Quotation of the Week: Saul Bellow

by Erika Dreifus on
4

There is much to appreciate in the wonderful collection of Saul Bellow’s letters to other writers that the New Yorker has published this week. (You’ll need a subscription to access the correspondence online.)

The letters contain a great deal of deep, seriously-considered material. But I couldn’t help focusing on one relatively short missive to Philip Roth, dated December 26, 1957.

Roth had evidently sent Bellow an early story, “Expect the Vandals.” With a little online digging, I discovered that the story was published in Esquire about a year later, in December 1958. A quick recheck of Roth’s literary biography confirms that at the time, he had yet to publish a book (his first, Goodbye, Columbus, was released in 1959).

Which makes Bellow’s closing comments to a virtual stranger (“Dear Philip Roth”) all the more meaningful:

“Look, try Henry Volkening at 522 Fifth Ave. My agent. A very good one, too. Best of luck. And forgive my having the mss. so long. I should have read it at once. But I don’t live right.”

Anyone know if Roth followed the recommendation?

Tablet Magazine Launches Paid Internship Program

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

From Tablet Magazine:

Next month, Tablet Magazine is inaugurating a paid internship program. If you have experience in journalism and are familiar with the landscape of American Jewish life, we’d love to hear from you. We’ll be hiring three times a year—spring, summer, and fall—for two- and three-day-a-week internships at our office in New York City. Interns will assist the editorial staff with research and administrative tasks, as well as contributing blog posts and, potentially, full features.

Application deadline is May 3. Click here for more information/application instructions.

Moment Magazine’s Emerging Writer Awards Announced

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Founded in 2004, Moment Magazine‘s Emerging Writer Awards “recognize talented writers who have published at least one book and whose books confront themes that are of interest to Jewish readers. An emerging writer is defined as someone of any age who has not yet received widespread recognition and has not yet won a major literary award.” Selections are made by committee (there is no published nomination process).

Congratulations to this year’s awardees: Abby Sher (nonfiction winner), for Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn’t Stop Praying; and Sara Houghteling (fiction winner), for Pictures at an Exhibition.

Friday Find: Guide to Pronouncing Writers’ Names

by Erika Dreifus on
7

I loved this post by Fiction Writers Review Editor-in-Chief Anne Stameshkin, linking to a most useful resource: a guide to pronouncing writers’ names. No longer must you wonder how to say “Michael Chabon” or “J.M. Coetzee”–or be (even unwittingly) embarrassed by your mispronunciations.

I’ve blogged before about the misspellings my name seems to inspire in print/online, but you might be surprised by the mispronunciations. Usually, it’s just my surname that causes problems: “DRAY-fus” or “DREE-fus” instead of “DRY-fus.” More astonishing, to me at least, is that sometimes a not-so-mellifluous “Eh-REEK-ah” precedes some version of the last name. Um, no. (I’ll just add that when a “DRAY-FOOS” [variable syllabic stress] comes from the vocal chords of a French-speaker, it’s never held against that person! When appropriate–and when I was doing dissertation research in Paris it was quite often appropriate–I’ve relied on such pronunciation myself.)

But my focus on the pronunciation of my own name means that I sometimes stumble over others’. I remember the first time I mentioned the name of New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman in front of a writer who actually knows her. “It’s TREEZ-man,” he said, icily.

While we’re on the subject of names, you may enjoy this post from my other blog, on author Allegra Goodman’s English and Hebrew bylines (and my own–sort of).

Have a great weekend, everyone. See you back here on Monday.

Thursday’s Pre-Publication Post: Consolidation Time

by Erika Dreifus on
6

The Practicing Writer Web site is now approaching its sixth birthday. So much in my writing life has changed since it was launched in the summer of 2004. I’ve moved to a new city; shifted from freelancing and teaching to a full-time (albeit writing-and-editing-intensive) office job; added poetry-writing to my personal practice; established the Practicing Writing and My Machberet blogs; started a Twitter feed; expanded the subscriber list for The Practicing Writer newsletter from 400 to more than 3,200 readers; and, oh yes, finally found a home for my short story collection, Quiet Americans.

I don’t believe that the original site has kept up with the times. I’ve often thought that if I were re-starting my online presence, I’d do it through a blog-based platform (WordPress seems to be a common choice). And I’ve often wished for a single, easily-edited and super-flexible space in which I could base myself, my writing (of all kinds), and my services for writers. Consolidation seems most appealing!

I’ve also thought that it’s probably time for me to add some kind of direct merchandising/sales capacity to my site; those of you who haven’t been completely satisfied by Lulu‘s handling of the e-book sales will probably agree.

Now that Quiet Americans is on its way, it seems to be the perfect time to take a good, solid look at what my primary Web presence should be–and work to create it. So I’ve been reaching out to designers for ideas about their processes, products, and prices. I’m learning a lot, but I’d love to glean the benefits of YOUR experiences and insights.

Which author sites do you particularly admire? Why? Based on your own experiences as an author (or as a reader), what advice can you offer me as I pursue this? What do you wish someone had told you before you (or your designer) built (or rebuilt) YOUR main site? And are there any designers out there whom you’d recommend?

I am really looking forward to your comments. I say it often, but it can’t be overemphasized: I am tech-challenged! I will appreciate all the help that you can offer!