stops an older passer-by.  “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”

    The older man puts a hand on his shoulder.  “Practice, my boy.  Practice.”

Martha Alderson Plots to Help Us All

    Martha Alderson says, “Plot is more than just ‘what happens, what happens’ – it’s the characters’ reaction to the events, how they’re transformed by those events and, in the end, how it all connects thematically.”

Private Eyes Are Watching You

    As Reece Hirsch says, next time you feel like you’re being watched, you probably are.

    As a novelist, Reece Hirsch is the author of The Insider, a new legal thriller.  As an attorney, Hirsch specializes in privacy issues.

Two Jobs -- One Role

Keith Raffel made a dramatic career change when he left behind the world of Sillicon Valley venture capitalists for a career as a novelist.  Or did he?

Mary Kole: Raising Readers for YOU

    When Mr. Jobs declared, “Nobody reads anymore” (although my bet is that Stevie takes a peek at his own balance sheet once in awhile), many of us trembled.

    So it is worth noting that almost all adults who do love books will tell you that the romance began in childhood.  (My third grade teacher, Mrs. Ritter, was my matchmaker:  She introduced our class to Little House in the Big Woods.)

Joan, Frank

    In Envy Country is Joan Frank’s fourth book, second collection of short stories, and winner of the ND Sullivan Prize for Short Fiction.  
    If you’re tired of hearing intellectuals dourly predict the death of the novel, you do not want to hear them on the subject of short story collections.   Since I, “frankly” (you had to know that was coming), am more likely to pick up a novel than a book of stories, I asked Joan what draws her to that form.

Laura Shumaker Takes the Self-Publishing Challenge

Until just a few years ago, self-publishing was usually a waste of money and/or an exercise in vanity, and that were the best things about it.  But faster than you can say, "Steve Jobs will be taking a shower tonight!" Self-publishing has become a serious alternative for authors from first-timers to well-known names.

It may or may not be right for you.  For those who might be considering that route, I'd like to share the experience of some writers who've been there and done that.

I'll start with Laura Shumaker, an author and guru to the autism community.  I am a huge fan of her blog at www.sfgate.com because she writes about her autistic son Matthew with neither self-pity nor self-aggrandizing claims.

David Corbett Travels True North

    Novelists often have an inner compass that leads them to timely events ahead of time.  David Corbett has just published his fourth novel, Do They Know I’m Running? and it centers around the issue of illegal immigration.  Coincidence?  You be the judge.
    Hint: It’s not a coincidence.
    Dislike, distrust and outright hatred of immigrants dates back to our country’s infancy.  Even Alexander Hamilton was the object of smear campaigns as being the only “founding father” of note who was not born in one of the thirteen colonies.