Hey, Tri-Staters– Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry’s popular American Idol for books is coming to Manhattan in two weeks! Get your pitches ready… set… go…to the Bowery Poetry Club on October 12, 2011 at 8:00 pm.

(And, if you’re not in NYC, check the calendar — they may be coming to a venue near you very soon!)

What the heck IS a Pitchapalooza? (And do I get to throw stuff?) Well, in a sense, yes! If you’re one of the lucky writers selected, you’ll have the opportunity to throw that brilliant book idea at a panel of publishing industry experts. And who knows… you may just walk away with some leads toward securing a book deal. (Yes, writers have gotten actual legit publishing deals as a result of participating in Pitchapalooza.) But the way it works is: About twenty writers will be selected at random to pitch their book. Each writer gets one minute—and only one minute!

Who are these so-called “industry experts”? Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry (below), aka The Book Doctors, are co-authors of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How To Write It, Sell It, and Market It… Successfully. Arielle Eckstut has been a literary agent for 18 years at The Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. She is also the author of seven books and the co-founder of the iconic brand, LittleMissMatched. David Henry Sterry is the best-selling author of 12 books, on a wide variety of subject including memoir, sports, YA fiction and reference. They have taught their workshop on how to get published everywhere from Stanford University to Smith College. They have appeared everywhere from The New York Times to NPR’s Morning Edition to USA Today.

But, I’m really just going to leave feeling brokenhearted and criticized, right?: Not a chance. At Pitchapalooza, judges will help you improve your pitch, not tell you how bad it is. The panel critiques everything from idea to style to potential in the marketplace and much, much more. Authors come away with concrete advice as well as a greater understanding of the ins and outs of the publishing industry. Whether potential authors pitch themselves, or simply listen to trained professionals critique each presentation, Pitchapalooza is educational and entertaining for one and all.

So what’s my prize? At the end of Pitchapalooza, the judges pick a winner! And that lucky winner will receive an introduction to an agent or publisher appropriate for his/her book. Not too shabby…

Is there a catch? In order to have the opportunity to pitch, you must purchase a copy of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published. Oh, but anyone who buys a copy of receives a FREE 20 minute consultation, a $100 value. If you don’t want to pitch, the event is FREE.

Not convinced? Here’s the enthusiastic crowd from a Pitchapalooza event at Anderson’s Bookshop in Illinois:

For your further reading and viewing pleasure, check the links below. Otherwise, hope to see you at the next Pitchapalooza!

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New York Times article: http://tinyurl.com/3tkp4gl.

Pitchapalooza mini movie: http://tinyurl.com/3jr8zte.

Pitchapalooza on NBC: http://www.thebookdoctors.com/the-book-doctors-pitchapalooza-on-nbc-television

We’ve brought you lots of stories about all sorts of unlikely animal friendships: Elephant dotes on dog. Deer protects goose. Puppy plays with pony. But today’s story, which comes to us from the U.K.’s Daily Mail, takes things to a whole new level. Not only is Jack the sheep best friends with a sheepdog—he thinks he is one!

Watch below to learn the story of Jack, a lamb who was born on a farm and raised alongside his owners’ springer spaniel named Jesse. Just like his canine brother, Jack loves to chase sticks and go for walks on a leash. He even helps out when it’s time to herd the other sheep!

For more awwww-inspiring stories of interspecies buddies, pick up a copy of Jennifer S. Holland’s New York Times bestselling book Unlikely Friendships.

What’s a Rosh Hashanah dinner without brisket? (What’s any dinner without brisket?, you may ask. To which I reply, “A mediocre one.”) Herewith, a recipe for brisket that’s, well, killer. And you know that’s the truth, because it comes straight from Judy Bart Kancigor’s mom via Judy’s scrumptious cookbook Cooking Jewish.

My Mom’s Killer Brisket
with tsimmes*

serves 8 to 10

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 to 5 pounds first-cut beef brisket
2 large onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup sweet red wine or water
1 cup pineapple or orange juice
1 package dehydrated onion soup mix
2 to 3 teaspoons kosher (coarse) salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Ground nutmeg to taste
3 cups (1 1/2 pounds) pitted prunes, dried apricots, or a combination
1/2 cup raisins
3 pounds sweet potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 1/2 pounds carrots, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Paprika, for sprinkling

1. The day before serving, heat the oil in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the meat (fat side down first), and brown it well on all sides, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the meat to a plate.

