I’m writing a book

I very vaguely alluded to a big potential project in my last post of 2007. That project is now very real, so I feel OK with letting the cat out of the bag: I’m writing a book. Got a deal and everything. (Though deal is a kind of misleading word—it implies six-figure advances and major publicity campaigns, neither of which I have.)

The book—as of yet untitled—is a how-to business book for indie crafters. My final manuscript is due in February, and the book will be on shelves in fall 2009, if all goes according to plan. I’m still going to write my little capsule book reviews here in this blog, but I’m also going to use it to keep track of my writing progress. Like so:

Current word count: 6,793 (out of 30,000)

And I have stories to tell about the wild world of book publishing. I might create an FAQ. The most FAQ has to be whether I get to pick the title of the book. I don’t—that’s a decision left up to the publisher, with the input of my editor and the marketing/sales folks. The more you know!

So, that’s why I’ve totally dropped the killer reading pace I had earlier this year. It’s an exciting project, but dang, is it a lot of work.

If you have any questions, post a comment!

“The New Kings of Nonfiction,” edited by Ira Glass

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2007, 456 pp.
Obtained via: Library
Date started: 9.2.08
Date finished: 9.14.08
What I liked: This collection of essays is absolutely top-notch. I especially loved Malcolm Gladwell’s “Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg,” Michael Pollan’s “Power Steer” and Coco Henson Scales’ “The Hostess Diaries.”
What I didn’t like: I assumed the essays would be all recent, but some were quite old, like Susan Orlean’s “The American Man, Age Ten.” I also don’t like the fact that David Foster Wallace killed himself on the same day I read his work for the first time (“Host,” a very well-footnoted story).
What I learned: There are so many wonderful risks you can take in nonfiction writing.