The Frugal Book Promoter: How to do What Your Publisher Won’t
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Star Publish
ISBN: 193299310X
Pages 283
Genre: Nonfiction: Writers/Marketing/
Reviewed by Robert J. Medak
In today’s publishing environment, the author is often responsible for promoting their book. There are ways to do this, this book lists many of them, and you may come up with some of your own after reading The Frugal Book Promoter.
It would be nice if your publisher did the promoting for you, but most authors do not have names like King, Bradbury, or Rice to name a few that might have their publishers doing more for them than the average writer. The Frugal Promoter to the rescue, in this book you will find out about press kits, and more. There is also information about how to do media releases, and ways to get publicity for you, and your book.
This reviewer believes that this book can be good for promoting anything, just replace the word “book”, with a service, product, or anything you are trying to let the public know about.
It is up to the author to have the willingness to get out and do the work. Anyone can do it, if he or she is of the mindset to get out and promote your book. Many publishers are not going to do it for you, and may ask you for a promotion plan. Without one, you may not get far in the publishing game unless you decide to self-publish. If you choose a nontraditional way to publish your book, you will have to do the promotion for it to sell. Either way, it is up to the author to promote these days. If you are lucky, you may get some help from a publisher, but do not rely on getting it.
The authors best bet is to have this book handy for ways to promote your book. This reviewer found the information in this book to be valuable to anyone wishing to promote his or her book.
The Frugal Book Promoter receives a five star rating from this reviewer.
Reviewer Information:
Reviewer Robert J. Medak is a freelance writer and editor. Learn more at http://www.stormywriter.com/
"The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say."
- Mark Twain's Notebook, 1902-1903
Endorsement Disclaimer:
All reviews written by this Robert J. Medak are personal opinions of the book. The reviews are NOT paid endorsements of the book or the author. They are not advertisements. All reviews are honest, forthright and the opinion of this individual reviewer. This reviewer’s opinions are not for sale. (There is however, a small fee for some reviews, and sometimes this reviewer receives complementary copies from the author.) Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 255 (http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
179 Great Ways to Save a Novel
179 Ways to Save a Novel
By Peter Selgin
Publisher: Writer’s Digest Books
ISBN: 9781582976075
$16.99
Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award-winning author of This is the Place and Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered and The Frugal Book Promoter
What Writer Doesn’t Want Just One Great Way to Save A Novel?
Peter Selgin offers you 179 of them!
Novelists are going to love this author. He dedicates his book 179 Ways to Save a Novel to “Walter Cummins. And to my students, especially those who argue with me.” As a teacher myself, I know that students who argue offer the best opportunities for learning for everyone from the rest of the class to the teacher herself.
Selgin also knows that “no artist should ever be afraid to make mistakes.” Another core learning principle.
With an introduction that shouldn’t be overlooked, Selgin launches into a small book, dense with ideas for writers of fiction. Writers everywhere will be inspired to write a great new character or improve on an old one, reexamine the deaths that occur in our stories and on and on. Subjects I’ve never seen covered in a book (and I read a lot of books for writers!).
I also appreciate the design of this book. Writer’s Digest assigned Claudean Wheeler to the task and what she does with this book feels right. It’s creative and caring.
Writer’s Digest and Selgin (and Wheeler, too!) should be proud of this one. I hope it lands on the suggested reading list of any teacher who makes it her business to guide students to better-crafted fiction. It’s certainly going on mine!
Here are another couple of books that will help writers by the reviewer: The Frugal Editor and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
By Peter Selgin
Publisher: Writer’s Digest Books
ISBN: 9781582976075
$16.99
Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award-winning author of This is the Place and Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered and The Frugal Book Promoter
What Writer Doesn’t Want Just One Great Way to Save A Novel?
Peter Selgin offers you 179 of them!
Novelists are going to love this author. He dedicates his book 179 Ways to Save a Novel to “Walter Cummins. And to my students, especially those who argue with me.” As a teacher myself, I know that students who argue offer the best opportunities for learning for everyone from the rest of the class to the teacher herself.
Selgin also knows that “no artist should ever be afraid to make mistakes.” Another core learning principle.
With an introduction that shouldn’t be overlooked, Selgin launches into a small book, dense with ideas for writers of fiction. Writers everywhere will be inspired to write a great new character or improve on an old one, reexamine the deaths that occur in our stories and on and on. Subjects I’ve never seen covered in a book (and I read a lot of books for writers!).
