The Denver Post: Jane Austen returns, witty as ever, in new novel by Jennifer Petkus
Reporter Colleen O’Connor has written a post at the Denver Post book blog about my writing Jane, Actually. I met her, coincidentally, at the premiere of Sense and Sensibility The Musical at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts last April. My husband, who is the night editor at the Post, introduced us. Although she’d read and enjoyed Jane Austen, Colleen’s not a Janeite and was interested when I told her about the world of Austen fandom.
Not having completed Jane, Actually yet I couldn’t bend her ear about it too much, but when I arranged my reading at The Tattered Cover Book Store, I found my opening. You’d think being married to the Post night editor I would have had an easy time getting my book reviewed by the newspaper, but you’d be wrong for two reasons. Number one, my husband is not pushy and getting him to flog my book is not an easy task. And number two, the Post, like many newspapers, no longer has a full-time book editor. In fact at most news organizations, review copies are routinely disposed of at book sales to raise money for needy causes (like the Post) or sold en masse to book stores. Strand Books in New York City has a huge table of cheap advance reading copies and maybe I’ve done my part to populate that table.
But I used my She Who Must Be Obeyed voice to tell Jim he darn well better get some mention of my book in the paper, so I supplied him with invitations to the Tattered Cover reading, one of which he gave to Colleen. She very kindly agreed to read my book and write about it at blogs.denverpost.com/books. The blog has largely taken the place of printed book reviews (although some Post staff written and Washington Post news service book reviews still run in the Sunday arts and entertainment section).
I’m obviously very, very pleased that Colleen enjoyed and reviewed my book and I hope more people explore the Post book blog. If you’re thinking of promoting your own book, you might check whether your local newspaper, television or public radio station has a separate book blog.
