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  • Mockingjay Sales, Borders Loss & Apple Accounts: Weekend Reading

    The GalleyCat team will relax this holiday weekend, returning bright and early on Tuesday morning. In the meantime, we wanted to make sure you had plenty of publishing headlines to keep you busy over the weekend. Email GalleyCat to get all our publishing stories, book deal news, videos, podcasts, interviews, and writing advice in a daily email newsletter.

    Barnes & Noble announced they will close the Upper West Side superstore in New York City, reminding some readers of You’ve Got Mail (trailer embedded above)–a fictional look at different era for bookselling.

    Suzanne Collins sold an awe-inspiring 450,000 copies of Mockingjay in a single week.

    Apple CEO Steve Jobs bragged that his company counted 35 million eBook downloads.

    We took you behind the scenes of the new mashup book, Dick and Jane and Vampires.

    Borders posted a net loss of $46.7 million for the second quarter.

    We interviewed one reader who…

  • J.K. Rowling Donates £10 Million for Multiple Sclerosis Research

    Novelist J.K. Rowling (pictured) has given £10 million to the University of Edinburgh to build a multiple sclerosis (MS) research facility. The new building will be named the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic, honoring the memory of Rowling’s mother, who died at 45-years-old from MS.

    The clinic will research treatments for MS (currently incurable), Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and other degenerative neurological disorders. Rowling told the Guardian: “I have supported research into the cause and treatment of multiple sclerosis for many years now–but when I first saw the proposal for this clinic, I knew that I had found a project more exciting, more innovative, and, I believe, more likely to succeed in unraveling the mysteries of MS than any other I had read about or been asked to fund.”

    Rowling’s personal wealth is estimated to be £519 million. Despite not having published a new book last year, Rowling still managed to…

  • Your Book Is Like a Double Rainbow; Your Book Trailer with Recreations Is Like a Microsoft Ad

    Paul “Bear” Vasquez has earned 13 million views for his video of a double rainbow in Yosemite Bear Mountain, the viral hit embedded above. As you can see by the video posted below, Microsoft has used his online celebrity to promote photo editing software.

    The original video earned 13 million views because it contained a completely unique mix of enthusiasm, craziness, and laugh-out-loud oddness. Compared to the giddy charm of the first video, the Microsoft advertisement embedded below feels flat.

    That’s why this GalleyCat editor thinks authors should avoid using actors to recreate scenes from your novel in book trailers. No actor can ever reproduce the unique mix of imagination and personal voice you created inside your book–so why spend the money to produce a video that won’t inspire readers the same way as the original? (Via AgencySpy)
    continued…

    New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
    …

  • McSweeney’s Sponsors Two Contests

    McSweeney’s is accepting entries for two contests, the the 2nd Annual Columnist Contest and the 2010 Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award.

    With the Columnist Contest, the publisher seeks a writer who has “some hot, fresh blood to fill the semi-regular columns that run at the bottom [of their site page].” The editors require a short description of your intended column, a sample of a fully-written column, three future column ideas, and a short author’s bio. The deadline is September 10th.

    Since 2003, the fiction award memorializes Amanda Davis, a novelist and short story writer who passed away earlier this year. The award will aid “a young woman writer of 32 years or younger who both embodies Amanda’s personal strengths–warmth, generosity, a passion for community–and who needs some time to finish a book in progress.”
    continued…

    New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

  • How I Got My Agent: Kirsten Rice

    “How I Got My Agent” is a recurring feature
    on the GLA blog. I find it fascinating to see the exact road people took that landed
    them with a rep. Seeing the things people did right vs. what they did wrong (highs
    and the lows) can help other scribes who are on the same journey. Some tales
    are of long roads and many setbacks, while others are of good luck and quick signings.

    To see the
    previous installments of this column, click here.

    If you have a literary agent and would be interested in writing a short guest column
    for this GLA blog, e-mail me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com and we’ll talk specifics.

    Kirsten Rice is a college student
    and aspiring

    novelist. When not writing, she splits her time

    between Seattle summers and California school-years,

    drinking iced tall caramel macchiatos, and

    “studying” on the beach. See
    her blog here,
    and she also tweets.

