Pg 12 JAMES WHARTON SHARES HIS TIPS AND TRICKS FOR PUBLICISING YOUR BOOK MONTHS AFTER PUBLICATION
pg 14 AUTHOR JULIEANNE O’CONNOR SHARES THE EXPERIENCE SHE HAD PUBLISHING HER SECOND BOOK
pg 18 HONE YOUR INTERVIEW SKILLS WITH THESE FIVE STEPS TO PRESENT YOUR BOOK TO THE MEDIA
NEW EDITION CONTEMPORARY
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ISSUE 23, MARCH 2015
PG 9 FIND OUT HOW BEN ADAMS TURNED HIS DIVORCE INTO A NOVEL AND A NEW LIFE
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This Month
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The Intersection of Literary and Commercial Fiction: A Panel Discussion
Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House, New York City http://www.cwp.fas.nyu.edu/page/readingseries Join Amy Einhorn, senior vice president and publisher at Macmillian’s Flatiron Books; Suzanna Gluck, co-editor of the literary department at William Morris Endeavor; Seth Fishman, writer and literary agent; and Melissa Flashman, Literary Agent at Trident Media Group, LLC in the home of NYU’s creative writing program as they discuss where literary and commercial fiction meet.
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Please Excuse This Poem
The Strand, New York City http://www.strandbooks.com/event/please%2Dexcuse%2Dthis%2Dpoem Join Strand and the editors of Please Excuse This Poem: 100 New Poets For The Next Generation to kick off National Poetry Month. Brett Fletcher Lauer (deputy director of the Poetry Society of America) and Lynn Melnick (author of If I Should Say I Have Hope) will present an awesome showcase of renowned and rising-star poets from their newly published collection, which delves into American poetry by young writers from a variety of backgrounds and sources ranging from The New Yorker to Twitter.
London Book Fair
Olympia, London http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/ The annual London Book Fair has a new home in Olympia London this year but still offers the same great opportunities for authors, agents and publishers. Keynote speakers include David Nicholls, author of One Day and Us, Hannah Telfer of Penguin Random House and Rob Newlan of Facebook as they publishing in the digital world.
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News In Brief Harper Lee’s new novel announced Harper Lee’s true first novel, which inspired To Kill a Mockingbird, has been rediscovered and will be released in July by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins. Set in a racially charged 1950s Alabama, Go Set a Watchman follows an older Scout and aging Atticus. It has been described as the parent, rather than the sequel, of Mockingbird. No changes will be made to the manuscript, and it is already hotly anticipated and vastly pre-ordered. Lee was previously thought to be a one-hit author, whose “deed
was done” with Mockingbird, as biographer Charles Shield said. He and others have voiced concern that Watchman won’t live up to Mockingbird, as it was written in passion and, by all accounts, hardly edited. Another hesitation is whether Lee has been swindled into publication, as concerns have arisen in past years of her declining health possibly taken advantage of for authorisation and legal transfers. Lee issued a statement saying she was “happy as hell” about Watchman’s release.
John Green encourages indie booksellers
Fifty Shades movie breaks records
John Green presented a keynote speech and took questions at the Winter Institute of booksellers on its 10th anniversary, telling the packed room they had better “be your badass, open selves; you have cool you don’t know you have.” This underscored Wi10’s message of the appeal of independence and localism, and what that means for the next decade. Author of The Fault in Our Stars, Green credits indie booksellers as his model for sustaining a passionate, authentic, and longterm community. As for the struggle for profits indie booksellers are facing, Green said “our biggest way out of this” is to emphasise the indie difference: “We’re not in the widget business; we’re in the stories business.” He even suggested publishers subsidise and prioritise indie booksellers.
Setting records in book sales and now in box office tickets, Fifty Shades of Grey has outperformed expectations worldwide. Originally written as fan fiction, then selfpublished in 2011 as an ebook and print-ondemand paperback, then acquired by Vintage Books, and now a blockbuster movie, Fifty Shades has rocketed to fame and provoked a
variety of reactions. Erika Mitchell, known in fan fiction societies as Snowqueen’s Icedragon and known in print as E. L. James, debuted her explicit Twilight fan fiction “Master of the Universe” in 2010. Now the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, it has sold over 70 million copies. Lauded by readers as female-centric erotica that indulges kink curiosity, the majority of critics deplore James’s writing style. Both the book and the movie have drawn criticism of containing too much sex, while also being disavowed by the BDSM community for painting the community as abusive. But romance and erotica publisher Harlequin calls Fifty Shades a “game-changer” for the genre. And readers and moviegoers seem to agree.
