index? [12 Dec 2006|09:13pm] tircha Anybody ever had to do an index before? What's entailed? Hiring someone, or....? How much--either money or work--is it? The publisher of one of my next books wants me to have an index. I want to know what's entailed before saying yes. Thanks! post comment

tour funding question and hello [01 Oct 2006|02:38pm] default_diva hello all, i just joined this forum and thought i'd do a mini-introduction by way of saying hi, and post a question. i'm having a book of poetry published with a small press in toronto, launching at the end of november. i've been published in magazines, anthologies and collaborative 'zines and micro-publications before, but this is my first full-length publication. i'm not sure if this is a question more for canadian folks, but it doesn't have to be. i'm really, really hoping to do a spring tour (in spring '07, and would love to even do some dates before then) and because of arts bureaucracy and a very long story, my publisher isn't eligible for the usual tour funding available through the arts councils here (canada council, etc). (i know this is a stretch for most US authours and presses who never have these resources.) the way the arts councils are set up, i'm ineligible for most individual funding because it's assumed that i'd go though my publisher (so, the writers union, league of poets, etc). beyond that, these funds are mostly set up for people who are headlining festivals and one-time events, for airfare and that sort of thing. what i'm looking at is purchasing a 30 or 60 day greyhound pass (US for sure, Canada/US in theory) and having friends and colleaugues put on launches as part of existing events, at progressive bookstores, queer and activist spaces. which is a very different budget, much lower, but harder to account for. so, i'm wondering if there are private foundations, grants, scholarships (if i was to do workshops as part of the deal), etc that you know of that might be good leads for tour funding. i definitely have a network of people to put on shows and such, but i guess another question was whether there was a general protocol beyond having connections to pitch events to universities (through women's centres, english departments). any advice you have would be helpful. thanks, and i look forward to having this forum to learn from. 2 comments|post comment

my lovely publisher strikes again [31 Jul 2006|05:01pm] brownstargirl My publisher sent me an invoice two weeks ago for $300, for the books I left in Sri Lanka at the bookstore. At first I thought it was a mistake. Then she said that it wasn't, that I needed to pay her up front for books left at a store that she 'didn't have a relationship with.' This was never discussed prior to my going there. Since I got back from tour, we have a deal that if I have a gig where I sell books myself, I keep half and she keeps half, but this isn't something we discussed prior to my touring. I, naively enough (this is sarcasm) assumed that since I wasn't self publishing anymore she would deal with the bookstores directly. I just emailed her telling her this, that this was not something we discussed prior to my going to Sri Lanka and I don't have $300 right now. I'm less upset about this that I was last week. The worst thing she can do is deduct it from my royalties. I'm viewing this as self-publishing with distribution and without the printing bill. But: thoughts, people? Anyone else had to deal with a similar situaion? 1 comment|post comment

shipping costs [27 Jun 2006|04:33pm] brownstargirl Hi all, Hope this finds you well. I recently went on a tour to promote my first book. I gave my publisher the complete list of bookstores where I would be travelling two months before the first date. At the last minute, she asked that I bring books with me in my suitcase. She did not give me any instructions as to how to deal with the stores, selling them out of pocket, etc. When I sold out of the 35 I brought with me to San Francisco (the first stop) I called and told her she needed to ship books to New York or there would be no books for the launch. She ia now talking pointedly in several emails about the 'high expense' of shipping those books to the store. To my understanding, that was part of her job. Am I right? Thanks, Leah 6 comments|post comment

book tours while employed [03 Jun 2006|08:54pm] tircha Hey, all-- So it's looking like I've got a new book to write, which is happymaking. However, I'm talking to my publisher now about pub dates, and they want to release Fall '08, not late spring as I had hoped. By the fall I will have (God willing) completed my graduate work and will be, presumably, gainfully employed with an actual job in my chosen field--ie just starting probably full-time work at a new job (which, given my field, will most likely start late Aug/early Sept). I know I'm not the the first person ever to have to navigate this but... what do you do about having a real job and needing to run around doing publicity and such? Given the nature both of my work and this project, they're thinking of parading me around a bunch to speak. But... time off, etc? Thanks! post comment

