ThePublishingSpot: October 2007 Archives

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Oct31	How To Write About Fantastical Places Without Sounding Like A Big Nerd Jason Boog October 31, 2007 Know More: Brian Francis Slattery, Five Easy Questions 2.0, Five Easy Questions "They will return to Guatemala, to Ecuador, and buy land, a small fruit plantation, farm equipment, two delivery trucks, they will hire more men to work alongside them and prosper. And when they retire to a hammock on the coast, they will send mocking pictures to immigration authorities, the Guatemalan army, and the Ecuadorian government, financial statements with nasty drawings in the margins. You sold us out early, but we were better than that. See how you cut us short; see how we rose above." That's Brian Francis Slattery writing about immigrant dreams in Spaceman Blues--a hybrid of science fiction, political science, and kung-fu special effects. This first-time novelist is my special guest this week, and today he tells us how he constructed his fantastical landscape without sounding like a guy playing one long game of Dungeons & Dragons. Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson's mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing. Jason Boog: While your book has a number of science fiction elements, it is firmly grounded in the contemporary immigrant scene in New York City. What inspired you to take these everyday communities and turn them into something fantastical? How did you research and write these vivid scenes set in immigrant community settings--especially the "underground economies" that captivated your imagination? Brian Francis Slattery: Well, issues dealing with migration and the informal economy are kind of an obsession of mine--continue reading... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct31	Why You Should Do NaNoWriMo This Year Jason Boog October 31, 2007 Why in the heck would you write 50,000 words in one month? There are so many good reasons, and I surfed the Internets and asked our readers why they will undertake this wacky task.Tomorrow is the first day of "National... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct30	"Hilarious, scary, beautiful, and moving" : The World's First and Briefest Writing Workshop Dedicated Solely To The Art Of The Literary Headline Jason Boog October 30, 2007 Nobody writes subheadings anymore. Think about 19th century English novels with the great chapter divisions that read "In Which Our Dashing Hero Meets The Damsel Of His Dreams And Loses Her To An Untimely Accident." I've loved the technique since... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How Becoming A Multi-Tasking Crazy Person Can Help Your Writing Career Jason Boog October 30, 2007 How should good web video look? Nobody knows. The standards are being invented as we speak. Over at PBS's Idea Lab, Mark Glaser is exploring that conundrum, analyzing the work of Reuter's reporters who do multimedia reporting with a backpack... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct29	"To see if I could build a story the same way that the music I was listening to built a groove" : How To Write Musical Prose Jason Boog October 29, 2007 “The rest of the band waits, they're letting the groove get in the pocket, hit bottom. It does; and now two drummers join in, they weave a polyrhythm that brings in one guitar and some pops from a banjo, oh... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Do It Yourself Writing Workshops Jason Boog October 29, 2007 I love the Internet as much as the next guy, but once in a while in a writer's life, you gotta unplug and hang out with real-life writers.Over at The Millions blog, Edan Lepucki is writing about their do-it-yourself writing... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct26	A Dose Of Reality To Kill Your Weekend Buzz Jason Boog October 26, 2007 Not to be a downer or anything, but two slightly depressing, but entirely realistic, articles about the writing life just drifted past my highly-tuned radar. First, Tim Leffel has blistering reality-check for all aspiring traveling writers in Transitions Abroad. If... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	One Foundational Writing Text That Nobody Should Ever Forget Jason Boog October 26, 2007 I wish I could send you all back to school. For the last two months, I've been teaching an undergraduate journalism class at New York University, re-reading crucial writing texts that I had buried in the musty corners of my... Continue Reading Posted at 4:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct25	The Best Writing Advice You'll Hear All Year (Or Until I Repeat It Again) Jason Boog October 25, 2007 The best writing advice is so simple that I have to say it over and over again. It's so simple that I have to repeat it when other people say it. It's so simple that I have to beat it... