John Robison to join memoir panel at Backspace conference

NYTimes bestselling author John Robison will join Gail Konop Baker and Trish Ryan for a panel discussion on writing and selling your memoir at the 2008 Backspace Writers Conference (August 7 & 8, Radisson Martinique, NYC).

John's touching and often humorous memoir, LOOK ME IN THE EYE is the moving, darkly funny story of growing up with Asperger's at a time when the diagnosis simply didn't exist.

"Of course this book is brilliant; my big brother wrote it. But even if it hadn't been created by my big, lumbering, swearing, unshaven 'early man' sibling, this is as sweet and funny and sad and true and heartfelt a memoir as one could find, utterly unspoiled, uninfluenced, and original." -- from the foreword by Augusten Burroughs, author of RUNNING WITH SCISSORS and A WOLF AT THE TABLE.

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"Don't let the "C" word scare you," says Sara Gruen, author of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, about Gail's book, CANCER IS A BITCH, or I'D RATHER BE HAVING A MIDLIFE CRISIS coming from Da Capo Press, October 2008. "CANCER IS A BITCH is smart, funny, hopeful, and as much about life, families and self-discovery as the cancer that prompts it. I loved this book: Read it!"

Lolly Winston, author of GOOD GRIEF, agrees: "Gail Konop Baker is a knock-out writer who cracks me up one minute then brings me to tears the next. Her beautiful, funny, feisty, poignant memoir isn't just an inspiration for cancer patients and their families -- but for all of us. There is so much wisdom between these pages, yet the story is told without an ounce of self pity or a trace of triteness. In the end, this tale is a testament to how precarious and priceless life is, and how each of us needs to live it to the fullest, starting right now."

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Trish Ryan is the author of HE LOVE ME, HE LOVES ME NOT: A MEMOIR OF FINDING FAITH, HOPE, AND HAPPILY EVER AFTER, a hilarious, honest and thoughtful memoir released by Hachette Book Group/Center Street in April 2008. Trish Ryan was the quintessential successful thirtysomething woman -- she had a career as an attorney, a nice car, and a succession of men clamoring for her affection.

But despite all her accomplishments, the things by which she defined her life continually left her disappointed, especially when it came to dating. Like the heroines of chick-lit novels and Sex and the City, she couldn't escape her bad luck with men: men who cheated, who left her, who made her a lesser version of herself. After years of trying everything out there to make love work -- new age philosophy, feminist empowerment, myriads of self-help programs -- she finally, hesitantly, decided to give God a try.

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The 2008 Backspace Writers Conference brings together literary agents, acquisitions editors, best-selling authors, and publishing professionals for a two-day, two-track program of workshops, panels, and networking in the heart of the publishing world.

Come meet the people who can make a difference in your career!

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The Backspace Book Promotion Network

A few months before the release of my debut thriller, FREEZING POINT, I decided I was going to use the Internet to promote my novel as much as possible.

From talking to other writers, I knew there were plenty of promotional opportunities available - blog tours, online book clubs, book review sites, video sharing, and social network sites where people who might be interested in the topic of my book gathered.

I heard words like "Authorbuzz" and "LibraryThing" and "Shelfari," but didn't know what they meant, or how these sites and services could help promote my book.

And while I had an author page at MySpace, I wasn't sure how to make the most of it.

I looked for a resource that would explain it all; that had all of the Internet promotional opportunities listed in one place - a central database where everything could be accessed without wasting precious writing and promotional hours googling.

And when I couldn't find one, my Backspace partner, Christopher Graham, and I decided to make our own.

What is The Backspace Book Promotion Network?

The Backspace Book Promotion Network is a searchable database of thousands of listings of Internet book promotion opportunities. Current, comprehensive information - an extensive collection of everything related to Internet book promotion that we could find on the Web. Most of the listings are free, while some, such as newsletter advertising and press release services, are available to authors for a small cost.

But The Backspace Book Promotion Network is more than a vast collection of links. Our Articles section tells you how to USE these promotional opportunities to best advantage. The articles are written by the people who know: website designers, publicists, best-selling authors.

Publishers have a finite amount to spend on marketing, and the bulk of their promotional dollars go to best-selling authors. Literary agencies hire full-time publicists to take up the slack. Authors with small presses and self-published authors are at an even bigger disadvantage.

Smart authors are figuring out new and innovative ways to promote their books using the Internet. The Backspace Book Promotion Network can help. $30 for six months; $50 for one year.

Not much more than the price of a good book.