    FORGET…

  • Amy Bloom Collection Stars in Kindle Commercial

    Author Amy Bloom’s new short story collection, Where the God of Love Hangs Out, starred in a recent Amazon Kindle ad. In the television spot, an eBook reader enjoys Bloom’s book on the beach.

    Watch the whole ad in the video embedded above. Over at Popisms, you can read the page featured in the Amazon ad, beginning with the line, “I reached across the table but he shrugged me off.”

    Bloom has published stories in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and The Atlantic Monthly, but nothing can beat a 30-second television spot. (Via Me and My Kindle and Smart Bitches)

    New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

  • 10 Facts About Books You Won’t Read in Books About Books | 09.03.10

    via The Millions

  • Case of the Monday’s

    Chili’s is a big, chain restaurant, but apparently no one proofreads its banners. Michelle found this apostrophe catastrophe at a Chili’s in Virginia.Sadly, it was after she had already eaten there. “We were too hungry to look up before we went in,” she writes.Thanks, Michelle!

  • The 7 Essential Parts Of A Blog!

    We often hear or read about what a blog is. There are also a lot of articles that deal with different styles of writing, how to start a blog, how to select images, etc… In this post I would like to discuss the different parts of a blog, the essentials so to speak. A blog has different parts, just like the body of a human being. Each of our body parts has a role to enable us to function properly, just like a blog has several parts that we need to look into to make sure that they are strategically and correctly placed so that the readers will not have a hard time navigating our site.
    One thing that can really annoy your readers is your site being difficult to read or navigate. You can look into this by checking the bounce rate in your analytics. If you have been…

  • Hana Samek Norton & The Sixth Surrender Reviewed

    Reviewed by Louise Leetch
    Read more about GalleyCat Reviews

    As a lifelong admirer of Eleanor of Aquitaine, I’m always excited to see a book about her and her remarkable family. The Sixth Surrender, a novel by Hana Samek Norton, focuses on her son, King John, who acceded to the throne of England after his brother Richard I and father, Henry II.

    Author Norton chooses a minor player, Juliana de Charnais, as a link to the machinations of Alienor (the French spelling used by the author), her son and the nasty old Lusignan dynasty. If you’ve avoided the more scholarly tomes about the Plantagenets, this is just the book for you.

    It’s light and simple and the players are easy to keep track of by the author’s animated descriptions. Norton scrupulously delivers her 13th century history characters well woven into a story that’s sure to tantalize the casual reader to press…

  • Flaws, Elephants, & Friends with Benefits: Coming Attractions

    Labor Day weekend is the perfect time to catch up on your reading. Our Facebook users have posted more than one hundred upcoming books on our New Books page for you to choose from.

    Just Friends With Benefits by Meredith Schorr: “A humorous women’s fiction novel.” (September 1st)

    Flaws & All by Shana Burton: “Faith, family, and friendship have always been a top priority to four lifelong friends, but each woman is about to be put to the test during one turbulent year. Will they have the strength to hold on to their friendships and put their trust in God?”

    An Inconvienent Elephant by Judy Reene Singer: “A sequel to Still Life with Elephants.”

    Want to include your book? Just follow the easy directions on our Facebook Your New or Upcoming Book post. Please remember to include your title’s exact release date when posting.

    New Career Opportunities Daily: The best…

  • The Success Secrets of the Highest Paid Authors

    For today’s post, I thought I would put up the audio file of the Publishing Segment I have started doing each week on the Dresser After Dark radio show.  Please comment if you would like me to post these each week.
    Have a great holiday weekend!
    You can download the mp3 here:

    File Hosting Online Storage Backup

  • Jon Gosselin’s Ex-Girlfriend Fishing for Book Deal

    Hailey Glassman, the ex-girlfriend of reality television star Jon Gosselin, fired off an informal book proposal during a guest post at Radar.com. In her piece, Glassman suggested that she had enough dirt on the former star of Jon & Kate Plus 8 to float an entire book.

