‘There’s Never Been a Better Time To Be A Writer’ You’ve read that line, of course, we all have. Sometimes here at Writer Unboxed. I’ve seen this mantra frequently over the past few years in blog posts, conference reports and news items. And I don’t disagree there’s been a lot to celebrate. This is… Read More
Reader Analytics: Not All Authors Want To Know
Your Soul Vs. Data? When Jellybooks’ Andrew Rhomberg wrote at Digital Book World recently about publishers having a Fear of Data in an age of digital metrics, I thought that taking that issue to authors would be a worthwhile exercise. And I tried it out on some trusted colleagues by making it the “Provocations in… Read More
'Why Wasn't I Consulted?!' — Beware Online Dragons In St. George's Clothing
Are You Sick Of The Publishing Crusaders Yet? In my recent Writer Unboxed essay about online anger among books people, several readers assumed that I was talking about anonymous people and trolls. I wasn’t. iStockphoto / MR1805 In Our CyberVillage: So Much Anger is about people in the publishing community who seem to be personally, continually… Read More
Two New Efforts In Publishing Diversity: ‘Learning From Each Other’s Narratives’
‘There Are So Many Reasons To Write’ We’ve joined the global conversation on the intersection of race and writing. But is it enough? These viewpoints echo that of Zed Books’ Crystal Mahey-Morgan, who told me in an interview for The Bookseller less than a year ago: “We need to move beyond rhetoric and good… Read More
‘The Overselling Of Self-Publishing': New Perspective
‘A Serious Epidemic Of Impatience’ Here in New York City where BookExpo America (BEA) is holding the focus of many in the traditional publishing establishment, a friend and I were finishing lunch at Café Luxembourg when the waiter approached. “I overheard you guys talking about publishing,” he said. “I wondered if you could give me any advice about… Read More
Is This Headline Taxing Your Attention Span?
How Bad Is This Going To Get? We Don’t Know The co-founder of the highly popular authors’ blog site Writer Unboxed, Therese Walsh, is also an accomplished novelist. Her latest book, The Moon Sisters, is from Penguin Random House’s Crown Publishing division. She runs a sophisticated monthly rotation of professional-class writers’ comment at Writer Unboxed, while… Read More
In The Season Of Giving: Unwrap The Truth For Your Creative Loved Ones
A Token Of Your Esteem: Honesty The greatest gift you can give to a creative friend or relative sometimes is a compassionate, thoughtful, patient negativeresponse. Not negative in terms of how you say it or any intention of being hurtful. Exactly the opposite: negative in the sense of an authentic, truthful reaction in a world… Read More
Of Talent And Turkeys
If Anybody Mentions ‘Talent,’ Just Gobble Louder At the heart of mystique is talent. Which is the ultimate mystery. Why do some people have it while others do not? Shelley Souza That’s the writer Shelley Souza in one of several fine, thoughtful comments from Writer Unboxed late last week. In the lead essay there, I… Read More
Writerly Mystique Vs. Self-Exposure: Mind The Gap
‘About My Generation’ When the teacher comes around asking, “How did you spend your weekend?” my answer will be…responding to comments at Writer Unboxed. As a regular contributor to that large, avidly commented-upon authors’ site, I provide columns under the branding “Provocations in Publishing.” The idea of that phrase is to help the unprepared reader of… Read More
On The Ethical Author Code And Amateurism
The Ethical Author Code The Ethical Author Code is being promoted by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) based in the UK. There’s more about its launch at The FutureBook conference in London here. While no one at ALLi is pointing fingers in this effort, many observers feel that it’s a pivotal one in terms of… Read More