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The Literary Canon—What Books Should Be Required Reading?

Last week, a member of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto presented this dilemma: She had a Latino American high school student in one of her classes who didn’t feel he was prepared for college because he felt that his high school reading list was dominated by Latino and African American writers and that he […]

Should All Authors Blog?

This week, I’m introducing a series of YouTube videos that I am creating to give readers who don’t have a lot of time to read long blog posts quick access to information about writing, editing, publishing, and social media. To be sure you don’t miss any, click on the red “Subscribe to my videos on […]

Contently: Building Your Brand the Fortune 500 Way

If you’re a journalist looking for a way to display your clips on your website, look no further. Contently.com offers a “build-your-own portfolio” site tool that is quick and easy to use and that you can embed into your own website.

“We realized a lot of journalists are not great web designers, so […]

Translating Trauma into Memoir

Some of you may remember that in July 2003, an 86-year-old man drove his car through the crowded Santa Monica Farmers’ Market outside of LA, killing ten people and injuring dozens more, many of them critically. That story struck a chord with me because I used to shop at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market when […]

How to Avoid Becoming a Self-Publishing Failure

An essay that ran in Salon two weeks ago titled “I’m a self-publishing failure” recounts how one writer, John Winters, spent countless hours and dollars promoting his book online only to sell a handful of copies. Where did John go wrong? How can you avoid becoming a self-publishing failure?

1. First of all, start […]

Author Interview: Caroline Paul and Wendy MacNaughton

Today I’d like to welcome my friends and colleagues here at the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto Caroline Paul, author, and Wendy MacNaughton, illustrator, whose book, Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology hit bookstores yesterday. The talented Caroline Paul has two previously published books, Fighting Fire, a memoir about the 13 […]

Should You Crowdsource Your Book?

Today I want to welcome author and nature photographer Mike Spinak, who is here to talk to us about his children’s book Growing Up Humming (which is wonderful; I bought two copies), his behemoth following on Google+ (45,710 people have circled him), and why he crowdsourced his book (Mike funded the publication of Growing Up […]

10 Twitter Tips for Authors (and everyone else)

1. Use your name/brand as your Twitter handle. For the same reason that you want your name on your blog and your Facebook page, people won’t realize that Kiala Givehand is “supercoolwriter,” whose Tweets they follow and love, when they see her book in the bookstore, and they won’t buy it. Unlike on Facebook, […]

Memoir: Finding Your Story

A friend of mine wants to turn her diaries into a memoir but doesn’t know where to begin. I read one of her diaries and marked all the passages that I found interesting—stories about dating, details about finances, notes about current events that took place a decade ago. Those details will be invaluable when adding […]

Best Irish Soda Bread Ever

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

This is my mom’s Irish soda bread recipe. It is SO easy and SO good, and you don’t have to be Irish to eat it. Enjoy!

4 c flour 1 1/2 t baking soda 1 t salt 2 T carraway seeds (optional, but I love them) 3/4 c sugar 1 c […]