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John Searles To Keynote at the Backspace Writers Conference

Author and editor John Searles will present one of two keynote addresses at the 2008 Backspace Writers Conference in New York City this August. John is the Deputy Editor of Cosmopolitan where he oversees all book coverage for the magazine. His essays, articles and reviews have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times and other national magazines and newspapers. He is the author of two bestselling novels, BOY STILL MISSING and STRANGE BUT TRUE.

Upon the publication of his first novel in 2001, Time named him a "Person to Watch" and the New York Daily News dubbed him a "New Yorker to Watch." Searles appears frequently on morning shows such as NBC's Today, CBS's The Early Show, Live! with Regis & Kelly and CNN, where he discusses his favorite seasonal book selections. He is at work on his third novel to be published by William Morrow/HarperCollins in 2008.

The 2008 Backspace Writers Conference will be held August 7 & 8 at the Radisson Martinique in NYC. Others on the program include Mark Tavani, senior editor at Random House, literary agents Simon Lipskar, Jenny Bent, Richard Curtis and Jeff Kleinman; authors Chris Grabenstein, Reed Farrell Coleman, William Powers, and Caroline Leavitt, and many more.

Attendance is limited to 200. Register now!

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Douglas Preston, The Monster of Florence, and Backspace

After best-selling thriller author Douglas Preston conducted an online question and answer session at the Backspace writers discussion forums in February of 2006, he explained why he was unable to offer the group as much time as he had hoped: he had only recently returned from a trip to Italy where he had been taken into custody by the Italian police, charged with perjury, and accused of being an accessory to murder.

Preston was in Florence working with his co-author, Italian journalist Mario Spezi, on their non-fiction book about the serial killer known as the Monster of Florence, who murdered fourteen people in the hills of Florence from 1974 to 1985. The book criticizes the chief prosecutor, Michele Giuttari, and the chief Examining Magistrate of Perugia, Giuliano Mignini - the same judge who presided over Preston's interrogation - for bungling the case that has become the longest-running and most expensive unresolved criminal investigation in Italian history.

"It's incredible that in a civilized country such as Italy, a journalist can be accused of trumped-up murder charges because he dared challenge a powerful judge," Preston said. At that time, Spezi was still in Italy, accused of and being investigated for murder.

Preston told Backspace administrator Karen Dionne that after his return to the States, he spent a frustrating week trying to enlist the help of PEN and other rights organizations on behalf on his co-author, with minimal results. "Spezi is in grave danger. His financial health, his career, and his very freedom are at risk. I have hopes of creating enough of a stir to embarrass the Italian authorities."

At that, Backspace members initiated an Internet publicity campaign that just five days later, resulted in Italy's two largest newspapers carrying prominent accounts of the internationally known, best-selling thriller author's judicial harassment in that country. Milan's Corriere della Sera explained: "The story is making the rounds of the Internet through the blogs of writers, critics, and intellectuals. It was republished by the newsletter of the International Thriller Writers, which reaches many hundreds of authors [via email], and in that way came to the notice of the Boston Globe and the New York Times."

Three weeks after Backspace members began using the Internet to spread the word, Preston reported that U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Edward Kennedy, D.-Mass. were looking into the matter. The story was picked up by the major newspapers in France, as well as The Associated Press, and last summer, Dateline NBC produced a one-hour program on the case.

"[Backspace] got the ball rolling," Preston told Dionne. "This is a result of your work and I'm extremely grateful."

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About the book:

In 2000, Douglas Preston and his family moved to Florence, Italy, fulfilling a long-held dream. They put their children in Italian schools and settled into a 14th century farmhouse in the green hills of Florence, where they devoted themselves to living la dolce vita while Preston wrote his best-selling suspense novels. All that changes when he discovers that the lovely olive grove in front of their house had been the scene of the most infamous double-murders in Italian history, committed by a serial killer known only as the Monster of Florence. Preston, intrigued, joins up with the crack Italian investigative journalist Mario Spezi to solve the case. THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE tells the true story of their search for -- and identification of -- a likely suspect, and their chilling interview with that man. And then, in a strange twist of fate, Preston and Spezi themselves become targets of the police investigation into the murders. Preston has his phone tapped and is interrogated by the police, accused of perjury, planting false evidence and being an accessory to murder -- and told to leave the country. Spezi fares worse: he is thrown into Italy's grim Capanne prison, accused of being the Monster of Florence himself. THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE, which reads like one of Preston's thrillers, tells a remarkable and harrowing story involving murder, mutilation, suicide, carnival trials, voyeurism, princes and palaces, body parts sent by post, séances, devil worship and Satanic sects, poisonings and exhumations, Florentine high fashion houses and drunken peasants -- and at the center of it, Preston and Spezi, caught in the crossfire of a bizarre prosecutorial vendetta.

