It has long been a dream of mine to get paid to read books, and after four years of giving my book reviews away for free, I am thrilled to share that I’m finally getting paid for one!
Pick up a copy of the November/December 2016 issue of Orion Magazine to check out my review of Matthew Neill Null’s debut novel, Honey from the Lion (Lookout Books, 2015).
Yesterday, Michigan Radio featured an interview with me and Fracture contributor Maryann Lesert on their Stateside program. We discussed fracking, the book, and our upcoming events in northern Lower Michigan. Listen here.
Here are a couple photos from our April event at Lansing’s Everybody Reads. Sorry about the quality; we did have a professional photographer attend our Creston Wellness Center event, and I hope to share the photos from that soon.
Here also are a few more dates for upcoming Fracture readings in Michigan. As always, they are free and open to the public!
Join us at the Horizon Books for a reading and book signing with contributors Stephanie Mills and Maryann Lesert as well as yours truly.
Details on the Horizon’s event page.
The University of Michigan Biological Station will host a reading and discussion with me as well as contributors Maryann Lesert and Stephanie Mills.
Details on the UMBS event page.
In partnership with Lansing Community College’s Science Department, Schuler Books (Eastwood) hosts the monthly discussion group Cafe Scientifique, an outreach program to promote public interest in science. This September, the group will discuss fracking and Fracture with contributor Maryann Lesert as their honored guest.
Find a list of Cafe Scientifique’s past events here.
There are still more events in the works, and on Thursday, I’m going into the studio with Maryann Lesert to talk to Lester Graham, host of Michigan Radio’s Stateside program. I’ll post those dates and a link to the interview when I have them!
A frequently updated list of past and upcoming readings can be found at the bottom of our page on the publisher’s (newly redesigned!) website. Be sure to follow both the book and the press on Facebook to keep up with the latest news, and tweet at us @icecubepress, @fractureanth, and @brooktrouting.
Photo by Taylor Brorby at our U Wyoming event
Here’s an update on our Michigan Fracture events, all of which are free and open to the public.
There are a couple more in the works—I’ll let you know when we have the details for you!
Join us at the Bookman for a reading and book signing with contributors Stephanie Mills and Maryann Lesert as well as yours truly.
Details on the Bookman’s event page.
The Creston Wellness Center will host an evening of music by Sarah Barker and Max Lockwood as well as readings by contributor Maryann Lesert and myself. With just one week left to gather enough signatures to put fracking on Michigan’s 2016 ballot, the Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan will be on site with petitions.
Find details about this event here.
The University of Michigan Biological Station will host a reading and discussion with me as well as contributors Maryann Lesert and Stephanie Mills.
Details on the UMBS event page.
A frequently updated list of past and upcoming readings can be found at the bottom of our page on the publisher’s website.
I’ve been wanting to move things around on my website for a while now to create space for me to share resources with other writers, and even though it’s still a work-in-progress, I’ve gone ahead and launched the redesign.
My new Resources for Writers page will feature recommended websites, books, authors, literary journals, and other resources that I have found useful to my own professional writing practice.
I’ll add to the resource library gradually in the weeks/months/years to come. It’s designed grow and change over time. Here’s what I have so far:
FAQ | Current Features: Advice for aspiring writers & dealing with writer’s block
Coming soon: Do I need an MFA? Should I get one anyway? Should I give my writing away for free? How do I build a writing community? How do I find places to publish my work? At what point do I need an agent? Are conferences, workshops, and contest fees all worth it? What should I be reading? How should I be reading?
Reading | Current Feature: Goodreads
More forthcoming on recommended books, websites, podcasts, and literary journals and how to read like a writer.
Writing | Current Feature: Writing Excuses
More to come, including writing prompts, craft book recommendations, and great places to find author interviews.
Publishing | Current Feature: Poets & Writers
More forthcoming on publishing your work, including submissions.
Networking | Current Feature: Wordpress
More forthcoming on using social media, conferences, and other platforms to market your work and build connections with readers, publishers, and other writers.
Teaching | Current Feature: Assay
More forthcoming on teaching, in general, and writing, in particular.
Writers to Follow | Current Feature: Tony Quick
More soon, including friends, colleagues, and other writers whose websites share additional resources.
Environment | Current Feature: Orion
To be honest, I’m not quite sure what all will come in this section. At the very least, expect writing prompts, teaching resources, reading lists, and book reviews with an environmental focus, including place-based and food writing.
Since early February, my co-editor, Taylor Brorby, and many of our contributors have been sharing Fracture with audiences across America–from Pennsylvania to Colorado, from Wisconsin and Minnesota to Texas, and all across Ice Cube Press’s home state of Iowa and Taylor’s home state of North Dakota. Though Ice Cube Press is a “Midwest Book Publisher,” fracking and its impacts know no such geographical distinctions.
I’m looking forward to joining the tour in April, traveling throughout my own home state of Michigan and even all the way to Laramie, Wyoming. All events are free and open to the public.
Stay tuned for additional Michigan events (including Harmony Brewing and Creston Wellness Center in Grand Rapids, The Bookman in Grand Haven, and Schuler Books in Lansing) as we finalize dates, but for now, you can plan on the following opportunities:
Grand Rapids Community College‘s School of Arts and Sciences and English Department will host an evening of music by Sarah Barker and readings by contributors Maryann Lesert and Stephanie Mills as well as me. Details on our Facebook event page.
The University of Wyoming Creative Writing Program will present an all-day event devoted to Fracture, including readings, presentations, and book signings with contributors Kathleen Dean Moore, Rick Bass, and Antonia Felix as well as both editors. Find details about this event here.
