This is a pic of my authors’ group, the Invisible Institute, celebrating our fourth year last night! Sadly, I had to miss. But I’ve been writing here about my love of this group and so I thought I’d share a visual. This group has supported its members from proposal to publication–many are on our third books now–and it’s been like oxygen to me. Profound gratitude to Annie Murphy Paul and Alissa Quart for starting us and keeping us going all these years.
writing life
Hi girlwithpenners, Laura Mazer here again, this time blogging from BEA in Los Angeles! BEA, or BookExpo America, is the annual international book-industry convention held here in the United States, and it’s a major scene—everyone in the industry shows up to buy, sell, pitch, scope the competition, and score some pretty neat swag. (Thank you, Chronicle Books, I love my new sky-blue tote bag!)
The mood is buzzy on the floor, and I love to eavesdrop on the meetings in the lounge areas and booths. The Canadians are selling European book rights to the Italians, the Brits are working out co-publishing deals with the Americans, agents are pitching publishers, publishers are pitching booksellers, and everyone is eyeing each other’s new releases, wondering what the next big breakout title will be. It’s book-lover heaven.
The reason I wanted to blog from here is because BEA always reminds me just how many thousands of publishers, editors, and literary agencies there are. I used to think of the book world as small, insider-y. It seemed as though there were only a handful of publishers, and if you didn’t know someone who knew someone at one of those houses, you probably wouldn’t get a book published. But looking around me here on the convention-center floor, I’m seeing row after row of big houses, indy houses, academic presses, niche publishers, boutique publishers, nonprofit publishers, and all the hundreds of imprints that specialize in certain categories (particularly popular this year are the mind/body/health/spirituality publishers, which seem to be cropping up all over the country). There are so many publishers here that I actually got lost one afternoon when I went in search of a publicist friend’s booth without my floor map.
The point of my telling you all this is: If you have a good book idea, there is a publisher out there that’s right for you. There’s a little bit of a dating-and-mating game to be played in the process of finding that publisher, but I guarantee you it’s out there. Make yourself familiar with which imprints and houses are publishing the kind of book you want to write, and target those houses when you’re pitching your idea.
And if you’re in New York next year, drop by BEA for a day and see for yourself how big and beautiful this industry really is. (Just wear comfy shoes, and don’t lose your map.)
I’ve been more interested in the response to Gawker blogger Emily Gould’s highly confessional 8,000-word cover story in this weekend’s NYTimes than in her article itself, which bugged me mostly because I found it not very well written. I was obsessed with the autobiographical as a field of study when in graduate school. I wonder what the scholars are saying ’bout this one.
In the popular realm:
Check out this clever response to the blogger takeover of prime old media real estate by my gal Alissa Quart over at CJR. “Take back the word count,” cries Q.
And this one, by Salon’s Rebecca Traister, which urges, “So rather than being troubled by the fact that Gould — or Bushnell, or Bradshaw, or whoever — has the spotlight, why not question why so few other versions of femininity are allowed to share it?”
What she said.
So a bit of confession this morning: I’d been having a bear of a time with my latest book proposal last week. I spent part of the week avoiding it and doing other things. Then I went to the beach for the weekend with my computer (and with Marco) and tried again. And then my writers’ group met last night and reaffirmed my faith.
So here’s a little shout out to my writers’ group, which is named Matilda, after the cat at the Algonquin Hotel, which is where we had our first meeting. And a shout out, too, to the Invisible Institute, my other writers group, which has been meeting now for 4 years. Yes, I am in two of these groups. Because writing groups keep me going, and this girl just can’t get enough.
And while I’m at it, a shout out to all the writers groups and communities out there that keep us writers going. Writing is SO much better when not tried alone.
Girls Write Now, my #1 favorite organization to get girls writing, is holding its Spring Reading at the Tribeca Barnes and Noble on June 8. Join me there? For more on what this amazing org is up to, check out their spring newsletter. (And if you share my love for this org and are feeling generous, donate here!)
