Sticky Notes Blog

A blog of writing news, tips, and inspiration from Fat Plum

Julie to present at Pennwriters conference

Fat Plum's Julie Long will be presenting "Get Real About Nonfiction" at the Pennwriters Conference May 13-15 in Pittsburgh. The conference offers many great sessions, plus the chance to meet agents and mingle with authors and writers. Hope to see you there!

Posted by Julie on April 28, 2005
This entry was posted in the following categories: Coming attractions

The Thurber Treat writing contest

Writer Elizabeth Kann gives us this heads up: You have until 4 pm on May 2 to enter a 300-word fable with a humorous moral, much like James Thurber did in his "Fables for our Time" collection. The Thurber Treat contest is the annual kickoff to the Thurber House Literary Picnics, a series of lawn-side readings and dinners with authors who have an Ohio connection. Winning authors will be guests of Thurber House at the June 15 Picnic. To enter, complete the application form.

Posted by Julie on April 28, 2005
This entry was posted in the following categories: Calls for submissions

Inbox novel: The Daughters of Freya

An intriguing idea: a fictional story played out real-time through emails, delivered straight to your mailbox in readable doses. Jane Perrone of the Guardian Unlimited describes it:

The story centres around a journalist called Samantha Dempsey, who begins to investigate a cult in California that recruits women to sleep with strangers to bring about world peace. She does so after getting a desperate email from a friend whose daughter has been inveigled into the group, known as the Daughters of Freya.

It's as though some invisible IT gremlin is bcc'ing on you on a series of juicy messages as they're sent: a "24" via email, if you like.

The story is The Daughters of Freya, written by Michael Betcherman and David Diamond. At the low, low price of $7.49 US ($9.99 Cdn), this novel is a bargain for mystery lovers -- so long as they don't mind waiting for the next chapter to arrive in their inbox.

I signed up for the free preview. While this isn't my sort of mystery -- I'm more inclined to Donald E. Westlake or Elmore Leonard -- its topical combination of sex and cults putting young women in peril will hit many readers' hot buttons.

More importantly to us at Fat Plum, this demonstrates an interesting way to get your book read. It's not traditional publishing by a long shot, but if your story is good then word of mouth will spread (and quickly on the Internet). When it comes time for you to sell your next book, publishers will be more likely to take notice.

Posted by Cindy C on April 06, 2005
This entry was posted in the following categories: Marketing and promotion, Online publishing

Viral ads for books becoming more common

What had been an occasionally addition to a book's ad campaign has gained more awareness: online viral "movies" promoting books:

Over the last few years, many book authors have discovered that they can increase awareness of themselves and their works by maintaining an online presence, often in the form of a blog. But until recently, the opportunity for using the web's multimedia capabilities for book promotion has been limited.

Now that is changing. With the advent of services like VidLit, which produces short, humorous, animated Flash films about books, authors have a new way to reach online readers. Because of the viral quality of online videos, some writers are finding success at the end of the broadband pipe.

"I think VidLit is such a terrific idea (because) it creates at least 60 seconds of entertainment and information about a book and allows a publisher and author to use that as a calling card for a book in a much more expansive and elaborate way," said novelist M.J. Rose, who is planning a VidLit for her novel, The Halo Effect.

(Link thanks to Adrants.)

Posted by Cindy C on April 04, 2005
This entry was posted in the following categories: Marketing and promotion