Borders and Lulu Team Up For Self-Publishing

Back in February of 2008 the Self-Publishing world was abuzz with the news of Borders Book Retailers teaming up with Lulu.com, a self-publishing company. Aspiring writers and those of us who had already published books through Lulu were excited at the prospect of getting our books on the shelves at such a major retailer as Borders.

The merging was touted as “blazing trails in publishing”; “…a match made in heaven…” “…millions of customers will be able to fulfill their dream of publishing their stories and sharing them with the world.”

At last we self-publishers would have the opportunity sell our hard work and be read by the consumer!

Ha! The joke was on us. Sure Lulu is a great place to self-publish one’s work. In my opinion one of, if not the best place. And don’t get me wrong, I love Borders, it shop there weekly. But trying to get Borders to carry my Lulu published book on their shelves, I found was like counting on winning the lottery. It ain’t gonna happen.

Tulsa has two Borders book stores and both refused my plea to carry my book. I was told in both instances, “We don’t stock self-published books because we aren’t able to return them should they not sell.” Both store managers suggested I try Steve’s Sundries Book Retailer here in Tulsa. Well I did, and I’m happy to say Steve’s Sundries was more than happy to carry it. Thank you Steve’s Sundries, for giving a struggling writer a chance.
I even contacted Lulu and was told that Borders does carry their author’s books, and that it was up to the discretion of the individual Borders store managers.
Tulsa Borders…Shame on you.

“Borders and Lulu --bringing the dreams of the everyday writer to reality –.” Believe that, and I’ve got some beach-front property located here in Tulsa, Oklahoma to sell you.

I'm always happy to promote another author's work and would like to pass this along to anyone who is a writer, whether it be fiction, non-fiction, poetry or whatever genre. Jack Heffron has written a wonderful book to help any writer in developing his or her craft. This book is definitely worth checking out. Thank you Jack for such a marvelous book.

Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly

For the myriad frustrated or blocked writers in the world comes another addition to the swelling shelves of guides designed to soothe, teach and inspire. And while Heffron, an acquisitions editor for Writer's Digest and other F+W publications, undeniably loves his subject and knows much about it, he doesn't break out of the conventional (and at this point, one might argue tired) format to tell it. He includes, for instance, the requisite quotes from famous authors that are designed to inspire struggling ones; the familiar pleas for details; the advice on courage and persistence; and the tried-and-true brainstorming exercises. What's better-but still, in form anyway, standard fare-are the 400-plus writing prompts: "Write about your first experience with death"; "Write a scene in which a character returns home after an extended absence"; "Every day for a week, write down something you've learned in conversation"; "Write a new opening" to a piece that's unfinished. Like any catch-all book (this one extends over scripts, poetry, fiction and nonfiction-forms and genres with their own advantages and restrictions), it is ultimately too broad to really instruct. However, those in the market for a basic, practical writing guide will find this one at least as useful as many others.


From Library Journal

Heffron (Best Writing on Writing: Twenty Master Plots) is a senior editor at Writer's Digest Books and Story Press as well as a published writer and teacher of fiction. In short, he's been on both sides of the printed page, as writer and reader, as well as teacher/coach on the sidelines. Written humorously but with substance, his book identifies some of the more common causes of writer's block and offers many ways to overcome it, from initiating a story, to resurrecting a stalled story, to casting about for a good ending. All the essentials are covered: changes of voice, point of view, the need for or absence of plot, and building characters. The author also quotes other writers and uses brief excerpts from published fiction as examples of what works and what doesn't. This material would be partly redundant for anyone with an MFA, but if the first chapter works for you, the rest of the book will as well. Recommended for public libraries and as a gift idea for the struggling writer in your life.

Here's a link to Jack Heffron's book on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Writers-Idea-Book-Jack-Heffron/dp/0898798736

Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines; by Pablo Neruda




Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example,'The night is shattered
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me sometimes, and I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is shattered and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight searches for her as though to go to her.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. Like my kisses before.
Her voide. Her bright body. Her inifinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my sould is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.

Pablo Neruda


Click the link below to listen to the poem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXHPk-ctoYY&feature=PlayList&p=09CC4F5EA0F3ED0D&index=3
Read by Andy Garcia