Laurie McAndish King March 10th, 2009
Join us at Book Passage in Corte Madera at 7 p.m. on March 14th for the launch of the Travelers’ Tales anthology, The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009. Laurie McAndish King will read an excerpt from her story, “Big Cats, No Guns,” about tracking lions on foot — and without a gun — in Botswana’s Okavango Delta.
Book Passage Bookstore
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA 94925
(415) 927-0960
(800) 999-7909
Laurie McAndish King May 18th, 2007
From Katy Neusteter, managing editor > Camille (5/15/07)
kneusteter@newhope.com
Hello fellow writers and trusted contributors,
Here in magazineland, 2008 is right around the corner, and we at Delicious Living are starting to plan for the next year. So send us all of those witty, newsy, and insightful story ideas you’ve been cooking up. Ideas due to me no later than Tues, 5/29.
Whether you’re new to the magazine or have been writing for us for 15 years, please note that WE’RE LOOKING FOR PUNCHY AND FRESH. If it’s timely and intriguing, we want to know about it. No old research or recycled, stale angles. To get a sense of what we’ve covered in the past, check out our website (www.deliciouslivingmag.com) for all of our archived stories.
Fresh (50-200 words)
Our front-of-the-book section comprises current news, new products, new research or books, and other issues pertaining to the natural product industry. Know about an uber-cool company fundamentally committed to sustainability? Let us know. Have a great resource for info about ecosavvy travel? Send it on. The operative word here is “new”–please keep ideas fresh and lively.
Features (1,200 words)
DL offers one lifestyle feature per month. This could be anything from hot eco products for the home to a kids health feature. All ideas must be relevant to the natural lifestyle.
Departments (600-800 words)
Our back-of-the-book departments–Nutrition, Health, Herbs and Supplements, and Beauty–offer natural solutions to common health concerns. Recent topics have included eczema, nutrition for active diabetics, caring for sensitive skin, UTIs, medicinal mushrooms, natural hair dyes, etc.
Your brilliance is greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Katy
Katy Neusteter, managing editor
Delicious Living
1401 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO 80302
www.deliciouslivingmag.com
Laurie McAndish King May 18th, 2007
From Jeanne > Gayle > Itinerants (4/24/07)
Here’s the protocol for getting stories assigned, filed, photographed and paid. At the end is a recap of the format for the actual story itself.
1. Assigning: Travel Editor Jeanne Cooper (jcooper@sfchronicle.com, 415-777-8022) will coordinate which hotels get covered, along with the Pink’s Destinations feature and Travel’s “California & the West” centerpiece, so pitches should be made to her. Regions (within a 4-hour drive) and average rates (up to $400 a night, but normally in the $100-$300 range) should vary week to week. She will assign the story to a specific publication date and enter it on 96 Hours and Travel budgets.
2. Filing: Using the “short intro+ numbered highlights + vitals box” format (below), writers should email a Word version of the story to Jeanne 2 weeks in advance of publication. She will put it into CCI, do a source edit and alert 96 Hours Editor Simar Khanna that it’s in Copy Editor.
3. Photos: Based on what the writer singled out in the highlights portion of the story, and with information from the vitals box, Jeanne will put in a photo assignment. Choice of photos once taken or received will be up to Simar and photo editor.
4. Getting paid: At the time writers file their story, they need to fax or hand-deliver Jeanne a copy of their hotel receipt (the credit card # may be blacked out), which she will keep on file. After the story has been published, non-staff freelancers should e-mail Deputy Travel Editor Christine Delsol at travel@sfchronicle.com with their name, Social Security number, home address, hotel name, date of publication and page number, and the amount of $300; put “Attn Christine Delsol: 96 Hours Invoice” on the subject line.
STORY FORMAT
A one-paragraph introduction on why to go there, what makes the place stand out, and the general style, followed by a set list of highlights and a box with vitals: Name, address, phone(s), Web site, number of rooms (include number of wheelchair-access rooms in parens), and typical rates for double rooms (give weekend and weekday rates if there’s a big disparity; also check hotel Web site to see if online rates are significantly less – if so, those should be noted). Please note if there are regularly two-night (or greater) minimum stays and/or no-children policies.
The standard highlight categories are:
1. COMFORT ZONE: Was the stay comfortable?
Quality of the bed (mattress and linens), room furniture, noise, lighting, size of room, room temperature
2. BATH AND BEYOND: What was the bathroom like?
description, quality of toiletries and towels, are robes offered?
3. GROUNDS FOR APPROVAL: How were the grounds/facilities?
Is there a spa, garden, exercise room, on-site restaurant?
4. GEARED UP: What gizmos are available?
Electronics TV, alarm clock, CD player, ipod. Wi-Fi? Mini bar?
