Jewish Authors Conference Recap

by Erika Dreifus on
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I spent yesterday, October 3, on the second floor of the Center for Jewish History, where, in the Kovno Room, the Jewish Book Council hosted its second conference for authors writing for adult readers (a popular conference for Jewish children’s book authors and illustrators has been running for years, and will reconvene in November). Subtitled “The Path to Publication,” this conference packed an enormous amount of material into a day. Here are some of my (highly subjective) highlights:

  • Samuel G. Freedman delivered an opening address on “Becoming an Author.” Shortly before the conference began, I introduced myself to Mr. Freedman, whose work I’ve long admired and whose Writers’ Seminar on the Jewish People I’ve wished I were still young enough to join. In his remarks, Mr. Freedman was realistic about how hard it can be to get published, but he offered several encouraging points. For instance, he argued that book publishing has remained more stable than newspapers/magazines, in part because book publishing is less dependent on advertising, and in part because the increasing popularity of e-devices has shown that readers will still pay for book content in electronic form.
  • Mr. Freedman’s comments provided an excellent opening to the rest of the sessions. The four sessions that followed—don’t worry, we had a (kosher) lunch break along the way!—introduced the conference attendees to some of the key participants one encounters on the path to publication: literary agents, editors, publicists, and professional organizations (in this case, the Authors Guild, represented by Jan Constantine). Ms. Constantine provided a useful overview of the ways the Authors Guild serves and protects its member authors, and literary agent David Forrer of Inkwell Management made himself very popular when he offered publicly to take a look at one of the attendees’ manuscripts.
  • The editors’ panel was a standout. It featured Amy Gash, Algonquin Books/Workman; Marcia Markland, St. Martin’s Press; Yona Zeldis McDonough, Lilith magazine; and Cindy Spiegel, Spiegel & Grau/Random House. Plenty of nuts-and-bolts information was offered, but for me, highlights included the chance to introduce myself to Ms. McDonough (who accepted and published one of my early short stories back in 2002) and hearing about a book that Ms. Markland had brought along in manuscript form: Martin Fletcher’s first novel, The List, which takes place in post-World War II London and involves Jewish refugees (if I am remembering correctly, it will be published in about a year, and I’m already anticipating it eagerly).
  • Publicists Brian Gittis (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) and Joseph Rinaldi (St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books) were generous with their advice. “Think off the book page,” Mr. Rinaldi said, more than once, meaning that especially in this age of shrinking print review space, it’s important to think about other angles in which an author/book can be presented. Admittedly, he said, this can be easier to do with nonfiction books, especially books on, say, political topics, whose authors can more easily pop up as experts cited in news stories or as authors of op-ed pieces. But it can be done more broadly, too.
  • And last, but definitely not least: the author panel I moderated, featuring Gal Beckerman, Jennifer Gilmore, and Joanna Smith Rakoff. It was so wonderful to be able to meet these authors “in real life,” and an honor to be the one asking them questions. We probably could have spent our entire hour (or maybe even the entire day) on a question that had come up earlier in the conference–what exactly is a “Jewish” book?–but we managed to cover somewhat more territory, including the authors’ experiences finding agents to represent them (generally “the hardest part” of the whole process for writers, Ms. Gilmore said), working with editors, preparing a nonfiction proposal, and the experiences of engaging with audiences (especially audiences developed through the Jewish Book Network).

    • All in all, it was a day very well spent. As usual (and not only because of the praise that the presenters rightfully heaped on the conference organizers), I found myself grateful that I’d learned about the Jewish Book Council way back when, and proud to be a part of such a vibrant literary culture.

    Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • New contest from Shenandoah: “The Bevel Summers Prize in the Short Short Story is open to all authors of stories of up to 1,000 words.” Prize: $250 plus publication in Shenandoah‘s first online issue. No entry fee. Deadline: March 31, 2011 (received).
  • On a related note: The Graybeal-Gowen Prize for Virginia Poets is awarded by Shenandoah and the Virginia Poetry Center “for a single poem by a writer born in or with current established residence in Virginia. The winning poem will be published in Shenandoah, and the author will receive broadside copies of the poem to be published by the Virginia Poetry Center.” Entries must be postmarked in November. No entry fee.
  • The 4th Annual Micro Award will recognize a published work of prose fiction written in English (maximum 1,000 words). Submission deadline is December 31, 2010, and there’s a prize of $500. No fee to enter. (via Pam Casto’s Flash Fiction Flash newsletter)
  • Are you a blogging college student? You might be able to win a $10,000 scholarship! Deadline: October 21, 2010. No entry fee indicated. (via @Tayari)
  • Mentioned late last week on my other blog: Moment magazine is looking for student bloggers. Apply by October 10. No application fee.
  • Teaching job announcements: The Department of English at East Carolina University [N.C.] seeks applicants for a position in Poetry Writing at the assistant or associate professor level; the Department of English & Comparative Literature at the University of Cincinnati invites applications from distinguished fiction writers for an open rank position; the English Department at the University of South Alabama seeks applications for tenure-track position as Assistant Professor in Creative Writing, with a specialization in Screen Writing, Playwriting, and/or Creative Non-Fiction; the Creative Writing Program at the University of Oregon welcomes applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Fiction; the Department of English at Augsburg College (Minn.) seeks candidates for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in film and creative writing (with experience teaching expository writing); the English Department at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock invites applications for a tenure-track position with a primary emphasis in Creative Writing-Poetry at the rank of Assistant Professor (desired secondary emphases include fiction writing, screenwriting, and film studies); and at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, “a probationary tenure-track faculty position is available in the Department of English at the rank of Assistant Professor with an emphasis in Creative Writing.”
  • Not all the jobs for writers are for teachers. See also: a Researcher/Writer position with The HistoryMakers (Chicago), an Associate Communications Editor listing at Haverford College (Pa.), and a job for a Senior Writer/Senior Editor at Suffolk University (Mass.).
  • Our subscribers have been utilizing the info packed into our October Practicing Writer newsletter since last week. You can see the issue here. But don’t delay receiving future issues! Subscribe! It’s free, and we keep email addresses confidential.

    • Moment Magazine Seeks Student Bloggers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    This just in from Moment magazine’s e-newsletter:

    Moment Magazine is recruiting bright, inquisitive, and diverse student contributors for our blog “In the Moment.” Moment is the world’s largest independent Jewish magazine, and our blog gets upwards of 10,000 hits a month. As a student blogger, you will write one post a week on topics of Jewish politics, religion and culture. This is an incredible opportunity for young writers to develop their skills and benefit from the expertise of our team of experienced editors. At the end of each semester, the three bloggers who have generated the most web hits will receive a cash prize. To apply, please send an application consisting of the following to nelis(at)momentmag(dot)com by October 10, 2010:

  • Your name,age, university and major.
  • 1-2 short paragraphs on why you’re interested in Jewish issues and what unique perspective and background you bring to the blog.
  • 2 short writing samples.
  • 4 specific, original ideas for blog-posts you’d want to write.

    • Good luck!

    Notes from Around the Web

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Lots to share from the Jewish literary web!

    Shabbat shalom!