This will be a quick This Week in Publishing because I have to leave soon to get back to the RWA conference for another round of meetings.
Colleen Lindsay linked to a really great interview with Ballantine editor Liz Scheier, which has all kinds of essential info, especially about why it's so important to have a strong hook.
You gotta love the New Yorker -- this week there's a fascinating article about the feud between Anne Carol Moore and E.B. White over STUART LITTLE. Moore was a pioneer in the creation of children's sections of libraries, and also a fearsome tastemaker. E.B. White, of course, was E.B. White.
USA today featured an article on all things Stephenie Meyer and deems her the heir apparent to J.K. Rowling. BREAKING DAWN goes on sale Saturday at 12:01 am with a first printing of 3.2 million.
Amazon has continued its company buying spree -- they have acquired AbeBooks, which will remain a separate website. I'll be curious to see if Amazon will try to incorporate AbeBooks to facilitate used books sales (and remember, used book sales don't result in author royalties and publisher revenue).
And finally, thanks to everyone who attended the PRO Retreat agent panel at the RWA conference yesterday! As a first time RWA attendee, let me just say that the conference is a blast, and I really appreciated all of the excellent questions. It was so great to meet blog readers in person.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, August 1, 2008
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30 comments:
Thanks for the link!
Liked Colleen Lindsay's comments about the query letter hook getting passed along the food chain. It's amazing how crucial one or two sentences are to marketing.
Whoa. That mouse battle is one amazing article. Thanks!
After two months of reading your blog, I just noticed your tshirt in your profile picture matches the Curtis Brown logo... tricky tricky.
Almost as tricky as the two of you linking to each other's blog posts!
Your shamelessness is why I like you Nathan Bransford.
The RWA National conference is a great time with an amazing group of people.
jude
Blogging National
I loved that interview with Liz Scheier. I loved that she used the term MacGuffin.
Did y'all see this? A new, ah, interesting idea in supporting yourself until your novel gets published. Just sell shares in your advance...
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/when-a-novelist-holds-an-ipo/
ugh.
JKR already has an heir apparent? Things move quickly indeed. By the time I get mine finished I'll be Stephenie's heir apparent's heir apparent's heir apparent (I should be so lucky).
Thanks for the interview link! Great stuff.
Thanks for the link to the New Yorker article. I'm reading "Minders of Make-Believe" by Leonard Marcus right now and recognized some of the early quotes. I'm at the point where Ms. Nordstrom makes the scene. Great stuff indead.
Thanks for the links, Nathan... all interesting articles.
Do you think you'll be going to more RWA conferences in the future?
I'm the heir apparent to Harry Potter...sigh...people never learn.
:-)
Liked the interview with Liz Scheier... However, "unprofessionality?" Is this a new word I'm unfamiliar with? Wouldn't it give you pause to work with an editor like that (unless it's some sort of joke I'm not getting?)
anon-
No, it would not give me pause.
Or are you joking too? I'm so confused.
Nathan--it was a pleasure to meet you!
Nathan,
I was so excited when I saw that you were on the agenda for RWA, but sad that i'm too far down the food chain to rate an appointment. BOO! Well, it just means that my shiny, uber-polished, COMPLETED manuscript will have to make it to NB land after I sell my soul for a query letter that wins.
Enjoy the conference!!
Sorry, but the correct word is "unprofessionalism," not "unprofessionality." And yes, I would expect an editor to use language properly.
anon-
Well, no offense, but that's just crazy. A talented editor could spout spoonerisms all day for all I care. Copyeditors are responsible for books on the sentence and word level, not editors. And Liz happens to be one of the best editors out there. If you wanted to pass that up because of one word, well, your loss.
I had the pleasure of dealing with Liz Scheier once upon a time. One of the most genuinely dedicated and supportive people you would ever want to meet in a creative field, who in my experience understands writing and writers and how to work with them.
Anon, you really deprive yourself of opportunities with an unnecessarily rigid attitude.
Anon:
Sorry, but I smell sour grapes.
Liz is an incredibly talented editor. You'd do well to remember that everyone has quirks in his or her own personal speech patterns and one slip of the tongue (or the keyboard) doesn't negate the fact that she's damned good at what she does.
My two cents. Grammatically correct or otherwise.
Colleen
Great link! And I'm sorry to have missed you at the conference. I was a first time attendee as well, and went primarily to have a meeting with Sue Grimshaw (during which I thankfully did not hyperventilate). I left early, but if I'd known you were there, I would have tracked you down for drinks :]
Have a great time!!
off topic question (for any)
I have been contracted to write a chapter in a non-fiction book.
Are there any risks?
(It is NOT a venture-capitalism book or author paid for book, but a scholastic book.)
I do not have any real information on the other chapter authors though.
The publisher/contract is with Cambridge Scholars Press.
Any opinions would be helpful.
Thanks.
Anne Carrol Morre...huh?...Nathan, do you ever consider the fact that YOU are SO Blessed? Just curious.
michelle-
Sorry to have missed you! Hope you had a good time in SF.
anon-
Check out Janet Reid's most recent post, which is an absolutely indispensable post on handling contracts without an agent.
austexgirl-
I consider myself a lucky person, but I'm not sure in which sense you mean that question.
Nathan, thank you for the link to the STUART LITTLE article. Great stuff!
Nathan,
I'm sure you're crazy busy now, but once it is all over and you catch your breath, could you give us all an "agent's eye" view of what it is like to attend the RWA conference? I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested. [And maybe link to any other agents/editors who do the same thing?]
I couldn't make this year's con but hope to go next year when it is in D.C., a bit closer to home.
Thanks, Deborah
PS--And I'm sure by then I will have an agent of my own...maybe someone near and dear to our hearts. (I'm talking about Colleen Lindsay, of course...tee hee) Ummm...read any good partials lately?
Loved your RWA PRO retreat panel. Thanks for being there and handling all our questions! I hope you enjoyed yourself and attend future RWA Conferences.
Nathan,
The panel was great! I loved getting to meet and chat with you.
It was great to hear your opinions at the agent panel. I'm one of the many readers of your blog, but I never thought it would be wise to query you because my novel seemed so far removed from what you do. I believe you convinced me otherwise on Thursday. I'll be querying as soon as my novel's really polished. Thanks!
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