Everybody Reads will host a reading with contributors Maryann Lesert and Stephanie Mills as well as me. I’ll update this post with a link to the event page soon.
The University of Michigan Biological Station will host a reading and discussion with contributors Maryann Lesert and Stephanie Mills as well as me. Details forthcoming on their event page.
A frequently updated list of past and upcoming readings can be found at the bottom of our page on the publisher’s website.
Fracture officially released February 14, and there has been a lot of great media coverage of the book since then, including a review in Flyway: Journal of Writing and Environment, an interview in Orion Magazine, and conversations with public radio.
One recent article we’re excited about is an online review by Thomas Fate for the Chicago Tribune. Here’s an excerpt:
Fracture includes a wide variety of voices and thinking, which is what keeps the book from slipping into what anthologies of social critique can become — cycles of guilt-laden lament, where the language of the activist overwhelms the language of the artist. In Fracture these two viewpoints somehow converge rather than compete, resulting in an innovative and compelling weave of writers who both educate and inspire.
Fracture will also be featured in their Sunday edition.
Another recent article worth calling out is by Adam Burke for Little Village magazine. In addition to promoting tomorrow’s reading at Prairie Lights, Burke sought to understand the significance of the book through the experiences of the editors and contributors. He interviewed both Taylor and me, plus three of our contributors, beautifully illustrating the range of perspectives and motivations you’ll find in Fracture.
“Bringing a book like Fracture into the world is important because our society needs to cultivate healthy, productive ways to talk about big contentious issues like hydraulic fracturing,” Trout said, adding, “We have not attempted to represent every side of the issue, but we have aimed to provide context for conversations about fracking and to illustrate just how complicated the issue is.”
Ice Cube Press frequently updates this page with links to reviews and local and national media reporting on the book.
Fracture features the voices of more than fifty writers. Preview two of them—Debra Marquart and Frederick L. Kirschenmann—in our second book trailer.
We are less than two weeks from our official release date, and those of us who have had the privilege of working on the book are thrilled to share Fracture with the rest of the world.
Enjoy this trailer by videographer extraordinaire Ana Hurtado and my co-editor, Taylor Brorby:
And now get yourself over to Ice Cube Press to order yourself a copy!
My work as a reviewer for the Review Review continues with a review of Five Points: A Journal of Literature and Art.
Read “Lit Mag is Place of Convergence for Genres, Styles, Artists and Writers” here.
Fracture opened for submissions a little over one year ago, and this Thanksgiving, I wanted to take the opportunity to express my gratitude toward those who have helped support the project.
I have to start with Taylor Brorby, my co-editor, since this book simply would not exist without him. The concept was his idea, and I am so grateful that he invited me to join him in taking this book from concept to reality.
Of course, Steve Semken of Ice Cube Press was the one who said yes when we pitched the idea, and Taylor and I are both so thankful to Steve for believing in us and in Fracture. The publishing world needs more people like Steve, and I’m honored to continue working with him.
Without all of our contributors, Taylor and I would have a pretty slim volume, and I am grateful for each of them as well as everyone else who submitted their work to Fracture. Thanks also to Samantha Futhey, a brilliant poet, wonderful person, and Ice Cube Press intern for her help with final copyedits.
Many thanks to Pam Houston for agreeing to write an introduction to the book and to everyone who gave us their endorsements (which can be found here on the Ice Cube Press website).
We are indebted to Bruce J. Miller of Miller Book Trade Marketing, who is the Ice Cube Press sales rep, for his support of the project. And thanks also to our distributors, all the book sellers, and the professors who are teaching Fracture in their college classes. Without them, Fracture would be a tree falling in the forest without anyone around to hear it.
Thanks to our partners at 350.org and Orion, to everyone who has pre-ordered a copy of Fracture, and to everyone else who eagerly awaits its release. Thanks to all of my friends, family, and colleagues that have supported me thought this project.
To the environmental writers and activists who came before us, to those who will come after us, to all who have the courage to speak: thank you.
The Fracture galleys are in!
My co-editor Taylor Brorby, our publisher Steve Semken, and I are hard at work proofing these advanced copies, and we can’t wait to share this powerful book with you. But we’ll have to wait because we want it to be perfect for you. Ice Cube Press will release Fracture on February 14, 2016.
In the meantime, follow us on Facebook and Twitter @fractureanth.
And while you’re at it, here are some more great pages to follow for Fracture updates:
And, of course, you can find me Tweeting (or sometimes not Tweeting) @brooktrouting.
Taylor Brorby and I received so many wonderful submissions to Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America and are very thankful to everyone who sent us their work! We are pleased to release our list of talented contributors:
Plus, the anthology will include work by the editors, Taylor Brorby and yours truly, and an introduction by Pam Houston.
Learn more on the Ice Cube Press website.
Follow us on Facebook for the latest news.
My Fracture co-editor Taylor Brorby and I have a few tips for writers who would like to see their work anthologized some day soon.
Read “So You Wanna Be Anthologized” in The Review Review or on the Ice Cube Press blog.
Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America is open for submissions until June 1, 2015. Find our guidelines on the Ice Cube Press website.
Are you attending the North American Review’s Bicentennial Conference in Cedar Falls?
If so, check out the Ice Cube Press table at the book fair. Also, come see a publishing panel featuring me, fellow Prairie Gold editor Lance Sacknoff, and Ice Cube Press founder/CEO Steve Semken.
J-3 Breaking into Publishing:
How to Transform a Manuscript into a First Publication
4:15-5:30, Bartlett Hall 0034
Stefanie Brook Trout 