Jan 292010

Welcome to my new WordPress blog. I’ve moved the entire site to WordPress in order to more easily update client news and bios and my submission guidelines.

2010 has been super busy so far with plenty of new books in the works and plenty more coming down the pike.

2010 is also my fifth year anniversary at Fresh Books. I’m thankful to all the clients and publishing partners who have worked with me and supported my agency from the get-go.

Thank you!

Congratulations to nutritionist Meri Raffetto on the publication of The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies, and congrats to Meri and her collaborator Rosanne Rust on the publication of The Calorie Counter for Dummies.

A big congratulations to Harold Davis, whose books – Creative Close-Ups, Creative Night, Creative Composition, and The Photoshop Darkroom – shared space on Amazon’s Computer and Internet Top 100 over the holidays. I’m pleased to announce that Harold’s next book in the Creative series, Creative Black and White, will publish later this year.

Congratulations to Barrie Sosinksy on the publication of the Networking Bible.

Congratulations to Gary Bouton on the publication of his Xara Extreme: The Official Guide.

A big congratulations to Dave Crenshaw on finishing his second business fable, Invaluable: The Secret to Becoming Irreplaceable, which is due out this May.

Oct 152009

Congratulations to Eric Groves, SVP at Constant Contact, on the publication of The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing, now out in hardcover from Wiley.
Congratulations to book packaging duo Harold and Phyllis Davis on the publication of the amazing Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing from Focal Press.
Harold is also launching a new Creative Digital Photography Tips and Techniques series with Wiley’s Visual group this month. The first three titles include Creative Composition, Creative Night, and Creative Close-Ups. It takes an amazing amount of effort and planning to release a new series in a timely manner and I’m proud to have been involved in the process of bring these books to market and helping make Harold’s vision a reality.
Congratulations to USA Today Puzzle Editor Timothy Parker’s new puzzle book, Crosswords for Seniors for Dummies.
And congratulations on another rush to publication effort by Ed Baig on his Palm Pre: The Missing Manual.
Thanks for working with me!

Aug 242009

I kept it to myself but we had a long spring here as my mom moved in with us at the beginning of the year and passed away in May. I ended up spending half this year as caregiver and half as agent, and it was a challenge. I’m fortunate that my authors continued to chug right along and that my dummies backlist especially continued to grow. I’m grateful to all of my clients in this time. Thanks for your support.
For the moment I’m happy to add a few new books to my list, with more to come soon.
Congratulations to Dan Gookin on the publication of his Troubleshooting and Maintaining Your PC All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies.
Congratulations to Rene Kratz on the publication of Molecular and Cell Biology for Dummies.
Congratulations to Holly Day and Sherman Wick on the publication of Walking Twin Cities (Wilderness Press).
Congratulations to Sue Jenkins on two new DVDs: The Designer’s Guide to Photoshop, and The Fundamentals of Photoshop Elements, as well as her latest book, Web Design All-In-One for Dummies.
Congratulations to Ed Baig on the publication of the 3rd edition of his iPhone book, iPhone for Dummies 3GS.
Congratulations to Tamar Weinberg on the publication of The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web, (O’Reilly).
Congrats to co-adventurers John Haslett and Cameron Smith on the publication of Wilderness Survival for Dummies. This is a book I’m tremendously proud of and you should also check out their hilarious promo video on YouTube.
I’m also pleased to announce one last “All-In-One” from the Dummies crew. Congrats to John Arnold, Ian Lurie, Marty Dickinson, Elizabeth Martin and Michael Becker on the publication of the Web Marketing All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies.

Mar 042009

I’ve been woefully out of blogging mode and had some problems logging on for updates but that has been resolved, and the beat does go on and I have plenty of news and new books.
There’s no doubt that the book industry is troubled right now, and the loss of many independents and the weakness of Borders especially is cause for concern. That said, books, whether “e” or not, are not going away, and the environment for selling them is only becoming more diverse and multi-platformed.
I’m currently working on three projects that I love and hope to share news on them in the near future. For now, here’s a roundup of a few of my projects that have shipped in the last few months. We have plenty of new books coming, and I’m pleased to congratulate a few new authors as well. I have a lot of tech in this update!
Congratulations to Brian Desmond, on his revision of the newest edition of Active Directory: Designing, Deploying and Running Active Directory, (O’Reilly).
Congratulations to Ed Baig on the publication of Macs for Dummies, 10th edition.
Congratulations to Renato Bellu on the publication of his first book, Microsoft Dynamics GP for Dummies.
Congratulations to Chad Perkins on The After Effects Illusionist: All the Effects in One Complete Guide, Focal Press.
Congratulations to Sue Jenkins and Rich Wagner on the publication of the 2nd edition of Dreamweaver CS4 All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies.
Congratulations to John Mueller on the publication of MS Exchange Server for Dummies, and his newest book, C# Design and Development, from Wrox Press.
One of the cooler game titles I’ve ever seen is shipping right now: congratulations to Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton of the Armchair Arcade on the publication of Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario and the Most Influential Games of All Time, from Focal Press.
I’m also please to announce a few recent deals — The Zombie Combat Manual from the creator of the Zombie Combat Club website, to Denise Silvestro at Berkley; The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing, to Richard Narramore at Wiley; and Invaluable: A Fable about Becoming Irreplaceable to Your Boss and Customers, a follow-up to Dave Crenshaw’s The Myth of Multitasking, again to Karen Murphy at Jossey-Bass.

