Delphine Pontvieux's Blog, page 12
February 20, 2012
A blog tour with Jason Fisk
While it may seem odd at first to promote an author that is not published by Miss Nyet, we are all about embracing talent, especially when it relates to Chicago authors. This is why we would like to introduce the latest work of Jason Fisk, a hyperfiction project titled "Salt Creek Anthology"
Besides, the connection is not far-fetched, since Jason Fisk's work has been released by CCLAP Publishing (Chicago Center for Literature and Photography), a prolific Chicago press that released 2 anthologies featuring short stories by Delphine Pontvieux back in 2011, "Amsterdamned if you do" and "American Wasteland"
You can dowload both books (pay as you wish) here: http://cclapcenter.com/amsterdamned and http://www.cclapcenter.com/wasteland
Jason Fisk's "Salt Creek Anthology" was written in an experimental manner. It is a collection of flash fiction (about 70+ stories of less that 1,000 words each). All of the stories are able to stand on their own as self contained stories, and theoretically, they can be read in any order. Fisk divided the project up into four threads of approximately 20 stories apiece. Each thread followed a neighbor, and what was happening in that house at that time.
For the second stop of his blog tour, Jason Fisk shares with us what inspired him to write this book:
City Mouse, Suburban Mouse
By Jason Fisk
Yes, Edgar Lee Master's, Spoon River Anthology inspired Salt Creek Anthology. I know Spoon River Anthology is old, as a matter of fact, it came out in 1915, but I absolutely loved it when I first read it. It's a collection of epitaphs (in the form of poems) from a small town. The more time you spend with these poems, the more you see the interconnectedness of the townspeople's lives. You see the drama, affairs, death, sorrow, lost love, and much more.
From what I've read, Spoon River Anthology challenged the preconceived notions people held about small towns. Before Spoon River Anthology, people thought of these small towns as sleepy places where nothing exciting happened, but after they read the collection, their view changed. They began to realize that as much was happening in a small town as was anywhere elsewhere. Just stir in people and you have interesting human drama.
Originally, I had intended for Salt Creek Anthology to do the same thing, only to challenge the preconceived notion that nothing really happened in the suburbs. After moving to Chicago in 1992, I became aware of this pervasive idea that the city was superior to the suburbs, especially when it came to the arts and culture scene. The idea seemed to be prevalent in conversations I'd had with artists, writers, and musicians; If you were an artist of any type, and you were from the suburbs of Chicago, you did everything you could to latch onto Chicago; you referred to yourself as being "Chicago based," or from the "Chicago-land area."
Don't get me wrong, I love the city of Chicago; however, I moved to suburbia when my wife and I had kids. I just got sick of driving around the block twelve times looking for a parking space with a screaming baby in the back seat. Add to that the cost of having a baby, plus the city being so damn expensive, and guess what? …I'm moving to the suburbs.
I now have a small house on a corner lot with a fenced in backyard, and two parks within walking distance: Paradise, right? No, not quite. I'm a personable guy, right? I enjoyed meeting and talking with my neighbors, but, boy oh boy, was I surprised at the dysfunction and drama that seemed to be buried just below the surface of my little utopian neighborhood – buried right next door and across the street. That's where Salt Creek Anthology came from. I used my neighborhood as inspiration, sprinkled a little imagination in there, and came up with Salt Creek Anthology.
Click here to order your copy (available in digital version and collector hardcover) http://www.cclapcenter.com/saltcreek/
We invite you to travel along with Jason Fisk on his next blog tour stop tomorrow, which will be hosted by Katherine Scott Nelson at www.katherinescottnelson.com
PONTVIEUX INVITED TO READ AND SIGN BOOKS AT CHICAGO’S FIRST FRENCH BOOK FAIR
Save the date!
When: Saturday, March 3rd from 10:30 am till 3pm
Where: Alliance Francaise de Chicago 54 W. Chicago avenue
Price: Free admission. An event tailored both for adults (French book sale, readings and meet and greets by Francophone authors who live in Chicago) and children (cartoon contest, storytelling) and free coffee and croissants will be served!
Guest authors reading and signing schedule :
(Please note that Franco-American author Delphine Pontvieux’s novel ETA-Estimated Time of Arrest is written in English.)
Her novel will be available at the fair. Come and get your signed copy, or get one for a friend if you already own your own.
