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Thursday’s Work-in-Progress: Introducing My New Column

by Erika Dreifus on
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Last week’s posts–about my day job and about how and where to locate forthcoming books for review–proved very popular. Thank you all for the comments, shares, RTs, and other indications of your interest! I hope that you’ll be pleased to know that today’s “work-in-progress” post takes up some of the threads from last week’s items. And that’s because I’m about to introduce a new “extra-curricular” writing activity grounded in my reviewing practice: a “First Looks” blog series/column for Fiction Writers Review, where I’m honored to be a contributing editor.

As the first post–which went live yesterday–explains: “This series, which I’ll be writing each month, will introduce you to soon-to-be released novels and short-story collections that have piqued my interest as a reader-who-writes. Consider it a public “to be read” announcement of sorts, a way for me to point out a new title (or two) every month and explain what about it has caught my eye. For the most part, we’ll be concentrating on books that fall within FWR’s chief interest: fiction by emerging authors.”

So go ahead. Take a peek and see which soon-to-released titles made it into the inaugural post (and why). Hope you enjoy!

Friday Find: Building Your Book-Reviewing Practice: Six Tips for Finding Titles to Pitch

by Erika Dreifus on
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As some of you may know, WritersWeekly.com was kind enough to publish an article of mine this week. Unfortunately, some of the links included in the original article I submitted didn’t make the transition to the WritersWeekly website. I have informed the editors of the problem. Until the original links have been restored, please (re)read the article here, complete with the original (and more direct/helpful) links.

BUILDING YOUR BOOK-REVIEWING PRACTICE: SIX TIPS FOR FINDING TITLES TO PITCH

by Erika Dreifus

As a frequent (and frequently paid) book reviewer, and a former teacher of courses in how to establish a book-reviewing practice, I was pleased to see a recent WritersWeekly.com article spotlighting this work. But I’d like to expand the discussion. For instance, I believe that a really good book reviewer—the kind of reviewer that editors trust and turn to—needs to display certain skills. I’m not talking only about subject matter expertise and writing chops. I’m talking about solid knowledge about books—including books that haven’t yet been published.

Think about it. Most of the book reviews you find in the better-paying mainstream magazines and newspapers and on popular websites focus on new books. Those reviews don’t appear magically. They’re the product of a match between editor and reviewer that takes place weeks, if not months, before the book is available for purchase. Which means that one way to increase your chances of winning a paying assignment—not to mention establishing yourself as a savvy source for information—is to pitch reviews of not-yet-published titles.

Once you become an established reviewer, complimentary advance reading copies (ARCs) are likely to come your way. Editors will begin suggesting titles for you to review and supply you with the ARCs they receive from publishers and publicists. But it isn’t easy to reach that point. And it takes time. Here are six ways for the emerging book reviewer to locate review possibilities on his or her own: (more…)

The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
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  • Looking for a way to to develop your characters? Check out Sarah Salway’s 100-question character interview.
  • Yesterday was Edith Wharton’s birthday, and David Abrams wrote a post rendering homage.
  • Literary tourism, through Daniel Nester’s eyes.
  • Great advice from Diane Lockward on “the right time” to submit your poetry. (Not sure why the link keeps taking me to comments; please scroll up to read the full post.)
  • Some tips on deciding your story’s destiny: memoir or fiction.
  • Lots of Publishers Weekly‘s content is hidden behind a paywall, but if you’re looking for forthcoming titles to consider for your reviewing practice, you may want to look through these online announcements for the spring 2012 season.
  • The 2012 Virginia Festival of the Book schedule has been posted. (I’ll be there–will you?)
  • And in case you haven’t heard: My story collection, Quiet Americans, was just named a 2012 Sophie Brody Medal Honor Title. Details here.

    • The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
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  • As a short story writer who really has to stumble on some magical inspiration to begin (let alone finish) a novel, I am fascinated by Sarah Salway’s post, “How Do You Start a Novel?”, which features a range of voices.
  • Beth Kissileff provides sound “Writing Advice About Writing Advice.”
  • I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen Anne Trubek’s New York Times Book Review essay on “Why Authors Tweet” mentioned on Twitter. But in case you’ve missed it, here’s the link.
  • In her usual generous and practical manner, Kelly James-Enger reveals her 2011 freelance earnings. (If you’re a full-time freelancer, you can pay it forward by completing the survey linked within the post.)
  • Love Diane Lockward’s look back on her poetry-filled year (not to mention the hat tip to Lisa Romeo). (My thanks to Diane for including me in some of her outward-focused poetry activities.)
  • Huge thanks to David Abrams for hosting me over on his amazing blog, The Quivering Pen, where I’ve just contributde a fresh take to the “My First Time” series by confessing what it’s like to receive the first punch-in-the-gut review of one’s book. (By the way, David is looking for other guest-bloggers for that column: “The Quivering Pen blog is looking for published authors to guest blog for the weekly feature ‘My First Time.‘ Have an interesting story to tell about your first experience(s) in writing and/or publishing? Drop me a line at david dot abrams at gmail dot com. I’ll be glad to send more guidelines. Please feel free to re-share, Tweet or email to all your writer friends, too.”)

    • The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
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    New Year's cake decorated by my niece. Photo © Joanna Dreifus.
  • Susan Woodring shares generous New Year’s wishes for practicing writers. Meantime, here are some excellent New Year’s resolutions from independent publicist Dana Kaye (thanks to @_joycastro for pointing me to the latter).
  • @SocialDialect recommends a post that features 10 blogs about blogging, “because we can all use more resources.”
  • The New York Times profiles the Hmong American Writers’ Circle–and its preoccupations. (See also the sample writings.)
  • The Millions previews highly anticipated books coming in 2012. (Hint for those who want to build a book-reviewing practice–you may find some forthcoming titles for review pitches here.)
  • In case you’ve ever wondered exactly what a “poetry chapbook” is, Brian Klems explains.