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Readers take the opinions of their favorite authors very seriously. Jordan Koluch examines the responsibilities of authors with large followings to maintain civility in their statements to the media. I suppose that if celebrities are always getting in Twitter feuds, it would be unreasonable to expect anything different of your favorite authors. In a February interview with Susan Lerner of Booth, Butler University’s MFA student-run literary journal, Jonathan Franzen took Jennifer Weiner to task. Though, lest it seem like he was picking on Weiner exclusively, Franzen also said, “Most of what people read, if you go to the bookshelf in the airport convenience store and look at what’s there, even if it doesn’t have a YA on the spine, is YA in its moral simplicity.” There was a draft of this article that spent a moment defending Franzen’s right to his opinion. The beauty of a free society is everyone’s right to say whatever they want at any given time. It’s a right that’s fundamental to this industry and one that has been discussed and defended time and time again in recent months. But it seems to me that by saying Weiner “rubs me the wrong way”, Franzen brought the conversation down to the level of a celebrity Twitter feud. Perhaps it’s unfair to ask for more than that from someone in the public eye, but as the greatest living American novelist, I would argue that it’s Franzen’s responsibility to raise the level of debate in the literary community, not bring it down to the level of name-calling. Why didn’t Franzen offer a critique of Twitter culture—big ideas may not best be argued in 140-character spurts? Why didn’t he question whether The New York Times— or any other outlet—is responsible for spearheading social reforms rather than just giving their readers what they want? Why didn’t he call for more lively debate among the literary community as to how to fix
the gender inequality he has acknowledged exists? These are all things I would have been happy to hear from someone as intelligent, talented, and influential as Franzen. But instead, he got up on his soapbox and insulted Weiner by name and any readers who don’t read his books, by association. Weiner, for her part, responded on Twitter by calling Franzen “the worst Internet boyfriend ever.” She went on to launch a Twitter and blog campaign in her own defense, culminating in the last paragraph of the blog post: “Franzen can call me a freeloader and a self-promoter, whine about which way I rub him, turn up his nose at my books. It won’t turn back the clock, un-invent Twitter, erase the internet, or take back the power it’s given those of us who are not Jonathan Franzen.” I must admit, I don’t consider Jennifer Weiner to be the poster child of need for book reviews. She is a New York Times bestseller, likely a millionaire, and at least makes an honest living from her writing. But in her essay collection Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay urges us not to compare privileges—for instance, just because someone is wealthy doesn’t mean they don’t experience gender bias. The conflict also brings to light the unfortunate trend (one I may unwittingly fall into) of reviewers assuming women are writing and speaking from an autobiographical place, while men are credited with inventing situations wholesale—it’s possible for Weiner to call for more reviews of women writers while not necessarily calling for more reviews for herself. In 2010, Weiner made the very legitimate point, “I think it’s a very old
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Above: Jonathan Franzen’s feud with Jennifer Weiner came to the fore in a recent interview Franzen gave in Booth. Below: Nora Roberts refuses to name authors of books she didn’t like, saying her own taste shouldn’t affect that author’s sales.
