Lee & Low Survey: Publishing Industry Takes Baby Steps Toward Improving Diversity
For all the talk about increasing diversity in the publishing industry, there’s been little progress in the past four years, according to the latest Lee & Low survey.
Top 5 Reasons to Attend ThrillerFest
Let’s face it: attending an in-person writing conference is expensive. That’s why it’s crucial to choose the right conference. After my debut thriller, MULTO, was acquired, ThrillerFest was at the top of my short list of conferences to attend.
E.P. Tuazon’s Story Collection Turns the Ordinary into Surreal
Ian McEwan wrote in Atonement that “in a story, you only had to wish, you only had to write it down and could have the world.” The quote has never been truer than in the case of E.P. Tuazon’s story collection. Tuazon turns even the most ordinary scenario into something surreal, if not magical.
The MacArthur Affair: An Intimate Portrait of Power Imbalance
Power imbalance between men and women in intimate relationships often manifests when there’s a huge difference in their ages, incomes, or cultural backgrounds. What happens when two people are in love but they are vastly different in all three areas? In the case of General Douglas MacArthur’s little-known affair with a young Filipino actress, it was a calamity.
Top 10 May-December Relationships
Bogey and Bacall. JFK and Jackie. McQueen and MacGraw. These famous couples had wide age gaps. Add to that list Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the Filipino actress Isabel Rosario Cooper, whose romantic affair in the 1930s broke all taboos. In this article, I rounded up 10 of the most captivating May-December relationships over the years.
Study Shows Women’s Books Priced Lower than Men’s Books
In the book market as in the workplace, women get paid less. A new study shows that books by female authors were priced 45 percent lower than books by male authors. Women’s books were also likely to be published in formats less expensive to produce and distribute.
Best-Selling Author Bret Lott Explains How Rejections Can Make or Break a Writer’s Career
I met Bret Lott, the best-selling author of Jewel, during my first ever fiction-writing workshop. I chose his class because I loved Jewel. Guess who else loved it? Oprah. Lott is the first best-selling author I’ve interacted with.
How to Counter the Surge in Book Bans
There’s an alarming surge in book bans in America, with school libraries in at least seven states removing books at the behest of community members. Twenty-nine states have introduced bills or taken other steps to restrict the teaching or discussion of racism and sexism. What to do? The Authors Guild lists three ways to help counter the trend.
Authors Guild Conversation with Penguin Random House CEO: 5 Surprising Takeaways
In a recent online conversation with the Authors Guild, Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, likened the publication of every book to launching a startup company, replete with risks and without guarantee of success. Here are some key takeaways from Dohle’s presentation, some of them quite surprising.
Hello, 2020! Seven New Year’s Resolutions for Writers
There’s nothing quite like the New Year to set our writing goals. Better yet, find a writer friend (in person or online) to exchange goals with. Here are a few things to get you started. You can bet I’ll be working on these goals myself.