What a week! It’s not often you visit New York and arrive on Halloween, see marathoners running by on Sunday, have the Yankees win the World Series in the Bronx on Wednesday and eat way, way more pizza than should be humanly possible (oh wait, that’s every time I come back to New York). I’ll probably be posting a bit about my NYC publishing impressions next week, but in the meantime, there was a week in publishing and I tried to keep up:
As of this writing you still have a few hours to enter the Rejectionist’s most amazing/hilarious form letter contest. The entries so far are incredible.
More on the WalAmaTargEars discounting battle, this time from one of my new favorite stops in the Interetosphere, Mobylives, the blog of indie publisher Melville House. In a recent post, Dennis Johnson notes that the drastic price slashing that the major corporations are currently engaging in wouldn’t happen in, say, Germany, where certain laws (egalitarian/socialst/un-American/sane/anti-corporate depending on your political leaning) prevent discounting on books for 18 months, thus allowing independent booksellers and publishers to compete on even footing with the larger corporations.
Meanwhile, according to the Telegraph UK, book apps have overtaken game apps on the iPhone. The kids are alright! Now please keep it up.
In further electronic news, Simon & Schuster has unveiled an e-galley program, which will be compatible with some e-readers and will save on printing.
And the Millions noted an article in the Bookseller about how the environmental benefits of e-readers might not be quite as clear cut as they’re made out to be.
So remember a little over a year ago how I mentioned I was suddenly getting lots of women’s fiction queries featuring overweight protagonists who are perfectly happy with their bodies? A year later, guess what’s the new trend in chick lit.
The Wall Street Journal featured an interesting article this week on how different authors write. Some notables: Junot Diaz writes in the bathroom, Richard Powers speaks his into a microphone while in bed, and Nicholson Baker wakes up at 4 am, writes for a while, goes back to sleep, and then wakes up again to edit.
In agent advice news, Holly Root has a great reminder that agent advice is meant to help aspiring authors, not to terrify them. She writes, “I have heard from so many writers who are terrified of “offending” agents or breaking some rule. Nothing about this process should be anywhere near that scary, and shame on those of us professionals who have made it so. It’s publishing—not nuclear disarmament. I am an agent, not Emperor Palpatine.” I knew there was a reason I can’t shooting lightning from my fingers. Yet.
And in social media news, HarperStudio VP and marketing maven Debbie Stier, who I had the pleasure of meeting in person yesterday, has a great post in HuffPo about whether Twittering and social networking can sell books. As their big success CRUSH IT! goes to show: yes, it does help.
In case you haven’t heard it’s pretty tough out there for debut authors, and two very established authors feel your pain. In a recent interview, John Irving was extremely sympathetic about the challenges facing aspiring authors, noting, “If I were 27 and trying to publish my first novel today I might be tempted to shoot myself.” But even though he doesn’t really think his first novel would be published today he doesn’t believe the book is in danger.
And though he doesn’t personally suffer from the WalAmaTarGears heavy discounting, John Grisham has spoken out forcefully against the practice. He notes, “If half of us are going to be doing it, then you’re going to wipe out tons of bookstores and publishers and we’re going to buy it all online. I’m probably going to be all right — but the aspiring writers are going to have a very hard time getting published.”
Very kind of the big guys to stand up for the little guys.
And with that, I shall bid New York adieu and see you back in California.
Have a good weekend!
Mira says
I want to second that the entries in the Rejectionist contest are amazing and hilarious.
So, congrats on predicting the trends, Nathan. 🙂 I wonder if you see any current trends in queries that will be coming to fruition next year.
The overweight women in chick lit trend doesn't surprise me. Chick lit does tend to be on the progressive end. Also the fantasy of: I'm not perfect, but an absolutely perfect man (and in chick lit, it's frequently TWO absolutely perfect men) loves me for who I am anyway – that's a pretty appealing fantasy.
But I also think the culture is grappling with the issue of women and standards of beauty. I've seen overweight heroines in several mystery series, too.
Yea for the Grisham and Irving! Love that the 'big guys' are standing up. Thank you, and right on!
In terms of Holly's article, I think I'm only going to say thank you to Holly, and thank you to Nathan for linking it, and thanks to Marilyn for speaking up. It's so nice to hear people speaking to this concern.
Terra says
I'm glad I found your blog; I've already found a wealth of information here for writers.
wendy says
Looking forward to reading your New York impressions – literary or otherwise. Never been to New York and never likely to as I'm living on the Other Side. Would photos be out of the question?
