For the Love of Bringing Books to Life: Write, Publish, and Be Known
Pitch Your Book to Life Competition: The Public Votes Are In!
Round 1 of the Pitch Your Book to Life contest voting is complete. While our judges are deliberating, I thought you might like to see the top 10 books by public vote. Here they are, in no particular order. I’ve taken the liberty to shorten some of the pitches, although our judges are viewing the entire pitch. HayWire! How 26 Rescue Horses, 12 Dogs, 10 Cats, 2 Cows, And A Pig Taught Me Humanity by Nancy Raven Smith A true love story that involves more than one man and one woman. Imagine Marley and Me, not with one dog, but[...]
How to Write a Book: Starting Small
Some people have the drive to write their first book and dive right in figuring they’ll learn what they need along the way–either with a book writing program, coaching, editing or trial and error. Many other people struggle and wait, unsure whether they should write their book–”Do I have what it takes?” “Is my idea original enough?” “Will anyone ever read it?” One way to start to answer these questions it to start small. Write about your subject in an article or blog post. Write in small bursts and see how you feel. Are you enjoying the writing? Does it[...]
What Nonfiction Authors Can Learn from Fiction: An Interview with Crystal Wilkinson
In just a few weeks, I’ll be basking in the glow of one of my favorite writing conferences, The Ocean State Summer Writing Conference at the University of Rhode Island. While I’ll be speaking about the marketing more than craft (How to Build Your Online Platform), I wanted to bring you a taste of the conference in the form of craft–how to write well. I immediately thought of Crystal Wilkinson, whose workshops and editing I have experienced first hand. Jody Lisberger was right when she told me not to miss Crystal’s class last year. As an author of fiction, Crystal[...]
Writing Memoir: An Interview with Richard Hoffman
Each June, I look forward to the Ocean State Summer Writing Conference sponsored by the University of Rhode Island–both as a presenter and a participant. I especially enjoy the first two days of Advanced Workshops–always with great writing teachers. My first year, I took a memoir workshop with Richard Hoffman–not so much to write my own memoir, which I can’t help thinking would be fairly dull, but to support my clients and students writing memoir. The workshop was great fun and I was actually surprised to enjoy what I wrote. When I heard Richard is returning to URI once I[...]
Joining the James Frey: Is it Okay to Lie in Your Memoir?
Oprah’s interviews with James Frey and the recent article in Salon about his first interview with Oprah drew intense emotions on both sides of the issue. Some say memoir is fiction anyway–who can really remember honestly exactly what happened in one’s life? So what’s a little tinkering with truth? Others say James Frey is ruining it for everyone (everyone being serious writers of memoir) because as readers question the veracity of all memoirs, memoirs lose their power–why not just read fiction? And some say, “Who cares?” I’m in the “I care” camp. While there’s no way to capture “the absolute[...]
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