Alissa Quart–who I’m off to meet with this morning–has the cover story of the Columbia Journalism Review this month. (Go Q!) Do check out her piece, “Lost Media, Found Media: Snapshots from the Future of Writing.” A chronic bridger, I think I might actually fall somewhere in between. Alissa interviewed a range of old (lost) and new (found) media types, including feministing’s Jessica Valenti, of whom she writes the following:
The young found media types I spoke with tend to focus more on invention than destruction. They were, for the most part, unflaggingly upbeat. Jessica Valenti, for instance, the twenty-nine-year-old founder and editor in chief of the popular feminist blog Feministing, which aggregates news items ranging from feminist responses to the presidential campaign to condom manufacturers’ responses to a new study of young women and STDs. The news hits are all interspersed with tart, partisan, intelligent, and sometimes raw commentary and opinion. Whatever Feministing is—blog, think tank, digest, “women’s†pages, feminist magazine—it’s a fine example of the new media as an improvement over the old. Unlike the “Hers†sections of yore—women’s magazines, or even Ms. Magazine—Feministing is not shaped by the fear of being offensive or “unrelatable†for “the average female reader.†In this way, like some other feminist blogs, it is head and shoulders above almost any writing on women’s issues in mainstream media. “I don’t see a lot of nostalgia from young feminists for the time when things were a lot worse,†said Valenti, who is tall with black Veronica bangs, and speaks a decibel or two louder than you do. “I studied journalism a bit but I didn’t find my voice until I had a completely open forum in the blogs.â€
Like Valenti, my younger journalist friends and colleagues imagine a kaleidoscopic future where the hoarier codes of journalism are put to rest: goodbye inverted pyramid, hello a nearly reckless immediacy; goodbye measured commentary, hello pungent or radical or vulgar commentary. Yet beyond style, the new reality is that there is no clear, long-term career plan for Found Media-ites—or even for most of the rest of us. We’re in the sort of moment in history that some people will say they were glad to witness, but only twenty years hence.
Read the full article here.
Last night I went to one of those fabulous book parties that remind me why I love New York (and believe me, I needed the reminder; it had been a hectic week and this city often wears me down). The fabulousness was not the food (which was delicious) or the space (which was mind-blowing), but the people. It was fabulousness of a feminist variety.
The party was hosted by Gloria Steinem and in attendance were trailblazing women like Suzanne Braun Levine, Alix Cates Shulman, Joanne Edgar, Mia Herndon, and Amy’s longtime writing partner Jennifer Baumgardner, who beamed in the back as Amy was properly celebrated. I promise to share thoughts about Amy’s book Opting In: Having a Child without Losing Yourself which is why we were all there, of course, in another post very soon. But first let me just share that Gloria introduced Amy as “the smartest person I know.” If that isn’t a compliment, I don’t know what is.
…which I sadly could not make sounded awesome. Basically, GWN mentors came together with teaching artists from Teachers & Writers Collaborative for Ladies Night, an evening of readings. Readers included GWN mentors Grace Bastidas, Mary Roma, and Erica Silberman, plus teaching artists Nicole Callihan and Sheila Maldonado. For upcoming events from these folks, check out the GWN calendar, here.
So yesterday I attended a really great intergenerational conversation hosted by Woodhull, housed in the lovely conference room at In Good Company, a place whose company I’d love to one day keep. More on that event soon! But in the meantime, I wanted to let folks know that a special GWP discount may be available for this weekend’s nonfiction writing retreat, “Raise Your Voices: An Intensive Nonfiction Writing Retreat for Women”, where I’ll be teaching along with Kristen Kemp and Katie Orenstein. For more on that, please email me (address below) or Elizabeth Curtis, ecurtis@woodhull.org. Just don’t forget to tell them GWP sent you in order to receive the discount.
And while I’m on the topic of platform, I’m personally looking for models of author websites that incorporate blogs and workshop listings, because my workshop offerings are expanding. I’m working with a fabulous intern this summer (Kristen Loveland) to revamp things a bit over here at GWP. So far on my list I’ve got Elizabeth Merrick and Marci Alboher. Anyone seen anyone else that’s doing this on their site, and doing it well? Thanks for leads, in comments!