L says
Nathan,
I LOVED the link about how authors write!
I have to admit, reading all of the "different" (*sneezeCRAZY!end sneeze*)methods of writing made me just a wee bit dizzy, and it felt sort of like I was becoming OCD by osmosis or something… but was like a train wreck. Could. not. look. away.
Very interesting.
Thanks for linking it.
Lia Mack says
nice comments from the big guys…still doesn't give me hope, but what more can we little guys do?
keep writing…
Jamie says
Just popping over from Karen's blog – love your blog – I'll be back!!!
Terri says
Okay – I have to step in and comment . . .
I do not have an indie bookstore in my area, it is at least a three hour drive to find one. My very small town supports a used bookstore and a gift/book shop that features local authors and books of local historical interest, mostly from micropresses or self-pubbed.
My local Wal-Mart has a teeny little book section with one section of best-sellers, one section of vampires, one section of Amish/Christian romance and one section of westerns. My supermarket has an 8-foot long book section that is actually pretty eclectic for a supermarket, but not a whole lot of selection.
So, that leaves me at the mercy of the dark overlords at Amazon. I was spending an early Christmas gift certificate when I discovered the new Stephen King novel for pre-order for $9.00 instead of $35.00. Yes, I ordered it! (it drops tomorrow)
Since I didn't have to spend my entire gift booty on the King novel (which I would have purchased at full price), I was able to get three more books, all three from writers I haven't read before, but have come to know through blogs, social networking, and recommendations. So, in my case, the dark one's use of a loss leader kept me shopping and buying – four books for the price of one. An prohibition on the practice of loss leaders would just mean that I would buy fewer books.
If I had access to an indie, I would be there, but I don't. One of my goals for 2010 is to use my limited book buying funds for new(er) authors and leave the crowd-pleaser-blockbusters for checking out of the library. Grisham, Patterson, etc. can live without my purchase, but my support may help a newbie.
Just my two cents from the midwest.
Terri
Ink says
Terri,
I agree with that in the short term. A temporary sale to increase traffic and awareness won't be too harmful, particularly if people spend the savings on other books (as you did). The problem is that if they continued and extended such a practice (which is the fear) then those three other books you bought likely wouldn't be published at all. There'd be a great abyss stretching out where the debut and midlist authors used to stand.
Just the thoughts of one humble bookseller.
My best,
Bryan
Mira says
Ink,
I think you may be right about mid-list, but not debut. Publishers are always looking for the next big thing.
It might be alittle harder for debut, but not impossible.
But honestly, this would all just make the transition to e-books faster. Traditional publishing is not the only way to publish, and if they tightened up, authors would start looking more seriously at other venues.
That's not to say there isn't a human cost here. And I suspect the government would step in when it started affecting the big book chains, but isn't this the way things are heading anyway?
Really?
Wanda B. Ontheshelves says
P-P-P-Peggy!
From Mad Men. Great scenes.
Also, hope they e-x-p-a-n-d Carla's role beyond Draper household (what's left of it).
Loved the "strike out on our own" theme of final episode. Resonates for some reason, I wonder why that is?
C'mon Carla, strike out on your own. Seems like great narrative possibilities there. Mad Men writers, I hope you too follow NB's blog, so you can follow my advice.
Marilyn Peake says
Thought this was really interesting: France Rates Top Indie Bookshops Like Wine.
redhighheels says
The bit about book apps on the iPhone is particularly encouraging!
Anonymous says
Nathan,
I submitted a query via e-mail and received what appeared to be an auto-reply rejection in less than four minutes.
Nathan Bransford says
anon-
Please read this post.
Anonymous says
OK,
I get it. Quick replies are efficient. After years of querying did not expect one.
terri says
Ink –
I do not disagree with you one bit. I doubt the 'price wars' will continue indefinitely, hopefully it is a holiday gimmick to get folks in the shopping mood and to make a grab at the Christmas online shopping dollars early.
I'm sure a non-trivial portion of online holiday buyers wouldn't shop in an indie. They are more along the lines of:
"Okay, Aunt Martha is next on the list. She likes lawyer shows. Okay, get her the Grisham. ::Click:: Next . . . "
If they do continue the deep discounting though, it would be nice to see it spread around a bit, such as deep discounting a promising newbie.
Terri
word verify: 'troutes' the paths fish take to get from one side of the lake to the other