Hope Meets Faith
Dear Friends,
If there’s one thing I was raised without, it was hope. Hope is this intangible thing I’ve had to teach myself to believe in without much proof of. I’m no lawyer, but I am quite inquisitive, so for that reason, hope is always both my best friend and enemy in life. Hope makes me feel inadequate sometimes, as if I’m almost unworthy of its gifts because I don’t *always* believe. I wasn’t born a Disney princess. While I love a good fairytale, I honestly have no idea whether I’ll get my happy ending. I wasn’t born believing.
I do, however, feel like I reach a point on nights like these, nights when I’m feeling uber optimistic for no apparent reason, that I can get to the place where hope meets faith, and the place they come together, I can get to. I don’t have a name for it (fope?) but I do reach hopefulness and then try my hardest to get to the faith part. I don’t default to either of these glorious feelings, growing up in a house where up and down was morning, noon, and night, so when I force myself to believe, I see myself watching the fireworks show at Disneyland. I am maybe 12 or 13, and I am watching these beautiful fireworks *hoping* and *foping* that someday I wouldn’t be watching them alone. That someone would be holding me, or buying me a churro, or grabbing my hand. Would you believe that I’ve felt these feelings before? I’ve had these moments, the moments that are supposed to build up my faith column in my head. The “prove me right” moments. The thing about those moments, though, is that unless they happen repeatedly, they almost seem like magic. You know how humans can’t remember pain? I think they also can’t literally remember joy either. They can smile upon those times, just like you can remember how badly it hurt when you broke your knee 10 years ago, but you can’t neither wince in pain or smile in joy. It’s a shame, really, that’s why I keep a diary. If for no other reason than to realize that I have to write to vaguely remember, and then jog my memory years later.
When I moved to New York, I had hope. I still have hope. The job I have gives me a whole whirlwind of feelings that I never thought I would find in my work. It’s the beautiful marriage between passion and reality. I think you need both of those factors in a situation to make it both meaningful and powerful. When I moved here I came for three things: dream job, dream man, and dream book. Is it ludicrous that I don’t know what to do now that I’ve found one of them? And aren’t I lucky that it’s the one that stays with me from 9 to 5. I know I’m lucky – that’s why I have faith that it will keeping working out. I hoped for it, now I have to have enough faith to sustain it. I think hope is magical but faith what makes things sustainable. People probably wouldn’t keep procreating if life was so terrible and hopeless, right?
Kisses,
Jessica
Broadway
Dear Friends,
I am really slacking with my posts. Winter has slowed me down, I suppose. If I were in Smash, trying to get a musical from workshop to the big stage, I would probably fail. I can’t even keep up with my own blog. Sometimes I wish I was trying out for broadway. I was a performer in a different life, I think. I mean, if you ask my close friends, I could still wing it. I’m sort of a triple threat but not in a performer’s way: I’m a friend, aunt and writer. Not a musical does that make. Actually, maybe it does. A musical that would involve a lot of cursing, love and Legoland.
There is just something so appealing about people risking simple sustenance to follow their dreams: to dance and glitter in the spotlight and sing ballads. Is life really all about one moment? Watch the movie The Vow and you will be in the same questionable state I am. Yes, it is quite embarrassing that Channing Tatum “got” to me, but it was more the story, which by the way he was perfectly cast for. He’s like the most attractive outcast there is. The movie is about Rachel McAdams, who gets into a car accident and forgets the last five years of her life. She has to relive it. If that happened to me I would be like FTW (F the world, for those of you not familiar). It would look more like Kristen Whig on an SNL skit, and not an adorable rom-com. I mean, if I had to re-learn/re-live the past five years, it would be horrific. Starting when I was 19, falling in love with the wrong guy, getting my heart trampled on, then again falling for the next wrong guy at 22, a scary heartbreak, then writing my book, struggling in crappy PR jobs, all to end up in New York City working at a publisher, desperately seeking an agent and knowing so much more, but at the same time, not having a clue what my future will be. Oh no, I definitely would not have the energy to relive the past five years. PASS.
