Articles from June 2004

Loves Us, Didn’t Get Us

June 29th, 2004 · 1 Comment

We start our morning thinking about certain aspects of the writing business. For example, the agent query. You know, where hapless young writers enter the void. We certainly applaud agencies that allow authors to query via email; it makes perfect sense to us (not to mention the number of trees saved!). What makes our skin […]

File Under: Agents

Them’s Fighting Words

June 29th, 2004 · Comments Off on Them’s Fighting Words

Yes, we really do need to get a life — it just doesn’t appear likely in the near future. We were fascinated by this tale of in-fighting in English PEN. All the usual literary intrigue — editing, censorship, fighting fair — is represented. If the charges weren’t so serious, we’d find this imbroglio tailor-made for […]

File Under: Square Pegs

So He’s Crazy, What Of It?

June 28th, 2004 · Comments Off on So He’s Crazy, What Of It?

How do you describe something you’ve never experienced? Well, of course you can make things up. But there’s always some “expert” out there willing to explain how you’ve gotten the details all wrong (even those details of societies that died thousands of years before our hypothetical critic was born). So authors sometimes do hands-on research […]

File Under: Square Pegs

From the Puzzled File

June 28th, 2004 · Comments Off on From the Puzzled File

We are the first to admit there’s a lot wrong with the publishing industry, especially as it relates to royalty accounting (don’t ever corner us at a party after we’ve had too much wine — we really get started on the subject). We also applaud entrepeneurship and looking for new publishing paradigms (do you seek […]

File Under: Publishers and Editors · Tools and Craft

Let My Information Go Free

June 28th, 2004 · Comments Off on Let My Information Go Free

There are generally accepted models for the dissemination of academic information and research. We believe the technical term is “publish or perish.” Leave it up to those crazy scientists to challenge the status quo. As with all things, there is a cost involved with this process (though, as the article hints, less so for the […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Chasing The Tail

June 28th, 2004 · Comments Off on Chasing The Tail

We’re not sure what criticism of literary criticsm is called (but we are sure we haven’t had sufficient caffeine to indulge in research). Or if it’s even socially acceptable. One senses the discussion, without careful management, could degrade to the literary equivalent of a barroom brawl (Google Bill O’Reilly versus Jack Mathews for another look […]

File Under: Books/Mags/Blogs

We Need A Cheat Sheet

June 27th, 2004 · Comments Off on We Need A Cheat Sheet

Seriously, we get information from a variety of sources (not that we’re saying they’re all reliable, but that’s another issue). And, frankly, some of the stuff coming over the transom is cryptic. Yes, we do our best to research, but at the end of the day (moment, really), we have to guess. Like what is […]

File Under: Publishers and Editors

You Are Using Pencil, Right?

June 27th, 2004 · Comments Off on You Are Using Pencil, Right?

Suzanne Harper has been named Senior Vice President and publisher for hardcovers, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. She’ll be in charge of Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Margaret K. McElderry Books, and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. As always, we refer you to the publisher’s website. As always, said website baffles us. We […]

File Under: Publishers and Editors

Can Paper Be Mopped Up?

June 26th, 2004 · Comments Off on Can Paper Be Mopped Up?

We admit it. When we read the first sentence of PW‘s story about Millbrook, we got all tingly. Something about the term “mopped up.” Then we started thinking. Never good. But that’s beside the point. Millbrook Press and Twenty-First Century Books have been sold (or, if you prefer legal mumbo-jumbo, agreed to be sold, pending […]

File Under: Publishers and Editors

Stop Us Before We Snap

June 26th, 2004 · 1 Comment

We are, by nature, pacifistic. It’s that lazy thing we suffer from. So it’s surprising and painful to discover we’re feeling oozy, icky hatred. Not the hot, passionate kind. This is more the type that will spread and fester. Yes, thanks to a helpful friend, we have finally read an author interview that pisses us […]

File Under: Square Pegs