April 7th, 2009
I’m not really sure how to bring this up without sounding boastful, but I thought I should mention that I was recently honored with the Young Alumni Award from the IU School of Informatics. According to the school, “the Young Alumni Award is given in recognition of outstanding early career achievement that brings acclaim and recognition to the field of informatics, and honor and distinction to Indiana University; it goes to alumni whose loyalty will further the development, growth and excellence of the School of Informatics.”
I was honored to receive the award and want to thank everyone at IU, IUPUI, and the School of Informatics for choosing me for this distinction. I also got to eat a fancy dinner and give an acceptance speech - just like at the Golden Globes!
March 4th, 2009
On Saturday, March 21 I will be in Twinsburg, Ohio (right near Cleveland) leading a session at the Twinsburg Public Library’s annual writer’s retreat. I’ll be talking about how the internet can help you get a book deal and help promote your book once it’s out. I’m looking forward to meeting fellow author Sarah Willis at the event and hearing about her experiences in the publishing industry. Thank you to Cari for inviting me! I hear Cleveland rocks. For more information visit this site or call 330-425-4268 ext. 2
March 1st, 2009
In a completely selfless act to inform the public, I wanted you guys to know that nominations are now open for the Eugene & Marilyn Glick Indiana Author Awards. This program seeks to recognize the contributions of Indiana authors to the literary landscape in Indiana and across the nation. If you liked a book by an Indiana author (like, for instance, Half-Assed: A Weight-loss Memoir) you can nominate that author for the Emerging Author award here. You can submit a nomination online or by downloading, printing and mailing a PDF. The deadline is April 8, 2009.
BTW, the ISBN number for Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir is 1580052339. The author’s contact information is:
Jennette Fulda
PO Box 90186
Indianapolis, IN 46290-0186
halfofme@pastaqueen.com
Her publisher’s contact information is:
Seal Press
1700 4th Street
Berkeley, California 94710
(510) 595-3664
Seal.Press@perseusbooks.com
January 19th, 2009
Today I’m happy to announce the start of my Blog Book Tour 2009. “Wait,” you might be asking yourself. “Didn’t you already do a blog book tour back in May?” Why yes, yes I did. However, the marketing people from the publishing company shot me an email a few weeks ago asking if I’d like to do another tour since so many people are looking for inspiration now that their new year’s resolutions to lose weight are beginning to lose steam. I said that was fine as long as I didn’t have to leave my apartment. (It’s been negative degrees outside lately without the wind chill.)
So, the lovely Eva helped put everything together and you can follow the tour below. If you haven’t already bought a copy of Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir, you’ll have several chances to win one at the stops below. Thank you to all the bloggers participating!
Monday, January 19 - MizFit Online (video)
Tuesday, January 20 - Morgan Gets Thin
Wednesday, January 21 - This Mama Cooks (Guest post)
Thursday, January 22 - John is Fit (review)
Friday, January 23 - Escape from Obesity (interview)
Saturday, January 24 - Lynn’s Weigh (interview)
January 18th, 2009
I was recently interviews for the Bits of Informatics podcast published by the Informatics program at Indiana University. I am a 2003 graduate of the Informatics program with a degree in Media Arts and Sciences, which is just fancy talk for saying I’m a web designer. I spoke with John Blue about my time at college and how informatics has helped me in my career.
December 29th, 2008
January is coming soon, the time when people make resolutions to quit smoking and lose weight. (The people who quit smoking are probably not going to lose weight once their sense of smell returns.) My blog traffic always increases in January and it appears that my book sales are increasing too. Thank you to everyone who is just now discovering the book! I hope it inspires you and makes you laugh, which burns a lot more calories than crying over your situation. It is easy to belittle people who make New Year’s resolutions and say they are doomed for failure. It is harder to imagine your life as something different. It is harder yet to make that dream a reality. It can be done though, so good luck to you!
As I was saying, my Amazon.com rank has returned to the levels it was at when my book was first released, only this time I haven’t had to run myself ragged operating the publicity machine. I suspect this is partly because of the time of the year. It is probably also a result of the release of Shauna Reid’s book, The Amazing Adventures of DietGirl which was mentioned in People magazine. (Way to go, Shuana!) I hope her book does very well, firstly because Shauna is one of the kindest, most optimistic and encouraging people that you will ever meet and secondly because Amazon.com says 5% of the people who buy her book also buy mine. What a lovely gift pack they make!
November 18th, 2008
Last year I was interviewed by Stephane Grenier for his book Blog Blazers: 40 Top Bloggers Share Their Secrets. The book came out this month and is available from Amazon. It was odd reading an interview I’d done so many months ago. I’ve had so many new experiences from promoting my own book which would have been relevant to share.
The book includes interviews from other bloggers I admire, like Seth Godin and Penelope Trunk and fellow weight-loss blogger Jennifer Perry aka karaokekitty of 101 Reasons I Hate Being Fat.
November 11th, 2008
A review of Half-Assed appeared in the latest edition of the Indiana University Alumni Magazine. As you should have already guessed, I graduated from IU.
November 5th, 2008
I’ll be in Chicago this weekend with several other health and fitness bloggers. As promised we’ve arranged not one, but two meetups. I will definitely be at the brunch on Sunday morning, but I’m not sure if I’ll be at the Saturday night meetup. It will depend on how tired I am and if my headache is bad. I might be there, I might not, but I’ll try to let you know the day of. Here are the details:
Saturday, November 8th
10pm
Hard Rock Hotel Rocks Lounge
230 N. Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60601
Sunday, November 9th
9:30am
Panera Bread
635 N. Fairbanks Court
Chicago, IL 60611
Feel free to bring a book if you want it signed. Or just bring yourself. Hope to see you there! I doubt we’ll draw as big of a crowd as Barack Obama did last night, but it should be fun anyway!
November 2nd, 2008
As promised, here is an MP3 of my interview with the Weight Loss Coaches. It was fun talking to Peggy and DeAnne. Thanks for having me!