Even scarier than not having enough energy to relive your life is that you might take different lessons from each experience. Maybe I wouldn’t be in NYC, maybe I wouldn’t have written my book, maybe I would have met zero wrong guys for me – or ten. Who knows. It makes my head hurt to think about. When I left the movie theater I said to my friend, “Well that wasn’t quite as abusive as The Notebook, but pretty damn close.”
But going back to Broadway, I wish I had an outlet like that every day. I wish that I could have my “moment” every day. Performing, even rehearsing takes so much pizazz. I know writing is my outlet but sometimes I don’t have time for it, and I don’t even have a whole lot going on besides my job. That is sad. That means what will I do when I have more responsibility than I do now?
I think I hear 42nd street calling my name… It has been awhile, hasn’t it? For now, I think I just need to go see a show. I’d even see Rock of Ages at this point, I am so desperate.
Kisses,
Jessica
Not Mine
Dear Friends,
I am so tired of having conversations or taking part in anything that does not belong to me. Is that messed up? Selfish, even? You might think so at first, but what I’m saying has a lot of truth to it.
I just got home from an author event where the only cute guy there who took interest in asking me normal questions about my life inevitably has a girlfriend. He did not bring this up until we established that we had enough in common to probably go on at least two to three dates, so he got scared and had to throw in the girlfriend sentence. I don’t care that he has a girlfriend; I knew him for ten minutes, but the point is, why are the only guys who are capable of having a normal conversation with me, somebody else’s boyfriends? Is it because their girlfriends train them into not being socially retarded? Do they have to be nice to the girlfriends’ friends and so they put those same skills to use when talking to me? Or is it that they want to know if they can get my attention and then shut me down with good reason. Is it all a game, or just seems like a game from my end? I guess from the end zone, the whole field is exposed and it can seem like a long ways down the line.
Furthermore, shouldn’t single people be more into talking to strangers than other people’s boyfriends? I mean, we don’t have people to go home to and talk to everyday, so why waste the talking energy on me? It’s like my best guy friend: he’s usually someone’s boyfriend and he is a great talker and listener. Does this mean that every single guy out there has no social skills? I swear to God every time someone carries on an excellent conversation with me, he’s not single. I think this goes the same for women too. What does all of this mean? All of us singletons have no social skills? Are we too busy being on the prowl to carry on a normal conversation?
I don’t know anymore. All I know is what with Valentine’s Day coming up next week, I don’t think I can have another good conversation with somebody else’s boyfriend. You know those chalk-like candies with “Be Mine” written on them? They were a dime a dozen in elementary school. I’d be happy with two of those at this point.
Kisses,
Jessica
The First Time
Dear Friends,
Not to quote a Lifehouse song (because that would be soo 2001 of me) but their song, “The First Time,” really seems to get to me every time. Perhaps because there are rarely “firsts” in life that I secretly think everyone is after “feeling things for the first time.” But due to modern technology, and since our society is run by instant gratification, people are distancing themselves from virgin experiences (not THE experience, but virgin-esque experiences) because they want to set themselves up to expect it. I think that’s why people get obsessed with traveling – you know the difference between the person who’d like to tour Italy one day and the person who buys the $500 flash sale airline ticket and plans a trip for next week. I think these people want to stage feelings of the first time, or if not the first, then to give themselves a better Round Two than experienced the first go-around. And since you can’t control other things (love, jobs, big breaks, random experiences that make life worth living) that is why people love to plan trips – on whim or in time – so they can attempt to control their level of pleasure. I’m not faulting anyone for this, I think it’s awesome and is something I haven’t done enough of, but this idea came to me this morning. Why do people love to do things they’ve never done? Survey says: So they can feel those butterflies that subsequently only happen “for the first time.”
In sports, even being a rookie is a great thing. How young you are when something GREAT happens is monumental to how people view it. Even for me: I’d rather say my book got published when I was 25 than 35. Not even totally because that will mean I will have 10 more additional years to write more books and to gain more credibility but because I want it sooner – I want things sooner. I want to say I was younger when something happened. Or maybe because life does not guarantee us these special experiences tomorrow, or in 10 years. Maybe because I want the instant gratification, or maybe because I want to feel it for the first time younger. I don’t want to wait for years to make the experience better – I somehow don’t think that matters. As long as you get the first-time experience, and better yet, it continues to feel like the first time every time it occurs, then I think that is what our goal should be.
