It can’t be denied: having a book you’ve written is a thrill (duh). What is less thrilling is a number of hoops—all marketing related, it seems—that the writer must jump through before arriving at that happy day when the book is on the bookstore shelf. Perhaps the most trying is collecting those flattering blurbs from famous authors to tell the world how brilliant you are (and you thought your editor was responsible for that…ha, ha).
Here’s a funny piece by Rebecca Johnson about the hunt for blurbs. (Link via The Elegant Variation.)
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
So, You're Applying for an MFA?
If you’re thinking about applying to an MFA program, there’s some good advice here on MFA Weblog. The summary might be, Don’t Stress Yourself Out. An excerpt:
“I spent most of last summer stressing about the GRE and my application essays, in addition to the constant questioning of my poetry portfolio. I know now that was wasted time. Despite three months of vocab cards and math worksheets, I scored poorly on the GRE, as I do on every standardized test. The essays I drafted months in advance ended up changing five times over because I either didn’t like my tone or found mid-way through an application that my 3-page personal statement perfect for X school wouldn’t fit into Y school’s 200 word limit.
“For all my preparations, I found that some things, like the essays, work out better under pressure. Then others, like your portfolio, need to be massaged over time and cannot be rushed. And had I the confidence to move forward diligently, I could have pushed out a few more finished poems before the deadline instead of worrying myself into writer’s block.”
“I spent most of last summer stressing about the GRE and my application essays, in addition to the constant questioning of my poetry portfolio. I know now that was wasted time. Despite three months of vocab cards and math worksheets, I scored poorly on the GRE, as I do on every standardized test. The essays I drafted months in advance ended up changing five times over because I either didn’t like my tone or found mid-way through an application that my 3-page personal statement perfect for X school wouldn’t fit into Y school’s 200 word limit.
“For all my preparations, I found that some things, like the essays, work out better under pressure. Then others, like your portfolio, need to be massaged over time and cannot be rushed. And had I the confidence to move forward diligently, I could have pushed out a few more finished poems before the deadline instead of worrying myself into writer’s block.”
More on Reading the Oxford English Dictionary
It’s a week of follow-up…here’s more about Ammon Shea, the guy I mentioned yesterday who read the entire Oxford English Dictionary. (Not sure why I’ve become so interested in this…I’ve never even imagined for a minute reading a whole dictionary, let alone the granddaddy of them all.)
Here’s a piece from Paper Cuts, the blog of the New York Times. And here’s a piece on Galleycat. An excerpt (from Galleycat):
"I don't particularly enjoy writers who use big words for their own sake," Shea said. "In fact, I find them boring." For the most part, he says, there are two simple guidelines for using a word: Would readers understand what it means? And what does to the text's atmosphere? There are cases when the second question can trump the first; Shea cited a passage in Nabakov where the author recalls the "long-drawn Westinghousian sigh" of a train coming to a stop—readers can grasp the long-drawn sigh readily enough, but a special few will recognize that locomotive air brakes were manufactured by Westinghouse. Knowing that a word exists for some objects or phenomena, Shea added, has inspired him to pay more attention to such things, like psithurism, "the whispering of leaves moved by the wind."
I will have to remember to drop psithurism into a few conversations.
Here’s a piece from Paper Cuts, the blog of the New York Times. And here’s a piece on Galleycat. An excerpt (from Galleycat):
"I don't particularly enjoy writers who use big words for their own sake," Shea said. "In fact, I find them boring." For the most part, he says, there are two simple guidelines for using a word: Would readers understand what it means? And what does to the text's atmosphere? There are cases when the second question can trump the first; Shea cited a passage in Nabakov where the author recalls the "long-drawn Westinghousian sigh" of a train coming to a stop—readers can grasp the long-drawn sigh readily enough, but a special few will recognize that locomotive air brakes were manufactured by Westinghouse. Knowing that a word exists for some objects or phenomena, Shea added, has inspired him to pay more attention to such things, like psithurism, "the whispering of leaves moved by the wind."
I will have to remember to drop psithurism into a few conversations.
Rejected Poems Can Live Another Day
A call for submissions that offers new life for rejected poems. Sort of takes the sting away a bit….though I wonder what it feels like to have rejected poems rejected by the journal that accepts rejected poems??
The Redheaded Stepchild only accepts poems that have been rejected by other magazines. We are accepting poetry submissions only during the month of August for our inaugural Fall 2008 issue. For more information, please visit our site. We accept only email submissions via
redheadedstepchildmag@gmail.com.
In the body of your email, please include the following:
a brief bio
3-5 poems
the publication(s) that rejected the poems.
The Redheaded Stepchild only accepts poems that have been rejected by other magazines. We are accepting poetry submissions only during the month of August for our inaugural Fall 2008 issue. For more information, please visit our site. We accept only email submissions via
redheadedstepchildmag@gmail.com.
