► Members of the Authors Guild have about a month left to take advantage of their extremely generous discount offer on registration to Book Expo America, May 24 - 26 in New York City.
► If you are an essay writer (or simply love reading well-crafted essays), then you probably know about The Pedestrian. Now, you can gain online access to the full text of most of the journal's pieces with a 24-hour, $2.99 subscription.
► Two interesting pieces over at the Nieman Journalism Lab: A former editor-in-chief of the Sunday New York Times Magazine, and a former New Yorker writer, have a conversation about the future of long-form journalism, and a look at what the new paywalls at major newspaper websites may cost writers.
► Spend any time on Twitter? Then you might want this list of women in publishing who regularly tweet.
► Local writers, next Saturday, March 26, the West Caldwell Public Library, is hosting Women Poets Reading Poems that Reflect the Lives of Women. Included on the roster of two dozen-plus area poets are several who have been featured here on this blog.
► Over at Christian Writers Submission Information blog, I was pleased to find a wide range of calls for anthologies, journals and other projects (including many paying markets) that weren't strictly (or only) in the Christian writing lane.
► Congrats to my friend Kathy Briccetti, author of Blood Strangers: A Memoir, for her Lambda Literary Award nomination.
► Lisa Dale, author of several novels, including Slow Dancing on Price's Pier (release date April 5), is offering a free ebook download, 10 Simple Questions That Can Make or Break Your Author's Blog.
► Finally, the start date of my next online *I Should Be Writing* Boot Camp for Procrastinators and Busy People has been moved back to Monday, 3/28 so you still have time to register (that is if you don't procrastinate…) My Rutgers continuing education class, Memoir & Creative Nonfiction Writing, begins Saturday, 3/26, on the New Brunswick campus; registration accepted until Tuesday evening, 3/22.
Have a great weekend.
Showing posts with label Kathy Briccetti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kathy Briccetti. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2011
Friday, April 16, 2010
Friday Fridge Clean-Out: April 16th Edition
► One of the many nonfiction writers I admire is Susan Orlean. She’s sending out an occasional e-newsletter detailing progress on her next book about of all (non)things, Rin Tin Tin.
►January Magazine has an interesting blog.
► This Mediabistro summary has links to several items examining 2009 publishing stats, including an eye-opening report which found that NONtraditional books outnumbered traditionally published ones by nearly three to one, and that 74 percent of traditionally published books were the product of only 10 publishing houses.
►Speaking of self-published books, a new MediaShift piece examines the many pitfalls.
►Essayists in or near Manhattan -- on April 24, get thee to: In Praise of the Essay: Practice and Form - First Annual Symposium, co-sponsored by Welcome Table Press and Fordham University’s English Department and Creative Writing Program.
► How much do I love writing prompts? A lot. Over at Write it Sideways, there are 50 new prompts perfect for creative nonfiction writers, including several I’ve never seen before.
►My web wanderings often take me to these sites, and if I had more time, I’d read every single word at Narrative Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Narrative Digest at the Nieman Foundation for Narrative Journalism at Harvard, and Brevity Journal.
► The great part about pre-ordering a book months before publication is that when it finally arrives, it’s the nicest surprise. That’s what happened when my friend Kathy Briccetti’s first memoir, Blood Strangers, arrived the other day. Even though I read the final draft, the book is now calling to me.
► Finally, although I’m on a conference-diet this year, the Writers Conference at Marymount Manhattan College on June 3 is mighty tempting. Were I to go – and I’m not, not, NOT going – I’d opt for the panels on humor, small presses, agents and nonfiction editors.
►January Magazine has an interesting blog.
► This Mediabistro summary has links to several items examining 2009 publishing stats, including an eye-opening report which found that NONtraditional books outnumbered traditionally published ones by nearly three to one, and that 74 percent of traditionally published books were the product of only 10 publishing houses.
►Speaking of self-published books, a new MediaShift piece examines the many pitfalls.
