Evolution of a Cover (Part One)

When Atticus Books hired award-winning designer Jamie Keenan to design the cover for Tracks: A Novel in Stories, I came eye-to-eye with the fact that, despite the adage, people can and do judge books by their covers. A good cover can draw a reader to or away from a book on display. A good cover that conveys the feel of the book is important.

Jamie has designed covers for all sorts of authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Stephen King, H.G. Wells, George Orwell, Junot Diaz, David Foster Wallace, Philip K Dick, Anthony Burgess, Tennessee Williams, Jean-Paul Sarte, Rudyard Kipling, Garrison Kellior, Nick Hornby, A.M. Homes. So I was thrilled that my name would be added to his cover list.

Here are some of the early cover concepts Jamie came up with.

We all felt that the bend in the tracks evoked the “who knows what’s around the bend” feeling of Tracks. An unscientific focus group of friends and fellow writers and publishers agreed. The result is a cover I’ll never forget.

Learn more about Jamie and see some of his cover designs at www.keenandesign.com.

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Womb Book Signing at Greetings and Readings (And CityLit Fest and Lit & Art Coming Up)

This Saturday, April 22 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. I'll be doing a book signing at Greetings & Readings. Stop by to get your autographed copy of Womb: a novel in utero, and support your local bookstore!

Learn more about the event, the bookstore, and the book at https://www.greetingsandreadings.com/events/womb-a-novel-in-utero-book-signing

Then, be sure to join me and lots of other writers for the CityLit Festival on the following Saturday, April 29 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.!
http://www.citylitproject.org/index.cfm?page=news&newsid=179


And, don't forget that the next two events in the Lit and Art Reading Series are coming up, back to back!

The next Lit and Art event takes place at The Ivy's Bird in Hand location on Sunday, April 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. and features Virginia Crawford, Toby Devens, Christopher T. George, Tom Glenn, Michael Hughes, and Ron Tanner with art by Manzar and music by Adam Trice of Red Sammy.

The following Lit and Art event takes place at The Historic York Inn / Smyser Bair House as part of York First Friday on Friday, May 5 from 6 to 9 p.m. and features Sid Gold, Barbara DeCeasar, Sam Schmidt, and Laura Shovan with art by Manzar and music by Adam Trice of Red Sammy. And Margaritas! 

More information will be at the Lit and Art Facebook page soon. Check it out at https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitAndArt. 

In the meantime, see you at Greetings & Readings this Saturday!

https://www.greetingsandreadings.com/events/womb-a-novel-in-utero-book-signing

Art Times Journal Publishes Ingenuity Did Not Originate with the Human Mind

For more than 30 years, Art Times Journal has been publishing about art and fiction both in print and online. They're the go to source for creatives and those who appreciate good writing.

This year, Art Times Journal published an excerpt from Womb: a novel in utero.

"Ingenuity Did Not Originate with the Human Mind" is a short excerpt describing life within the womb. 

"Mom needs to keep calm even when life jars her," the narrator says. "She needs a cozy place to settle into, insulated from the stress and demands and complications of the outside world. A womb of her own."

Read the short story, excerpted from Womb: a novel in utero, in the Art Times Journal.

http://arttimesjournal.com/fiction/jan_15_17_eric_d_goodman.html

Headed for Dubai and Abu Dhabi

We're on our way to the United Arab Emirates! 

We plan to spend most of our time in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Sure, there's the shopping malls and the world's largest indoor ski slope, but we're there to explore the culture and the architecture, both old and new.

We plan to scale the Burj Khalifa, dine in the Burj Al Arab, and marvel at the man-made islands, Palm Jumeirah and The World. But we really look forward to touring the Grand Mosque, Dubai Museum, riding the Abras across Dubai Creek, and enjoying a desert safari or two.

In Abu Dhabi, arguably the world's richest city, we look forward to exploring the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Emirates Palace, and Qasral Hosn. 

As a bonus, one of our good friends back when I was living in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, lives in Abu Dhabi. We haven't seen him in more than 20 years, and it will be great to visit with him again.

United Arab Emirates, here we come!

http://government.ae/en/seven-emirates

Unboxing of Womb: a novel in utero

In all the excitement of the book launch for Womb: a novel in utero, we almost forgot to share the actual unboxing of the final print! Allow it to unfold before your eyes ...

Get your hands on one at your local bookstore, or wherever you buy books. Learn more at www.EricDGoodman.com/Womb.html.

Extreme Book Promotion Gone Wild!

For writers (and artists and musicians), promoting your work is important. If you write it they will read sounds nice, but it’s only the case with your core circle, or your tribe. These days, extreme book promotion is how to bring new audiences to your work. Go extreme, get their attention, and maybe you’ll find new readers that wouldn’t pay attention if you just put your words in front of them.

Halloween seemed a perfect time to go extreme with the book promotion. And April Fool's Day seems the only possibly appropriate day to go live with it.

But how far is too far? Maybe this is: dressing up as a pregnant woman for our Halloween party, to promote Womb: a novel in utero. Several times throughout the night, I went into false labor, only little advertising cards leaking out. Then, it happened: I gave birth to my labor of love—the advance reading copy of Womb.

Watch the Gif at the link below. Did it, or the picture above, get your attention? Is it a little too much? I’ll let you decide. If nothing else, it was a fun Halloween party!

https://goo.gl/photos/3Mk75UURwRuArGTg7