This week! The publishing!
We’ll start waaay back in the Great Depression. With our current economic downturn affecting….. everything, including culture, are you curious about what people were reading back then? Me too. Would you believe werewolves, dog books, and business books?
Knopf Doubleday (I’m still not used to saying that) has quite the Fall season coming up, what with books by Dan Brown, Jon Krakauer, Margaret Atwood, Pat Conroy, and Jonathan Lethem, among others. Bookseller Arsen Kashkashian takes a look at the catalog with the reverence it deserves, but calls it “Random House’s Hail Mary” and discusses the decisions a buyer has to make with such a momentous list.
Speaking of bookselling, agent Andrew Zack posted a takedown of the Bookscan service, which purports to report (say that five times fast) 70% of book sales and which publishers rely on heavily, but as any agent knows, actually reports FAR, FAR LESS I SWEAR I HAVE THE ROYALTY STATEMENTS IN FRONT OF ME DON’T BELIEVE BOOKSCAN THE SALES TRACK IS FINE I PROMISE. Ahem. Little, Brown editor in chief Geoff Shandler also weighed in in the comments section.
The New Yorker’s indispensable book blog The Book Bench tackled a crucial and weighty question this week: is Lauren Conrad’s novel L.A. CANDY any good?
Oh, and speaking of celebrity news, my bunker buddy Dick Cheney sold his memoir for a reported $2 million.
In news-via-John Ochwat news, speaking of Dick Cheney, there’s a hilarious contest over at the Globe and Mail to name his memoir. Ooooh the possibilities.
Also via John Ochwat, John Scalzi tackles the question of why debut novelists always seem to be in their thirties (except of course for those precocious teenagers). Why is it? Well, it takes a while to write a novel, and anyway, most writer’s first novels suck.
Over at Bookends, Jessica laments the poor state of communication in the publishing industry and how frustrating it is to have to chase editors who are so uncommunicative you start to wonder if they’re still alive. Hear hear.
And JA Konrath tackles a tough question in a really awesome, comprehensive manner: when should you self-publish?
And finally, I’m really going to miss the King of Pop. I don’t know if we’ll ever again have someone who is as talented a singer, songwriter and dancer. RIP.
Other Lisa says
I am almost embarrassed to be posting this because I try not to get sucked into the Celebrity-ness of it all…but Lisa Marie Presley's post about Michael Jackson's passing I found truly moving…
Here it is.
Mira says
Laurel, that's cool that you're in publishing. Good luck with your new career – I hope it goes really well for you.
I was sort of joking about the textbook. I bet students are talented at finding ways to get out of paying book fees.
Still. 150 pages. 50 bucks!!!! I'm telling you, those had better be the best darn pages I ever read in my life.
Anonymous says
Enjoyed every link this week, Nathan. Many thanks.
Anita says
Thanks for the MJ video…not sure I would've looked it up myself, but I did enjoy just clicking and viewing…made me sad, though, and not just for MJ…it's as if a little of my own youth moonwalked past.
Maggie May says
Billie Jean= my favorite pop song, ever.
Leona says
Okay Nathan,we've all appreciated your provocative blogs since your return to the land of the living.
Perhaps you need to visit pergatory more often…
**cheeky grin**
Fresh Water Mermaids says
Wonderful post Nathan-Thanks!
Anonymous says
Dick Cheney: Some vampires are real.
Chuck H. says
I was always too old for Michael and, apparently,to be a debut novelist. But that Farrah! We were the same age. Sigh.
Have a great weekend and stay well. We need you in the trenches.
Word ver: britiz–I say, old chap.
Tori says
I believe what you wrote about new authors being in their thirties Nathan, but I hope I can be one of the few that can get a novel publised before then. I'm only nineteen, so I really don't want to wait a decade to see my name in print. Although I could probably use a good ten years toget where I want to be in my writing:)
Lara says
Anybody read the New York Observer?
Nick Bilton (working on a book about "The New Business of Storytelling") has a scary quote in the Transom section:
"It would be great if we put the book out there before the printed version, and we could see if people were finishing it or falling off at certain chapters, and then maybe rework it and do real-time changes to the structure of the book as analytics come in."
That kind of sounds like taking the techniques that screwed Hollywood (but made it megaprofitable) and applying them to publishing! Fun!
Anonymous says
Nathan, I have a very mundane question, but I would like to do the right thing. When an agent asks for a full manuscript, and wants it sent by US mail, what kind of packaging are they expecting? Should I use a 3-hole punch, and put glossy plastic covers (front and back) on the manuscript? Or just send all 270 pages (properly-formatted, of course) loose in a box? Thanks very much for your time.
Anonymous says
Lara,
It sounds like Beta Readers.
Anonymous says
Another Death
Billy Mays, the guy that does the commercials for Oxy Clean, died in his sleep last night.
Like Marvin Gaye said: "What's Going On!"
Marjorie says
I am going to eventually self-publish my memoir: marjorie-pentimentos. But, my series of interviews will be sent as a query at some point.
Please visit marjorie-digest to read my interview with Edie Beale's, Jerry "The Marble Faun," and to see photos of me with the phenomenal filmmaker Albert Maysles and Jerry.
There are other good interviews there. You will have to open older posts.
Anonymous says
I was on vacation the last two weeks and hate that I missed the vampire discussions. I just want to say I never realized Nathan had so many young adults following his blog. I always assumed that we were mostly adults, so our opinions didn’t matter on YA. I kind of figure what the teenagers want to read is the important issue.
Mardi Link says
For Cheney's memoir, apology to Jeanette Walls:
The Gas Castle
Caitlin says
Hey Nathan, I've been looking for serious critical responses to L.A. Candy, so thanks for this New Yorker link!
I would love to hear your response to my own L.A. Candy review. It's on my blog, if you have any interest in checking it out.
Laura Martone says
I'm late to this particularly party, but I just wanted to echo other sentiments here about the Thirtysomething Debut Novelist Theory. And all I can say is – woohoo! I'm only 32, which means I have over seven years to sell my first novel, and still adhere to this awesome new trend. Now, I don't feel so overwhelmed. Phew!
So, thanks, Nathan, for turning us onto that and many other enlightening articles…