I am looking for a few things in my life that feel like the first time on the 100th time. Anybody else? Life is too short not to feel butterflies on most occasions. Some people call it a spark but to those of you who know me – butterflies suit me better. Besides there’s that saying that “sparks will fade…” so I like to think that what I’m after won’t fade. The electrical charge you feel when your heart drops with excitement and adrenaline (I wish a scientist would name this already so we could all stop writing love songs about the ambiguity of said feeling). This feeling to me, isn’t just associate with love. Maybe people associate it with love because in Biblical times, nobody worked hard for a book deal or I-banking client or televised trial won.
I know it’s unrealistic for me to expect that even these rare, delicacies in life will feel that exciting each time. But, the hope is that the thrill is present most of the time, which goes back to the biggest mystery of life: unpredictability and how we all deal with it. We may not be able to count on a lot, but we should shoot for the stars with experiences that wildly please most of the time, if not all. As long as the spark doesn’t officially go out – keep it lit.
Kisses,
Jessica
All It Takes Is One
Dear Friends,
Why do people always say that? It’s like some terrible Hallmark saying that has gone way out of style. I don’t believe that there is one person who could make you happy, one person who can further your career and one opportunity that changes everything. I simply don’t. It is all people see because the world is so vast that you can’t fathom that other things/peoples/careers/places might make you happy because it is too difficult to bear that you haven’t encountered them yet. What is with society feeling like the decisions they make have to be 1) correct, 2) amazing, and 3) nothing could make them happier? I worry about making decisions because I know there are better, more expansive outcomes that could be, they just don’t always present themselves “in time” for people to notice. I blame this on God: women would potentially never settle if they didn’t have a ticking biological clock in their bodies. I’m beginning to think there was more to Abraham’s covenant: they were both men and they both probably thought it would be a hugely entertaining idea to make women only be able to successfully procreate for a limited period in their life, begging the obvious: women would have to settle for fear of missing out on procreation. Thanks, guys.
Why will it take one agent, one editor and one publishing house to make my book come true? It’s just about trusting the web I have accrued or am exposed to. It doesn’t mean that an agent in London wouldn’t love my book and that if I lived in the UK, it would have been published two years ago. It just means that I live America and take part in a dog eat dog society and all the people I am exposed to haven’t believed in me yet. It doesn’t just take once. Just usually, because of odds and the world being humongous, you just by chance see one outcome, but there will always be many. I guess it comes down to: do you believe in fate or not? And at this point in my life, I don’t. I’ve had enough disappointments in my life to know that when positive things do happen, it is because some things are positive and some things are negative in life. They switch off – bad and good, good and bad. It’s not because some vacant spirit in the sky singled me out to be in front of a person I should meet. If people are a reflection of God, and people are inherently selfish and evil, you really think that God or spirits, or whoever the hell created us spend that much time mapping out the stars for each individual person? I may be a writer, I may be a romantic at heart, but COME ON. Whenever someone says it’s meant to be – I gag. Is this something you get when you are walking down the alter? Everything slows down and you only see the series of events that led you to that person that you expect to keep you happy your whole entire life (well half because at the rate my generation gets married – it ain’t gonna be your whole life in matrimony). It will be at best, 50-60 years, spending 30 years alone, when you were left to contemplate life and not believe in fate. People get married because the odds are, one day, you don’t wish to be alone anymore and are over binge drinking and recreational drug use so, the next person you have good sex with and share consecutive laughs with, seems like the person who could scratch that 50 year ish itch.
Maybe I am just cranky because it’s Friday, the 13th. Who knows. All I know is, more people agree with this philosophy than they would like to admit. But I guess what does it matter? What will be will be – there will always be the argument of whether it’s planned or not. I just feel like it’s not – because if there were a job planning out people’s futures, that somebody would be a C-level executive making a hell of a lot more money than what God takes home every year.