And PS. Keep an eye out for some guest posting from Kristen in this space too. I’m going to be learning a lot from her, I know.
Hi girlwithpenners, Laura Mazer here again, this time blogging from BEA in Los Angeles! BEA, or BookExpo America, is the annual international book-industry convention held here in the United States, and it’s a major scene—everyone in the industry shows up to buy, sell, pitch, scope the competition, and score some pretty neat swag. (Thank you, Chronicle Books, I love my new sky-blue tote bag!)
The mood is buzzy on the floor, and I love to eavesdrop on the meetings in the lounge areas and booths. The Canadians are selling European book rights to the Italians, the Brits are working out co-publishing deals with the Americans, agents are pitching publishers, publishers are pitching booksellers, and everyone is eyeing each other’s new releases, wondering what the next big breakout title will be. It’s book-lover heaven.
The reason I wanted to blog from here is because BEA always reminds me just how many thousands of publishers, editors, and literary agencies there are. I used to think of the book world as small, insider-y. It seemed as though there were only a handful of publishers, and if you didn’t know someone who knew someone at one of those houses, you probably wouldn’t get a book published. But looking around me here on the convention-center floor, I’m seeing row after row of big houses, indy houses, academic presses, niche publishers, boutique publishers, nonprofit publishers, and all the hundreds of imprints that specialize in certain categories (particularly popular this year are the mind/body/health/spirituality publishers, which seem to be cropping up all over the country). There are so many publishers here that I actually got lost one afternoon when I went in search of a publicist friend’s booth without my floor map.
The point of my telling you all this is: If you have a good book idea, there is a publisher out there that’s right for you. There’s a little bit of a dating-and-mating game to be played in the process of finding that publisher, but I guarantee you it’s out there. Make yourself familiar with which imprints and houses are publishing the kind of book you want to write, and target those houses when you’re pitching your idea.
And if you’re in New York next year, drop by BEA for a day and see for yourself how big and beautiful this industry really is. (Just wear comfy shoes, and don’t lose your map.)
I’ve been more interested in the response to Gawker blogger Emily Gould’s highly confessional 8,000-word cover story in this weekend’s NYTimes than in her article itself, which bugged me mostly because I found it not very well written. I was obsessed with the autobiographical as a field of study when in graduate school. I wonder what the scholars are saying ’bout this one.
In the popular realm:
Check out this clever response to the blogger takeover of prime old media real estate by my gal Alissa Quart over at CJR. “Take back the word count,” cries Q.
And this one, by Salon’s Rebecca Traister, which urges, “So rather than being troubled by the fact that Gould — or Bushnell, or Bradshaw, or whoever — has the spotlight, why not question why so few other versions of femininity are allowed to share it?”
What she said.
So a bit of confession this morning: I’d been having a bear of a time with my latest book proposal last week. I spent part of the week avoiding it and doing other things. Then I went to the beach for the weekend with my computer (and with Marco) and tried again. And then my writers’ group met last night and reaffirmed my faith.
So here’s a little shout out to my writers’ group, which is named Matilda, after the cat at the Algonquin Hotel, which is where we had our first meeting. And a shout out, too, to the Invisible Institute, my other writers group, which has been meeting now for 4 years. Yes, I am in two of these groups. Because writing groups keep me going, and this girl just can’t get enough.
And while I’m at it, a shout out to all the writers groups and communities out there that keep us writers going. Writing is SO much better when not tried alone.
Girls Write Now, my #1 favorite organization to get girls writing, is holding its Spring Reading at the Tribeca Barnes and Noble on June 8. Join me there? For more on what this amazing org is up to, check out their spring newsletter. (And if you share my love for this org and are feeling generous, donate here!)
