On the lighter side of memoirs, this little treat really stuck out. To be honest, I was anticipating its dismissal, assuming it was really about some guy's family and would likely have no impact or interest on the reading public beyond the author's immediate family and friends.
It was exactly that which made the book so endearing.
Carl Cusato, now a successful consultant, tells the story of growing up in an Italian American family in the fifties and, through the years, overcoming life's little obstacles. Characters make appearances with (nick)names like Big Buck Tooth and Ignorant Louie, and you get a genuine flavor for what growing up Italian was in the fifties (and thereafter).
The most compelling parts of the novel are his youngest years, where he describes an upbringing (simple, joyful, funny) that not only has all but disappeared from the American landscape, but the folks who have the tales to tell are disappearing as well. This history is about to vanish forever. And even when the times were not that innocent, they practically defined innocence by today's standards.
This memoir probably really was designed to educate/impress/serve Cusato's family, but don't let that push this one aside. It turns out having a grounded family (unlike, say, Augusten Burroughs) is far more interesting than the dysfunctional ones.
The book is broken down into 40 easy to read chapters (including an epilogue which the author admits "everyone hates"-- including me) making it easy to read in snippets. Priced at $21.95 on Amazon (no doubt do to the inclusion of images) it's a great book for snowy days.
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By: Poddy Mouth,
on 12/27/2006
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By: Poddy Mouth,
on 12/20/2006
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Check out this magnificent article by Christopher Meeks, author of THE MIDDLE-AGED MAN AND THE SEA, about the evolution of the cover of his newest book/play.
Very cool info, and brings home the importance of a quality cover. Would you pick up (buy) the book with the Lulu cover? Would you pick up (buy) the book with the final cover?
Excellent stuff. And an excellent final cover, to boot! (In fact, I loved three or four of them.)
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 12/18/2006
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I suppose, in light of all the bogus (or exaggerated) memoirs being churned out over the last few years, I was subconsciously hoping for a true, heartwarming memoir from a self-published author to blow me away.
This one blew my mind.
Ann Pai pens a masterful--dare I say masterpiece--story in her touching and soulful memoir, MY OTHER BODY. The story revolves around the author and her sister, Joyce, and their relationship from childhood through adulthood, and the wreckage created and left by Joyce's battle with (and ultimate death from) obesity. With the growing concern with obesity (particularly in the United States) the story is more than haunting; it's a siren song. At Joyce's nadir, she is over 500 pounds--but through Ms. Pai's prose, we can see and feel Joyce as a svelte youngster, the innocent clay before it is dry and breaking.
Speaking of prose, the writing here is absolutely magnificent (and I'm not just comparing it to the 200 books I just passed on prior). From the initial pages, we get a sense of the tension to ensue:
Joyce saves the stories of my babyhood the way Mama hides linen company napkins. Safe is dark cedar, they require purposeful retrieval.
. . .
She tells me that Mama caught her standing over my crib with the billy club that our Uncle Harold gave her. Mama took the club away and went to see Uncle Harold with it. "Were you going to hit me?" I ask.
"Probably," she says, and shrugs. "Yes, I was."
Some of the most compelling and telling points in the book are the interludes of what is happening, physically, as a result of the disorder:
She wakes from her dream into her fat, the way yeast wakes inside dough. Dreaming, she had no gravity, no hesitancy.
. . .
She's never really done eating. She eats until interrupted. The phone rings, or the garage door opens and her husband is home, or she must leave for work.
She eats so that she can't be caught, eats only enough so she can't be detected--only enough cookies so the remainder can't be counted at a glance, only enough corn chips so that the bag isn't flattened.
The memoir is rich, powerful, and--most of all--bittersweet. And, unlike most memoirs, this one has an unexpected twist. MY OTHER BODY manages to entertain without ever getting whiny and woe-is-me-ish, or ending with everyone wearing a size 6 and partying in trendy nightclubs. Read a true (true!) story of a real battle with obesity, and unlike the drug and alcohol memoirs (especially the bogus ones), you can read about an issue that likely affects one or more people in your very own life--and answers some questions as to why New York is trying to regulate trans fat.
$15.00 on Amazon, perfectly priced for 350 page book.
