Funny Strange....

Even MORE Exciting News!

Oh my gosh, I can't even believe I forgot to put this up until now.  But, I guess with the finishing of the new novel, plus the staged reading of Steph's play, plus the podcast, plus the fact that I'm starting a new blogging job at the end of the month, it's understandable that something this AWESOME could slip my mind.  Get it?  Because of all the awesomeness?

So, if you get "The Writer" magazine or "Writer's Digest," you've already seen this, but check out this great ad iUniverse took out about me and my success with Hollywood Car Wash.  So cool!  Of course, I knew they were doing it, but it's always nice to see something like that in print.  You can click to enlarge it, or of course you can run right out to the newsstand and buy a copy of The Writer or Writer's Digest.    Or I guess you could go publish a book with iUniverse, which is the whole point of the ad. 

More Big Big News!

Finally!  Something on this blog that isn't related to the Great Flu of 2008. 

I was holding this announcement in case it was confidential or something, but now the news is out-- 
I'm doing a book with Prentice Hall Press next year!  It's called MILLION-DOLLAR WEBSITE: Simple Steps to Make Your Online Business Compete With the Big Boys -- Even on a Small Business Budget.  This book will be out in Spring/ Summer of 2009, and will finally aggregate all the years of website-related knowledge I've accumulated.  I'm super excited about it! 

In case you're wondering, yes, this is a whole new book, and completely replaces a similar book on websites from several years ago that never saw the light of day.  This one is going to be much MUCH BETTER!  So, in case you're wondering what happened to that other book, now you know.  Obviously, I am thrilled to have found a home for it, and am so excited to be working with the Prentice Hall people, who are already so cool you wouldn't believe it.

More updates on this as soon as I have them!  Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm soooo close to finishing that YA novel, it's not even funny.  Hopefully I'll have some good news about that one soon too, and I can have THREE books come out in 2009!   

Just in Case....

Just in case you were meaning to buy my novel, Hollywood Car Wash, and you never got around to it, or it's next on your list for your book club, or you want to acquire it as a piece of historical Lori Culwell memorabilia, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that the version of HCW that's currently for sale on Amazon is just about to not be available, because Simon & Schuster is doing a new edit of it, then re-releasing it in 2009.  It's going to be ALL NEW!   

So, this is just a friendly heads-up.  If you want to read it before 2009, GO OVER THERE AND BUY ONE RIGHT NOW.

No pressure, though.  Just wanted you to know.

Check it Out!

Chick Lit Review is featuring me this week in their "Author Snapshots."  Super awesome!

http://chicklitreview.org/authorsnapshots.aspx

I Am A C-List Bloglebrity

Hey, this is cool-- someone just sent me a link to my ranking over on Bloglebrity. I'm on the C-List, which to me is cool because, like, Arrianna Huffington and Perez Hilton is on the B-List, and I'm sharing the C-List status with Terry Teachout.

Check out my Bloglebrity profile!

You know this means I'm just going to start calling myself "bestselling author, C-List Bloglebrity Lori Culwell."

And yes, I am aware of the fact that under normal circumstances, I would be obligated to furiously mock the made- up term "Bloglebrity."  But, just for today, I'm going to let it slide.

The Biggest News Ever in the History of Ever

My novel, Hollywood Car Wash, is the WINNER of Project Publish, a contest that’s been going on since May in conjunction with Media Predict.

This means Touchstone Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster is going to publish the book!  www.mediapredict.com.

Obviously, I can’t say thank you enough to everyone who bought the book, read it, liked it, and wrote to tell me or told a friend.   I wouldn't be here without you!

Stay tuned for updates, progress on the re-release, and behind the scenes stories! 

Watch it LIVE!

Hey, if you're near a computer on Friday afternoon, definitely check out the PREMIERE of our radio/ internet show, "Funny Strange Live" on NowLive.  Today our theme will be "Pull Yourself Together," as in "you have to live in the world with other people, so maybe use some soap and keep your voice down in public."  I'm sure there will be alot of funny to go around, so even if you're at work, click on over to http://www.nowlive.com/funnystrange and send us a text!    We want to make sure that your grievance is aired live and in person.  And, if you miss it, you can be sure it will be up here next week as a widget or a podcast, or whatever neat little piece of technology I can figure out over the weekend.  Because ultimately, I want you to convert you to becoming one of my regular readers.  And, while I'm on the subject, have you read my novel?  Because you should.  It's funny.

Check me out on Media Predict!