Kisses,
Jessica
Have A Little Faith
Dear Friends,
Have any of you heard this phrase and rolled your eyes? If so, we can seriously be friends and not just “friends” via my blog. My whole life, someone, somewhere has told me to “have a little faith.” I guess this means I came out of the womb doubting. Despite this, I am not a negative person, just realistic. I like to see things before I believe them. As much as I loved magic when I was a little girl, in real life, David Copperfield does not make that phone ring, get you that dream job, or pluck out nice people from the sea of young, smiling faces at a bar on a Saturday night. For this reason, and this reason alone, I choose to stay on neutral grounds. I don’t believe the phone will ring until it’s blaring. It can work the other way as well. Two years ago I thought I found my dream job and it was nothing I thought it would be. So sometimes a magician does pull a rabbit out of his hat, and it still is not magical.
It’s like when my 5-year-old nephew asks me why I’m not married yet every time I see him. My answer is the same, “Because I haven’t found the right guy to be your uncle yet.” My nephew replies quizzically with, “Where do you find him?” To which I say – “I have NO idea, darling.”
However, my mantra for the new year is to do exactly what I’ve been vehemently denying myself for potentially my entire life. I need to have a little faith that the phone will ring (slash buzz – text messages seem to be replacing voices these days), that the dream job will some day be all its cracked up to be and that maybe the universe does work in your favor sometimes. How else does the world keep turning and people keep on procreating? Sometimes it works to just take a deep breath in a stressful situation or as stream of consciousness runs through your mind and say, have a little faith. Looking back, I have had a lot of faith-enduring moments. Rejections turn into open doors eventually. People show you their true colors – good or bad ones. My top two moments of having faith would be moving to New York City with no job, no friends and no place to live (and I’m still here). And also meeting one of my best friends at a restaurant last winter. David Copperfield put us right next to each other in a squished booth in a tiny West Village restaurant. Thankfully.
So the next time you find yourself having anxiety about something not panning out – just try to tell yourself to have a little faith. Sometimes you are holding the magic wand and you don’t even know it yet.
Happy 2012!
Kisses,
Jessica
The Finger
Dear Friends,
I hurt my finger this weekend at a holiday party. No, I was not giving someone the finger. Although, it is that middle finger. I was tipsy and aggressively going through a huge pile of coats and sprained my finger. I guess I thought I was Wonder Woman and took 100 coats by the jaws of three of my (weakest) fingers on my right hand. Woops. They call it liquid courage and my target demographic is a stack of coats, apparently.
It was on this night that I was subjected to colossal amounts of mistletoe (but I’m Jewish so it’s never had the same effect on me as everyone else) and very loud Christmas music. Actually, I could not tell you what was playing in the background, maybe nothing? I was dancing to the beat of my own drum. But I wasn’t in much of party mode. I was more in giving the finger mode. Which is exactly what happened.
I had recently broken off something with a quite selfish person. I couldn’t call it a relationship and my mother used to say if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Although she never really followed her own rule. So, for purposes of this note, I will call it something. Nearing my mid-twenties (vomit) I am definitely soul-searching. I’d be lying if I said this very blog wasn’t a great outlet to do so. And on Saturday night, everything down to the baked ham and the mistletoe was making me contemplate and self-reflect. It was at this point that I knew I had to leave. I was mad that since the last holiday season, I hadn’t dated anyone remotely nice, or remotely kind. I was mad at that I wanted to give the finger to all of the fools I have shared dinner or a bed with. It shouldn’t be that way. But for 2011, it was that way. I didn’t realize all of this as I was meandering through the sea of cheery drunkards at the party. I only realized later that evening when I let my body tell me what I was feeling. The coat pile had caught onto it more quickly than I had.
I was giving 2011 the finger (I’m serious – I can barely bend it). I’m saying, F off dating in 2011. I never liked odd numbers anyways. Even numbers sit way better with me. Although I guess I was born in an odd numbered year. My propensity for accepting dates with odd people might be heightened. That might explain a lot, actually.
