A Poem by Juan Felipe Herrera
California Poet Laureate
To commemorate those that perished at the Sandy Hill Elementary school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012.
Little Ones We Carry You
Little ones we carry you with our hearts today and tomorrow
Many tomorrows, we will be there with you
Whether we have flowers or poems or prayers
With our hands our bodies somehow
We will touch the earth for you and the rain and the green winds
We will sing for you and your teachers who covered you
And your principal who protected you and your mothers
Fathers sisters brothers all who are one now
We will become them we will become you somehow
As we grow we will grow for you and embrace each other
The songs from your sky hearts will be the songs from our city hearts
Songs lighting your hands will be the songs lifting our hands
Somehow we contain you somehow you are here inside
Go up to the skies touching the infinite now
Little ones we carry you with our hearts today and tomorrow
This is our song
We will end the fire
Let us sing together
Writers News Nook
Marketing Tips
Do not forget the 80/20 rule in that the majority of your business will most likely come from 20 percent of customers already buying your product. It is better to focus on the 20 percent than to scatter your marketing techniques and try to reach the outlying customers. Eventually those customers will also come if you have a great book. The old saying of building your business one customer at a time applies here as well.
A mistake that many authors make is to spread their efforts in many directions. They just try to do too much at once. It is better to focus on just a few techniques at first. The best thing is to have a clear marketing strategy plan in place before you begin promoting your book. Not having a plan in place is a critical mistake that many authors make.
It is important to remember that all books need at least a three year marketing plan and commitment in order for it to be truly successful. As a writer, you need to include this into your marketing strategy.
Know that the road to success of having a best seller on your hands includes two fundamental things. These are PROMOTION and DISTRIBUTION. These two sections should be well covered in your marketing plan as you move forward.
In order for your marketing to be effective, you must be consistent in your efforts. Do not run your business in a helter skelter way. Have a clear vision and stick to it. Develop your mission statement of where you want to go, and always have that in clear sight. This will keep you from deviating from your marketing plan and will keep you on course.
Remember that marketing is the means to be successful. It is just a tool. It is not the goal.
Ways to Get on Best Seller Lists
Getting on a Best Seller List can take some effort. As an author, you must be willing to do the work because this effort can be overwhelming. The first thing is to develop an organized filing method for the strategies that you will decide on. All strategies need planning and follow through. This is the key to being successful.
There a many things you can do to get noticed. Begin by looking at all your options and understanding the literary world and how it works. This is crucial. Here are three tips to begin your efforts to getting on a Best Seller List. The next newsletter will cover more techniques.
- Send letters to all the major news media outlets so that they become aware of your book and who you are. It may take several attempts, but it will be worth it. Again, it is important to have a filing method in place so that you remember to whom you have sent the letters. These would be organizations such as USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, Publishers Weekly, or the New York Times. Let them know how you are promoting your book and providing a press kit is also helpful. You may not get noticed the first time, but always remember that everything is a numbers game.
- Send letters to major independent stores and also to major chain book stores to remind them of your book as they fill out the bestseller survey from editors. It is true that many book stores do not fill in the survey blanks; however, some may do so if your book is on their mind at the moment. Providing these stores with samplers is an excellent way to become noticed.
- You must promote your book aggressively as this is a good way to also get noticed amongst the big players. Send out news releases before and after the publication date of your book. Always remember to keep building on the last promotion. The news releases should be built on a crescendo effect.
Literary Artists
Who was Alejandro Tapia y Rivera? He was born in San Juan Puerto Rico in 1826 and died in 1882. He was considered the Father of Puerto Rican Literature as he contributed much to the development of Puerto Rican thought and had been a great advocate for womens rights. He was known as a poet, an essayist, and a writer.
His primary and secondary education was completed in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was here that he met his lifelong friend Jose Julian Acosta. He went on to work for the State Department, but was exiled to Spain after being involved in a duel. In Spain he spent time with his father. This is where his study of literature really began. During this time he became part of the Society of the Recollection of Historical Documents Relating to Puerto Rico and where he handled important documents relating to the 16th and 17th centuries.
Thereafter, he published his first work pertaining to this line of work. Eventually he was pardoned by a Spanish-appointed governor in Puerto Rico, and he was able to return back to his homeland. He lived in Ponce but then returned to San Juan, Puerto Rico in his later years. He died there while giving a conference at the Ateneo Puertorriqueno. He has received many posthumous awards since his death.
Author Events
Tributes, Awards, Praise, Happenings
On December 1, Melinda Palacio received the 2012 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for her novel, Ocotillo Dreams, Bilingual Press 2011.
A sale took place to Musa Publishing on Donna Del Oros sequel to A BODYGUARD OF LIES, entitled LIES IN WAIT. This is the second installment of the Jake Bernstein FBI thriller series.
Erin Siegals book, The US Embassy Cables, was recently featured in the New York Times.
Check out this short article that Sandra Perez Glushankoff wrote on her Journey to becoming a writer. [Click here]
Stay tuned to the Latino Authors next upcoming video with Paulina Rael Jaramillo on her book The American Southwest: Pride, Prejudice, Perseverance. This video is scheduled to be completed towards the end of January 2013.
Reyna Grande has received much recognition on her recent book The Distance Between Us. Listed below is a list of some of the mentions.
- The Christian Science Monitor’s Top 15 Best Nonfiction Books of 2012 [Click here]
- School Library Journal’s ‘Best Adult Books 4 Teens’ 2012 [Click here]
- The Los Angeles Times Holiday Books Guide [Click here]
- Las Comadres Para Las Americas National Book Club Selection November 2012
Books to Read
The Cowboy and the Feminist: An Unlikely Love Story hits shelves January 3, 2013. It is a memoir by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. You can read more about this book in the latest issues of Latina magazine and Marie Claire.
Good Night Captain Mama by Graciela Tiscareno-Sato and illustrated by Linda Lens. Click on the link to read the news release. Look for a feature article on the next issue of LatinaStyle Magazine. [Click here]
Juan in a Hundred: The Representation of Latinos on Network News by Otto Santa Ana has just been released by the University Texas Press. Click on the link to read more about this book. [Click here]
A short story called To Mistress by R. Narvaez has just been published in the Out of the Gutter 8 anthology. Click on the link to read more. [Click here]
