Category Archives: Guest Posts

Round of the Best of 2012 Books Roundup

Posted On: December 20, 2012

Guest Post by Dell Smith

It’s mid-December already? Back the truck up! You know what that means. End of year book lists. The year’s best, worst, and in between books. We here at Beyond the Margins don’t go in for such pandering. I mean, who are we to judge a great book from a not so great book? Still, we’re not above linking to those who do. So let’s get to it:

Over at Pub Rants, Agent Kristin answers What Are The Big YA Debut Break Outs in 2012?  

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Love, Comfort, & Books

Posted On: December 4, 2012

 

Guest Post by Kris Alden

My friend Kris is the most avid reader that I know. (Yes, perhaps even equal to Joe Queenan.) Lately she’s on an even great tear, as she’s been going through chemo—and I’ve been taking on the only helpful role I can, while living hours apart: sending and recommending books. (We’ve been exchanging books for more years than I can count.)

Last week she sent me a lengthy recommendation, and at the same time answered a question I’d been curious about: would “The End of Your Life Book Club” be a good read for someone in Kris’s situation? The joyous answer to my unasked question is below:  

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Guest Post: Literary vs. Plot-Driven at War?

Posted On: October 10, 2012

By Chris Abouzied

A friend of mine recently said she hoped readers would view her latest novel as literary, not “plotty.”  By that, I think she meant she hoped no one would discount the artistry in her work just because it served up a sexy story.

Hearing plot being pitted against artistry always rubs me the wrong way, but I had to admit she had a point.  No one was going to say, “The son sleeps with his dead father’s mistress?!  A literary star is born!”  Plot, for whatever reason, seems to be on a par with skeletons in the physiology of literature—  

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Also posted in My Opinionated Self, Writing | 7 Comments

11 Things NOT To Do When Your Book Launches

Posted On: October 7, 2012

By M.J. Rose

Sometimes what you mustn’t do is just as just as important as what you must do.

I’ve had a dozen novels published and have made far more than a dozen mistakes. Which is why Randy Susan Meyers and I wrote a guidebook to help authors avoid making our mistakes. This list contains just a few my “must nots” inspired by the much longer list of “must dos” from What To Do Before Your Book Launch that just launched this week.  

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Also posted in Guest Blog, Launching a Book | 3 Comments

You Are What You Read

Posted On: March 16, 2012

A Guest Post

By Jamye Shelleby

Not too long ago, I went through a writing identity crisis. After years of calling myself a fiction writer—through my MFA, through revisions of my novel—I found that I no longer thought about writing fiction. I’d stopped narrating my everyday life as I’d once done; I’d stopped making up backstories for the cashiers at the grocery store. I knew I was still a writer, but I hadn’t finished a piece in years, and worse, I didn’t have any new ideas. If I wasn’t a fiction writer, who was I?  

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Scent Inspired the Book; Her Book Inspired a Perfume

Posted On: February 27, 2012

 


The Story Behind The Book of Lost Fragrances

by M.J. Rose

Several years ago, I went to a brocante – a flea market  - in Cannes, France. It was a perfect morning to peruse antiques; warm with a little breeze to mingle the scent of fresh flowers with seaside town’s fresh salty air.

One table that caught my attention offered an intriguing mix of items laid out as if they were resting on an elegant woman’s vanity.  

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Book Trailers, Book Promotion & Marriage

Posted On: April 21, 2011

GUEST POST BY MIDGE RAYMOND

Book promotion makes writing look like the easy part. Let’s talk about book trailers. I debated whether or not to make a trailer for Forgetting English when the book came out in 2009. Even as a writer and reader, I must confess that I’ve always found the concept of a book trailer a little strange; while movie trailers for films are an obvious marketing strategy, I think it’s a challenge for most writers (particularly fiction writers) to do justice to their books in a media that isn’t an obvious match with the product, i.e., words and story and the imaginative collaboration they create with the reader. How to translate this into video was a mystery to me. Actually, it still is.  

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Twitter Tips from Nina Badzin: Part Two

Posted On: April 18, 2011

Guest Post by Nina Badzin

(Nina is simply a genius of using social media–for those who missed Twitter Tips Part One, click here.)

Today I’m focusing on 4 tips. The overall theme is CONNECTION.

#1. TWITTER IS COMPRISED OF REAL PEOPLE: Maybe you feel left out on Twitter or feel you don’t “get it.” Twitter only works if you participate. Even if you’re more reserved in “real life,” I suggest speaking up on Twitter. If you find someone’s Tweet informative or helpful, retweet it, @reply your two cents, or send a direct message with a note of appreciation. The RT is probably the best option though in the world of Twitter where spreading the word is king. (Note: You can only DM people who are following you.)  

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Also posted in Writing | 2 Comments

The Doctor’s Rules for Writing

Posted On: April 14, 2011


By Kathy Crowley

Just the other day the Wall Street Journal sent a big notice to writers, the gist of which was, “Don’t quit your day job.”  According to the article, I could sell not only my first and second novels, but also my fifth, twelfth and seventeenth and still have better luck covering the rent by collecting bottle deposits on my neighbors recyclables. Imagine my disappointment when I had to put the letter to my boss — written in moment of euphoria upon completing the first draft of my novel (“Dear Jeffrey, Soon I will be a rich and famous writer, and the demands on my time and creative energy may no longer permit me to show up for work…”) — back in the drawer. Again.  

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Facebook Lurker or Facebook User: Who Are You?

Posted On: April 11, 2011

Guest Post by Nina Badzin

Aren’t all members of Facebook, in some respect, lurkers and voyeurs? Yes, but some people are less noble about it than others.

A loose definition of the official Facebook Lurker: one who spends time on Facebook, but avoids making his/her presence known with comments or status updates.  TO GO ONE STEP FURTHER, the official Facebook Lurker is: a person WITH a Facebook account who blatantly mocks Facebook Users for posting information on Facebook, but acts as if he/she is never actually on the site.  

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