Writing about writing.

According to published reports, a car crashed into the fence surrounding bestselling author Stephen King’s Bangor, Maine home.

Nobody was injured in the accident and King himself was not at home.

As the reports point out, King has had several unfortunate incidents over the years.

It can become quite tiresome to hear these Hollywood celebrities complain about their fame and lack of privacy. But when you see what bestselling authors like King or John Grisham or J.K. Rowling experience, it’s quite an eye opener. As book lovers, we may wish that authors were given a higher place in our pop culture spectrum. But the reality is that even the most famous writer is way down the scale compared to musicians, actors and actresses, and sex tape peddling debutantes. It definitely puts a different perspective on the fame — and the price of it — discussion.

A number of Slushpile readers have emailed questions about the activities regarding this first week of my first book’s release. One of the questions was, “What’s the most surprising thing about the release?” And my answer might surprise you.

Before that, I need to explain something about myself: I’m pretty good and juggling multiple responsibilities and obligations. At no point in my adult life have I held any less than two jobs, usually I’m working many more gigs. I’m also good with technology, responding to emails, and things like that. So I’m not some luddite who cannot function in the modern age.

Having said that, I will admit that the thing about this book release that has surprised me the most is the sheer volume of emails I’ve received from my editors and publicists. In the last week, I’ve gotten 383 emails solely related to the book and it’s launch. That’s not counting good luck missives from friends and family. That’s not counting other work emails. That’s not counting the inevitable spam that promises to increase my manhood. Nope, that’s just from the ten or so people working on this book.

Now, I’m not complaining, mind you. This much activity is a good thing and a welcome difference from so many people who release a book and never hear from their editor or publicist again. Luckily, all those emails are the result of new media opportunities flowing in. So having a deluge of these emails is definitely a good thing. But wow, it’s been a challenge keeping up with everything.

So when you’re in this situation, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

–Take some time off from your day job, if that’s possible. Save up some vacation days and then you can focus solely on your book release instead of slogging through spreadsheets all day and then dealing with the mass of emails at night.

–Use a smartphone or a laptop to check your emails frequently. This helps minimize the pile of messages and also keeps your publicists up to date so they can best respond to media opportunities.

–Know when to turn the stuff off. After putting in yeoman’s work dealing with all of this, it is important to allow yourself time to recharge. So turn off the cellphone, power down the computer, and ignore everything. Now, keep in mind, I’m not suggesting checking out for huge amounts of time. I powered down at 1:15am and started up again 5:30am so it’s a quick respite. But you should do your best to take at least a little time.

Once again, having a shitload of emails to deal with is a good thing. It shows your team is hustling and things are happening, so I’m not complaining at all. But it’s definitely something to prepare for in the future.

So after years and years of working, tons of twists and turns, a shaft-job by an unstable agent a few years ago, and all the usual rejections and troubles that face aspiring authors, my first book is released today. The Man Behind the Nose: Assassins, Astronauts, Cannibals, and Other Stupendous Tales hits bookstore shelves nationwide. I’ve got 18 interviews today, followed up by a big book release party in Chicago. It’s a very exciting time and I’m both proud and humbled by the whole experience.

As I move forward in the coming days, I’m going to strive to remember and record all the small details. Both for my own memories but also to share with the loyal readers of Slushpile.net. If yall have any questions about what goes into the days following a book release, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’ll do my best to answer any queries you have.

In short, I just want to reiterate something I’ve said recently: You can do this. You can reach this point. I’ve never been a big fan of silly, sentimental platitudes, but right now, that’s all that is coming to mind. Keep writing, keep submitting, and keep moving forward.

In conjunction with the release of my first book The Man Behind the Nose: Assassins, Astronauts, Cannibals, and Other Stupendous Tales by Larry Harmon, I’ll be guest-blogging over at Powells all week. Stop by, check it out, and be sure to tip your bookseller.

Recently, I wondered why authors don’t produce t-shirts and other items in a similar manner to musicians and other artists.

Today, GalleyCat pointed out that Eat, Pray, Love gear was featured on the Home Shopping Network.

Now, this might not be your particular taste or something that you would want to do for your own books. But it is an interesting way to spread the word about the novel and the new movie.

At the Huffington Post, Anis Shivani provides a photographic run-through of the 15 most overrated contemporary American writers.

I don’t agree with all his choices, but still, it’s an invigorating argument to get the juices flowing on a Monday morning.

