Husbands May Come and Go...

Check out my new blog...

2009-12-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

on my website www.judithmarshall.net for the lates news.

2009-08-16T16:58:00.000-07:00

Checked out the local author event at Clayton Books. Fellow writer and CWC member, Lynn B. Goodwin was there showcasing her new book, you want me to do What? Journaling for caregivers. I introduced myself to owner Joel Harris who is very supportive of local authors. He invited me to be at his next event in November. Can't wait!

Love this Quote!

2009-08-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

"Writing is learning to say nothing more cleverly every day..." -- William Allingham
So very true.

2009-08-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

Had a delicious dinner last night under the stars at Chevalier Restaurant in Lafayette. Very French, right down to the haricot verts. Ran into one of my critique buddies, Mary Elizabeth, her hubby, and their little doggie, Mia. Lovely evening.

Amazon Outsells Brick and Mortar Stores!

2009-08-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!

Here are some interesting new statistics showing that Amazon.com sales now outnumber brick and mortar sales!
Based upon www.fonerbooks.com :

The numbers for 2008:

Amazon North American Media Sales: $5.35 Billion (16% increase over 2007)
Barnes & Noble Media Sales: $4.52 Billion (3% decrease over 2007)
Borders Media Sales: $3.11 Billion (undetermined loss over 2007 - Borders' own press release reports an almost 9% loss)

Conceivably, if the trend of gains and losses are similar, Amazon will have $6.2 Billion in media sales in 2009 and Barnes and Noble & Borders brick and mortar stores combined will have $7.27 billion in sales. 2010 numbers should show Amazon matching or beating both combined.

Of the big three above (note: these numbers don't include all books sold in North America in 2008, just a majority):

Amazon recorded 41.2% of total sales.
Barnes and Noble recorded 34.9% of total sales.
Borders recorded 23.9% of total sales.

2009-08-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

Did you know that 1,100 books get published every day? That's why it's so important to do as much marketing research as possible to ensure that yours get's the attention it deserves. I'm working at present with my publicist on my press release. Need a great hook!

Took a break from being a writer...

2009-08-04T11:30:00.001-07:00

Attended a birthday get-together for my long-time friend, Kathleen Warren, at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley on Sunday. Met some new people, ate and drank and had an overall good time.

The interior of my book arrived from my publisher on Monday. I need to approve the overall format and then we can go to press. My writer's hat is back on!

When the words start to flow...

2009-07-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

Nothing can stop a dedicated writer!

Between The Bookendz: Book #38

2009-07-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

Check out this book blog for reviews and news, and to follow Eve on her journey to read 50 books in a year.

Between The Bookendz: Book #38

2009-07-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

The book is moving through the publishing process and we're making progress. Here's the final cover. Cool, huh? It should be released in the next few weeks.

I know when people read it, they'll want to know how much of the story comes from my real life experiences. My answer: While the book is indeed fiction, my protagonist, Elizabeth Reilly-Hayden and I do share one important element in our lives -- I, too, have been blessed with the friendship of a group of women I first met in high school. We call ourselves, The Wilson Family, (for reasons I won't discuss here), and this book is dedicated to them.
Link to website: judithmarshall.net

Update

2009-07-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't die! I've just been overwhelmed with preparing for the release of my debut novel, "Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever," out in a month or so. There's so much to do, working with the publisher on cover design, interior fonts, where to put the page numbers -- you wouldn't believe how much is involved. Anyway, I promise to be more attentive to this blog from now on and will keep you abreast of all new developments. Promise....

My Bad...

2009-04-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay. Now it's been even longer since I posted anything; so long I almost forgot I had a blog! Anyway, obviously a lot has happened since last November, we have a new President, the market has tanked, thousands have lost their jobs (including my son), and a bunch of other mostly bad stuff. But in my writing world, some good things have happened. I invited the volunteer readers I mentioned in November to lunch. Four out of six were able to attend. The two absent sent their handwritten comments to me separately. We then had a discussion about what worked and what they thought could be improved. To my delight, all of them genuinely enjoyed the story and saw no major flaws, just a few adjustments. They liked it! They really liked it!

So.... I made the suggested changes, corrected some typos, and once again began to query agents. At present, the entire manuscript is being read by an agent connected to the film industry in Los Angeles. I hope to hear back in the next week or so. Keep your fingers crossed.
I promise to tell you what happens.

Have a Happy Easter!

2008-11-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know it's been months since I've posted an update, but I've been exceptionally busy. First, I finished the second complete revision (with my critique group's invaluable help), of my novel "Staying Afloat," and second, I hired an editor to do a hopefully final revision to "Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever, which is now complete. Not bad for eleven months! My current endeavor is to have a small group of people read "Husbands" and provide me with feedback -- what they liked, what they did like, etc. Then assuming there aren't too many major changes to be made, another round of queries.

In preparation for the "book club" exercise, I've had the book published in a standard 6X9 format on www.lulu.com What a kick it was to see it in actual book form! Can't wait to hear the feedback from my group of volunteer readers -- writing just leads to more writing!

2008-01-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

A new year, a new opportunity to commit! The holidays can be such a distraction to my regular writing schedule. I don't believe in making new year's resolutions, but I do believe in renewing commitments. I have about 75 pages to review and revise of my second novel "Staying Afloat," the story of a 40-something stay-at-home wife and mother who morphs into a sex-crazed adulteress, before I can go back to my first novel for another read-through.

I find I can't work on two projects at once, so will press on with the editing of the second novel, so I can get to my goal of strengthening my first novel -- then, back to querying agents. Perseverance is the key, and if I commend myself on nothing else (which isn't true, I know I'm a good writer), I will persevere! You can count on it!

Happy New Year and may 2008 bring all of us health and prosperity!

Be sure to keep reading...

2007-11-16T10:33:00.000-08:00

Another revelation I had was how important it is to keep reading while writing, especially when doing revision. I can't tell you how many times I've come up with a new way to approach a sentence, scene or plot twist just by reading another writer's work. In the beginning, I had a tendency not to want to read for fear I would be influenced, or worse, want to plagiarize (Egods!). But now I find it very helpful to read. And not just my own genre'; everything on my "to read" list.

So don't be afraid. Lose yourself in a someone else's book and look for inspiration. Keep writing!

The need for continuity...

2007-10-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

Another thing I've learned about revision is that you need a continuous block of time to do an effective job. You can't start a revision one day, and then leave it for a week, and expect to maintain continuity. Better to wait until you have a big chunk of time to read through what you have and make notes on what you'd like to change. Then the actual time spent in revising will be reduced dramatically. Ah, if I'd only known this a while ago...

Revision

2007-09-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

There's not enough room here to tell you what I've learned in the ten years I've been writing, but yesterday something struck me that I wanted to share. I'm in the middle of the second revision to my second novel, "Staying Afloat," (the story of a stay-at-home wife and mother who morphs into a sex-crazed adulteress) and it occurred to me how easy it is to fall in love with an especially creative metaphor, sentence, or word and how difficult it is to cut it, even when your critique group tells you to. I found the only way I can bring myself to do this is to cut it and paste it to a new document I call "leftovers," hopefully to be used another time. It makes me feel better to know my favorites have not been totally discarded. Keep writing!

2007-09-25T10:19:00.001-07:00