Author: Kim Hooper

by Kim Hooper

Spotlight on: Tom Perrotta

I haven’t met a Tom Perrotta book I didn’t like, and I’ve read a lot of them–Bad Haircut (short stories), The Wishbones, Joe College, Little Children, The Abstinence Teacher, The Leftovers. I still need to read Election. Perrotta is not-so-arguably one of the best contemporary authors today. Two of his books (Little Children and Election) — Read More

by Kim Hooper

Spotlight on: Liane Moriarty

I’ve decided to do a little “Spotlight On” post about authors I really love and admire. I’ll scour the Internet for interviews they’ve done and essays they’ve written to gather up some interesting tidbits about their lives and writing process. Sound fun? I think so. First up: Liane Moriarty. I fell in love with Moriarty — Read More

by Kim Hooper

On the influence of the editor

Since receiving a round of fairly extensive edits on my book, I’ve been thinking a lot about how most of the books I read are probably very different from their first drafts. And that gets me thinking about the creation of art in general. If a writer is heavily influenced by an editor, is the book — Read More

by Kim Hooper

Publishing Journey: The Edits

So, the last time I touched my book was in October, about 8 months ago. In November, I got verbal (and email) confirmation that St. Martin’s Press did, in fact, want to buy my book (woohoo!). I didn’t actually sign a contract until January. The wheels on this publishing bus go ’round and ’round, but — Read More

by Kim Hooper

On persistence

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently about how we only get about 10% of any one person’s story. We see only the parts they are willing to share–the happy parts, mostly. We shield others from our heartaches. If we do share, we share a small sliver. For example: On Facebook, which I consider an exaggerated — Read More

by Kim Hooper

A simple way to help little-known writers

You should see my list of books to buy. It has hundreds of titles on it. I am always, always, always on the search for new writers to fall in love with. Sometimes, I just read a blurb about a new book and I put it on my list until my next binge buy. I love — Read More

by Kim Hooper

Publishing Journey: Self-promotion (AKA @#%^!)

When I first envisioned a life as a writer, the Internet was not invented yet. So, I assumed promotion and marketing would be limited to a glamorous book tour. Oh, little did I know… These days, with Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr (I’m still not sure what that is, though I have an account) and — Read More

by Kim Hooper

Publishing Journey: The Author Website

Back in the day, before the Internet, all a writer had to worry about was–brace yourself–WRITING. These days, it’s not that way. Writing should always be priority but, if you get a book deal, you will see that a big chunk of your time can (and probably should) be spent on marketing and–ugh–self-promotion. I don’t think writers — Read More