Publishers and Editors

Setting aside, for the moment, the fact that Publisher’s Weekly is referring to today as “BEA Eve”, we are finding the coverage of the event fascinating. Yes, dear readers, that means grown-ups are behaving in manners unbecoming of publishing industry professionals*. It almost makes us wish we were in New York. Almost being the operative word — why fight the crowds and such when others can do it faster and better? It seems tempers were flaring at the first of the pre-show panels, and it’s all the fault of those darn young ‘uns who don’t read. What is a poor […]

Just a quick update: ReganBooks is still moving to Los Angeles. It is still cheaper to live and work here than in Manhattan. We have art and culture. We have flowers and great weather and cute shoes. Year round. We’re all good. The LA Weekly offers up its profile of Judith Regan, complete with requisite snark. Not that we’re opposed to snark — we just take issue with sexist snark. You never see them describing the color of a man’s bracelets, do you? Though the interview doesn’t reveal much that is new, unless you count Regan’s assertion that it’s called

Amy Hundley of Grove/Atlantic talks about what grabs her, editorially speaking, and what she’s looking for when she’s looking at your work. She also discusses the importance of voice, noting it’s important to write past your influences to discover your own style. And, of course, she addresses the age-old question of experience: I’d say it’s pretty irrelevant. I’ve learned over time that there’s no relationship between an author’s experience and their level of comfort with the publishing process—some come into it seeming like old pros, and some of the old pros need more attention. Many of my authors I’ve ended

We had a friend recently describe Harlequin’s recent efforts as something akin to lurching around in the dark. That !@#$ light switch must be somewhere! While avoiding every bit of our helpful advice, the publisher continues to tinker with ideas and concepts, looking for something that resonates with today’s readers. We would suggest a bit less focus on “lines” and a bit more focus on stories, but that’s probably why we’re not a multinational corporation. The new Epic Romance line is targeted toward readers (and writers) of, well, the love story aspect of J.D. Robb’s “In Death” series. None of

Let us see if we have this straight: Author writes memoir about being raised by wolves after escaping from the Holocaust (well, not exactly raised). Publisher publishes book. Publisher decides not only to terminate marketing plans, but also to defraud other of royalties. Author sues. Author earns more than she thought humanly possible. We are not sure, but we suspect the folks at Mt. Ivy Press might want to revisit their business strategy. That’s a lot of money to lose in such a pathetic manner. Though we are filled with questions (what constitutes a bestseller in Europe, what is “interest”

Unless you are one of the lucky ones, you will be rejected at least once in your writing career. Depending on your constitution, this might be a punch in the gut or a confirmation of what you suspected. Or something in the middle. They’ll tell you it isn’t personal, and it likely isn’t. We are cynical and suspect certain behavior affects even the slush pile. Karma is our guiding principle. Anna Genoese, by all accounts, is a nice person. She’s also an editor at Tor/Forge; as previously noted, editors are lovely people, too. Anna Genoese has a job to do,

We’re confused. In our defense, it’s been like, oh, a day since that last happened. So we’re catching up on Publisher’s Lunch (or, in our case today, Publisher’s Afternoon Break Because Our Eyes Are Crossed) and we stumble across an item that seems, on the surface to be too strange for words. And not just because it’s buried at the bottom of the “Blogwatch” column. See, normally, we expect a blog-related posting. Not this time. Our old friends at Penguin (see all previous) have come up with an idea that’s either brilliant or bizarre. It’s not a situation where you

Here’s an older interview with Brenda Copeland that we missed. Since all things editors are fascinating (except, possibly, the part where they put their shoes on one foot at a time, just like the rest of us), we have been burdened with guilt and whatnot because of our falling down on the job. Hmm, that might not be entirely true. Copeland goes in depth into what pleases her, describing the moment when she feels a connection with an author like this: The writing has to be top notch: strong voice, clear, so I don’t find myself skipping ahead because I’m