Volume 8
An Online Literary Magazine
December 16, 2013

 

Tales from the Book Tour

Nonfiction

Nick O’Connell

 


 

T
o paraphrase Mark Twain, the death of the book has been greatly exaggerated. Digital media may have diminished the cultural status of the book, but they haven’t eliminated it. People still read books. People still write them. People still revere them. But the delivery and the selling of them has changed enormously.

 

Some of the changes are worrisome for authors. The decline of some independent book stores makes it difficult for new authors to get traction for their titles. The financial problems of newspapers, especially metropolitan dailies, mean fewer book reviews, making it difficult to publicize a book.

 

But not all of the news is bad. Many independent book stores are thriving again. Social media represents a powerful tool for publicizing books. The rise of blogs and online magazines means potential new audiences for books. Publishing options proliferate, with e-books representing a potentially huge new market, and one that even self-published authors can easily access.

 

I learned the ins and outs of this firsthand during the recent tour for my novel, The Storms of Denali. After 25 readings and slide shows around the country, I'm happy to report that the novel has now sold out in hardcover and sold most of the trade paperback run.

 

During the tour, I had the privilege of meeting many wonderful people, reconnecting with old friends, and reading at some fantastic venues, including the REI store in Soho, Manhattan, the lovely old Appalachian Mountain Club Headquarters on Beacon Hill in Boston, cutting edge Black Diamond Equipment company headquarters in Salt Lake City, and the venerable Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle. I just returned from Alaska where I gave readings in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the storied Talkeetna Roadhouse, which I wrote about in the novel, as it serves as a kind of base camp for climbers flying to Mt. McKinley.

 

During the tour, I learned some important lessons for publishing, promoting and selling books:

 

1) Independent Bookstores are Your Friends - These stores are critical to launching and selling a book, especially one that may not be a bestseller or doesn't fall into a predictable sales channel like a how-to book. Many large corporations won't stock books without a clear track record or the potential for selling millions of copies. Indies will take a chance on these titles. They also provide a great place to read as they have the venue and audience to help sell your books.

 

2) Social Media are also Your Friends - Authors need to take advantage of Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads or Google Plus. Facebook proved very useful to me in getting people to readings. Some writers would prefer not to bother with Facebook or Twitter, but they're powerful tools for getting out the word.

 

3) Newspapers are Still Your Friends - Metropolitan dailies have taken a big hit, and some are out of business, like the print version of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. But local newspapers and weeklies remain healthy and often carry stories about books, particularly if the author is local and/or is doing a reading in the area. The dailies don't run as many book reviews as before, but they will publicize your reading and may write a story about you and your book if you approach them beforehand. I was lucky to get a recent full-page spread in the Sunday Arts Section of the Anchorage Daily News, great coverage for a book: ( http://www.adn.com/2013/09/07/3062610/storms-of-denali-tracks-the-mental.html

 

4) Find your Audience – I emphasize this topic in my classes for The Writer's Workshop. It becomes glaringly obvious whether you've succeeded when you try to fill seats for your reading. If you don't have a clear sense of your audience, you may struggle to get anyone other than your mom and immediate family to show up. You need to identify the people who want to read your book and enlist help in getting them to your readings. The American Alpine Club and the Appalachian Mountain Club were instrumental in helping me set up and publicize my readings.

 

Despite all the changes rocking the publishing world, the book still holds great appeal. There are now many ways to buy them, but readers still cherish hearing an author read and getting a signed copy of a book. Book promotion is increasingly falling on the author, but if you're willing to undertake the work, it can yield great benefits-strong sales, appreciative audiences, new friends and colleagues. And it can be a hell of a lot of fun.

 

In this, the eighth issue of The Writer's Workshop Review, we’re privileged to publish the introduction to Jonathan Waterman’s new nonfiction collection, Northern Exposure, which chronicles his remarkable career as a writer, photographer, and adventurer. He has recently joined The Writer’s Workshop as the instructor of the online Nature and Adventure course.

 

We’re also delighted to publish a revealing interview with Patricia Wells, a follow-up to the excerpt from her memoir, We’ve Always Had Paris…and Provence from our last issue. She and her husband, Walter Wells, the former executive editor of the International Herald-Tribune, will host my Travel, Food and Wine Writing Class in Provence at their wonderful house, Chanteduc. See details below.

 

This issue also features “Officially Orphans,” Beth Miller’s haunting foundling’s tale about her tumultuous early life in the California state foster care program; Dennis Vannatta’s amusing short story, “Samson,” about the potentially catastrophic consequences of shaving your head; Willard Manus’s “Gigolo Days and Nights,” a hilarious account of the chaotic final days of a humor magazine; “Les Enfants Terribles,” my story about the minefields of transnational child-rearing.

 

I'd like to thank the following people for their help with this issue: all the writers who contributed; Managing Editor Kathleen Glassburn, Irene Wanner, Jane Alynn and Scott Driscoll for careful reading and editing of manuscripts.

 

We hope you enjoy the eighth issue of The Writer's Workshop Review. Please let us know what you think, and if you have a story that might work for us, please send it. We read all year and welcome submissions at any time. We look forward to hearing from you!

 

 

All best,

Nicholas O’Connell

Publisher/ Editor

The Writer’s Workshop Review

nick@thewritersworkshop.net

 

 


Travel, Food and Wine Writing Class in Provence - May 18 - 24 - Travel writing, food writing and wine writing are some of the most appealing genres of nonfiction, calling on all of an author's skills—dramatic scenes, character sketches, concrete detail, point of view, scene by scene construction—to compose compelling, engaging travel narratives. This six-day intensive travel writing class will introduce you to essential techniques of travel, food and wine writing as well as giving you expert, insider advice about how to submit and publish finished travel stories.

 

In addition to learning these skills, you'll meet renowned food writer Patricia Wells and her husband Walter Wells, the former executive editor of the International Herald Tribune, at their enchanting house, Chanteduc, overlooking Vaison. You'll dine at outstanding restaurants, visit some of the world’s best wineries, and explore fascinating historic sights. You’ll enjoy exclusive behind-the-scenes tours unavailable to the general public. Best of all, you’ll receive up-to-date story ideas from local industry experts that you can turn into finished travel, food and wine stories by the end of the course and submit to newspapers and magazines for publication.

 

The six-day travel writing class will take place in Vaison la Romaine, one of the most beautiful medieval hill towns in Provence, and a center of the region's cultural and epicurean life since Roman times. The cost will be $2,600 per person, including accommodations and most meals. (single supplement, $500 per person). Plane fare, transit to and from Vaison la Romaine and some meals extra (see itinerary below).

 

To enroll, please send me a non-refundable deposit of $800 to 201 Newell St., Seattle, WA 98109. Enrollment is limited to 10.

 

For more information, contact me at nick@thewritersworkshop.net, 206-284-7121, or take a look at my website: http://www.thewritersworkshop.net/travel.htm.

 

 

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