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 12/15/2006
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Before you take another sip of coffee (or beer), you must take a look at Kristin Nelson's stats for 2006--indicating the amount of work an agent (and an agency) must go through to get a handful of high-quality manuscripts. Next time you are annoyed that you got a form rejection for your manuscript, recall Kristin's blog entry and remember how much work an agent does, and that to hold the hand of every aspiring writer would take a team of a hundred agents. Not to mention psychotherapists. Post a thanks/comment on her entry, too, for not only finding and selling some great books, but for taking the time to share her insider knowledge of the business day after day.
Anyway . . .
I'll be (pretty much) on vacation for a while, until after the New Year. So posting will be rather hit or miss. Mostly miss. Publishing really does come to a standstill during the holiday season, so there will likely not be much to discuss. Upon my return in January, though, we've got big things coming--including the 2006 Needle Awards, which will be even bigger and better than last year.
I do, however, have two book reviews to post. So tune in Monday (or thereabouts) for the first one, which is one the best POD titles I've read this year.
And yes, I will be reading lots of submissions while en route to various family gatherings.
I wish one and all the very best of holidays. Be safe, healthy and happy!
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 12/14/2006
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Publishers Marketplace reports today that the biography of Oprah Winfrey by Kitty Kelley, which had been making the rounds in New York to no avail, finally got picked up by Crown (Random House) for an undisclosed sum. The interesting thing is how many folks were involved in selling it (Larry Kirshbaum, Wayne Kabak at William Morris) and how close it came to actually going to iUniverse.
From PM:
It took not only her usual agent Wayne Kabak at William Morris to pull the deal off, but also Larry Kirshbaum as "marketing consultant." Crown group Jenny Frost takes responsibility for the buy, and Peter Gethers will edit the book.
At one point this summer, Kelley's reps were said to be seriously exploring a publishing deal with iUniverse since they had been unable to find a traditional publisher brave enough to take the book on.
Welcome to POD, the land of the brave.
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 12/13/2006
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The answer is this: Who knows.
All it takes is one sentence to kill a pitch for me, which puts me already in the "dread" cycle. (As an example, I never read THE HISTORY OF LOVE by Nicole Krauss (even though it was recommended by a friend) because I read "spans a period of 60 years" in a review of it.) On the flip side, all it takes is one sentence to do the opposite, too.
Sound unfair? Probably. What do you think I am, Kirkus? I'm just an average person trying to get through the muckiest of sludge and I have preferences just like anyone else.
The typical next question is, "Well, what can I write to grab [a reader's] attention?"
The answer is this: Who knows.
But my very best advice is to write whatever you like most. Don't write chick lit because you think it will sell (especially since the market is in a downturn) or thrillers because you are a man. If it feels good, write it.
If you look back over the culture of entertainment, there have been some successes that no one would have predicted. Who would've guessed a show about nothing would go down as one of the greatest television programs ever, or that a song about a pedophile with a sinus infection would launch a band to stardom, or that a book where 85% of the protagonist's speech is in the form of a stutter would win a national award? And there are countless cases where a perfect concept is introduced but falls completely flat. So, just write what you like writing. The best will rise to the top. Does that mean it will get published?
Don't be silly. Of course not.
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 12/12/2006
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By: Poddy Mouth,
on 12/7/2006
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Ten years ago, recent college grads Matthew Holm (Penn State) and Jonathan Follett (Boston University) decided to take what they termed a "working vacation", a cross-country journey of finding the most popular UFO sites. Their journey took place during the height (keep your dissention to yourselves) of The X Files, and while interest in aliens may have waned (some) since then, this travel memoir is delightful, clever, and compelling--and here's why:First, let me say that I'm not that interested in extraterrestrials; most of my attention was drawn to David Duchovny's vague comeliness. What makes GRAY HIGHWAY so accessible is that the authors are not experts (nor even compulsive adherents) on the subject. They are every-day dudes, writing a memoir that is anything but rote.
The story and writing is marvelous; the style, quite assuredly, is an even blend of SIDEWAYS (some of the best sections/writing is what happens between locales), UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, and STATES OF MIND. And the book is put together well, too (read: not churned out using a basic POD template from one of the big POD publishers), using stylish fonts and maps of the places they visited, and looks (not [intentionally] trying to disparage iU or Authorhouse here) like it was designed by a team of folks at Simon & Schuster or Random House.
