Scribd.com has recently risen in my esteem. After discovering one of my eBooks on their website some weeks ago–copied and placed thereon by a book pirate–the folks at Scribd had the offending PDF taken down before 10 hours had elapsed. Soon after that, my husband and I began posting “sample” chapter PDFs of our various [...]
By Kaye Cloutman, Photography by Martin Delfino Reviewing books, meeting deadlines, doing author interviews and preparing the layout for a monthly publication are probably some of the furthest things from glamour. For two and a half years I have known Heidi (my boss and publisher for the San Francisco | Sacramento Book Review) as the [...]
In Northern California, the weather proved unusually mild this summer. Normally, we experience over 100-degree heat wave upon heat wave, inducing in me an almost hermit-like existence indoors. Instead, the cooler temperatures allowed for several trips outside, staying longer typing away on the trusty laptop. As the kids scampered about the landscaping with vacation-borne glee, [...]
By Kaye Cloutman Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education, and media company, announced a month ago that it has increased the first printing of Mockingjay, the final book in the nationally bestselling The Hunger Games trilogy, to 1.2 million, from a previously announced 750,000 copies. First published in September 2008, The Hunger Games was an [...]
By Kaye Cloutman, Photography by Martin Delfino Mexico has had its share of triumphs recently. From the crowned beauties to the wonderful people and food, this country is definitely included in my list of go-to-destination-vacations in the future. There is something truly admirable and humbling about Mexican people that you can almost taste in their [...]
Pretty much everyone has a soft spot for Southern food. Whether it’s fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, mac and cheese, or congealed salad (more commonly known as jello salad to many), nearly everybody will confess to liking the good old-fashioned comfort food that can be found in abundance in Southern states. Even I like Southern [...]
By Kaye Cloutman, Photography by AK Sandhu I love my job… There is nothing more enjoyable to me than writing down my experiences and sharing them with the world. I have been all over California like a cheap suit, but mostly frequent the Silicon Valley and Bay Area. Apart from San Francisco and Sacramento Book [...]
By Kaye Cloutman Empowerment of women has come a long way… From gaining the right to vote and serving in government to fighting for equality in family concerns and in the workplace, I, together with all my female colleagues and friends are the direct benefactors of the hard work of these historical heroines. Burning bras [...]
By Kaye Cloutman Kepler’s was founded in 1955 by pacifist and conscientious objector to WWII, Roy Kepler. His original objective was to create a business that was in line with his core ideals, but could also enable him and his wife to raise a family. Roy’s goal was to have every paperback in print [...]
As Amazon’s slashed eBook pricing period drew to a close, Kindle/Kindle app consumers saw a decided increase in prices; the pricier titles included newly re-introduced Penguin books as well as a handful of other publishers’ titles, and immediately some folks cried “Foul!” Over a dozen articles were re-tweeted to me this past week, featuring mild [...]
No matter whether you’re on your first media interview or you feel you’re a seasoned professional, there are always good tips to remember when being interviewed, and this column will address five of those! Simply being able to complete a media interview is not the only goal. With practice you can also become a powerful [...]
By Kaye Cloutman, Photography by Matthew Coleto The whole summer with my toddler has been such an amazing journey. He just turned three a couple days ago and each day that followed proved that he really is no longer a baby. Somewhere inside me is a person who is still stuck with the lullabies while [...]
By Kaye Cloutman, Photography by Michael Kagan When was the last time you shared an interest with a group of people who were as passionate about something as you are? If it’s been a while, then I seriously urge you to plan to do it again soon. I get this excuse all the time: “Life [...]
As publicists, we spend our days talking about and promoting books. We can’t imagine not doing publicity for a book. Writers usually don’t think about marketing their book. All they are thinking about is getting the book written. Some authors have these thoughts (until they meet me), “When my book is finished – I am [...]
Not so long ago, the idea of cooking with dry beans seemed daunting. This is no longer the case. In fact, I wonder now why it took so long for me to give it a try! The down and dirty secret to making dry beans easier to cook is to soak them for six to [...]
One of my earliest columns quoted a review that Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal wrote about eReading devices, like the Kindle, especially pointing out that while he liked reading on his Kindle at home, he most often resorted to using his iPhone to read eBooks; he simply did not wish to carry two [...]
