WordPressers Making a Splash
From new books to appearances in major media outlets, five WordPress.com writers have been busy these past few months.
We might think of the end of summer as a slow news season. Not so for the authors and bloggers we feature today, who’ve been hard at work on some exciting projects recently.
Rebecca Hains
Writer, professor, and media scholar Rebecca Hains often shares thoughtful posts on her blog, especially on topics revolving around gender and discrimination. Earlier this month, she celebrated the release of The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls through the Princess-Obsessed Years (Sourcebooks), her most recent book. A critique of popular culture and the messages it sends to young girls, the book has already earned rave reviews, including from Brenda Chapman, writer and director of Disney’s Brave.
Broken Light: A Photography Collective
Danielle Hark founded Broken Light Collective, a community for photographers coping with mental health issues, more than two years ago. We’ve been following that project for a while (and mentioned it in a mental health-focused roundup earlier this year), so it was nice to see Danielle, and Broken Light Collective as a whole, receive the attention they deserve in a New York Times profile. It was published to coincide with the Collective‘s first group gallery show, which closed in New York in August.
Hungry Sofia
Ana Sofía Peláez‘s site has showcased the colorful, mouthwatering delights of Caribbean cuisine for more than five years, mixing in great storytelling with beautiful food photography. Next month, Ana Sofía will see her book, The Cuban Table: A Celebration of Food, Flavors, and History (St. Martin’s Press), hit bookstores (and kitchens) everywhere. A labor of love on which she collaborated with photographer Ellen Silverman, the book chronicles Cuban food cultures from Havana to Miami to New York.
Notches
Anyone interested in engaging, wide-ranging discussions on the history of sexuality will enjoy Notches, a blog that has tackled topics like Medieval love magic and the origins of “Born This Way” politics.
Earlier this week, Notches editor Julia Laite, a lecturer at the University of London, wrote a thought-provoking article in The Guardian on another fascinating topic: our decades-long obsession with Jack the Ripper.
Ever Upward
Justine Brooks Froelker, the blogger behind Ever Upward, has been chronicling her journey through infertility, loss, and acceptance in posts that are at once unflinching and moving. Now, Justine is preparing for the release of her book, also named Ever Upward, in early October (it’ll also be available on Amazon starting February). You can get a taste of Justine’s writing in this excerpt from the book’s opening chapter.
Are you publishing a book soon? Has your blog made the news? Leave us a comment — we’d love to know.
WordPress.com News 
Thank you so much for featuring Ever Upward! What an amazing surprising and so appreciated as the launch is coming soon! Thank you! Justine
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*Amazing surprise* Ugh that’s how tired and stressful (and awesomely exciting) it is to launch a debut book and then have WordPress feature it, you typo your thank you. Ha! Thanks again! Justine
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I hope and can’t wait until I can get recognized or freshly pressed, that is my goal.
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I’m glad you do these features. It gives me an idea of what’s possible, what could be next.
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Great post I wish them all success
The Science geek
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Ever Upward is an great book. I have been reviewing it, and would highly recommend it to anyone experiencing infertility and exploring family options!
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You. Are. Amazing! ❤
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My Heroes.
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Thank you for featuring my book here. I really appreciate it!
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I agree with the comment that said these posts show the potential for bloggers. I love them too.
I’ve been pursuing a search for the most Bristol Book on my blog and am hosting a tournament. It has been covered in http://Bristol-culture.com and I’ve gone on to BBC Radio Bristol to talk about it too.
http://Ephemeraldigest,.com/Bristol-novel/ – it’s on a self-hosted WordPress site though.
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Best wishes to all these authors.
My novel, “Just What I Always Wanted” was released last month. Early reviews are excellent! (“Delightful, fun and poignant”) It’s the story of a woman who decides to change her life – by adopting a pregnant teenager. Available on Amazon in paperback and ebook.
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Great to hear some great stories and I can’t wait to go check each of these stories in more detail! I’d like to share my own story.
My blog http://www.belgradestreets.com resulted in a book of my photos of Belgrade, Serbia which was first published in September 2012, an exhibition followed, a short TV documentary.
A second edition of my book, with all new photos is about to hit the streets.
I never imagined this would be possible and I’d like to say a big thank you to WordPress and the WordPress community for playing a big part in making a dream come true!
Andy
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I hope someday our company will also be rewarded with a featured article… Without WordPress, our Headlight Restoration Shop Directory would not be possible!