In French: La foire prend place dans le cadre du mois de la francophonie. Y participeront des auteurs francophones résidant a Chicago, dont Delphine Pontvieux, auteur du livre “ETA-Estimated Time of Arrest,” qui fera lecture d’un extrait de son livre, suivi d’une séance de vente/dédicace de 13 a 14 heures dans les locaux de l’Alliance française. Suivra une table ronde sur le thème du ”Citoyen Francophone” à laquelle sont conviés les professeurs des grandes universités du Midwest.
PONTVIEUX INVITED TO READ AND SIGN BOOKS AT CHICAGO'S FIRST FRENCH BOOK FAIR
Save the date!
When: Saturday, March 3rd from 10:30 am till 3pm
Where: Alliance Francaise de Chicago 54 W. Chicago avenue
Price: Free admission. An event tailored both for adults (French book sale, readings and meet and greets by Francophone authors who live in Chicago) and children (cartoon contest, storytelling) and free coffee and croissants will be served!
Guest authors reading and signing schedule :
(Please note that Franco-American author Delphine Pontvieux's novel ETA-Estimated Time of Arrest is written in English.)
Her novel will be available at the fair. Come and get your signed copy, or get one for a friend if you already own your own.
In French: La foire prend place dans le cadre du mois de la francophonie. Y participeront des auteurs francophones résidant a Chicago, dont Delphine Pontvieux, auteur du livre "ETA-Estimated Time of Arrest," qui fera lecture d'un extrait de son livre, suivi d'une séance de vente/dédicace de 13 a 14 heures dans les locaux de l'Alliance française. Suivra une table ronde sur le thème du "Citoyen Francophone" à laquelle sont conviés les professeurs des grandes universités du Midwest.
February 11, 2012
LOL -Laughing Out Loud: watch exclusive footage from the movie which premiered yesterday in India
LOL-Laughing Out Loud, featuring Demi Moore, Miley Cyrus, Ashley Greene, Douglas Moore…as well as Delphine Pontvieux (who plays the role of Joan of Arc's mother) premiered yesterday in India!
US release date should be announced soon.
Other release dates so far:
India
–
10 February 2012 (World Premiere)
Singapore
–
1 March 2012
Lithuania
–
18 May 2012
Germany
–
31 May 2012
Portugal
–
June 2012
Finland
–
1 June 2012
Norway
–
1 June 2012
UK
–
1 June 2012
Sweden
–
8 June 2012
Belgium
–
20 June 2012
France
–
20 June 2012
Russia
–
21 June 2012
South Africa
–
22 June 2012
Argentina
–
28 June 2012
Denmark
–
28 June 2012
Netherlands
–
28 June 2012
Brazil
–
10 August 2012
Watch never-seen-before excerpts from the movie here:
http://mileycyrusworld.org/miley-new-lol-movie-clips-poster
Want to know more about Delphine Pontvieux as an author? Click the link below to order your own dedicated copy of Pontvieux's award-winning thriller "ETA-Estimated Time of Arrest":
http://www.missnyet.com/catalog.htm
(also available in hardcover and digital versions on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and ibookstore)
January 16, 2012
January 13, 2012
The official trailer for the movie LOL: Laughing Out Loud is now out!
On Tuesday, the movie trailer for LOL, starring Miley Cyrus and Demi Moore, was released on YouTube. The two-minute preview for Laughing Out Loud received over half a million views in less than 24 hours. As of today, it has passed the 1.3 million mark.
Why do we mention the movie? Because Delphine Pontvieux, author of ETA-Estimated Time of Arrest, plays the role of "Joan of Arc's mother" in the upcoming flick.
We invite you to watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAgh03R1fJA
So far, there is no set release date for the movie in the USA but you can peruse the international release schedule and read more about the movie and the cast on imdb.com: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1592873/
TWO WITH WATER Rx READING SERIES PROMPTED CAROLYN TO PICK UP A PEN AND PAPER!
Ms Loyel attended the past 'two with water reading series' at the Beauty bar in Chicago back in November.
She talks about the night and the writers' work in her blog "Bonne Caroline Bonne Gamine." You can also watch a video of Delphine Pontvieux's reading at the end.
