Farmer/Writers - A new breed of slash

Yesterday's New York Times had a great story (by Dana Bowen) on a new breed of slash: farmer/writers. And it had a killer headline "Old Macdonald Now Has A Book Contract." The story begins with John Peterson, a farmer in Illinois, who spends the winter in Mexico writing:

Over the years he has written plays, short stories, a cookbook and a newsletter he sends to his customers. While his sideline may seem unusual, it places Mr. Peterson smack in the middle of an emerging literary movement: farmers who write.

Slash Record (Category: Book Subtitles)

I just stumbled on this little gem, which so far holds the record of slash usage in a book subtitle:

I, California: the Occasional History of a Child Actress/Tap Dancer/Record Store Clerk/Thai Waitress/Playboy Reject/Nightclub Booker/Daily Show Correspondent/Sex . . . Character/and Whatever Else.
If the slashes have piqued your interest, you can learn more about Stacey Grenrock Woods' new book in this post at Mediabistro's Galleycat.

Bet you never thought you'd see girlie photos on the Heymarci blog.

Creating buzz around your ideas (NYT.com)

Yesterday, my Shifting Careers column at The New York Times online focused on ways to create buzz about your ideas. Based on the flood of reader emails I've been getting, I'm not the only one interested in this subject. If you have any tips to share -- especially ideas for those who are uncomfortable about self-promotion and/or who can't afford outside p.r. help, please share them in the comments. (There's no way to comment on the NYT website yet, so leave your comments on the blog.)

Here's the article, "Tools and Tips to Create Buzz Around Your Ideas."

Note: Through some weird URL glitch, the link to the 360 Profiler mentioned in the first paragraph was published incorrectly. If you want to try the tool, click here.