For many writers, getting a book contract from a trade publisher is further away than Mars. I tell it like it is. With my broken right wrist, it feels far beyond the stars for my manuscript in the drawer. I’ll be lucky to knock out this quick post and publish it here today.

If you want to watch a rising star with a bestselling book before it’s even out, look to Andrew Kessler and Martian Summer. He’s part gonzo journalist, i.e. Mary Roach with gonads, and part wacky hip ad-man, i. e. his real life gig as Creative Director, HUGE.

The industry buzz isn’t shameless self-promotion; it’s comedy central. AGENCY SPY published this today:

Yup, the movie trailers are only a piece to this sweet marketing mix for an up and coming writer of critical aclaim.

Andrew’s grandma, Bella, is photographed getting the first signed copy.

But visit the Martian Summer Facebook Page to look at the rest of this creative way to write, publish, promote and sell a book.

In full disclosure, it was my pleasure to work as an editor on this breakout book and a joy to see his star rise. It’s a fantastic adventure to read.

You can pre-order your copy right now here.

Writing and Listening — an Interview with Brooke Randel

2 weeks ago

As a young girl Brooke Randel knew little about the Holocaust—just that it was a catastrophe in which millions were murdered, and that her grandma Golda Indig barely escaped that fate. But her Bubbie never spoke about what happened, and the two spent most of their time together making pleasant memories: baking crescent roll cookies, playing gin rummy, and watching Baywatch. Until an unexpected phone call when Golda said, out of the blue: “You should write about my life. What happened in the war.” What results is a fascinating memoir—about one woman’s harrowing survival, and another’s struggle to excavate theRead more…