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Thursday’s (Final) Pre-Publication Post

by Erika Dreifus on
5

March 25, 2010. That was the date of our first “Thursday Pre-Publication Post.” Less than 10 months later, it’s time for the last post in the series. Next Wednesday, January 19, will see the official publication date of my short-story collection, Quiet Americans. And next Thursday, we’ll take this show on the post-publication road. I’m so thankful for the advice and support that you’ve shown me here on the blog in this pre-publication phase, and I hope you’ll stick around to see how this particular publishing story plays out.

Right now, I’m especially focused on launching our Winter 2011 Blog Tour, which begins next week. I won’t tell you exactly how much time I spent last weekend drafting guest posts for host blogs. Let’s just say that it was considerable. Not that I’m complaining! I am really grateful to have these opportunities.

This week, I’ve been shifting a bit from the guest posts to my part of author Q&As. In case you haven’t surmised, this time, I’m the one supplying the “A”, not the “Q.” And I have been blown away by my interviewers’ incisiveness. (Sure, I knew they were smart, but this smart?)

I don’t want to give you any examples yet. Let’s let the suspense build for the tour, shall we? But I will share that working on these interviews, on the heels of receiving excellent blurbs and more recent feedback, I’ve been reminded of a December blog post by Ellen Meeropol on what Elli, as another debut author, has been learning from her readers.

“I didn’t expect to be surprised–and humbled–by readers’ insights into my characters and their story,” she wrote.

Frankly, I didn’t expect it, either. In my case, there’s some especially delicious icing on this cake: readers’ insights into not only specific characters and stories, but also on the collection as a whole.

You’ll see what I’m talking about once the tour is under way. Happily, it’s not long now!

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled
  • Subtropics has reopened for poetry submissions. “Thank you all for your patience.” Pays: $100/poem. Does not accept simultaneous submissions in poetry. More info here. (via @ALTA_USA)
  • From the Chicken Soup for the Soul series: “If you are Canadian, we are looking for stories from you! Send us your inspirational, humorous, or heartwarming stories. They don’t have to specifically be about Canada — they just have to be Chicken Soup for the Soul stories that take place in Canada or are written by Canadians. If you are not Canadian but you have a great story that took place in Canada (examples would be American college student at McGill, stranded travelers in Newfoundland on 9/11, great vacation stories) that is fine too. The deadline for story submissions is January 30, 2011.” Pays: “If the story or poem you wrote is published by us, you will be paid $200 upon publication of the book plus you will receive ten free copies of the book your story or poem appears in.”
  • Fans of the “Modern Love” column in The New York Times may be interested in the recently-posted guidelines on “how to submit Modern Love essays.”
  • The Texas Institute of Letters administers an array of literary awards open to entrants who were born in Texas or “lived in Texas for at least two consecutive years at some time.” A literary work “whose subject matter substantially concerns Texas is also eligible.” The next submission deadline is imminent (January 9), and there are no entry fees.
  • “Babble.com is looking for a parenting news blogger to join the fastest growing website for parents, with 4 million uniques and counting. The job involves contributing a minimum of two posts per day to Strollerderby, Babble’s breaking news blog written by the web’s most tuned-in, best-informed, wittiest parents.” Check the announcement on MediaBistro.com (site registration required).
  • I am seeing some interesting freelance opportunities posted on Twitter by @femministas, which I discovered (I think) thanks to @JennCrowell.
  • For poets, fictionists, and writers of creative nonfiction: Lots of free-to-enter competitions and paying calls for submissions were packed into our January Practicing Writer newsletter, which went out to subscribers last Thursday. Read the issue online here.
  • Roger Williams University (R.I.) seeks a Director of Marketing, Johns Hopkins University (Md.) is looking for a Director of Communications & Marketing, and the University of California-Berkeley invites applications for a Writer/Editor.

    • Friday Finds: 2011 Reading Lists

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    I’m so swamped keeping up with life and all things pre-publication that I didn’t even get around to making any “best of 2010” book lists. Now, I see, some very enterprising practicing writers have already gone ahead and provided sneak peeks into what they’re anticipating reading in 2011.

    So, for this Friday’s finds, I’m going to point you to two of those writers’ blogs, where you’ll find plenty of titles to get you started with a 2011 tbr list.

    First, check out The Quivering Pen, where David Abrams provides photographic evidence of just how ambitious his reading plans are.

    And then, go visit Between the Lines, where Ellen Meeropol (who has a book of her own, a novel titled House Arrest, coming in February) combines reflections on 2010 and 2011 reads.

    (Thanks to both David and Ellen for the shoutouts to Quiet Americans in their respective posts.)

    Have a great weekend and a Happy New Year, all. See you back here on Monday.

    Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • “Matador Abroad is looking for narrative pieces, photo essays and single photo submissions for a new series.” This series focuses on “celebrating holidays outside of your home country….Submissions are not limited to American holidays; tell us what it was like first celebrating Ramadan away from home, or how Diwali is different in London than it is in Delhi.” Pays: $25 per narrative or photo essay (single photos do not receive payment).
  • Also from Matador: an interesting piece spotlighting paying online markets for freelancers.
  • Let’s keep the travel focus going, shall we? The NYT’s Nicholas Kristof has announced the 2011 “Win a Trip with Nick Kristof” contest. This year, the competition is open to graduating students and to those over 60 (US residents only). Application deadline (essay or video submission) is January 18 (my thanks to Mr. Kristof for so kindly responding to my query about this on Twitter). No application fee.
  • “Voices of Youth (VOY) is UNICEF’s site for young people interested in learning about and taking action on issues affecting their lives. VOY is currently undergoing a redesign to update the site’s look and functionality. The new site will emphasize interactivity and dialogue, and will feature posts from youth contributors, UNICEF staff, activists, bloggers, etc….We’re looking for 2 part-time bloggers to create original content (primarily print, but video, audio, and visual pieces are welcome) for Voices of Youth.”
  • “The Arc Poetry Society [Canada] seeks applications for the part-time contract position of Editor of Arc Poetry Magazine commencing April 1, 2010. Reporting to the Board of Directors, Arc’s editor will ensure that the content of Arc Poetry Magazine is selected and presented to maintain a consistently high standard for the publication.”
  • From Johns Hopkins University (requisition #46416 if you’re redirected to the human resources home page): “This part-time faculty position at Johns Hopkins University involves academic administrative duties and the teaching of four courses per year in a thriving, two-campus graduate writing program. This year-round position offers a 12-month contract requiring part-time responsibilities in fall, spring, and summer terms. The position expects a regular presence at the program’s Washington, D.C. and Baltimore locations, although the faculty member will be based at the main Hopkins Homewood Campus. Expertise in teaching, writing, or editing is required in at least one of the program’s concentrations of Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, and Science-Medical Writing, or in Journalism, Professional Writing, Publishing, Editing or related fields. This faculty member will work with and report to the program’s full-time director and assistant director. The M.A. in Writing Program caters mostly to part-time adult students who take evening or Saturday courses at the Hopkins Washington, D.C. Center near Dupont Circle or the main Homewood Campus in Baltimore. The program is based in Washington but has offices, students, and faculty at both campuses. This position is effective on Jan. 3, 2011.”
  • Nicholls State University (La.) is looking for an Instructor whose “preferred experience” includes “Creative Writing, Poetry and/or Screen Writing.”
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art (N.Y.) seeks an Editor, Boston magazine is looking for an Associate Editor (you’ll need to register/log in, free of charge, to read the announcement), and the University of Oregon School of Law invites applications for a Director of Communications position.

    • Thursday’s Pre-Publication Post: The Blog Tour Is Coming! The Blog Tour Is Coming!

    by Erika Dreifus on
    4

    Busy, busy, busy. That’s how this time of year always is, right? But somehow, everything is even busier (and, of course, more exciting!) with the release of my short story collection, Quiet Americans, just a little more than a month away.

    One of the pre-publication projects that I’ve been working on behind the scenes is a blog tour. You may be familiar with these “tours.” A quick way to explain the concept, as the Book Publicity Blog does in this excellent post, is that a blog tour involves “an author going from blog to blog (rather than from store to store as they would on a traditional book tour).” Since my book’s publisher is too small to have its own publicist (and, let’s face it: I’m a bit of a control freak as it is), I’ve taken on the job of arranging the tour myself. As work-intensive as the process is, I couldn’t be more grateful. The emergence of the blog tour concept is a real blessing for my book and me. Between the lack of a big-time publicity budget and my responsibilities at my “day job,” a traditional city-to-city tour just wasn’t in the cards.

    So I am happy to announce that the Winter Blog Tour for Quiet Americans will launch the week of January 17, 2011, which is the same week that the book will be released. The tour will last a little over a month (touring will be light during the days I’ll be focusing on the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference in early February).

    I’m so excited for this tour. I’ll admit that I’m a bit apprehensive, too. But mainly, I’m excited.

    Right now, the biggest challenge ahead of me is content. The blog tour “stops” will feature a combination of interviews, book reviews written by various “hosts,” and some guest pieces that I’ll be writing up. Interview questions haven’t yet arrived, and the reviews, thankfully, are not my responsibility. So as soon as I finish my holiday cards, complete a freelance assignment with a fast-approaching deadline, and check one or two other things off my to-do list, I’ll be able to focus on preparing those guest posts.

    I’ll also be working hard to showcase the participating host blogs. In fact, I can promise you the unveiling of the tour schedule and hosts three weeks from today, on Thursday, December 30. (There. I’ve just given myself another deadline!)

    For now, I just hope that all of you who read this blog will share my enthusiasm. And I’d like to say an early, heartfelt “thank-you” to all of the tour hosts. Thank you for welcoming my book and me to your online homes. Thank you for reading the review copies. Thank you for the wonderful comments you’ve already shared with me about your reading experiences. Most of all, thank you for what you’re going to be doing in the next couple of months.