Mike Heppner's Novella Series (Third Installment)

When asked if he would recommend self-publishing to writers who want to get the word out about their work, Heppner explained that he already had a foundation as a published author. He questions whether the Internet is a useful enough tool for writers who don’t yet have credentials; however, the attitude toward being published on the Internet has changed drastically in the last ten years. But the problem with making yourself stand out online is the same as “getting out of the slush pile [of other writers]. How do you separate yourself from that?”

For starters, give your readers a voice. In his cover letter accompanying Man, Heppner invited readers to send their feedback, which he would then post on his website. The curious thing is that Heppner is getting more honest feedback and goodwill now than he did in his old school publishing days (e.g., comments on his novels on Amazon). He believes the difference is because readers have an inherent distrust of corporate media that could rest on an author’s shoulders. One Man reader wrote:

My friend J gave me a copy of Man over midnight ice cream, and I read it the next day. I applaud your experiment…I've dabbled in writing for the last four or five years and I know exactly what it feels like... We have to remember that the worthwhile part is intangible, is what's going on in our own heads and lives.

While Heppner wouldn’t call these types of “self-releases” of his work ideal, he thinks it’s better than having it sit in a closet. He likes working with editors and would like to get back to traditional publishing, but he feels that the publishing industry is "so slow moving." Heppner was able to release the novellas every 3-4 months and the process allotted him much freedom and creativity in engaging readers. He is currently working on his next novel entitled Quartered.



For you lucky New Yorkers, Heppner will be reading at the KBG Books on 2/ 27. The rest of us can go to www.mikeheppner.com or www.smallanchorpress.com to learn more.

Mike Heppner's Novella Series (Second Installment)

Utilizing “stagger promotion,” Heppner has released each novella along with hype for the next one, and building momentum, readership, and press along the road. Each part in the series has taken a different medium (released online, left at random locations nationwide, and as a published book), and readers don’t know how the next one will take shape. Heppner is exploring options for Talking—his 4th novella, coming out March 1—but would like to keep it text-based.

The four novellas aren't related by narrative and can be read in any order, “but all are concerned with bridging the divide between people who write fiction and those who read it" according to his site. The first in the series, Talking Man, was published in September ’08 by Small Anchor Press, which specializes in limited-edition chapbooks. “The Making of Talking Man,” interviews between SAP editor Jen Hyde and Heppner, follows the novella’s evolution. Man Talking, the third novella (also the first to come out) was “self-released,” as Heppner terms it, last April via his website, where it remains free to download (and has been—over 3,000 times). He doesn’t consider Man Talking as published but rather as “presented to readers.” He believes to be published means to go beyond self-editing.

Half way through his third novella, Heppner realized it wasn’t sellable due to its length. He entertained others ways to release it—from a marathon reading to the Radiohead route, seeing what readers would offer to pay. Considering the novella “a hybrid between a story and a writer’s manual,” he decided it would be “apropos” for an author’s site (which he happened to be creating at the time).



In my next and last installment, Heppner discusses his views on self-publishing and we take a look at the response to Man.

Self-Publishing Part II: Mike Heppner's Novella Series (First Installment)

This past December Mike Heppner, author of The Egg Code and Pike’s Folly, released his novella, Man, the second in a four-part series. But you can’t purchase Man in bookstores or read it online; it has to be found. In a stunt he describes as “guerrilla publicity,” Heppner sent copies to friends across the country to distribute and leave in coffee shops, museums, libraries, and other high-traffic locations. Man has surfaced at a gym and on an airplane, and the tactic seems to be working: it has gotten a lot of blogger buzz and was mentioned in The New Yorker.

Releasing his work this way is “a public way of calling attention to the problems [in publishing]” that Heppner says can happen to anyone in the business; you don’t get long-term support and you have to make your own way. With large presses, he explains, writers are dependent on other people doing work for them. Those people are overworked and haven’t read your piece, and they put a project to bed a week after it comes out.

In response to his blurb in The New Yorker, Heppner says the key was leaking out word about the novellas to enough blogs. The Man Talking Project has been mentioned in Maud Newton, HTMLGiant, Conversational Reading, AdFreak, Media Bistro, The 26th Story and The Millions.


In my next installment, I’ll discuss Heppner’s publishing history and how the Man Talking Project came to be.

Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams

Last month I met one of my idols. A writer that was introduced to me before I ever thought of myself as one. A woman with a multifaceted voice that comes from a landscape very different from my own but who has an outlook on family and tragedy that brought me in. When I learned that she would be at my local bookstore to read, I screamed and danced around my apartment. I realized I would get to hear her voice, reading her words, and that I might even get to speak with her. I still get sick thinking about the fact that I did.




