With departments like publicity and marketing, how common is it for authors to pitch their own promotional ideas? Book publicist and marketing associate, as well as host of Smith Publicity’s All Things Book Marketing Podcast, Olivia McCoy, says it is not only common, but encouraged.
“We really lean on authors coming to us for ideas,” the publishing professional tells So Booking Cool. “We know the book space, we … Read the rest
We often discuss the process of writing a book, but how does one protect (or sustain) that process? 24-year-old educator and author Jared McPhoy shares his approach for when he penned his debut page-turning memoir By Grace Through Faith: A Journey of Self-Discovery (Priceless Publishing).
“The truth is no one I knew knew I was writing a book,” he tells SBC. “I kept it a secret for a very long … Read the rest
The past can be painful, but it can also motivate. Entrepreneur and author of the bestseller Soul Beneficiary: The Good, Better, Best Guide to Success in Selling Insurance Jessi Park faced hardships during her childhood and later as a single parent. “I feel like whenever you experience choosing between paying a bill or eating, that you find yourself saying to yourself ‘I will never be in this position again,’” … Read the rest
In his gripping memoir The Anatomy of a Corporate Lynching (now updated and available as an audiobook), Charles Ford reveals the retaliation he faced from his job Con Edison after he went to the media and pursued legal action over them pirating his slogan. As one may imagine, things became rocky at work, so much so that he began tape-recording his exchanges. He writes that he felt dissed, disregarded, and … Read the rest
It is not uncommon for people to feel that their college degree is useless. This was how YouTube creator Matt Wade felt about his Film Studies concentration. Before launching the detail., also known as The Michael Jackson Documentary Channel, for six years he started and ran the international fashion label, SHADE London, which garnered the attention of Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Kylie Jenner, and Ellie Goulding, to name a few. He … Read the rest
It took award-winning journalist, writer, and book collaborator Jeannine Amber twenty years to figure out too many details in writing can hurt a project. Journalism writing is no exception. The former Essence senior editor spontaneously sets the scene to provide an example: She’s interviewing someone in their home and upon entering, she sees there are a million things going on. There are books. The color of the sofa stands out. … Read the rest
At the height of her drinking, self-proclaimed Hope Dealer Jen SluMac turned to a women’s bookstore and asked if there were any books about alcoholism. “On what?” was the initial response she got before they found Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp. SluMac read the memoir three times. “It gave me a little more space in my shame, to breathe,” she shares with So Booking Cool. “I was … Read the rest
Award-winning entrepreneur and TheBlackShoppingNetworks.com founder, radio host, journalist, and author, Janice McLean DeLoatch, recalls how a hole in her Nylon stockings led to one of her first companies, Pantyhose Vending Machines. DeLoatch, who had a full-time job in addition to her fashion shows and event-planning businesses, was on her way to a job interview when the material of her pantyhose deteriorated. At that point, she had to decide if … Read the rest
It’s no secret that publishing is full of collaboration, from the authors, agents, editors, and illustrators to the marketers, publicists, salespeople, reviewers, and influencers, etc. Then there are the professionals who help authors tell their stories by way of memoir: book collaborators. Multi-award-winning journalist, writer, and co-author, Jeannine Amber, who recently collaborated on I Tried to Change So You Don’t Have To: True Life Lessons (Hachette Go, June 23, … Read the rest
We discuss some of the latest news in publishing including the late publishing legend Sonny Mehta (Knopf and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group); we also recognize Kobe Bryant and Langston Hughes; we discuss the backlash Barnes and Noble Fifth Avenue and Penguin Random House received for their Diverse Edition initiative; Jessica Simpson’s new, trending memoir; some of our current and anticipated reads, as well as other bookish tidbits. Check it out! … Read the rest