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The Best Publishing And Writing Techniques That Were Recommended By The Web Journalists Jason Boog October 25, 2007 Everybody is so worried that the Internet will wreck book publishing, but ultimately, the web is our best chance to keep our writing world alive.Yesterday Wired Magazine profiled the good folks at The Emerging Writers Network, a site with a... Continue Reading Posted at 6:35 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct24	The Crazy Novelist Support Group® Jason Boog October 24, 2007 "It's still been an excellent experience -- it gave me the discipline to work on novels I never would have attempted otherwise, as well as bringing spontaneity to my writing when I might have otherwise gotten bogged down in research... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Build A Better Public Reading Jason Boog October 24, 2007 I try and attend one storytelling event or book reading every week. I love reading my work out loud, and I know that reading your stories out loud in front of a happy audience (or a web video camera) can... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct23	What If Pitching A Story Was Less Like An Esoteric Cult Ritual and More Like Reality Television? Jason Boog October 23, 2007 Have you ever pitched a story or novel to an editor, face-to-face? It's a rare opportunity that few amateur writers ever get. Media Bistro has turned the whole ritual into a web video reality television show, giving us an uncomfortable,... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Learning From The Best Jason Boog October 23, 2007 You can sit in your room pounding away on your computer all you want, but you won't publish a single word until you work with a quality editor, peer, or professional writer to polish your work.Luckily, no matter if you... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct22	Publishing Spotted: No More Complaining About How Expensive Book Tours Are Jason Boog October 22, 2007 You think you're shy? Think you don't have enough money for a book tour? Think again!Check out this homemade video project at The Bird in Snow. It's the launching pad for the world's smallest book tour. Ed Champion has just sent... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Libraries of the Way Way Way Future Jason Boog October 22, 2007 How should people explore your books in the way way way future? That question will be answered in the next few years as Google and librarians at Open Content Alliance debate ways to provide universal access to content without breeching... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Three Things I Love About Writing Jason Boog October 22, 2007 Why do we do this? Why do we keep writing? Susan over at The Urban Muse has tagged us for the meme unofficially titled "My Love of Writing." Tagged participants must list between three and five things that they love... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct20	"The main task of a writer is 'being at your station' : How To Keep Writing Despite Personal Disasters Jason Boog October 20, 2007 "Here is my life the day I became paralyzed. I was fifty-one, married with two sons, one in college and an eight-year-old at home, living in a big house in West Los Angeles, and pursuing my so-called craft as a... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct19	"The people who actually write commercial screenplays on a regular basis can be counted in the hundreds, if not the tens" : How To Write For Hollywood Jason Boog October 19, 2007 "We owed money ot the IRS, Citibank Visa, Washington University, the Wilshire Credit Corporation, the family, and fourteen other people. And after years of uncertainty, we thought we had struck it out, weathered the storm, seen the light at the... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Publishing Spotted: How Many Times Can I Type The Word Money In A Single Post? Jason Boog October 19, 2007 We've spent a whole week obsessing about money--how to earn money writing, how to survive with less money, and how to stop worrying about money and start writing.Today, the super new PBS website MediaShift Idea Lab has some ideas about... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct18	"Crime writers are best at capturing, you know, criminals" : How Hardboiled Novels Can Improve Your Writing Jason Boog October 18, 2007 Too many people expect the job of "writer" to mean one thing--sitting around quietly working on your novel. Those people will get very hungry. Author Allen Rucker's writing career reads like a vocational manual for writers: he's written a comical television... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Where Do All The Writers Drink? Jason Boog October 18, 2007 At the Guardian, Sam Jordinson wonders why writers don't hang around a boozy old Bohemian spot in England--asking "Where did all the bohemians go?"Bookninja has his own answer, but it's worth asking the question about the United States as well.... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct17	"The humor came first and the emotional blood-letting came second" : How To Structure and Revise A Memoir Jason Boog October 17, 2007 "I hate being paralyzed. I hate every minute of it. Everytime it dawns on me that I can't do something like swing on a passing tree limb or take Blaine or Max down for a three count in the backyard,... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Publishing Spotted: Enjoying Your Low-Voltage E-Paper Over Breakfast In 2020 Jason Boog October 17, 2007 Romenesko links to a fabulous vision of the future of newspapers from slightly stogy conference about what newspapers will look like in 2020. Like Romenesko, I'm most excited about Moritz Wuttke's (CEO of APAC Publicitas in China) vision:"Low voltage e-paper... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct16	"Write about what you want to write" : How To Pitch A Non-Fiction Book Jason Boog October 16, 2007 Can a book deal save your life?Author Allen Rucker's life derailed in his early 50's when he woke up paralyzed by a rare disorder. According to his new memoir, The Best Seat in the House (in hardcover now, look for... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Find Writing Jobs Online Jason Boog October 16, 2007 That's the million dollar question right there. Oddly enough, I found three different bloggers who are answering that very question today. Start with Journerdism's epic survey of online journalism work, find out how much your peers are getting paid, what... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct15	Publishing Spotted: New Media Needs Editors Jason Boog October 15, 2007 Jeff Jarvis and Romenesko are buzzing about ProPublica, a new privately funded investigative unit forming in New York City. I love these nimble new organizations and work as a staff writer for Judicial Reports, a legal investigative outfit with a... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct12	Publishing Spotted: Get Out Of The Office Or Stay In The Office Longer? Jason Boog October 12, 2007 Do we have a duty, as writers, journalists, and media people, to read the newspaper every day? Some people think the new media shift has turned all of us into thoughtless, uninformed citizens. Responding to a Poynter Institute article entitled... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	From Law School To Congress You Should Think Very Carefully About Your Day Job Jason Boog October 12, 2007 "As the younger brother takes my picture, he asks why the newspaper is doing a story on me. 'Oh, I'm a writer,' I tell him. I'm too embarrassed to say I'm running for Congress. I make sure he digitally fixes... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct11	Is It Time For Us To Go To Law School? Jason Boog October 11, 2007 Every litblog from here to Antarctica has published a mini-essay about a gloomy survey of 1,300 publishing professionals that predicts the looming death of the printed book. SF Signal has the bad news wrapped up in a nice post. Over... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Publishing Spotted: Just In Case You Missed It, Doris Lessing Won The Nobel Prize in Literature Jason Boog October 11, 2007 "[T]hat epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny" wrote the Nobel Prize committee, describing novelist and memoir writer Doris Lessing. What does that mean? Tell your stories even... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct10	The Land Before Your First Book Jason Boog October 10, 2007 Most of the readers on this site--myself included--live in that treacherous region called The Land Before Your First Book. We all dream of finishing novels, screenplays or non-fiction books, struggling without the reassurance of a steady writing paycheck.Today Tao Lin... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	A Love Poem For Cliffhangers Jason Boog October 10, 2007 On a slow train ride from DC last week, I consumed the Identity Crisis graphic novel in a single, greedy sitting. While it wasn't the greatest literary achievment ever, the book reminded me of the joys of serial storytelling--the suspense... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 9	Publishing Spotted: What If They Made A Movie About Everything You've Ever Written? Jason Boog October 9, 2007 Now I like the sci-fi madness of Philip K. Dick as much as the next obsessive fan, but this is just amazing. A film company has just bought three-year, first-look rights to the entire collection of Dick stories and novels... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Hey You! Read This! Jason Boog October 9, 2007 Everyday I struggle to figure out the mystical combination of punchy prose and catchy content to keep my lovely readers reading. I crack (and break) jokes, I write cryptic headlines, and I insert strange paragraph breaks all because I love... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 8	Let's Celebrate Newsvine Instead of Columbus Jason Boog October 8, 2007 I hesitate to admit that I am off work today. The idea of celebrating Columbus' American conquest makes me a little queasy. Nevertheless, here I am, relaxing for one extra day. Instead of celebrating colonial urges, let's celebrate the journalism... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 5	How To Write-Around Your Next Profile Jason Boog October 5, 2007 Is real journalism possible in a media world ruled by publicists, news corporations, flimsy web writing, and advertising dollars?Ron Rosenbaum, a hero from the golden age of magazine writing, just published a long piece in Slate about the fine art... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 4	Publishing Spotted: How To Write Fantastically Jason Boog October 4, 2007 The best books make you feel crazy. If I'm reading a private detective novel, I want to be obsessed with that crazy narrator's dark world. If I'm reading science fiction, I want to feel like I the space aliens are... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Find Work As A Journalist In The 21st Century Jason Boog October 4, 2007 I hate to say I told you so, but...Last week I wrote about how Wired magazine thought the future of journalism will all happen on small, online publications like Sharesleuth.com--nimble outfits with low overhead and small, flexible staff. This week... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 3	Publishing Spotted: Should You Blog Your Book, Part Six Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty-Three Jason Boog October 3, 2007 Is blogging your book dangerous?Writing over at the fabulous Institute for the Future of the Book, Siva Vaidhyanathan explores why he's scared of live-blogging his book while he writes it. But that won't stop him from doing it:"[I]t could get... Continue Reading Posted at 12:23 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Be Merciless Jason Boog October 3, 2007 For the last year I've been staring at my manuscript, scribbling, adjusting, adding, subtracting, dividing and editing. I'm learning to be merciless. Today, the lovable Pinky's PaperHaus blog has a report from a lecture by novelist George Saunders about the... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 2	Publishing Spotted: Penguin Push Jason Boog October 2, 2007 Would you write a book for $25,000 and a publishing deal? This New York Times’ article about Penguin's new contest has got the Litblog world buzzing. Readers can submit manuscripts to the publishing house's Breakthrough Novel contest, and a... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Inside The Minds Of Sixty Agents Jason Boog October 2, 2007 Want to know what 60 agents think? Reading this simple post by Brian Hill and Dee Power can save you years of frustration, sitting in your house sending out thousands of unanswered manuscripts.We get a candid look into the minds... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 1	A New Rule For Writers Jason Boog October 1, 2007 New rule: No writer should ever work without a video camera.If you can shoot some simple footage to accompany your written stories, your value for a publication literally doubles. My buddy Adam B. Ellick demonstrated that concept this weekend,... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments

« September 2007 | Main | November 2007 »

Oct31	How To Write About Fantastical Places Without Sounding Like A Big Nerd Jason Boog October 31, 2007 Know More: Brian Francis Slattery, Five Easy Questions 2.0, Five Easy Questions "They will return to Guatemala, to Ecuador, and buy land, a small fruit plantation, farm equipment, two delivery trucks, they will hire more men to work alongside them and prosper. And when they retire to a hammock on the coast, they will send mocking pictures to immigration authorities, the Guatemalan army, and the Ecuadorian government, financial statements with nasty drawings in the margins. You sold us out early, but we were better than that. See how you cut us short; see how we rose above." That's Brian Francis Slattery writing about immigrant dreams in Spaceman Blues--a hybrid of science fiction, political science, and kung-fu special effects. This first-time novelist is my special guest this week, and today he tells us how he constructed his fantastical landscape without sounding like a guy playing one long game of Dungeons & Dragons. Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson's mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing. Jason Boog: While your book has a number of science fiction elements, it is firmly grounded in the contemporary immigrant scene in New York City. What inspired you to take these everyday communities and turn them into something fantastical? How did you research and write these vivid scenes set in immigrant community settings--especially the "underground economies" that captivated your imagination? Brian Francis Slattery: Well, issues dealing with migration and the informal economy are kind of an obsession of mine--continue reading... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct31	Why You Should Do NaNoWriMo This Year Jason Boog October 31, 2007 Why in the heck would you write 50,000 words in one month? There are so many good reasons, and I surfed the Internets and asked our readers why they will undertake this wacky task.Tomorrow is the first day of "National... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct30	"Hilarious, scary, beautiful, and moving" : The World's First and Briefest Writing Workshop Dedicated Solely To The Art Of The Literary Headline Jason Boog October 30, 2007 Nobody writes subheadings anymore. Think about 19th century English novels with the great chapter divisions that read "In Which Our Dashing Hero Meets The Damsel Of His Dreams And Loses Her To An Untimely Accident." I've loved the technique since... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How Becoming A Multi-Tasking Crazy Person Can Help Your Writing Career Jason Boog October 30, 2007 How should good web video look? Nobody knows. The standards are being invented as we speak. Over at PBS's Idea Lab, Mark Glaser is exploring that conundrum, analyzing the work of Reuter's reporters who do multimedia reporting with a backpack... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct29	"To see if I could build a story the same way that the music I was listening to built a groove" : How To Write Musical Prose Jason Boog October 29, 2007 “The rest of the band waits, they're letting the groove get in the pocket, hit bottom. It does; and now two drummers join in, they weave a polyrhythm that brings in one guitar and some pops from a banjo, oh... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Do It Yourself Writing Workshops Jason Boog October 29, 2007 I love the Internet as much as the next guy, but once in a while in a writer's life, you gotta unplug and hang out with real-life writers.Over at The Millions blog, Edan Lepucki is writing about their do-it-yourself writing... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct26	A Dose Of Reality To Kill Your Weekend Buzz Jason Boog October 26, 2007 Not to be a downer or anything, but two slightly depressing, but entirely realistic, articles about the writing life just drifted past my highly-tuned radar. First, Tim Leffel has blistering reality-check for all aspiring traveling writers in Transitions Abroad. If... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	One Foundational Writing Text That Nobody Should Ever Forget Jason Boog October 26, 2007 I wish I could send you all back to school. For the last two months, I've been teaching an undergraduate journalism class at New York University, re-reading crucial writing texts that I had buried in the musty corners of my... Continue Reading Posted at 4:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct25	The Best Writing Advice You'll Hear All Year (Or Until I Repeat It Again) Jason Boog October 25, 2007 The best writing advice is so simple that I have to say it over and over again. It's so simple that I have to repeat it when other people say it. It's so simple that I have to beat it... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The Best Publishing And Writing Techniques That Were Recommended By The Web Journalists Jason Boog October 25, 2007 Everybody is so worried that the Internet will wreck book publishing, but ultimately, the web is our best chance to keep our writing world alive.Yesterday Wired Magazine profiled the good folks at The Emerging Writers Network, a site with a... Continue Reading Posted at 6:35 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct24	The Crazy Novelist Support Group® Jason Boog October 24, 2007 "It's still been an excellent experience -- it gave me the discipline to work on novels I never would have attempted otherwise, as well as bringing spontaneity to my writing when I might have otherwise gotten bogged down in research... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Build A Better Public Reading Jason Boog October 24, 2007 I try and attend one storytelling event or book reading every week. I love reading my work out loud, and I know that reading your stories out loud in front of a happy audience (or a web video camera) can... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct23	What If Pitching A Story Was Less Like An Esoteric Cult Ritual and More Like Reality Television? Jason Boog October 23, 2007 Have you ever pitched a story or novel to an editor, face-to-face? It's a rare opportunity that few amateur writers ever get. Media Bistro has turned the whole ritual into a web video reality television show, giving us an uncomfortable,... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Learning From The Best Jason Boog October 23, 2007 You can sit in your room pounding away on your computer all you want, but you won't publish a single word until you work with a quality editor, peer, or professional writer to polish your work.Luckily, no matter if you... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct22	Publishing Spotted: No More Complaining About How Expensive Book Tours Are Jason Boog October 22, 2007 You think you're shy? Think you don't have enough money for a book tour? Think again!Check out this homemade video project at The Bird in Snow. It's the launching pad for the world's smallest book tour. Ed Champion has just sent... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Libraries of the Way Way Way Future Jason Boog October 22, 2007 How should people explore your books in the way way way future? That question will be answered in the next few years as Google and librarians at Open Content Alliance debate ways to provide universal access to content without breeching... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Three Things I Love About Writing Jason Boog October 22, 2007 Why do we do this? Why do we keep writing? Susan over at The Urban Muse has tagged us for the meme unofficially titled "My Love of Writing." Tagged participants must list between three and five things that they love... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct20	"The main task of a writer is 'being at your station' : How To Keep Writing Despite Personal Disasters Jason Boog October 20, 2007 "Here is my life the day I became paralyzed. I was fifty-one, married with two sons, one in college and an eight-year-old at home, living in a big house in West Los Angeles, and pursuing my so-called craft as a... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct19	"The people who actually write commercial screenplays on a regular basis can be counted in the hundreds, if not the tens" : How To Write For Hollywood Jason Boog October 19, 2007 "We owed money ot the IRS, Citibank Visa, Washington University, the Wilshire Credit Corporation, the family, and fourteen other people. And after years of uncertainty, we thought we had struck it out, weathered the storm, seen the light at the... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Publishing Spotted: How Many Times Can I Type The Word Money In A Single Post? Jason Boog October 19, 2007 We've spent a whole week obsessing about money--how to earn money writing, how to survive with less money, and how to stop worrying about money and start writing.Today, the super new PBS website MediaShift Idea Lab has some ideas about... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct18	"Crime writers are best at capturing, you know, criminals" : How Hardboiled Novels Can Improve Your Writing Jason Boog October 18, 2007 Too many people expect the job of "writer" to mean one thing--sitting around quietly working on your novel. Those people will get very hungry. Author Allen Rucker's writing career reads like a vocational manual for writers: he's written a comical television... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Where Do All The Writers Drink? Jason Boog October 18, 2007 At the Guardian, Sam Jordinson wonders why writers don't hang around a boozy old Bohemian spot in England--asking "Where did all the bohemians go?"Bookninja has his own answer, but it's worth asking the question about the United States as well.... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct17	"The humor came first and the emotional blood-letting came second" : How To Structure and Revise A Memoir Jason Boog October 17, 2007 "I hate being paralyzed. I hate every minute of it. Everytime it dawns on me that I can't do something like swing on a passing tree limb or take Blaine or Max down for a three count in the backyard,... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Publishing Spotted: Enjoying Your Low-Voltage E-Paper Over Breakfast In 2020 Jason Boog October 17, 2007 Romenesko links to a fabulous vision of the future of newspapers from slightly stogy conference about what newspapers will look like in 2020. Like Romenesko, I'm most excited about Moritz Wuttke's (CEO of APAC Publicitas in China) vision:"Low voltage e-paper... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct16	"Write about what you want to write" : How To Pitch A Non-Fiction Book Jason Boog October 16, 2007 Can a book deal save your life?Author Allen Rucker's life derailed in his early 50's when he woke up paralyzed by a rare disorder. According to his new memoir, The Best Seat in the House (in hardcover now, look for... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Find Writing Jobs Online Jason Boog October 16, 2007 That's the million dollar question right there. Oddly enough, I found three different bloggers who are answering that very question today. Start with Journerdism's epic survey of online journalism work, find out how much your peers are getting paid, what... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct15	Publishing Spotted: New Media Needs Editors Jason Boog October 15, 2007 Jeff Jarvis and Romenesko are buzzing about ProPublica, a new privately funded investigative unit forming in New York City. I love these nimble new organizations and work as a staff writer for Judicial Reports, a legal investigative outfit with a... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct12	Publishing Spotted: Get Out Of The Office Or Stay In The Office Longer? Jason Boog October 12, 2007 Do we have a duty, as writers, journalists, and media people, to read the newspaper every day? Some people think the new media shift has turned all of us into thoughtless, uninformed citizens. Responding to a Poynter Institute article entitled... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	From Law School To Congress You Should Think Very Carefully About Your Day Job Jason Boog October 12, 2007 "As the younger brother takes my picture, he asks why the newspaper is doing a story on me. 'Oh, I'm a writer,' I tell him. I'm too embarrassed to say I'm running for Congress. I make sure he digitally fixes... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct11	Is It Time For Us To Go To Law School? Jason Boog October 11, 2007 Every litblog from here to Antarctica has published a mini-essay about a gloomy survey of 1,300 publishing professionals that predicts the looming death of the printed book. SF Signal has the bad news wrapped up in a nice post. Over... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Publishing Spotted: Just In Case You Missed It, Doris Lessing Won The Nobel Prize in Literature Jason Boog October 11, 2007 "[T]hat epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny" wrote the Nobel Prize committee, describing novelist and memoir writer Doris Lessing. What does that mean? Tell your stories even... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct10	The Land Before Your First Book Jason Boog October 10, 2007 Most of the readers on this site--myself included--live in that treacherous region called The Land Before Your First Book. We all dream of finishing novels, screenplays or non-fiction books, struggling without the reassurance of a steady writing paycheck.Today Tao Lin... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	A Love Poem For Cliffhangers Jason Boog October 10, 2007 On a slow train ride from DC last week, I consumed the Identity Crisis graphic novel in a single, greedy sitting. While it wasn't the greatest literary achievment ever, the book reminded me of the joys of serial storytelling--the suspense... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 9	Publishing Spotted: What If They Made A Movie About Everything You've Ever Written? Jason Boog October 9, 2007 Now I like the sci-fi madness of Philip K. Dick as much as the next obsessive fan, but this is just amazing. A film company has just bought three-year, first-look rights to the entire collection of Dick stories and novels... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Hey You! Read This! Jason Boog October 9, 2007 Everyday I struggle to figure out the mystical combination of punchy prose and catchy content to keep my lovely readers reading. I crack (and break) jokes, I write cryptic headlines, and I insert strange paragraph breaks all because I love... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 8	Let's Celebrate Newsvine Instead of Columbus Jason Boog October 8, 2007 I hesitate to admit that I am off work today. The idea of celebrating Columbus' American conquest makes me a little queasy. Nevertheless, here I am, relaxing for one extra day. Instead of celebrating colonial urges, let's celebrate the journalism... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 5	How To Write-Around Your Next Profile Jason Boog October 5, 2007 Is real journalism possible in a media world ruled by publicists, news corporations, flimsy web writing, and advertising dollars?Ron Rosenbaum, a hero from the golden age of magazine writing, just published a long piece in Slate about the fine art... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 4	Publishing Spotted: How To Write Fantastically Jason Boog October 4, 2007 The best books make you feel crazy. If I'm reading a private detective novel, I want to be obsessed with that crazy narrator's dark world. If I'm reading science fiction, I want to feel like I the space aliens are... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Find Work As A Journalist In The 21st Century Jason Boog October 4, 2007 I hate to say I told you so, but...Last week I wrote about how Wired magazine thought the future of journalism will all happen on small, online publications like Sharesleuth.com--nimble outfits with low overhead and small, flexible staff. This week... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 3	Publishing Spotted: Should You Blog Your Book, Part Six Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty-Three Jason Boog October 3, 2007 Is blogging your book dangerous?Writing over at the fabulous Institute for the Future of the Book, Siva Vaidhyanathan explores why he's scared of live-blogging his book while he writes it. But that won't stop him from doing it:"[I]t could get... Continue Reading Posted at 12:23 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Be Merciless Jason Boog October 3, 2007 For the last year I've been staring at my manuscript, scribbling, adjusting, adding, subtracting, dividing and editing. I'm learning to be merciless. Today, the lovable Pinky's PaperHaus blog has a report from a lecture by novelist George Saunders about the... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 2	Publishing Spotted: Penguin Push Jason Boog October 2, 2007 Would you write a book for $25,000 and a publishing deal? This New York Times’ article about Penguin's new contest has got the Litblog world buzzing. Readers can submit manuscripts to the publishing house's Breakthrough Novel contest, and a... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Inside The Minds Of Sixty Agents Jason Boog October 2, 2007 Want to know what 60 agents think? Reading this simple post by Brian Hill and Dee Power can save you years of frustration, sitting in your house sending out thousands of unanswered manuscripts.We get a candid look into the minds... Continue Reading Posted at 6:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 1	A New Rule For Writers Jason Boog October 1, 2007 New rule: No writer should ever work without a video camera.If you can shoot some simple footage to accompany your written stories, your value for a publication literally doubles. My buddy Adam B. Ellick demonstrated that concept this weekend,... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments

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