The "Project Publish" competition is almost at an end (they announce the winner in ONE WEEK!).   They  interviewed me about it-- check it out!

Oh, also-- if you haven't already registered over there, now's a great time to vote for my book!  The winner gets a distribution deal with Simon & Schuster, so....yeah.  That would be GREAT.

By the way, I had a great time at the West Hollywood Book Fair on Sunday-- met some nice people, sold some books, and came a little closer to my goal of expanding my audience, one reader at a time. 

Big News! Big News!

Exciting news!  My novel, Hollywood Car Wash has made the finals of Media Predict's "Project Publish" competition.  Here's an excerpt from this morning's press release from Touchstone/ Simon & Schuster:

TOUCHSTONE IMPRINT OF SIMON & SCHUSTER AND MEDIA PREDICT NAME FIVE FINALISTS IN PROJECT PUBLISH CONTEST 

New Method Offers Revolutionary Approach to Finding Content  

 Contestants Drawn Nationwide from User Submissions, Literary Agencies, and

Print-on-Demand Sites 

NEW YORK, September 19, 2007 – Five finalists were named today in Media Predict’s Project Publish competition, which Media Predict conducted in conjunction with Touchstone Books, an imprint of publishing company Simon & Schuster, Inc. Contestants for the contest included referrals from well-known literary agencies and best-sellers at print-on-demand sites Lulu and iUniverse. Other contestants were drawn from hundreds of proposals directly submitted via the Media Predict site.

The contest, which began May 21, asked users at Media Predict (www.mediapredict.com) to evaluate 50 book proposals via prediction markets. Similar markets have been used to forecast election results, sporting events, and motion picture box office sales with a high degree of accuracy.

Since it was launched, Project Publish has attracted international media attention including articles in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Economist, and The International Herald Tribune, and features on American Public Radio. Hundreds of references also appeared on blogs and websites.

Several Touchstone senior editors independently selected five finalists to compete for future publication with the imprint:

Mark Gompertz, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Touchstone Fireside added: “Looking through the Media Predict and Project Publish proposals was an interesting challenge. It is the ultimate pre-publication, market-based focus group. I look forward to following the market closely for the next round and using their lead to invest in the final project for publication by Touchstone.”

Media Predict markets are open and players can register and begin trading at www.mediapredict.com.


--So,  go over there and register, read the first three chapters of my book, and vote!   

My Oh MySpace

I'm sure you noticed (or maybe you didn't-- who do I think I am?) that my Myspace profile mysteriously disappeared in the middle of last week.   Gah!  When I was visiting Stephan's aunt and uncle the day before it disappeared, his aunt did mention that she'd looked at it recently, and that there seemed to be some obscene things posted in there, so my guess is that I got hacked, then MySpace deleted my account to stop the insanity.  Fair, I guess, to the people on the receiving end of the hackage, but totally sucky for me because I had over 12,000 friends over there, and that was the primary way some of them kept up with my work. 

Ah well, I put a new one together, so now I'm in the process of adding people back.  If that's your preferred form of Culwell consumption, then by all means, MySpace away!  And, if you happened to receive a random MySpace message from me last week, offering you discount Viagra or TOTALLY NUDE GIRLS, um, that wasn't me, and rest assured, the problem has been rectified.

Onward and upward.....

Free Novels! Tell a Friend!

How much do I want you to become one of my regular readers, thereby fulfilling my "build my fan base one person at a time" strategy?

So much so that, starting next month, I'm giving away a free, autographed copy of my novel, Hollywood Car Wash, on the first of every month.  It's the novel that the Washington Post called the "It Book," and the New York Daily News dubbed a "Sizzling Summer Read."  Even guys like it, which you know is saying something, because as you can see, it's pink.

So-- be sure to sign up using that "subscribe" box, or send me an email if you subscribed using the live bookmark.  Because I have to know where to find you in order to send you your free book.  And if you're now like "hey, man-- I don't want to subscribe because of Big Brother, and I don't know how to work live bookmarks, but I still want to be eligible," then fine-- send me a regular email at offers@hollywoodcarwash.com and you can enter that way.  Of course, OF COURSE you don't have to do anything to win, and the offer is open to everyone.  I'm just trying to bring my variety of funny to all corners of the Earth.

This gives you a way better chance of getting a free copy than, say, if you sat next to me in Government Class in high school but haven't talked to me since then, and only just now got in touch with me to ask if you could have one, if you know what I mean.

What do you have to lose?  This blog is darn funny (if I do say so myself), and if you don't like the novel, you can always unsubscribe and sell it on eBay.