Over on WriterUnboxed.com, I shared a post that covers two simple steps for how a writer can stay connected with readers, especially a writer who is overwhelmed with all that life throws at them. Here are the two steps:
Thanks!
-Dan
This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.
by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
Remember that ridiculous letter Franzen wrote to the Times this year about how there wasn’t really that much sexism in the book world? Remember how I laughed my booty off with all my fellow female writer friends? And then one of them and I joked about making bumper stickers that had on them Franzen’s even more ridiculous byline?
AND THEN REMEMBER WHEN MY FRIEND SENT EXACTLY THAT TO ME FOR CHRISTMAS???
Aaaaaahhhh I love it so much.
This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.
by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.
by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
I’ve never published an article or essay in a magazine. In fact, what I’ve published is limited to five things: three novels, an essay in an anthology, and a short story in a literary journal. I have no experience pitching magazine editors, and I don’t know much of anything about that editorial/publishing process.
But I told myself I was going to do everything I could to get the word about Bittersweet out. So even though it scares me a little, I’m pushing my boundaries and working on a few pieces that my publicist and I can pitch.
It helps that my publicist, Rachel, is a generous font of wisdom, experience and information. A few weeks back, we sat in her office and talked over the many themes that exist in Bittersweet which might appeal to a magazine. These include:
-family secrets
-a preppy/aspirational life
-summer vacations
-my connection to the place where Bittersweet is set
-girlhood friendships (which link to FriendStories.com)
-mother/daughter relationships
-the underbelly of the art world
We also came at it from a different angle, looking at editors/magazines where she had a strong connection, or saw a good match for Bittersweet, or places I’d imagined might be receptive to some of my ideas, from long-lead women’s magazines to online journals.
Then we started narrowing, throwing around specific topics and article ideas that could address the thematic possibilities we saw.
In the weeks since, I’ve been narrowing, refining, brainstorming, and writing. There are many more pieces to write, and there are days I feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount I feel the need to produce, but you know what? I also feel empowered by what I am able to create that could spread the word about my book. I feel lucky to have so much support, and I’m glad I started this process early so I feel I can devote ample time and energy to it.
This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.
by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
The gift I’ve given to myself the last couple of weeks, in the midst of trying to get a lot of other business done for Bitterweet, is to allow my mind to stretch a bit into my next book. A few months back, I thought I had it all figured out, but then realized I needed to go back to the drawing board. Which means the particular first steps of this book are being retraced, as I try to puzzle out how to change the book I thought I was going to write into the book I’m going to write.
Last week I was hard on myself about all this- frustrated when this transition wasn’t feeling as seamless as I wanted to be, when the characters weren’t fully formed (as they had been in the previous incarnation of this idea), when I didn’t know enough about the time period and some of the subject matter I’m writing about. But all that frustration was good, because when I took a step back from it over the weekend, I realized it meant I’m just not ready to write yet.
But I am ready to think.
So I’m stepping back from writing for a bit, and instead am diving into the “research” phase of things. Yes, some of it is formal research– Wikipedia has been an open tab on my desktop for most of today. But I also mean researching the people I’ll be writing about– the inner workings of their minds, their personal histories, their secrets.
Here, on my bulletin board, are some character sheets I worked up:
On each character sheet, I’ve included an image or two of what I imagine the characters might look like (since this book has some movie stars in it, I decided it would be fun to cast it like a movie):
And because much of the book hinges on a contested will, I put out an APB on Facebook for someone who knew a bit about California law (where the will is drawn up), and Elizabeth Silver, who shares with me the incomparable Christine Kopprasch as editor at Crown, graciously offered to spend an hour on Skype answering my insane and detailed “what if” questions (it helps that in addition to being a lawyer, she’s a writer, because then the “what if’s” didn’t seem too silly falling from my mouth):
I’m back to feeling good about the book. Sometimes it helps to escape the tyranny of the page for a bit…
