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ERMA BOMBECK WRITERS' WORKSHOP NEWSLETTER
University of Dayton
June/July 2007
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Dear writer:
Writers ask a lot of questions. Here are some that have hit my e-mail inbox recently.
Why did you choose to self-publish your new book, Guide to Pirate Parenting?
before the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie was key to catch the wave of pirate-related
media coverage. Traditional publishers couldn't get the book out in time. Using Cold Tree
Press, a print-on-demand company, I was able to have printed copies in hand less than
three months after submitting my manuscript.
I was right about catching the pirate media wave. I've got some great press, including full-page articles in the New York Daily News and Dayton Daily News. I've also been mentioned in The Fresno Bee and
South Florida Sun Sentinel, and interviewed on many radio stations. Almost all of . You can
What criteria did you use to rate the publishers you considered?
The best resource is the book, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing by Mark Levine. Mark is a lawyer and author. His book reviews the contracts of more than 50 POD companies. He outlines the pros and cons of each company. The two most important criteria for me were (1) a high royalty rate and (2) custom-designed cover and internal pages. Cold Tree Press gave me both of these. Other companies offered things such as marketing support but I wasn;t interested in that.
Are you satisfied with your choice and the final product?
Cold Tree Press was wonderful to work with and includes a bookstore return policy in their publishing packages. They surpassed all my expectations and I'd work with them again in a heartbeat. And my book looks fantastic. One thing you need to remember is that almost all POD firms print their books using the same company -- Lightning Source. So the production quality of most POD books is identical. Lightning Source does offer two paper choices now.
What has been the greatest benefit/detriment of self-publishing?
The biggest benefit is control. You control the cover design, editing, marketing and distribution. That's also the biggest downside. You have to be willing to invest a huge amount of time marketing your book if you want it to take off. You need to estimate your total expenses and divide by your royalty rate to see how many books you need to sell to break even. Then you need to be realistic. If you need to sell 10,000 copies to break even, it's probably not going to work.
Keep writing!
Tim Bete
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BOOKSELLERS TRADE PAPER FOR FILM TO PUT AUTHOR ON TOUR
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"KNOCKED UP" DIRECTOR AND HIS ACTRESS WIFE GET CREATIVE
Judd Apatow is the hottest comedy writer/director/producer in Hollywood, with one major movie success under his belt (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) and a second (“Knocked Up”) expected to hold its own against the summer sequels. His wife of 10 years, Leslie Mann, has been toying with a career as a comic actress (“Big Daddy,” “George of the Jungle,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) while raising two children, 9 and 4, but her career should kick into high gear with a breakthrough role in her husband’s new film. Read more.
Humor writer of the month
ERIC BRODER
Eric Broder is a Cleveland-based humorist, author, editor, columnist and cartoonist. His long-running, award-winning humor column, "The Great Indoors," ran in the Cleveland alternative weeklies Edition and Free Times, and was collected in a book, published by Gray and Company. His business parody, The Below-the-Belt Manager, was published by Warner Books. Eric has written for Men's Journal, Continental Airlines' inflight magazine, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Northern Ohio Live, Cleveland Magazine and other publications. Visit his Web site.
Book giveaway
Each month we give away a book on writing to a few subscribers to our newsletter. If you're subscribed, you're entered to win! This issue's winners are:
* Jada Rene
* Stephanie Worrell
* Donna Shepherd
Who's publishing what?
WORKSHOP FACULTY
MILLER'S ELECTRIC: Karyl Miller has been painting utility boxes with her cartton characters. Read more.
GRUEN'S EVERYWHERE: Judy Gruen has pubished The Women's Daily Irony Supplement (Creative Minds Press). The book is a collection of nearly 60 essays on the torment of e-mail chain letters, women who won't eat carrots because of their high-carb-content, how to release your inner shopper, and much more. A quote from the book appeared on five million Starbucks cups (grande-sized). Her work is also appearing frequently in the "Jewlarious" column on Aish.com and in Skirt!, the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles.
PAST WORKSHOP ATTENDEES
FIRST PLACE: Editor Barbara Madden's teacher-produced newspaper won a Missouri State Teachers
Association's Professional Communication Award as the best teacher newsletter in the state. The newsletter has a circulation of more than 4000. Barbara credits mentoring at the 2004 Bombeck workshop as a key in developing her ability to edit..
BRENNAN IN CAPITAL: Angie Brennan had a humor piece about caller ID published in The Capital, an Annapolis, MD-based newspaper.
OTHER PUBLISHING NEWS
JOEL'S A STAR: Joel Schwartzberg, the Feb. 2007 Humor Writer of the Month, had an essay published in the Star-Ledger (NJ's largest newspaper) on Memorial Day.
COWIE'S GREAT REVIEW: Pop Syndicate calls Norm Cowie's book, The Adventures of Guy ... written by a guy (probably), "a great read."
Markets, contests and more
MONA SCHREIBER PRIZE: The 8th Annual Mona Schreiber Prize for Humorous Fiction and Nonfiction is accepting submissions. Writers of comedic stories, articles, essays, poems, songs, plays, hate letters and other forms beyond description (but not comprehension) are invited to submit. Read more.
AATH BOOK AWARDS: The Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH) is accepting entries for the 2008 AATH Book Awards. The awards honor authors of books that further their mission "to advance the understanding and application of humor and laughter for their positive benefits." Read more.
ELECTROBOOKS COMPETITION: Free competition for fiction writers. Top prize is $500, second $200 and third $100. Fast-paced unpublished novels, short stories or even the first few chapters of novels welcome. Deadline: July 7, 2007. Read more.
CHICKEN SOUP: Chicken Soup for the Do-It-Yourselfer’s Soul: Home Improvement Stories from Decorating to Demolition is seeking funny submissions. Deadline: September 30, 2007. Read more.
CJR: The Columbia Journalism Review has a new Web site, which combines CJR.org and CJR Daily under one stylish roof, and features The Audit, our critique of business journalism; The Kicker, our new blog for short takes; and much more. Read more.
NEW GROUP FOR HUMOR WRITERS: Is your funny bone not getting enough of a workout? Would you like more opportunity to interact with other humor writers in a social on-line environment? Check out the Humor Writers Ning site, where humor writers, publishers, reviewers and readers get to interact and write snarky stuff at each other. Read more.
FUNNY SITE OF THE DAY: Humor is in the mind of the beholder. Proceed at your own risk. Read more.
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NETWORK WITH OTHER HUMOR WRITERS: Network with other humor writers. Join the e-mail discussion group for past attendees of the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop and those who would like to attend in the future. Join now.
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SUGGEST A RESOURCE: If you have a favorite book or Web site, let us know at bete@udayton.edu.
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Copyright 2007, University of Dayton