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and deep-seated double standard that holds that when a man writes about family and feelings, it’s literature with a capital L, but when a woman considers the same topics, it’s romance, or a beach book—in short, it’s something unworthy of a serious critic’s attention.” The imbalance even extends to children’s books, as author Shannon Hale found out when she visited a school only to find boys were not let out of class to see her presentation, but girls were as the administrators assumed only they would be interested in her book. “Because I’m a woman, because some of my books have pictures of girls on the cover, because some of my books have ‘princess’ in the title, I’m stamped as ‘for girls only,’” Hale wrote in a blog post. I wanted to write this article in the most fair and balanced way possible, splitting the difference, if you will. The problem is that Weiner is right, about the industry and about the world. She may not always be the most graceful or say the most poignant thing, but she stands up and she makes noise and as a result she gets called names for doing so. The problem is not easy, and neither will the solution be, but not looking for one, saying it rubs you the wrong way, is an even greater travesty. Relatively few authors get covered in national or international media, and the few that do should be willing to talk about ideas, not petty squabbles with each other. In a By the Book interview with The New York Times, Nora Roberts was recently asked about the last book she put down without finishing. She said, “I put down plenty of books unfinished, and am always surprised when I hear someone say they have to finish a book they’re not enjoying, like it’s a duty. Life’s too short, and there’s too much to read to spend time with a story that doesn’t appeal. But I’m not going to dis other writers simply because their story didn’t grab me. Reading’s as subjective and individual as writing.” (Having never read one of Nora Roberts’ books, I’m 100 percent convinced that she is the epitome of class.) This is a writer aware of her influence over her readers and aware of the Times’ influence over theirs, who is happy to say “don’t read something you don’t like” but unwilling to point fingers. In an industry that often considers itself to be more urbane than most, this should be the standard of conduct.
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Midlife Musings Give me the elevator pitch for your book. Six Months to Get a Life is the story of a man coping with divorce, battling to maintain a role in his children’s lives and worrying whether he will ever have sex again. Without giving too much away, it would fit in to the romance genre. Who or what inspired you to publish your book?
New to the novel writing scene and fresh from his Atlantic publicity campaign, self published author of 6 Months to Get a Life Ben Adams takes a moment out of his busy schedule to give us the rundown on how he survived and (dare we say) enjoyed the experience.
I have always wanted to write a novel. Actually, more than that, I have always wanted to be a professional author. My writing career has had a few false starts. In my 20s I dabbled with crime fiction but too many hours spent staring at blank pages and a lack of life experiences meant that I couldn’t make my stories sing. In my 30s I mostly wrote boring work-related web content and the occasional acerbic complaint letter to the authorities or to the owner of the dog over the road – it defecated on my drive. And then my 40s came along. Sometimes it takes a life event to set you off on the right track. Six Months to Get a Life was ultimately triggered by my own family upheaval. My head was filled with a variety of emotions that seemed to me to be looking for a way to escape. Eventually, I just started writing. It was good therapy. Over the course of the spring and summer of 2014, my furious
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typing eventually morphed into a work of fiction. I realized that the book couldn’t be about my current plight - readers would slit their wrists by Chapter 3. It couldn’t be about my ex either - she would go ballistic and have every right to. So I invented new protagonists, new friends, new histories, new events and new farces. No, I didn’t actually meet my former wife in a sexually transmitted diseases clinic. Although the emotions that spring out of every page of the book are feelings I am personally familiar with or have come across in others, the story is fiction. You work full time - what was your writing strategy? Let’s put it this way, my next book is going to be about a parent’s neglect of his children. Seriously, I got up early and wrote before work. I wrote in the evenings, at weekends and any time I got a spare moment. How did you find the self-publishing process? I had started writing Six Months to Get a Life well before I even gave a thought to how it would see the light of day. But as soon as I began contemplating how my words would reach an audience, which was always my goal, I knew that I would self-publish. I was confident in my ability as an author but I was also confident that publishers would look at my CV – boring project manager who has never published before – and say ‘no thanks’. I am a bit of a control freak. That was another reason for self-publishing. But I also knew that, as a novice, I had a lot to learn about both the writing process and book production and marketing. Working with Authoright has given me access to a team of people who are all specialists in their respective fields. I would have floundered without that support.
publisher to distribute and sell physical books. Maybe that’s something I will look into in the future. What did you hope to gain from publishing your book? As I said, writing a novel was a life goal of mine. I felt a deep sense of satisfaction when I first got my hands on a physical copy of Six Months to Get a Life. I also couldn’t wait to hear what people thought of my writing. I love reading the reviews and engaging with readers on Twitter. Knowing that people are laughing and crying in all the right places, makes the writing process all the more worthwhile. But enough of the warm and fluffy stuff. I wanted fame and fortune. How did you decide on your front cover? Authoright provided me with two covers. I immediately took a liking to a version of the one we ended up using, but I still took my market research seriously. I showed the two covers to random strangers on my commute, to my friends and to my Twitter and Facebook followers. The other cover was distinctive, but when one Twitter follower likened it to a caricature of a pedophile, I decided to go with my first instincts. Are you happy with the finished product? Are there aspects you’d change and if so what are they? I am absolutely delighted with the finished product. The editor that Authoright provided was brilliant, the book was forensically proofed. It’s typeset well, the cover looks good and the paper quality is great too. I love the fact that it’s available on all manner of book-selling websites. I’m overwhelmingly pleased with the finished product.
