Proof that there’s been a problem in publishing since the stone age!
B.C. by Mastroianni and Hart
Blog
Creativity
We are so thrilled to have our family from overseas visiting with us this week. Our son-in-law brought us a gorgeous vase made by hand from a solid piece of Korean oak. His sister, Jung Im, took three months to fashion it, and modeled it on a vase from the Choson Dynasty. Although Jung Im is not a writer, her care and craft made me think of how writers are creative in many ways. Not only do …
The Morals of the Story
As promised, here are the morals—and names—of the story of our young writer from last week. If you missed the post, please go back and read it. The young writer? None other than the gifted Lori Benton. Her second novel, The Pursuit of Tameson Littlejohn, released in April 2014. The first editor, who read her story from far, far away, and then became friends with Lori? Yours truly. But Lori isn’t …
The World Rages
One hundred years ago this week, the Great War began. It was the war that was supposed to end all wars. The world decided it was about time to get all their anger out at once and then go back to living in peace. Following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria on June 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary and Serbia decided they had had enough of civility and started fighting. A world war …
Orphan Trains & Wild Stallions
by Allen Arnold I recently read about the unexpected publishing success of Orphan Train. It’s a novel set in present-day Maine and Depression-era Minnesota. This fifth book from Christina Baker Kline has turned out to be a sleeper hit of the year, with more than one million copies sold. I’m intrigued by the book’s premise. But it’s the subhead of the article that caught my attention. “Unlikely …
Fun Fridays – July 25, 2014
When grown men have too much time on their hands and have lost patience waiting for the next “Star Wars” installment. [Warning: there is definite guy-humor in this…explosions and other fun things.] The ending is hilarious.
Naming Names
We recently received several excellent questions that I would like to answer: 1.) Should (you) repeat a book name and how old should it be? I believe you are asking if it is okay to use the same title for your book even if it has already been used before. And if so, how many years should pass before using that previously used book title. What you are trying to avoid is having your book mixed up …
One Author’s Journey: A Tale of Publishing
With all this talk of publishing and where it’s been and where it’s going, I thought I’d tell you a story. One that happened not years ago, in the much ballyhooed Golden Age, but recently. So gather round, settle in, and listen… Once upon a time, there was a young girl who wanted to write, who grew up to be a young woman who did write, creating stories she loved. Stories that made her heart soar. …
Acquisitions Director: God
This subject has been covered before by smarter people at our agency, but I am hoping that Steve Laube considers imitation truly the greatest form of flattery! Every aspiring or experienced Christian author is alerted to avoid mentioning that “God told me to write this book” when speaking to an agent or publisher. Why is that? Reason #1: Working within the Christian publishing world there should …
What is on Your Summer Reading List?
Since we are in the midst of Summer and I’m on a brief vacation I thought I’d ask you to tell us what books you are reading or planning to read this Summer. I’ll start… My list is intentionally eclectic because that is the way I graze with my reading: Deeper Life: The Spiritual Practice of Remembering by Margaret Bendroth Publishing: Just My Type: A Book about Fonts – …