It was actually funny because this selfish something I said goodbye to that night said to me something very telling several months ago. You really have to listen to men and not be afraid to look into what they say because they talk so infrequently, you have to figure some of it might be true. I once told him he looked “mainstream” because he was wearing a Polo shirt. He didn’t know what it meant (a banker, who has a very poor lexicon – so contrary to my good friend who’s also a banker and quite articulate), and I told him it means following social norms. And then I said, “Like me, I’m really normal.” To which he replied, “No, you’re not – you hang out with me.” Hit the nail on the head. I knew he was right when he said it and never, ever thought he was the right person for me. But I did think he respected me. So imagine how many times I wanted to give him the finger after I found out that he didn’t. I think that’s what this injury is about – forever flicking off the general direction of Madison Square Park. Or at least for the next 5 to 7 days, the doctor tells me.
Happy holidays. I wish you a merry season full of not flicking people off (verbally or physically). But if you have to do it, steer clear of the coat rack. It’s more dangerous than it appears.
Kisses,
Jessica
Spinning
Dear Friends,
If I could describe my saving grace in life right now – it could be summarized in one word: spinning. I know everyone thinks spinning is for chicks who are out of shape and too lazy to run, but they are so very wrong. Take a spin class with me and my friends and see for yourself. You will likely not make it through without nausea or needing to take a breather. Us girls go three times a week. So there.
I do my best thinking in spin class, actually. The teachers are so inspiring, the music is so bellowing – the whole experience swallows me whole. When I’m spinning I can do anything, be anyone, and reset standards for myself. It’s true. I was in spin class tonight and we were climbing a hill – a big hill. My teacher asked us to isolate, which means not to use any other part of your body but your legs to climb the hill, with a lot of resistance, which would give you muscle man thighs if done too often, but this is for 30-second intervals which subsequently targets burning fat in my thighs, which I could use. So I always try to isolate well.
As I was isolating, I started to feel the intense burning sensation in my top thighs, nearing my pelvis. It was almost unbearable until my teacher said, “That’s just lactic acid, it will go away.” Knowing it would go away helped considerably. When you’re in the moment, you want to fight back. You want to scream, “No it won’t! I’m F-ing dying here! What are you talking about, crazy spin instructor?” But he was right – the burning did go away, and fast.
I know it might sound silly and strange, but this was a comforting statement to me. Why can’t I utilize this statement with all facets of life? “It’s just a heartbreak, it will go away.” “It’s just a disappointment, it will pass.” “It’s just an uncertain time, it will go away.” Why must we all isolate and focus on one goal so intensely, just so it will pass? Do we need the build-up to appreciate the freedom? Do we need to keep ourselves so tightly wound, just so we can unravel and wind ourselves up again? Is it because humans do not have palpable enough energy to live through pain, or is it the pain that makes the “breakaway” or the stopping of the isolation to feel good. Do we need the pain to appreciate the pleasure? And, is it really pain we’re feeling, or are we all just isolated? Maybe we are all far away from important goal (s) that makes the lactic acid in our souls build up such that we want to breakaway. Maybe we reach said goal (s) after the focus, the pain, or in the grand scheme of things, the 30-second climb. Does it make the tough experience any less worth triumphing?
I learned tonight that I’m going to make a vested interest into “isolating” my soul. I want to isolate until I am able to make my wishes come true and breakaway, just so I can wish again. Because at the end of the day, a wish is simply a heartfelt goal and when you’re a single 24-year-old undiscovered writer, what isn’t a wish?
“A dream is a wish your heart makes…” – Cinderella
Isolate something today. Just try it. You just might move mountains – even if you’re on a stationary bike.
Kisses,
Jessica
An Inside Look at Book Publishing & Literary Marketing in a Digital World
An Inside Look at Book Publishing & Literary Marketing in a Digital World
By Jessica Barraco, PR Manager for Bookperk at HarperCollins – November 02, 2011F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.” These days, it seems like everyone has something to say: the average Joe, celebrities and fantasy enthusiasts with imaginations that put Roald Dahl’s witches and candy men to shame. Everyone believes they are bringing something new and exciting to the bookstore shelf, and maybe they are. But the way that value is recognized has morphed. It has moved off the page and into the online space.
