Spiffy Title

While going through books at work, I came across this one from Ampersand Books and had a good laugh:

When You Say One Thing But Mean Your Mother by Melissa Broder. A cheesy pun on the common phrase of when you say one thing but mean another. But the title definitely makes you think. It brings to mind relationship problems and mama's boys.

I haven't actually looked at the book to see what the poetry is like or about, but just thought the title alone was worth the mention. :)

Starcherone Books to become Imprint

Recently independent publisher Starcherone Books announced on their homepage that they will become an imprint of Michigan-based Dzanc Books (a relatively young publisher still). Starcherone says that their editors will retain editorial control with Dzanc taking over production and distribution of Starcherone's books. In 2011, Starcherone and Dzanc plan to release The Girl with Brown Fur, and the anthology 30 Under 30 edited by Blake Butler and Lily Hoang.

I am surprised that Dzanc is acquiring Starcherone as Starcherone has been a round for a while well Dzanc is new (though growing rapidly).  For more information on this, you can visit Starcherone's website http://starcherone.com/

Literary World Floundering?

Major publishers have made cutbacks, literary magazines have changed publishing frequencies.  For as many new magazines and presses that are starting out, many are throwing in the towel and calling it quits.

And why is this?

M-O-N-E-Y!

Well, some of it has to due with personal health and commitment issues (mainly for online, but for some print magazines as well). There are a lot of magazines folding due to the fact that subscriptions are down and they cannot keep publishing if they can’t even break even. Some magazines that have been housed and supported at universities find their funding sources cut off, meaning they have to scramble to find a source of income to keep publishing.

It is really sad. Contests have been suspended, some magazines that paid contributors for publishing their work have had to either cut down the amount or stop paying altogether.

Despite the floundering of literary publishing, the staples are still around, from the Hudson Review to The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review to Shenandoah. There are also new magazines springing up (many of them online, but some new print magazines such as Paul Revere’s Horse) that hope to challenge the decline that is being seen.

There are also new presses popping up, hoping to succeed where traditional publishing seems to be struggling. Digital media, e-books, POD – they are jumping onto the digital revolution, believing more people will flock to electronic media versus traditional print media.

Give me a musty old book anytime, I hate reading online if I can avoid it, but there are a lot of people taking to the new digital age.

Wake-Up Call for "Writers"

This amuses me. Not because it isn't the truth, but because I know of people who have this attitude about writing that is described in this edition of the Funds for Writers Newsletter. So enjoy the lovely realistic advice!

EDITOR'S THOUGHTS

Read newsletter online at: http://www.fundsforwriters.com/FFW.htm

Read past
issues at: http://www.aweber.com/z/article/?fundsforwriters
=====
I NEED A GRANT TO WRITE
Those of you who've been around me a few years must bear withthis message. I deliver these words in one shape or another about once a year, but always as a result of a flurry of emails from new readers. Folks see FUNDS for writers and believe I will swoop down with some stimulus package and fix all sorts of writing ills. I'm afraid I'm still unable to:
1. Find you an instant publisher.2. Find you a grant to complete your first book.3. Find you a grant to allow you to quit the job you hate.4. Find you a grant that allows you time to write that novel.5. Find funds to pay your bills while you write.
Honestly, I wish I could do all those things.
Let me solve some myths for you:
1. Almost all writers write while performing another job or chasing the kids. A tiny minutiae percentage of writers rises in the morning without worrying about day work or the bills. You write through the life handed to you, often making you a better writer thanks to the struggle.
2. Grants for writers go to those who've established themselves as writers. It's this comment that often makes people mad with me. How dare I accuse someone of not being a writer? After all, this person has written since the third grade or this other one has penned fourteen short stories and three journals of poetry over five years. How dare I? Actually, I'm not the one drawing the line in the sand. Look at this quote from the Mississippi Arts Commission about the definition of a writer - a quote representative of all the arts agencies: "...a professional artist producing work of high artisticquality, Individuals are considered to be professional ifthey: earn at least part of their annual income in their artistic work; consider their artistic endeavors as acareer; maintain a high level of artistic quality; andmake a significant time investment in their artisticdisciplines though practice, performance or production."
Some characteristics of a "professional" writer include:
== Writing income appearing on your tax return.== A calendar noting regular work, appearances, training undertaken as a writer.== A chronological list of submissions and copies of acceptances and rejections.== Receipts of expenses.== An active website/blog committed to writing.
3. Completing a book also does not make you a writer. You've written the words on the page, but are they edited to a fine sheen? Have you found a strong voice and claimed it as your own? Can someone pick up the work and tell from the style that it's yours? THE END does not mean you've arrived. Writing takes serious practice over multiple projects over several years. People do not pick up a pen and write bestsellers without personal development and lots of sweat.
Granted, you have a story to tell. But you have to becomea writer in order to tell it well and do it justice. Youdo not need a grant to write. You don't have a deadline topublish.
Harper Lee wrote one novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Do youwant to be remembered for one brilliant story or notremembered after writing twenty-seven pieces over three years?
Put in the time and effort, and not only will you finda grant to help you financially, but you'll find credibility, too.

