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.
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.
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
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.
PSYCHOPATH, Dr. Keith Ablow's fourth thriller in the popular Frank Clevenger series, was released in July 2003 by St. Martin's Press. Here, the author discusses how he originated the idea for the series, how he found a publisher, and how he finds time to write while juggling a busy career as a forensic psychiatrist.
Erica Spindler, USA Today bestselling author, just released her ninth suspense novel, IN SILENCE, from MIRA this June. The paperback version of another of her thrillers, DEAD RUN, was released earlier this summer. She has also published 11 romance novels.
Matthew Pearl first-time author of the New York Times bestselling mystery, THE DANTE CLUB, and editor of a restored companion edition of Dante's INFERNO, talks about his surprise career as a 27-year-old writer, and how the dual project came to be.
In December 2002, Elizabeth (Liz) Maguire was promoted from editorial director to vice president and publisher of Basic Books/Basic Civitas Books and Counterpoint, all part of the Perseus Books Group. She joined the company approximately three years ago after having served as editorial director of Free Press (Simon &Schuster).
Author Bonnie Hearn Hill has heard voices for years. She just doesnt pay attention to them. Thats no good, the voices say . What makes you think you can write? You should be spending more time cleaning your house! Honey, do you know how many people are out there trying to write a book? In fact, ignoring those voices finally won her a three-book publishing contract with Mira (a division of Harlequin) before she had even written the second and third manuscripts. They were her first big deals for fiction. But thats not all. Since the initial book, Intern, was accepted, she has landed a second three-book contract with the same publishersix titles so far.
The Plot Thickens 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life Noah Lukeman St. Martin's Press July 5, 2002... View Article
Shaping Your Manuscript–Beyond Theme by Doris Booth Editor-in-Chief, Authorlink Shape, on the other hand, is the spine that holds the... View Article