I also appreciate the design of this book. Writer’s Digest assigned Claudean Wheeler to the task and what she does with this book feels right. It’s creative and caring.
Writer’s Digest and Selgin (and Wheeler, too!) should be proud of this one. I hope it lands on the suggested reading list of any teacher who makes it her business to guide students to better-crafted fiction. It’s certainly going on mine!
Here are another couple of books that will help writers by the reviewer: The Frugal Editor and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Dawn Mitchell's Just-Plain-Cute Children's Book
A Bird in a Bathing Suit
By Dawn Mitchell
ISBN: 978-1-4327-5404-1
Juvenile Fiction
Reviewed by Eileen Hanley of Bookpleasures.com
A little blue bird in a red bathing suit flapping his wings in a birdbath greets us on the cover of this delightful little book. He looks so happy even when we see him flying out of a tree with the children down below pointing and laughing, “what a silly sight to see.”
They continue to giggle and conjure up all sorts of situations in which birds act like people wearing bows, tee-shirts, underwear, sunglasses and a variety of outfits that they would wear. They eventually realize that the bird in the bathing suit is not going to come back if he is laughed at. The children recognize that in order to keep and make friends they have to accept how we all look dissimilar.
This is such a timely issue in that society has a difficult time accepting differences. This type of rejection can quickly escalate into full-scale bullying with disastrous results.
Dawn Mitchell has put important lessons on acceptance into rhyme with words and lessons for the young child. This is a wonderful talking point book for parents and teachers to discuss the differences that we all meet with each day.
The illustrations are engaging and the young reader can glean a multitude of contextual clues by just looking at the birds faces. In a beginning reader level, it is important that the print be large and distinctive, and A Bird in a Bathing Suit certainly fits the criteria readability.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
By Dawn Mitchell
ISBN: 978-1-4327-5404-1
Juvenile Fiction
Reviewed by Eileen Hanley of Bookpleasures.com
A little blue bird in a red bathing suit flapping his wings in a birdbath greets us on the cover of this delightful little book. He looks so happy even when we see him flying out of a tree with the children down below pointing and laughing, “what a silly sight to see.”
They continue to giggle and conjure up all sorts of situations in which birds act like people wearing bows, tee-shirts, underwear, sunglasses and a variety of outfits that they would wear. They eventually realize that the bird in the bathing suit is not going to come back if he is laughed at. The children recognize that in order to keep and make friends they have to accept how we all look dissimilar.
This is such a timely issue in that society has a difficult time accepting differences. This type of rejection can quickly escalate into full-scale bullying with disastrous results.
Dawn Mitchell has put important lessons on acceptance into rhyme with words and lessons for the young child. This is a wonderful talking point book for parents and teachers to discuss the differences that we all meet with each day.
The illustrations are engaging and the young reader can glean a multitude of contextual clues by just looking at the birds faces. In a beginning reader level, it is important that the print be large and distinctive, and A Bird in a Bathing Suit certainly fits the criteria readability.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Monday, May 24, 2010
James A. Cox Reviews Booklet for Midwest's Writing/Publishing Shelf
Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips For Writers
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
How To Do it Frugally Publishing
HoJoNews@aol.com
www.HowToDoItFrugally.com
9781450507653, $6.95, www.amazon.com
Reviewed for Library Bookwatch, May 1010 by James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief Midwest Book Review
A successful author, editor, writing and publishing consultant, Carolyn Howard-Johnson draws upon her many years of experience and expertise to compile a 56-page compendium of 'user friendly' and immanently practical advice that will enable writers to avoid commonly encountered errors of spelling and thereby making their work, be it a blog, a letter, or the next Great American Novel, to be all that it should. From adapting/adopting to wreak/reek, "Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips For Writers" is highly recommended reading for anyone preparing to write pretty much anything -- and a fascinating read in its own right for those who appreciate word-play and the occasionally encountered dilemmas of the English language!