The writing is intelligent, and their commentary on the people and locations brings more to light than fanaticism; it's an impressionist painting of this nation. Holm and Follett visit various spots on their quest for alien info: Pascagoula, Murfreesboro, Roswell (of course), White Sands (of course), El Cajon, and a slew of others make an appearance and leave an indelible mark on the reader.
At risk of disparaging the other books I have reviewed here (and I'm absolutely not doing that) GRAY HIGHWAY is one of the most unPODlike books I've read to date. It's fantastic reading--and a must for everyone who likes buddy books, travel memoirs (remember, you'll learn as much about Americana as you do UFOs) and, of course, extraterrestrials. But most of all, it's a highly-memorable book for lovers of literature.
It's $11.95 on Amazon--and the perfect holiday gift for that one open spot left on your list.
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 12/6/2006
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If you haven't seen this article about the Sobol writing contest, then check it out.
So now the winner gets $100,000 and a book deal with Simon & Schuster (Fireside). Sounds sweet? Then you've got some defective taste buds, my friend.
First of all, the remaining authors who entered are getting their pockets lightened by $85--a fee Sobol claims is a necessary administrative fee.
Give me a break.
At the risk of sounding vain, I am going to compare the Sobol awards to the Needles. First of all, I charged nothing--nothing--and never found myself in need of an administrative fee. Secondly, while Alice Hoffman is certainly a respected author and Robert Riger (of B&N) is, I'm sure, a great guy, I would argue that the people I had judging the Needles were solidly more qualified--agents and editors that represent and acquire some of the best literary works on the market today (none of them asked for an administrative fee either). Thirdly, there is this statement:
[EVP Sue Pollack] declined to give an exact number of manuscripts received, but said it was more than 1,000 and that the contest had not been hurt by any criticism.
Eh. Yes, it was hurt by the criticism. The original due date was December 31st, just a few weeks from now (though they extended it to March 31st--what great folks). But most importantly, the statement really means they have between 1,000 and 2,000 manuscripts so far.
You've got to be kidding.
Simon & Schuster vets on a higher level than that every week. Are you telling me that suddenly S&S puts a stat on getting a book published with them at about 1 in 1,500 while the rest of the industry puts it closer to 1 in 25,000? What was S&S thinking? This will not have a happy ending for them. Not to mention that I (one person) vetted nearly 6,000 pitches (and 1,400 books) last year alone, so many of those coming from authors who put so much effort and energy (and belief) into their works that they decided to publish the books themselves. And if S&S thinks it's such a great idea, why don't they run their own contest?
And lastly--and perhaps worst of all--you end up with Sobol as your agent? Holy cow.
And how, exactly, are they going to afford this venture? If they get a total of 1,500 submissions ($127,500) and have to dish out $142,000 in prize money, do you really think they'll take the difference out of their personal IRAs? No. We call that bankruptcy.
Bottom line? This contest sucks--not just for authors, but now for Simon & Schuster, too.
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 12/5/2006
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First we had the Frey debacle, and now the fiasco with Augusten Burroughs. Who's next? Will it turn out Dave Eggers really doesn't have a younger brother? That it was really a kitten he took under his wing all those years in his twenties?
What we need are some foolproof memoirs. True? No, I didn't mean that. I meant foolproof, as impossible-to-disprove.
You fiction writers who are bored/exhausted/bereft-of-ideas/mistakenly-think-writing-a-memoir-will-be-easier-to-get-published should try penning some bogus life story. Just make it airtight. Here a few suggestions which you can take and use to pen a masterpiece. It doesn't matter if you've never experienced these things; just remember: airtight.
STRANDED: A Memoir of Being Lost
PARTY OF ONE: My Life Story of Having No Family, No Friends, No Acquaintances, and No Human Contact
THE REAL LIFE AMAZING DAYS OF THE BUBBLE-BOY
HELLO, BEAUTIFUL: a memoir of self-love
NICE GUY: How I Lived a Life of Loving Everyone, Respecting Everyone, and Generally Having Nothing Bad To Say About Anything. Ever.