Would you recommend the self-publishing route for other authors?
How did you find the publicity process? Did you find it easy to talk about your book to the media?
Since my author journey began, I have talked to lots of traditionally published authors. Almost unanimously, they envy at the level of influence that self published authors like myself have over things like the price of their book and the way it is marketed. Self-publishing is the future and I would certainly recommend it to other prospective authors. The one thing that I haven’t yet managed to do is to get copies of my book into mainstream physical shops. Others have opted for some form of hybrid approach – a partnership with a
I have had some great publicity. Six Months to Get a Life was mentioned in a national UK newspaper, and I have been featured on radio stations and podcasts. I did have some entertaining conversations during these interviews. People wanted to talk about me and not the book. They asked about my personal experiences of dating after divorce. I am not sure they were too impressed when I told them I had written the book basically to give myself a good excuse to avoid going out into the big wide world of internet dating. Just the thought of it scares me stupid!
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How important do you find being active on social media and your author website is to promote yourself as an author? And how do you decide on your content? I only started tweeting when I was half-way through writing the book. It suddenly occurred to me that people won’t buy it if they don’t know who I am. I enjoy Twitter. It is something you can engage with quickly. I love the interaction with readers. My website looks fantastic and links to my blog. I am still struggling a bit with Facebook though. There just aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything. Who do you hope is reading your book? I am marketing Six Months to Get a Life to anyone who has been through a break-up. I.e. practically everyone. I would imagine my typical reader will be in their 30s or older, have children or grandchildren and be ready to laugh along with life’s habit of kicking us in the teeth when we are least expecting it. Although the book tells the story from a male perspective, some of the most positive reviews I have read have been written by women. Is there more to come from your character Graham? Or do you have something new up your sleeve? My second book, Six Lies, is under construction at the moment. It focuses on the same group of friends as the first book. Graham Hope continues his journey, but he isn’t the lead character. I am enjoying the challenge of getting to know a new character in intimate detail. What book are you currently reading? I am enjoying Being Sarah Chilton. It’s a great easy read with a lot of similarities to my own book. I met the author on Twitter and her sense
of humour instantly appealed to me. Are men allowed to read chick lit? What is your must-have writing snack and or tipple? I don’t stray far from the stereotypical coffee. I have often been tempted to see whether a glass of red winewould get my creative juices flowing, but as I often write first thing in the morning, that probably isn’t such a good idea.
Six Months To Get a Life by Ben Adams (published by Clink Street Publishing £8.99 paperback, £1.99 ebook) is available now from retailers including amazon.co.uk and can be ordered from all good bookstores. For more information, please visit benadamsauthor.com. or follow his exploits on Twitter @ BenAdamsAuthor.
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Publicity on the
Long Tail Writing a book can takes months or years, but it often feels like publicity is done in only a few weeks after its launch. But just because your book is more than a few weeks old doesn’t mean there are no more opportunities for media coverage. James Wharton highlights a few easy ways that, with a watchful eye and a little elbow grease, you can keep your book relevant for years after it’s published.