Can you picture Virginia Woolf logging in to her Twitter account to see how many followers she currently has or to calculate her number of Facebook “likes?” Miss Woolf oftentimes wrote manuscripts in beautiful cursive on parchment paper, and then went for long walks on the banks of the river near her home to clear her head amidst chapters. Her life was simple and offline. I wonder how that compares to the average writer in Manhattan, obsessively pressing refresh and thinking up marketing tactics to get his various social media channels more “buzz.” I wonder if Miss Woolf could have even identified the word “buzz” the way contemporary society defines it.
This is one of many edited facts on the newly paved path of the digital landscape in the world of book publishing. Even though the presentation of publishing has changed drastically in the past decade, publishing conglomerates are still powerful, and once popular book genres have gone through their changes as well. Three years ago celebrity memoirs were groundbreaking, and nowadays it seems like nearly every celebrity has a memoir. A publisher wonders, “Is this considered non-fiction in the way that John Krakauer writes of his tales climbing Mt. Everest or researching Mormon clans via award-winning journalism tactics? Would the same fans of John Krakauer pick up a book that Jennifer Lopez wrote?” Probably not, but that means one thing: diversified audiences. Publishers have to speak to a larger, more diverse audience. So what is the best way to do that? With cohesive, digital, corporate platforms.
New genre preferences were the precursors to the digital life of publishing. Digital capabilities must be creative in nature, which can be challenging to remain unique and fresh to the constantly “refreshing” consumer’s eyes. The average reader is now more eager to learn about Jon Bon Jovi’s young life or how to lose ten pounds in three days by strolling through the Self-Help section at Barnes & Noble than they are in picking up Pride & Prejudice for the first time since grade school and finding a whole new meaning to Mr. Darcy.
I admit to sometimes making the same mistake. The minute I saw that David Nichols’ novel, One Day, was being made into a movie I deemed the book worthy enough to read on a summer vacation. If I were an acquisitions editor, I might be more caught up with Nichols’ online fanbase or how many New Yorker excerpts he has under his belt. It is almost as if entertainment tells readers what to be interested in by virtue of its theatrical existence. For example, the Charlaine Harris books successfully created the HBO show, True Blood. The Accidental Billionaires, by Ben Mezrich, gave birth to the Oscar-winning film, The Social Network, in 2010.
Books are no longer just books, they are branding empires. Book publishing now has to accommodate everyone’s interest levels, which have arguably grown due to the Internet. Knowledge equals inherent curiosity and new developments in the digital space. Missed your favorite show on television? You can watch it online. Even cable television is slowly becoming irrelevant. We are all constantly informed and thirsting for more. As we have seen, several popular books are being adapted for the big and small screens, and more than ever before sagas like Twilight, Harry Potter and Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy have an almost cult-like following. People are becoming diehard saga fanatics, which is neither good nor bad for the future of publishing. However, it is certainly different from how things were fifteen years ago, and should be treated as such.
As recently as three to five years ago book publicists barely had to keep up blogger relations and getting print coverage was easier, as less “review” coverage existed online and fewer newspapers and magazines had popular online editions. Authors know that publishing conglomerates have made budget cuts in the ongoing recession America has faced. Authors now wonder how the publicity part of their book’s debut will shake out. My best advice to new or old authors is to sign with a publishing house that has innate and internal digital capabilities. In this day and age, it is too risky to outsource for digital publicity. An author can no longer “do it themselves,” as social media has become too vast.
In 2009, publishers were faced with an undeniable challenge: what kind of platform might individualize itself from all the other publishing conglomerates and help them stay relevant as computers edged their screens into book publishing? Simon & Schuster released a deals newsletter that is solely based on price slashing; you can purchase books for up to fifty percent off if you buy direct. However, price slashing is not the larger digital marketing draw. The idea is to keep consumers constantly connected to the brand and, in turn, they feel like they are getting some piece of brand exclusivity which is more likely to promote brand loyalty. If any “perks” are included, the program will soar. Another development recently started to affect consumers’ deals. In a time where publishing has taken a downturn, nothing is more important than consumer loyalty and subsequent awareness. What is the one necessity that all of contemporary society shares? Internet access.
