The intertubes home of author Robert Lanham

From the article "Why Blog? Reason No. 92: Book Deal"

But there are successes. On the nonhumor front, the best seller “Julie and Julia,” about a woman who cooked one Julia Child recipe a day, started as a blog, and “The Hipster Handbook,” spawned from freewilliamsburg.com in 2003, has sold 39,000, according to Nielsen BookScan.

Incidentally, The Hipster Handbook has sold many more copies than reported by BookScan which often doesn't account for sales at independent and college book stores, the places where the satirical book has sold very well.

Posted by Robert Lanham at 05:32 PM | Permalink

In case you missed it, Whitehead has a hilarious article in the Times about the hype surrounding Brooklyn writers. Here's a taste: [thanks Jeff]

As you may have heard, all the writers are in Brooklyn these days. It's the place to be. You're simply not a writer if you don't live here. Google "brooklyn writer" and you'll get, Did you mean: the future of literature as we know it? People are coming in from all over. In fact, the physical act of moving your possessions from Manhattan to Brooklyn is now the equivalent of a two-year M.F.A. program. When you get to the other side, they hand you three Moleskine notebooks and a copy of "Blogging for Dummies." You're good to go.

I have a hard time understanding all the hype. I dig it here and all, but it's just a place. It does not have magical properties. In interviews, I get asked a lot, "What's it like to write in Brooklyn?" I get invited to do panels with other Brooklyn writers to discuss what it's like to be a writer in Brooklyn. I expect it's like writing in Manhattan, but there aren't as many tourists walking very slowly in front of you when you step out for coffee. It's like writing in Paris, but there are fewer people speaking French. What do they expect me to say? "Instead of ink, I write in mustard from Nathan's Famous, a Brooklyn institution since 1916." "I built my desk out of wooden planks taken from the authentic rubble of Ebbets Field. Have I mentioned how I still haven’t forgiven the Dodgers for moving to Los Angeles?" READ IT ALL

Posted by Robert Lanham at 04:16 PM | Permalink