Publishers and Editors

We’re lazy — there’s no shame in that. And we’re still working our way through last week’s mail. There is some shame there: we get far too much of the stuff. Putting the two elements together allows us the luxury of reading Sara Nelson’s column, rubbing our chin as we contemplate her scenarios on the future of Miramax Books should Harvey Weinstein pack up his corner office and move on, and then allowing Publisher’s Lunch to form our thoughts for us: I have no inside knowledge, and will subject myself to future embarrassment by predicting that this is the most […]

It’s a bit embarrassing to admit this, but we don’t have a clue from bankruptcy. Somewhere along the line, we developed broad categorizations — good bankruptcy and bad bankruptcy — and mentally slot related news into those areas. How and why we went to such trouble is lost in the mists of time. Thus as we report news that a publisher has slipped into Chapter 13 protection, we consider this: money is good, no money is bad. Word has reached us that Imajinn Books has entered into Chapter 13 (filed in Colorado, we have a case number, the contortions required

We have heard tell of a miracle of sorts. While Ballantine Books has long had a policy of agented-only submissions, two editors have said they will consider queries from unagented authors. Charlotte Herscher (editor) and Arielle Zibrak (editorial assitant) will accept query letters (standard stuff: paragraph about your book, info about the author, contact information). Both editors are seeking well-plotted big romances (no clue, we’re sorry to say). Word count is approximately 100,000. Ballantine Books

Red Sage Publshing is now adding longer, single title works to their repetoire. The erotic fiction publisher is seeking stories in the 55,000 to 75,000 word range. Contemporary settings, complex stories. The new guidelines aren’t posted yet, but contact information is available on the Red Sage website. Red Sage Publishing

We spent one day this past week driving the mother around the lovely, but unusually hot, Santa Barbara. A mix of the modern miracle that is eye surgery and the modern hassle that is the medical establishment left us with much time on our hands (not to a mention a mother who could see perfectly mere moments after going under the, well, we believe a knife was involved). There was a brief debate about how to fill the hours until her second appointment. Hmmm, is it a true debate when both parties immediately settle on a bookstore as the optimal

It has been several years since we had what is affectionately known as a “day job” — this week, we have been reminded of the inherent rigors of such an activity, and we find we cannot recommend it. One must rise early and go somewhere else. Then there’s office coffee. It is always bad. And traffic. How does anyone survive leaving the house? We do not know, but we are hitting the road for the fourth time this week. Four work days, four days away from the comforts of our home office with all its toys and distractions. That surely

We don’t want to give away too much, but in 2008, we will have been online for, uh, nearly twenty years. And the Internet was around long before we had our first dial-up account and encounters with bulletin boards and such. In 2008, Amazon and e-commerce in general will be a mature market. So, yeah, that would be a good target for publishers to get their e-commerce acts together. We realize it’s tough, picking up an entire industry and turning it 180°, but we strongly encourage publishers to move a bit faster. Technology is your friend and can help you

We’re simply too lazy to fight the good fight. Plus we never know what to wear when going to battle against the trite and obvious. Black’s been done to death. Prints make us look short. And red is simply not our color. Yes, we’re blaming our retreat from headline bashing on sartorial indecision. It’s so much easier than admitting we can’t keep up. Soon the world will be overrun by headlines like the one below. We hope our small attempt at battle will earn us a place in history, though we lost the war. Once you get past the headline,

Finally, at Warner Books, Melanie Murray has been named assistant editor. The grapevine does not mention her favorite sports or hobbies, though we suspect she’s partial to women’s fiction. That’s it. We’re going shopping! Time Warner Bookmark

Keeping up with editorial moves can be a full-time job. And messy. MIRA books has done some shuffling as well, so take notes. Martha Keenan is senior editor. Miranda Stecyk and Susan Pezzack are editors. Other acquiring editors include Margaret Marbury (executive editor) and Sasha Bogin (editorial assistant). Harlequin/Silhouette Editorial Addresses