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Friday Find: Another Resource for Book Reviewers

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

You know what’s coming up, don’t you? That’s right, it’s nearly time for Book Expo America (BEA), where publishers will introduce and seek to build buzz for forthcoming titles. If you’re a reviewer or book blogger, BEA provides a terrific opportunity to learn about titles you might want to cover over the next several months.

Even if you can’t make it to BEA itself, you can benefit from some of the ancillary resources. For instance, Publishers Lunch this week released a digital “buzz book” of its own, “a free ebook that presents over 30 meaty excerpts from books that will be featured at the convention and highly-touted fall releases of all kinds.” I downloaded it right away and immediately took note of books I’ll want to read and write about.

[But remember, there are plenty of other ways to find not-yet-published titles for review as well.]

And with that, I am off for the holiday weekend. I’ll see you back here on TUESDAY, and we’ll get the June newsletter out to you next week as well. Have a safe and pleasant weekend, all.

Thursday’s Work-in-Progress

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Remember a few weeks ago when I outlined some of the assignments and projects that were on my to-do list? Remember how several of them had May 1 deadlines?

Well, this week, I’m happy to report that every deadline was met.

This week has also brought the publication of my latest micro-essay, “Comprehension,” which found a lovely home with Hippocampus Magazine. (If you haven’t already checked out the anniversary celebration on the Hippocampus site–replete with daily giveaways–go take a look.)

And over on Fiction Writers Review (FWR), Short Story Month is in full swing. I’m proud to have led this month’s “Stories We Love” posts with some thoughts about Jack London’s “To Build a Fire.”

Finally–and in case you missed it–this week I’ve also announced which title(s) I’ll be giving away as part of my participation in the FWR Collection Giveaway Project. I’m happy to see so much early interest.

P.S. This week also brought my birthday. Check out the delightful illustration my niece included with the card she gave me.

The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
2

Another midweek medley of writing-related finds culled from the Web.

  • Let’s begin with some application advice (mainly for academe, but with crossover appeal for writers-who-don’t-teach but are applying for grants/fellowships/awards/etc.). (via Wordamour)
  • Five Ways to Celebrate Short Stories is a post I wrote for Fiction Writers Review last year, but the beginning of Short Story Month 2012 seems to be a perfect time to “recycle” it.
  • Speaking of Fiction Writers Review: My “reviewlet” of Anne Korkeakivi’s The Unexpected Guest posted last week. One of the things I discuss in that piece is the author’s use of French words and phrases, so I was of course interested to discover Korkeakivi’s thoughts on handling languages other than English in fiction (thanks for the link, Writer Abroad!). (By the way, you can read some relevant thoughts of my own archived on the Brave New Words blog, too.)
  • May is apparently prime giveaway season. Don’t forget about this practicing writer’s participation in the Collection Giveaway Project. And over on Hippocampus Magazine, there will be one giveaway every day of this month to celebrate the publication’s anniversary. You need to delve into the current issue to participate–may I humbly suggest that you check out my own micro-essay in that issue, “Comprehension”?
  • For those who ask am I a writer, Cathy Day has some answers.

    • Thursday’s Work-in-Progress

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Lots of nice things have happened this week. Thanks to Christi Craig’s lovely blog, I won a giveaway copy of Shann Ray’s American Masculine, which I’ve been meaning to read for months. I finalized and submitted a panel proposal for the 2013 Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference. I spent an energizing 90 minutes with a fantastic group of college students who are taking a seminar on “Representing the Holocaust.” I finished preparing the May newsletter (it should go out Sunday or Monday after one last round of proofreading). And I discovered a new reader review of Quiet Americans on Amazon that frankly blew me away with its on-targetness (I think I just made up a word).

    I was especially moved because this reader picked up on something I talked about at length during the classroom visit: the broad applicability of one of the notable German words in one of the stories: Vergangenheitsbewältigung (“coming to terms with the past”). That we’ve just concluded the observance of Yom HaShoah makes the subject–and the review and the visit–even more meaningful.