This week in publishing: Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!
First up, regulars around these parts may know Hannah Moskowitz as a sometimes commenter and very talented author of the soon-to-be-published BREAK, which you may know from its appearance as one of the queries in Be An Agent For a Day. You may (and I think you will) be pleased to know that Hannah just received a starred Booklist review! They gush: “For those with a taste for the macabre and an aversion to the sentimental, it’s hard not to be taken in by the book’s strong central relationships….[Break] is like a one-man Fight Club, and it could find nearly as many ardent followers.” Not only that, I’m told Hannah was recently voted prom queen at her high school (seriously). Hannah, you are basically the coolest person ever.
BEA was last weekend! If you need to experience it vicariously you can’t do better than Publishers Lunch TV, which has a veritable cornucopia* of videos and interviews. Very cool. (*My college roommate made it a goal to include the words “veritable cornucopia” in every single paper he wrote. He succeeded. Seriously, it was like climbing Everest.)
If you want a glimpse into the author/editor relationship you really couldn’t do better than The Elegant Variation’s feature of Susan Bell’s essay on revising THE GREAT GATSBY. Part I is here. Seriously awesome.
Mark Twain wasn’t such a fan of his contemporary James Fenimore Cooper, author of LAST OF THE MOHICANS, and he savaged him with a list of writing tips that Cooper violated. My favorite are: “8. Use the right word, not its second cousin.” and “3. The personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others.” Haha.
In agent advice news, Rachelle Gardner has a great post on how to fire your agent. If you’re considering it, it’s a must-read. I’ll just say: communication, communication, communication. Talk to your agent. Talk to them. Don’t let things fester.
Veteran editor Brenda Bowen is the latest veteran editor to become an agent. I wish her luck, but not TOO much luck because I need some clients too you know.
In an apparent GalleyCat Exclusive, they report an upcoming mini-e-reader device. Congrats to GalleyCat on the scoop, but just a word of unsolicited for the creators of the device: you may want to tell more people than just GalleyCat that it will be on sale soon. I’m just sayin’.
Via Maud Newton comes the news that Google is considering selling eBooks. Is your head spinning yet about how quickly the book landscape is changing or did it just go ahead and explode already?
As some have noted in the comments section, beloved author David Eddings passed away this week. Very sad.
The awesome Cynthia Leitich Smith interviewed my awesome colleague Tracy Marhini this week. Awesomeness all around. Or, as the kids say, “Awes.” (They probably stopped saying that years ago).
Publishing Dictionary (noun) 1. An awesome post by Jessica Faust demystifying the many confusing terms in the publishing business. 2. Required reading.
My client Jennifer Hubbard has some more really great writing advice: sometimes your character has to be a jerk.
And finally, reader Richard King pointed me to a Washington Post blog post about the reputation the male sort have with reading fiction. As in: men have a reputation for not reading fiction. Come on, gents, can this be true?
Have a great weekend!
Nathan Bransford says
bryan-
Oh, I'm here. Coming back from time out of the office is pretty crazy.
Laura Martone says
Woah, Nathan! Are you working on a Saturday? Say it ain't so…
I thought only freelancers like me did that. 🙂
Nathan Bransford says
laura-
Always.
Ink says
Nathan,
I'd fill in for you for a few tickets when the Raptors come to town…
(always wanted to see California)
Laura Martone says
Nathan – I feel for you. I've forgotten what weekends and holidays used to look like.
Bryan – Oh, you should definitely visit California one day. I lived in L.A. for 5 years (I'll never do that again), but the Golden State is definitely worth a look. San Fran's especially awesome! And the redwoods, OMG, they're amazing… wonder how often Nathan gets to see them!
Elaine 'still writing' Smith says
I thought I was finally going to get to Big Sur this year – but the Minnow's art is dragging me to Fiorenze and my partner is insisting on Cyprus after – apparently we're moving there (heard that kind of thingbefore)!
Then it's the Reading Festival!!
PurpleClover says
Hey Nathan, (Can I call you Natio with a latin accent? *kids*)
Hope you have a great time wherever you were.
Anyhow, thanks for the links. I will get through them slowly but surely.
PC
Emilia says
Hellz yeah for Hannah. Dangit, I'm 16 and still have the chance to be prom queen/valedictorian/an author/on Nathan's blog! I CAN DO IT! *stares at hands for a moment, then goes to cry in corner*
The "jerk" post makes a great point.
Chuck H. says
Had a good laugh at the Twain link. Took the bike out and put over two hundred miles on the odo. Now I'm ready for just about anything including space monkeys and puppies. And if anyone checks out my blogger profile under favorite books they'll find "the fiction ones in English". Enjoy the rest of the weekend. I will.
Lisa says
Hmm, I wish that the Washington Post blog had given more stats and context beyond just saying 20 percent of fiction readers are men. In any case, my own experience with fiction-reading grandfathers, dad, brother, brothers-in-law, nephews, husband, male friends, and colleagues makes me want to know more about the whole situation outside my (apparently narrow) realm.
Ink says
only 20% of fiction readers are men? No wonder James Frey called it a "memoir"…
Writer from Hell says
Publishing dictionary was a very useful link.
Be an agent for a day…How to fire an agent …how to become an agent? In that order?
Jo says
As usual, a veritable cornucopia of information, Nathan. Thank you.
Dara says
Thanks for all the links!
Amazing for Hannah; I'm so happy for her and her new book 🙂
Scott says
Men tend to be stimulated from the outside in, I think. We're sight creatures, and with all the techno-gadgetry available to us as a breed, reading habits tend to lean toward the practical. Add to that war, war and more war, and stimulation is at a maximum. I mean, even porn had plots, once upon a time.
I find this sad, to be honest. It's not like men can't be stimulated by their imaginations. Most screenplay writers are men, but that's a highly visual medium they're writing for. And perhaps deep character exploration seems to be less interesting now that we're all electronically connected and all of our secrets are revealed in wise-crack laden, cocktail party chit-chat. With the death of language, so, too, goes the death of fictionalized introspection.
Thanks, Nathan. While not strictly scientific, it's important information for a man who writes fiction that he would like to read. Guess I may have to look at the numbers a little more closely when I'm brewing my next yarn.
Mira says
Um, let's try that again – less controversial.
Scott, women may have trouble breaking into screenwriting.
Also, I don't think it's an issue of gender, but rather one of personality type. Certain personalities (extraverted, sensory oriented) will be drawn less to reading fiction than other types (introverted, intuition oriented.)
(This is the Jungian personality system, I didn't create it.)
On the other hand, Romance novels are read by the handful, and that could skew the numbers toward women readership.
Jennifer says
I must say I just devastated and surprised to read of the death of David Eddings. I loved his series, and read them voraciously in highschool. Truly sad.
Jennifer says
I was truly sad and upset to hear of the death of one of my favorite authors, David Eddings. What a loss to the literary world. God bless his soul!