August is for Reading
by,
August 9, 2022

Judith Rossner’s 70s novel, August, is about a psychoanalyst and the young adult client she sees during the month when all therapists take vacation. Someone needs to write the novel about an agent and the young adult novelist who pitches in August and hears crickets. Is everyone on vacation in August? Yup. August is about beach books and cabin reads. Swinging in a hammock with a… [Read More]

Gift Ideas for Writers
by,
December 7, 2021

Struggling with what to get for the writer in your life this holiday season? Here are some creative gift ideas to help inspire, motivate, and comfort. And remember to shop early this year to get ahead of the expected holiday shipping delays! Notebooks and journals This may seem like a given, but trust me: writers really do love getting notebooks. And no, there’s no such… [Read More]

Booky Call – Book Matchmaking for the Modern World
by,
November 16, 2021

According to a recent survey, 62% of women would rather spend Friday night reading a good book than out on a date, and the similarities between how people talk about both reading and dating is fascinating. Given these similarities, and with the success of popular dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Match, Grindr, and eHarmony, Brant Menswar and Jim Knight, the founders of digital book marketing… [Read More]

Graphic Memoir—Powerful Stories through Illustration
by,
October 6, 2021

With a beautiful blend of art and prose, graphic novels are one of the most accessible mediums out there. Even if you’re not a huge reader, a graphic novel is easy to pick up and digest. More than just superhero comics and manga, graphic novels contain stories from many different genres—mystery/thriller, romance, sci-fi/fantasy, and so much more. While comics and graphic novels are certainly not… [Read More]

UntitledTown Returns for One-Day Event
by,
August 10, 2021

After an absence that followed the cancelation of their 2020 festival due to the pandemic, UntitledTown has partnered with the Friends of the Brown County Library and Lion’s Mouth Bookstore and is making a comeback with a one-day event of readings from your favorite Wisconsin and Midwestern authors. UntitledTown: the Comeback Event will take place on Saturday, August 21 from 10am to 4pm at the… [Read More]

Bridgerton and the Romance Boom
by,
July 6, 2021
Julia Quinn The Duke and I

Though going to a brick-and-mortar bookstore has been something many of us missed dearly this past year, slowly they are reopening in most parts of the country. While it may be safe to head inside your local indie bookstore, heading to the romance section feels like an activity that needs to be done in a baseball hat, sunglasses, and perhaps a fake mustache. I won’t… [Read More]

Emerging Genre
by,
June 8, 2021

There’s a new kind of first-person narrative nonfiction book growing in popularity, and it is moving away from traditional commercial memoir as “misery lit” following a single template of story structure, the hero’s journey. We’re into the twenty-twenties now, and I see a pattern emerging among these new kinds of nonfiction books: a distinctive narrator’s voice, expository information about a subject matter separate from the… [Read More]

Trustworthy Giveaway
by,
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]

The Soul’s Twins: A Book Giveaway
by,
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]

20 Ways to Help Authors in 2021
by,
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]