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One of the features I love about WordPress is how involved you are with your bloggers. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
I have a new paranormal romance novel coming out on September 20th titled “Desert Sunrise.” It is the second novel in my Natural Gifts series.
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It’s great to see what other WordPress Bloggers are up to! My book, Overcoming OCD: A Journey to Recovery (https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442239449) is coming out in January 2015, and is being published by Rowman & Littlefield. It is the story of my son’s amazing recovery from severe OCD interwoven with expert commentary. We’ve already received some great reviews (see link) and would love to spread the word through WordPress as well. You can read more about the book on my blog and if anyone would like to review Overcoming OCD I’d really appreciate it! My contact info is on my blog.
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What an inspiring group of bloggers 🙂
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This is exciting! Congratulations to you all for your upcoming books!! I hope to have my own featured one day as well 🙂
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Beautiful coverage of such a wide range of books. Mine was published in the spring so it probably wouldn’t qualify. Keep on keeping on! I did get my first Huff Post blog published on suicide. That was big for me. Best, Wendy
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Thanks so much for mentioning Notches!
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Dear Ben, thanks for this wonderful post. WordPressers are fab, and so are you! 🙂
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My first translated novel, George Sand’s ‘Spiridion’, will be available in May 2015. Just yesterday it was added to the SUNY Press online catalogue. Their marketing advice is to talk about the book on my blog, but I’m resisting self-promotion. But I’ll find a way. It’s yet another blogging challenge!
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It is amazing to see where ideas start, dreams begin and ideas grow even bigger!!!!
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I just published a memoir that I had been struggling to write for twenty-nine years. You can find more information and an excerpt here.
http://mostlybrightideas.wordpress.com/2014/08/24/the-long-hall/
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Hello, yes I have recently launched my book Jedland on Amazon, Would so,so, so and even more so, appreciate a mention. Great choices you have here by the way
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Blogging on WordPress has provided me with a world-wide audience. The stories in Rolbos form the basis of two books which are in the process of being edited for publishing. A previous two books, 65 Shades of Guilt and Imagine Africa, were also at least partially born in WordPress. Blogging has forced me to be disciplined in my writing, while the encouragement of readers from far and wide has been invaluable.
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Hi
Its great to see so much word press talent featured here. Very inspiring.
My debut novelette ,The Orchid Keeper which is book 1 in my series The Osipian Stories, was published and hit the markets on July 1st .
Reader review by G.H. in Eastern Pa states that it is a book that needs to be in the hands of the recovery world. (Reader reviews on booklocker.com on the books page)
See an free excerpt on my blog To Write Is Right!!! My authors blog
http://jenniferdeese.wordpress.com
Or visit Welcome To JennTerra my personal blog
http://jennjenn388@wordpress.com.
I look forward to reading more from featured wordpressers.
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Fantastic post. it just goes to show what a huge amount of talent there is amongst us. Definitely something for me to aspire to. Wishing everyone success for the autumn months 🙂
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I just self published a contemporary/fantasy young adult fiction novel, Lost and Found in Missing Lake (CreateSpace) and am moving along with PR fun and games. I only started blogging in the spring so I have a lot of neighborly work to do! Thanks for giving us the space to share. Book is on amazon…
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I can feel a very celebratory mood here, and it’s catching! 🙂
If hard copy publishing is what one truly wants I say GO FOR IT!!
‘Truly happy for those who have achieved their goals! Very inspiring, as many have said!
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Only recently started blogging at mollyrogerscooks.wordpress.com – addicted now! Steadily seeing hits come in from around the world! The blogs featured here are the stuff of dreams for most of us. Well done everyone featured!
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Ben, you are right, bloggers are a real force – and WP has a wealth of creative people. As WP expands it does get more complicated, so people spreading the word or great finds/ writers is so helpful.
When you get time, please wander over to Roxie’s blog (you can link from my post today to hers)
WP bloggers – one thing I never expected is how supportive the WP community is.
We are truly all in it together. Write on!
Thanks for all your – and the WP crew’s – efforts!
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My second poetry chapbook will be published in 2015. You were with me every step of the way with my first. Thanks WordPress!
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This fall Kara Tippetts — author of the mundanefaithfulness blog, which has chronicled Kara’s battle against cancer and her effort to live life with joy — is publishing her first book, The Hardest Peace. Here’s a link to one of her posts in which the book is mentioned: http://mundanefaithfulness.com/2014/09/19/the-battle-begins/
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