Another Tangled Google Mess

So I can’t explain this really well and I know it confuses the hell out of people who are actually dealing with it right now, so I am just going to post the link here:

http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/guild-responds-to-second-wme-letter-on.html

Nothing like copyright issues and settlement cases, but this is what people were concerned about long before Google was firmly cemented in their archive.

**A side note that has nothing to do with the Authors Guild/Google settlement, but I thought I would bring it up because it is irritating to an extent is that Facebook is now featured in Google searches. So, let’s say you want to Google a specific person, well if there are several people with that name in Facebook, those people will come up first, which, let’s face it, can be really annoying.  However, I don’t think I’ll switch my search engine to Bing just yet, their interface annoys they hell out of me.

Warning Labels - Let Hilarity Ensue

At work I came across something I found to be fairly amusing: A book with a "warning" label . . . or perhaps "rating" label is more precise. It is reminiscent of how TV rates viewer programs, from child safe to all that fun stuff (I can't recall an exact one but I think there was one that have like 13 or 14 on it saying it was unsuitable for children below that age) and of how videogames are rated (E for everyone, M for mature).

Wolf Pirate Publishing is actually putting labels like these on the back of their books. Really. I just laughed when I saw it. Probably not as funny as I am making it out to be, but it seems ridiculous to me.

So, on the back of The Angel's Iscariot, there is a box with a big, bold M next to another box that descries "Contains: Adult situations, violence, and mature subject matter not appropriate for young readers." And on the back of The Repossession is a box with an R next to another box that reads "Contains: Adult situation, violence, sexual content and mature subject matter not appropriate for young readers."

Apparently sexual content is the only thing that is the difference between an R rating and an M rating. Shouldn't that be an X rating instead? And, truthfully, this stuff is found in basic sections, not children's sections, so is a label even necessary?

Brave Men Press Releases First Books

I am copying and pasting the press release below.  But basically Brave Men Press is a new independent publisher that has released a lot of “coinsides” and is now releasing their first book: No Theater by Chris Tonelli.

***

BRAVE MEN PRESS is excited to announce the release of our first book, NO THEATER by Chris Tonelli.

Considering the responsibilities of the social world with a disconnected eye, NO THEATER is a collection of meticulously crafted poems that perform outside of time, but remain intuitively familiar and profound. Chris Tonelli reveals the artificialities of the everyday self with a language stalked by loss yet driven by possibility. Here, these poems come prepared in an armature of many masks and invested with an insight sure to move around the mental furniture of any reader.
Chris Tonelli co-curates The So and So Series and is the author of four chapbooks, most recently For People Who Like Gravity and Other People (Rope-A-Dope Press, forthcoming). He teaches at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where he lives with his wife Allison.
Read a sample poem at http://sixthfinch.com/tonelli2.html

Anderbo Looking for Novelist

Anderbo, an online lit mag, has put out a call looking for a novelist.  They hope to produce their first full-length novel for the website. Anderbo recently was published in Dzanc’s Best of the Web for 2009 for the story “The Right of Passengers” by Waqar Ahmed.