GETTING AWAY WITH IT: Crazy Things I've Done That No One Can Prove
WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?: An Adventure In Memory Loss
THE NIGHT WATCHMAN: You'd Be Surprised What Goes On When No One Is Around
ONE IN A MILLION: A Tale of Acute Anonymity
IT'S NOT A LIE IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE IT: A Memoir
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 12/5/2006
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Amazon is completely focused on the customer experience," said Greg Greeley, vice president of books at Amazon.com. "This collaboration with HP will enable us to significantly increase the number of available titles our customers can purchase while offering publishers the highest quality color printing options."
Amazon has pretty much been the main way (fair to say they sell 90% of all POD titles?) for self-pubbed authors to get their product in the hands of the reading community. Follow this statistical nugget and you'll see why they are so committed:
The books-on-demand market is expected to grow from approximately 20 billion book pages in 2006 to approximately 38 billion book pages by 2009.(1) This is due chiefly to the increasing demand for small-volume, rare and self-published books.
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Along with Susanne Severeid, you can find another Hollywooder (Hollywoodite? Hollywoodist?) using POD to get a book into the ether: Diana Douglas (the mommy of Michael Douglas). Check it out.
______________________
And if you are looking for someone to review your fantasy novel, you might want to check this out.
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And if you're simply looking for a little justice in the world . . .
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/30/2006
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I mean, what adolescent wouldn't love to break free of the Potteresque tinge of his/her library. Blow his/her mind with this.
Afraid your kid is a little too balanced and optimistic? Bring a dose of reality with this little nugget.
Instead of reading mundane new stories about polygamy or watching that goofus from Twister, give the gift that keeps on giving.
And in case Stephen King becoming a romantic is not what your horror-loving friends are looking for, well . . . let's just say what's left of their minds will be blown with this.
C'mon, you know you've got that credit on Amazon from the recall of OJ's book. Put it to some honest and respectable use this time.
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/29/2006
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This is some funny stuff.
__________________________
Also, check out MJ Rose's blog today, where Josie Brown offers up yet more excellent advice. (I have made it a point to read all her Wednesday entries; each and every one is poignant and important.)
Her commentary today is regarding niches (categories for how books are placed in the brick-and-mortar stores) but she touches on interesting points that affect those selling online:
"Both Barnes & Noble and Borders have shown a drop in sales this quarter compared to a year ago. At the same time Amazon sales continue to grow. Already the online commerce bohemoth has 10 percent of the market.
Borders, which has partnered with Amazon for its online commerce, announced recently that it is now reconsidering that venture. But if the break is complete, Borders will have to play catch-up as quickly and innovatively as possible. Amazon is an innovator, both in its product offerings and its technological development, as proven in the ways in which it gets customers to browse or search by topic, category (and books can be keyworded under multiple categories, I might add), look at book covers, read online excerpts, listen to audio interviews of their favorite authors, even comment with authors who blog (make that plog) right there on the book's subpage on Amazon."
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/28/2006
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A snippet:
In response to an e-mail asking about how he markets his books, [Seth] Godin wrote: "The unspoken truth is that except for perhaps 250 giant books every year [out of 75,000 published], the publisher is expecting the author to do 100 percent of the sales and promotion. Because authors don't understand that, they end up bitter, angry and perhaps destitute."
And later . . .
His advice to authors is to get out and really work for their books: "You need a platform to make a published book work. If you don't have a platform yet, you should self-publish your first book and give away enough copies to get a platform, and then use that platform to engage your readers so that you can sell the second one to a publisher and quit your day job.''
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/20/2006
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Here we are at the headquarters of POD-Dy Mouth Sewage and Septic with yet another unveiled interview with a top agent in New York. Today, we have Kirsten Manges with us, where she offers up some great answers to my half-rate investigative journalism.
Girl: First of all, how quickly do you delete submissions that start: "Dear Kristin," or "Dear Keirsten,"?
Kirsten: It’s an easy one to get wrong. I always appreciate it when authors take care in spelling it correctly, though a mistake of this nature wouldn’t stop me from considering a query.
Girl: You're far kinder than I. People spell girl wrong all the time in their submissions to me. And what does that tell me about their writing? Geez. So, what made you decide to leave the venerable Curtis Brown Ltd. to start your own eponymous agency? Please note that I mean eponymous in a good way, despite the fact that the literal meaning is "relating to a person whose name is or is thought to be the source of the name of something, such as a city, country, or era." For years, I thought it was just some goofy word R.E.M. made up to cover the stench of arguably their worst album. I mean, seriously. Who really cares about B-sides?
