How to Win a Pulitzer Prize

Gilbert King went from writing about Mr. Potato Head to crafting an award-winning story about racial injustice.

More in The Writer from Susan Kershner Resnick:

Last year, I sent out a request on Facebook asking experienced writers to share advice with my undergraduate writing students. A few snarky responses appeared first: Go to law school; get comfortable with a life of poverty. Then Gilbert King weighed in.

“Work. Read. Work. Think. Work. Write. Work. Connect. Work. Pitch. Same as always,” he wrote.

Continue:  http://www.writermag.com/2013/09/09/win-pulitzer-prize/

Gilbert King visits Albany today:  http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/king_gilbert13.html

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Rejected by 35 Publishers, Gilbert King

“I also want beginning writers to know that you need some good luck to be successful. This book was rejected by 35 publishers, mostly because my first book didn’t sell very well.”

Gilbert King, Niskayuna native and Pulitzer-winning author of Devil in the Grove, talks to Jack Rightmyer of the Gazette about writing, Thurgood Marshall, boyhood dreams of being a baseball player, and more.

Article in the Gazette:  http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2013/sep/21/marshalls-legacy-inspires-book-niskayuna-native/?free

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When Publishing Was a More Genteel Pursuit.

James Salter (who visits UAlbany on Thursday) is interviewed in Publishers Weekly about his new novel, All That Is, and its setting:  the world of publishing in New York in the period immediately following World War II.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/55753-a-different-kind-of-intimacy-pw-talks-with-james-salter.html

Read more about Salter's upcoming visit here:  http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/salter_james13.html

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Sandy's Impact on NYC Publishing

From Publishers Weekly:

"The wind and rain may have died down in New York City, but the metropolis is far from recovered. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which has left thousands throughout the tri-state without power, many publishers are struggling to get their systems back online, and some are reporting issues at their warehouses, as well."

More:  http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/54560-new-york-publishing-struggling-to-get-back-online-post-sandy.html

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Extremely Disturbing Article About the New Book Industry

An article by North Country historian Lawrence Gooley shared from the Adirondack Almanack:

"Under Bibliolabs’ arm called Webster’s Digital Services, there are more than 34,000 books credited to those authors. And yes, in physical form―a paper block with sheets of printed paper, surrounded by printed covers―these are books. But in Bibliolabs new definition of “book,” there is no expectation of accuracy, research, or … well, it’s better said that there should be no expectations at all. What fills all of those books is stuff from Wikipedia and other free sources found through Internet searches. What a great idea! No vetting, no fact-checking … just bundle it all for sale and call it a book. And when I said, “We report, you decide,” that’s exactly the concept."

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Books as Art Objects

The New York Times has an article about how, in an age of e-books, publishers are attempting to sell physical books as giftable, displayable art objects, much as they were a century ago.

"If e-books are about ease and expedience, the publishers reason, then print books need to be about physical beauty and the pleasures of owning, not just reading." More.

The article also makes mention of the "deep red endpapers" of Dava Sobel's new book on Copernicus, A More Perfect Heaven.

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