Doris Booth is founder and president of Authorlink.com, the news and information magazine for editors, agents, writers, and readers. She began her journalism career at age 19 writing weddings and obituaries for a local newspaper, a subsidiary of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She eventually became the company's vice president and the award-winning managing editor. Doris amassed numerous journalism awards early in her career. Her newspaper series on U.S. race riots of the late 1960’s was included in the U.S. Congressional Record. In Washington D.C. and Texas she worked as a District publicist for the third most powerful man in government, then U.S. Congressman Olin E. (Tiger) Teague. She was hired as an investigative reporter by then-Dallas Times Herald Publisher Tom Johnson (later head of the Los Angeles Times). Instead, she turned to advertising and marketing.
After a short stint at a Dallas advertising firm, she opened her own advertising firm, representing Fortune 1000 companies. She produced award-winning video advertising and training pieces. But her first love has always been books and writing.
In 1996, she founded Authorlink.com, ranking among the top 100 best websites for writers. The company also has a literary agency that represents several bestselling authors. Booth has sold projects to St. Martin’s Press, Simon & Schuster, Sterling Press, Berkley Books/Penguin, Farrar Straus Giroux and other dominant houses. The agency is no longer accepting new authors but writers are encouraged to use www.authorlink.com as a comprehensive resource.
She has lectured for a number of writers’ conferences, including the Independent Book Publishers Association and the Whidbey Island MFA Writing Program.
Doris adamantly believes in and supports traditional publishing houses and maintains there is an overwhelming need for curation in the literary world.
However, self-publishing also fills a specific niche. Authorlink‘s production unit has produced more than 200 e-books and print books, using the latest technology.
The challenge for authors today, Doris believes, is in navigating the complex publishing market. One of her primary goals is to provide traditionally-published and self-published authors alike with the resources they need to navigate the publishing process and to get savvier about distribution. Her book, UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF E-BOOK PUBLISHING, GET YOUR BOOKS INTO EFFECTIVE SALES CHANNELS (WITH OR WITHOUT AMAZON), has been cited by Ingram Spark/Ingram Content Group as “A must-have resource…packed with imperative information for navigating the [sales] channels.”
Insights Into Doris
Doris is a slightly reclusive writer, speaker, editor and entrepreneur who relishes people’s stories. Her favorite place is a secluded get-away house in the East Texas piney woods. She hates traffic, noise, and crowds. She also hates fish and likes pizza and Mexican food. She loves being around other creative people and spending time listening to sounds of the woods from her long porch overlooking the forest.
Reading and writing have been Doris's lifelong interest. The books that appeal to her the most are those with heart, and yes, an intelligent “message.” To catch her eye, the story must have shape. Her favorite writer remains Ernest Hemingway who indeed fathered the modern novel. Doris's favorite contemporary is GREEN ON BLUE by Elliot Ackerman, which gave her more insight into the Afghan War than any other work.
She believes most American writers have forgotten how to tell stories, while Europeans still know how. Somewhere out there in America, excellent writers are waiting to be discovered. Getting readers to notice good writers is the ultimate challenge. Authorlink is passionate about helping them achieve that goal.
January 1, 2004 12:00 amPublished by Doris BoothComments Off on Frank Corsaro Publishes First Novel, Kunma, at Age 70
Throughout his long and successful creative career, Frank Corsaro has served as a stage director, and as artisitc director for both the Juilliard Opera Center and the Actor's Studio in New York City. But at age 70, he has once again reinvented himself-this time as a debut novelist. In the summer of 2003, his book, KUNMA, at last was released by Tom Doherty Associates, an imprint of St.Martin's Press.
December 15, 2003 12:00 amPublished by Doris BoothComments Off on A Talk With DBC Pierre, Creator of Vernon God Little
Australian-born author DBC Pierre, whose real name is Peter Finlay, won the 2003 Man Booker Prize for Fiction in October. He will earn £50,000 ($80,000) with a satirical tale of contemporary America, titled Vernon God Little, published by Faber & Faber.
November 15, 2003 12:00 amPublished by Doris BoothComments Off on Jed Donahue Discusses the Rebirth of Conservative Publishing in New York
The New York publishing industry--cleaving mostly to the political left for decades--is at last striving to create a more balanced literary landscape. Two major publishers, Crown (Random House) and Penguin Putnam each recently launched new conservative socioeconomic and political lines, reflecting (or perhaps cashing in on) the changing mood of the country under a Republican President, a GOP majority in the House, Senate, and among U.S.governors.
November 15, 2003 12:00 amPublished by Doris BoothComments Off on Lissa Warren Lists Ten Things to Do If Your Book’s Not Getting Media Attention
The Savvy Author's Guide to Book Publicity due for release in February 2004 by Carroll & Grafis an essential reference for writers-from the self-published to those published by major houses. Author Lissa Warren is Senior Director of Publicity for Da Capo Press, a member of the New York-based Perseus Books Group.
November 1, 2003 12:00 amPublished by Doris BoothComments Off on Adrian Zackheim Discusses the Rebirth of Conservative Publishing in New York
The New York publishing industry—cleaving mostly to the political left for decades—is at last striving to create a more balanced literary landscape. Two major publishers, Penguin Putnam an Crown (Random House), each recently launched new conservative socioeconomic and political lines, reflecting (or perhaps cashing in on) the changing mood of the country under a Republican President, a GOP majority in the House, Senate, and among U.S.governors.
October 15, 2003 12:00 amPublished by Doris BoothComments Off on Michaela Hamilton: A New Kind of Energy at Kensington
There's a new kind of energy at Kensington Publishing Corp. And it has been building since Michaela Hamilton ascended the elevator at 850 Third Avenue two years ago. After a 25-year career in book publishing (including 10 years as editor-in-chief of NAL) and a few years at freelance editing, Michaela got the offer from Kensington founder and CEO Walter Zacharius to become the company's new editor-in-chief. Now this ball of fire has the freedom to realize a vision she and Walter share.
October 1, 2003 12:00 amPublished by Doris BoothComments Off on Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point by David Lipsky
F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote to a young friend seeking advice on her writing: "You've got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little minor things that only touch you lightly. . . " Now, acclaimed contemporary novelist and journalist David Lipsky, a fan of Fitzgerald, has done just that.
September 1, 2003 12:00 amPublished by Doris BoothComments Off on COMMON SHOCK Kaethe Weingarten Aims to Give Us Hope
In today's world, witnessing violence, both personal and societal, has become a common experience. Kaethe Weingarten, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School-based trauma expert, wanted to prove that we, as individuals, have the power to lessen the impact of witnessing trauma in our society
August 15, 2003 12:00 amPublished by Doris BoothComments Off on Jack Warner’s Shikar, the Book That Made It Because Somebody Believed
Jack Warner has been writing stories for his entire working career. He spent 32 years with United Press International and 13 years with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Even so, it took Jack five years to sell his first novel, two days after he retired at the age of 63.
