Lisa Silverman wrote a fabulous piece in the Jewish Journal with 5 more reviews of Jewish books that have recently come out. The books she reviewed were Jeremy’s Dreidel, Maccabee Meals, Room for Baby, How Do Dinasaurs Say Happy Chanukah, and Barry Deutch’s follow-up to Hereville. Room for Baby and How Do Dinasaurs Say Happy Chanukah were recent PJ Library selections, and my kids enjoyed both (especially the latter. They also liked another PJ Library selection, A Horse for Hanukkah), but I’m really, really excited about How Mirka Met a Meteorite! I’ve already added it to my Goodreads To-Read list and if anyone wants to get me a Chanukah present…
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When is an author a Jewish author? Defining Jewish writing, Part 3
Last week was marked by big news in the book world. Famed-American Jewish author (Jewish meaning author’s ethnicity only, in this case–see previous posts on the subject) Philip Roth has declared that he’s retiring from writing. On the other hand, equally aged and famous American-Jewish author Herman Wouk has just put out another novel. Interestingly, these events didn’t just make headlines in Jewish publishing, but publishing as a whole.
The stereotypical Jew is considered “bookish,” pale due to the amount of time he spends indoors. We are called “the People of the Book.” How is it that Jews became inextricably interwoven with books? Continue reading
Early birds and the people who hate them–the writing habits of a morning person
I may be an early bird, but I promise I don’t feed worms to my kids for breakfast.
I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but I am a morning person. Why the shame? Because I have discovered that there is nothing that night owls hate as much as the behavior of us early birds. And it seems that there are a lot of night owls around, judging but the fuzzy eyeballs cast in my direction at 7 am, when I smile and bounce and chirp, “Good morning!” at them.
When I lived in that sleep-deprived state induced by having an infant at home, my natural biorhythms were completely disrupted. Continue reading
Patience is a virtue–Submit when it’s perfect, and then prepare to wait
As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been picking up the pace of my submissions, and also broadening the variety of publishers I’ve been submitting to. What I didn’t realize when I committed to this strategy is how much this would test my patience.
You might as well take a seat…this is going to take a while.
Let me explain. Usually, I write for Jewish magazines. If I submit a book, it’s usually a picture book involving Jewish subject matter. The world of Jewish publishers is very small, and the editors receive fewer submissions than those who handle secular material. The response time in the Jewish publishing world is much faster than in the secular publishing world. Moreover, some of the editors have gotten to know me over the years because they’ve employed me, read me online, or just like my style. I suspect that my subs don’t always go in the slush pile, at least in certain offices, B”H & bli ayin hara. Yes, I have to wait for a response from editors, but the wait is relatively short.
Re-entering the realm of secular publishing is a wake-up call to the realities of that world. Continue reading
3 Ways to use your words charitably–How to help people in need from far away
Yesterday, it took me hours to get myself writing. Instead of typing at my keyboard, I was numb with fear for the residents of Israel (and, in fact, for the children of Gaza, whose safety is in jeopardy–regardless of who is jeopardizing it, which is a political question I refuse to address here). It’s only a couple weeks since Superstorm Sandy hit the eastern seaboard of the U.S. People lost homes, places of worship, jobs, every material good they possessed. And here I sit in California, comfortable and in no immediate threat of danger. There are no sirens warning of incoming rockets blasting in my neighborhood, and the rain outside is just a sprinkle.
On this blog, I write about words, and how to employ them. Today, I’m going take a break from discussing professional writing to give 3 ways you can use your words to help people in Israel and the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
1) You can blog to raise money for a (legitimate) charitably organization who will be helping the victims of Sandy (such as the Jewish charity Achiezer and the secular American Red Cross).
2) You can write a letter or email (or post on a Facebook page) to a friend in Israel or in New York (or other Sandy-affected area). If you don’t know what to say, just say, “I want you to know I’m thinking about you. I’m far away, but you are not forgotten.”
3) You can write something to bring goodness in the world–a letter apologizing to someone you hurt, intentionally or not; a letter to someone lonely; something kind and beautiful. Then mail it.
10 Ways to show your favorite authors just how much you love them
Pretend you’ve just opened up your favorite magazine. You see a name–the name of your favorite writer, whose articles you always like. You flip right to the page with their latest story and start to read.
Or maybe there’s an author you like so much that you head for the book shop as soon as their newest title comes out. Or perhaps your librarian knows they are your favorite writer and steers you to all their books.
Or maybe there’s a book you always recommend to friends, but no one’s ever heard of that author or that book before.
How do you love me (and my blog), let me count the ways…
I’ve been doing research about marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) in the last few weeks, and what’s interesting is that for writers, many of the best ways to promote our work are free—but depend on the participation of our fans to succeed.
How can you help writers like the ones I described above improve their sales and market visibility?
Here are a few steps. Continue reading
Rebecca Klempner 