ThePublishingSpot: April 2008 Archives

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Apr30	Publishing Spotted: Smiley-Faced Killers, Unsent Rejection Letters and the End of the Junket Jason Boog April 30, 2008 Know More: Publishing Spotted edward champion, rejections, true crime, VQR Sometimes crime novels just write themselves. Sarah Weinman wins the most-evocative-post-of-the-week award, summing up a true-crime conspiracy theory to top them all: "This week's big true crime story is highly speculative: could a nationwide gang of psychopathic serial killers, linked by a "signature" of smiley face graffiti, be responsible for the deaths of up to 40 young, college-age men assumed to have died from drowning?" Be sure to check out Five Easy Questions alum Steve Huff's skeptical take on the story when you finish the article... The VQR blog digs through the slushpile, showing off internal memos about rejected stories. The person who wrote about a "Narrator/murderer describes how he is going to kill his victim and dispose of the body by mixing it into the fillings of eclairs" might actually be mixed up in the Smiley Face Gang--so read with care. Finally, Ed Champion retires from the film junket circuit with a frustrated, insightful essay. Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr30	Kate Torgovnick and Flying Cheerleaders: How To Write Action Scenes Jason Boog April 30, 2008 Can you write a great action scene? Most writers leave these discussions to comic-books, thrillers and action movies. But think about it... How would your protagonist look when running, jumping or catching a flying body? If you can’t answer these... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr29	How To Pitch Your Non-Fiction Book To A Publisher Jason Boog April 29, 2008 "I started doing research, interviewing dozens of college cheerleaders. What they described to me wasn't the happy-go-lucky sport I once imagined. They were part of a fervent subculture filled with people willing to take their bodies to the limit...The glimmer... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr28	Why Worry About Circulation When You've Got Mindy McCready, Roger Clemens and Miley Cyrus? Jason Boog April 28, 2008 The print industry woke up with a bad hangover this morning. Over the last six months, circulation at most major newspapers has nose-dived--advertisers will flee and more journalists will lose their jobs. Here's a link from Jeff Bercovici at Portfolio... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Kate Torgovnick Shows You How To Pick and Choose Interview Subjects Jason Boog April 28, 2008 "By day, this stage at Disney-MGM studios is home to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, where Hollywood stuntmen and women dodge fire and gigantic boulders. Some of the set is still in view, a re-creation of the Cairo marketplace... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr25	Weekend Reading: How To Write A Query Letter Jason Boog April 25, 2008 You know that hyper-blurbing copy they stick on dust jackets for books? I try not to read it--it spoils the surprise and puts all sorts of weird ideas about the story in your head.Unfortunately, when your novel is finished, you... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why You Should Write A Cult Book Instead Of A Regular Book Jason Boog April 25, 2008 Are you fanatically devoted to a book, despite that most of your literary friends roll their eyes when you talk about it? That's a cult book!Why do these books matter? Because cult books inspire cultish followings. Your readers will defend... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr24	Open Source Writing Jason Boog April 24, 2008 Do you ever stop to think about the software you use to write or edit or build your web videos? Too many writers forget that they don't have to depend on expensive software packages to build multimedia stories. Over at... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr23	Publishing Spotted: Shakespeare's Birthday and Poetry and ComicCon Jason Boog April 23, 2008 Spring is busting out all over in New York, and it makes me think about poetry. Lots and lots of poetry. Today, let's celebrate National Poetry Month and Shakespeare's birthday in one fell swoop--the Bard was a poet after all.... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	What's The Best Writing Tip of All Time? Jason Boog April 23, 2008 Stop reading this.I'm not kidding. Close the browser window, disconnect your Airport card and start writing--the way you used to write before the Internet showed up. Over at Poynter online, writer pro Christopher "Chip" Scanlan is collecting the best advice... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr22	A Reading List from Pulitzer Prize Winner Junot Diaz Jason Boog April 22, 2008 Some advice. Read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Ten years ago, Junot Díaz wrote a book of award-winning short stories called Drown, and then, after a long, tough time, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his very first... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr21	How To Make A Better Poetry Reading Jason Boog April 21, 2008 I have returned from vacation, and I'm getting some new content prepared. After sifting through pages and pages of unread posts, I found this earnest, enthusiastic news story about a Flarf poetry reading in Maine. The writer described how an... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr18	Comic Book Writer Woody Wilson Talks About His Career In The Publishing Spot Library Jason Boog April 18, 2008 You know what makes it seem impossible to make it as a writer? The quiet myths that surround published authors. Except on my site, established writers rarely discuss the hard times they faced as fledgling writers. We don't think of... