Publishers and Editors

One of our top Trench-Coat Operatives contacted us with some rather bizarre news, so bizarre it required phone calls and coded email. Not necessarily in that order. As of September, 2006, Harlequin (the conglomerate) will cease to publish both Harlequin and Silhouette Romances — yes, those sweet, short books that serve as shorthand for all types of mockery will no longer exist. But wait! Do not despair. Do not panic. Do not think you will be forced to read books filled with minimal romance and lots of sex. While it’s the end of the world as we know it, there’s […]

For the eight or nine people out there who didn’t have the copy of the email forwarded to them: Kate Seaver is leaving Dorchester for Berkley. Leah Hultenschmidt will replace Seaver (meaning someone will soon replace Hultenschmidt in her current role). As we have learned from said forwarded emails, Hultenschmidt is a lovely person. We are not sure why this is critical information, but there you have it. For what it’s worth, Seaver is also a lovely person, especially if you like your loveliness on the practical side. Dorchester Publishing Berkley Books/Penguin Group

MediaBistro continues to make our days easier by going out and doing the interviews we would do if we had the time and energy. We don’t, so we pretend to be reporting by linking to their stories. In a way, it’s a win-win situation for us. Except for the part where we pay for the privilege. Must work on that. This morning, they buttonhole Kendra Harpster of Doubleday and get her to spill on all sorts of topics. We’ll just skip ahead to our favorite parts, though, as always, we suggest reading the full article. That way you’ll know she

We must say that our readers are busy little bodies. While we took advantage of the electric blanket and the lack of coffee (we were on strike until caffeine was freely available), they were off gathering news and forwarding, forwarding, forwarding. This is how it should be. In what we believe is the second major publisher deal with Vocel, Harlequin is going all cell phone on us. While we’re very exxcited about the possibilities of cell phone content (from an intellectual perspective), we’re already having gag-me thoughts. Maybe it’s the description of the cool services: Harlequin will provide subscribers with

We’ve been hearing stories about Transita for the past couple of months — a whisper here, a question there. Always with the underlying “they’re looking for stories about/by older women”. Followed by “what does that mean?” Yeah, well, what does that mean? Fiction has traditionally celebrated the younger woman (and man, let’s be fair). The rite of passage makes for the basics of literature. There is nothing more interesting than the transition from callow youth to responsible adult. Unless, of course, you’re a responsible adult. Then you begin to realize that life has more to offer than a mortgage. Also,

One of our Trench Coat Operatives sent a coded update regarding the new Macmillan venture. While all the previously reported details appear to be the same, our TCO hears rumbings that the 20% royalty may be applied to the net amount, not the cover price. Until our TCO completes her wall drilling and safecracking and exhaustive analysis of paper samples, we advise that those offered this special deal (hey, you get to pay for editing!) to read the language regarding royalties with extra care. Probably you want to see what other costs you’re going to bear as well.

Ever read an article and feel the urge to sit everyone down and bang some heads together to get answers? Or maybe take a hot shower? Then you know exactly how we feel most of the time. Macmillan in the UK is trying a new publishing model, one which will allow authors to earn a 20% royalty. We were kind of thinking, okay, we’ll go with this for a minute, but the end of paragraph (one which, naturally, was not explained as well as we’d like) stopped us: If it [Macmillan] decides to accept a novel for the list, terms

We just can’t stop it — here’s hoping a long listen to the Magnetic Fields will break our spell — but that’s beside the point. The New York Times takes a long look at self publishing. And M.J. Rose, who we first met over her (then) self-published first novel, responds with some questions she can’t get answered to her satisfaction (like true consumer sales figures). In the past week, we’ve seen a rather weird instance of one fairly-new-to-the-scene author receive “offers” (and we use the term with all due skepticism in this case) from two self-publishers. The first came from

Today, David Thayer poses the big one: How can a publisher get books into the hands of readers? That’s the battlefield of the next decade. Sometimes the best way to deal with a large obstacle in your path is to go around it. The asteroid has already landed. The only restaurant is Carl’s Junior. Streets are paved with grease. Five crazed wholesalers have hijacked an entire culture. We’re doomed. On with the show. David’s is not an idle question. If it is true that word-of-mouth is the best method of marketing books, then it stands to follow that marketing needs

Never let it be said that we don’t use our time wisely. For example, we rose with the dawn (or something closely resembling dawn) to get things done. It’s been an hour and we’re still thinking on the notion of actually doing something. Until then, allow us to delight in the analysis of weak earnings at HarperCollins, UK. Apparently it’s all Sean Connery’s fault. Or maybe it’s J.R.R. Tolkien’s fault — darn him for dying and not leaving a Tupac Shakur-like trove of novels in a trunk. Blame can also be placed squarely on the shoulders of some other guys