“Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense.” ~ Robert Frost
Ye Olde Assorted Nonsense
Donovan Street Press Inc.
contact@donovanstreetpress.com
Three Fave Books
Recently I was invited to participate in a terrific project by the folks at Shepherd, led by Ben Fox. The whole project is about leading readers to books. Some pundits think the book is dead or dying. Ben sure doesn’t. He’s almost single-handedly trying to revitalize book discovery. And as an author, I sure appreciate it.
Re-Creative Guests (so far…)
Below are all the guests Mark Rayner and I have recorded for our podcast Re-Creative so far. There are many more to come!
The premise is simple: Art that inspires. Our wide-ranging conversations start there and go, well, anywhere.
I’ve included links for those episodes currently available.
Many thanks to those who have agreed to talk to us. Every single conversation has been great fun!
The 2023 TMU Alumni Book List
Adventures in the Radio Trade has been included on the 2023 Toronto Metropolitan University’s Alumni Book List. (TMU having been Ryerson Polytechnical Insitute back when I attended.)
How to Turn a Book Into a Best Seller
I still have a lot to learn about selling books.
But here’s what I’ve figured out so far.
I believe the following to be true: “To turn a book into a bestseller, first, write a bestseller.”
It all begins with that.
Adventures in Feedback
One of the scary parts of releasing a new book such as Adventures in the Radio Trade into the wild is you don’t know how it’s going to be received. Whether people will understand what it is you’re trying to do, whether they will like how you’ve done it, whether they’ll even care. Crickets is almost worse than no feedback at all.
So it’s gratifying, and a bit of a relief, when positive feedback does start rolling in.
Here’s an email I received yesterday (reprinted here with permission) from veteran freelance writer/broadcaster John Pellatt, who shares a great story of his own about CBC Radio legend Allan McFee.
Reflections on a Book Launch
“How’d the book launch go?” somebody asked me the other day.
There aren’t enough superlatives in the English language to answer that question.
“Amazing,” I tried.
I could also have said, “Magic.” Or: “One of the best days of my life.”
All completely true. Certainly the beginning of an answer.
Here’s a longer answer.
Dear Author Joe
The one sure way to make money in publishing is off the backs of gullible authors. Offering dubious marketing schemes, for example.
If I had any brains at all I would give up my foolish dream of making a go of it as an author and immediately start exploiting my fellow authors for all they’re worth. I would likely make a mint.
I would certainly be better at it than the fellow who attempted to exploit me today.
Just Peachy
It has been about a month since I released my memoir about working in radio, Adventures in the Radio Trade, into the wild, the day after I retired from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the day I became a full time writer.
“How’s all that working our for you?” someone asked me the other day.
“Just peachy,” I told them.
“What do you mean by just peachy?” they wanted to know.
“My wife bought a whole bunch of peaches and we had to eat them all up before they went bad,” I explained. “They were some good though.”
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