Tim O’Brien, author of The Things We Carried, will be a featured keynote speaker at this year’s Words & Music: A Literary Feast in New Orleans. Learn more about O’Brien at WordsandMusic.org

Thirty five years after the conclusion of the Vietnam War, The Things We Carried, a fascinating account about an American platoon, is being reissued as it celebrates its own 20th anniversary. In this PBS interview, Jeffrey Brown talks to the author about the experiences that led him to write the book:

What should authors do to promote their work on the ‘net? According to Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project:

“Start early. About four years ago my agent said, ‘I think you should start a blog.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to. I’m not techie; I don’t write short, I write long; I’m not a journalist.’ But she planted a seed with me… I started in March 2006, and I’ve been blogging six days a week ever since.

“I think starting early is super-important; you’ve got to do it in advance, little by little, to get the network effect going. It takes time.”

To view the entire article from DigitalBookWorld.com (there’s some great advice!) CLICK HERE!

A great article at MediaBistro today interviewing literary agent Nicolas Croce. Said Croce, “Authors feeling the effects of the economic downturn should study the marketing side of publishing… On the promotional side, start blogging and social networking. More than ever authors, new and established, are depending on the Internet to reach out to readers through blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Red Room, Ning, etc.”

Editors are telling authors the same thing and nowadays the fastest track to the bookshelves is building that audience before you even complete your manuscript!