This week!
In personal agenting news, I received some great news this week about one of the projects I recently handled: Audible announced that none other than Parker Posey is narrating the new audiobook of Betty Friedan’s feminist classic THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE. Pretty cool.
It’s apparently Google’s turn in front of the firing squad this week as the Google Settlement was criticized first by William Morris Endeavor in not one but two letters (to which the Author’s Guild issued not one but two rebuttals), and meanwhile, Microsoft, Amazon, and Yahoo announced that they were aligning against the Google settlement. Rising to Google’s defense was a Washington Post Op-Ed titled….. “Google’s Offer on Digitized Books Could Be Better.” Despite that headline the Wash-Po mainly thinks it’s a good deal.
NPR recently featured a new interactive book experiment by authors JC Hutchins and Jordan Weisman, published by St. Martin’s. To accompany their new novel PERSONAL EFFECTS: DARK ART, they’re including phone numbers and web links that provide an additional interactive experience. I’d be very curious to know what people think about this. (via David Moldawer)
Dan Brown’s THE LOST SYMBOL is dropping in September, and already some quarters of the publishing industry are wringing their hands that it could be the End of Publishing As We Know It. Since Doubleday is releasing the e-book simultaneously with the print book, some think it will trigger a significant shift to e-books (hat tip to Neil Vogler for the link), while former PW editor Sara Nelson dubbed it a “book killer” and found lots of people in the biz worried that the hoopla about THE LOST SYMBOL will drown out news about books by other (massively bestselling) authors. EW’s Shelf Life is all too happy to poke fun at the notion that a surefire bestseller can be considered a menace to the industry: “No wonder book publishers are in such dire straits. They even panic at the prospect of a big hit!”
Jofie Ferrari-Adler just completed the latest entry in his incredible series of interviews, this time with veteran agent Georges Borchardt, who, over the years, has, along with his wife and daughter, represented the likes of Samuel Beckett, Aldous Huxley, T.C. Boyle, Ian McEwan, and many many more. People often wonder how the industry has really changed over the years, and Borchardt has a wonderfully balanced take (and he should know).
Market My Words has a great interview with editor Molly O’Neill of Katherine Tegan Books (HarperCollins), who started on the marketing side of publishing and has some advice that may sound familiar: you need a web presence, you should know how best to use your online marketing tools, and communication is key. Check out the interview for more.
Jeff Abbott, author of TRUST ME, passed along a blog post from Dallas Mavericks owner/rich guy Mark Cuban about a really bad (business) query he received. UPDATE: You can follow Mark Cuban on Twitter here.
Also in Jeff Abbott news, he wrote a great guest post at Jen’s Book Thoughts about the doors that writing has opened up. It’s a really eloquent personal take on the writing process.
In writing advice news, my wonderful client Jennifer Hubbard has a truly insightful post on conflict: while you often hear that you must have conflict, sometimes the best way to build tension is to have your characters avoid conflict with each other.
Almost finally, ladies and gentlemen, as a front page article in the Wall Street Journal attests, there is a scourge sweeping my hometown and greater Colusa County. No, not meth. No, not tractor-battery burglary. Not even gas siphoning. It is the diabolical, evil fiends otherwise known as crayfish poachers. And yes, in case you are wondering, that really is where I grew up, and yes, that really was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Also we call them crawdads.
And finally, finally, I won’t embed this video as it is decidedly not workplace friendly, and you should not click the link if you have an aversion to Rated R language. But given how much we talk about “The Wire” around these parts, I know some of you enjoy love this completely hilarious YouTube video: The Wire with a laugh track.
Have a great weekend!
Loved this passage in the Georges Borchardt interview:
That's the irony when you see how publishing works. You don't necessarily make the money out of the flavor of the month. The real money, if you're in it for the duration, comes from books like that—from books nobody wanted—be they by William Faulkner or Elie Wiesel or Beckett or many others. Unfortunately, that argument is totally unconvincing to publishers now. If you're an editor at Random House or one of the other large firms, you can't say, "We're not going to make any money on this book for the next three years, but in ten years everybody will be envious of us for having it." The guy you're saying it to has two years to go on his contract, which is about to be renegotiated next year. What good does it do him to have a book that will bring in money ten years from now? He couldn't care less! He wants the book that makes money now so he can tell his bosses, "You should give me another contract for five years at twice the salary." So it's become different, and I think that's what's weighing on publishing, more than any of the other crises that come and go.
"…and meanwhile, Microsoft, Amazon, and Yahoo announced that they were aligning against the Google settlement."
Okay, I just flashed on a scene from Mothra vs. Godzilla.
Nathan, I found an interactive book over a year ago, and thought it was a great idea. That was Cathy's Book.
Giving your readers links to relevant topics, news etc is very nice of you Nathan, thanks. I was thinking about the idea of conflict in writing and if characters avoid conflict is that a form of conflict, knowing that we are social animals? A lot of families use the avoid always as a way of dealing with "issues". Hmmm. More thought and writing needed.
I have read "Personal Effects: Dark Art" and also have been an avid JC Hutchins fan since listening to his amazing 7th Son podcast (the novels will be out this year with St Martins Press).
On the interactivity, I agree with the above comment that the book can be read on its own. However, JC has used some very cool things that try to make the book an alternate reality that I personally looked at and enjoyed:
*Call the voicemail and listen to a message (use free Skype!) – that was cool because voice brings the story to life
*Go to http://www.PixelVixen707.com where the blogger is the 'girlfriend' of the protagonist – she has been blogging for ages so it is quite convincing
*Check out the websites for the psychiatric unit where the book is set http://www.brinkvalepsychiatric.com/ It looks very real!
*You get a whole load of physical objects with the book including an ID card (where the bad guy looks scarily like author Scott Sigler!) which just add depth.
I would say that the extra 'effects' make the book stand out from other thrillers – they do add to the story but not significantly. But JC is also an incredible marketer and community builder and these extras help immensely!
I did a video on this as my own book review – and yes, I'm a fan but not being paid!
Thanks, Joanna
Well, Ohio crawdads are certainly much smaller in comparison! At least I've never seen any as big as the ones in those pictures around here!
This was posted on Twitter today: "BubbleCow If you DM me links to good blog posts for writers I will tweet them back out."
I submitted your blog, hope that's okay.
Wonderfully,
Chrystal
It's not just crawdaddies. It's hay, too! (the WSJ is all a out weird stolen commodities).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125089839482850673.html
Holy crap. You can actually poach crawfish? Are there crawfish farms or something over there? I just have an amusing image of guys dressed in black, sneaking up in the middle of the night, and pouncing on unsuspecting crawfish with their over-priced, over-the-top crawfish catching hardware.