About the authors:

Douglas Preston worked for the American Museum of Natural History as managing editor of Curator magazine. He's also written articles for The New Yorker, Natural History, Travel & Leisure, Reader's Digest, National Geographic, Harper's, Smithsonian, and Atlantic.

Mario Spezi is an Italian journalist who has been investigating the Monster of Florence case since the first murders in 1974.

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Mystery Writers of America and the Backspace Writers Conference

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Mystery Writers of America is offering their members who wish to attend the Backspace conference a $50 discount. MWA members should register for the conference at the full price, and then email Margery Flax at: mwa (at) mysterywriters (dot) org for reimbursement.

The 2008 Backspace Writers Conference brings together literary agents, acquisitions editors, best-selling authors, and publishing professionals for a two-day, two-track program of workshops, panels, and networking in the heart of the publishing world.

Keynote speakers are Mark Tavani, Senior Editor, Random House, and New York Times best-selling thriller author Lee Child.

Others on the program include literary agents Richard Curtis, Simon Lipskar, Jeff Kleinman, Emmanuelle Alspaugh, Paige Wheeler, Laney Katz Becker, Jenny Bent, Maya Rock, Michael Bourret, Scott Hoffman, Ronnie Gramazio, Stephany Evans and Elisabeth Weed,

authors M.J. Rose, Harry Hunsicker, Jason Pinter, Jackie Kessler, Heather Brewer, Gail Konop Baker, Laurel Corona, Lisa McMann, Jenny Gardiner, Danielle Younge-Ullman, Claudia Gray, Marlys Pearson, Jessica Keener, Elizabeth Letts, A.S. King, Robin Slick, Susan Henderson, Pam Jenoff, Trish Ryan, Leora Skolkin-Smith, Caroline Leavitt, Reed Farrel Coleman and Chris Grabenstein,

editors Hilary Rubin Teeman (St. Martin's), Charis Conn (contributing editor, Harper's Magazine), Kristen Weber (New American Library) and independent editor Jerry Gross, and publicity consultant Bella Stander.

Attendance is limited to 200. Come meet the people who can make a difference in your career!

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Members' 2007 Releases - The Year in Review
originally posted: November 30, 2007

For anyone who's been stocking a Backspace bookshelf all year, these 73 titles by Backspace members released during 2007 might explain why you're constantly broke . . .

Congrats to all!

