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Author: Jill Swenson
Red Shoes Writing Retreat on Lake of the Woods
by, Jill Swenson
May 11, 2021

Red Shoes Writing Retreat on Lake of the Woods will inspire your creative writing in a place where the natural landscape and local culture offer both stimulation and serenity. We’ll gather from September 26-October 2 to write, relax, and explore the art, history, and culture of the Lake of the Woods area in northern Minnesota. Ride a tandem bike, take a boat ride, taste walleye,… [Read More]

Filed Under: Generative writing workshops, Northwest Minnesota Arts Council Cultural Legacy Grant, Red Shoes Writing Retreat on Lake of the Woods
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Trustworthy Giveaway
by, Jill Swenson
May 4, 2021

You can enter to win a free copy of Margot Bloomstein’s new book, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, by leaving a comment on this blog post. Tell us what brand you trust and why. You’ll then be entered into a random drawing to be held on Saturday, May 8, 2021. One lucky winner will be sent a free… [Read More]

Filed Under: accountability, Authenticity, Book Giveaway, Empathy, Margot Bloomstein, Transparency, Trustworthy, voice, volume, vulnerability
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Is Your Author Brand Trustworthy?
by, Jill Swenson
April 13, 2021

You may resist the idea that as an author you are a brand. It sounds so commercial, so corporate, so corny. But remember publishing is a business, and people buy books based on what they think about an author. Your brand becomes your reputation. “A brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room,” Jeff Bezos is credited with saying…. [Read More]

Filed Under: author brand, Margot Bloomstein, Trustworthy, Trustworthy: How Smart Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap
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Congratulations to Margot Bloomstein on the Launch of Trustworthy
by, Jill Swenson
April 6, 2021

Page Two Books released Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap by Margot Bloomstein on March 2. The Silver Unicorn Bookstore hosted her Tuesday launch event with an interview by Lylah Alphonse of the Boston Globe. On Thursday, Magers & Quinn in Minneapolis hosted graphic designer Carolyn Porter, author of Marcel’s Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate, and she interviewed Margot. After… [Read More]

Filed Under: Eriq La Salle, Margot Bloomstein, Page Two Books, Trustworthy, Trustworthy: How Smart Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap
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The Part That Burns – A Book Giveaway
by, Jill Swenson
March 16, 2021

Jeannine Ouellette’s new memoir, The Part That Burns, has garnered critical acclaim since its release on February 1. Joyce Carol Oates called it “simply beautiful. Precisely imagined, poetically structured, compelling, and vivid.” Last week Ouellette joined Jo Ann Beard, Katherine Angel, Dantiel Moniz and Michele Filgate for a panel discussion on “Desire” for the Red Ink Series, sponsored by Books Are Magic bookstore in Brooklyn… [Read More]

Filed Under: Book Giveaway, Jeannine Ouellette, Magers & Quinn, The Part That Burns
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Beating Cynicism and Bridging the Trust Gap
by, Jill Swenson
March 9, 2021

Margot Bloomstein launched new book, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap (Page Two), last week and there’s never been such a timely title for our troubled times. Cynicism has grown to gargantuan proportions in the past few years and too many people believe you can’t trust anyone or anything anymore. Brands — retail companies like Old Navy, tech firms… [Read More]

Filed Under: A Novel Idea, Boswell Book Company, Brew City UX, California College of the Arts, Chief Learning Officer, Forbes, Indy Hall, Magers & Quinn, Margot Bloomstein, Riverstone Bookstore, Smith Publicity, The Silver Unicorn, Trustworthy
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The Business of Being an Author: Email Etiquette
by, Jill Swenson
February 16, 2021

When you send an email to query an agent or publisher, or to pitch a podcast or book review, do you sometimes wonder whether your message disappeared into cyberspace because you did not receive a response? Did it end up in a spam folder? Is no response a “no”? Could your email address be the problem? If you’re using an account from AOL, Yahoo, or… [Read More]

Filed Under: email tips, professional author email, Query letter
3 Comments
The Soul’s Twins: A Book Giveaway
by, Jill Swenson
February 9, 2021

Valentine’s Day is coming up and we’re giving away one free copy of The Soul’s Twins: Emancipate Your Feminine and Masculine Archetypes to one lucky reader. Author of Healing the Sacred Divide, Dream Theatres of the Soul and The Bridge to Wholeness: A Feminine Alternative to the Hero Myth, Jean Benedict Raffa offers a self-guided journey to spiritual maturity in her latest book, The Soul’s… [Read More]

Filed Under: archetypes, Jean Raffa, Jungian psychology, Red Feather MBS, Schiffer Books, The Soul's Twins
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20 Ways to Help Authors in 2021
by, Jill Swenson
January 12, 2021

Pre-order. You might be surprised to learn that pre-ordering a book is critical to the launch of a book. Publishers may make decisions about how much marketing support to provide a new release based on the volume of pre-orders. Some even determine the size of a first print run using those numbers. If a book has strong pre-order sales, reviewers are more likely to review it,… [Read More]

Filed Under: Amazon, GoodReads, independent bookstore, Little Free Libraries, shop local, Social Media, Support Authors, support indie
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An Eye-Opening Read—Who Gets In and Why by Jeff Selingo
by, Jill Swenson
January 5, 2021

Chattip Yang is a junior at Appleton High School West who offers her review here of this New York Times Notable Book of 2020. Jeffrey Selingo’s new book, Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions, has important information about how to get into college. As a junior in high school I thought I should be preparing to take the SAT/ACT but I learned the tests… [Read More]

Filed Under: College Admissions, Jeffrey Selingo, New York Times Notable Book, Who Gets In and Why
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