To Blog, or Not to Blog
by,
June 7, 2022

Six or seven years ago my advice to aspiring authors of nonfiction books was to build an audience platform by blogging. An example of how critical blogging could be to securing a publishing contract can be found in the case of Ann Marie Ackermann, author of Death of an Assassin: The True Story of the German Murderer Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee. After an… [Read More]

An Evening of Spiritual Wisdom with Alice McDowell
by,
March 15, 2022

Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca is very excited to host local author Alice McDowell for an evening of readings and conversation about her newest book, Dance of Life: Christian, Sufi, and Zen Wisdom for Today’s Spiritual Seeker. Q&A to follow, led by Maureen O’Brien. Event date:  Sunday, March 27, 2022 – 7:00pm to 8:00pm McDowell writes about the spiritual journey as a captivating dance. In a clear and… [Read More]

For the Love of Labor
by,
March 1, 2022
Cathryn J. Prince

Author of Queen of the Mountaineers and American Daredevil, Cathryn J. Prince has signed a publishing contract for her next book, For the Love of Labor: The Pioneering Life of Pauline Newman, with University Press of Kentucky for a 2024 release. Before Greta Thunberg, Emma Gonzalez, or Malala Yousafzai, there was Pauline Newman. She had been union organizing since the age of 16 before the… [Read More]

The Long Surrender
by,
January 25, 2022

Brian McDonald has accepted an offer of publication for his new memoir, THE LONG SURRENDER (Working Title), from Wisdom Editions, an imprint of Calumet Editions for April 15, 2022. After 30 years of preaching, Brian Rush McDonald walked away from the pulpit. He had become a Jesus freak during the tumult of high school desegregation in the 70s in Mobile, Alabama, and then immersed himself… [Read More]

Tax Prep Time
by,
January 17, 2022

The calendar has flipped over to another year, yet the more things change, the more they stay the same. The change in tax forms isn’t much of a change, unless you don’t know there’s been a change. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. January 31 is the due date for you to mail your 1099-NEC forms to any independent contractors or freelancers you… [Read More]

Classes, Workshops & Retreats for Winter 2022
by,
December 21, 2021

In an effort to create more opportunities to work with writers, Swenson Book Development LLC will begin to offer virtual classes, workshop, and retreats in January 2022. All sessions will be held via Zoom and documents will be shared using Google Drive. If you are interested in registering for a class, workshop or retreat, please email Jill at Swenbooks dot com by January 3, 2022…. [Read More]

Dance of Light!
by,
November 9, 2021

Alice McDowell has accepted an offer of publication for her new book, Dance of Light: Christian, Sufi, and Zen Steps to Spiritual Realization, from Wisdom Editions, an imprint of Calumet Editions, to be released in April 2022. Dance of Light offers practical wisdom for the contemporary spiritual seeker. Whether beginner or advanced, readers will receive guidance on the dynamics of the spiritual journey, learn how… [Read More]

Spring 2022 Release
by,
September 14, 2021

Congratulations to Bett Fitzpatrick whose new book of narrative nonfiction history, Hard Aground, will be released in Spring 2022 by Boulder Books, an independent publishing company in Newfoundland and Labrador. In the pre-dawn hours of February 18, 1942, three American warships zigzagged in convoy along the south coast of Newfoundland, heading for one of the worst disasters in American naval history. The USS Pollux and… [Read More]

Launch Out of the Cave
by,
August 3, 2021

The MIT Press releases Out of the Cave: A Natural History of Mind and Knowing by Mark Johnson and Don Tucker on August 17. What do we know, and how do we know it? I can’t think of any more essential question to the human experience. Or to the scientific method. Objectivity and subjectivity. Thoughts and emotions. Big ideas. Mark Johnson and Don Tucker responded to my… [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]