►Essayists in or near Manhattan -- on April 24, get thee to: In Praise of the Essay: Practice and Form - First Annual Symposium, co-sponsored by Welcome Table Press and Fordham University’s English Department and Creative Writing Program.
► How much do I love writing prompts? A lot. Over at Write it Sideways, there are 50 new prompts perfect for creative nonfiction writers, including several I’ve never seen before.
►My web wanderings often take me to these sites, and if I had more time, I’d read every single word at Narrative Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Narrative Digest at the Nieman Foundation for Narrative Journalism at Harvard, and Brevity Journal.
► The great part about pre-ordering a book months before publication is that when it finally arrives, it’s the nicest surprise. That’s what happened when my friend Kathy Briccetti’s first memoir, Blood Strangers, arrived the other day. Even though I read the final draft, the book is now calling to me.
► Finally, although I’m on a conference-diet this year, the Writers Conference at Marymount Manhattan College on June 3 is mighty tempting. Were I to go – and I’m not, not, NOT going – I’d opt for the panels on humor, small presses, agents and nonfiction editors.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Friday Fridge Clean-Out
►Like your book reviews short? How about 140 characters short? Check out Littweets.
►My friend Kathy Briccetti is posting sections of her memoir-in-progress, a nontraditional book of lyric essays and poetry reflecting on her life as a school psychologist working with children on the autism spectrum, as well as the mother of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome.
►Most writers, and almost all of those who compete for freelance writing assignments, are protective of our ideas. Sometimes too protective, as one long-time magazine editor, Michael Caruso says in an interview over at Mike's Writing Workshop:
►My friend Kathy Briccetti is posting sections of her memoir-in-progress, a nontraditional book of lyric essays and poetry reflecting on her life as a school psychologist working with children on the autism spectrum, as well as the mother of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome.
►Most writers, and almost all of those who compete for freelance writing assignments, are protective of our ideas. Sometimes too protective, as one long-time magazine editor, Michael Caruso says in an interview over at Mike's Writing Workshop:
"I know a lot of writers are skittish about this. They think their ideas are going to be stolen. Believe me, at major publications, theft of ideas is not really a huge issue. So don’t be worried about losing an idea. And if you are, if you’re too attached to one thing or a couple of things, then you don’t have enough ideas. You have to become better at coming up with them. If you’re really having trouble coming up with more than one idea at a time, you need to work harder at that skill. The people who are the most successful at this are the least afraid of someone stealing from them. Their attitude is, “Okay, I dare you, steal this one. I have 20 more.”
If you think one of your ideas is so precious, you probably don’t have enough of them to make it in this business. You have to be a little more cavalier, and less attached to your ideas, just as you need to be less attached to your words during the editing process.And just because you have one really great idea doesn’t make you a writer. Just like having one great idea for a movie doesn’t make you a filmmaker."
►Stumbled upon Good Books in Bad Times. Need I say more? If so: "a resource for books that provide comfort and serve as a force for good in difficult times"
►Have a bit of fun with Literature Map. Type in the name of an author you like, and get a visual "map" to other authors you might like. The closer their name floats to your author, the greater the chances their books will also appeal.
Have a great weekend.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
A Pushcart Nod to A Good Friend
We writers cannot hear it enough – perseverance plus talent equals….well in the case of my good friend Kathy Briccetti …a Pushcart Prize nomination. Kathy is one of those writers who just keeps going. While her memoir is making rounds at publishers, she just keeps on: writing, re-writing and submitting -- essays, flash fiction, poetry, nonfiction in experimental forms.
Kathy will have a long career because she believes in her work enough to keep going, even when the rejection notices seem a tad too plentiful, and – just as significantly – even when a big success comes her way and lesser writers might be tempted to kick back.