Oct 092008

I have a lot of new “for Dummies” titles this fall. I’m probably unique among agencies in how many books I’ve done with Wiley (and previously IDG), but that’s my reward for working with some of the very first Dummies authors.
As the tooth fairy says when she comes to our house, “thanks for the teeth, I love the teeth,” well I say, “thanks for the books! I love the backlist!”
Congrats to Ed Baig on the second edition of iPhone for Dummies.
Congratulations to Cameron McPherson Smith and Evan Davies on the publication of Anthropology for Dummies, a book that should backlist well.
Congratulations to USA Today puzzle master Timothy Parker on the publication of his multi-puzzle project, Brain Games for Dummies.
Congratulations to Dave Crenshaw, whose business fable The Myth of Multitasking: How “Doing it All” Gets Nothing Done, was reviewed in Time Magazine this week.
Congratulations to Gary Bouton on the publication of his newest book, CorelDraw X4: The Official Guide, from Osborne/McGraw-Hill.
And a big congratulations to Michelle Waitzman on her second book Living Abroad in New Zealand, from Moon Handbooks/Avalon.
That’s it for now, thanks for working with me!

Aug 052008

Welcome home, Katie Rose!
I’m so pleased to share the news that Katie Rose Davis is finally home with her mom and dad — my long-time clients and dear friends, Harold and Phyllis Davis — after her very, very, early arrival in our world.
Congratulations, we’re so very happy for you (and for Mathew, Nicky and Julian too!).

Jul 312008

I’m really pleased to announce the publication of Dave Crenshaw’s first book, the business fable The Myth of Multitasking: How “Doing it All” Gets Nothing Done, from Jossey-Bass.
Not only was it fun to work on a business fable, this is a really timely and needed book. We live in a time when we are told we can do everything simultaneously, and be more productive and happier as a result. But often, we lose focus and attention, and “multitasking” harms our productivity, and even our relationships.
I hope that Dave’s book helps remind people that we need to pay attention to the task at hand, that we have to, in the words of one of my favorite titles ever: Be Here Now.

Jun 242008

Mood — smoky. Today we have over 840 wildfires burning in California.
The good news is that we have new books on the shelves.
Congratulations to Harold Davis on the publication of his amazing 100 Views of the Golden Gate (Wilderness Press).
Congratulations to Steve Horton and Jeong Mo Jang on the publication of Professional Manga: Digital Storytelling with Manga Studio EX (Focal Press).
Congratulations to Greg Velm on the publication of AP U.S. History for Dummies (Wiley).
Congratulations to Taz Tally on the publication of his labor of love 50 Hikes in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula (The Countryman Press).
And congratulations to Rich Wagner on the publication of his Building Facebook Applications for Dummies (Wiley). Rich is also about to embark on a one month cross country bicycle book tour to promote The Expeditionary Man (which repped by his CBA agency Alive Communications). You can follow his adventure at his website, WhyTheBike.
Best wishes to everyone. Thanks for working with me.

Jun 162008

This is a first for my career probably :-) I don’t usually see my books in Cosmo.
Michelle Waitzman, author of Sex in a Tent: A Wild Couple’s Guide to Being Naughty in Nature was quoted in Cosmo last week. Michelle was interviewed for a sidebar (to do with, ah hem, creative ways to use a hammock) and Wilderness Press reports that it seemed to spur some book sales.
Congrats, Michelle!

May 082008

Congrats to Janet Rae-Dupree. Janet’s May 4 “Unboxed” column Can You become a Creature of New Habits? was yesterday’s New York Times’ “Most Emailed Article.”
Congratulations to Stephanie Diamond on the publication of her book, Web Marketing for Small Business (Sourcebooks).
Congratulations to Todd Perkins on the publication of his latest book, Nintendo Flash Wii Creator’s Guide (Osborne/McGraw-Hill), the first and only book that teaches you how to create Flash games for the Wii.
Congratulations to Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton on their latest installment for Gamasutra, A History of Gaming Platforms: Mattell Intellivision.
Congratulations to Rich Wagner on completing his Building Facebook Applications for Dummies.
Thanks for working with me!