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Frequently Asked Questions
1) What is an emerging writer?
I believe an emerging writer is one who has not achieved the readership that he/she deserves based on the quality of their writing. It includes writers of literary fiction, and poetry, as well as well-researched and written non-fiction. In other words, those who are deserving of wider recognition.
Looking back, in 2002 I read and reviewed 101 books and only 2 of them ended up on the top 100 best seller list according to USA Today. One was Richard Russo’s EMPIRE FALLS, and while Russo may no longer be an emerging writer, he certainly was in 1989 when I read his first two novels and I’ve read and pushed all of his work ever since. The other was Laura Hillenbrand’s SEABISCUIT, which I actually read in 2001, when the book came out, before it became a book club favorite and runaway hit.
Many of the books I read will be happy to see 5 to 10 newspaper reviews and many interviews I conduct will be the first or second an author gives.
2) Where did the name for the site come from?
It came through conversations with Doug Wilson of Breakthrough Technologies. As we were discussing some very vague ideas of possibly moving what I had been doing for a year or two onto a website, Doug began exploring to see what site names were available. When he found www.emergingwriters.net, it seemed too easy to pass up. I’m now very glad that the .com version of the name was already taken.
3) How did you get involved in reviewing books?
Even in days when I was much less formal than this, I always had a big enough ego to believe I knew what other people should be reading – obviously they should all read the books that I liked.
Around March 2000, I found out that a former professor of mine, Alyson Hagy, and former classmate, Elwood Reid, would be publishing three books between them around April or May. I had not been reading that much and used my acquaintances with them to validate spending the time and money on those books. Finishing Alyson’s KEENELAND, I wanted to publicize it as much as possible, but when I went to amazon.com, I realized I did not want to give it a seemingly standard two line “ I like it, you will too” sort of review. Instead, I tried to emulate a four or five paragraph newspaper style book review. After I pasted it there, I realized I had email addresses of people who might never stumble onto that particular web page, so I emailed it to all of them (all 21 individuals in my email address book!).
I received some positive feedback, so I continued.
4) How did the network grow and begin to include authors you did not know personally?
Again, the ego comes into play. One of the first books I reviewed was Steve Yarbrough’s OXYGEN MAN. Seeing in the author notes that he had published two short story collections that I was unaware of between his first book, FAMILY MEN, and the aforementioned OXYGEN MAN, I did an internet search of his name. One of the pages that came up was Steve’s Fresno State University homepage, which included his email address. I decided that of course he would want to know what I thought of his book, so I added that address to my list before sending the review out. Steve was monstrously instrumental in the building of the network for three actions that he took:
First, he responded to that email with praise, thanking me and asking to be added to whatever group it came from; second, he sent a future email to Caitlin Hamilton, Director of Marketing and Publicity for BlueHen Books, a brand new imprint of Penguin Putnam at the time; and third, he offered to send information out over the Fresno State Creative Writing intranet about the network.
The first action gave me the confidence to continue adding authors as I was reviewing their work – and to date only 2 or 3 have asked to be removed. The second action gave me access to more books and authors I’d probably not heard about otherwise. The third action suggested another avenue to me for getting the word out, as well as adding about 20 new people.
5) Where do you get all the books you review?
This changed drastically over the first four years. In the beginning, the books were all either bought, or occasionally borrowed from the library.
When the previously mentioned email went from Steve Yarbrough to Caitlin Hamilton, it resulted in an email offer from Caitlin to myself of books to review (can anybody believe that she actually asked if it would be okay to send me books???).
After a year of this, and having some authors be proactive as well and offer to send copies of their work, I became a little bolder and approached some smaller presses, asking for review copies. I guess based on sample output and the ridiculously nice things some authors have been willing to say, most publishers have been very willing to help the cause.
6) What are the two holiday season special projects of the EWN?
The first is a signed book program. I find an author, who agrees to sign and mail books to whatever members are looking for such an item, or a wonderful and unique gift item. In the first three years, I have been able to work with the publisher and author to be able to offer such an item priced less than an unsigned copy you would have to go out and buy would be. The second is a holiday gift email from the Emerging Writers Network. It goes out on Christmas Eve (with apologies to those celebrating other holidays, but Christmas is the one I celebrate) and contains work from somebody in the network – unique work, not previously available anywhere. In 2002, Sharon Dilworth wrote a short story to be sent out. In 2003, I focused on emerging writers, as in those with no books published, and sent out an email of four short stories. 2004 promises to have fiction, poetry, and non-fiction work.
7) Why are some reviews rated in paws, and not stars?
This is in honor of Milhous, the house bear of Patrick Maday. Patrick actually began posting my reviews at www.milhous.net until his job forced him to stop tracking the events of the EWN. Seeing the reviews on the web in this manner certainly did something in terms of leading me to think about this particular website. Those reviewed in paws were the ones that made the cut at millhouse.net.
8) What is the rating system?
5 stars/paws: This needs to be read no matter what your tastes. Both the writing and creation is top notch.
4 stars/paws: This should really be read. Either the writing or the creation is as good as it gets, with the other having just a minor flaw or two
3 stars/paws: An average read. Good solid writing and a good story. Not much unique to point out, but certainly not a waste of one’s time.
2 stars/paws: Read only if you are a completist of that particular author. A story that goes nowhere. Less than average writing. Poor metaphors, lazy paragraphs, uninteresting characters.
1 star/paw: Do not bother with this one, the author barely did.
9) What are your goals for the network?
To continue to achieve the mission statement to such as level that the EWN sticker in the corner of a book outweighs the effects of an Oprah sticker.
10) Who developed this website?
Doug Wilson and Breakthrough Technologies. Much more information can be found at www.breaktech.com.
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