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The best thing about having a book published is that it immediately becomes part of history. You can never erase a book. Sure you can take it ‘out of print’, but you can never delete it. A caveat to this fact is that even seemingly long after your book’s release and primary marketing push, opportunities can present themselves to continue publicising your book months and years down the line. February in the UK marks LGBT History Month, and with the main theme of my book, released almost two years ago, being gay rights, I have for the second continuous year found myself undertaking a book tour promoting my (somewhat old) book. I have been pleased to hear from my publisher, too, that sales have picked up during the same period. All this is somewhat pleasing, obviously, considering I had initially never expected such happenings once the initial interest surrounding my book died down. I started to receive calls toward the end of last year asking my availability to come
to libraries and organisations across the UK. With the fantastic turnout at these events, I realised that the month was presenting itself almost as a secondary launch period. Of course, you too can take some simple steps to continue publicising your book months and years down the line. Naturally something to consider is that, as an author, your professional life moves on soon after your book is released and the initial blast of publicity has ended. It may be difficult to weigh up the pros of undertaking what is essentially an exhaustive exercise, but the fact of the matter is the opportunity to meet and engage with people who may have read or are thinking of reading your book is a priceless and unmissable opportunity. As a rule, I never turn down an invitation to talk to a book group or speak at a library, even if the turnout is likely to be low, as I don’t want to pass on chances to talk with those people. I’m a strong believer in the ‘Your Library Needs You!’ ethos - and, as an author, you need your library!
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Wharton emphasizes the importance of accepting any invitation to speak, no matter how large the event, as the opportunity to reach readers is far more valuable than any potential travel inconvenience.
Renewed interest in anything is hard to come by, even if it means putting in some unwanted leg work traveling to towns and cities in search of this payoff, but there are other ways to re-create interest in your book, too. Current affairs change daily, and if you are like me, you are glued to the 24-hour news outlets online. Without realising, these days I keep an eye out for anything which has a link to the themes of my book, and as it’s nonfiction, the chance to do this is frequent. Even if you’re a novelist, the themes of your book are often playing out in the media. Any breaking story may be a new opportunity to mention your book to a local journalist or promote it on social media. I recommend you prepare yourself for the ‘out of the blue’ requests that crop up, requiring an expert opinion from you. Naturally, the more experienced you become in this, the better you will be. Journalists are sometimes calling me, I’ve noticed, before stories break asking for my comment in advance. The payoff for me comes when my book is referenced in the
eventual article. The same is true if I’m ever asked to give a quick interview on the radio; in my introduction I always have them mention my book clearly. We love free publicity, and being friendly with a few reporters or bloggers will ensure that you’re their first thought when one of your book’s topics crops up. And don’t forget your social media presence, something you can easily manage yourself and an area which is becoming a more important piece in the media
landscape.Whether it be retweeting news stories you are interested in or which are linked to your book, offering an expert opinion in 140 characters or even challenging and engaging with people you feel confident with are all simple but brilliant ways to keep relevant in that sphere. Just make sure your book and a link to where people can buy it is very clearly stated on your bio page. A book doesn’t have to be celebrated, discussed, or cause a stir solely during the launch fortnight of its life. You can keep people interested and ensure long-term attention and relevance by remaining active and motivated weeks, months, and in my case, even years, after publication. Never turn down an opportunity and always be ready to contribute. There’s a whole world of media out there; enjoy it for as long as you can. James Wharton is Authoright’s Senior Author Consultant and the author of Out in the Army: My Life as a Gay Soldier (Biteback Publishing, paperback RRP £9.99, ebook RRP £3.59). For more information, find James online at jameswhartonwrites. com and on Twitter @jameswharton.
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L O V E a n d L I F E Last year, we were excited to work with Julieanne O’Connor on her first book Spelling it Out For Your Man. O’Connor took on her media campaign with fervor and impressed the radio program Positive Living Vibrations so much that they offered her her own program, Transforming Relationships with Julieanne. Diana Rissetto speaks to O’Connor recently about her second book Spelling it Out for Your Career.