    Here’s an excerpt: “I figured I’d save this torture I went through and life lessons and all the real juicy crazy stuff the media did not get a hold of for a BOOK. It will make everything make more sense — time lines, evidence of time lines. Just the whole nightmare of this annoying, traumatic, hurtful Soap Opera, which encumbers so many lives around us with the media and public hating and talking so much smack that it made ‘nobodies’ into ‘notorious.’ SUE ME if there’s not one true thing in the book it will be all 110% TRUE. I have kept all…

  • North Atlantic Books Forms Evolver Books Imprint

    North Atlantic Books and Evolver LLC have joined forces to create a new imprint, Evolver Editions. The first titles will launch in fall 2011.

    Based in California, the non-profit North Atlantic Books focuses on alternative health, new consciousness, raw foods, spirituality, and martial arts titles. The imprint includes the Evolver Editions Manifesto series, a series studying contemporary world issues in an accessible format.

    According to the release: “Evolver Editions presents leading voices of the transformational movement, the new spiritual counterculture that explores humanity’s most visionary potential and the tangible, pragmatic steps we can take to access it. Evolver Editions authors range over a wide variety of subjects–from shamanism to environmental design, cutting edge theories in cosmology to strategies for political organizing–and share a hopeful, developmental outlook on the current state of the world and our opportunity to co-create a planetary culture based on empathy, higher consciousness, and collaboration.”
    continued…

    New…

  • Live Near Indianapolis? Come Meet Me on Sept. 18 or Nov. 17

    I will be presenting
    at a pair of cool events in the Indianapolis area this fall (2010), so if you’re close
    by, come and see me! I’ll be teaching writers on the craft & business of writing
    at both events.

    SEPT. 18, 2010:

    GREENFIELD LIBRARY (HANCOCK COUNTY)

    There is an Author Appreciation
    Fair at the Greenfield branch of the Hancock County Library in suburban Indianapolis
    (east side of town, I think). I’ll be speaking from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on "How
    to Get Your Work Published." Essentally, I will be giving writing tips and taking
    questions from the audience, so come and ask me what’s on your mind.

    Also present will be authors Diana Catt (mystery), Phil Dunlap (western), James Heffren
    (Jr. High at Age Seventy-Five), Carolyn Huston-Ellenberger (American foods
    and culture), Bill Murphy (Rose Bowl), Tony Perona (Nick Bertetto mystery series),
    Robert Reed (collectibles), Rita Rose (Sandy Allen),…

  • Different Ways to Create Content

    It doesn’t take rocket science to realize content is what blogs need to survive, succeed and even profit. In most circumstances blogs require a constant flow of quality content.
    There have been many would-be-bloggers who’ve thrown up a website with a handful of pages filled with pillar content and leave it at that. Then they move on to the next blog. That kind of blog model can work if you stay within micro niche topics where there is very little competition.
    However, if you prefer to build a blog and keep adding content – you will want to consider your options for gathering and creating that content. I’m going to list several ways for you to consider. This isn’t a comprehensive list by any means – and is purely off the top of my head.
    Write It Yourself
    This is the hardest and most time consuming way to create content…

  • What We’ve Been Reading | 09.03.10

    Kate Casanova:
    Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn by Hannah Holmes is a charming look at what goes on in our back yards. Or at least Hannah’s. This work of nonfiction unfolds the dramas of squirrels, crows, and foliage. I was so taken by this read that I’m now working my way through another book of Hannah’s, The Secret Life of Dust. From space dust, to dust bunnies, this stuff is fascinating!
    I have mushrooms on the brain and Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets, a leading expert on fungi, has me thinking about how Oyster mushrooms can break down crude oil. I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of his book Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home. You can guess where this is going…
    Alex Lemon:
    -Tin House Volume 12 Number 1: “The sadness of melting snow hit me like…

  • Interview with Literary Agent Elisabeth Weed, Part 1

    Full disclosure: Elisabeth Weed is my agent. And she is a gem. Though it’s a definite plus that she’s always available and helpful–not just to me, but to her other authors–it’s not exactly fair to keep her all to myself. If you have a manuscript you feel might be right for Elisabeth (read on to [...]

