Posted by Gloria Kelley on July 14th, 2008
The number of social networking/blogging sites available today can be overwhelming. The question is, can these sites help you with your book promotion? One of the newest and fastest growing social networking site is Twitter. Jen Miller, a freelance writer and book reviewer, tackles Twitter’s contribution to book promoting in a piece for Media Bistro.
Posted by Jocelyn on July 10th, 2008
Salem is taking the publishing world by storm. Over the next few months, bookstores will be seeing a rise in novels based in Salem, MA. The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry (William Morrow, August 2008), Sisters of Misery by Megan Kelley Hall (Kensington, August 2008) and The Heretics Daughter by Kathleen Kent (Little, Brown, September 2008) all focus on life in the same, small New England town that is steeped in tragic history.
This is an exciting trend that will only increase the amount of attention that this particular corner of our world already receives. There is movie buzz already for all three books and each one deals with a different aspect of Salem’s vibrant history. The Lace Reader and Sisters of Misery are both modern day stories with hints to the influential and ever-present history and The Heretics Daughter is an historical novel.
They are all novels that are being given a large presence in their respective publishing houses. The Lace Reader was a self-published novel that received one of the largest advances for a self-published novel, Sisters of Misery is launching Kensington’s young adult line and The Heretics Daughter was one of the most talked about books at Book Expo America with Little, Brown giving out an extraordinary number of galleys to booksellers.
USA Today just ran a piece in today’s paper about this exciting trend in literature. Check it out!
Posted by Jocelyn on July 9th, 2008
One of the best things you can do when building your writing career is to specialize in a certain area that highlights your expertise. By continuously covering topics in the same area, you will begin to build name recognition and essentially be “branding” yourself as the go-to person for your topic of choice. Specializing helps you to acquire media placements and creates a strong readership eagerly awaiting your next book.
This is essential for non-fiction writers but can also be applied to fiction writers, as well. One of our clients, Ad Hudler, writes about being the stay-at-home dad in two of his most recent works of fiction, HOUSEHUSBAND and MAN OF THE HOUSE. Both books deal with life in the home, whether you are taking on the role of Mr. Mom or trying to bring back your macho nature while still doing all of the household chores. Ad writes about what he knows and it comes across in his work. He is an expert on the life of the American Man/Dad and what that means to his life, his masculinity and his future. He is exploring a similar theme in both of these books and therefore creating his own specialty when it comes to fiction and viewpoint. He recently provided a book review over at GalleyCat on THE SCORE by Faye Flam. The review was a great outlet for Hudler to display his unique perspective and build a following.
The more you specialize in specific areas, the better your chances are for success in publishing.
Posted by Gloria Kelley on July 3rd, 2008
Kelley & Hall worked as the publicist for Brunonia Barry’s originally self-published novel, The Lace Reader. We helped to secure coverage that eventually led to a multi-million dollar deal with William Morrow.
The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry launches later this month. We worked with Brunonia Barry on her journey from being a self-published author to landing a deal with William Morrow. Here is an interview with Barry from Book Club Girl at the ALA.
Posted by Jocelyn on June 11th, 2008
Lisa Genova, self-published author of Still Alice, credits Kelley & Hall for getting her book noticed by national media, which resulted in a six-figure book deal.
We wanted to send a congratulations to our wonderful client, Lisa Genova, for her new deal with Simon & Schuster! Here is the mention from Publisher’s Weekly.
Anthony Ziccardi at Pocket was the victor in an auction for a first novel by Lisa Genova titled Still Alice; Vicky Bijur sold world rights. The book is about a successful 50-year-old professor and renowned linguistics specialist who has finally found time to enjoy her marriage and career now that her three children are grown, but whose accelerating memory lapses culminate in a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s. As she struggles with the steady stripping away of her cognitive abilities, she finds new meaning in the moment and a different level of intimacy in the indeterminate time that remains. Genova, who has a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard, is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer’s Association. Senior editor Kathy Sagan will edit, and planned pub date is early 2009; post-BEA, there are translation rights offers on the table in several countries.