Most self publishing authors experience a learning curve the first time around, and while they’re proud of their first books, they also look forward to a smoother process with the second. But Julieanne O’Connor didn’t find any surprises while publishing Spelling It Out For Your Man. Her publisher helped guide her through the process, and she had a friend who had been a self-published author, and then was later picked up by a major publishing house. He told her what to expect. That is not to say she didn’t have to learn anything through the process of publishing her first book. One aspect of the process she had to understand was that just because someone else is also working on your book doesn’t mean you can just forget about it. “You cannot expect your editor to do all the work,” she said. “You will need to go through your own book, over and over again. You will eventually tire of your own book, no matter how much you thought you loved it. And after all that, there will still be mistakes! Embrace them.” Another thing O’Connor will be carrying with her into her second book is her close connection with readers via social media. She welcomes correspondence from anyone interested in her books. “Every ounce of positive feedback is appreciated by an author,” she said. “My most memorable positive feedback came from a few people, including a couple of high profile individuals. An attorney for The Napoleon Hill Foundation, a woman who writes for The Huffington Post and a random English teacher. These three gave reviews
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that gave me chills and made me cry with gratitude. Two of the three said my book Spelling It Out for Your Man should be required reading in schools.” Continuing the theme of simple, plain-spoken advice, O’Connor’s latest book, Spelling It Out For Your Career, “is not the typical look-for-work or canned-career-advice book. It’s an 11-part, sometimes spiritual, always inspirational guidebook aimed at getting individuals to think deeply about careers, why precisely they may want to pursue certain types of work, and why anyone can secure a career that earns them a living while at the same time living life the way it is meant to be lived. Bottom line: The book is about possibility and why you absolutely cannot die without sharing the gifts you personally have to give.” In the book, O’Connor offers a lot of candid advice based on her own experiences. “The book shares hard-learned lessons that changed my life and an inspiring look at why comparing yourself to others is a colossal mistake that we all make,” she said. “We are all dealt different cards. And how we overcome complete annihilation of our egos is a critical link to how much we excel or fall in our careers.” Trusting your instincts and allowing yourself to make your career a journey worth taking will help you recognize your own value, she said. O’Connor is uniquely positioned to give career advice because in addition to being an author, wife and mom, she has worked in a number of industries, including retail, acting, modeling, sales, business development and convalescent homes. The most challenging, she thinks, is being a foster mom,
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a role she truly cherishes. She and her husband also used the book to launch a scholarship fund called the SIO (Spelling It Out) Dream Fund, which helps people pursue their greatest dreams and passions. This year, the scholarships will be given to those that have identified their dreams and are ready to begin living them. O’Connor is also dedicated to helping people better their relationships via a weekly radio show. While she was publicizing Spelling It Out For Your Man, O’Connor was a guest on Positive Living Vibrations radio. She impressed the host of the show so much that she was offered her own weekly radio show and quickly adapted to her new role as radio talk show host. “What’s amazing is that I get the opportunity to meet and interview incredible people who share their amazing stories,” she said. “When I don’t have a guest, I get to hear myself ramble and say ‘um’ or ‘you know’ too much. You have to be willing to witness your own imperfections to have a radio show or do anything public for that matter.” O’Connor never shies away from criticisms that can improve her writing, and she sees her friends and family as her greatest and toughest critics. She said while she hasn’t had the chance to send copies to all of her family and friends just yet, the ones that have read it have shown great support. “My sister just read it and is beside herself,” she said. “She left me messages every couple chapters about how impressed she was as she was reading it. She’s a teacher and tough critic so I’m grateful. Sometimes, a self help book can be turned into engaging fiction, like the film He’s Just Not That Into You, which was based on the relationship advice book of the same title. This is a route
that O’Connor has considered taking herself. “I helped out a close friend of mine, Tiffany Phillips, with her show, I Never Met A Jerk I Didn’t Like, by sponsoring books and doing her show’s introduction. It definitely inspired me to want to go a little more extreme on the expression of the ridiculousness of how people behave in relationships. I could definitely see writing a completely comical piece about either topic, relationships or business!” O’Connor echoes two points often heard from the best and the brightest about advice to upcoming authors. The best approach to take is to write for yourself. Don’t do it for money and never write something you don’t believe in, she said. The next book on the horizon for O’Connor is another title in her SIO series, Spelling It Out For Your Funeral. She considers this is her most intense and liberating work to date. “It is all about looking life in the face and realizing that you can’t predict your death date and therefore, every moment matters,” she said. “It sheds light on living a life you are proud of, such that if you died today (as many will) the world will have been a much better place because you were here. Every step you take has meaning. Every person you interact with is special. Every breath you breathe is a gift.”
O’Connor’s Spelling It Out series focuses on simple, plainspoken advice to help people better their relationships and their careers.
Julieanne O’Connor is the author of two books, including the recently published Spelling It Out for Your Career (published by Martin Sisters Publishing, paperback RRP $14.99, ebook RRP $5.99). For more information, find Julieanne online at spellingitout.com and on Twitter @spellingit
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The right to offend? Though it is easier now than ever to get a book published, the freedom of speech is still under constant threat of restrictions from those wishing to silence those whose views disagree with their own. Josh Hamel examines the risk of censorship today and the cost society pays for it.
