BOOK GIVEAWAY: To self-publish or not to self-publish, that is the question by Brenda Janowitz

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. CONGRATS TO NIRUKA FOR WINNING!!

There's been so much talk these days about self-publishing.  Haven't heard about it?  Well, you can check it out here or here.  And it's something I've been thinking about for a while.  Ever since my imprint closed (RIP, Red Dress Ink!!) and I got the rights back to my first two novels, I've been thinking: what do I do now?!

Last summer, I sold my third novel in a two-book deal to St. Martin's, so there wasn't much time to think about it.  My third novel, RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE, comes out July 2nd and in anticipation of the launch, I've decided to do something I never thought I'd do.

I'm going to release SCOT ON THE ROCKS and JACK WITH A TWIST myself.  Now, I know what you're thinking-- it's easy to do since the books were already acquired, edited, and then copyedited to within an inch of their life.  And you'd be right.  The books are ready to go.  I read over them and made a few tiny tweaks here and there, but the truth is, all I really had to do was to format them for e-readers, get new covers and then hit "publish."  Easy as that.

So, I reached out to the fabulous Malena Lott over at Athena Buzz (seriously, how gorgeous are her covers?!) and voila!, she created an amazing new cover for SCOT!!

And man, do I love this new cover!  I think it really conveys the sense of fun and romance that are the heart of the book.  I'll be publishing SCOT sometime this week (with JACK to follow closely on its heels) and I'm really excited about this new journey!

So, tell me about your thoughts on self-publishing.  Are you for it?  Against it?  Have you tried it yourself?  I want to hear everything!!

Leave a comment below and be entered to win a free Kindle copy of SCOT ON THE ROCKS!!  Winners will be announced next Thursday, May 9th.  Leave your email addy so I know where to reach you!

I’m the author of SCOT ON THE ROCKS and JACK WITH A TWIST, now in the process of being re-released by yours truly. My third novel, RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE, will be published by St. Martin's on July 2, 2013. My work’s also appeared in the New York Post and Publisher’s Weekly. You can find me at brendajanowitz.com or on Twitter at @BrendaJanowitz.

Well read

First, let me say that it’s so wonderful to be here! It’s been amazing to be a part of the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit, and I’m so thrilled that we’ve now grown into the Girlfriends Book Club!

By way of introduction, I'm Brenda Janowitz, a former lawyer-turned-writer. I'm the author of Scot on the Rocks and Jack with a Twist. My work has also appeared in the New York Post and Publisher's Weekly.

Nice to meet you! And thank you for coming to read me here. Double thanks if you're coming here from my personal blog (the oh-so-cleverly titled 'Brenda's Blog.' My creativity had clearly run out that day....).

So, I suppose since we’ve renamed ourselves, there’s only one thing to do here: discuss books! This summer, I’ve read some wonderful ones so far.

I started the summer with Emily Giffin’s Heart of the Matter. It’s about two women: single mother Valerie, whose son gets injured in an accident at a sleepover party (thus ensuring that my son will never ever ever be allowed out of the house—ever), and married stay-at-home mom Tessa, whose husband is the doctor called in to help Valerie’s son. Fair warning: there is quite a lot of detail about Valerie’s son’s injury, much of which I found hard to read, but Emily does relationships so well that by the time you get into this novel, you’ll be glad you pushed through all of that.

As is the usual in an Emily Giffin novel, complications ensue and relationships begin to change, challenging what the characters think about their current lots in life; what’s wrong and what’s right.

What I love about Emily’s novels is how they always make you think. After I finished the novel, my cousin and I had a long discussion about Tessa and Valerie’s choices, about what we would have done if we’d been in their shoes, and about the nature of marriage and forgiveness.

Allison Winn Scotch’s latest, The One That I Want, will make you think, but for altogether different reasons.


As with Allison’s last novel, Time of My Life, this novel has a time-travel element to it, which I adore. But you needn’t be a sci-fi lover to pick up this book—it’s women’s fiction at its best. When protagonist Tilly Farmer bumps into an old friend-turned-psychic, she is given the power to see the future. The only problem is that Tilly thought she had the perfect life, and these glimpses into the future are not at all what she expects.

Allison’s books are always total page-turners for me. I can never put them down—I’m always completely absorbed by her characters and the situations they find themselves in. The stories are great, but as with Emily Giffin’s novels, they always leave me thinking. Would I want to see the future? What if I saw something I didn’t like? Does anyone truly have the perfect life?

But it wasn’t all brand new hardcover books on my nightstand this summer. I also picked up Katie Crouch’s Girls in Trucks, which had been on my bookshelf for months.


I loved it. Pure and simple, I thought it was great. I didn’t think it was a novel; it felt more like a collection of short stories that were tied together, a la Melissa Bank’s The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing, but that was part of its charm.

In Girls in Trucks, we follow Southern debutante Sarah Walters from her childhood cotillion classes straight through to her life as a thirty-something single woman living in New York City. It was equal parts sad and funny, but always compelling and beautifully written. In fact, if you are a writer yourself, I’d say that this book is a must read.

And as for the books that will be closing out the summer for me? Ayelet Waldman’s Red Hook Road (she’s made us wait for a new book for so long—I can hardly wait to crack this one open!) and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad. I heard Egan read from this book on Wednesday night, and she was fabulous.

What are you all reading this summer?