Suspend Your Disbelief

Author Archive

Shop Talk |

Book of the Week Giveaway: Nothing Happened and Then It Did, by Jake Silverstein

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Three weeks ago, Fiction Writers Review launched a Fan Page on Facebook. The goal is threefold: to introduce new readers to FWR, to create an informal place for conversations about writing, and also to give away lots of free books. Each week we’ll give away several free copies of a featured novel or story collection as part of our Book-of-the-Week program. All you have to do to be eligible for our weekly drawing is to be a fan of our Facebook page. No catch, no gimmicks. And once you’re a fan, you’ll be automatically entered in each subsequent drawing. Last […]


Shop Talk |

Dancing with the… Authors?

by Celeste Ng

Nothing says “awesome reality TV” like “authors.” Right? On EW.com, Breia Brissey wonders why no authors have been featured in over 11 seasons of Dancing with the Stars: Even if you don’t watch the show, it’s hard to avoid the casting news each season. And if I’ve learned anything at all by watching week after week, it’s that the producers use the term ‘stars’ loosely. I get it. Dancing with the People You’ve Probably Heard About in the News, Regardless of Star Quality was never really a viable name choice. So I won’t hold that against the ABC powers that […]


Reviews |

A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan

by Jackie Reitzes

In a generation of “Pointers,” the relationship between and among songs on an album—its narrative—is all but lost in favor of hit single after single. But in Jennifer Egan’s new book, A Visit from the Goon Squad, an array of stories mix into a cohesive novel, each chapter self-contained yet fluid as the grooves of an LP.


Shop Talk |

Tomatoes, Basil… Books?

by Celeste Ng

Boston author Jonathan Papernick has found a new market for selling his fiction: the farmer’s market. Reports the Boston Globe: [W]orking as a character he calls Papernick the Book Peddler, the Brandeis University writer-in-residence fills a neon-painted shopping cart with copies of his newest work, a collection of short stories called “There Is No Other,’’ and walks through local farmers’ markets offering his wares. […] “I call it market-fresh fiction for the people,’’ Papernick said. “I don’t need to rely on good reviews if I can show readers my book, talk to them about it, let them flip through it, […]


Shop Talk |

You say Tomato, I say tomahto. You say paper, I say ebook

by Celeste Ng

Literature can bring people together—but it can also cause romantic tensions. Reports the New York Times: For Erin and Daniel Muskat, a couple in Brooklyn, the ink-stained quarrel has disrupted the togetherness of their reading habits. Ms. Muskat, 29, bought an iPad for her husband, 33, who works at his family’s shoe business, before their honeymoon in June, but quickly discovered that his electronic reading impinged on her old-fashioned reading. “I brought a book with me and I barely read it,” said Ms. Muskat, a media consultant. “We used to go to the beach and we’d both take out books, […]


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(How) Do Authors Make Money?

by Celeste Ng

Tim Ferriss, author of the Kindle-published The 4-Hour Work Week, has an interesting look at the economics of how writers get paid: – For a hardcover book, authors typically receive a 10-15% royalty on cover price. This means that for a $20 cover price, the author will receive $2-3. If you have a $50,000 advance, a $20 cover price, and a 10% royalty, you therefore need to sell 25,000 copies (“earn out” the advance) before you receive your first dollar beyond the advance. This is the basic rule, but several quietly aggressive outfits — both Barnes and Noble’s in-house imprint […]


Shop Talk |

Book of the Week Giveaway: Percival's Planet, by Michael Byers

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Two weeks ago, Fiction Writers Review launched a Fan Page on Facebook. The goal is threefold: to introduce new readers to FWR, to create an informal place for conversations about writing, and also to give away lots of free books. Each week we’ll give away several free copies of a featured novel or story collection as part of our Book-of-the-Week program. All you have to do to be eligible for our weekly drawing is to be a fan of our Facebook page. No catch, no gimmicks. And once you’re a fan, you’ll be automatically entered in each subsequent drawing. Last […]


Shop Talk |

Okay, so IS the New York Times sexist?

by Celeste Ng

After all the Franzen-Freedom hoopla, Jennifer Weiner and Jodi Picoult imply yes. NPR’s Linda Holmes has some great reflections on the dustup, while Slate tries to break it down by the numbers: Of the 545 books reviewed between June 29, 2008 and Aug. 27, 2010: —338 were written by men (62 percent of the total) —207 were written by women (38 percent of the total) Of the 101 books that received two reviews in that period: —72 were written by men (71 percent) —29 were written by women (29 percent) What does this tell us? These overall numbers pretty well […]


Shop Talk |

The New Self-Publishing

by Celeste Ng

Long seen as the last resort of those who couldn’t find a “real” publisher, self-publishing has undergone a dramatic change over the past few years. Now it’s often seen as a way to get the attention of those “real” publishers by getting one’s work out there. None of this is really news. But what is new is that even some established writers are self-publishing. Newsweek reports: Maybe Grisham isn’t a Lulu customer yet, but writer John Edgar Wideman (Philadelphia Fire) is. Wideman’s latest collection of short stories, Briefs, came out from Lulu this spring. In a traditional paperback publishing deal, […]




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