My friend has her first novel coming out soon, and I want to get her a neat present to celebrate her major-publisher, first-time author status. Any suggestions? [more inside]
posted on Jul 10, 2008 - 18 answers

The rights to my ~400 page pop/technical book reverted to me when the publisher went bankrupt. How can I best monetize the second edition? [more inside]
posted on Jun 11, 2008 - 4 answers

An agent is interested in my book but says that they only have an "optional" contract- authors can sign it or not, given their preference. Should I give them my book? [more inside]
posted on Apr 13, 2008 - 15 answers

I've been reading 'New Kings of Nonfiction' by Ira Glass and love it. I want to read more articles and books in this vein. [more inside]
posted on Feb 27, 2008 - 7 answers

To this day, what do we know about Dimitri Nabokov (Vladimir Nabokov's son) decision to burn his father'as last book : Laura ? [more inside]
posted on Feb 19, 2008 - 9 answers

I'm planning to co-author a book with a semi-famous person who wants to tell her own story, but needs help with the writing part. My biggest question is about money - how should we split it? It's her story, but I'll be doing most of the writing. Yet we are attempting to treat this as a real collaboration where we edit together, pass drafts back and forth, and so forth. Any sense of what percentage is appropriate for each of us? Also, should I join the Writers Union to get help with this type of question? I'd like to join on principal but I'm your classic broke writer, so the dues feel prohibitive. Thanks!
posted on Dec 10, 2007 - 3 answers

What playwrights produced bodies of work rife with monologue material? [more inside]
posted on Dec 4, 2007 - 18 answers

How can I get B-List Celebrities to give me a quote for the back of my book? [more inside]
posted on Aug 22, 2007 - 15 answers

I have a small book coming out in a few months, and will most likely be asked to sign a number of them for family, friends, complete strangers. However, my signature is a indiscernible squiggle. Should I practice a special signature for the book, or maybe buy a small embosser to use with the signature? Any examples of out of the ordinary author signatures people have are welcome. [more inside]
posted on Aug 8, 2007 - 20 answers

How do you get a book published by a (semi) major publisher as a first time author? [more inside]
posted on Jul 8, 2007 - 13 answers

I'm a writer who has been contributing free works of fiction (novellas, short stories) to the Web for the past five years. I've enjoyed sparks of brief net popularity and these glimmers show that what I put out there is definitely appreciated by a certain faction of the reading population. Is there something better I can do to get my name and work out there than waiting around to get Slashdotted again? [more inside]
posted on Jun 21, 2007 - 15 answers

Should I follow in the footsteps of Douglas Adams? [more inside]
posted on Jun 21, 2007 - 18 answers

How much should I charge to author a textbook for a Taiwanese company? A Taiwanese publishing company has asked me to author a short English textbook (the final edit should have around 35,000 words). I have a good amount of experience with ESL (teaching, creating new material, worked on multi-media stuff, etc) and I'm doing my PhD in linguistics now - but I'm no expert. They've asked me tell them how much I'd like to earn. What is a fair price for this? (Either per word or for the entire project.) Should my first offer be a bit higher than what I expect, or is that sleazy somehow? I'd appreciate any advice - Thanks!
posted on Jun 9, 2007 - 8 answers

I'm looking for examples of beautiful "author's profile" pages. I'm building a community blog and I want to create good author's profile pages that will really make the authors look good. What websites/publications have good formats and designs I can use as examples? [more inside]
posted on Feb 23, 2007 - 3 answers

Should I bother with a publisher? How much do nonfiction authors make off a book deal these days? [more inside]
posted on Feb 12, 2007 - 8 answers

Unprofessional behavior and bad PR in the book world... am I better off taking my book back from this publisher or sucking up their bad behavior and just being done with it? [more inside]
posted on Feb 12, 2007 - 9 answers

Help me find the (prolific, I think) short story writer I read in high school! Fuzzy, mixed up memories inside. [more inside]
posted on Jan 5, 2007 - 9 answers

How can I find the agent of a particular author? [more inside]
posted on Nov 28, 2006 - 5 answers

In the 80s, I read a collection of books by a gentleman who was a cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. His last name was not Bouvier. The books were all set in the High Society 1920s-50s in New England/New York. The other major part that I remember is that the Brownstone style of housing was utilized extensively. One book had a picture of a house on the cover. [more inside]
posted on Nov 1, 2006 - 3 answers

'The Flâneur': What fascinating titbits can you add to my knowledge about this concept? Art, history, philosophy and literary theory links all welcome. [more inside]
posted on Oct 25, 2006 - 22 answers

Author seeks London venue for Neutral Milk Hotel reading in November. Can you help? [more inside]
posted on Oct 2, 2006 - 18 answers

I have found a ton of information both here and other places about the outline of a NOVEL, but not other types of books. What would be the general structure of an outline for a book that is: 1/3 history, 1/3 case-study/interviews/current applications, 1/3 how-to and NOT a novel. Useless information included inside :-) [more inside]
posted on Aug 15, 2006 - 4 answers

