Category: Roundup

Read, Eat, Drink: How to Impress a Publisher in Half a Second, Plus an Announcement!

by Maria

How to get published

Read:

5 Ways to Impress a Book Publisher in Half a Second (Chad R. Allen): Yes, you really can impress a book publisher (or Literary Agent) in half a second. And it all comes down to (you guessed it) Google. As Allen writes: “Book deals are business partnerships, which means authors are not only artists but business partners. I Google authors’ names because I want to know something about them. And Google can tell me very quickly–in about half a second, actually–whether to keep my interest alive or walk away forever.” I do this same thing. In today’s world, it is absolutely essential to have an online presence. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

The 4 Platform Secrets No One Has Told You (Carly Watters): “You’re not a satellite circling alone, you’re a compass pointing visitors to your brand. A vacant platform can be a sign of fear: are you afraid to follow other people because you’re afraid you won’t be any further ahead? It’s also a sign of disinterest: are you too “busy” for your brand? Then a publisher isn’t going to make time for you. Many of today’s success stories revolve around authors who have understood what their fans expect and want from them.”

Why Do People Share What They Do? Here’s What Neuroscience, Psychology, and Relationships Tell Us About Highly Shareable Content (Mridu Khullar Relph of Buffer): “If you want your content to be shared and shared regularly, understanding the “why” and “how” behind social shares can go a long way in showing you how to craft the perfect post for your audience.” This is a long post, but it’s chock-full of information that will help you dig deeper into understanding the social environment of the Internet. Plus there’s good news buried in there: positive content trumps negative content when it comes to shareability. So keep up the cheer!

“Don’t Read Books!” A 12th Century Zen Poem (Maria Popova of Brain Pickings): Another wonderful find from the ever-interesting Maria Popova: a poem called “Don’t Read Books” written by Yang Wanli in the 12th century. It’s just what it sounds like: a plea to avoid the brain-rot of book-reading. “It might seem like a ridiculous notion to us today, loaded with heavy cultural irony, but it offers a poignant reminder that if books, which we presently worship as the most meditative form of media, were in the twelfth century what video games or Twitter are in the twenty-first, then a few dozen generations into the future — provided humanity still exists — the very forms we dismiss as spiritually worthless distractions today may come to be seen as the strongest anchors to the fabric of cultural history.”

Eat & Drink:

I’m handing the writing reins over to Jarrett, for a very awesome announcement:

Read More

Read, Eat, Drink: Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling and a Sumac Gin and Tonic Recipe

by Maria

Read:

How to get published

Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling (Paul J. Zak for Harvard Business Review): “I advise business people to begin every presentation with a compelling, human-scale story. Why should customers or a person on the street care about the project you are proposing? How does it change the world or improve lives? How will people feel when it is complete? These are the components that make information persuasive and memorable.” This article is fascinating, and it explains the science behind a lot of what editors and agents know intuitively–that stories and a promise of transformation pull people in. And that’s exactly why I always tell authors to begin their blog posts, book proposals, and book introductions with a story. It’s the surest way to make people care.

Video: Michael Pollan on Cooking (The RSA): This little short is the most fun you’ll have in 2 minutes and 28 seconds all week! In it, Michael Pollan explains how corporations cook (hint: badly) and why there’s just one simple rule to eating healthy, without relying on fad diets or any deprivation at all (hint: a cookbook would help you with it!). I love this rule, and think it’s so true: no matter what you order at a restaurant, it will never be as healthy as the same thing cooked at home. That’s why cookbooks matter–they’re powerful tools to help people get in the kitchen and start living healthier lives.

20 Must-Read Books for Bloggers (Krystal from Bloggers Get Social): You can learn so much from books, and this list is a great start for bloggers who want to learn how to do everything better. Too many of the bloggers I see who are struggling are mostly just suffering from a lack of information–they’ve got their heads down, creating content day in and day out, and they’re not investing enough time in training and experimentation. So, even if it means you take a blog vacation for a week, set aside some time to do deep research. In the end, it’s much easier than trying to figure it all out yourself!

Worried About What You’re Not Doing (Leo Babuata of Zen Habits): “In any given moment, many of us are thinking about what we’re not doing. We feel guilty that we’re not doing more. Worried that we’re not as productive as we could be. Guilty that we procrastinate. We feel guilty that we don’t exercise more, eat right, have better bodies. We worry that we should be doing something better, something more amazing, doing what the amazing people we see online are doing. We worry about what we have to do later, what’s next, where we’re going.” A great contemplative practice to help creatives (and anyone!) combat comparison and anxiety.