Kirsten: I was with Curtis Brown for 8 years and built quite a solid client list while there. I worked alongside a group of brilliant agents and learned a great deal in the process. Eventually, I felt I was ready for a new challenge and decided to take the plunge and go out on my own. Clients have always been my first priority and I was bolstered by the fact that each of mine agreed to come with me when I opened up my own shop. I’d say the nature hasn’t changed so much (though I probably work longer hours now!), it’s just much more exciting and immediate.
Girl: Hey, we love entrepreneurial types here at the Mouth. Who are some of your greatest success stories? And don't feel bad about leaving out some of your authors. I'm left out all the time and *sniff* there is some glory in being a midlister. Okay, like hell there is.
Kirsten: All of my authors inspire me greatly—you can never know in advance who’s going to hit it big, but I never take on an author unless I feel passionate about their work and confident in their potential success. I’m very proud to be associated with writers such as Anne Easter Smith, Jill Smolinski, Jennifer Vandever, and Olympia Vernon.
Girl: Does it matter if an author self-published before approaching you? Does the sales record suddenly become critical? Some of my favorite books that I've endorsed on my blog have sold no more than a few dozen copies.
Kirsten: It doesn’t impress or hurt if an author has self-published. One of the key factors that would persuade me to take on a POD might be sales figures. I’m in this business so naturally I’m always looking for the gem that has gone unrecognized, sales figures or not.
Girl: Before you get a deluge of inappropriate books with logos from POD publishers on the spines, tell us what you are looking for exactly. (Probably won't make a difference, mind you.)
Kirsten: I represent writers of high quality fiction and non-fiction, including narrative, memoir, history, popular science, sports writing, psychology, travel, food, health, and the arts. My Interests? They run the gamut from humor to history. I’m drawn to memoir, journalism, history, women's issues, and multicultural books, among others and represent a number of scholarly writers, lawyers, historians, and sociologists, who bring their professional expertise to books for the general trade market
Specifically, for non-fiction I’m looking for narrative non-fiction which includes a wide spectrum of subjects when complemented by a strong and alluring voice. I’m looking for strong credentials, an original point of view, and excellent writing skills. With fiction, I’m looking for well-written commercial novels, as well as compelling and provocative literary works.
Girl: I've found some terrific self-published books--really terrific--but the labor I have had to endure to find them has been excruciating. Do you see the world of POD as having any benefit beyond turning the slush pile into $20 paperbacks?
Kirsten: The job you’re doing is noble and invaluable simply because it does take time to discriminate between those who self-publish from merit and those who self-publish from vanity. There is nothing inherently better about POD.
As far as finding representation goes, I don’t think POD is a benefit per se. A fancy package is the least important element of the submission at this stage in the game. On the slush pile, the bound book and the manuscript carry equal weight with me; of course each agent is different.
This said, an author who queries looking for representation in securing a trade publisher because s/he has managed to sell a bunch of books may be considered differently. A POD certainly brings up more questions for the agent if he or she likes the manuscript—what was the publishing history? Did trade publishers see it already? I wouldn’t consider the text differently than a manuscript but I would question the choice of format.
Girl: My favorite question to ask agents and editors: Is it true that if you have a brilliant manuscript, your book will eventually find a home/publisher?
Kirsten: My first inclination is to say that the beauty of the POD model is that with you vetting and in touch with good agents, it means that it is almost impossible for a good book not to find an outlet. But that’s just unfair—and way too much work for POD Girl. Unfortunately, there are those heartbreak situations where we can’t find a home for a wonderful manuscript. Most times, however, while it may not be a major publishing house there is someone who is willing to publish if the manuscript is really brilliant. It’s an excellent question though, because I do think POD does provide an alternative outlet for those heartbreak situations. On POD—I think it is a terrific resource for good material to find an audience and gives a bit of power back to the reader to decide what is good writing or an important subject. I had a situation a few years back where publishers just couldn’t see the market for a non-fiction project. The author had a platform and I encouraged him to self-publish. It ended up selling fantastically. In the end, he still wanted a trade publisher on board and so we went back to publishers and it sold. I’m not sure if that’s a success story or more of a sad comment on a timid publishing climate.
