An unfinished joint manuscript by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis has been discovered! No, it does not involve Aslan invading Middle Earth—it’s a non-fiction work about language.
January 23, 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of Sylvia Plath‘s ‘The Bell Jar’.
Read an important author discussion: Why do stories matter? C.E. Lawrence, Amy Lignor, Derek J. Goodman, J.G. Faherty, James Grippando, Mike Befeler, Merry Jones, William McCormich, Chris Allen, Catherine Stovall, Maynard Sims, and Catherine Jordan.
Dear Abby’s Pauline Friedman Phillips has died at 94; and Eugene Patterson, a Southern newspaper editor who repeatedly called for civil rights equality, has also passed away.
The National Book Awards process gets a revamp. And here you can find free sample of all the books nominated for the National Book Critics Circle award this year.
Great lists: The Edgar Award nominations for 2013; Time Out New York’s 50 favorite children’s books of all time; the top 100 Best Blogs for Writers; and the Best Horror Books of 2012.
Random House is reissuing Ruth Chew’s middle grade fantasy books.
Looking for ways to support your local indie bookstore? If your ereader supports epubs, here’s how you can buy ebooks through your local indie store.
Libraries are awesome. Nashville’s Limitless Libraries program brings together public and high school libraries and sees library patronage soar; the Digital Public Library of America project seeks tobring together in one search engine all the digitized content already available at separate institutions; Miss Julie wonders how to get libraries the attention they need while still talking about the librarianship topics that really matter; and if all else fails, try what they did in Scotland: have pole dancing in the libraries.
John and Hank Green are Falling in Love With the World. John Green writes beautiful and wildly popular YA books. He and his brother had a sold out show at Carnagie Hall. Is this the future of authorship?
CRAFT
How often have you heard that the first five pages make or break the story? Agent Diana Finch explores what makes those first five pages work—or not.
Joanne Wadsworth gives tips on Deep POV, Martina Boone explains how cause and effect builds a story, and Mitali Perkins has 10 tips on writing race in novels.
We all research for our books. Roz Morris has research tips for writers, Carolyn Kaufman shares research dos and don’ts, and Megan S. gives us a look inside the experience of a Patient Zero in an epidemic.
Sue Neal has 10 ways to avoid editing while in first draft mode, and Tim Kane tells us how to revise to eliminate those pesky pronouns.
Maggie Stiefvater has a powerful post on how rape is used in literature, while Sarah S. Moon celebrates “difficult” female characters.
Kimberly Hitchens wonders what drives people to post books for sale that clearly aren’t ready—but the authors think are “good enough.” And Marge Loch-Wouters reminds us gently that credit and attribution are necessary, especially in today’s social networking world.
Kristi Holl asks: What fear is holding you back?, while Kristen Lamb suspects that it may be “approval addiction” keeping us from creating our art.
Need to take some positive steps? Use Jim Collins’ Stockdale Paradox to change your thinking; Ollin Morales’ tips for getting off your butt and writing; and Kellen Gorbett’s idea of living a story to energize you.
Nancy Springer tries to answer the question: what is good writing?; S.J. Watson gives us permission to think of ourselves as writers; and John Hansen has the best advice of all: Do Not Give Up!
BUSINESS
Is the last big retail bookstore chain in trouble? An article from the Wharton Business School regarding the odds of Barnes & Noble surviving in the long-term.
Also, Forbes wonders if Nielson Bookscan can remain relevant in the digital age—a look at its limitations & their impact.
Prometheus Books has reached a sales and distribution agreement with Random House Publisher Service.
Wondering what editors are looking for in 2013? The Andrew Lownie Literary Agency has answers. Also, Penguin/Grosset editor Jordan Hamessley on what impresses her.
Queries! Ahh! Janice Hardy lists common weaknesses in queries, Chuck Sambuchino answers 9 frequently asked questions about queries, and Sarah Pinneo on why you should critique others’ queries.
Agent Sarah LaPolla tells us how to impress her with your writing, while Marcia Geraci shares 3 things she’s learned as an author since getting The Call.
Public relations firm Albee Agency made headlines a while back for attributing promo blurbs to authors they had never worked with. One of those authors was Chuck Wendig, and he has a follow-up as to what’s happening now with the Albee Agency.
Meanwhile, Darcy Pattison tries to make marketing strategies for writers easy to understand.
Kristen Lamb on why your blog is the most powerful social media tool you have. (Link is to Part 1 of 3—you can get to the other 2 from Part 1).
Erik Kwakkel evaluates his first year on Twitter, and whether Twitter works for an academic who loves medieval books.
We all want to make a good first impression. Burcu Akyol has 10 tips to look professional online.
THE UNIQUE SHELF
Ever wondered what some of those drinks in Dickens novels taste like? Adam Selzer has the mixes for all the drinks from Charles Dickens’ novels.
The BBC is showing a new series of P.G. Wodehouse’s Blandings.
Researching unusual topics? We’ve got you covered. This Japanese Woodblock Print search engine has the ability to both search for Japanese woodblock prints by simply taking a picture of an existing print AND the ability to see similar prints across multiple collections of prints—over 200,000 prints in all.
This video: Servants’ Tales at Twelfth-Century English Shrines. Using the stained glass windows of Canterbury Cathedral, Rachel Koopmans examines how they show the lay people, including servants, more informal helpers and hangers on, and how they correspond to textual references to what the laity did at shrines.
And here you can listen to 150,000 different animal sounds in one humongous online library.
That’s all for us this week!
The Author Chronicles 
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