2. Add the onions to the pot and cook, stirring often, until they are soft and brown, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Then stir in 3 cups water and the wine, juice, onion soup mix, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, return the meat to the pot, cover, and simmer until a fork can pierce the meat but it is not quite done, 1 3/4 to 2  1/4 hours, depending on the thickness of the meat.

3. Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool somewhat. Then remove the meat and slice off all visible fat. Transfer the meat, with the gravy, to a large bowl or container and refrigerate it, covered, overnight.

4. The next day, preheat the oven to 350°F.

5. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator and skim off the congealed fat. Remove the meat and cut it into 1/4- to 3/8-inch-thick slices. Set it aside.

6. Transfer the gravy to a Dutch oven or other large, heavy, ovenproof pot and bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat and stir in the honey, brown sugar, lemon juice, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of the salt, or more to taste, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Return the sliced meat to the pot. Add the prunes and raisins. Arrange the sweet potatoes and carrots on top. Baste the meat and vegetables with the sauce and bring back to a boil.

7. Transfer the pot to the oven and bake, covered, for 30 minutes, basting after 15 minutes.

8. Sprinkle the potatoes and carrots lightly with paprika, and continue baking, uncovered this time, basting every 15 minutes, until the carrots and potatoes are very tender, about 30 minutes. If you like (and if your oven has a broiling mode), turn the oven setting to broil, place the pot on the lowest rack, and broil the potatoes and carrots briefly until crisp.

9. Serve hot.

*For all you Gentiles out there, tsimmes is “a traditional stew for Passover, made from a combination of sweet potatoes and dried fruit.”

What do Rosh Hashanah and karaoke have in common? Absolutely nothing, until now. To the chagrin of my friends and co-workers, I recently began studying the ancient and most wondrous art of karaoke. (I’m currently practicing a version of “Sitting On The Dock of The Bay” that will put both Otis Redding and that insanely talented dude at my local karaoke bar to shame.) So what will I be doing this Rosh Hashanah Eve? You guessed it, hitting the microphone with my Jewish (and karaoke loving) friends. I encourage you and yours to do the same. Just don’t expect any of the chosen people to sing the following songs. According to Molly Katz, author of Jewish as a Second Language, these tunes are strictly off limits for Semites:

Songs You’ll Never Hear A Jewish Person Sing

“Wild Thing”

“When the Bullet Hits the Bone”

“I Love the Nightlife”

“I Can’t Stay Mad at You”

“One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”

“Third-Rate Romance, Low-Rent Rendezvous”

“I Fought the Law and the Law Won”

“Sex Machine”

“Some Guys Have All the Luck”

(You will hear us sing any of the following, however: “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To,” “I’ve Gotta be Me,” and everyone’s favorite “I’ll Never Smile Again.”)

Shana Tova!

Sometimes we think there’s something in the water, other times we can rest easy knowing it’s just something in our closets! Last time we took a fashion reading, it was stripes galore, but today’s trendwatch shows off some animal instincts….  It’s leopard print (in all hues!) for Workman-ites Andrea, Liz, and Emily.

What-oh-what will be trending next in these stylish halls of Workman — will these leopards change their spots back to stripes or is there a new, undiscovered trend on the horizon? Submit your predictions!

Do you sometimes get the itch to rewrite a song for your own enjoyment? I mean, who out there hasn’t come up with an alternate lyric to Ace of Base’s “The Sign”?

Well, we certainly feel the urge to reword sometimes (particularly one of our editors, who has been known to throw down both rap and poetry, and is said to be working on a couple of other songs in the studio…)—especially in the name of books. So we were pretty thrilled when we came across the video below, where a group of kids from Ocoee Middle School get down with some sweet, educational lyrics. Enjoy! You may find yourself inadvertently humming along to the tune later in the day… it’s a little addictive.