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr17	The Publishing Spot Library: Video, Pulp Fiction and Novelist Paul Malmont Jason Boog April 17, 2008 Do you like comics? Do you like novels? Do you like pulp fiction? If you don't, you better learn how to like them--we love that stuff. Two years ago, I hung with novelist Paul Malmont at a comics book store. We... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr16	Hardboiled Writer and Journalist Duane Swierczynski: The Publishing Spot Library Jason Boog April 16, 2008 "Stephen King once described this perfectly. He imagines novels as castles, and believes that there is often only one right way into the castle. You might sneak in a side window, only to fall on a bed of nails. You... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr15	Novelist Lance Olsen in The Publishing Spot Library Jason Boog April 15, 2008 "A bit of advice is worth repeating: don't listen for praise, but for constructive criticism, the kind that you can take home and use to better your manuscript." That's some tough-love advice from Lance Olsen's writing handbook, Rebel Yell, a... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr14	The Publishing Spot Library: Peace Corps Writer and Editor John Coyne Jason Boog April 14, 2008 I'm on vacation this week, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. To keep you happy while I travel far, far, far from the city, I'm posting some of my favorite interviews I've collected at The Publishing Spot--building... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr11	Sneaking Out The Backdoor Jason Boog April 11, 2008 "The funny thing is that if you were a millionaire like some of these managing directors shaking down seven figures a year, you'd have known to push your way ahead and fill your plate. Rich people can't get enough of... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr10	What Sloane Crosley, Jeff Gordinier, Toby Barlow and Tony D'Souza Can Teach You About Author Websites Jason Boog April 10, 2008 What does your writing website look like?Is it like my personal site, with lo-fi graphics and quick, dirty template? Or is it like Tony D'Souza's with a quiet theme, nice pictures and lots of content? Today, The Book Publicity Blog is... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 9	Writers Support the Dunbar Village Victims Jason Boog April 9, 2008 In June 2007, a horrific rape and robbery rocked a Florida community. Since then, a number of good folks have been raising money to support the victims of this attack in the Dunbar Village apartment project. One Publishing Spot reader... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 8	Junot Diaz and the Pulitzer Prize: You Can't Be Worse Than Him Jason Boog April 8, 2008 "Since college I started bringing that weird [immigrant] work ethic to writing. The two books I published are the only ones that worked. I've written like three other books, but they were really, really bad. I'm telling you, if any... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 7	The Lollapalooza Coincidence: How To Find Better Music for Writing Jason Boog April 7, 2008 So I was shuffling through the Lollapalooza 2008 website and I just wanted to point out that eight of the bands I put on my The Best Writing Music of 2007 and The Best Writing Music of 2006 compilations are... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Whiners or Victims? Jason Boog April 7, 2008 Need a break? My impending vacation next week coincidentally coincided with a New York Times article about overworked writers and the health problems they face.Personally, my day has been stretched thinner and thinner by blogging--but it gives me the chance... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 4	Journalist Jeff Gordinier Shows You How To Write About Music and Promote Your Book Jason Boog April 4, 2008 So that's a video of journalist Jeff Gordinier explaining how he built his book tour from scratch. It's a do-it-yourself post that all writers can use. Gordinier is Editor-at-Large at Details magazine, and he's been our special guest this... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 3	"Magazine writers seemed to have more fun" : How Jeff Gordinier Built His Magazine Writing Career Jason Boog April 3, 2008 "He has written for a variety of word-oriented entities, including Esquire, GQ, Fortune, Spin, Elle, Breathe , the Los Angeles Times, Cookie, Crawdaddy , the Offsprung parenting site, PoetryFoundation.org, and Entertainment Weekly."That's Jeff Gordinier's magazine resume--a collection of titles that... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 2	The Publishing Spot Library: Memoirist and Novelist Josh Kilmer-Purcell Jason Boog April 2, 2008 "JB EWING: You’ll never get away with this you know. There are too many people here at the Castor Oil Barons’ Ball. FANNIE RAE EWING: Oh, I think I will. JB EWING: No you won’t.FANNIE RAE EWING: Will. JB: Won’t.... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"When all else fails, check into a cheap motel" : How To Write a Book With A Day Job And A Family Jason Boog April 2, 2008 "It takes great patience to live with a writer. It takes much more than patience to live with a writer who is trying to complete a book. It takes something superhuman to do so when there are two young children... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 1	Publishing Spotted: April Fools' Day Special Jason Boog April 1, 2008 What a week we've had, brothers and sisters. I'm too tired to even figure out an April Fools' Day joke to pull on my dad (who sent me a fake letter from the pope inviting me to Rome for a... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Journalist Jeff Gordinier Teaches You How To Write Funny Jason Boog April 1, 2008 "The author does not happen to agree with the gentleman from the Washington Post--a boomer of course--who, in the spring of 2006, suggested that such generational generalizations are 'baloney.' The author prefers to think that the generalizations in X Saves... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments

« March 2008 | Main | May 2008 »

Apr30	Publishing Spotted: Smiley-Faced Killers, Unsent Rejection Letters and the End of the Junket Jason Boog April 30, 2008 Know More: Publishing Spotted edward champion, rejections, true crime, VQR Sometimes crime novels just write themselves. Sarah Weinman wins the most-evocative-post-of-the-week award, summing up a true-crime conspiracy theory to top them all: "This week's big true crime story is highly speculative: could a nationwide gang of psychopathic serial killers, linked by a "signature" of smiley face graffiti, be responsible for the deaths of up to 40 young, college-age men assumed to have died from drowning?" Be sure to check out Five Easy Questions alum Steve Huff's skeptical take on the story when you finish the article... The VQR blog digs through the slushpile, showing off internal memos about rejected stories. The person who wrote about a "Narrator/murderer describes how he is going to kill his victim and dispose of the body by mixing it into the fillings of eclairs" might actually be mixed up in the Smiley Face Gang--so read with care. Finally, Ed Champion retires from the film junket circuit with a frustrated, insightful essay. Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr30	Kate Torgovnick and Flying Cheerleaders: How To Write Action Scenes Jason Boog April 30, 2008 Can you write a great action scene? Most writers leave these discussions to comic-books, thrillers and action movies. But think about it... How would your protagonist look when running, jumping or catching a flying body? If you can’t answer these... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr29	How To Pitch Your Non-Fiction Book To A Publisher Jason Boog April 29, 2008 "I started doing research, interviewing dozens of college cheerleaders. What they described to me wasn't the happy-go-lucky sport I once imagined. They were part of a fervent subculture filled with people willing to take their bodies to the limit...The glimmer... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr28	Why Worry About Circulation When You've Got Mindy McCready, Roger Clemens and Miley Cyrus? Jason Boog April 28, 2008 The print industry woke up with a bad hangover this morning. Over the last six months, circulation at most major newspapers has nose-dived--advertisers will flee and more journalists will lose their jobs. Here's a link from Jeff Bercovici at Portfolio... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Kate Torgovnick Shows You How To Pick and Choose Interview Subjects Jason Boog April 28, 2008 "By day, this stage at Disney-MGM studios is home to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, where Hollywood stuntmen and women dodge fire and gigantic boulders. Some of the set is still in view, a re-creation of the Cairo marketplace... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr25	Weekend Reading: How To Write A Query Letter Jason Boog April 25, 2008 You know that hyper-blurbing copy they stick on dust jackets for books? I try not to read it--it spoils the surprise and puts all sorts of weird ideas about the story in your head.Unfortunately, when your novel is finished, you... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why You Should Write A Cult Book Instead Of A Regular Book Jason Boog April 25, 2008 Are you fanatically devoted to a book, despite that most of your literary friends roll their eyes when you talk about it? That's a cult book!Why do these books matter? Because cult books inspire cultish followings. Your readers will defend... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr24	Open Source Writing Jason Boog April 24, 2008 Do you ever stop to think about the software you use to write or edit or build your web videos? Too many writers forget that they don't have to depend on expensive software packages to build multimedia stories. Over at... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr23	Publishing Spotted: Shakespeare's Birthday and Poetry and ComicCon Jason Boog April 23, 2008 Spring is busting out all over in New York, and it makes me think about poetry. Lots and lots of poetry. Today, let's celebrate National Poetry Month and Shakespeare's birthday in one fell swoop--the Bard was a poet after all.... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	What's The Best Writing Tip of All Time? Jason Boog April 23, 2008 Stop reading this.I'm not kidding. Close the browser window, disconnect your Airport card and start writing--the way you used to write before the Internet showed up. Over at Poynter online, writer pro Christopher "Chip" Scanlan is collecting the best advice... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr22	A Reading List from Pulitzer Prize Winner Junot Diaz Jason Boog April 22, 2008 Some advice. Read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Ten years ago, Junot Díaz wrote a book of award-winning short stories called Drown, and then, after a long, tough time, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his very first... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr21	How To Make A Better Poetry Reading Jason Boog April 21, 2008 I have returned from vacation, and I'm getting some new content prepared. After sifting through pages and pages of unread posts, I found this earnest, enthusiastic news story about a Flarf poetry reading in Maine. The writer described how an... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr18	Comic Book Writer Woody Wilson Talks About His Career In The Publishing Spot Library Jason Boog April 18, 2008 You know what makes it seem impossible to make it as a writer? The quiet myths that surround published authors. Except on my site, established writers rarely discuss the hard times they faced as fledgling writers. We don't think of... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr17	The Publishing Spot Library: Video, Pulp Fiction and Novelist Paul Malmont Jason Boog April 17, 2008 Do you like comics? Do you like novels? Do you like pulp fiction? If you don't, you better learn how to like them--we love that stuff. Two years ago, I hung with novelist Paul Malmont at a comics book store. We... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr16	Hardboiled Writer and Journalist Duane Swierczynski: The Publishing Spot Library Jason Boog April 16, 2008 "Stephen King once described this perfectly. He imagines novels as castles, and believes that there is often only one right way into the castle. You might sneak in a side window, only to fall on a bed of nails. You... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr15	Novelist Lance Olsen in The Publishing Spot Library Jason Boog April 15, 2008 "A bit of advice is worth repeating: don't listen for praise, but for constructive criticism, the kind that you can take home and use to better your manuscript." That's some tough-love advice from Lance Olsen's writing handbook, Rebel Yell, a... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr14	The Publishing Spot Library: Peace Corps Writer and Editor John Coyne Jason Boog April 14, 2008 I'm on vacation this week, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. To keep you happy while I travel far, far, far from the city, I'm posting some of my favorite interviews I've collected at The Publishing Spot--building... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr11	Sneaking Out The Backdoor Jason Boog April 11, 2008 "The funny thing is that if you were a millionaire like some of these managing directors shaking down seven figures a year, you'd have known to push your way ahead and fill your plate. Rich people can't get enough of... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr10	What Sloane Crosley, Jeff Gordinier, Toby Barlow and Tony D'Souza Can Teach You About Author Websites Jason Boog April 10, 2008 What does your writing website look like?Is it like my personal site, with lo-fi graphics and quick, dirty template? Or is it like Tony D'Souza's with a quiet theme, nice pictures and lots of content? Today, The Book Publicity Blog is... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 9	Writers Support the Dunbar Village Victims Jason Boog April 9, 2008 In June 2007, a horrific rape and robbery rocked a Florida community. Since then, a number of good folks have been raising money to support the victims of this attack in the Dunbar Village apartment project. One Publishing Spot reader... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 8	Junot Diaz and the Pulitzer Prize: You Can't Be Worse Than Him Jason Boog April 8, 2008 "Since college I started bringing that weird [immigrant] work ethic to writing. The two books I published are the only ones that worked. I've written like three other books, but they were really, really bad. I'm telling you, if any... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 7	The Lollapalooza Coincidence: How To Find Better Music for Writing Jason Boog April 7, 2008 So I was shuffling through the Lollapalooza 2008 website and I just wanted to point out that eight of the bands I put on my The Best Writing Music of 2007 and The Best Writing Music of 2006 compilations are... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Whiners or Victims? Jason Boog April 7, 2008 Need a break? My impending vacation next week coincidentally coincided with a New York Times article about overworked writers and the health problems they face.Personally, my day has been stretched thinner and thinner by blogging--but it gives me the chance... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 4	Journalist Jeff Gordinier Shows You How To Write About Music and Promote Your Book Jason Boog April 4, 2008 So that's a video of journalist Jeff Gordinier explaining how he built his book tour from scratch. It's a do-it-yourself post that all writers can use. Gordinier is Editor-at-Large at Details magazine, and he's been our special guest this... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 3	"Magazine writers seemed to have more fun" : How Jeff Gordinier Built His Magazine Writing Career Jason Boog April 3, 2008 "He has written for a variety of word-oriented entities, including Esquire, GQ, Fortune, Spin, Elle, Breathe , the Los Angeles Times, Cookie, Crawdaddy , the Offsprung parenting site, PoetryFoundation.org, and Entertainment Weekly."That's Jeff Gordinier's magazine resume--a collection of titles that... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 2	The Publishing Spot Library: Memoirist and Novelist Josh Kilmer-Purcell Jason Boog April 2, 2008 "JB EWING: You’ll never get away with this you know. There are too many people here at the Castor Oil Barons’ Ball. FANNIE RAE EWING: Oh, I think I will. JB EWING: No you won’t.FANNIE RAE EWING: Will. JB: Won’t.... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"When all else fails, check into a cheap motel" : How To Write a Book With A Day Job And A Family Jason Boog April 2, 2008 "It takes great patience to live with a writer. It takes much more than patience to live with a writer who is trying to complete a book. It takes something superhuman to do so when there are two young children... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Apr 1	Publishing Spotted: April Fools' Day Special Jason Boog April 1, 2008 What a week we've had, brothers and sisters. I'm too tired to even figure out an April Fools' Day joke to pull on my dad (who sent me a fake letter from the pope inviting me to Rome for a... Continue Reading Posted at 8:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Journalist Jeff Gordinier Teaches You How To Write Funny Jason Boog April 1, 2008 "The author does not happen to agree with the gentleman from the Washington Post--a boomer of course--who, in the spring of 2006, suggested that such generational generalizations are 'baloney.' The author prefers to think that the generalizations in X Saves... Continue Reading Posted at 7:23 AM \| Permalink \| Comments

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