Thursday’s Pre-Publication Post: First Review Copies Out!

The big news this week is that there are tangible copies of Quiet Americans out there in the world.

There had to be.

You see, in order to be considered for pre-publication reviews in trade pubs like Publishers Weekly, you have to get copies in as early as four months ahead of publication. In the case of Publishers Weekly, for instance: “”Submissions must be sent (3) months–preferably (4)–prior to the 1st day of the month of publication.” For Quiet Americans, “preferably (4)–prior to the 1st day of the month of publication” was yesterday.

Galleys could have been made, but fortunately, finished copies are also acceptable. I say “fortunately” because galleys would have added another layer of expense that would have posed a significant strain given the newness and size of the press with which I’m working. And there’s no guarantee that any of the trade pubs we’ve contacted will review Quiet Americans, anyway.

In any case, there is now a (small) inventory of copies, most of which will be distributed to other review outlets in the near future. (Alas, everyone else will still have to wait until January!)
It’s a bit surreal to imagine my book showing up at Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, and Kirkus. Surreal—and a little scary.

The Wednesday Web Browser

Received via e-mail from The American Scholar: “Set aside some time the week of September 20-24 for Fiction Week on the Scholar website. Each day a fine new short story you can’t read anywhere else will appear on theamericanscholar.org, in celebration of our commitment to publishing the best new fiction online as well as in print. Look for stories by Maud Casey, Alix Ohlin, Bret Anthony Johnston, Antonya Nelson, and David Huddle.”


Find out which new indie press titles have booksellers talking.


The Virginia Quarterly Review story keeps getting sadder.


Shenandoah explains its plans for its digital conversion. (via Brevity’s Nonfiction Blog)


The new (Fall 5771/2010) issue of Jewish Book World includes my interview with author Allison Amend.


If you live in the NYC area, you may want to check out this calendar of upcoming literary events on campuses of The City University of New York (as you’ll recall, my employer). I’ve just updated said list as part of said employment.


A friend of mine seeks suggestions re: novels that deal with interfaith marriage.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

It’s good to be back! I had a lovely vacation week (even if the weather didn’t really cooperate until Thursday). Those of you who subscribe to The Practicing Writer will be receiving your September issues today. Plenty of the usual medley of offerings for poets/fictionists/writers of creative nonfiction, in terms of the no-fee competitions and paying calls for submissions. Plus, an interview with author, essayist, editor, and professor Dinty W. Moore. Soon, I’ll post the issue online, but if you’re not yet a subscriber why risk missing out on first glance at our next issue, too? Subscribe now! For today’s blog post, I’ll limit myself to items that didn’t make it into the newsletter.


From Chuck Sambuchino: “As the editor of both Guide to Literary Agents and Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market, I need upfront informative articles for those books. I am now open to queries if you want to submit any ideas. Send them to [literaryagent(at)fwmedia(dot)com] and put “Query” in the subject line. I will only be open to queries until about mid-September, and I will respond within 4-8 weeks from now, so please query soon. Articles are 1500-2300 words and will appear in the 2012 editions (next summer). I urge writers to go in detail about what they had in mind and who, if anyone, they plan to interview. In other words: Wow me!”


Win a free writing class: Basement Writing Workshop is running a prompt-based contest (no entry fee). “The contest winner will receive a free online class from the Basement Writing Workshop, chosen by him or her from any of our Winter offerings, as well as publication in the Basement Writing Workshop ‘campus’ website, props in our newsletter and social networking outlets, and last but not least, a Certificate of Awesomeness, signed by all our Portland-based instructors, in lipstick.” Deadline is November 1.


Brown University (R.I.) “invites applications for an Associate Professor or Professor specializing in Poetry, position to begin 1 July 2011. Candidates should have a strong national and international reputation as a poet, a substantial publication record, and extensive teaching experience; additional expertise in other areas such as translation or poetics. An ideal candidate will also have leadership potential and be interested in helping to develop and administer the future of the Literary Arts Program.”


California State University, Monterey Bay “seeks an Assistant Professor whose specialty is in both Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Writing to teach undergraduate courses in its Creative Writing and Social Action concentration (CWSA). We seek a candidate who is uniquely qualified and committed to educating working-class, ethnically diverse, and historically under-served students through innovation in interdisciplinary teaching and learning, scholarship, community service, and collaborative and imaginative program development. The concentration in CWSA is offered as part of the New Humanities for Social Justice (NHSJ) curriculum, along with Chicana/o Latina/o studies, Africana studies, cultural history, oral history, and new media studies.”


Harvard University Press (Mass.) seeks a Publicity Assistant, Princeton University (N.J.) is looking for a Public Relations Specialist, and Montgomery College (Md.) wants to hire a Speech Writer.

Taking A Break

Hello, practicing writers! Please forgive me, but I’m on vacation this week, with intermittent wi-fi and a beckoning beach. Which means that I can’t promise regularly-scheduled blogging. But never fear: I’ve brought along a draft of the September Practicing Writer newsletter to polish, and you’ll receive your copies on time. And you can expect me to be blogging again a week from today, if not sooner! Have a great week!