Although schools started class weeks ago, this recent bout of fall weather has only now got me thinking about back-to-school time. “Don’t you love New York in the fall?” Tom Hanks says in the movie You’ve Got Mail, “It makes me want to buy school supplies.” I can relate. But besides a freshly sharpened bouquet of pencils,  back-to-school season reminds me of coming home from the first day of school with a stack of text books. Complements of Workman’s latest release, The Stupidest Things Ever Said: Book of All-Time Stupidest Top 10 Lists, here are a few books that likely won’t show up on your fall syllabus:

The Top 10 Stupidest Actual Book Titles

1. A Toddler’s Guide to the Rubber Industry

2. Constipation and Our Civilization

3. Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers

4. The Secret of Sphincters

5. A Pictorial Book of Tongue Coating

6. Life and Laughter ’midst the Cannibals

7. Be Bold with Bananas

8. Hand-Grenade Throwing as a College Sport

9. Collecting Fungi on Stamps

10. A Study of Hospital Waiting Lists in Cardiff, 1953 – 1954.

One of the best things about being a Workman employee is that we’re often just one phone call away from expert advice. Three of our pregnant colleagues took advantage of this perk and asked body expert Elaine Petrone, author of the new Miracle Ball Method for Pregnancy (and the million-copy bestseller Miracle Ball Method), for tips on managing the aches and pains of pregnancy. She was happy to oblige!

Q: Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had some dull, achy pains along the sides of my abdomen. What to Expect tells me this could be “Round Ligament Pain,” or growing pains of the ligaments around my uterus! Is there any relief for these cramps as my uterus continues to grow? –Melody, 17 weeks

ELAINE: Yes, breathe! As the baby gets larger it pushes up against your diaphragm which can make it harder to breathe. Most of us breathe with our upper chest as opposed to our diaphragm (which is lower down). By lengthening your exhalation and making an S-sound, you can retrain yourself to breathe from the diaphragm and improve circulation which then sends oxygen to areas where you may be experiencing cramps.

Try 10-15 minutes a day. With your hands against the sides of your waist, make a gentle exhalation while making a “SSSS” sound. Can you feel these muscles working to exhale? At the end of the exhalation feel the muscles under your hands expand as the breath gets pulled deeper into your body. After repeating three times slowly, check in with your natural breathing. Bring your attention to the areas that are cramping. Do you feel the effects of the oxygen as it gets deeper into your body, easing up these tight muscles?  Let your whole body rest as you do this. This breathing can be done sitting cross legged on the floor or lying down on your back. When you are past 20 weeks you can lie on your side.

Each time you make the “S sound” you may find that the muscles respond easier to the inhalation. Some people find counting helps them to lengthen their inhalations and their exhalations. Good luck!

I’m dealing with a lot of lower back pain. Is there anything I can do? –Courtney, 26 weeks

ELAINE: Get on the ball! As you get larger (and for some of us, this happens quite early), the pelvis begins to tilt and as a result the lower back muscles shorten. To take the pressure off of your lower back, lie on the floor and place a Miracle Ball under your pelvis (one under each hip is great, too.) If you are past 20 weeks, remove one ball so your pelvis leans to one side and takes pressure of the vena cava. Breathe using the “S sound” technique described above and let your weight sink into the ball(s). As the tension releases, more blood and oxygen can get to those lower back muscles and the pain will lessen.

I haven’t gained much weight yet, but—and this seems weird—my tailbone clicks when I walk! And though it didn’t use to be painful, it seems to have spread and be having an effect on my lower back now. What can I do to keep this from getting worse when I’m 35 weeks in? –Megan, 17 weeks

ELAINE: The growing weight of the baby can compromise the ability of our legs and hips to support the lower back. By toning your leg muscles, you can help take pressure off the lower back and hips and help you walk with more ease.

Lying on your side (try this in bed!), place a ball between your inner thighs close to your knees. Let the weight of your top leg give into the ball. Breathe using the “S sound” technique described above. Give yourself a minute or two to feel the tension drain out of your legs and hips. Gradually, begin to slide the top knee an inch or two forward, past the bottom knee. Notice how the hips gently move. Then slide your knee back, letting your top knee move a little past the bottom knee. Repeat slowly, two or three times. These gradual, gentle movements are amazingly effective at loosening your lower back muscles.

