Writing What You Know

5 11 2009

What happens when a parent’s perfectly normal day turns into every parent’s worst nightmare?

For the Smith family, life was good. John, most known to R-J readers as Nevada’s best-read newspaper columnist, and wife Tricia, were the parents of a beautiful little girl, Amelia, then eight-years-old.

That perfect and perfectly normal life was shattered with the terrifying diagnosis of a brain tumor. Little Amelia was whisked to specialists in Phoenix on an medical flight for life-saving emergency surgery. Then the worst-day-in-their-life got worse yet with the news the tumor was cancerous. The next days, months, years were dizzying rounds of doctors and hospitals, chemotherapy and radiation, recoveries and replapses.

As the Smith family went through this terrible ordeal, John pondered the old adage — write what you know. Should he write about Amelia’s health crisis? In the ensuing five years, John did write about his brave and stalwart daughter as she endured the relentless pain and suffering that comes with modern medical treatments for cancer.

AMELIA’S LONG JOURNEY will debut at the Vegas Valley Book Festival. John will present the keynote address, “The Challenge of Writing What You Know” this Saturday at the Flamingo branch of the Clark County Library. John and Amelia will sign books together.

Amelia’s favorite childhood cancer charities will benefit from sales of the book. They include:

The book acknowldeges the crucial supportive role these charities provide to the families of children with cancer.

When: Saturday, November 7, 7:00 PM
Where: Clark County Library Theater, 1401 E. Flamingo
Web: www.ameliaslongjourney.com

 


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories : Authors, Books, Writing

Vu Tran, RESTLESS CITY Author, Wins 2009 Whiting Award

3 11 2009

2009_tran_photoVu Tran, the seventh author in our Restless City serial novel, has won a 2009 Whiting Award. With the literary prestige comes a check for a cool $50,000. The Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation named ten recipients of the 2009 Whiting Writers’ Awards. The awards have been given annually since 1985 to writers of exceptional talent and promise in early career. The short stories of Vu Tran have appeared in such journals as the Harvard Review, Southern Review, Glimmer Train, and the Antioch Review and have been selected for inclusion in the 2007 O. Henry Prize Stories, Best American Mystery Stories 2009, The Best of Fence: The First Nine Years, and Las Vegas Noir. Born in Viet Nam and a refugee at the age of five, he and his family were relocated to Oklahoma where he grew up and earned a BA and MA from the University of Tulsa. Mr. Tran also has an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a PhD as a Glenn Schaeffer Fellow at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He writes often of Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Americans and of the immigration experience. Mr. Tran’s first novel is forthcoming from W.W. Norton. He currently teaches at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and also works as a free-lance editor.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Uncategorized

That Great Sucking Sound Inspires Poet

3 11 2009

Where do you find your best inspiration? That in-the-groove place where the ideas just flow and you’re on the creative high ground? Our Stephens Press book designer Sue Campbell may have the cleanest floors in the state of Colorado — as doing the mundane allows her to enter that altered state where thoughts flow and swirl and bump and collide into the new and wonderful. Check it out in the latest Shine journal.  Sue’s poetry has been published for two months running.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Uncategorized

Serial Novel Published in the Restless City

3 11 2009

 

Restless City 3D CoverWriting is a solitary endeavor, and save for some tweaking by an editor, the storyline and characters are the author’s own. The author is in charge of what happens when, what each character does, says, and even looks like. So how did seven of the region’s best authors, all tremendously accomplished in their own right, deal with having to share?

John L. Smith said, “In school I often got into trouble for failing to work well with others, so I wasn’t optimistic that I could cooperate on a story with six  writers. Collaborating on a writing project was pretty new for me. But it was intriguing to participate in a collective creative writing project. And I think the story works.”

RESTLESS CITY will debut at this year’s Vegas Valley Book Festival. A signature project of the festival organizers, editor Geoff Schumacher invited seven of the area’s best-known authors to each write a sequential chapter in a yet-untitled book. The only provisions were it had to be set in Las Vegas, be fiction, and each chapter was limited to 3,000 to 4,000 words. Oh, and they’d have a short couple of weeks to write their chapter.

H. Lee Barnes. John Irsfeld, Brian Rouff, Leah Bailly, John L. Smith, Constance Ford and Vu Tran were game for this admittedly experimental project. Barnes set a high standard with the first chapter, and introduced his colleagues to a story we’ve come to label Vegas Noir. By the time John Irsfeld added his contribution, the title RESTLESS CITY was coined by editor Geoff Schumacher.

