Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    

In her own words:



Farai Chideya is in-fucking-sane.

She decided to write a book, "The Color of Our Future," which took her
3.5 years to complete, and during that time she went through 3 jobs, 2
editors, and 3 publishers.

She started her career as an intern at Newsweek; worked as a political
reporter and writer there; fled to the youth mecca of MTV News where
she worked as a writer for Kurt and Tabitha; fled there to be a "Gen X"
political analyst on CNN; went to ABC and who knows?  She may flee
again.

Her new book is a look into the future of race through the eyes of
young Americans.  This is the most racially mixed generation America
has ever seen?  But is it more enlightened, or more antagonistic?

Check out excerpts at her website, www.popandpolitics.com.  The site
also includes book tour dates under "appearances."

You can also read an essay she wrote for Time magazine this week
summing up her book in 800 words.  But don't let that stop you from
reading the whole thing.
  

    
Wow, what a cool site.
  

    

YAY FARAI!
  

    
Hi Farai. Glad to have you here!
  

    
Thanks guys! I will post tomorrow with more details, but this is a
snippet of what I wrote about my media day in Philly thursday.


did my first full-court-press book tour day. I was in Philly for
one day and did about 7 appearances on TV, radio & a signing. Lo-lite
of the signing: some crazy dude who wouldn't shut the fuck up (though
he eventually did shut up). Highlight....VERY HIGHLIGHT....

After the signing, a woman came up to me with tears in her eyes.
pretty, about 35. she said, "I read your first book Don't Believe the
Hype where you talk about women on welfare and how they're not the
stereotype. when I read your book, I was on welfare with my four kids.
Your book inspired me to go back to school. I graduate tomorrow. Thank
you. Please give me a hug."
 
  

    

Oh, excellent!  In my experience, there is always a crazy guy at book
signings.
  

    
Only one?
  

    
Often it's the author.
  

    

Hi Farai!

Your Chris Rock blurb was a mega hit in my office!
  

    
Farai has written TWO books? If she doesn't mind my saying so, FARAI 
LOOKS ABOUT EIGHTEEN! 
  

    
I'm 29 happily going on 30. This summer--when I turn 30--I want to buy
a brownstone in Brooklyn and get a life. I'm also going to try writing
a careers book for women which won't be nearly as stressful as the
books I've written before. Just a breather.
  

    
Make sure the brownstone has an attic where you can hide the portrait 
that does your aging. 
  

    

Oh, and a guest room, please.
  

    
Tonight I had a ton of fun.

Kate Clinton--humorist, writer, and cool kick ass being--is doing a
one woman show at the Westbeth Theatre in NYC. She takes on politics,
sex, more politics, more sex, and especially the dynamics of gay and
straight in America. And she has this segment where she calls one
person up on stage and interviews them. Tonight--pre-arranged, mind
you--I was that person. She grilled me on the state of the media, got
me (totally against my will, understand you) to plug my new book, and
we generally had a good time.

Then after the show while hanging out with Kate, Johnny Cochrane and
Gloria Steinem came up to congratulate her on having a good show. Crazy
world, it is.

GO SEE KATE'S SHOW!!!!!!
  

    
That sounds like fun, farai,
  

    

If the show's a hit, you must acquit!

I am in a position to know that much will be made of "The Color Of Our
Future" at Earth's largest bookstore, starting next week.
  

    

Wait, Cochrane and Steinem were *together*?
  

    
Uh, no. Same place, same time. She with friend, he with wife. NOT on a
date. Don't start no rumors.
  

    

Did they recognize each other, or did they congratulate separately?
  

    
You should have asked him about the Chewbacca defense. 
  

    

TOday I did 2 college speeches in 2 different states. 11am at Westchester
Community COllege, and enclave of working-class, hard-working students in
what people think of as a pampered rich kids burb. Then flew thru pittsburgh
to West Virginia to speak at West Virginia Wesleyan in Buckhannon. Managed
to have a good time throughout. I get to sleep in tomorrow! Yay!
  

    
Whew.  Do you take questions from the student audiences?  What are they
asking?
  

    

(First, posted this in "byline", a well conf for freelance writers, on the
topic of how to promote a book...)

I can sleep in tomorrow. yay! then I speak at another college in VA. Then on
to Washington where I am back on the press end of the book tour. The Freedom
FOrum, radio, tv, bookstores, etc.

The main part of marketing is to focus on your own strengths. I lecture a
LOT at colleges so I was able to intersperse college gigs (which PAY me, but
are low on the press/p.r. scale, but get your book adopted as textbooks),
with traditional book and media stops. I get more bang for the buck, because
the colleges are paying for a lot of my travel. Of course, it means luxury
hotel one night, small motel the next, jet, then prop plane, audience of
callers, audience of students, audience of suit-n-tie folks. You have to be
flexible.

Professional association conventions are GREAT. They are used to being bored
out of their FUCKING minds so if you are the least bit amusing or
interesting they are hooked. ANd they buy a lot of books. ANd often you can
get a vacation out of the convention because it's in a cool location.

Um, what else? Oh--all the pubs you have ties to, like hometown paper and
college and h.s. pubs count.

Press for doing other things can still provide a brief plug for your books.

And try to stay sane on book tour. It's hard.
  

    

today I got asked about:

anti-Semitism
why watch the news when it stereotypes us?
why do black people have black organizations?
why can't we all just be Americans, without race?
what do you tell students if you're at an all-white college?

AND MANY MORE..... very good, tough, questions
  

    

I'd love to hear your answers.
  

    

how much sleep  are you averaging?