The new Clean Reader app may seem harmless, but is changing an artist’s work worth covering a few naughty words?
Few people would argue that banning books is a horrible practice with no place in a modern, democratic society or that it limits free speech and the spread of information. Even if the ideas contained within a book are unpopular or controversial, it is still a fundamental right for an author to express them in any way they see fit. But what if just one component of an otherwise valuable and insightful, even classic, piece of literature makes a reader feel uncomfortable? Is it more conscionable to censor just the part that offends and leave the rest untouched or should it be untouched regardless of how it comes across? This is the question one actor, Mark Rylance, also the former Artistic Director of the Globe Theatre, had to answer when adapting Shakespeare, specifically omitting some of the more anti-Semitic things characters say in plays like The Merchant of Venice. “If a character says it, it doesn’t mean the author means it but since the Holocaust ... these statements have a lot more resonance now
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than they did at that time,” Rylance told the Guardian. While sensibilities have obviously changed since the Elizabethan era, the elimination of problematic material from times gone by shelters the modern audience and keeps them from lessons that could still be learned in the material as it was originally written. What about even smaller changes to just the language of a story? Is a more modest change to the text less harmful to the results? Clean Reader, a recently released app users can buy ebooks through, promises to clean up dirty language found in books for younger readers by replacing them with cleaner alternatives or just eliminating them from the text altogether. The creators of the app told the Washington Post they came up with the idea after trying to find books for their daughter who was an advanced reader, only to discover some of the books she had picked up had quite a bit of foul language within. But if the books she reads are censored versions, is she she really getting the
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same experience as if she were to read the unchanged version of the story? For example, if she were to read something like a Cormac McCarthy novel through the app, they probably would not have a clue as to why he is considered one of the best living writers because his works would inevitably be altered to such a degree. She would be cheated out of an experience that, while admittedly probably should be delayed until she is a bit older, would be valuable in her enjoyment of reading. It’s not as if adding curse words suddenly elevates a piece of work to greatness, but it’s not necessarily true the other way around, either. Eliminating the specific language chosen by the author doesn’t necessarily mean it maintains the quality the work had before. It’s a matter of valuing accessibility to altered classic pieces of literature to those who would normally raise objections versus preserving the artist’s work in its original form. As Ray Bradbury wrote in Fahrenheit 451, “There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.” Everyone will have their own answer to these questions based on their own experiences and moral guidelines. Changing an artist’s work, and therefore their intent and the experience one gets while reading it, no matter how minor, is worth thinking about for the future consequences it may hold, especially in a world where it’s not just certain words or classic works appearing antiquated drawing
Banned Books Week five most challenged titles of 2013 1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence 2. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence 3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group 4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James Reasons: Nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group 5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group If Captain Underpants raises concerns, what chance does actually controversial material have of not drawing calls for censorship?
controversy, but contemporary works that draw a risk of censorship from people aiming to limit free speech. In fact, more than 11,300 books have been challenged in American schools, bookstores and public libraries since 1982, according to the American Library Association. After the tragic shooting at the offices of Charlie Hedbo in Paris earlier this year, Salman Rushdie, who himself was threatened in the 1980s because of the subject material of his book, The Satanic Verses, said that regardless of anyone’s opinion on a piece of speech, it should be heard by the world. “Both John F Kennedy and Nelson Mandela use the same three-word phrase which in my mind says it all, which is, ‘Freedom is indivisible,’” he said. “You can’t slice it up otherwise it ceases to be freedom. You can dislike Charlie Hedbo … But the fact that you dislike them has nothing to do with their right to speak.” It is especially important in the wake of that event that people remain vigilant against the encroaching of censorship on material. At a time when it is easier than ever for an author to get their work published and seen by others through self-publishing and digital formats, there still exists an ever-present risk. The annual celebration of Banned Book Week is another reminder that the possibility of censorship is alive and well in today’s publishing landscape. If the most objected to book on the organization’s list of challenged titles for two straight years is Captain Underpants, what hope does material that raises any real controversy have at getting into people’s hands? The controversy is important. It’s what exposes people to new ideas and moves society forward, even if that evolution is difficult for some. Throughout history, progress has been made by the debate that transpired from material that broke society’s norms and made people feel uncomfortable. Denying readers the chance to feel that discomfort from modern works, or even eliminating it from past materials, is doing a disservice to our culture. No one can force you to read anything. Even in schools, kids can get a waiver for alternate material if they or their parents have such serious objections. You don’t have to like every book or find it worth reading, but that doesn’t mean you get to determine what other people can and can not read for themselves.