Karen Abbott - SIN IN THE SECOND CITY (Random House)
Tasha Alexander - ELIZABETH, THE GOLDEN AGE (Harper Collins)
Tasha Alexander - A POISONED SEASON (William Morrow)
Lauren Baratz-Logsted - ANGEL'S CHOICE (Simon&Schuster for Young Adults)
Brett Battles - THE CLEANER (Delacorte Press)
Allison Brennan SPEAK NO EVIL (Ballantine Books)
Allison Brennan - FEAR NO EVIL (Ballantine Books)
Allison Brennan - SEE NO EVIL (Ballantine Books)
Heather Brewer - EIGHTH GRADE BITES (Dutton/Penguin)
Robert Gregory Browne - KISS HER GOODBYE (St. Martin's Press)
Ally Carter - CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO SPY (Hyperion)
Jane K. Cleland - DEADLY APPRAISAL (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Jon Clinch - FINN (Random House)
Tish Cohen - TOWN HOUSE (HarperCollins)
Tish Cohen - THE INVISIBLE RULES OF THE ZOE LAMA (Dutton Childrens' Books)
Cat Conner - KILLERBYTE (Triskelon Publishing)
J.T. Ellison - ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS (Mira)
Barb Ferrer (writing as Caridad Ferrer) - IT'S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT (MTV Books)
Loraine Fowlow, with Sean Stanwick - WINE BY DESIGN (hardcover, John Wiley & Sons)
Patry Francis - THE LIAR'S DIARY (Dutton)
Helen Gallagher - RELEASE YOUR WRITING: BOOK PUBLISHING YOUR WAY (Virtual Bookworm, Inc.)
Theo Gangi - BANG BANG (Kensington)
Linda C. Gerber - THE FINNISH LINE (Puffin/Speak)
John Getze - BIG NUMBERS (Hilliard & Harris)
Chris Grabenstein - WHACK A MOLE (Carol and Graf)
Chris Grabenstein - HELL FOR THE HOLIDAYS (Carol and Graf)
Elizabeth Graham - PLAYING WITH THE MOON (Macmillan New Writing)
Lynne Griffin - NEGOTIATION GENERATION: TAKE BACK YOUR PARENTAL AUTHORITY WITHOUT PUNISHMENT (Penguin)
Sara Gruen - WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (Algonquin Books - paperback)
Sara Gruen - RIDING LESSONS (Harper Paperbacks)
Sara Gruen - FLYING CHANGES (Harper Paperbacks)
Albyn Leah Hall - THE RHYTHM OF THE ROAD (Thomas Dunne Books)
Sara Hantz - THE SECOND VIRGINITY OF SUZY GREEN (Flux)
Melanie Lynn Hauser - SUPER MOM SAVES THE WORLD ( NAL)
Alesia Holliday (writing as Alyssa Day) - ATLANTIS RISING (Berkley Sensations)
Kay Hooper - BLOOD DREAMS (Bantam)
Kay Hooper - SLEEPING WITH FEAR (Bantam, paperback,)
Carolyn Hughey - CUPID'S WEB (Avalon Books)
Harry Hunsicker- CROSSHAIRS (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Pam Jenoff - THE KOMMANDANT'S GIRL (Mira)
Lesley Kagen - WHISTLING IN THE DARK (NAL/Penguin)
Jackie Kessler - THE ROAD TO HELL (Zebra Books/Kensington)
Jackie Kessler - HELL'S BELLES (Kensington)
Kristy Kiernan - CATCHING GENIUS (Berkley)
Gary C. King - STOLEN IN THE NIGHT: The True Story of a Family's Murder, a Kidnapping, and the Child Who Survived (St. Martin's Paperbacks )
Joe Konrath - DIRTY MARTINI (Hyperion)
Adrienne Kress - ALEX AND THE IRONIC GENTLEMAN (Scholastic UK; Weinstein Books US/Canada)
Gretchen Moran Laskas - THE MINER'S DAUGHTER (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Adults)
Richard Lewis - THE KILLING SEA (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing)
Jonathan Maberry - DEAD MAN'S SONG (Kensington)
Jonathan Mayberry - THE CRYPTOPEDIA: A Dictionary of the Weird, Strange, and Downright Bizarre (Kensington)
Toni McGee Causey - BOBBIE FAY'S VERY (very very very) BAD DAY (St. Martin's Press)
Joe Moore & Lynn Sholes - THE HADES PROJECT: A Cotten Stone Mystery (Midnight Ink)
C.J. Parker FUGUE MACABRE: GHOST DANCE (Light Sword Publishing LLC.)
Stephen Paul - THE LAST GUNFIGHTER (mobipocket.com)
Kate Perry - PROJECT DATE (Kensington Zebra)
Cornelia Read - FIELD OF DARKNESS (Grand Central Publishing - paperback)
Kim Reid - NO PLACE SAFE: A Memoir (Dafina/Kensington Books)
John Elder Robison - LOOK ME IN THE EYE (Random, U.S. and Canada)
Renee Rosen - EVERY CROOKED POT (St. Martin's Press)
Jordan Rosenfeld - MAKE A SCENE (Writer's Digest Books)
Michelle Rowan - FANGED AND FABULOUS (Grand Central Publishing)
Renee Russell - KATE'S PRIDE (wings ePress)
Marcus Sakey - THE BLADE ITSELF (St. Martin's)
Marcus Sakey - THE BLADE ITSELF (Mass Market Paperback)
Shari Sanford (editor) , Mark Macdonald - LOACHES: NATURAL HISTORY AND AQUARIUM CARE (TFH Publications)
Clea Simon - CRIES AND WHISKERS (Poisoned Pen, December)
Alexandra Sokofoff - THE HARROWING (paperback - St. Martin's Press)
Wendy Nelson Tokunaga - MIDORI BY MOONLIGHT (St. Martin's)
Rachel Weingarten - CAREER AND CORPORATE COOL (Wiley)
Allison Winn Scotch - DEPARTMENT OF LOST AND FOUND (William Morrow)
Patricia Wood - LOTTERY (Putnam)

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Patry Francis unfolds her story as effortlessly as nature unfurls the petals of a rose. When I read The Liar's Diary in hardcover last summer, I was totally spellbound by her skill with words. She is a gifted writer, but more than that, she is an exquisitely compassionate and loving person. I am proud to call her my friend. -- Natalie Neal Whitefield

The Backspace organization is predicated on the idea of writers helping writers, which we accomplish by means of discussion forums, a guest speaker program in which agents, acquisitions editors, and bestselling authors regularly conduct online question and answer sessions with the group, and articles and advice from agents and other publishing professionals on our homepages, along with useful links, conference and book reviews, and more.

Backspace has attracted the support and/or participation of Richard Curtis, Dan Lazar, Jenny Bent, Sara Nelson, Kristin Nelson, Ethan Ellenberg, Nick Ellison, Jeff Kleinman, Kristen Weber, Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Robert Crais, Neil Gaiman, Chris Bohjalian, Elizabeth George and many other publishing professionals.