Statistics

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We made a major mistake recently. During our conference, we allowed our friend Jill to peek at our statistics. No, now that we think back, she looked without permission. The nerve of her. As it turns out, our detailed information sparked the hidden bell curve of her soul, and she’s become a woman obsessed (sample conversation: “I see you haven’t updated Booksquare today. Why not?” Us: “Because we’ve been on the phone with you talking about your site’s statistics.” Her: “What about before that?” Us: “We were responding to your fifteen emails about your site’s statistics.”). One thing that continually […]

Tools and Craft

They Had Us At Reverent

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Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are the new darlings of the literary world. We cannot believe we just typed that sentence, but sure enough, there it is on our screen. And the cats can’t spell. Let us begin again. Pitt and Aniston are acquiring rights to books like it’s going out of style (which is not possible as Hollywood is a town of copycats, and the golden duo does it, the rest will follow like well-tanned sheep). Which leads us to, first, wonder how anyone can say the following with a straight face: Brad and Jen started Plan B as

Books/Mags/Blogs

The Details Matter

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We have never read James Patterson. He’s probably fine with this, and so are we. Writers write how they write, and, best as we can tell, there is no secret formula. And craft? Well, it has long been our belief that it’s something writers notice but remains largely invisible to readers. Stop! We know. Allow us to define readers as those who read with a less critical eye. What we mean is that well-crafted fiction flows and absorbs the reader — poorly crafted fiction doesn’t. But maybe we’ve been wrong. Or brainwashed. Perhaps craft is overrated. Perhaps those things we

Square Pegs, Tools and Craft

Relationship Update

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When we last visited Text, the independent Australian publisher, they had just entered into a long-term relationship with British publisher Canongate. At the time, we hoped they’d blend their households with minimal fuss. The profile of Michael Heyward in The Age reassures us to the point we wish we were Australian (thus reviving long-dormant fantasies of working on sheep stations and running with kangaroos). Though the article largely focuses on Heyward’s passion — which fairly leaps off the page — it also delves, briefly, into his editorial style: “I often tell writers now what we’re going to do is a

Publishers and Editors

But There’s The Context Thing

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Self-publishing, like any publishing choice, is a highly personal decision. In our experience, those who choose to self-publish fall into two broad categories: the first, people who just want their books published, no matter what (and no matter the quality of the work; this is our mental definition of vanity publishing); second, those who have tried every avenue and, despite strong work, cannot get published. It is usually the latter who find eventual success via traditional publishing routes. We will not deny that self-publishing scams exist (this is the modern world) and we will not suggest that self-publishing will save

Books/Mags/Blogs

Creating Characters

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We were trying to explain to our friend Jill that when we discuss her here, it’s not really her. She’s become a character. Same as the husband. And the mother. Sure, they come off as real people, but we’ve exaggerated, molded, changed, revisioned them to suit our personal needs, much as we do when we sit down to have those mental arguments we could never carry off in real life. We see the people in our world as something more than they are and they become, in a way, fictional to us (our friend Jim is the exception — everything

Square Pegs, Tools and Craft

One More, Then We’re Off

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We really should go through all our mail before we declare ourselves done. We’ll never learn. So, one last item: Edward Necarsulmer IV has joined McIntosh & Otis. He’ll be focusing on the children and juvenile list (presumably taking over where Tracy Adams left off). McIntosh appears to have a website, but several attempts to contact it were rebuffed. We’re sure it’s not us as we’re wearing a disguise at the moment.

Agents

Pushing Our Buttons

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We end our updates on a scream. Yes, that sound you heard was us, not a military jet speeding by. We are happy to share the news that Marie Macaisa will be the series editor for Sourcebooks’s MediaFusion line. We’d love to tell you more about MediaFusion (knowing that authors are inherently nosy), but when we clicked on the MediaFusion link on the Sourcebooks site we got an “Under Construction” symbol. Yes, a sawhorse with blinking warnings lights. It’s 2004, and, well, we have to say something blunt. Either a page is there or it isn’t. It is better to

Publishers and Editors

One Fell Swoop

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Bunch o’changes for Harlequin/Silhouette — so many that we couldn’t possibly come up with something clever for each and every item. Thus, we’ll let you pretend we were witty and jump right into the list. Take Brooke Perkins, EA for Harlequin Intrigue and Silhouette Intimate Moments, off your mailing labels. Tracy Farrell, Executive Editor, will no longer acquire for Harlequin or Silhouette single titles (yes, that’s our brow furrowing because we just spoke with one of her authors, and got a different impression). Jessica Regante is acquiring for Red Dress Ink. We believe this is a sort of promotion for

Publishers and Editors

Our Need for Dirt, Unfulfilled

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At Bantam Dell, Elizabeth Scheier is no longer listed as an acquiring editor. No word on whether this means she was promoted or moved to another company. Interested parties should probably pick the up phone to get the whole scoop (and, hey, drop us a line if you do!). Bantam Dell

Publishers and Editors
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