It's all here!
http://bonnecarolinebonnegamine.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-love-two-with-water.html?spref=fb
And an excerpt of Pontvieux's reading on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5VXksVj3aMQ
December 12, 2011
SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHOR BECOMES A BEST SELLER
An interesting article in last Friday's Wall-Street Journal about a self-published author who used digital technology to buck the odds to become a best-seller.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204770404577082303350815824.html
BOOKS DECEMBER 9, 2011 How I Became a Best-Selling Author
Self-publishing is upending the book industry. One woman's unlikely road to a hit novel.
By ALEXANDRA ALTER
This summer, Darcie Chan's debut novel became an unexpected hit. It has sold more than 400,000 copies and landed on the best-seller lists alongside brand-name authors like Michael Connelly, James Patterson and Kathryn Stockett.
It's been a success by any measure, save one. Ms. Chan still hasn't found a publisher.
Five years ago, Ms. Chan's novel, "The Mill River Recluse," which tells the story of a wealthy Vermont widow who bestows her fortune on town residents who barely knew her, would have languished in a drawer. A dozen publishers and more than 100 literary agents rejected it.
"Nobody was willing to take a chance," says Ms. Chan, a 37-year-old lawyer who drafts environmental legislation for the U.S. Senate. "It was too much of a publishing risk."
This past May, Ms. Chan decided to digitally publish it herself, hoping to gain a few readers and some feedback. She bought some ads on Web sites targeting e-book readers, paid for a review from Kirkus Reviews, and strategically priced her book at 99 cents to encourage readers to try it. She's now attracting bids from foreign imprints, movie studios and audio-book publishers, without selling a single copy in print.
The story of how Ms. Chan joined the ranks of best sellers is as much a tale of digital marketing savvy and strategic pricing as one of artistic triumph. Her breakout signals a monumental shift in the way books are packaged, priced and sold in the digital era. Just as music executives have been sidestepped by YouTube sensations and indie iTunes hits, book publishers are losing ground to independent authors and watching their powerful status as literary gatekeepers wither.
Self-publishing has long been derided as a last resort for authors who lack the talent or savvy to hack it in the publishing business. But it has gained a patina of legitimacy as a growing number of self-published authors land on best-seller lists. Last year, 133,036 self-published titles were released, up from 51,237 in 2006, according to Bowker, a company that tracks publishing trends.
A handful of self-published authors have achieved blockbuster status, selling more than a million copies of their books on the Kindle. While they represent a tiny minority of independent authors, the ranks of the successful are growing. Thirty authors have sold more than 100,000 copies of their books through Amazon's Kindle self-publishing program, and a dozen have sold more than 200,000 copies, according to Amazon. The program, which Amazon launched in 2007, allows authors to upload their books directly to Amazon's Kindle store, set their own prices and publish in multiple languages. Barnes & Noble followed suit in 2010 with a similar program for its Nook e-reader.
Self-published titles have been buoyed by an explosion in digital book sales. E-book sales totaled $878 million in 2010, compared to $287 million in 2009, according to the Association of American Publishers. Some analysts project that e-book sales will pass $2 billion in 2013.
The march of self-published authors has put publishers and literary agents on guard. Publishing houses like Penguin and Perseus have recently launched their own digital self-publishing programs in an effort to capture a slice of the mushrooming market. Some agents, including Scott Waxman, have started their own digital imprints.
Digital self-publishing still has serious drawbacks. Though e-books are the fastest-growing segment of the book market, they still make up less than 10% of overall trade book sales, according to the Association of American Publishers. Book reviewers tend to ignore self-published works, and brick-and-mortar bookstores have long shunned them. And very few authors have a marketing and advertising budget equal to a publisher's.
Several successful self-published authors have gone on to cut deals with major publishers. After selling around 1.5 million digital copies of her books on her own, 27-year-old fantasy writer Amanda Hocking signed with St. Martin's Press. She won a $2 million advance for a new four-book fantasy series called "Watersong"; St. Martin's will also reprint her best-selling self-published "Trylle" trilogy about attractive teenage trolls.
