Happy New Year, writers and readers! Whew. 2012 was a whirlwind year and as we approach our second birthday on Valentine’s Day, we’re thrilled to report our mission to celebrate stories is alive and well. We’re proud to list these upcoming titles for the year.
We’re also excited to launch our Writer Wellness program with new posts every Wednesday, so check back next Wednesday for a post by our senior editor Mari Farthing on how diabetes has changed her life and her wellness goals for 2013. Writing is sedentary and as you’ve probably heard a lot in health news this year, those who sit die earlier. As in a 54% increased risk of a heart attack. Yikes. A standing desk might be in order (I’m using my kitchen table in the afternoons where I can stand.) Our goal is to motivate writers to get up and move and live well. Stay tuned for a special page and pledge devoted to our initiative. You can start with using a service like Standing Clock on your desktop or an iTunes app that writer Greg Elwell introduced me to StandApp that beeps you a reminder to stand up. So that’s this week’s goal – to stand more and do office exercises, which is the first step in moving more and sitting less!
Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going
As a publisher and author myself, I can tell you it’s been very fulfilling to help writers become published authors and assist them with their writing journey. It’s not an easy road and it’s easy to feel weary because for most of us the “writer hat” isn’t the only one we wear. Thanks for sticking to your writing goals and I hope you’ll continue to do that in 2013. One of the most evident things you’ll notice on the list is that I have four titles on the list as Malena Lott and one under Lena Brown. They are all very different. One of my life goals is to bring more alignment into my life and it’s definitely evident in my 2013 titles – a dance book, a branding book, my fifth women’s fiction novel (which deals with the story that’s been hardest to tell), and a young adult fiction series under the pen name Lena Brown. These were all produced in different years and the only “new” writing is the non-fiction. A great example of how authors toil the land for many years before it bears any fruit. But if I only wanted to publish my own work, I would. I don’t. I continue to want to find great stories and share them with the world. Having Buzz Books be an imprint of my branding and creative firm, Athena Institute is a very natural extension for what we do building brands and marketing them. We are careful in curating titles we believe in and have time to bring to market. And partnering with the right authors will continue to be key.
What do I love about this list? The diversity. Sure, some publishers may want to only focus on a certain genre because it could make it easier to target market, but I believe in stories from all genres and we continue to be open to great storytelling. You’ll notice most of the books are also in print, yet Buzz doesn’t have wide distribution. So why print? Direct sales and event sales, in addition to many being niche titles.
Without further ado, our 2013 titles.
Hope Floats by Malena Lott (short story and essay collection on loss and living on; ebook only)
Little Brand PR Rock Star by Cyndy Hoenig (Buzz Biz Little Brand series; print and ebook)
Dance Mom Survival Guide by Jill Martin and Malena Lott (dance/advice; print and ebook)
Mythology High by Magda Knight (young adult mythology series)
The Little Brand That Could by Malena Lott (Buzz Biz Little Brand series; print and ebook)
TMI Mom Oversharing My Life by Heather Davis (humor/memoir/essays; print and ebook)
Time Winders by Cara Brookins (middle grade time travel series; print and ebook)
Gotta Run by Dana Campbell (running memoir; print and ebook)
Twin Falls by Lena Brown (young adult paranormal series; print and ebook)
Family Charms by Malena Lott (women’s fiction)
And that’s all by summer’s end. Fall/winter titles include:
Hopefully a third and maybe fourth Little Brand book by authors currently working on them. :)
A zombie novel by Aaron Smith in our Swarm line
TMI Mom Getting Frisky by Heather Davis
A slideshow of titles with book covers already!
Click to view slideshow.