Eat & Drink:


Over to Jarrett for a new spin on the classic gin and tonic:

Sumac gin and tonic recipe

Read More

Read, Eat, Drink: Long Lost Books by Beloved Authors and “Recipes” for Toast

by Maria

How to get published

Read:

How I Found the Harper Lee Manuscript (Op-Ed by Tonja Carter, Lee’s attorney, in The Wall Street Journal): The story behind the rediscovery of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman just gets curiouser and curiouser. A rifling through of valuable papers with no supervision? An envelope that hasn’t been opened in 50 years? A possible third or even fourth manuscript? Sometimes I’ve believed as many as twelve impossible things before breakfast, but this ain’t one of those times.

The Great Gift of Reading Aloud (Meghan Cox Gurdon for The Wall Street Journal): “To curl up with children and a good book has long been one of the great civilizing practices of domestic life, an almost magical entry point to the larger world of literature.” And even if you don’t have your own little ones, organizations exist all over the country that allow you to curl up with some kids and read a good book to them. (Jarrett and I read to kiddos in our neighborhood through the wonderful The Reading Connection, but Reach Out and Read runs literary programs across the country.)

Dr. Seuss Book: Yes, They Found It in a Box (Alexandra Alter for The New York Times): Why is this the year of discovering long lost books by beloved authors? (Not that I’m complaining.) As Alter describes: “But alongside the orphaned sketches was a more complete project labeled “The Pet Shop,” 16 black-and-white illustrations, with text that he had typed on paper and taped to the drawings. The pages were stained and yellowed, but the story was all there, in Dr. Seuss’ unmistakable rollicking rhymes. ‘We didn’t know that we had such a treasure,’ said the assistant…”  Oh, the places we’ll find books.

New dr seuss book
Photo: The New York Times

Eat & Drink:

Garden-and-Gun-Southern-Food-Issue

Read More

Read, Eat, Drink: The First Chapter of Harper Lee’s GO SET A WATCHMAN! Plus a Cherry Wine Sangria Recipe

by Maria

How to get published

Read:

The First Chapter of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee Releases Today [!!!] (The Wall Street Journal): IT IS HERE. The day has come. The world’s first look at Harper Lee’s long-lost manuscript was published at 12 am today, exclusively by The Wall Street Journal in the US and The Guardian in the UK. You’ll have to wait until Tuesday to read the full book, but what’s a greater gift to yourself on a sunny summer Friday than sinking into a comfy chair with this first chapter? I plan on reading first the straightforward version on the WSJ, then enjoying the gorgeous interactive version The Guardian created. Here’s hoping everyone has some time today or this weekend to savor this historic literary event!

How Publishers Make Decisions About What to Publish: The Book P&L (Jane Friedman): This is a must-read for aspiring authors. The P&L is the key calculation used at publishers to make acquisitions decisions. I remember when I was an editor and bringing proposals to Pub Board, we’d always hit a certain point where the conversation shifted from what-is-the-book-and-who-is-the-author to talking numbers. That’s when sales managers and marketing managers start estimating how many copies they think the book will sell, and therefore how much they can offer as an advance. That’s why I’m always nagging my authors to put every single relevant thing they’ve done into their proposals–it’s usually the only document brought into Pub Board meetings, and so it’s the only voice the author and agent have at the table. So make sure your proposal is knocking their socks off, Charlie-Brown-strikeout style. (And lucky you, this month I’m running a new series on What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Book, and next week’s post is about writing a proposal! Hooray. Here’s where you can catch up on Part 1 and Part 2 of the series.)

21 Content Marketing Predictions for the 2nd Half of 2015 (Joe Lazauskas for Contently): If you’re a writer or blogger, guess what: You are in content marketing. Congratulations, and welcome to your inauguration. Yes, books are the ultimate piece of content marketing, since before anyone even thought to call them that. And if we’re going to gussy things up by slapping some corporate-lingo over things that have been happening for millenia, then let’s really have some fun with it. This prediction for content marketing in 2015 made me burst out laughing: “More and more brands will hire full-time editors. They’ll call them something absurd though, like ‘global audience strategists.'” I just hope we get to call Literary Agents something hilarious too, like Content Development Czars. (Feel free to start calling me this until the end of time.)

3 Common Author Platform Mistakes, Plus How to Fix Them (Maria Ribas for Writer’s Digest): Oh well, lookee here, an article by yours truly. To quote myself, which yes, is an odd thing to do: “Platform-building is not about getting up on your soapbox and asking people to buy your book. It’s actually not about promoting your work at all. The true purpose of a platform is to create a community of like-minded readers—to find the people who like dystopian YA, or historical romances, or the paleo diet just as much as you, and then finding ways to help them. It’s about serving, not selling.”

Eat & Drink:

Cherry Wine Sangria

Cherry wine sangria recipe

Over to Jarrett for some refreshment:

Read More