Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
by Ruth Harris Before there was The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Lisbeth Salander, there was Smilla Qaavigaaq Jaspersen, the heroine of a novel called Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg. Smilla is part Inuit and lives in Copenhagen. According to the flap copy of the FSG edition, “she is thirty-seven, single, […]
Oh, come on, you fantasized about the glamour, didn’t you? When you first harbored those secret desires to be a writer, you pictured yourself in a little villa in the south of France, maybe? A woodsy cabin by a New England lake? At least an oh-so-romantically seedy flat in a major metropolitan area? And there […]
by Ruth Harris I’ve known and worked with a lot of writers over the years (decades). Some work first thing in the AM, others in the PM, some don’t get started until near midnight. Some write sober, some don’t. Some write on a computer, some on legal pads, and these days some write […]
I think it gets worse at this time of year. The holiday frenzy adds its own brand of crazy to our already pressured lives. I talked about that pressure a couple of weeks ago in my post on White (or Red) Queen Days: Why Are We Running as Fast As We Can to Stay in […]
This week we have some serious nuts-and-bolts advice from our own Ruth Harris. Ruth learned this stuff from both sides of the editorial desk, as an editor at Bantam & Dell, publisher at Kensington–and as a New York Times bestselling author of women’s fiction and thrillers. Since I’m in the middle of editing my […]
Ruth and I are totally jazzed to announce that this blog has been named one of the Top 50 Blogs for Writers by Tribal Messenger Daily. To be up there with Konrath, Kristen Lamb, and Jane Friedman is an amazing honor. Here’s what they said: One stimulating blog, two of the most prolific digital and print authors […]
by Anne R. Allen Aspiring writers are told we should all be blogging. If you’re willing to make the commitment, I do think it’s the best way to start building platform and getting your name out there. If you have no Web presence, agents, reviewers and readers are a lot less likely to take […]
We have a big announcement: Ruth Harris has started her own blog! No, she’s not going to abandon us over here. Her new blog is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish links. She will be posting a daily collection of links to articles she finds intriguing, unique, or just plain wacky. Fun stuff to […]
I’m excited and honored to be hosting a superstar today! Terence Stamp is one of my favorite actors of all time. His career has spanned more than four decades, from his Academy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning title role in Billy Budd to his Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award winning role in The Collector to his portrayal of General […]
by Ruth Harris Are your Rejection-levels too low? Is publication coming too easily? Did your publisher’s promo/ad campaign turn your book into an overnight blockbuster? Did that mega-million movie deal just fall from the sky into your lap? If the answer is yes, if you feel you are not paying your dues, if you […]
by Ruth Harris I‘m a TradPubbed NYT bestselling author gone indie. I was also an editor for over 20 years (Macmillan, Bantam, Dell) and the Publisher of Kensington—so let me put rejection into a little perspective. Let’s be clear: Manuscripts get rejected; not writers. Trust me. (Most of the time) it’s not personal. Let me […]
Thanks to all of you who voted for our blog in the Association of American Publishers and Goodreads Independent Book Blogger Awards. We made it to the Finalist list for Best Publishing Industry Blog. 10,000 people voted in a field of over 800 nominees. The winner in that category is the uber-awesome Victoria Strauss of Writer […]
by Anne R. Allen Guest posting on blogs is a great marketing tool. The frenzy for blog tours seems to have quieted down a bit recently, but whether you’re launching a new title, promoting an editorial service, or simply building platform, providing content for other people’s blogs is still an effective way to reach potential new readers […]
