I’ve written a version of this post a few other times in the past couple years. Why? Because finding time to write is always an issue for me. I assume it’s an issue for most writers. Most of us have a full-time job or kids or both (yikes). I work in advertising, which is fairly — Read More
Author: Kim Hooper
Favorite book covers
In honor of the fact that my book has a cover, here are some of my favorite book covers of all time. What are your favorites?
Publishing Journey: I have a cover (and other exciting updates)
After I got my book deal, the #1 question I was asked was, “Do you get to design the cover?” I found this very amusing because I am not artistically inclined AT ALL. Publishing houses have people who design book covers (and thank god for that). Of course, I was a little nervous to see — Read More
Publishing Journey: The Copy Edits
But wait, there’s more! That’s what I was thinking when I opened an email with hundreds of little (but seriously important) copy edits to my manuscript. Thankfully, my publisher has people on staff to make sure I don’t look like a complete idiot. I like to think my spelling and grammar are perfect, but they — Read More
Why it takes so long for a book to be published
I’ve had many people ask me this question and I really didn’t have an answer. I mean, with digitization, printing and typesetting is a pretty fast process. Yet, it takes a year or more for a book to hit shelves. I got my my official contract at the end of 2014 and PEOPLE WHO KNEW ME will — Read More
The waiting-for-your-book-to-be-published phase
My editor said that most writers hate this phase, but I love it. So far. It’s very validating to have a book that’s going to be published (PEOPLE WHO KNEW ME! May 24!). I’m so, so, so glad it’s DONE. I don’t feel any sadness about it being done. That baby is grown up and ready — Read More
How I became a writer
A couple weeks ago, The Telegraph published an interesting essay by Haruki Murakami about how he became a novelist. Murakami says that he had something of an epiphany in 1978, while watching a baseball game–Yakult Swallows vs Hiroshima Carp. In his words: “In the bottom of the first inning, Hilton slammed Sotokoba’s first pitch into — Read More
First drafts
Now that my book is done, I’ve resumed working on a novel I started while I was waiting on edits. And, I have to say, despite all I’ve learned over the last year, I still have familiar feelings of insecurity as I dig into this new book. I know lots of writers feel this way. I’ve — Read More
Writer envy
The latest issue of Poets & Writers magazine features an article about Judy Blume. She just released a new, for-adults book called In the Unlikely Event (which is currently sitting in my Amazon cart). A particularly intriguing part of the article: Blume suffered an existential funk in the early 1980s after reading Dad (Knopf, 1981) by — Read More
Spotlight on: Jeffrey Eugenides
Jeffrey Eugenides is one of those writers who leaves my jaw on the floor every time. I consider him so far out of my league that envy isn’t even in the cards; just admiration and awe. Eugenides is a literary writer who is also popular–in other words, a rarity. He wrote The Virgin Suicides in 1993 (which — Read More