Girl: I get writers asking me all the time if they should abandon the traditional path to publication and go POD. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers out there?
Kirsten: I guess the first thing I would say is don’t look for an agent too quickly. Make sure you develop your writing and establish your platform before seeking an agent so that when you do put yourself out there, you feel ready. Promote yourself the best way you can (journals, magazines, blogs, etc). Then go out there and believe in your work. If you get turned down by agents or editors remember it’s a highly subjective business. If you’ve come to this step prepared and if you’re not snapped up by an agent then self-publish if you think it is really that good. Then all you have to do is promote it like crazy.
Thanks, Kristen. (I'm joking.) Your time and insight is much appreciated. And you may want to up the size of the transom above your office door.
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/16/2006
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Mark Z. Danielewski, Only Revolutions 14,000 units (Amazon rank: 1,743)
Richard Powers, The Echo Maker 4,000 units (Amazon rank: 982) *winner*
Dana Spiotta, Eat the Document 4,000 units (Amazon rank: 215,013)
Jess Walter, The Zero 3,000 units (Amazon rank: 25,449)
Ken Kalfus, A Disorder Peculiar to the Country 2,000 units (Amazon rank: 41,823)
I've reviewed (several) POD titles on this blog that have sold more than all of these, except for Danielewski's. Of course, the real benefit is now that the nominations have been made public, all of these will probably sell at least 50,000 units.
Also important to note is the Amazon rank of each (from a few hours ago), further indicating its unreliablility.
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Also, check out this article over at Independent Publisher (home of the IPPY awards) which touches on the recent issues within the commercial publishing industry. A snippet:
Granted, these days we also see books published by the major houses in which editorial assistance seems to be lacking and/or spelling and typographical errors occur. In other cases we see books published by the majors in which one must ask whether the cause of Literature might have been better served if they had saved the paper. Scan the stacks of remaindered books in the aisles of bookstores in any city, and especially those of the big box stores. Just as an MFA does not guarantee the quality of the writing, publication by a major publishing firm does not guarantee the quality of the writing or its success in the marketplace. Furthermore, the notion that a book published by a major firm guarantees the authenticity of its content is undermined by the claims of plagiarism and falsification made against some of their better-known authors.
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And for all you Science Fiction authors who are looking for reviews . . .
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/15/2006
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Shucks, I'm flattered.
What has all this time and attention proven? That I could have written another novel with the energy spent on this blog. But more importantly (I suppose) is we've shown that there are some dynamite books hidden in the ether, never to land in a dusty corner of B&N. I've had countless emails from folks writing of how they loved a book that I'd reviewed--or even how it changed their lives! No one has ever sent me, the author, such an email.
Way back (18 months ago), going POD (and digital format) seemed like a foolish course to follow. But the landscape is changing daily. And it is tough for an industry as low-geared as publishing to make adjustments in a timely fashion. Look at the most recent post at MJ Rose's blog. Here's a snippet: ". . . the playing field between the bestseller and the midlist book is being leveled."
So, raise a glass (if that's orange juice in your glass, throw a shot of vodka in there) and down one with me. Cheers.
_________________________
Elsewhere:
Over at the PubGuy blog, there is an interview with commercially-published author (and actress) Harley Jane Kozak, where she touches on the same items as Nicholas Sparks (from my previous post).
If you haven't been to Five Chapters yet, then put down that screwdriver and type the URL with both hands! Great new writing by great (commercially-published) authors. Check out the archives for some great stuff, too.
And best of all (and totally fun), check out the Warner Books POD page. It's a great place to get books released by Warner, Bulfinch, and Little, Brown while paying PublishAmerica prices. Please note: POD titles are not returnable (*rim shot*).
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/10/2006
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Because publishing is becoming more business-oriented each day with more examination of the bottom line, it's harder to break out than ever. Publishers are generally less willing to take big chances in "growing" an author. They want books that will sell, and usually sell right away. If they don't think yours will sell, odds are, they won't take a chance on it. Why? A major reason is because authors in general have become more prolific. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner have fewer published novels combined than any number of contemporary novelists -- Roberts, King, Koontz, Steel, etc.
So, next time you call on a POD publisher, tell 'em Nick sent you.