5. IN THE VICINITY: What’s there to do nearby?
6. GOOD TO KNOW: Best seasons to visit, dates to avoid, are pets allowed? Good for kids?
7. HIGHS AND LOWS: What was best/worst part of stay, in a way that sums up the trip for the reader?
To help answer those questions, use the hotel/property check list:
1. Size of room
2. How are the grounds?
3. What’s the property’s main selling point?
4. What’s the general style? Modern? Romantic? Victorian?
5. When was the last time the place was renovated? Does it need renovation?
6. What is the bathroom like? Enough counter space? Shower/tub?
7. Toiletries: What brands are used? What quantity is offered? Are there any extras?
8. Linens: How is the quality?
9. Was the room noisy?
10 What electronics are offered? Is there an iPod plug, Wi-Fi?
11. Is the place clean? Spots on the carpet? Odor?
12. How was the quality of the bed?
13. Is breakfast included in the rate?
14. Is there room service?
15. Is parking free? If not, how much?
16. How’s the mini bar? Are you allowed to remove items from the minibar and put in your own item?
17. How’s the bed?
18. Is there a reading light by the bed?
19. Check in/Check out time?
20. Are there restrictions on the stay, such as 2-night minimum?
21. Did the hotel offer any goodies – gift basket? fruit in room? glass of wine at check in?
Bradley Charbonneau May 13th, 2007
You wrote your novel, got a six-figure advance, hired a New York publicist and the royalty checks are now pouring through your mailbox. Right? Great, done. Next! Probably not.
Writers have to do more and more to promote their own work–even established writers. If you want to sell more of your work, you have to become your own PR company. Editors, publishers, and even (gulp) fans want to see the work you’ve already done, where you’ve been published, where you’re doing readings, what you’re working on now, and what you’re doing next. How are they going to get that information? Your newsletter, your blog, your event calendar, your mailing list, your RSS feed, in a word: your website.
“But I already have a website!”
Yes, but what has your website done for you lately? Or even more important, and you know this is coming . . . Ask not what your website can do for you, but what you can do for your website.
It’s important to ask this question because it’s similar to the one your potential publisher will ask: “What’s your platform?” How is that similar? Because another way to look at the “platform” topic, in words the publisher won’t really say out loud, is to ask: “How are you going to help us sell your book?” While I’m on the topic of book promotion, I might as well get down and dirty: How are you going to help sell your book?
What do they really mean by platform? And what do you really answer? If I whittle it down to one word, the best one I’ve found is: following. Are there people who are interested in something (anything?!) you do, write, say, discuss? This doesn’t mean they camp out in front of your house to watch you get the paper in the morning, but maybe they’re possibly interested in what you have to say. If your book is topical, this is all the easier: anyone with kids is a potential buyer of your book, “Kids: When When They Grow Up?” If you’re a mystery writer, you can identify the millions of mystery readers. Those numbers are cute, but “soft.” The publisher would love to have some “hard” numbers.
Numbers & Words
“But I’m a wordsmith, not a mathematician!”
If you truly want to impress your publisher, you should be prepared with numbers. Not just the standard how-many-the-old-book-on-the-same-topic-sold, but past, current, and future numbers about you and your book. How many subscribers do you have in your mailing list? How many hits does your website get per month? How many people have signed up to comment on your site? How many comments do you have? (trickle of talk or bustling community?) Even if you have “small” numbers, if you’re working on this already, i.e. long before your book comes out, you’ll show your publisher you’re already working on your platform.
If you don’t have a following, or at least one that reaches beyond your in-laws, here’s what you need to do.
1. Website
If you’re not online, you don’t exist.
Your website is your brochure, your front desk, your business card, your resume, your calendar, your secretary, your sales force, and possibly your first impression. Make it a good one. Of course, people go to bookstores and talk to their friends, but there’s a good chance they’ll use the web to do a search on “south pacific fiction adventure.” If that’s what you write about, you want to at least exist in the listings they find. Remember, too, that potential book buyers in New Zealand probably aren’t going to get the tip from your local bookstore that your book is such a hottie, but they’ll find you eventually at www.you.com.
o—o Tips & Tricks o—o
2.) Blog / Column
What have you done for me lately?
If you think of your website as something to read that’s sitting on a coffee table, is it: (1) a daily newspaper, (2) a weekly news magazine, (3) a monthly glossy, or (4) an annual report? In other words, how often will you be updating your site? If someone visits your site and sees that there is an interesting column that you write about your industry and you write it regularly, chances are good that they’ll return. If they see that nothing has changed since the last, well, century, they probably won’t return anytime soon. Think about it, you don’t read the same magazine over and over.
Techno-babble site note: This is kinda how Google search engines work: they’ll come to your site again and again, but if it’s the same content over and over, they won’t return so frequently. That will lower your rankings in their search results.
o—o Tips & Tricks o—o
3.) Newsletter / Mailing List
“Hey, I have a new book!” not “Hey, I have a new car.”
A newsletter or mailing list is a fantastic (and inexpensive and often effective) way to keep in touch with your fans and friends and others who sign up to hear about your latest news.
o—o Tips & Tricks o—o
4.) Event Calendar
“Oh, I didn’t know you were in town.”
Can a visitor to your site easily figure out when your book tour is coming to their town? Maybe they can sign up for a “notify list” that will automatically inform them when something changes on your calendar (your mother might sign up, your neighbor won’t, but make it an option).
o—o Tips & Tricks o—o
5.) Press Kit
Save an editor some time–and you some money
Hi-resolution author photo, hi-res book cover image, press releases, clips, and most other parts of a press kit can be put online into a simple downloadable package. This is especially handy if the editor (or publicist etc.) needs it in a hurry. No FedEx, no courier, just go to the site and download it.
o—o Tips & Tricks o—o
6.) Photos
Trip to India, not book tour to Indio
If you have interesting photos that are remotely relevant (and ideally, interesting), put some up on the site. As writers, you have mostly words so a few photos can help break up long flows of overwritten prose! This is especially interesting if your topics are something a reader might want to see more of (romance novels would be tough, but adventure travel would be good).
A ballpark on costs
If you’re paying more, you should be paying less.