This review is archived on our Midwest Book Review Web site for the next five years at http://www.midwestbookreview.com
----- The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
How To Do it Frugally Publishing
HoJoNews@aol.com
www.HowToDoItFrugally.com
9781450507653, $6.95, www.amazon.com
Reviewed for Library Bookwatch, May 1010 by James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief Midwest Book Review
A successful author, editor, writing and publishing consultant, Carolyn Howard-Johnson draws upon her many years of experience and expertise to compile a 56-page compendium of 'user friendly' and immanently practical advice that will enable writers to avoid commonly encountered errors of spelling and thereby making their work, be it a blog, a letter, or the next Great American Novel, to be all that it should. From adapting/adopting to wreak/reek, "Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips For Writers" is highly recommended reading for anyone preparing to write pretty much anything -- and a fascinating read in its own right for those who appreciate word-play and the occasionally encountered dilemmas of the English language!
This review is archived on our Midwest Book Review Web site for the next five years at http://www.midwestbookreview.com
----- The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Cathy Bryant Gets Rave Review
TITLE: Texas Roads
AUTHOR: Cathy Bryant
GENRE: Christian Fiction/General/Romance
ISBN: 978-0-9844311-0-6
Reviewed by Mandy for Read Or Not Read
RATING: 5 of 5 stars
Attention Ladies! Not many fiction books around here get awarded with 5 Stars. However, this is one that did and now I want to tell you all about it!
When Cathy Bryant asked if I would consider reading and reviewing her book, Texas Roads, I was not quick to take the offer. I have quite a stack to get through and wasn't sure if I should take the time to add a fiction title to my pile or not. But something in what Cathy wrote to me grabbed my attention and made me say "yes" and now, well, I'm so glad I did!
Texas Roads is a novel set in the good old state of Texas. When the main characters, Steve and Dani, meet in the first few pages it is hard to imagine what might happen in the next 284 pages. But this book, while somewhat predictable, takes unexpected and unpredictable twists and turns until you close the book with happy tears on your cheeks. The plot is simple yet complicated. It has a sweet storyline tinged with a hint of heartbreak and characters that are real: like-able one minute, and frustrating the next!
I greatly appreciated how Cathy penned a story that was honest, fresh, realistic, and romantic - to name a few! - without compromising the quality with sensual or unnecessary details. This book, while geared for an adult audience, could be read by a 15-year-old without concern.
This was an enjoyable read with a message of faith, hope, and forgiveness. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the tight binding that made it harder to read while laying down! Texas Roads is the perfect book for a relaxing read on a rainy day or for taking to the beach with you on your next vacation."
Author Biography
Cathy Bryant, author of Texas Roads
Chapter-a-week of TEXAS ROADS
Texas Roads is available as an e-Book or in print.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
AUTHOR: Cathy Bryant
GENRE: Christian Fiction/General/Romance
ISBN: 978-0-9844311-0-6
Reviewed by Mandy for Read Or Not Read
RATING: 5 of 5 stars
Attention Ladies! Not many fiction books around here get awarded with 5 Stars. However, this is one that did and now I want to tell you all about it!
When Cathy Bryant asked if I would consider reading and reviewing her book, Texas Roads, I was not quick to take the offer. I have quite a stack to get through and wasn't sure if I should take the time to add a fiction title to my pile or not. But something in what Cathy wrote to me grabbed my attention and made me say "yes" and now, well, I'm so glad I did!
Texas Roads is a novel set in the good old state of Texas. When the main characters, Steve and Dani, meet in the first few pages it is hard to imagine what might happen in the next 284 pages. But this book, while somewhat predictable, takes unexpected and unpredictable twists and turns until you close the book with happy tears on your cheeks. The plot is simple yet complicated. It has a sweet storyline tinged with a hint of heartbreak and characters that are real: like-able one minute, and frustrating the next!
I greatly appreciated how Cathy penned a story that was honest, fresh, realistic, and romantic - to name a few! - without compromising the quality with sensual or unnecessary details. This book, while geared for an adult audience, could be read by a 15-year-old without concern.
This was an enjoyable read with a message of faith, hope, and forgiveness. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the tight binding that made it harder to read while laying down! Texas Roads is the perfect book for a relaxing read on a rainy day or for taking to the beach with you on your next vacation."
Author Biography
Cathy Bryant, author of Texas Roads
Chapter-a-week of TEXAS ROADS
Texas Roads is available as an e-Book or in print.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Rootin' Tootin' Good Novel
Title: Houdini Pie
Publisher: Bennett & Hastings Publishing
Author: Paul Michel
ISBN #: 978-1-934733-55-4
Paper
Price: $15.95 U.S.; also available in e-formats
Number of pages: 212
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reviewed by Lewis Buzbee for Amazon
Michel's Houdini Pie is a rip-roaring, rootin' tootin' good book. It's a tale of baseball, Indian treasure, bootlegging, psychics, and romance, all set in southern California during the Depression. And as such, it's a supremely American book, about the hunt for fortune and the follies that travel the same route. The real joy and achievement of this novel is Michel's narrative voice, a perfect and enlightening use of 30's slang and patois, a condensation of all those movies we've all watched.
