Aspirational cat-herding
Publishing books is a blend of aspiration and planning, and with multiple projects on the burner it also entails cat-herding and a willingness to adjust schedules on the fly.
Dear friends,
Self-effacement is part of any good editor’s job description, but it falls to me to be the spokesperson for Blue Ear Books in most venues, including this now regular monthly update. I’ve learned that every author is on his or her own trip and schedule, which I have limited ability to control or even influence. And that’s as it should be, because every book should be published when and only when it’s ready.
Aspirational cat-herding
My challenge at the moment is what to write about when there’s a great deal going on behind the scenes but not much in particular to report. Publishing books is a blend of aspiration and planning, and with multiple projects on the burner it also entails cat-herding and a willingness to adjust schedules on the fly. All that said, here’s some of what’s going on:
Lisa Carrington Firmin’s new book Latina Warrior, a mix of poetry, prose, and visual art (by Christina Helferich-Polosky), remains on course to be published this November.
Lisa’s celebrated first book, Stories from the Front: Pain, Betrayal, and Resilience on the MST Battlefield, will be released in e-book format very soon.
Jonathan Garfunkel remains hard at work on two books concerning the Japanese-American experience during and after World War II on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and has promised me descriptive text and images to put on the Blue Ear Books website very soon.
Jeb Wyman’s widely admired collection of first-person accounts by combat veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, What They Signed Up For, is being prepared for publication in a second edition over the summer. Meanwhile, Jeb is writing a new book on how American culture changed over the period between September 11, 2001 and the fall of Kabul in August 2021.
I’m working with Patrick Rutikanga on his book about generational trauma in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and with my longtime good friend Nick Ryan on Hikmet Tabak’s memoir of (among other adventures, including 11 years as a political prisoner) serving as the director of Med-TV, the pioneering satellite television station for the Kurdish diaspora.
Our authors’ publicity initiatives
As I constantly find myself repeating, there is (or at least seems to me) little point in going to the trouble of writing and publishing a book unless you (you being the author) are also going to work hard to promote it. If you don’t toot your own horn, nobody else is gonna toot it for you. So:
Andrew Russell and I are continuing to work finalizing the itinerary for Christo Brand’s tour of the USA in November, bringing his important book Doing Life with Mandela to American audiences, as well as introducing Andrew’s companion book The Leadership We Need, on the relevance of Nelson Mandela to all of us in the 21st century.
Lisa Carrington Firmin was recently invited to write a very nice article on career evolution for Latina Style magazine, in which she wrote (among other things):
Now embarking on what I call my fourth career, a partnership between my company and my publisher, Blue Ear Books. We are collaborating on a Veterans’ Books Initiative to assist veterans in writing and publishing their stories. I serve as co-editor and want to help bridge the civilian-military divide by sharing military experiences, especially those from underrepresented groups.
Veterans’ Books Initiative
I’m currently working with American military veterans Travis Vanderpool (Vietnam), Stephen Russell (Iraq), and Michael Dunn (adjustment to civilian life after 12 years in the Marine Corps) on books that I’m excited about and eager to publish. Watch this space for news on these and other books by veterans.
Related, Lisa and I, as co-editors of the Veterans’ Books Initiative, are planning to schedule an open house meeting via Zoom for other veterans who have already approached us with queries, as well as any others out there aspiring to write and publish books, to explain how they can work with us. More on this as we firm up plans and set a date.
As always, thank you for your interest in and support for all that we’re doing. You can support Blue Ear Books meaningfully, first and foremost by purchasing our authors’ books, as well as by becoming a paid subscriber to this Substack newsletter. Whether you’re a paid or unpaid subscriber, though, we welcome and appreciate you.
Publisher, Blue Ear Books