Reflections on Creative Nonfiction, Memoir, (Auto)Biography, Life-Writing, and the Essay
21 Mar 2013 at 11:54
Julija Šukys
Academia, Conferences and Symposia, Epistolophilia, Events, Feminism, Friendship, Journeys, Nebraska, Ona Šimaitė, Publicity, Publishing, Quebec, Uncategorized, Writing
Lately, I’ve been away from home a lot. And it’s all been in service of my book, Epistolophilia. My “book tour” — as my sister-in-law so generously called the series of lectures, conferences and readings that I almost single-handedly organized and raised money for — has, since November, taken me from Toronto to Chicago to NYC, [...]
15 Feb 2013 at 10:26
Julija Šukys
Blurbs, Canada, CanLit, Editing, Libraries, Marketing, Media, Publicity, Publishing, Research, Social Media, Uncategorized, Writing
OK, so as authors we are told constantly that we have to market our own books. The publishing industry, for better or worse, has largely washed its hands of promotion, except for the lucky and most commercial few. The rest of us are largely on our own. Authors must have a website (check), keep [...]
28 Dec 2012 at 12:14
Julija Šukys
Biography, Canada, CanLit, Creative Nonfiction, Epistolophilia, Essays, Ona Šimaitė, Publicity, Publishing, Quebec, Reviews, Uncategorized, Virginia Woolf
Maisonneuve Magazine is published out of Montreal and “has been described as a new New Yorker for a younger generation, or as Harper’s meets Vice, or as Vanity Fair without the vanity.” The quarterly offers “a diverse range of commentary across the arts, sciences, daily and social life.” When the publication asked its contributors to [...]
20 Jul 2012 at 12:05
Julija Šukys
Canada, CanLit, Epistolophilia, Letters, Media, Mothering, Publicity, Reviews, Writing
Šukys’s great respect for her subject inspires respect for her own book. “When I read [the letters]” Šukys writes, “I feel as though she is speaking to me directly…” And that’s also how readers of Epistolophilia feel, as though Šukys is personally telling us the story of this incredible, and incredibly important, woman over a [...]
18 Jun 2012 at 09:43
Julija Šukys
Canada, Children, Domesticity, Epistolophilia, Events, Gardening, Libraries, Mothering, Ona Šimaitė, Publicity, Publishing, Uncategorized
It’s been an amazing few weeks: there have been fantastic reviews of my book Epistolophilia appearing from coast to coast. I’ve been out to British Columbia, where I gave my first real public reading at the beautiful Vancouver Public Library, and we launched the book with a splash on June 7, 2012 in Montreal. It [...]
03 Jun 2012 at 13:05
Julija Šukys
Academia, Archives, Biography, Canada, Children, Creative Nonfiction, Domesticity, Eastern Europe, Editing, Epistolophilia, Essays, Exile, Feminism, France, Interviews, Journeys, Language and Multilingualism, Letters, Libraries, Life-writing, Lithuania, Marketing, Media, Mothering, Ona Šimaitė, Publicity, Publishing, Research, Reviews, Uncategorized, Vilna Ghetto, Vilnius, Virginia Woolf, Writing
Here’s an interview I did with ForeWord Reviews, a great publication that focuses on books published by independent presses. You can access the original here (scroll down to the bottom of the page): Conversational interviews with great writers who have earned a review in ForeWord Reviews. Our editorial mission is to continuously increase attention to [...]
22 Apr 2012 at 16:22
Julija Šukys
Archives, Biography, Canada, Eastern Europe, Epistolophilia, France, Interviews, Journeys, Letters, Libraries, Media, Ona Šimaitė, Publicity, Radio, Uncategorized, Vilna Ghetto, Vilnius
Last week I had the pleasure and privilege of making a whirlwind trip to CBC’s studios in London, England, where I had an appointment record an interview with Michael Enright, the host of CBC Radio One’s Sunday Edition. I’ve heard other writers talk about what a pleasure radio interviews can be. This certainly was the [...]
20 Mar 2012 at 04:44
Julija Šukys
Biography, Epistolophilia, Marketing, Ona Šimaitė, Publicity, Publishing, Reviews, Uncategorized
Of the publishing industry’s four major trade (the other three include Kirkus, Booklist, and Library Journal) magazines, Adelle Waldman writes at Slate that “Publishers Weekly, or PW, is the biggie—it plays Coke to Kirkus‘ Pepsi.” A “‘starred’ review in PW still increases a book’s chance of getting media coverage and showing up in your neighborhood bookstore.” These also [...]
16 Feb 2012 at 06:31
Julija Šukys
Archives, Biography, Children, Countdown to Publication, Creative Nonfiction, Domesticity, Eastern Europe, Epistolophilia, Friendship, Funding, Journeys, Letters, Libraries, Life-writing, Lithuania, Marketing, Memoir, Mothering, Ona Šimaitė, Publicity, Publishing, Research, SheWrites, Silence is Death, Uncategorized, Vilna Ghetto, Vilnius, Writing
The day before yesterday I received a note from my publisher saying that copies of my book had arrived in the warehouse, and that I could begin announcing its publication. Though my official date of publication is March 1, 2012, the baby’s come early. It’s a strange and great feeling to know that my book [...]
02 Feb 2012 at 05:24
Julija Šukys
Blurbs, Camille Paglia, Countdown to Publication, Creative Nonfiction, David Bezmozgis, Epistolophilia, Friendship, George Orwell, Marketing, Publicity, Publishing, SheWrites, Stephen Elliott, Uncategorized
The title of this post comes from an essay by Alan Levinovitz called I Greet You in the Middle of a Great Career: A Brief History of Blurbs. He quotes George Orwell, who was a strict enemy of blurbs, calling them “disgusting tripe.” The article is an interesting history of praise of authors by authors. [...]