In addition to her literary work (which is extraordinary), Kathy writes book reviews for the San Francisco Chronicle, teaches writing in the Bay Area, and occasionally works as an editor. She keeps her eye trained on long term goals – publishing her excellent memoir Blood Strangers: Searching for Family, Finding my Place – and in the meantime, she puts her butt in the chair, at her Internet-free, away-from-the-house-and-kids writing studio, a set number of days and hours each week.
Kathy’s Pushcart nod is for her essay, “Blood Strangers” (adapted from her memoir), which appears in the December issue of Dos Passos Review. When she graduated from the Stonecoast MFA program last January, Kathy read this piece, which she explains, “includes scenes from the beginning and the end of the memoir, in what I hoped would be an interesting juxtaposition. I guess it worked.”
Kathy will have a long career because she believes in her work enough to keep going, even when the rejection notices seem a tad too plentiful, and – just as significantly – even when a big success comes her way and lesser writers might be tempted to kick back.
In addition to her literary work (which is extraordinary), Kathy writes book reviews for the San Francisco Chronicle, teaches writing in the Bay Area, and occasionally works as an editor. She keeps her eye trained on long term goals – publishing her excellent memoir Blood Strangers: Searching for Family, Finding my Place – and in the meantime, she puts her butt in the chair, at her Internet-free, away-from-the-house-and-kids writing studio, a set number of days and hours each week.
Kathy’s Pushcart nod is for her essay, “Blood Strangers” (adapted from her memoir), which appears in the December issue of Dos Passos Review. When she graduated from the Stonecoast MFA program last January, Kathy read this piece, which she explains, “includes scenes from the beginning and the end of the memoir, in what I hoped would be an interesting juxtaposition. I guess it worked.”
Thursday, May 24, 2007
How it Happened or: GET ME REWRITE !
I am always thrilled for my writer friends when they achieve a writing goal -- that first byline, getting published in a choice spot, snaring an agent, snagging a book contract -- and after I say Congrats! the next thing that usually comes out of my mouth is: How did that happen? What I don't mean is how-did-you-get-so-lucky. I know it's not luck (well at least not all luck). What I am interested in is the backstory. I want to know what happens when sheer writing talent (a given among all my brilliant writer-buds), intersects with revisions, self-censoring, rewrites, critique, instinct, contacts, chutzpah, business savvy, whim, gut feelings and, above, all, perserverance.
And so it wasn't too much of a surprise that when I achieved one of my long-standing writing goals -- a personal essay published in the New York Times -- a few weeks ago, many nice emails from writing pals included inquiries along the lines of: How'd ya do that?
Here's how.
Let's go back about 19 months. I was just starting to think about applying to the Stonecoast MFA program. The piece began as a 2-page exercise based on a prompt from an instructor at an NYU continuing ed class. Then I expanded it into a 5-page piece for a different private class last winter and included it as part of my portfolio for admission to the MFA. When it came time to submit manuscripts for workshops at my first MFA residency, I rewrote and expanded it into a 12-page piece. My terrific workshop leaders, Richard Hoffman & Baron Wormser, had some input, of course, as well as the other writer-students around the table.
The workshop input led me to revise it, this time into a 4,000-word piece which I submitted, in September '06, to the editor of an anthology of mothers of special needs kids. When it was accepted, I began to submit it, in December '06, to magazines, with an eye for a prepublication excerpt, hopefully in a magazine that runs longish pieces. It didn't work out that way.
Oh, and on a dare, I also sent it to the New York Times. One can dream. A few magazines expressed interest; one was noncommital (we're thinking about it); one couldn't run it until six months after the anthology was due to be published; another simply confused me, with an elaborately worded semi-acceptance that had many strings attached.
In January '07 (on the day I arrived home from Stonecoast), a NY Times editor called to say she liked the piece, but of course it was entirely too long. Would I be interested in trying to adapt it into a 1,100-word piece? That sounded difficult and it was, because the difference between 4,000 words and 1,000 is not about line edits or cutting a few paragraphs here and there. It's about revising in the literal sense: Re-seeing, and thus, rewriting.
