Stalin’s Last Torpedo by Cathryn Prince COMING SOON
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November 15, 2011

Journalist Cathryn Prince signs book contract with Palgrave Macmillan. Stalin’s Last Torpedo by Cathryn J. Prince—the little known story of history’s largest maritime disaster—is under contract with Palgrave Macmillan. Prince plans to write it largely through the perspective of the surviving eyewitnesses. At the end of World War Two, Soviet torpedoes sank the Wilhelm Gustloff—a cruise liner turned escape ship—sending roughly 9,000 German refugees to… [Read More]

History of a Suicide by Jill Bialosky
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November 10, 2011

An endless loop of images, sounds, and events play in the theatre of my horrified mind. Specific details brand themselves red hot into memory. The hour, the day, the week, the month, the year, the decade before it happened replay backward and forward as my mind searches for clues to the mystery of my lover’s suicide two years ago. As a reader, I rode a… [Read More]

Building a new kind of bookstore business
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October 29, 2011

There’s a new bookstore in Athens, Georgia, with a different kind of business model. After four years of planning, learning, getting financing in place and finding the perfect location at 493 Prince Avenue, Janet Geddis opened Avid Bookshop this month. Last Friday night’s grand opening celebration crowded customers into tight corners and out the doors into the streets like a festival. Listen to this podcast… [Read More]

37 Sketches by Gwen Marston (Six Mile Creek Press)
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October 25, 2011

Tuesday’s Gone Local columns have featured “local” bookstores and publishers. This past year opened with Six Mile Creek Press signing a publishing contract for my clients’ manuscript, Dear Friend Amelia. Mary Jordan and Joyce Hatch collaborated with Ron Ostmun and Harry Littell at Six Mile Creek Press here in Ithaca to produce letters and images from the Civil War in a beautiful book. Six Mile Creek Press approaches… [Read More]

Authors, bookstores, and social media, oh my!
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October 14, 2011

Cathryn Prince and Andrew Kessler came to Ithaca on the 10th and 11th of October for two book events. As authors of new titles related to Mars and meteorites, Prince and Kessler found Ithaca a town of stargazers and skywatchers. On Sunday, Bob Proehl hosted the authors for a reading and book signing at Buffalo Street Books. Cathryn Prince read an excerpt from A Professor, a… [Read More]

What is a book development editor?
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October 6, 2011

A professional developmental editor works with a book author to: complete a manuscript that will interest agents and/or acquisition editors at publishing companies; develop a winning book proposal (perhaps the most important role a development editor can play); position and package the writer’s concept to an agent or publisher; and establish an electronic persona and online audience platform for the writer. A book development editor is NOT… [Read More]

Science of space: past and future
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September 29, 2011

Looking into the night sky, one is filled with wonder. The stars, moon and planets intrigue us as they have across all time. Two authors take up this fascination in their new books. One looks forward and the other looks backward in time to advance our understanding of the history of space science. Andrew Kessler in Martian Summer is looking to the future of NASA while… [Read More]

Authors Add Face-to-Face to Your Social Media
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September 17, 2011

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, websites, and other electronic media platforms are important to an author’s success in the book business today. Let’s face it; you can’t ignore social media anymore if you plan to publish your book. Last week on this blog, Danielle made the point that even if you have electronic platforms up and running, they are of little value unless you can provide… [Read More]

October Rocks with Meteorites and Mars
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September 14, 2011

Ithaca is home to Carl Sagan, the Hubble telescope, stargazers and skywatchers. Swenson Book Development LLC collaborates with the Museum of the Earth and Buffalo Street Books to bring two authors to town with new books about space science for Columbus Day weekend. When a fiery meteor crash in 1807 lit up the dark early-morning sky in Weston, Connecticut, it did more than startle the few farmers… [Read More]

Ithaca’s Balkan Voice: Tea Obreht, Tiger’s Wife
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August 30, 2011

Tea Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife: A Novel, Random House, March 2011 Grandfather recently died. He died alone on a trip away from home in a town where no one expected him to be. Tea Obreht opens her novel with her protagonist, Natalie, searching to escort her grandfather’s soul home during those 40 days after the spirit passes from the body. Her grandmother is shocked by… [Read More]