Alissa Quart–who I’m off to meet with this morning–has the cover story of the Columbia Journalism Review this month. (Go Q!) Do check out her piece, “Lost Media, Found Media: Snapshots from the Future of Writing.” A chronic bridger, I think I might actually fall somewhere in between. Alissa interviewed a range of old (lost) and new (found) media types, including feministing’s Jessica Valenti, of whom she writes the following:
The young found media types I spoke with tend to focus more on invention than destruction. They were, for the most part, unflaggingly upbeat. Jessica Valenti, for instance, the twenty-nine-year-old founder and editor in chief of the popular feminist blog Feministing, which aggregates news items ranging from feminist responses to the presidential campaign to condom manufacturers’ responses to a new study of young women and STDs. The news hits are all interspersed with tart, partisan, intelligent, and sometimes raw commentary and opinion. Whatever Feministing is—blog, think tank, digest, “women’s†pages, feminist magazine—it’s a fine example of the new media as an improvement over the old. Unlike the “Hers†sections of yore—women’s magazines, or even Ms. Magazine—Feministing is not shaped by the fear of being offensive or “unrelatable†for “the average female reader.†In this way, like some other feminist blogs, it is head and shoulders above almost any writing on women’s issues in mainstream media. “I don’t see a lot of nostalgia from young feminists for the time when things were a lot worse,†said Valenti, who is tall with black Veronica bangs, and speaks a decibel or two louder than you do. “I studied journalism a bit but I didn’t find my voice until I had a completely open forum in the blogs.â€
Like Valenti, my younger journalist friends and colleagues imagine a kaleidoscopic future where the hoarier codes of journalism are put to rest: goodbye inverted pyramid, hello a nearly reckless immediacy; goodbye measured commentary, hello pungent or radical or vulgar commentary. Yet beyond style, the new reality is that there is no clear, long-term career plan for Found Media-ites—or even for most of the rest of us. We’re in the sort of moment in history that some people will say they were glad to witness, but only twenty years hence.
Read the full article here.
Last night I went to one of those fabulous book parties that remind me why I love New York (and believe me, I needed the reminder; it had been a hectic week and this city often wears me down). The fabulousness was not the food (which was delicious) or the space (which was mind-blowing), but the people. It was fabulousness of a feminist variety.
The party was hosted by Gloria Steinem and in attendance were trailblazing women like Suzanne Braun Levine, Alix Cates Shulman, Joanne Edgar, Mia Herndon, and Amy’s longtime writing partner Jennifer Baumgardner, who beamed in the back as Amy was properly celebrated. I promise to share thoughts about Amy’s book Opting In: Having a Child without Losing Yourself which is why we were all there, of course, in another post very soon. But first let me just share that Gloria introduced Amy as “the smartest person I know.” If that isn’t a compliment, I don’t know what is.
…which I sadly could not make sounded awesome. Basically, GWN mentors came together with teaching artists from Teachers & Writers Collaborative for Ladies Night, an evening of readings. Readers included GWN mentors Grace Bastidas, Mary Roma, and Erica Silberman, plus teaching artists Nicole Callihan and Sheila Maldonado. For upcoming events from these folks, check out the GWN calendar, here.
So yesterday I attended a really great intergenerational conversation hosted by Woodhull, housed in the lovely conference room at In Good Company, a place whose company I’d love to one day keep. More on that event soon! But in the meantime, I wanted to let folks know that a special GWP discount may be available for this weekend’s nonfiction writing retreat, “Raise Your Voices: An Intensive Nonfiction Writing Retreat for Women”, where I’ll be teaching along with Kristen Kemp and Katie Orenstein. For more on that, please email me (address below) or Elizabeth Curtis, ecurtis@woodhull.org. Just don’t forget to tell them GWP sent you in order to receive the discount.
And while I’m on the topic of platform, I’m personally looking for models of author websites that incorporate blogs and workshop listings, because my workshop offerings are expanding. I’m working with a fabulous intern this summer (Kristen Loveland) to revamp things a bit over here at GWP. So far on my list I’ve got Elizabeth Merrick and Marci Alboher. Anyone seen anyone else that’s doing this on their site, and doing it well? Thanks for leads, in comments!
And PS. Keep an eye out for some guest posting from Kristen in this space too. I’m going to be learning a lot from her, I know.