***
ANDERBO SEEKS NOVELIST:
Anderbo.com is seeking to post ONE unpublished entire novel on its website by December 1, 2009 for at least the following six months. We will look at the FIRST 30 PAGES (up to 10,000 words) of your e-manuscript and decide within 60 days if we want to see more. THERE IS NO READING FEE and all literary rights will remain with the author. No novel submissions will be accepted after September 1st. We guarantee to choose and use one manuscript, and to pay an honorarium of $300 to the chosen author upon publication. For technical guidelines and address see http://www.anderbo.com/guidelines.html

Bitten

So, here we are, the middle of summer and let’s take a look at some entertainment news. Funny enough, all revolving around vampires.

Twilight’s sequel New Moon is set to be released in theaters in November.  As much as I really started abhorring the books, it will be worth a gander. Although it is in this book that everything starts getting maudlin and melodramatic, but hey, nothing is perfect.

True Blood is back for it’s 2nd season on HBO.  I seriously have no idea why on earth this show has developed such a big following, but whatever. It’s hokey, full of cheese and the acting . . . well, its pretty obvious that the actor’s are acting.

The Vampire Diaries has been picked up by the CW and will begin airing episodes this fall. Congrats to L.J. Smith, however, I won’t hold my breath.  This is a pretty decent YA series that my sister and I read and reread growing up and has recently been re-released in 2 2-book special editions. Things never translate well between the written word and movies.  Funny enough, series based on books don’t translate the best either.  Who knows how much the plotline will diverge from the actual books.  I hope not much, but, like I said, things never translate well from book form to other media forms.

Also, Koishite Akuma, just began airing in Japan. What does this have to do with with American entertainment? Well, nothing really, unless you are like me and actually like Asian drama.  But, it is amusing to me because it is yet ANOTHER vampire related thing that is out in the entertainment world.

Vampires and the entertainment industry are no strangers to one another, but I find it rather amusing that now we are being swamped with all things vampire right now. What has happened that we have a sudden resurgence in vampire entertainment? People like to say it is all thanks to the success of Twilight, but can one book (or 4-book series) really bring such a rejuvenation into this long decaying and usually hokey market (seriously, there really aren’t a lot of great vampire movies/series out there)?

Where have I heard that before?

My little sister told me that she wants to be a famous writer.  Nothing wrong with dreaming, although we all know the likelihood of them hitting it big is relatively low, especially in this economy, digital age, and the instant gratification factor.

My favorite part about this is the fact that she hates reading.  Now, this could be because of her ESL nightmares, however, I think not. She is enraptured with her movies and television, but can’t be bothered to pick up a book.

Now, I am from the school that to be a good writer, you have to be a good reader.  Am I wrong?  I guess one doesn’t have to read a book to write a book, but it helps.  Especially if you can get your hands on those really special, well-written tomes.

I have always been an avid reader.  I have had stories and poems circulating and percolating in my brain for ages.  But I believe all the literature I have read, and the classes I have took, have made me the better writer.

It really breaks my heart to hear that the majority of children would rather watch tv than curl up with a good book.

I didn’t see that coming

But still, it is rather amusing. The people at Unshelved posited a question to librarians, booksellers, and readers: “What do you wish publishers knew?” They went through over a hundred emails and compiled and distilled the responses into a book (with original comics based on some of the quotes). The title of this volume? Publisher Confidential: Frank Feedback for Publishers from Librarians, Booksellers, and Readers. Try saying that in one breath.

Who would have thought that there would be a book telling publishers what the public wants. Will the publishers listen? Who knows. My favorite part of this book is the cover illustration. A comic of a quandary. Librarians, booksellers, and readers are buying fewer books because of the sometimes astronomical pricing, according to publishers they are raising prices because no one is buying. Sound business sense. Since no one is buying, jack the prices to make sure it stays that way ;)

Still, this is a book worth checking out. Some of the quotes seem silly, but hey, it’s good for a laugh and a “hell yeah.”

Enjoy!