  • Friday Madness

    I know it’s supposed to be a day people traditionally blow off work – that last summer blowout before we get serious again. But I’m here, for a little while today, to get ahead of the work. That’s either dedication or stupidity. It depends on your perspective.Since I feel like working like you feel like working, I thought I’d share some of the madness that’s been my week so far. The recommendation letter that should be filed – circularly. It came in the mail yesterday from the company where my daughter interned. They were giving her a letter of recommendation. Only trouble is it was written so poorly, there’s no way she can use that without it reflecting badly on her. See, they’re a communications company – a publisher. How bad? One sentence: “….consistently met that were goals set for her.” Right. Then there was the missing apostrophe in the…

  • 5 Quick-Start Tips to Help Improve Your Writing

    A guest post by Oleg Mokhov of Soundtrackster
    Feel like you’re stuck with the current level of your writing ability? Struggling to get better, or maybe you don’t even know how to go about improving?
    Then the following 5 quick-start tips to help improve your writing are for you.
    I’ve personally used them to un-suck-ify my writing within a matter of a few weeks.
    Now granted, I’m consistently improving all the time of course, but these 5 quick-start tips gave me a quick boost to start improving my writing.
    And that’s the point with these tips. They’re not magic pills to go from bad to great, but simple tips to quickly un-suck-ify your writing and get on the right path to consistently improve.
    Without further ado, here are 5 quick-start tips to help improve your writing:
    1. Write How You Talk
    If you wouldn’t use it in a conversation, don’t…

  • How to Take the Next Step in Your Freelance Career

    When someone I don’t know emails me out of the blue and hands me a guest post, I’m usually a little skeptical. (There’s truth in the experts’ advice of building relationships and trust first.) But when I took a look at Justin’s post – and the quality of his writing – I fired back a reply. “Win.”
    You see, there’s a whole world out there beyond our screens, and we often forget about it. Justin’s post will remind you of the potential that’s right outside your door. More clients, more exposure, more credibility… go for it. Here’s how:
    If you’ve been involved with freelance writing, blogging, copywriting or marketing for more than, say, a day and a half, you’ve probably heard plenty about how speaking before an audience can boost your reputation, which helps you become a thought leader and an expert in your field of choice.
    And it’s true! …

  • The Ambiguity of “Afraid”

    Jacqueline writes:
    I have a question about a …particular phrase, which can be read in two different ways…:”I am afraid I am unable to meet your requirements.”
    According to Jacqueline, the statement was interpreted by its recipient to mean the that the writer
    was taking the polite way to say they wanted to get out of their obligations,
    when in fact the writer wished
    to express the fear of something that this person did not want to have happen (meaning they were afraid that this was so, but did not want it to be the case) and also to convey a implicit request for help (please help me to overcome this fear.)  
    Jacqueline concludes that
    Had the statement been communicated orally…the meaning would have been communicated with inflection of the voice and other non verbal means.”
    It is true that oral communication is aided by facial expression and inflection…

  • Successful Queries: Agent Meredith Kaffel and ”Shadow Hills”

    This series is called “Successful
    Queries” and I’m posting actual query letters
    that succeeded in getting writers signed with agents. In addition to posting the actual
    query letter, we will also get to hear thoughts from the agent as to why the letter
    worked. 

    The 40th installment in this series is with agent Meredith
    Kaffel (Charlotte Sheedy Literary) and her author, Anastasia Hopcus, for her young
    adult paranormal novel, Shadow
    Hills, which came out July 13 from Egmont. School Library journal said this
    about the book: “Even characters with minimal roles are fleshed out via Hopcus’s rich
    use of language … It will be especially popular with those who prefer their supernatural
    romances with more sweetness and fewer sexual themes.”

    Dear Ms. Kaffel,

    I am submitting to you because I was impressed by your sale of Swoon by Nina
    Malkin. My name is Anastasia Hopcus, and I’ve written a 100,000-word…

  • Want to Know More About Blogging and Gaining an Audience? Jane Friedman Explains How on Sept. 16

    Ever had any of these
    questions?

    Should you blog?

    If so, what should you blog about?

    How do you start a blog?