With the helpful critique of my MFA faculty-mentor, the fabulous Ann Hood, and critique from my friend and recent Stonecoast grad Kathy Briccetti, I did it. Well, I got it down to 1,200 words, and the editor helped me see how to trim the rest (trust me, there is a reason editors do what they do).
The piece was scheduled to run on April 1 (I shuddered to think my first crack at the New York Times was on April Fool's Day), but a week before, it was postponed to May 13 -- Mother's Day, a better fit for the tone of the piece. And that's when it ran.
Phew. If you had told me 10 years ago, when I was churning out P.R. copy by the boatload, most of which was completely disposable an hour later; or writing short newsy features with weekly deadlines, that I stick with a piece so long, I would have laughed.
I read the piece at the Montclair library last week, and afterward someone asked me, "How long did it take to write that?" I told her a short version of my write/edit/rewrite/revise/adapt saga. She looked horrified. Later, I thought about the previous 13 years -- of observations and scribbled notes while raising my son Sean (the star of the piece).
So, how long does a piece of writing "take"? And how does publication"happen"?
Depends. What's your story?
And so it wasn't too much of a surprise that when I achieved one of my long-standing writing goals -- a personal essay published in the New York Times -- a few weeks ago, many nice emails from writing pals included inquiries along the lines of: How'd ya do that?
Here's how.
Let's go back about 19 months. I was just starting to think about applying to the Stonecoast MFA program. The piece began as a 2-page exercise based on a prompt from an instructor at an NYU continuing ed class. Then I expanded it into a 5-page piece for a different private class last winter and included it as part of my portfolio for admission to the MFA. When it came time to submit manuscripts for workshops at my first MFA residency, I rewrote and expanded it into a 12-page piece. My terrific workshop leaders, Richard Hoffman & Baron Wormser, had some input, of course, as well as the other writer-students around the table.
The workshop input led me to revise it, this time into a 4,000-word piece which I submitted, in September '06, to the editor of an anthology of mothers of special needs kids. When it was accepted, I began to submit it, in December '06, to magazines, with an eye for a prepublication excerpt, hopefully in a magazine that runs longish pieces. It didn't work out that way.
Oh, and on a dare, I also sent it to the New York Times. One can dream. A few magazines expressed interest; one was noncommital (we're thinking about it); one couldn't run it until six months after the anthology was due to be published; another simply confused me, with an elaborately worded semi-acceptance that had many strings attached.
In January '07 (on the day I arrived home from Stonecoast), a NY Times editor called to say she liked the piece, but of course it was entirely too long. Would I be interested in trying to adapt it into a 1,100-word piece? That sounded difficult and it was, because the difference between 4,000 words and 1,000 is not about line edits or cutting a few paragraphs here and there. It's about revising in the literal sense: Re-seeing, and thus, rewriting.
With the helpful critique of my MFA faculty-mentor, the fabulous Ann Hood, and critique from my friend and recent Stonecoast grad Kathy Briccetti, I did it. Well, I got it down to 1,200 words, and the editor helped me see how to trim the rest (trust me, there is a reason editors do what they do).
The piece was scheduled to run on April 1 (I shuddered to think my first crack at the New York Times was on April Fool's Day), but a week before, it was postponed to May 13 -- Mother's Day, a better fit for the tone of the piece. And that's when it ran.
Phew. If you had told me 10 years ago, when I was churning out P.R. copy by the boatload, most of which was completely disposable an hour later; or writing short newsy features with weekly deadlines, that I stick with a piece so long, I would have laughed.
I read the piece at the Montclair library last week, and afterward someone asked me, "How long did it take to write that?" I told her a short version of my write/edit/rewrite/revise/adapt saga. She looked horrified. Later, I thought about the previous 13 years -- of observations and scribbled notes while raising my son Sean (the star of the piece).
So, how long does a piece of writing "take"? And how does publication"happen"?
Depends. What's your story?
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