Terry Tempest Williams came to Porter Square Books, a small but powerhouse independent bookstore in Cambridge, MA, in late October to read from her latest publication Finding Beauty in a Broken World. TTW found her inspiration as she lost her sense of self in a post 9/11 country broken and at war:

We watched the towers collapse. We watched America choose war. The peace in our own hearts shattered. How to pick up the pieces? What to do with the pieces?

It was the “pieces” that inspired Williams to look closer at our fragmentation and the potential to not only rebuild but also for beauty. Her journey takes her to Ravenna, Italy, a town famous for its bejeweled walls, to lean the craft of mosaic and then to Bryce Canyon National Park where she studies endangered prairie dogs for two weeks day and night in what she calls an “ecological mosaic.” Her journey comes full circle when she travels to Rugerero, Rwanda, with a group called the Barefoot Artists to meet with survivors of the 1994 genocide, serving as their scribe and telling the world what many countries, including America, tried to pretend was not happening.

My main concern is that while showcasing the prairie dog for its ecological importance and complex language system (something this blogger admits being completely ignorant of), Williams loses her readers at times discussing political action and detailing her days observing the animals in excess. That is not to say, however, that this section does not hold merit, but it is difficult to get through. (TTW told attendees at the reading that her father claimed he would pay anyone $1 who could get through this portion.)

Finding Beauty in a Broken World finds its voice and journey’s purpose with the tale of the genocide survivors and their ongoing battle to rebuild their country and to find semblance in their everyday lives. There are few words to describe what these people have been through and continue to deal with. Yet there is so much hope and want for progression. Williams captures this essence describing the villagers as they work with the Barefoot Artists—a group experienced with rebuilding and uniting communities through art. Bleak, government-built houses are painted with designs from orphans and a mosaic memorial is built from rubble and overlooked material. Together they create something beautiful out of their destruction and show what humanity is capable of (good and bad).

RIP Michael Crichton

The prolific doctor turned author Michael Crichton died yesterday. Though perhaps not the most "literary" of writers, his work was suspenseful and thought-provoking.

White Suit in the White City

Best-selling author and journalist Tom Wolfe made an appearance Thursday as “The Right Stuff” was selected for The Chicago Public Library’s One Book, One Chicago program this fall.

I must admit, I feel somewhat perverse writing a blog about him after he said tersely in an interview with journalist Carol Marin, “Blogs fascinate me…they’re a new world for people who will believe anything.” Believe me when I say meeting Tom Wolfe was truly an unforgettable experience.

After much discussion, Marin finally got to the question everyone’s been dying to know, “What’s with the white suit?” Anybody who knows anything about Wolfe knows he’s famous for wearing a white suit and fedora during any appearance.

Wolfe said the white suit is “the man from Mars” approach. He said he never blended in with the crowd and wearing the white suit provides a barrier between himself and his subjects, as he has reported a variety of subjects from NASCAR drivers, to Black Panthers, to Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, to the first men to launch into outer space – just to name a few. He described it as “The man who doesn’t know anything and is eager to know.”

His opinion of modern authors who have “the right stuff” are Carl Hiaasen (Strip Tease) and Richard Price (The Wanderers). You better believe I rearranged my book list. Any advice from the pioneer of the New Journalism movement is worthy advice by me.

The turnout of One Book, One Chicago was an expected 700. Audience members were given a numbered ticket, and mine was 249. The adoring crowd waiting nearly an hour as numbers one through 50 paid their dues while eager-to-please Wolfe allowed photos and small talk as he signed book after book.

Tired and grouchy, I waited it out, determined to meet the author who takes up a good portion of my bookshelf. I went to the restroom to contemplate whether to stay or leave, when the angels above must have heard my silent pleas. A ticket with the number “49” was laying on the tiled restroom floor. No more than a minute passed and I was back out in the corridor waiting in line for my book to be signed.

My copy of The Right Stuff was bought years ago from a used bookstore. The cover page was hanging on its last thread and when I finally handed my shabby copy to him—yellow weathered pages and all—he said, “Wow, this is one loved book. Authors like to see this.” As he closed it, the cover fell off in his hands. Needless to say, though sad and broken, I will never rid of my beloved copy of The Right Stuff.







*Sidenote : I found myself in line with The Huffington Post's Greg Boose. Read his piece on whether Wolfe thinks McCain or Obama has "the right stuff". You'll find me at the bottom of the posted pictures!