Bleeding Ink

Special Guest: Scott James with his Typewriter Poetry I’m often at a loss for whether I want to seek an agent and publish via traditional channels or publish independently or find some happy hybrid blend of which I haven’t yet seen any compelling success stories. And having only self-published, I yearn to understand the traditional model so that I (1) know what I’m missing and (2) can replicate it as best I can. Debbie Weil has trod both roads and favors whistling to her own tune. You see, she’s published with Penguin. While that yielded an education in managing a relationship with a Big 5, it did little else. She sold roughly 10,000 copies of The Corporate Blogging book—a not-so-insignificant number by any means, but to Penguin it was tater tots opposed to owning the potato farm. And if you were to ask her today if she could redo it, team with Penguin over self-publishing through her own company Voxie Media, you’d receive a different response forged from dense steel that can only be crafted through experien

Ignorance has a way of aligning itself with grief. Most writers are wholly inept to the intricacies of the publishing industry and to them David Moldawer illuminates like a prophet. He’s a veteran—a decorated soldier whose varied medals dazzle the eyes—and after speaking with him, I was forever changed. My ignorance was strong when it came to traditional publishing. It’s the kind of stuff that requires an insider’s perspective that has witnessed a book’s journey from wads of crunched paper to a well-worn dust-jacket with the words “National Best Seller” printed under the author’s name. the depth of my ignorance was chronic, ignorant to its own severity David and I met at a writer’s meet-up, an impenetrable gaggle of potential clients assuaged him which required a friend-of-a-friend to penetrate and allow for an introduction. David’s a literary-looking guy with a slightly nasal New York accent, thick glasses, scruffy beard, sweater covered button-up and intelligent eyes—and affable, accepting my request f

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Bleeding Ink! What better way to kick off this show than interviewing a pivotal figure in an author’s life: the bookseller. I first met Drew Cohen at The Writer’s Block—he stumbled upon my whirling a dervish among sections of Nobokov and Campbell. I’ll never forget how he gaped at me and arched his eyebrows as I gripped his shoulders amidst a flurry of thrashing bounces while I squealed: “Finally! A bonafide and heart-warming independent bookstore in Las Vegas!” It’s a wonder he allowed me to stay in his store after I hoisted him off the floor. I settled down and asked Drew for the latest gravy on literature. His response instilled in me a great confidence that this evil city had acquired a most sparkly gem. There was a lot of “You like Nabokov? He’s one of my favorites, have you read his lectures?” and “Greywolf Press is an imprint we carry a lot of, have you seen this release?” and “I’m from New York and I grew up around books. I always wanted to open a bookstore, why