As part of the problem, Shivani claims that “The MFA writing system, with its mechanisms of circulating popularity and fashionableness, leans heavily on the easily imitable. Cloying writers like Denis Johnson, Amy Hempel, Lydia Davis, Aimee Bender, and Charles D’Ambrosio are held up as models of good writing, because they’re easy enough to copy. And copied they are, in tens of thousands of stories manufactured in workshops. Others hide behind a smokescreen of unreadable inimitability–Marilynne Robinson, for example–to maintain a necessary barrier between the masses and the overlords. Since grants, awards, and residencies are controlled by the same inbreeding group, it’s difficult to see how the designated heavies can be displaced.”

So the question is… who makes your list? Or, who on Shivani’s roster do you think doesn’t belong?

Hollyscoop picked up a TMZ report that jailed actress Lindsay Lohan whiled away the hours in the big house by filling up notebooks. The report states that sources state Lohan documented “every single thing about her life in jail” and that she hopes she can turn these materials into a book at some point in the future.

You might view this as signs of the coming literary apocalypse, but it’s inevitable. Before Lohan began her jail sentence, there were rumors that she might get as much as half a million dollars for her first post-incarceration interview. A book deal would undoubtedly be much, much bigger. So it’s only a matter of time…

It’s been a busy week here (hence, the lack of posts) but a good one.

On Tuesday, I received a box full of copies of my first book from the publisher. It’s a major milestone and feels fantastic. Check out this photo… It’s proof that you can survive the rejection letters, the aloof agents and editors, the family members who don’t support your writing addiction, and all the other naysayers.

In short, you can do this.

Keep chugging away, Slushpilers.

Earlier this week, news broke that one of Slushpile’s favorite indie publishers Dzanc Books signed on to release two new books by one of our favorite writers, Stephen Graham Jones.

You might recall Jones from one of our two interviews with him.

After the news broke, I asked Jones for a little more detail about his new partnership with Dzanc.

“Very cool to be hitched with Dzanc for Flushboy and Not for Nothing,” Jones says. “I mean, they push quality writing, they produce slick books, and they believe in fiction. And, aside from all that, are excellent people, have a great catalogue. Couldn’t be happier to be doing these two with them.”

In regards to the two new books, Jones points out that “Flushboy is maybe going to be the first drive-through urinal novel, yeah? Probably I should patent that process, all the bank tubes, the hygiene measures, the inevitable accumulation of shame you’d have to get — or, that this kid working that drive-through in Flushboy accumulates, anyway. But it’s more than that, I hope. A love story, because my wife told me I hadn’t done one of those yet. Not good enough, anyway. Flushboy‘s all about love, about being sixteen, seventeen. All happens over the course of one shift, too; hopefully Stewart O’Nan doesn’t feel robbed or anything. Which — not to say I didn’t write this a while back.”

The other novel leaves the bathroom behind and lands in a town with a hard luck detective. “Talking robbed, when Robert Coover’s Noir hit, I thought it very possible my heart might just break, come crumbling down my sleeve. Because that second-person approach to the detective, that way of rendering his voice, it’s what Not for Nothing is. This exiled homicide cop Nicholas Bruiseman, returning to his home town of Stanton, Texas, the last place he ever wanted to go again, the only place he has left. But already, not even looking for work, not even licensed to work, he’s tangled up in a love triangle that’s spitting bodies out, and he’s finding that, to solve this case, to figure out who’s who, he’s going to have to crack into a past he thought gone forever. But, in places like Stanton — I grew up there — the past, it’s all around you, everywhere you go. It’s terrible and wonderful, liberating and cloying, maybe the best place to finally figure out who you are. All of which is to say, yeah, 2013, 2014. If Emmerich was wrong and we somehow make it through 2012, then save some space on your shelf, maybe in your heart, if I can be that cheesy this far in advance.”

Novelist David Mitchell was featured on the San Francisco Chronicle’s webpage and he pointed out the limitations inherent in one of writing’s most beloved sayings:

“‘Write what you know’ will only get you so far,” Mitchell says. “You need to write what you can imagine, write what you can research about, write what you can pretend to know.”

He raises an interesting point that we should all consider in our work. While there isn’t a thing in the world wrong with only writing what you know, I believe Mitchell’s point is a good one in that we shouldn’t place artificial boundaries around our work. Or our imaginations.

Periodically take a chance with your work. Sure, maybe you’re a Raymond Carver type writer who focuses on the hard scrabble lives of coal miners. I’m not saying you need to put all your energies into a science fiction novel about purple unicorns. But don’t fence in your ambitions either.

Always remain open to where the writing process will take you, however different it may seem.