The paperback version of my book Rell is now available. It took some last minute graphic design wrangling with the cover (3mm has never been so frustrating), but it’s now officially out there in the world. There’s still a lot of things I want to keep doing for it in terms of promotion and just…
The paperback formatting was definitely the hardest practical part of the self-publishing process. It gave me a whole new respect for copy editors, book designers, and I can’t even imagine the skill it would have taken to create these things before the computer era. It made me feel grateful to live in an era where…
I’m always reading multiple books at one time – at least one book for work (history or teaching), at least one fiction book, and at least one audiobook. For awhile I had so many of my library audiobook holds coming in that I was having a hard time getting through them so I stopped putting…
Just finished the novel Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson about an editorial assistant juggling too many publishing jobs. First of all – of course I had to read a book with that title! One aspect of the novel that stuck out for me was the protagonist’s pain at the disconnect between the actual love…
I love a good book about writing, especially one with great exercises. I’m currently working my way through Naming the World: And Other Exercises for the Creative Writer edited by Bret Anthony Johnston. It’s got contributions from different writers who provide a small essay about writing followed by suggested exercises. Not every exercise is interesting or helpful,…
Jenel Alan 