I'm looking for help in finding out who the author/publisher of a book called "The Camp" are [more inside]
posted on Jun 19, 2006 - 2 answers

Creative ways to promote a self-published book online without spamming? (UK) [more inside]
posted on Jun 19, 2006 - 5 answers

I am going insane trying to find this book. The author was interviewed on Fresh Air (it might have been a repeat, but played not that long ago). In order to help you help me, there is . . . [more inside]
posted on May 23, 2006 - 7 answers

Back in 1991 I used to play a Backgammon game on the PC - the format was based on the writings of a Russian (sounding?) Science Fiction author. I always meant to see what the books were like, but now I don't know his name. Any ideas as to who he could be?
posted on Apr 13, 2006 - 4 answers

Name the author and book... [more inside]
posted on Mar 29, 2006 - 10 answers

Which famous sci-fi author bet another author that if he wrote the worst book he could, it would become a hit? [more inside]
posted on Mar 21, 2006 - 25 answers

Name (or author of) of a biographical book about a RAF pilot in WW2 who loses both legs in an accident, but goes on to fly in combat and ends up in a POW camp, which he then manages to escape from.
posted on Mar 7, 2006 - 11 answers

How to I protect my book from being adapted to film/screen/movie without my permission? [more inside]
posted on Feb 22, 2006 - 14 answers

Name that Book TV speaker: British author, late 30s/early 40s, spoke about West & rest international politics, looked roughly like a bearded Kevin Kline. [more inside]
posted on Jan 30, 2006 - 9 answers

Is it obnoxious to offer my (published) writing to an author at a book signing? [more inside]
posted on Jan 25, 2006 - 22 answers

I have tried google and message boards and the publisher's site to no avail. Any idea where I can get an official 2006 David Foster Wallace reading or book signing or appearance schedule? [more inside]
posted on Jan 17, 2006 - 3 answers

FrenchYoungAdultFictionFilter: back in the early 1980's, I bought a contemporary novel at Brentano about a young French girl-woman. It was a paperback. [more inside]
posted on Dec 24, 2005 - 6 answers

I remember reading at some point about a fairly well known author who, every time he (or she) sold a short story, used the money to buy a piece of artwork. Who is/was this?
posted on Dec 2, 2005 - 2 answers

Suppose I were able to write a publishable novel. How much money would I get, as a first-time author as soon as it was picked up? How much would I make over all? Assume This an action sci-fi/cyberpunk type book (think William Gibson). [more inside]
posted on Oct 19, 2005 - 25 answers

Could someone tell me the origin of this? [more inside]
posted on Aug 7, 2005 - 2 answers

Help me find a new author in the style of Patricia Cornwell, Iain Banks, Christopher Brookmyre, Ian Rankin etc. [more inside]
posted on Jun 28, 2005 - 13 answers

Help me argue an office mate. The author Douglas Coupland wrote that the only human activities that have no animal equivalent are smoking, body-building, and writing. I'm trying to think of more.
posted on Jun 16, 2005 - 80 answers

What's the title/author of the children's book where a kid makes an airplane out of cookie dough and goes exploring? If I remember correctly, the illustrations were quite plump and billowy.
posted on Jun 3, 2005 - 12 answers

What is the process for getting a book published? [more inside]
posted on Apr 24, 2005 - 7 answers

Need to know the author of some pretty well known children's books...(+)
posted on Feb 16, 2005 - 6 answers

Is there anything good out there which will let me create MP3-CDs from WinAmp playlists?
posted on Aug 30, 2004 - 9 answers

DVD authoring tools. What are you guys using? Whats the best "bang for the buck" software out there for casual (non-professional) work?
posted on Jul 20, 2004 - 7 answers

MPG1 + CD-R = VCD

MPG1 + DVD-R = ???

Preferably, something I can play on my console DVD player.
posted on Jul 9, 2004 - 11 answers

Can anyone help me find out the name or author of this book? (more inside)
posted on May 11, 2004 - 6 answers

Can anyone suggest the title/ author of a book I once heard about? It contains dozens of conversation starters - things like (and I paraphrase): "If you were offered to live forever, but only on condition that you were ugly, would you take it"?
posted on Apr 5, 2004 - 7 answers

I've just bought a CD-Burner from ebay. No maker's mark on it, so how can I tell what model it is? (lots of serial numbers all over it). Also, I need a good CD burning program. Can anyone recommend any free applications?
posted on Mar 31, 2004 - 12 answers

My girlfriend's computer is from the late Jurassic period-- Gateway with an AMD 500-something mhz processor and 64 megs of RAM running 98 SE. It used to burn cd's from her mp3 collection generally flawlessly, but lately any cd made starts late in the first song and the track numbering is off (e.g. the player dosen't change from "2" to "3" until the middle of track 3.)

We switched from Roxio to Nero, tried converting to .wav with Winamp beforehand, but it's still off.

Any idea what the problem might be?
posted on Feb 28, 2004 - 3 answers