This is a funny, funny book--exhilarating and smart and sophisticated. Michel is a born storyteller, and lord knows, we need more writers like that. A guaranteed pleasure.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Publisher: Bennett & Hastings Publishing
Author: Paul Michel
ISBN #: 978-1-934733-55-4
Paper
Price: $15.95 U.S.; also available in e-formats
Number of pages: 212
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reviewed by Lewis Buzbee for Amazon
Michel's Houdini Pie is a rip-roaring, rootin' tootin' good book. It's a tale of baseball, Indian treasure, bootlegging, psychics, and romance, all set in southern California during the Depression. And as such, it's a supremely American book, about the hunt for fortune and the follies that travel the same route. The real joy and achievement of this novel is Michel's narrative voice, a perfect and enlightening use of 30's slang and patois, a condensation of all those movies we've all watched.
This is a funny, funny book--exhilarating and smart and sophisticated. Michel is a born storyteller, and lord knows, we need more writers like that. A guaranteed pleasure.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
"Sweet Book" Gets Great Review
Book Title: Kisses from a Distance
Genre: Nonfiction: Memoir
Author: Raff Ellis
Reviewed by A Diamond in Sunlight [actual name unknown]
Permission: Public domain
My new position leaves me with free time on weekends (a luxury I haven’t enjoyed for years), as well as roughly 20 minutes of commuting time every morning and evening. I’ve been putting all this time to good use by catching up on a shelf’s worth of books that I have ordered over the course of the past year but not yet found time to read.
The first was the bittersweet family memoir Kisses from a Distance, written by Raff Ellis (Elias). His maternal grandmother was the product of an unhappy alliance between members of two elite Maronite families in Ottoman Syria: the Hobeiches and the el Khazens. Elite, but deeply impoverished – which is what led their son, a man with the Hobeiche name and the desire for financial security to match, to marry off his sister to a ‘nameless’ young Lebanese man newly returned from the United States to look for a local bride, with a general goods store and bright prospects for the future. That man and that auctioned-off woman would become Ellis’s parents – and despite the initial promises, they ended up living a very hard life, trying to keep their store (and family) afloat.
Ellis moves charmingly from one side of his family to another, and intersperses the history of their lives with his own memories of visiting Lebanon in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The book is published by Cune Press, a small but very good Seattle-base publishing house, which has published a number of books on the Middle East and Arab culture. Kisses from a Distance is a sweet book, but its not a fairytale. I cheered for the Ellises when their store did well, and I grieved for them when tragedies struck.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Genre: Nonfiction: Memoir
Author: Raff Ellis
Reviewed by A Diamond in Sunlight [actual name unknown]
Permission: Public domain
My new position leaves me with free time on weekends (a luxury I haven’t enjoyed for years), as well as roughly 20 minutes of commuting time every morning and evening. I’ve been putting all this time to good use by catching up on a shelf’s worth of books that I have ordered over the course of the past year but not yet found time to read.
The first was the bittersweet family memoir Kisses from a Distance, written by Raff Ellis (Elias). His maternal grandmother was the product of an unhappy alliance between members of two elite Maronite families in Ottoman Syria: the Hobeiches and the el Khazens. Elite, but deeply impoverished – which is what led their son, a man with the Hobeiche name and the desire for financial security to match, to marry off his sister to a ‘nameless’ young Lebanese man newly returned from the United States to look for a local bride, with a general goods store and bright prospects for the future. That man and that auctioned-off woman would become Ellis’s parents – and despite the initial promises, they ended up living a very hard life, trying to keep their store (and family) afloat.
Ellis moves charmingly from one side of his family to another, and intersperses the history of their lives with his own memories of visiting Lebanon in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The book is published by Cune Press, a small but very good Seattle-base publishing house, which has published a number of books on the Middle East and Arab culture. Kisses from a Distance is a sweet book, but its not a fairytale. I cheered for the Ellises when their store did well, and I grieved for them when tragedies struck.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
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