Monday, April 9, 2018

Interview with author Suzi Siegel




Tiny New York: The Smallest Things in the Biggest City

Suzi Siegel’s new book has received a lot of attention of late, with coverage in Fox5 TV, NY1- TV, New York Post, and TimeOut New York. It was #1 in its travel category on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2iYTFoe.

1. What really inspired you to write your book, to force you from taking an idea or experience and conveying it into a book?
Two reasons:
1. The idea was small enough that I knew I could actually write a book about it. (I had started and dropped so many other book projects because the idea was so broadly defined, it got unwieldy and I became overwhelmed and gave up).
2. The idea was so simple AND had never been done before. That’s how you know you’re onto something good. I had never had an idea that actually checked both those boxes before.

2. What is it about and whom do you believe is your targeted reader?
Tiny New York is about the smallest things in the biggest city. 
Tiny standouts in the book include: A dinky basketball court in the Village that has produced some of sport’s biggest legends; the smallest dinosaur in the Museum of Natural History; Sully, the NYPD’s smallest bomb-sniffing police dog; a privately owned island off the coast of the Bronx that is 1/3 square mile and the shortest NY Yankee who was told he was too little to make it to the big leagues
I wrote it because in such a giant city the littlest things can get overlooked – even though they often tell the biggest stories.

The reader is someone who loves cities – whether it’s exploring her own city or traveling to other cities or both. The reader has a traveler’s adventurous spirit and seeks out the untold stories and the undiscovered gems.

3. What do you hope will be the everlasting thoughts for readers who finish your book? What should remain with them long after putting it down?
If you think your life is not big enough, that your bank account is not big enough, that your social media following is not big enough, that you are not enough of a big deal, the people in this book show that it isn’t size that matters. It’s the grit and determination to do one thing and do it well, even if space is tight and resources are limited.

4. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers?
Keep your idea small, if not tiny. Having guardrails on your creative idea will make it eminently achievable, unlike an idea that is too big to be contained in a book.

5. What trends in the book world do you see and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?
More photos, fewer words. Less jive and jargon, more authenticity.

6. What great challenges did you have in writing your book?
No real challenges writing the book; most of the challenges were with the publisher over the cover design. We ended up with something that made both sides slightly grumpy as well as begrudgingly satisfied, which they say is proof that a negotiation was fair to both parties.

7. If people can only buy one book this month, why should it be yours?
You will be so inspired by all these New Yorkers, many of them immigrants, who are making the very most of the little they have to work with. Each and every authentic person in this book proves that big is overrated and Tiny, though often overlooked, is where real inspiration can be found.

SUZI SIEGEL, who is little, grew up in a little apartment in the Bronx. She is a former investigative reporter and travel writer. Thus, she is uniquely qualified to write a book full of words about the tiny things in New York City that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. Siegel has worked as a crime reporter in Detroit, an assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs, and a travel writer for Marie Claire magazine. She earned her master’s degree from Harvard and has been to Djibouti. Siegel lives in Jackson Heights, Queens, one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods, because it’s just like traveling even though it’s home. Please see for more info: www.tinynewyork.com

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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2018. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”


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