Writer's Digest website contest

The Writer's Digest magazine editor, Maria Schneider, is running a contest on her blog, The Writer's Perspective. It just started this week--here's her post. You can nominate your website or blog (or another writer's) and it will be judged based on presentation, ease of use, and marketing effectiveness. Winners will get some pretty cool prizes such as a listing in their October print issue, their e-newsletter, and on WritersDigest.com.

The website must be created and maintained by you personally. (Read the comments to her blog if you're not sure what that means. She answers several questions about it.) Unfortunately mine doesn't qualify because I have both a designer and a webmaster. :(

Don't be shy--nominate yourself! You may also get some traffic to your site from the people who read her blog. Good luck!

(Previously posted at Quite Something)

IN THE MEDIA: The Little Publisher Who Could--Michael S. Katz

It's not exactly a Pulitzer Prize, but my book Shalom On The Range was mentioned in the December 28, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly (as the runner-up to the best book title of the year). Although they didn't list my name--just the book title--it's still no small feat to be mentioned on the same page as J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Stephen King, especially for a pocket-sized publishing company like Strider Nolan Publishing. Or for a Western, for that matter, the toughest genre to sell these days.

Hopefully my second book (due out in 2008) will have a decent chance of getting reviewed in the magazine. I don't know if the title will be as clever (I'm leaning toward either "Takeout At the O.K. Corral" or "With Six Shooter You Get Eggroll") but I'm sure the first sentence will be a kicker: "Two Jews walked into a bar."
Shalom, y'all!

Michael S. Katz
www.stridernolanmedia.com

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