    Can you post work online on a blog without endangering its prospects
    with agents and editors?

    How does a fiction writer gain an audience through their blog?

    How can a blogger increase traffic and gain a platform?

    How can a blog help me get a book deal?

    These are the kinds of questions Jane Friedman will be answering
    in her webinar, "Build
    Your Author Platform Through Blogging," on Sept. 16, 2010.

         

    Here’s the gist. Jane Friedman,
    former publisher of Writer’s
    Digest and current e-media college professor, knows a lot about blogging and how to
    use a blog. (In fact, her writing blog called "There Are No Rules" has won some awards!)
    She’s laying out all she knows to writers at 1 p.m., EST,
    Thursday,
    Sept. 16, 2010.…

  • Byte

    Here is a video on the word BYTE which features my cool new computer and the cool new ByteSpotter Drive. Check out the drive here. Also, please thumb-up, comment and favorite over at YouTube to help the video.
    This video was brought you by the new ByteSpotter drive.. check it out!

  • Check me out in FHM Magazine!

    Hey guys, check me out in the new issue of FHM Magazine!  It’s the October issue that was released today (Sept. 2nd.) So pop over to a magazine stand and pick up a copy!!  Above is a video I made with them as a preview so click it or click this link for more info about the issue plus a quiz and give me a thumbs while there.

  • Best Authors on Facebook

    Who is your favorite writer on Facebook? Share your recommendation in the comments section and help us build a brand new GalleyCat Reviews directory.

    Our Facebook page has grown rapidly this summer and more than 100 writers have already posted to our “New Books” section. However, a number of previously published authors emailed us wondering if they could include their work as well. Our Best Authors on Facebook directory will help them–allowing both published and self-published authors to connect with readers.

    We’ve started the list with a few writers from our summer reading list, but the directory is hardly comprehensive. Share your favorite author on Facebook in the comments section below and we’ll add them to our growing directory. NOTE: This is a BIG list, so please be patient as we add authors.
    continued…

    New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

  • Suzanne Collins Sells 450,000 Copies of Mockingjay

    Scholastic announced that Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay has sold 450,000 copies counting both hardcover and eBook sales since its August 24th release. That’s an average of 45,000 books sold per day.

    The final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy has topped both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. The publisher will print 400,000 additional hardcover copies. The first printing was 1.2 million.

    Lionsgate has bought the film rights to the Hunger Games and is in the process of developing the first book of the series. Fans of all ages gathered at Books of Wonder’s midnight release party, and Collins made a personal appearance.
    continued…

    New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

  • The Secret to Getting Great Book Reviews on Amazon

    Guest post by Dana Lynn Smith

    When consumers shop for books on Amazon.com and other online bookstores, many of them read the book reviews before they make a purchase. Even if they came to the site to buy a particular book, they may read the reviews to verify that they are making a good selection.
    Positive reviews are a great selling point for all types of books, but they are especially important for nonfiction books, where consumers often compare several books on the same topic. Amazon actually encourages this, by displaying other similar books on your book’s sales page.
    So, what’s the secret to getting great book reviews on Amazon (besides writing a great book)? ASK people to post reviews and make it EASY for them by providing a link to your book page on Amazon.com.  
    Amazon is by far the largest online bookseller. Anyone who has an Amazon…

  • Groupon for Publishers & Bookstores

    Publishers and bookstores should pay attention to the explosive growth of Groupon. Using the group coupon service online, one bookstore found 504 new customers this summer–each paying $10 for a $20 coupon for books, drinks, or sandwiches.

    Watermark Books and Cafe, a bookstore in Kansas, used Groupon to create a special deal. In June, they promoted the “pay $10 for a $20 coupon” offer on Groupon–banking on the idea that at least 10 customers would take advantage of the deal. Hundreds of other customers ended up taking advantage of the Groupon offer. Read this retail case study to find out how it works. Maybe publishers could cut unique coupon deals for bestselling books as well?

    Here’s more about the Watermark Books deal: “Though an online book glows in the dark, it can’t be shredded to make a papier-mache wig or taped to a shoe to replace an ice skate. Peruse…


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