One of the things I’ve found fascinating throughout the election and beyond, is the extent to which people are, or aren’t persuadable. Is there really such a thing as a swing voter? What makes people change their minds? What are the lines in the sand that trigger reversals of opinion? When we sit around talking […]
You Tell Me
What is your favorite bookstore?
Photo by me in Aardvark Books, San Francisco Amid the very sad news that beloved Cobble Hill bookstore BookCourt is closing, where I had my launch party Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp, the New York Times recently asked seven authors about their favorite bookstores. We can do better than seven can’t we? What […]
How should authors navigate politics on social media?
When I started blogging and doing The Social Media around 2007 (grandpa alert!), the conventional wisdom was that authors should steer clear of politics. You don’t want to alienate half of your audience! Those are potential readers out there! Let’s all get along! It’s interesting in a way that authors were ever cautious around politics, given the […]
What’s on your literary bucket list?
Inspired by BookEnds’ recent posts on bucket lists, I got to thinking: what’s on your literary bucket list? What are you hoping to do by the time you kick the ole’ bucket and write query letters in the sky? (Just kidding, there are no query letter in heaven. That’s why it’s heaven.) Here’s my stab: […]
What’s your biggest challenge as a writer?
Publicity. Marketing. Reviews. Writing the damn thing in the first place. Lord knows the road to a completed and successful project isn’t an easy one. What’s the biggest challenge you face? Footnote: I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and consultations! More info here. Art: The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt
Moneyball for book publishers
Way back in 2007, I wrote about what I called the “holy grail” of book publishing: the blockbuster detector. Inspired by both The Wisdom of Crowds and Moneyball, I wondered about the possibility of a tool that could identify undervalued markets and help predict future sales. 2007, mind you, was the era before the Kindle and […]