The concept of a serial novel was recently a bestseller in THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT by thriller-master Jeffery Deaver and a team of likewise bestselling mystery and suspense writers. I read THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT with great curiousity, wondering if I could sense the different voices from chapter to chapter. Yes, I could.

As I can in RESTLESS CITY. But not in a negative way. It is more of an undercurrent that something has shifted as the story moves on. Too, there was a greater anticipation as to where the story would go next as each new author took the reins.

According to author Brian Rouff, RESTLESS CITY required him to “step up my game”. Rouff said “Chapter three was a great opportunity because I got to delve into back story. John Irsfeld gave me a lot to work with. In turn, I finished my chapter with an old-fashioned cliffhanger for the next author. I hope the readers had as much fun as I did.”

THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT was such a success, that Deaver and his colleagues have produced THE COPPER BRACELET. Deaver was fascinted to “see how a group of authors with vastly varied writing styles and approaches to creativity produced such a cohesive thriller with a relentlessly fast-paced narrative”.

Vu Tran, the final chapter author said, “Writing the last chapter and trying to tie up everyone else’s plot and character threads was in turns a unique, infuriating, and fun experience. Complementing and resolving other people’s ideas was even more difficult than I thought it would be, but I ultimately found it very satisfying and educational.”

RESTLESS CITY is available at www.RestlessCity.com and will be available on Amazon and in local bookstores shortly. Both a print and eBook formats are being published. The book will debut at the Vegas Valley Book Festival with a reading by final author Vu Tran on Saturday, November 7 at 4:00 PM at the Historic Fifth Street School (on Fourth Street). Authors will be available to sign books.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Uncategorized

Sixth Chapter Posted

28 10 2009

SixRestless City, the serial novel from CityLife Books and the Vegas Valley Book Festival, has reached the sixth chapter. Constance Ford  moves the story forward, while the final seventh chapter will be revealed by a reading from author Vu Tran at the festival.

With the final “reveal” on November 7th, the completed book will be available in print as a trade paper edition and an e-book edition.

For now, our friends who have been following along can catch chapter six hanging out with the dudes from CityLife at here. Enjoy!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Authors, Books, Publishing

WriMos to NaNo in November

27 10 2009

NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH (otherwise known as NaNoWriMo) FEATURES  THE LARGEST WRITING CONTEST IN THE WORLD

nano_09_blk_support_1There are some who say writing a novel takes awesome talent, strong language skills, academic training, and years of dedication.

Not true.

All it really takes is a deadline – a very, very tight deadline – and maybe a whole lot of coffee.

Welcome to National Novel Writing Month: a nonprofit literary crusade that encourages aspiring novelists all over the world to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. At midnight on November 1, over 150,000 writers from some 90 countries – poised over laptops and pads of paper, fingers itching and minds racing with plots and characters – will begin a furious adventure in fiction. By 11:59 PM on November 30, tens of thousands of them will be novelists.

NaNoWriMo is the largest writing contest in the world. In 2008, over 120,000 people took part in the free challenge. And while the event stresses fun and creative exploration over publication, more than thirty NaNoWriMo novelists have had their NaNo-novels published, including Sarah Gruen, whose New York Times #1 Best Seller, Water for Elephants began as a NaNoWriMo novel.

Around 18% of NaNoWriMo participants “win” every year by writing 50,000 words and validating their novels on the organization’s website before midnight on November 30. There are no judges, and winners receive no prizes. In fact, no one at NaNoWriMo ever reads the manuscripts submitted. They tabulate the word counts and delete them.

So if not for fame or fortune, why do people do it?

“The 50,000-word challenge has a wonderful way of opening up your imagination and unleashing creative potential like nothing else,” says NaNoWriMo founder and program director Chris Baty. “When you write for quantity instead of quality, you end up getting both.”

Henderson author Gregory Kompes says you need to write about 1,700 words a day to complete NaNoWriMo so it’s an excellent way to acquire a daily writing habit. “In addition to building our writing muscles, NaNoWriMo also helps those writers who sometimes get trapped over editing their first draft and never finishing the core of the story. Many writing teachers believe the best way to write a new story is to get the whole first draft down on the page before moving on to editing and revision,” Kompes said.

The NaNoWriMo web sites advises; “Do not edit as you go. Editing is for December. Think of November as an experiment in pure output. Even if it’s hard at first, leave ugly prose and poorly written passages on the page to be cleaned up later. Your inner editor will be very grumpy about this, but your inner editor is a nitpicky jerk who foolishly believes that it is possible to write a brilliant first draft if you write it slowly enough. It isn’t. Every book you’ve ever loved started out as a beautifully flawed first draft. In November, embrace imperfection and see where it takes you”.