In the body of your email, please include the following:
a brief bio
3-5 poems
the publication(s) that rejected the poems.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Caught Being a Blowhard
I had a very short piece in Sunday’s Washington Post Magazine. It was the response to the Editor’s Query section, with the topic being, “Tell us about a time you got caught being a blowhard.”
Ahh…so many examples for me to choose from, but I knew this was it, and in a rare and happy writing zone, I simply wrote up my less-than-250 words and sent it off. If only a novel could feel so effortless!
Here’s the link.
Ahh…so many examples for me to choose from, but I knew this was it, and in a rare and happy writing zone, I simply wrote up my less-than-250 words and sent it off. If only a novel could feel so effortless!
Here’s the link.
And Then There's OBSESSION
And I thought I was obsessive. I enjoyed this book review in the Sunday New York Times Book Review about a man who decided to read the entire Oxford English Dictionary. Yes, the entire thing—the 20-volume version with the tiny print (only slightly less tiny than the shrunk-down 2 volume version that came with its own magnifying glass).
Sounds like quite the fun project:
“[Author Ammon] Shea decided to make the attempt and to record his progress in this book. Each letter gets its own chapter. In Chapter A the volumes arrive, wrapped in the “regal and chitinous gloss” of their dust jackets. Shea sits near the window, his feet up on an ottoman, and begins to read. Difficulties ensue. He gets pulsing headaches and sees gray patches on the edges of his vision. His back bothers him. His neighbors make salt cod, and the odor is distracting. He’s tempted to look things up in his other dictionaries, comparing definitions, which slows his progress.
“So he ventures out into the city, reading on park benches and in public libraries. No place is right. Finally he settles on a location in the basement of the Hunter College library, among books in French that don’t tempt him away from the task at hand. He drinks many thermosfuls of coffee. He gets eyeglasses and finds, much to his surprise, that they help him see better. His headaches continue.”
Nicholson Baker, the reviewer, seemed a good match for this book: anyone who’s ever read his 133-page novel The Mezzanine, about ten (or is it five?) minutes in the life of an office worker riding the escalator (complete with footnotes) would suspect a similar level of obsessive tendencies. (Naturally I loved The Mezzanine!)
Anyway, the book is called Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages by Ammon Shea. It’s only 223 pages long.
Slightly related fun fact: during college, my favorite section of the library for studying was the area that shelved the Asian books collection. Like Shea, I had to place myself out of temptation.
Sounds like quite the fun project:
“[Author Ammon] Shea decided to make the attempt and to record his progress in this book. Each letter gets its own chapter. In Chapter A the volumes arrive, wrapped in the “regal and chitinous gloss” of their dust jackets. Shea sits near the window, his feet up on an ottoman, and begins to read. Difficulties ensue. He gets pulsing headaches and sees gray patches on the edges of his vision. His back bothers him. His neighbors make salt cod, and the odor is distracting. He’s tempted to look things up in his other dictionaries, comparing definitions, which slows his progress.
“So he ventures out into the city, reading on park benches and in public libraries. No place is right. Finally he settles on a location in the basement of the Hunter College library, among books in French that don’t tempt him away from the task at hand. He drinks many thermosfuls of coffee. He gets eyeglasses and finds, much to his surprise, that they help him see better. His headaches continue.”
Nicholson Baker, the reviewer, seemed a good match for this book: anyone who’s ever read his 133-page novel The Mezzanine, about ten (or is it five?) minutes in the life of an office worker riding the escalator (complete with footnotes) would suspect a similar level of obsessive tendencies. (Naturally I loved The Mezzanine!)
Anyway, the book is called Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages by Ammon Shea. It’s only 223 pages long.
Slightly related fun fact: during college, my favorite section of the library for studying was the area that shelved the Asian books collection. Like Shea, I had to place myself out of temptation.
Guest in Progress: Kim Roberts Follow-Up
I had meant to look up a link to the book that poet Kim Roberts wrote about in last week’s “Guest in Progress” (When Washington Was in Vogue: A Lost Novel of the Harlem Renaissance), but I was distracted by my (alas, futile) attempt to try to include a lovely photograph she had provided.
When I mentioned this to her, she was kind enough to provide the following resources:
For more details about the book itself, here's a web page from the publisher, HarperCollins.
And here is some biographical information about author Edward Christopher Williams on the Howard University web site, where he taught.
And here is some more biographical info and a bibliography, from the DC Public Library's web exhibit, "The Black Renaissance in Washington."
When I mentioned this to her, she was kind enough to provide the following resources:
For more details about the book itself, here's a web page from the publisher, HarperCollins.
And here is some biographical information about author Edward Christopher Williams on the Howard University web site, where he taught.
And here is some more biographical info and a bibliography, from the DC Public Library's web exhibit, "The Black Renaissance in Washington."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)