Jeffrey Penn May

When I was younger, I wrote first for myself, then to show others, and eventually perhaps I might gain recognition. As I grew older and dealt with the vicissitudes of publishing, I cynically embraced the belief that being paid well for your writing is what made you a real writer. Anything less and I was more or less failing. (Talk about high expectations.) Now I’m not so sure. One of my clients is reminding me … Continue reading →

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Warning Note: I understand that I’m being cynical, but what’s the point of having your own website and blog if you cannot indulge yourself in occasional cynicism? And give yourself a chance to blame others. I blame Jaron Lanier. My cynicism wast’t fully crystallized until I read Lanier’s “Who Owns the Future?” (To be fair, Lanier offers unique solutions… but will they happen?) Sometimes the online world seems outrageously silly. Not just the everyday kind … Continue reading →

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Have you ever gone into a bookstore and wished you could read every single book? When I was much younger, I embraced that unrealistic and lofty goal. Read every single one of those bound gems. Now I face book after book, their authors shouting at me – Read me; read me please! – their pleas foisted upon me, flung in my face on Facebook, my virtual face time spent having to face the fact that … Continue reading →

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Why is there space between your paragraphs? You are stealing our space! Stop it! You are taking away our freedom. You are robbing us of a tool that shows time passing or that indicates dramatic pause. If you continue to put space between every paragraph in fiction, we will no longer have a choice. We won’t be able to use it for non-chapter breaks that don’t warrant asterisks or other markers. If you continue, spaces … Continue reading →

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I remember someone telling me, or having read somewhere, that laughing at inappropriate things is a sign of cruelty, perhaps psychopathy. At the time, during my impressionable twenties, that made me think – did I laugh at “inappropriate” things? Am I psycho? Certainly, a few of my “dates” were more or less put off when I laughed at their misfortune. Once, during those pre-cellphone days, my girlfriend arrived for a classy dinner date with her … Continue reading →

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Somehow, I think the marketing in quotes below, found on the back cover of a novel published in 1974, would not work as well in 2013. This was the bottom half of a back cover blurb separated by a thin black line. The top was a two sentence description about the setting and characters. Modern readers might scoff. Maybe I’m wrong. What do you think? “It is a novel so original, so full of imagination … Continue reading →

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Should writers send out queries? The answer used to be an obvious and resounding yes. How else would you be “published?” But after sending out 1.2 billion queries over my lifetime, I am beginning to question their present-day worth. Obviously, not all of my queries have fallen short. And we should expect to have a high ratio of rejections to acceptance. While I haven’t given up on them yet, I’m close to skipping the queries … Continue reading →

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No Teacher Left Standing by Jeffrey Penn May My rating: 4 of 5 stars And You Call Yourself A Teacher? Reluctantly I find myself criticizing a writer who has come closer than most to capturing the chaos of elementary school teaching. No Teacher Left Standing reads like a whirlwind of lunchrooms, auditoriums, and classrooms, culminating in a satisfying conclusion of lost kids finally getting on the right bus. Perhaps because we have become obsessed with … Continue reading →

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Recently, I read a Huffington Post article by Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, suggesting that your book cover might need to be upgraded in order to boost sales. This isn’t the first time I’ve read articles extolling the virtues of having an exciting, first class, professional, super expensive book cover. But is it really necessary? What ever happened to the time honored cliché about not judging a book by its cover? Generally, clichés are true, … Continue reading →

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