William Faulkner’s approach to writing a character explains why some literary characters are so real.  “Once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does,” said Faulkner.

All the political talk about the place of immigrants in America under the present political climate got me on an immigrant-saga kick in my readings. I was happy to discover two excellent debut novels:  Celeste Ng’s “Everything I Never Told You” and Jade Chang’s “Wangs vs. the World.”

Finishing a book depends a great deal on a reader’s age, according to a study by Jellybooks. In most cases, completion rates were higher for readers under 35 and those older than 45. Readers between those two groups had the lowest completion rate.

As Americans, the First Amendment guarantees our freedom to read, and yet to this day, some books are banned. The American Library Association’s (ALA) top ten most challenged books in 2016 covered a wide range of genres: fiction, memoir, picture books, and graphic novels.

Jellybooks founder Andrew Rhomberg identified eight common reasons why people buy books. Instant gratification is at the top of the list. Compare these book-buying motivations with yours.

Small presses can focus on niche markets, an advantage they have over big publishers. If your novel has a strong sense of place, check out these six publishers that specialize in regional titles. They welcome both agented and unagented submissions.

Unit sales of print books increased slightly (3.3 percent) last year, the third year in a row of growth, according to Publishers Weekly. Print-book sales rose by 2.8 percent in 2015 and 2.4 percent in 2014.

Authors who use multiple points of view risk losing their readers’ interest or confusing them with every shift. Only a few pull off such a perilous approach. In “Citizen Washington,” William Martin blows away the competition among “daredevil” authors. He uses not just three points of view (“The Girl on the Train” and “The Help”) or five (“The Poisonwood Bible”) but 16!

Still looking for the perfect gift? An email I received from the Authors Guild listed 10 reasons why you should give books to your loved ones this holiday season—and all other occasions!

Would you change your race if you could? In Jess Row’s provocative novel, Martin Lipkin does just that. He undergoes a racial reassignment surgery, changing his looks from white to black. He assumes a new identity and culture as Martin Wilkinson, a successful businessman.