An article from the Onion and a question [22 May 2006|11:59am] tupelo Novelist Thinks People Shrug 10 Times More Than They Actually Do BOSTON—According to his handful of readers, budding novelist Mosley Forstner, 23, thinks that people shrug with much greater frequency than they actually do. "Every time a character responds to something in Mosley's book, it's "'Suppose that's the way of things,' she shrugged" or "'Fine, then I'm leaving,' he shrugged,"" said Rodney Klein, a fellow student and peer reviewer of Forstner's. "Can't his characters just 'say' something once in a while?" When informed of the criticism, Forstner responded with a grunt and a curt, dismissive motion of his shoulders intended to convey nonchalance. ********************* That was to get your attention. Now the question. I just got word from my publisher that they are taking the hardback edition of my first book out of print and I can purchase as many copies as I want at a rock bottom price. How many copies should I buy? How many would you buy? I want to take maximum advantage of the cheap price, but I don't want to be using them for coasters when I'm eighty. post comment

sales figures [20 Apr 2006|11:51am] tircha Anybody have any tips on getting sales figures for books not your own? (I'm thinking about competing titles for a proposal I'm working on). Googling around doesn't seem to help and I'm pretty sure publishers don't just give that sort of info out over the phone (but maybe I'm wrong about that?) Any suggestions gratefully appreciated! 1 comment|post comment

galley question [12 Mar 2006|01:15pm] brownstargirl Hey people, I have a question about galleys: How crazy have yours looked when you got them? Is it normal, for example, for the galleys tot be the final revisions you sent your publisher, but to include stuff from the original MS you submitted over a year ago? Also, how soon before the launch should one be getting them? I ask because mine are just in hand a month before the launch date, and they're crazy- the formatting is all over the place, and many things that were deleted from the final edits are in. Also, there are two versions of the acknowledgements page- one from the final edits, and the one from the original MS smashed in under it. Is my small publisher on downers or is this regular? Thanks and love, Leah 5 comments|post comment

to introduce myself : [28 Jan 2006|07:29pm] unemployia Hello, my name is China Martens, and my book "Future Generation: The Zine-Book for Subculture Parents, Kids, Friends, and Others" is currently in the editing process with Atomic Books Publishing - and they are aiming to have it out in May. Atomic Books is an independent book store in Baltimore, that just started a small press. They put out one book so far - LuLu Eightball (which is a comic strip.)Mine is set to be the second or third book out from them (I'm not sure on that) It is basically a compilation/best of - of the last 15 years of my zine, that I started in 1990. The way I've heard it, is that small press is one step up from being a zinester, and thats how I see this project. Atomic Books are very together people, they really do book readings and publicity well - but I think that will be local. To promote it, take my zine-book on the road and stuff will be my doings. I want to go to alot of zine conventions and stuff like that. I feel like I might be a little dirty bastard in this community (but in a good way, you like me, yes?) because I consider my first book a zine-book as I cross over to being published by somebody else. I am very happy - all these years and finally I dont' have to do the zeroxing! I also am a little worried, just slighty - like : will it really come out? I used to think for the longest time, they might reject me in the editing process but that is not going to be happening. So now I worry that if editing will make deadlines so it actually can come out in May, will the graphic designer (who I am siked to have, he's an local award winning art dirrector) might get too tired to do my project, the bookstore might decide they dont' have enough money, ect. It is deffinately a strange process this first time book thing. I think it helps to have experience with self-publishing. I am starting now to make a list of places I could go on "tour" - its all so informal - and I have a pretty strong base of friends and allies to visit. but I am very excited to realize I qualify to join this group! I just realized, that with a book in the editing process, that means it is in production - and I can join! I think you all are very wonderful and this is a smart resource idea. post comment

memoir proposal [26 Jan 2006|12:33pm] tircha hey, there-- Anybody out there ever written a book proposal for a memoir? Any tips on writing the intro/overview and annotated table of contents specifically for memoir? I'm much more comfortable doing this stuff for straight nonfiction..... Thanks! 1 comment|post comment