Further, Nick writes:
. . . You have to understand business factors that are important to the editors making the decision on whether or not to buy your novel: What's the genre? What successful books are similar to the one you've written? Why is yours better? What's the market for your novel? How can we get the word out to that market? And most importantly, will this book be recommended to others?
Here are some other questions they might ask:
- Does your book have movie potential? What I mean is, have you already sold the movie rights?
- Does your book have to do with cryptic religious messages? Sorry, scratch that. I meant elephants.
- Does your name even vaguely resemble Setterfield or Sittenfeld?
- Just exactly how well do you know Oprah?
- If you're book is self-published, have you already sold 20,000 copies? I mean, we need some proof it will sell. You think we take chances? On second thought, you probably sold it to everyone who would want a copy. Never mind.
- How large is your extended family? Big readers, are they?
- Is your book a fraternity or sorority memoir? We'd love to get our hands on that alumni list!
- How much of your advance are you willing to invest in publicity?
It's a brutal industry. Just ignore the bruises and be happy you're in it.
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/9/2006
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But aside from the competing types of entertainment out there, there is one within the publishing industry that is repeatedly ignored: self-published books. If you do a little math, you can see how much money is being pulled from the commercially published books and being transferred over to POD. It's bigger than you think (if would have to be or why would iUniverse and Lulu continue to exist)?
I'll be conservative. Let's say you have 50,000 POD authors (don't laugh; PublishAmerica claims to publish a quarter of these). And let's go with the average number of sales for a POD book (which I think is a too low) of 75 units (don't laugh again; this doesn't take into account POD titles that sell extremely well, like the 5,000 copies of the DIDYMUS CONTINGENCY that Jeremy Robinson has sold). So, 50K times 75 units is 3,750,000 books. Now add on the average price of $17. That means over the past couple of years, POD has stolen just shy of $64 million dollars from New York (not including Xlibris, which funnels its profits back to the Random House). And the truth is this is probably double that.
The publishing industry has become incredibly diluted. Not just with POD, but how about all the small publishers that have claimed their stake? Even the number of agents submitting books to editors has reached an all time high. We are beyond the point of the massive publishing groups like Bertelsmann and Holtzbrinck looking to snatch up the next William Morrow or FSG. Who's even a possibility? Maybe MacAdam/Cage. Other than that it is an ocean of ultra-small publishers that will never have the appeal to draw a major in to buying them. So how will New York get that revenue back?
What, you think I have the answer?
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/8/2006
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But then the issue of where the agent was located came into play--and two authors said they would probably go with the one located in New York (vice not New York). Since this is something that Kristin Nelson had blogged about recently, I thought I would add my half buck as well.
Location of an agent really means nothing. At all. Granted there are still a lot of agents who lunch quite a bit with editors, but the industry is really changing. As the old school agents and editors retire and *sniff* pass on, the younger breed is bringing a new tone to the publishing world.
I remember an agent that had offered me representation for my first novel. She wasn't that old, but she was definitely old school. She kept telling me how when she made a submission, her books were noticed because she packaged them up in a nice, attractive box. She just kept saying this over and over. The box, the box, the box. "When my box arrives. . . " I couldn't take it. This was a gal who wanted nothing to do with the Internet. Everything we did in the early days was sending and faxing pages back and forth. It was bizarre. Respected as she is, I’m glad I never signed with her.
Now--according to the folks I deal with in NY--very few folks want paper at all anymore. And all I can think is how that poor agent has a crapload of unused boxes in some self-storage place on Staten Island.
Where was I?
Location, right. So it really does not matter where an agent is in this day and age. Sure, schmoozing is still important, and certainly the point of BookExpo as well as the London and Frankfurt Book Fairs—not to mention conferences. But living in New York to pitch books? 99% of this stuff--pitching, negotiating, editing--is done over the phone and email anyway. You don't see writers moving to New York to get closer to their editors, right?
So bottom line: An agent living in New York certainly can't hurt. But a determining factor? Not in a million years. An agent's reputation is the same regardless of their home address.
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/7/2006
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By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/7/2006
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Scam publisher
Publishing rip-off
Vanity authors
The possibilities are endless. The results are mostly the same.
________________________
Elsewhere in the POD world:
Susanne Severeid won the second place Literary Award for Published Fiction by the Arizona Authors Association (first place went to an author at HarperCollins). And you can read an interview with Susanne here.