Most novels are longer than 50,000 words (more typically 75,000 to 100,000 words) but a 50,000 word draft is a good start for any novelist.

Writers can also find support via a Las Vegas forum and meet-ups for other “Wrimos” as participants have come to be known. Upon sign-up, writers indicate their Home Region and some competition exists for a cummulative word count total between different regions.

Local writer Teresa Watts says “In the Las Vegas Region we have 98 participants so far — it will get bigger by October 31. Stats indicate 26% are new to NaNo. A good number of participants are high school students!” Watts will “NaNo” the rough draft for her second book this November.

A Las Vegas NaNo success story is Laura Alton. Her book Las Vegas Chew Toy was a 2006 NaNoWriMo winner and was recently published by Cyberwizard Productions in Texas. “Doing NaNo made me finish a book,” Alton said. “I had started several novels before but this was the first one that was finished. It is hard to keep up the pace but it forces you to keep producing words”.

Veteran book designer Sue Campbell is offering an additional incentive for NaNo writers — a cover design contest. Campbell, who has designed many award-winning books for Stephens Press and other publishers around the country, will accept one hundred entries from NaNo “winners” (writers who complete the 50,000 word challenge) and select three for which she’ll professionally design a full color book cover, gratis. Details for the contest are at http://www.suecampbellgraphicdesign.com/.

For more information about National Novel Writing Month visit www.NaNoWriMo.org.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Authors, Books, Writing

“Voices” Booksigning at Borders Town Square

26 10 2009

Excerpted from Living Las Vegas

by Photo Diva Linda Evans

Co-author RG Ryan chats with Danny's fans at Borders Town Square

I also went to Borders at Town Square on Saturday afternoon to meet R.G.Ryan, co-author of Danny Gans’ autobiography, “The Voices In My Head”, whom I met and have talked to on Twitter. We had a lovely conversation along with Russ and Rho Gerner about Gans’ personal and professional life and philanthropic work. I made mention that I had never had the chance to see Gans perform to which Russ, an artist who created custom cars for Gans’ collection, replied “I have something in the car for you.” He brought in and handed me a DVD of Danny Gans show. So with an autographed copy of the book and the DVD in hand I went home . . . Read More

(Posted with permission)

 


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Authors, Books

Here a Tweet, There a Tweet

21 10 2009

twitter_logoWe tweet — do you tweet? Okay, I’ll be the first to admit my skepticism over the Twitter phenomenon. But, we gave it a try, and the more I use it, the more I see the applications. Tweets (as Twitter messages are called) are very short, with a maximum of 140 characters (that’s characters, not words). Some folks seem to use Twitter as their main communication tool, but most companies and individuals use it to make quick announcements or comments, often with a link for more information. Yes, a great number of companies are using Twitter now, especially to promote events. Celebs use Twitter to build a connection with their fans. Authors can tweet to build followers, update progress on book projects, book tours, and announce appearances. The twitterers amongst you can follow us @carolynhayesuber and @stephenspress.


Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: ,
Categories : Marketing

Technology Changes Book Manufacturing

20 10 2009

QA

Q: I’m particularly interested in how the digital revolution and easily available print-on-demand services are affecting the book world.—Megan, Las Vegas

A: That’s a big subject, Megan! The digital age has certainly impacted the book industry, by enabling short runs of bound books. The downside is that unit costs of digitally printed books in small quantities are typically too high to allow for wholesale distribution and market competitiveness. If you want 25 copies of your book to share with family, or to print 100 at a time for sell at your speaking gigs, this isn’t a problem.

Most traditional publishers (including Stephens Press) use POD (print-on-demand) to print ARCs (Advance Reading Copies) which are printed in small quantities and sent to book reviewers ahead of publication of the printed book. This helps us acquire those “blurbs” (testimonials) on the back of the book jacket before going to press. In some instances, we may use POD in place of offset printing to test the interest in a book before committing to a larger quantity, or to keep a small number of copies in inventory in place of declaring a title out of print.

The high unit cost, coupled with the typical low quality of books published by POD service providers, has led bookstore chains to routinely decline to shelve these books in their stores. Their issues:

Low Quality — Digital printing (which is akin to photocopying) isn’t the quality of ink-on-paper printing (especially for photos), POD books are known for poor editing and design as well. Self-publishers must arrange for their own editing and book design. Too often they either don’t recognize the need or get less than stellar help.

Non-returnability — Throughout the book retail environment, bookstores purchase at wholesale on essentially a consignment basis and the inventory is completely returnable for full credit. Throughout the POD publishing services industry, the books they distribute on behalf of their author-clients are not returnable. This impasse means virtually no self-published books are stocked by book retailers (although they can be special ordered).