Small press poetry advice [26 Aug 2005|05:22pm] brownstargirl Hey folks, Hope all is well. I've lurked for a bit, but ths is my first post. My name is Leah Piepzna-Samarasinha; I'm a Toronto-based queer Sri Lankan poet and writer. My work has been anthologized in some recent queer and feminist anthologies, I write for Colorlines and Bitch magazines, and I perform a lot. After self-publishing a limited edition chapbook version last year while I waited for the five surviving queer/feminist small presses that do poetry to get back to me, Toronto South Asian Review Books offered to published my first collection of poetry, Consensual Genocide , with a February 2006 release date. They're a small, progressive diasporic South Asian press in Toronto (www.tsarbooks.com). I went with them even though they weren't my first pick just because I'd been waiting for a really long time to find a publisher. I also went with them despite a friend's warnings that they were good, but that you sometimes had to email them multiple times to get a response and that they'd fucked up in some fairly big ways with the book she did with them (ie, forgetting to submit it to the Lammies and not wanting to send out review copies.) Do any poets out there who've been in a similar situation have any advice? I'm worried because it's August, I've emailed my publisher a bunch of times this summer asking to meet to start finalizing stuff and she's not gotten back to me. I know almost all small presses are one-woman shows and that people get busy, I know that even with a big press you have to do much of the work of promoting and touring the book yourself, but I'm concerned that things will fall through the cracks. Any advice or experiences you have to share are much appreciated. Thanks and love, Leah 6 comments|post comment

Agent reccs? [19 Jul 2005|10:47am] spitkitten Anyone have any reccs (personal or hearsay) they feel OK about sharing for an agent with an interest in more alt-y non-fiction? I have a proposal for a "alternative" wedding guide--edgy, fringey stuff, but with a big market. My fiction is small press, so I have managed to avoid agent-ville, but this book could land at a bigger house and I need an agent... Thanks! 4 comments|post comment

[24 May 2005|07:03pm] beelavender Hey there -- some information: my reading is at the National Arts Club on May 31 is by invitation only. This means that if you want to attend you must RSVP by sending email to the publisher: Akashic7@aol.com ... post comment

new [24 May 2005|10:34am] letters_in_sand Hi all. I just joined. Hope you don't mind. I am here mostly to listen and learn about the publishing industry as I'm thinking of pursuing a career as an editor. I will mostly, if not entirely, be listening. Hope that's cool. post comment

nyc [17 May 2005|04:02pm] beelavender Hey - anyone going to BEA this year? I'll be there .... it was lovely to meet many of you last time! Also, if you live in the city, consider coming to this: Tues., May 31, 7pm Accompanied Library National Arts Club 15 Gramercy Park South, #6C New York, NY Readings by Bee Lavender and Miles Marshall Lewis (cover charge) 7 comments|post comment

[16 May 2005|09:33am] spitkitten Thought y'all might get a kick out of this: http://www.annarae.com/rejected.html post comment

Cherry [23 Mar 2005|10:43am] charlottecooper The rights to my novel, Cherry, have reverted back to me because it's sold out its print run and my original publisher has decided to stop publishing books for a while. I want to sell the book to another publisher, because I think it needs to be out in the world. Cherry is a literary dyke porn novel, it's racy and trashy, but it also has artistic merit, according to Canada Customs, who tried to ban it for obscenity. It won the Diva Readers' Best Book award in 2002. More information about it is on my site www.charlottecooper.net I'm looking to target independent publishers based in the US, but I'm open-minded and open to other options too. Is there anyone you would recommend? 2 comments|post comment

revised schedule... [11 Mar 2005|11:11am] beelavender Spoke too soon... here is the full Lessons in Taxidermy book tour: Tues., April 12, 7pm, Chicago, IL, Quimbys Wed., April 13, 6pm, Madison, WI, A Room of One's Own Thurs., April 14, 7pm, Minneapolis, MN, Arise Bookstore Fri., April 15, 8pm, Iowa City, IA, Prairie Lights Sat., April 24 & Sun., April 25 LA, CA LA Times Festival of Books Tues., April 26, Los Angeles Barnes & Noble West Pico Blvd. Wed., April 27, 7pm, San Francisco, CA, City Lights Fri., April 29, 7pm, Portland, OR, Reading Frenzy Sat., April 30, 2pm, Seattle, WA, Elliot Bay Books Sun., May 1, 4pm, Olympia, WA, Plenty Tues., May 3, NYC, NY, KGB Reading Series Wed., May 4, NYC, NY, Bluestockings Hope to see some of you on the road! post comment

Holiday question [13 Dec 2004|03:45pm] tupelo Do you exchange gifts with your agent and/or editors? If so, what are some appropriate gifts? 3 comments|post comment

Auditing your publisher [07 Oct 2004|10:00am] tupelo Has anyone here ever audited their publisher? Rita Mae Brown recommends it. If you have, what was your experience? post comment

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