Category Archives: Writing
How to Publish a Book
For thirty years I worked with books: in bookstores and in distribution; as a research assistant and copywriter; and as a promotion manager, editor, and finally, publisher. In February 2022, I left the industry (although I still do some ghost-writing, … Continue reading
Jens Soering, The New Yorker, and Me
It’s a strange thing to see your name written out in the elegant, restrained typeface of The New Yorker magazine—as I, on this Monday morning, discover myself to be (in Nathan Heller’s “Blood Ties”). As someone who’s subscribed to the … Continue reading
The Book as Souvenir
Seth Godin is one of those disruptive gurus of marketing, publishing, and connectivity, and I think he speaks a lot of sense. I especially appreciate what he says about the book as a souvenir—with all of the ambiguity that such a … Continue reading
The Fine Writer
A friend who is currently writing a book sent me an email about its progress. She told me she’d started to read H is for Hawk, Helen MacDonald’s award-winning memoir of how she dealt with her grief over her father’s death through falconry. My … Continue reading
The Woes of the Author
The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society—an august body of writers (if that isn’t a contradiction in terms) based in the U.K.—have produced their annual report on the dismal state of affairs for professional writers. (Thank you, Kim Stallwood, for sending it … Continue reading
Fulfilling a Dream
As a publisher, I’m often told by folks, “Oh, I’d like to write a book.” My immediate (internal) reaction is often Why? It’s an enormous amount of work—research, writing, editing—and the rewards (little money, no reviews, few readers) are almost always incommensurate with … Continue reading
On Whimsy and Lizards
Life, as we know, is rarely fair; and things, as we also know, are rarely equal. And, it would appear, never has life been less fair or more unequal than in the case of Rowe vs. Literary Estate of P. G. Wodehouse. … Continue reading
Animal Rights Fiction: A Solution?
The two questions I get asked most frequently at Lantern are: (1) “Do you publish fiction on animal advocacy?” (“No.”), and (2) “Do you know of any publishers that do?” I mention Ashland Creek Press (doing sterling work in this area), but … Continue reading
Norm Phelps (1939–2014)
Norm Phelps—the author of four books (The Longest Struggle, The Great Compassion, The Dominion of Love, and Changing the Game), all of which were published by my company, Lantern Books—died on the last day of last year, less than a … Continue reading
Poverty and the Writer
News, via the Guardian today, that authors in the UK are now earning beneath the poverty line: According to a survey of almost 2,500 working writers – the first comprehensive study of author earnings in the UK since 2005 – … Continue reading
Martin Rowe 
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