Self-published thriller and Western writer John Locke, whose 13 books have sold more than 1.7 million digital copies, signed an unusual contract with Simon & Schuster in August. The publishing house will print and distribute his books—the first title comes out next month—while allowing Mr. Locke to remain as the publisher. Mr. Locke is paying for the printing, shipping and marketing costs himself, according to his agent. The print editions, which will sell as mass-market paperbacks for $4.99, won't be edited. "The opportunity to get into bookstores, Targets, Wal-Marts, Costcos, airports—I can't do that as an independent author," Mr. Locke says.
J.A. Konrath, a mystery writer who has sold 400,000 digital copies of his self-published books, earning some $500,000 a year, signed a contract with Amazon's new mystery imprint to publish his novel "Stirred," co-written with Blake Crouch, digitally and in print. It recently hit No. 1 on the Kindle top-100 list. Mr. Konrath says he was won over by Amazon's powerful marketing machinery. "They can really blow my books up," he says.
Ms. Chan lives in a spacious, two-story house on a quiet street in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. She and her husband, Timothy Chan, met in high school, at a national science competition. They reunited in Maryland, where he attended medical school and she completed a law degree at the University of Baltimore.
For the past 15 years, she's worked for the federal government on the natural-resource team for the Senate's Office of the Legislative Counsel, where she drafts legislation concerning clean air and water, highway infrastructure and climate change. She works remotely, from her home, from 9 to 6, and takes care of her toddler son until her husband gets home. She squeezes in a couple of hours of writing each night.
She started writing fiction in 2002, when she suddenly had a lot of time on her hands. Her husband, an oncologist and cancer researcher at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, was spending long hours at the hospital at the beginning of his residency, so she spent her nights alone writing.
She came up with the story of a wealthy, agoraphobic Vermont widow who makes anonymous gifts to the townspeople who ignore and fear her. Ms. Chan says she was inspired by the true story of a resident of Paoli, the small Indiana town where she grew up. "The Mill River Recluse" takes place in a fictional Vermont town with a quirky cast of characters—a kleptomaniac priest with a spoon fetish, a dotty woman who tries to sell her neighbors love potions, a bad cop whose off-duty hobbies include stalking and arson.
The novel took her 2½ years to write. After seeking feedback from family and friends, she sent queries to more than 100 literary agents. Most rejected it as a tough sell. "It didn't really fit any genre," Ms. Chan says. "It has elements of romance, suspense, mystery, but it falls into the catch-all category of literary fiction, and of course that's the most difficult to sell."
She finally landed an agent, Laurie Liss at Sterling Lord Literistic in New York, who represents cable-news host Rachel Maddow. Ms. Liss submitted the manuscript to a dozen publishers, all of whom turned it down. Ms. Chan stashed the manuscript in a drawer, and buried herself in her legislative work.
Five years passed. Then, this past spring, she started reading about the rise of e-book sales and authors who had successfully self published, and decided to give it a shot. She fashioned a cover image out of a photograph her sister took of a mansion in Paoli, and she and her husband used Photoshop to add some gloomy ambience. Then she nervously uploaded her manuscript to Amazon's Kindle self-publishing program. She sold a trickle of copies. A few weeks later, she started selling it on Barnes & Noble's Nook and through SmashWords, a self-publishing program that distributes to major e-book retailers including Apple's iBookstore, Sony and Kobo. Her first royalty check from Amazon was for $39.
She noticed that a lot of popular e-books were priced at 99 cents, and immediately dropped her price from $2.99 to 99 cents. The cut would slash potential royalties—Amazon pays 35% royalties for books that cost less than $2.99, compared with 70% for books that cost $2.99 to $9.99. But sales picked up immediately. "I did that to encourage people to give it a chance," she says. "I saw it as an investment in my future as a writer." The strategy worked. Several reviewers on Amazon said they bought the book because it was 99 cents, then ended up liking it.
She checked her sales several times a day, obsessively refreshing her Amazon page. In the first month, it sold 100 copies. When Ms. Chan saw the sales figure, she danced in her kitchen with her husband and toddler.
"We were saying, 'Wow, this is really cool. What if you sell 1,000? That would be awesome,' " her husband recalls.
Then, at the end of June, "The Mill River Recluse" got a mention on a site called Ereader News Today, which posts tips for Kindle readers. Over the next two days, it sold another 600 copies. Ms. Chan realized she might be able to drive sales herself. She spent about $1,000 on marketing, buying banner ads on websites and blogs devoted to Kindle readers and a promotional spot on goodreads.com, a book-recommendation site with more than six million members.
