Future of Publishing
Literature: Dead Again?
. . . Or Maybe Not By Eric Olsen A recent New York Times column by Scott Turow, the attorney, novelist, and head of the Author’s Guild, is titled “The Slow Death of the American Author.” I was tempted to skip it, since pundits of one sort or another have for centuries been going on [...]
Professional Practices: Part 3
Looking Ahead By Eric Olsen In a couple previous posts, I argued that the disaggregation (or disintegration) of the traditional, highly centralized publishing biz that mediates between the writer and reader will lead to the disaggregation (or disintegration) of the traditional, college-based writers’ workshop, the “Iowa model,” as it’s sometimes called. Or these changes in [...]
Professional Practices: Part 2
Conflicting Views By Eric Olsen In my previous post, I talked about the panel discussion I moderated at the AWP meeting in Boston titled “What We Wish We’d Known.” Panelists included four Iowa Writers’ Workshop grads — my classmates Jane Smiley and Doug Unger, and a couple grads from a generation later — Vu Tran [...]
Professional Practices: Part 1
Can Workshops Change with the Times? By Eric Olsen Is the standard model of the writers’ workshop at all relevant any longer? I’m starting to have my doubts. I think the disaggregation (or disintegration if you prefer) of the traditional publishing biz is going to lead inevitably to the disaggregation (or disintegration) of the standard [...]
Eric Olsen on Writing
A Good Question Is a Terrible Thing to Waste By Eric Olsen A while back, writer/book reviewer Diane Prokop conducted an extensive interview with Eric and ran a portion of it on her website. She has since decided to take time off from blogging to complete her first novel. Naturally, we applaud her decision and [...]
Eric Olsen Interview
Anyone who’s read We Wanted to Be Writers, or visited this site with regularity, knows how much Eric likes to hold forth. Combine that with Diane Prokop’s unconventional questions, and the result’s bound to be entertaining. Highly!
If There Were a Literary Draft
Mixed Reviews on 2012 Literary Draft By Ross Howell Ross Howell is a non-fiction and fiction writer teaching at Elon University. He lives in Greensboro, NC, and tries not to get too caught up in the annual NFL Draft. Some years are better than others. NEW YORK, May 1, 2012—Iowa Writers’ Workshop MFA student Ken [...]
A New Approach to Book Promo
Blogging for Characters By Laird Harrison As promised in yesterday’s post, this is an example of using the capabilities of the internet to not only keep your first book alive, but to connect with readers of your next even as you write it. Laird Harrison is a novelist and multimedia journalist who has written for [...]
How to Nurture Your Book
Some Thoughts on Fish, and Keeping a Debut Book Alive By Eric Olsen A couple weeks ago, I was flying back to the Bay Area from Chicago after the annual conference of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), where I moderated a panel discussion on whether or not the creative process can be [...]
Resolutionary Road
Ah, to be young—and hirsute—again. In this wistful post on his Red Room author’s blog, Eric tackles the seasonal tradition of reinvention and what it may mean for mature writers.
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