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NEW EDITION, MARCH 2015
Savvy Spe Writing a book is hard enough, but giving an interview about that book can be difficult in many new ways. A good interview can have readers rushing to buy your latest title; a bad one can leave them convinced it’s not worth their time. So if you or your PR team have set up an interview opportunity, India Lassiter has a few tips for nailing it. There are all sorts of opportunities for giving interviews—online, print, radio, or TV. Leveraging these opportunities is a great way to get the word out about you and your book. But oftentimes an author is too close to their book to talk about it in a way that’s interesting and engaging to the book-buying public. With these five tips, you’ll be well prepared for these opportunities!
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Be prepared You will rarely be asked to read directly from your book. So be sure you can sweep your 240-page book into a summary, themes, one or two named characters, and a juicy hook. Know what genres and audiences you’ll appeal to, particularly in terms of who is interviewing you. Do a little research about that person’s blog, newspaper, or radio show, and stress your book’s appeal to their audience. Would they appreciate the openended mystery format, or are they more interested in your examination of gender roles? Look at your interviewer’s previous work so you’ll be familiar with the format and frequently asked questions. Practice with friends, so you can be comfortable on the record.
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Play up your strengths While you want to establish how your book will appeal to a specific audience, you still need to differentiate yourself from other books in the genre. There are two ways to do that: First, your book is unique. It covers new territory in interesting ways. Explain your
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unique perspective, even if the genre has been done before. Second, you. What’s the story behind the story? Why are you the expert, if it’s nonfiction? Why are you an interesting creator, if it’s fiction? Mention powerful scenes that were easy or hard to write, and say why they were— your writing process is individual to you. No one can know how good a book is until they’ve read it, but if you can sell yourself, your process, and your confidence, people are more likely to buy.
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Don’t be obscure or mysterious Don’t forget to put yourself in the shoes of those who will watch, read, or listen to this interview later. You may know the whole story in its genius, but they don’t. Be generous. If it’s non-fiction and specialized, remember to talk to the average educated reader, but not to talk down to them. Be able to use reference or similes to put images into people’s minds. Mention your main thesis clearly and concisely and its relevance to readers’ lives. If it’s fiction, don’t guard your secrets too well! When asked about the plot, set it up powerfully with tempting action. You can avoid giving away the twists and the ending without being vague—“You’ll have to read
eaking
the book to find out!” doesn’t make anyone want to read the book. An easy way to avoid revealing too much plot is to describe the main character’s psychological journey instead of actual events.
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Grab attention People read and listen to interviews to hear your answers. Giving one that’s shorter than two sentences will have them tuning out quickly. Make sure you’re answering questions in full, giving relevant and interesting details about you and your book. If the interviewer asks where you’re from, don’t just name the town. Put it in context and explain how it informed your writing. Equally, rambling on will waste a reader/ listener’s time. If you only have a half hour for the interview, you don’t want to spend fifteen minutes on where you’re from. Be sure you have time to get to the juicy questions about your book.
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Don’t neglect your speaking skills These are basic, but essential! Speak clearly, evocatively, and concisely. Don’t use filler words like “um” and speak at a good pace and volume while varying your tone. Go back to the bones of persuasive speech: pathos (emotion), logos (reason), and ethos (credibility). Why should they care? Why should they think? Why should they heed you in particular? Keeping these things in mind will make you sound authoritative, calm and confident like a true professional. Interviewing may not be second nature for all authors, but with a little bit of preparation and a little bit of practice, you can turn any interview opportunity into an engaging discussion about your book and your career. Keep this tips in mind and people will want to know all about you.
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NEW EDITION CONTEMPORARY ISSUE
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2015
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