http://editeyes.com The Business of Writing Your Way Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:58:49 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en On August 17, 2010, the Writer's Almanac reported: On this day in 1993, Random House offered Colin Powell $6 million for My American Journey — the largest advance ever for a celebrity memoir — and it became the fastest-selling book in the publisher's history. Since then, the largest advance ... http://editeyes.com/inequity When I was English instructor at a community college, I taught students that the comma preceding the "and" in a series was optional, like when you write "The butterflies, hummingbird and finch . . ." Optional means that it was their choice whether to include it or not. However, I ... http://editeyes.com/commas-in-a-series On July 25, 2010, my friend Agatha Hoff launched her book Burning Horses: A Hungarian Life Turned Upside Down. The event took place at the Maritime Museum in San Francisco where huge windows onto Aquatic Park and Alcatraz served as the backdrop for this auspicious moment. I choose the word "auspicious" ... http://editeyes.com/book-launch-burning-horses The book is out! The Right Sisters was published in June and our book launch is August 14 in Sonora. Ever since the project was finished in late April and the manuscript went to the publisher, I have felt strangely afloat. At first, I told myself it was OK to just ... http://editeyes.com/when-a-project-is-over-what-next The books I read in 2009 were varied, leaving me quite satisfied about that aspect of the year. I got an iPod for Christmas 2008, so I was able to listen to a lot of audiobooks, though I had a weird spell starting in August when I repeatedly rejected my audiobook ... http://editeyes.com/reading-list-2009 var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-10694814-2"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}Since it is not always possible to secure a wonderful retreat at some place like Norcroft or Soapstone (one place I've been, the other I've applied to), I often ... http://editeyes.com/making-a-writing-retreat The book launch for Between Two Women was one year ago this past weekend. It was a fabulous party and wonderfully validating. And it was my first promotional event! In the year since, I can't say I've been a highly successful book promoter, but I've learned a lot, and it ... http://editeyes.com/book-promotion-5-resources When I was pregnant with my third child, I read that each time a new child enters a family, a number of new relationships are formed, that number being relative to the number of people already in the family. In other words, in our family of 4, when we added ... http://editeyes.com/writers-groups-adding-members I recently spent 3 days working with Ellen Bass at the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference. Dorianne Laux says that Bass creates "poetry that goes straight to the heart." Her books, Mules of Love and The Human Line, are smart, intimate, and insightful. Ellen Bass is also a marvelous teacher. She ... http://editeyes.com/risk-discovery-ala-ellen-bass Last week I spent four days writing in a motel room. The opportunity for deeply focused work is certainly a luxury I can’t afford very often, either in terms of time or money. But I’m committed to finding ways to retreat so that I can write. A retreat needs to be ... http://editeyes.com/writing-retreat-supporting-the-process