Working Titlez

While preparing to speak at the Ames, Iowa public library about her most recent book, The Home for the Friendless, author Betty Auchard spent time with Laura Millsaps of the Ames Tribune. A wonderful article where Betty shares some of her fondest memories of her childhood in Iowa. For the full interview, click here:

Recently, Cedar Rapids, Iowa native Betty Auchard returned to her roots and spoke with Charity Nebbe of Iowa Public Radio. Click here to listen to Betty as she tells stories from her newest book, The Home for the Friendless.

Betty Auchard, author of The Home for the Friendless and Dancing in my Nightgown, returns to Iowa this month to speak at Prairie Lights Books, one of the premiere independent bookstores in the country. If you happen to be in Iowa City on June 14, come listen to Betty read and share stories from her newest book. If you aren’t in Iowa City, you still have time to get there – an evening you won’t want to miss!

Former CityLife Editor and R-J staffer Geoff Schumacher recently posted a past interview with Vu Tran, one of our Restless City authors. Though Geoff and Vu have both since left Sin City for broader horizons and greater challenges, their conversation about writing, and the authors who have influenced Tran in his relatively young, but remarkable career, is well worth reading. It is obvious that we will be hearing much more about this Whiting Writers’ Award winner! For the complete interview, click here.

Author appearances and readings aren’t always the laid-back affairs they seem to be. Just as there is much anticipation felt by audience members, there is also pressure on the author’s part. These masters of the written word are expected to be as captivating in person as they are on the page.

To help ensure an enjoyable experience for all involved Chuck Thompson, author and bookstore-appearance veteran, recently shared with ShelfAwareness his tried and true “Six Rules for Better Readings.”

1. Don’t Read for More Than Five Minutes at a Time. Ever!

For the book I’m promoting now, To Hellholes and Back, I usually spend 10 minutes giving a little behind-the-scenes background on the book, then read two segments from different chapters. The first segment takes three minutes to read. The second takes four or five, depending on the audience member dragooned into service for Rule 2.

2. Get the Crowd Involved

Q&As are nice, but events are much more lively when you find creative ways of engaging the audience.

For Hellholes I’ve been doing a couple different bits. Often I recruit someone from the audience (there’s always an itchy extrovert at these things) to read a piece of dialogue with me from a section about haggling with street vendors in India. I have my ad hoc confederate take the part of wily merchant and read from a script with their lines in bold-face. I make sure they get the best lines–jokes often come off funnier when someone from the audience reads them for the first time.

I also occasionally ask for a die-hard soccer fanatic in the crowd to offer a rebuttal to a two-page screed in which I delicately point out that soccer is evil, stupid and anti-American, a corrosive influence on our nation’s vulnerable young. Soccer fans get extremely uppity when you criticize the lamest sport in the world, so this gambit also tends to yield superb emotional results.

3. Easy on the Visuals

More than 15 travel slides and it starts to look like you’re bragging, not edifying. Any PowerPoint feels like a business presentation.

4. Hand Out Gift Certificates

The first thing I do when I walk into a bookstore is buy two or three $20 gift certificates. This is a good way of conveying appreciation to the store for hosting me and a way to thank audience members brave enough to pretend to be sleazy merchants or debate soccer with me. Anyone who gets on stage with me gets a gift card.

When promoting a book called Smile When You’re Lying a couple years ago, I passed out index cards and had people write questions for me on the cards. I told them to be sure to include their names on the cards for a gift-certificate drawing at the end of the Q&A. This kept people around and interested until the end of the event.

5. Cut Off the Q&A Early

Don’t mistake a few questions for mass interest. Some blowhard or aspiring writer will always hang around asking questions until the lights are turned out. Most people get fidgety after 35 or 40 minutes. By that time, they expect to be getting their books signed and on their ways to the 20 other things they have to do before the night is out. If your mother never told you, I will: it’s always better to leave a party 30 minutes early than 30 minutes late.

6. Don’t Be Afraid to Say Something Stupid

Writers are expected to be smart, which can make getting in front of an audience intimidating. The typical writer reflex is to become overly thoughtful or cautious when speaking off the cuff. At readings, this makes them about as appealing as a damp sock.

I try to speak at readings the way I do with friends over drinks. Even if I wind up saying something dumb, audiences are generally forgiving, and it rarely makes them like my book less. If all that people wanted was what’s in the book, they’d just stay home and read, so I’ve never seen the point of giving them more of the same when they’ve come out to see me.

By following these rules I’ve managed to have, if not always good crowds, at least a good time at readings.

Read the full article here.
Excerpt from ShelfAwareness 2/10/10

A study done by the Connecticut State University shows the list of the most literate cities (over 250,000 population).

Topping the list:
1. Minneapolis, MN
2. Seattle, WA
3. St. Paul, MN
4. Denver, CO
5. Washington, DC

A variety of criteria was used: Booksellers; Educational Attainment; Internet Resources; Library Resources; Newspaper Circulation; and Periodical Publications.

Lower rankings:
7. San Francisco, CA
10. Boston, MA
28. New York, NY
30. Colorado Springs, CO
40. Chicago, IL
43. Las Vegas, NV
53. Los Angeles, CA

Perhaps those long cold winters in Minnesota make for good reading weather. Though nearby Milwaukee, WI, ranks only 34.5. (Too much beer and football?) I would have thought that these other lower ranked cities would have done better, Boston, home of Harvard? New York, heart of the publishing industry itself? As for Las Vegas? Too many distractions? For the rest of the list and the methodology visit: CCSU-America’s Most Literate Cities.

Scary stats. Do we have more readers than a year, two years, five years ago? Not likely, but by some reports, twice as many books have been published per year, going from 172,000 new titles to over 400,000 in just a few years time. We don’t need more books, we need more readers!

58% of the US adult population never reads another book after they leave school.

42% of college graduates never read another book.

80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.

32% of the U.S. population has ever been in a bookstore.

33% of book purchases are made by customers 55 and older.

20% of adults in the U.S. read at or below the fifth grade level.

Stats from Jenkins Group/Bookwire.

My colleague here at the R-J and author of two Stephens Press books, Geoff Schumacher, offers up on intriguing analysis of what library patrons in Sin City (yes, we have libraries — nice ones — as well as churches, parks and even symphony and ballet!) are reading. View it here: Bookish Las Vegans.If you are not a fan of Patterson & Company titles, take heart! While a Patterson read can be an entertaining romp when that’s what you need, the thinking reader can find some excellent book suggestions in Geoff’s column.