In December 2010, HarperCollins launched Bookperk.com. Bookperk is a website that pairs exclusive author experiences and merchandise with bestselling and newly released books. On any given “Perk of the Day,” consumers are given the opportunity to enter an interactive Patti Smith signed audiobook raffle, or purchase an exclusive tote bag designed by Karl Lagerfeld paired with Justine Picardie’s new Coco Chanel biography. Fans of Laura Lippman were able to enjoy a pizza party with her just before the release of The Most Dangerous Thing. Just this week, an author was able to create her own creative marketing platform, by contacting Bookperk herself, with specialized merchandise from Israel that pertains directly to her novel, Jerusalem Maiden.
I have recently heard stories where authors sadly have to take digital publicity into their own hands. They must outsource, even at the large publishing houses. These authors’ publishers cannot carry the burden of media channels changing. There needs to be a balance present that is both traditional and non-traditional publishing, which inherently provides authors with the freedom to influence how they want their personalities and books positioned in the marketplace. There are now more ways to share and sell literary information and more platforms to get noticed on, while simultaneously taking part in furthering the author-reader connection in book publishing via use of the Internet.
About Jessica Barraco
Jessica Barraco is a writer and public relations professional. She has worked at agencies such as Hill & Knowlton, Fleishman-Hillard and Ketchum. A graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Barraco has freelanced for publications such as 944 magazine and The Denver Post. Ms. Barraco currently resides in New York City and manages digital PR for Bookperk at HarperCollins Publishers.About Bookperk at HarperCollins Publishers
Referred to as, “the Living Social of books,” by Forbes, HarperCollins Publishers’ digital platform offers genres that span across the literary map. Bookperk offers price breaks, pre-orders, autographed books and exclusive merchandise to the consumer. Bookperk’s goal is to bring an exclusive forum together of people online who love books. Bookperk is where traditional and non-traditional literary minds meet up on the Internet.
It’s A Harlequin Kind of Love
Dear Friends,
Don’t you love how in the beginning of every romance film, they say, “And a romance like you’ve never seen before…” Why do people think romance is so original or complicated? It really just takes passion, bravery and luck. The right at place at the right time. The right head space at the right time. You have to hope you aren’t with the wrong person when you meet the right one. There’s always this fear that meeting the right person might sound just like a John Mayer song – it’s beautiful, but if you listen closely, the happiness never pans out.
I always joke and tell my friends that if my memoir doesn’t sell well, I will become a romance novelist. I first fell in love – or lust – with Harlequin romances when I was 15 years old. I remember going to Crown Books in Irvine and running home to read it. It was so scandalous! I believe it was part of the Blaze series. I remember thinking my mom would be mad at me knowing I bought it, but she wasn’t there to tell me not to. Also, an adult sold it to me so it couldn’t be that bad, right? I used to read passages of these books in the back of Cosmopolitan. I practically lived for that. I don’t really think it was the raunchiness that attracted me, I think it was the utter astonishment that someday I might take part in such acts – with a boy. Who knew. Now as an adult, I find myself wishing that I viewed my future through the kaleidoscope of a romance novel. Everything seems so simple in them. Just two people, exploring the five senses that make up every experience – but these experiences are special, life-altering, eye-opening and passionate. Romance, in a lot of ways, is what life is built on. The world wouldn’t populate without so many people having chemistry every day.
Think you can handle the pressure of writing romance? Do you have something steamy to share with the world? Great timing! You can enter Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest. The winner wins a book deal with Harlequin! For the complete schedule and additional details, please visit: www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com or www.sytycw.com, follow on Twitter @HarlequinSYTYCW, hashtag #SYTYCW2.
I had the pleasure of speaking with one of the senior editors at Harlequin, and she said something that is a rarity in publishing: Everyone started somewhere, and Harlequin is making a concerted effort to work with one lucky new author develop their very own fresh, Harlequin voice. Also, my personal favorite, “You don’t have to be in the right relationship to be able to feel it enough to write about it.”
Happy writing…and romancing!
Kisses,
Jessica
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