We just got advance copies of Embroider Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp in the office this week, and boy, do they look spiffy! And as we flip through the pages of techniques and projects, we’re reminded of the process that it took to get us to this place. Because beyond the months of editing and layouts, there were the photo shoots, illustration revisions, and more! Today, though, we look back at the photos that went into making Embroider Everything Workshop look so splendid.

The very talented photographer Jim Franco invited us into his studio as he began shooting some of the tabletop items. Here, he props the cross-stitched Fancy First Aid Kit (flip to page 210 in the book to check it out!) on a marble tile surface with some bandages and other basic fix-it gear. Then he switches out the surface for a more rugged wooden one to shoot the embroidered Return to Sender Luggage Tag (page 192).

Jim’s studio is right next door to an amazing prop room, where he had access to dishes, fabrics, mirrors, and other furnishings of all shapes and sizes (and color-coded, too!)–it was a wonderland of artfully organized treasures.

Below, author Diana Rupp works with Jim to style the satin stitched Peony Jewelry Box project (page 183) to get it juuuust right.

Each project gets photographed multiple ways, to ensure that we get a winning shot. Remember that luggage tag, above? Here, it’s attached to vintage suitcase with a bright red ribbon. Since he’s changed the angle of the camera, Jim takes a light reading before he clicks the shutter.

A couple of weeks later, we hit the streets of Brooklyn (with lighting assistants, and cute young models!), photographing on the sidewalks (the Smocked with Love dress, page 127) as well as the Patch ‘Em Ups stitched patches for kids (page 122).

Then we scouted locations in the park, where we clicked images of the Bargello Belt (page 112), the Monogrammed Sneakers (page 106)–which Diana thoughtfully stitched onto a pair of cute kicks in her editor’s size!!), the Stag Hoodie (page 102), and the Dashing Vest and Tie (page 90).

But the real treat was shooting at a farm in upstate New York for two days. Below, Jim experiments with the lighting while shooting the Something Blue Hanky (page 225).

“Did we get it right?” Jim and Diana check the computer monitor to see if he got the shot.

The model waits patiently to confirm that they have a good one before moving! And, to whet your appetite, here’s a closeup of the amazingly stitched keepsake.

Next up? The Sashiko Top and Tunic dress (page 86) using the traditional Japanese pattern called “Seven Treasures of Buddha.” Diana stitched white on navy for the dress bodice, and switched it up with a variegated floss on white along the sleeves and bottom of the shirt.

Again, Diana and Jim check the computer monitor to see if the photo is a keeper (it was! You can see the final one on page 86 of the book).

And here’s the project that’s up first in my queue: the Crewel But Kind Giraffe (page 118). I already ordered the fabric from my local quilting shop and the iron-on pattern comes in the pocket at the front of the book! A perfect project for my subway commute.

Keep an eye out for the book when it hits shelves later this fall–and check back to our website, too, to see if Diana will be doing an author event (and make-and-take) for Embroider Everything Workshop in your area before Christmas!

As many of you know, we recently celebrated an exciting and important milestone–10 years on the New York Times bestseller list for What to Expect When You’re Expecting. And what better way to celebrate than with our dear author, Heidi Murkoff, plus babies (okay, baby pictures), balloons, and ice cream (with all the toppings)!

The poster below represents just a handful of Workman babies that have been born under the wisdom of What to Expect over the last 25 years, more than 200 reprints, and 4 editions of the book! (Oh, after you get over those sweet faces and chubby cheeks, there is of course, the sweet spread of ice cream toppings–I detect a theme.)

The tubs of deliciousness didn’t last long once Workman party-goers started digging in! Strawberry, cookies and cream,  chocolate, coffee, vanilla ….Mmmm.

There were enough champagne flutes for plenty of toasting (I estimate at least one for each reprint of the book!). Below, Workman group publisher Bob Miller clinks glasses with author Heidi Murkoff and her longtime editor Suzanne Rafer. (Fun fact: Heidi delivered the original proposal for the book to Workman the same day she delivered her daughter!)

And the next generation of What to Expect babies are already on the way! There are three pregnant ladies in this photo — all of whom received a lucky belly pat from Heidi — can you spot them? (Trick question — without insider knowledge, it’s likely you’ll only be able to identify one, we think.)