Arthur Edwards has done at MySpace what so many indie rock bands are doing: putting some free material up to listen to. You can visit his MySpace page and listen to the audio of a good portion of STUCK OUTSIDE OF PHOENIX there.And anyone interested in getting an author appearance, etc. for a book club, feel free to THE MIDDLE-AGED MAN AND THE SEA, to set up a date.
________________________
And you thought I was anonymous. This lady (guy?) really pushes the envelope.
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/3/2006
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Regarding Neilsen Bookscan's tracked sales of books for 2004 (1.2 million), here are the results:
- Of those 1.2 million, 950,000 sold fewer than 99 copies.
- Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies.
- Only 25,000 books sold more than 5,000 copies.
- Fewer than 500 sold more than 100,000 copies.
- Only 10 books sold more than a million copies each.
- The average book in the United States sells about 500 copies.
Okay, we all know the bulk of the "99 copies and under" category came from POD publishers. What's really disturbing is that only 25,000 books sold more than 5,000 copies. Talk about a dying industry. I think I'm going to burn my television on the front lawn.
And fewer than 500 books sold more than 100,000 copies? What? The fact that the term "bestseller" represents how fast a title sells really distorts the total sales of a book. Most people (who are not in the publishing industry) assume a bestseller has sold hundreds of thousands of copies--even millions.
And only 10 books sold more than 1,000,000 units? I'm not even sure I believe that. I can think of 20 off the top of my head that I assumed sold that many. That means each major publishing conglomerate (bad word, I know) only gets 1 or 2 million-copy-seller per year?
We're lucky to get advances at all.
The only way to sell your title in this day and age is to think outside of the cube, man.
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 11/1/2006
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And why, for the love of rocks, does the NY Times tout Viggo's literary attempts as Indie when the rest of the self-published world is viewed as vanity (or worse)? And more importantly, why can't more men look like Viggo? I mean, seriously.
__________________________
Another self-published book rockets (sails? drives? walks?) to commercially-published success. Here is another cross-over deal listed at Publishers Marketplace:
President of Bridges, Branches and Braids Ruth King's HEALING RAGE: Women Making Inner Peace Possible, previously self-published, to Lauren Marino at Gotham, by Laurie Fox of the Linda Chester Literary Agency.
In case you didn't know, Gotham is part of Penguin Putnam.
__________________________
And regardless of your political affiliation, you'll enjoy this quiz where you have to match the sex scene with the politician who wrote it. I only got 5 out of 13 right. (The Kenneth Starr excerpt was a gimme).
By: Poddy Mouth,
on 10/30/2006
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I'm not an avid Who fan. And most of their (best) stuff was written before I was even born. So why can I recite almost every lyric from Who's Next? Why was I the only girl (not to mention toddler) on my block who could spin my arms around windmill-style to the chord thrusts in Baba O'Riley?Older siblings.
For an entire year my brother, Thomas, would not come down for dinner unless someone yelled up to his room, "Tommy, can you hear me?"
Recently, I finished a commercially-published nonfiction book on Morrissey, the lead singer from 80's British alternapop band The Smiths, so I was ripe for another biography on a rock star. And let me tell you, Wilkerson's book on Pete Townshend blew the other book away.
AMAZING JOURNEY is (hold on to your oats) over 600 pages of detailed, meticulous research, all written so well you'd expect a Da Capo logo on the spine. I can't imagine how long it took Wilkerson to pull together the immense information in this book, but it clearly reminds me why I would not be successful at writing biographies. The book is outstanding, covering the famed musician's entire life, and managing to entertain and surprise you along the way. If Pete Townshend was considering writing an autobiography one day, I'd kindly suggest he forget it. This book is more than enough. Here you'll get all the goods on the man who once wrote, "I hope I die before I get old."
Wilkerson writes a fair and balanced look at the guitarist and songwriter (unlike the worship-fest I suffered through with the Morrissey book). If you are a Who fan or even just a lover of 70's rock, this is a must for your collection. Ignore the price; it's like buying three books at once.
You can get it on Amazon for $34.95 or pick it up ten bucks cheaper directly from Lulu (or download it for under $7.50). I'd call that a bargain. The best I ever had.
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