In the publishing world, comp titles (comparative titles) are very important. The comps help editors make acquisition decisions to figure out who the audience will be for your book and how well your book will sell;. Editors also examine the sales records for those books. Comp titles can also put a literary agent or reader in the right mindset when trying to pitch a book. The overarching theme of my…
Interview and Book Giveaway: Sandra A. Miller, Author of Trove: A Woman’s Search for Truth and Buried Treasure
I am pleased to introduce Sandra A. Miller to the Debutante Ball this Week! Her memoir, Trove: A Woman’s Search for Truth and Buried Treasure, was recently published by Brown Paper Press. At the same time, she launched an online treasure hunt with a valuable prize, so readers can also experience the thrill of looking for an actual treasure. Her essays and articles have appeared in over one hundred publications…
Writing Dreams — Dreams of Writing
Dreams are boring. That’s a rule in fiction. Also in life. No one wants to hear about your dreams. Not your night dreams, or nightmares, and not even your regular life dreams or goals: The former lacks narrative structure (“and then you were flying? Wait, I thought you were a shark?”) the latter makes people nervous because they may not be in touch with their own naked ambition. I don’t want…
Writing dreams for my debut year
Have I been dreaming for years what it would feel like to have a novel coming out? Yes! Do I have any idea what to do with myself now that this dream is becoming reality? No! Over the years, I definitely have held some big “wouldn’t that be amazing” dream bubbles related to the novel debut. I would love if the book made bestseller reading lists, especially for YA or…
Being unrealistic for my debut year
My problem, friends, is that I’ve spent too much time being a realist. I was realistic about my prospects when I graduated college, and instead of throwing myself into writing novels, I became a journalist. Instead of going out to LA to pursue a film career, I took the more realistic path of starting a local company that produced weddings, corporate video and commercials. I’ve been a realist all my…
Kathleen’s Career Fantasties: A Bucket List for the Ages
Writing a career bucket list seems in direct opposition to my New Year’s Resolution to take one thing at a time. But, I’m nothing if not a rule-follower, and my assigned topic this week is a bucket list, so here we go. It’s a writer’s dream: I’d like to buy a fancy new dress in order to attend a Hollywood party celebrating the successful adaptation of my work. Let’s take…
Writing Dreams for my Debut Year
For years I dreamed of writing a book and getting it published. Now that I’m only months away from publication, I’ve been dreaming about my wish list for my debut year. Some items on the list are pure fantasy. Some others might actually happen. Getting The Talking Drum reviewed in the New York Times Sunday books section—No elaboration needed Winning The Boston Authors Club Julia Ward Howe Prize—The prize, named…
Interview and Book Giveaway: Jocelyn Cullity, Author of The Envy of Paradise
I am pleased to introduce Jocelyn Cullity to the Debutante Ball this week! Jocelyn Cullity’s English family lived in India for five generations. A sequel to the award-winning Amah & the Silk-Winged Pigeons, her second novel about the takeover of India by Britain is an exquisitely told tale of 19th-century India—a deep rendering of the moment that India as a country was colonized; a brilliant illustration of Hazrat Mahal’s fearless…
The Most Challenging Part of Being a Writer (Apologies to Elsa)
Would you think me a bad parent if I told you my four year old has seen Frozen 2 three times? (Does that make it Frozen 6?) Well, I only saw it once. And at first the new anthem didn’t catch my gut the way “Let It Go,” did; I heard that anthem waaay before I became a mom and I knew it could be belted out ferociously even then. (Another…
The Book I’m Looking Forward to in 2020
In 2020 I’m looking forward to reading The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President’s Black Family, by Bettye Kearse, MD. I met Dr. Kearse, a retired pediatrician, a couple of years ago after we both had essays featured in the anthology, Black Lives Have Always Mattered, published by 2Leaf Press. She and I gave readings together at Porter Square Books and were featured panelists on Boston Neighborhood Network….
