Jacke Wilson

October 20, 2013

Self-Publishing: On the Dignity of Small Audiences, Part II

Previously we wrote about the small readership Alice Munro had for the first fifteen years of her publishing career. Next up: William Carlos Williams (of “The Red Wheelbarrow” fame) whose 1935 collection of poems An Early Martyr sold just eight copies its first year. Recall my modest goal for my novella (available now!): just ten copies Continue reading

Authors, Publishing, Writing

AliceMunro, Canada, Literature, McGraw-Hill, Munro, Nobel Prize in Literature, Paris Review, Poetry, Red Wheelbarrow, Short story

October 19, 2013

Most Novella-Like Movies?

A person holding a hammer thinks everything looks like a nail… but does a person obsessed with novellas see them everywhere? Apparently. I saw the exquisite Before Midnight on a cross-country flight last week (thank you, Virgin America, for providing the best in-flight entertainment package currently in existence, and also for using those purple lights that Continue reading

Novellas, Tournament of Champions

Dead, Ethan Hawke, John Huston, Movella, novella, Virgin America, Zelig

October 18, 2013

Great Novella Tournament of Champions: Interim Update

Readers, rest assured! I’m busy working on the next installment of The Great Novella Tournament of Champions. A sneak preview: two more heavyweights, a German vs. a Russian. You. Will. Not. Be. Disappointed. And after that: Will the brilliant protege knock off the Old Master? We shall see. In my Alice Munro Nobel afterglow (evidenced Continue reading

Authors, GNTOC, Novellas, Tournament of Champions, Writing

Alice Munro, Anton Chekhov, Munro, Old Master, Short story, William Trevor

October 17, 2013

Self-Publishing: On the Respectability of Small Audiences

I was still feeling the afterglow of the Alice Munro announcement, so I headed over to Munro’s Paris Review interview. One of the things I was struck by was her description of the first fifteen years or so of her career: MUNRO I was about thirty-six [when my first book came out]. I’d been writing Continue reading

Authors, Publishing, Writing

AliceMunro, Canada, McGraw-Hill, Munro, Nobel Prize in Literature, Paris Review, Self-Publishing, Short story, Tamarack Review, Writers, Writing

October 16, 2013

Independent Publishing: What Would Dr. Johnson Do?

Okay, let’s see. What do agents and publishers have to offer a new author? Free editing? Nope. Marketing, surely? Not much of that either. So… you edit everything yourself, before it gets to the publisher. Maybe you even hire someone to help. Then the book comes out and you are left to your own devices Continue reading

Publishing, Writing

Author, E-Books, Samuel Johnson, Self-Publishing, Writer

October 15, 2013

An Open Letter to Laura Miller

Dear Ms. Miller, We have not always seen eye-to-eye in the past. And my tone was perhaps inappropriate. However, I will try to do better. I think your heart is in the right place and I have long appreciated your devotion to good writing and good literature. I am a fan of yours when you’re Continue reading

Authors, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing

Author, Book, E-Books, Laura Miller, Literary fiction, publish, reading, Self-Publishing, Writer

October 14, 2013

What They Knew #10

Some films are slices of life. Mine are slices of cake. –Alfred Hitchcock Continue reading

What They Knew

Alfred Hitchcock

October 13, 2013

Author-Narcissism Theory Confirmed!

Aha! It was as we suspected after all. Recent research has confirmed it: A new British study finds people with narcissistic tendencies are more likely than others to think of themselves as creative, and to engage in creative activities. If your opinion of yourself is unusually high, there’s a good chance you long to share Continue reading

Authors, Writing

Creativity, Disorders, Extraversion and introversion, Health, Mental Health, Narcissism, Narcissistic, Personality

October 12, 2013

News from Lake Flyover

A technological accident added some unexpected profundity to Ian Stansel’s heartfelt piece “Finding the Essential in the Literary Midwest.” Here’s how the piece ended, at least when I read it (only the first paragraph was intentional): So to you folks flying over, I say this: go ahead. Go on to Colorado or New Mexico or Continue reading

Authors, Writing

Anxiety of Influence, Garrison Keillor, Midwestern United States, Robert James Waller, Sherwood Anderson, William Faulkner, Writers, Writing

October 11, 2013

Berlatsky the Hack: A Word of Encouragement

Cheer up, Noah Berlatsky! Your self-described life as a Hack puts you on Level 3 of our Ladder of Writerly Financial Success. Not a bad place to be! And it puts you in some esteemed company. Continue reading

Authors, Publishing, Writing

Noah Berlatsky, Writer, Writing