Office of Scholarly Publications at Georgetown University: 10/14/2007

Saturday, October 20, 2007

The Key to Authors' Hearts? The Books They're Pushing NOW

Ah, the curse of a big bestseller, especially if it comes early in a career. For those of us who have never had one it might seem like a ridiculously desirable problem to have, but think with me here. Imagine you're Sebastian Junger, and you wrote The Perfect Storm. Huzzah. Light bulbs flash. Movie stars want to be in the picture. Publishers send you fat checks, and you can light your cigars with hundred-dollar bills and buy a half-interest in a popular New York bar. But then suppose you try to follow it up, and you do with a book that is (a) gripping, (b) based on something that really happened to you (meeting a serial killer who later claimed to be the Boston Strangler, no less!), and (c) cool enough that even if there had never been that damn storm, you still would have gotten on the bestseller lists. But when you go on tour, everybody wants to ask you about George Clooney.

A Death In Belmont is Sebastian Junger for the connoisseur. Not only does it have the extra-creepy real-life connection of the author's mother actually hiring Albert DeSalvo as a carpenter, and the killer being alone in the house with mother and young son for hours at a time, but it also reflects narrative skill that Junger originally developed as a field reporter, built in The Perfect Storm, and has now taken to the next level. The book did really well in hardback and now in paper, yet wherever Junger goes, the Andrea Gail is sure to follow.

So you wanna impress the guy when you meet him in person on the night of November 1 at the National Press Club's annual Book Fair (or, if you are Georgetown faculty, when you have lunch with him earlier that day here at Booklab)? Then swagger on up to his table, buy a signed copy of A Death in Belmont, wink and tell him it's a holiday gift for a friend because you already bought and read yours, and then proceed to talk about serial killers. You'll have his attention.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Georgetown professor emeritus publishes his first novel

The Office of Scholarly and Literary Publications is pleased to announce that Professor Emeritus Eusebio Rodrigues has published his epic about Goa, India in the early 1500s. Love and Samsāra is filled with adventure, romance, suspense, and intrigue, all set against the backdrop of India in late medieval times.

The novel will be published by New Academia Publishing, and debut on November 1, 2007, at the National Press Club's annual Book Fair. For more information about Book Fair, please contact Carole Sargent (booklab@georgetown.edu). Everyone is invited to visit Book Fair and greet the author and Anna Lawton, the publisher, who also teaches in the School of Foreign Service and works for the World Bank. Roberto Severino (Professor Emeritus, Italian) and Richard Stites (Professor, History) are also on the board, along with other scholars at universities worldwide. Here is a link to the book at the New Academia website. You can click on the book to get more information, and to read an excerpt.

Early in the Spring semester the English Department and the Office of Scholarly and Literary Publications will co-sponsor an event to honor Professor Rodrigues, and announcements will go out at that time. Meanwhile we want to extend our warmest congratulations to him and to New Academia Publishing for bringing this literary work of a lifetime to the page.

Writing a Book? Literary Advising at Booklab

Booklab works with authors outside Georgetown as well as faculty. Literary education is available either by the hour (advising) or by the project (nonfiction proposals, expert manuscript readthroughs, etc.). Write to us for more information and a course fee schedule.

If you're not a Georgetown author and you have a question, you can have it answered for free if you give us permission to post it on the blog. You will remain anonymous unless you wish to be identified by first name.

And yes, we occasionally lurk on Twitter as Georgetownbooks.

Click here to see a list of books we recommend about writing.

Literary Events

William Morris Endeavor Agency Visited Booklab. Eric Lupfer of the William Morris Endeavor Agency was my guest for a Georgetown University faculty book talk at noon on October 15 in the Leavey Center. Over 70 faculty members attended, including special guests from the Center For Advanced Holocaust Studies at the Holocaust Museum, and some from Mary Washington College. Eric focused on his own approaches, work he admires, and backstage realities at a major literary agency.
Matthew Carnicelli Visited Booklab. This former Dutton editor turned literary agent, first in his own boutique and now with Trident Media, captivated an audience of 70 faculty members with his insights on how scholarly research can form the basis of engaging and popular books. He discussed some of the mechanics of approaching agents, but his core message was what he particularly looks for in an engaging crossover book.
Cary Goldstein Visited Booklab. Director of Publicity and Acquiring Editor Cary Goldstein at Hachette's estimable imprint TWELVE discussed how academic authors can become quoted experts in today's voracious news climate. He analyzed nonfiction from both of his unique perspectives: as an acquisitions editor, and as a senior-level publicity strategist. He also discussed TWELVE and what distinguishes its editorial and promotional approach from other houses.
Smithsonian Books Editor and Georgetown Alumna Visits Georgetown. Elisabeth Kallick Dyssegaard, a senior editor at Smithsonian Books who was an executive editor at Random House and Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and who has been reponsible for several literary bestsellers, will co-teach a book proposal seminar in the spring. Please see the blog at the left for details.
Sebastian Junger Visited Booklab. Bestselling author Sebastian Junger -- who used to be a Washington, DC journalist and who is still a reporter at heart -- is also a great supporter of Booklab. He discussed his work with faculty. We met in the historic Philodemic Room, where he offered such unorthodox advice as "Write what you DON'T know... you'll learn along with your readers and tell a better, more thorough story." Afterward he accompanied our team to the National Press Club for its annual Book Fair and Authors Night.
Georgetown Author Barbara Mujica at Chapters Literary Bookstore. Georgetown alumna and Chapters co-owner Terri Merz hosted Barbara Mujica at Chapters for a special wine reception.
Oxford University Press Visited Georgetown. The Faculty of Languages and Linguistics hosted Cynthia Read, the executive editor of Oxford USA, on April 17 for a conversation and question and answer session.
University of Arizona Press Visited Georgetown. Carole Sargent welcomed Dr. Christine Szuter, Director of the University of Arizona Press, at the Book Lab townhouse on Wednesday, March 14 at 10:30 a.m.
The Authors Guild at Georgetown. Executive Director Paul Aiken and General Counsel Jan Constantine answered professors' questions about university press contracts, and authors submitted contracts ahead of time for detailed review.
Father James V. Schall read from his new book The Life of the Mind: On the Joys and Travails of Thinking, in late October.
Gemstone of Paradise: The Holy Grail in Wolfram's Parzival, by G. Ronald Murphy, S.J. was the subject of a book talk at the National Press Club's Eric Friedheim Library. Father Murphy regaled the audience with his fascinating story of actually finding the Holy Grail.

Office of Scholarly Publications
at Georgetown University

Saturday, October 20, 2007

The Key to Authors' Hearts? The Books They're Pushing NOW

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Georgetown professor emeritus publishes his first novel

Write a Novel in November

Writing a Book? Literary Advising at Booklab

Booklab Welcomes Authors

Literary Events

About the Director of Booklab

"Inky Linkies"

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Ways To Make The Most of This Office