After learning that self-published authors can pay to have their books reviewed by some sites, she paid $35 for a review from IndieReader.com (IndieReader no longer offers paid reviews). She paid $575 for an expedited review from Kirkus Reviews, a respected book-review journal and website. The review service, which Kirkus launched in 2005, gives self-published authors the option to keep the review private if it's negative. Ms. Chan decided to have hers posted on their website. Kirkus called the novel "a comforting book about the random acts of kindness that hold communities together." She used blurbs from the reviews on her Amazon and Barnes & Noble pages. "I hoped it would lend some credibility," she says. "Most other reviewers won't touch it."
Sales kept climbing. In July, it sold more than 14,000 copies. That month, it was featured on two of the biggest sites for e-book readers, generating a surge of new sales. In August, it sold more than 77,000 copies and hit the New York Times and USA Today e-book best-seller lists; it later landed on the Wall Street Journal list. In September, it sold more than 159,000 copies. To date, she has sold around 413,000 copies.
Ms. Chan and her agent decided to resubmit the novel to all the major imprints, citing robust sales figures and rave online reviews. Some publishers have responded warily. A representative of one publishing house feared the book had "run its course," Ms. Liss recalls. Others worried about the novel's bargain basement price, arguing that an e-book that sells for 99 cents likely won't command a typical hardcover price of around $26.
A few major publishers made offers, but none matched the digital royalty rates of 35% to 40% that Ms. Chan makes on her own through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Typically, most publishers offer print royalties of 10% to 15% and digital royalties of 25%. Simon & Schuster offered to act as a distributor, but Ms. Chan wants the book to be professionally edited and marketed.
Ms. Liss says that the offers from U.S. publishers so far don't improve much on what Ms. Chan is making on her own. She's made around $130,000 before taxes—substantially more than a standard advance for the average debut novelist—and she's getting a steady stream of royalties every month. "I told Darcie, at this point you're printing money. They're not. Go with God, we'll sell the second book," Ms. Liss says.
In the meantime, there's interest from other corners of the industry. Multiple audio-book publishers have made offers. Six film studios have inquired about movie rights. Two foreign publishers bid on the book. Ms. Chan is holding off on such deals, for fear they might sabotage a potential contract with a domestic publisher.
Ms. Chan still wants to see her book in print. Several librarians have contacted her seeking print copies after patrons requested her book. "I have people writing me begging me for a hard copy, book clubs and libraries calling me, and I don't have a hard copy to provide for them," she says.
Ms. Liss advised her to work on a sequel set in the same town, with some of the same characters. Ms. Chan has written two chapters. While she would love to write full time, for now, she still sees writing as more of a hobby. When people ask her what she does for a living, she says she's a lawyer. But she's still holding out hope that a publisher will buy "The Mill River Recluse," edit it and sell it in brick-and-mortar stores.
"The hardest part for me is uncertainty," she says. "I deal better with rejection than uncertainty."
Write to Alexandra Alter at alexandra.alter@wsj.com
December 10, 2011
FRANCE-AMERIQUE ARTICLE : INTERVIEW WITH MATEI VISNIEC
Une interview en Français de l'étonnant Matei Visniec, écrivain, philosophe et poète roumain qui vit a Paris depuis 1987 et est l'auteur de douzaines de pieces de theatre jouees partout dans le monde.
Lisez son interview ici: http://www.france-amerique.com/articles/2011/12/08/matei_visniec_a_chicago.html?utm_source=Newsletter+France-Amérique+-+NATIONALE&utm_campaign=88a5e6ee4d-Newsletter_8_décembre_2011&utm_medium=email
December 2, 2011
Interview with Pontvieux on the subject of expatriation (in French)
Communauté francophone et francophile, veuillez trouver ci dessous un article juste pour vous, car rédigé en français.
"Expat Forever" est un blog qui traite de l'expatriation des Français aux Etats Unis. Chaque mois, la rédaction brosse le portrait d'une française a la fois expatriée et entrepreneur. Ce mois ci, c'est Delphine Pontvieux, auteur du roman 'ETA-Estimated Time of Arrest', qui a été choisie. Veuillez lire l'interview ici:
http://expatforever.blogspot.com/2011/12/interview-dexpat-rencontre-avec.html