Unrealistic Pricing — Many POD providers set the retail price on behalf of the authors at prices that make them unsalable in a competitive market. Or if the author can set their own prices, that high unit cost makes it impossible for them to offer the typical 50-65% discount required of distributors and wholesalers and cover their expenses, much less make a profit.

Digital manufacturing has changed book publishing — and like most technological advancements — both for better and worse. I can’t say it has leveled the playing field, but it has made the prospect of becoming published more accessible for all writers.

I’ll cover other digital advances such as audio and e-books in future posts. Want to know more about book publishing? Email your questions to cuber@stephenspress.com or leave a comment below.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Books, Publishing

Double Down Makes Esquire

13 10 2009

logo_bestbarsP Moss, proprietor of the insane and insanely popular  Double Down Saloons (Las Vegas and New York City) is one of our newest authors. We’ll be publishing Blue Vegas, his darkly Vegasesque story collection  in early 2010. The Double Down was just named was of the best bars in America by Esquire. A Sin City fixture himself, Moss undoubtedly has enjoyed a colorful cast of characters at the Double Down to serve as fodder for the fictional characters he creates. A CityLife Books title, Blue Vegas will debut in February. Read Scott Dickensheets review here. Congrats, Moss!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Authors, Books, Fun

Crowd-Sourced Story to Launch on Twitter

12 10 2009

Twitter_img_finalAuthors have been collaborating for years. Close to home, seven local authors have been writing a serial novel as a signature project of the Vegas Valley Book Festival. RestlessCity chapters have been released one-by-one by CityLife in the past two months, with the final chapter to debut at the Festival in early November.

Now the immensely popular fantasy writer Neil Gaiman is taking the concept to the masses. Starting tomorrow, October 13, at Noon EST, Gaiman (known as @Neilhimself) will launch a special round-robin interactive storytelling experience. He’ll tweet the first line of the story and then the rest is up to the crowd.

You can read the opening line of the story tweeted by Neil (or catch up with it in progress by visiting BBC Audiobooks America. Follow instructions on the site if you want to make your own contribution to the story which must be 140 characters or less.

When roughly 1,000 contributions (Tweets) are logged, they will be edited and compiled into a script which will be recorded as an audiobook. The final audiobook will be downloadable free on the BBC site and also available as a digital download at iTunes and other audiobook retailers. There are no plans to release a print edition.

Michele Lee Cobb, marketing director for BBC Audiobooks America, said the project is “a fantastic way to get more people excited and actively engaging with audiobooks.” Cobb said BBC was inspired to initiate the project following Britain’s Royal Opera House successful creation of a fan-twittered opera last month. “There’s a misconception still that audiobooks are only for a small, elite niche of book lovers and we want to explode that myth and tap into the possibilities of digital storytelling in a whole new way,” Cobb said.

Neil Gaiman is the author of the novels The Graveyard Book (New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2008 Audie Award for Best Audiobook of the Year), Coraline, Neverwhere, Stardust, Anansi Boys, the Hugo-and Nebula-winning American Gods, the Sandman series of graphic novels, and several collections of short fiction. Visit his blog at www.neilgaiman.com.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Authors, Books, Fun, Publishing

Are You Getting Paid to Speak?

12 10 2009
Judi Moreo is the author of You Are More Than Enough: Every Woman’s Guide to Purpose, Passion & Power and the companion Achievement Journal. For over twenty years, Judi has enjoyed an exciting and successful career as a paid professional speaker. She has presented keynote speeches, seminars, and workshops in 27 countries on four continents.

Professional speaker and author Judi Moreo will address many of the questions you might be asking about how to get bookings, develop a business plan, work with speaker bureaus and showcases, and which organizations to join. She will share information on maximizing your expertise, customizing your material, and giving a “great” presentation.

Whether you see speaking as a glamorous profession, you believe you have something important to share with the world, or you simply want to promote your book, this is the workshop to attend to find out how to get started.

Wednesday, October 14th
9 am — 12 pm
Bonanza Building ~ Conference Room 2
Las Vegas Review-Journal
1111 West Bonanza Road, Las Vegas
Workshop fee is $50. Reservations are required and seating is limited. Please call (383-0496) or email (khawkins@stephenspress.com) to reserve a spot.

Judi Moreo is the author of You Are More Than Enough: Every Woman’s Guide to Purpose, Passion & Power and the companion Achievement Journal. For over twenty years, Judi has enjoyed an exciting and successful career as a paid professional speaker. She has presented keynote speeches, seminars, and workshops in 27 countries on four continents.


Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Marketing

Sisters Offer Support to Mystery Writers

8 10 2009

assnbanner2Writing can be a lonely endeavor. My colleague and Stephens Press author Steven Kalas (Human Matters) once said, when asked how he finds the motivation to write, “You just have to put your butt in the chair and start writing.” He’s right. Once you push yourself to start, the words usually start to flow.

Because writing is so solitary, authors can let self-doubt creep into their minds, making that “butt in the seat” technique all the harder. What’s an aspiring author to do?

Writers groups.

I have long sung the praises of writers groups and pushed and prodded authors to join them. Groups may be general inviting writers of both fiction and non-fiction of all genres to participate. Others may specialize in romance, sci-fi, mystery etc. Some are organized for seniors or young writers.   Writers groups usually have instructive programs, workshops, conferences, and importantly, offer support, feedback, and networking for writers at all levels of their craft. Many have sub-groups called critique groups. “Crit” groups are a few people, maybe 5 or 6, who meet regularly to review each other’s progress and to “critique” each other’s writing.

One such group is the Southern Nevada chapter of Sisters in Crime. The national Sisters in Crime organization has been around for years. Many famous mystery writers are members and got their initial support and encouragement from a Sisters in Crime chapter.

The public is invited to attend an upcoming meeting that sounds like great fun. Actors Russell Jeff Feher and Scottie Hawkins Scott will play out scenes from famous mysteries.   Oh, and I’m pretty sure brothers are welcome at  Sisters in Crime!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2009 1:00PM
ENTERPRISE LIBRARY
25 E. Shelbourne
For More Information: e-mail sistersincrimesnv@yahoo.com

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Authors, Writing

Promoting Poetry Problematic

4 10 2009

Q: We are self-publishing my mom’s fourth poetry book. The family loves it, and her poetry is wonderful, but how do we reach a wider audience?

Jessica, Northern California

A: Hi Jessica, Thanks for your very pertinent question. The subjects of self-publishing and poetry are intertwined. I’ll be addressing self-publishing more directly in future blog posts so I’ll focus on poetry in this reply.

Finding a wider audience for a poetry book is problematic on the best of days, and even for traditionally published poetry. Most poetry titles enjoy very modest sales unless the poet-author is well known and enjoys a following.

As you no doubt already know, distribution of a self-published book of any genre into chain bookstores is nearly impossible. Even if you could get into the stores, sales of poetry books still remain low. If you live near one of the few remaining independent bookstores in the country, you may be able to arrange a reading/signing. The bookstore will expect you to bring in an audience — they can’t afford to advertise and they expect their signing authors to generate their own buyers.

You didn’t say what kind of poetry — certain kinds of poetry books (humorous or inspirational) make good gift books if they are well-produced and you could seek out gift stores as possible retailers. You’ll need to give them a 50% discount off the retail price.

Generate all the buzz you can (friends referring friends) and direct people to Amazon or your own web site for sales. Take every advantage to do readings at public events (clubs, church, community gatherings) and sell the books BOR (back of room) after the event.

Submit individual poems from the book to online and print literary journals which publish a fair amount of poetry each year. Earnings for published poems will range from zero to very little, but it is a way to also promote the book and build a fan base.

Mail complimentary copies to well-known individuals you think would have a reason to like the contents — ask them for a blurb or testimonial that you can use with their name for future marketing efforts.

If the book addresses a certain subject and does it well (say humor in the workplace or the love of pets) you might be able to find an organization or corporation to buy books in quantity to use as gifts at sales conferences, seminars and such.

If you have a writers group in your area, check in with them (always a great resource) for suggestions. Finally, ask your local librarian. Many libraries sponsor local author events, book fairs, or literacy programs where authors in the area are invited to offer their books at sales tables, participate in programs, or do readings.

Good luck!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags:
Categories : Authors, Books, Marketing

Fe, Fi, Fo, Five

2 10 2009

FiveThe story marches on . . . and what has happened to our protagonist Brady in the Restless City since we last heard from him? Find out now, in Chapter Five, the latest posting for the serial novel, Restless City. Native Nevadan John L. Smith penned the newest chapter in the Vegasesque story written sequentially by seven local authors. A signature project of the Vegas Valley Book Festival, the chapters are posted online with the final chapter to debut at the festival in November. An e-book edition will be published by Stephens Press. If you’ve missed previous chapters, you can start with Chapter One. If you think writing is hard, taking your turn in a sequential story is MUCH harder (I’ve done it). Somehow you have to incorporate what’s happened in previous chapters, make your contribution make sense, and move the story forward for the next author. Enjoy.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Authors, Books, Fun

« Previous Entries