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by Lauren
This weekend I went away for Memorial Day to a beautiful riverside cabin in the woods upstate. At one point, sitting by the riverbank in the sunshine, I looked up from my book to take note that all five of us were reading when we could’ve been doing anything we wanted. (We’d all packed more than one book even though we were limited to one duffel bag each—just in case.) It warmed my heart, I tell you. There was also much discussion of what we were reading—particularly of the third book in Stieg Larsson’s trilogy, which one person had brought along and another had already read.
People who’ve read these particular books tend to invoke the heroine’s enviable toughness. I’m often struck by conversations about a heroine so badass that it makes the book worth reading, because it’s not something I can really recall experiencing. I like to think I’m pro-woman (at the very least because I
am one, and I’m pretty pro-me) and have a good handle on which ladies
supposedly kick ass, but I don’t have that gut reaction of identification or aspiration or whatever it is that so many women (and men) I know do to a tough heroine and the book in which she lives. Of those incredible female characters I can identify off the top of my head, they’re really supplied by my childhood reading: Laura Ingalls; Pippi Longstocking; Jo March, up until the regrettable point that she ditches Laurie for the old German at which point I pretend the book is over so that I can still love it; etc. When I think of my favorite characters from non-children’s books, they’re really all men. As are a large percentage of my favorite authors.
I’m not 100% sure it matters—a great book is a great book, and a great character is a great character—but I still feel like I must be missing something. So this summer, I’m challenging myself to focus my personal reading on amazing women.
Here’s where you come in: since my natural reading proclivities have been steering me the wrong way, I’m going to need a list. I’ll stick Larsson on there, but I’m feeling the overwhelming buzz kick up my contrarian nature, and I’m just not ready to tackle the girl or her dragon tattoo quite yet. So below, let me know your favorite female characters, your favorite female authors, and why (without spoilers), and I’ll give as many as I can a shot. Then I’ll let you know how I fare when the summer is through!
by Lauren
“I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” Anna Quindlen
While I can’t speak for Anna Quindlen’s children, I think that those of us here seem to have gotten it right! Thanks to everyone who sent in their bookshelf photos. I’ll start here with mine, and then follow me after the jump for some from DGLM agents and blog readers!!
As I mentioned, I added a new bookcase to the family recently, so the first is haphazardly organized and covered in knickknacks, photos, and mementos. The second actually has some organization to it:
Baby-sitters Club and
Little House books on the bottom; galleys in the middle; and the top shelf is a combination of books I represent (which I really have to get better about bringing home, because there’s a lot missing), books I sell rights for, and books I’m eager to read that are ready to move up to the majors: the bedside table pile. I actually moved the bedside table pile on top of the bookcase for photo purposes—that’s the pile on the left that’s topped with my brand new
Room by Emma Donoghue galley. Those are the books I’m in the middle of or desperate to read next. The pile beside it are the books that I don’t own (though some of those are intermingled elsewhere as well) and have to remember to read and give back. At a glance, it seems about half of those are Jim’s!
Miriam and Stacey kindly took photos for me of some of their books—and they’re delightful for totally different reasons.
Miriam’s I love for the display table, which is an idea I’ve already stolen for my dream library with the rolling ladders.
Stacey’s I love because they’re not bookshelves at all. Having moved in the not too distant past and with 4 young kids at home, Stacey’s books actually currently live in a closet. Something about the haphazard stacks makes me think of used bookstores, and I kind of want to stop by her house and flip through to see what’s there.
by Lauren
By the time this posts, I'll already be at the DGLM table in the International Rights Center at the Jacob Javits Center, doing my duty at Book Expo America as the agency's subsidiary rights director. Today is the beginning of
American publishing's largest trade show and, for me, a three-day extravaganza of back-to-back meetings with foreign publishers, sub-agents, scouts, audio editors, and film producers. I’ll leave it to one of my colleagues to give you the BEA scoop in another post, but in the meantime, I thought it might be a good time to talk subrights.
I offered
a basic rundown of how subrights works a couple years ago, but maybe now would be a good time to talk in more depth. Since foreign rights take up the bulk of my time—and will account for most of my meetings this week—why don’t we start there? If you’d like to know more about audio, film, and serial, just let me know below, and I’ll tackle them in future posts.
Foreign is the biggest rights market. When a book sells to an American publisher, there are more or less three options: North American, world English, or world. Occasionally a book sells separately to Canada and the US, but that’s not the norm unless the author is Canadian, and even then, it really depends on the type of book.
In a North American rights deal, the American publisher will distribute their edition in English in the US, Canada, the US territories, and the open market. The open market is the term for those territories where English-language rights are fair game. American and British publishers have essentially carved up the world into three sections: US exclusive territories; UK & Commonwealth exclusive territories; and everywhere else. Occasionally, there’s a land grab from one side or the other insisting that they must have exclusive rights to a particular place (BEA 2006 featured
a panel on the whole kerfuffle). I’ve seen British publishers insist that they should get Europe exclusively because they’re…nearby? And I’ve seen US publishers insist that India’s not in the British Commonwealth. The part of it that always perplexes me is that the major players on both sides are generally owned by the same parent companies. The open market is the territories in which both the US and the UK publishers are allowed to sell. In the end, all that matters from the authors’ and agents’ perspectives is that the publishers’ dispute doesn’t prevent a sale to both territories and that the book is widely available. The notion that an island nation that no one involved could pick out on a map is a deal breaker is really quite silly. Fortunately, it usually works out.
In a world English deal, this is blessedly not our problem, though unfortunately we also lose the chance to do a separate deal in the UK. This typically means that the US publisher has a UK arm that they feel will publish or distribute the book well. All non-English rights, though, are controlled by the author, which means that we’re trying to place those where possible.
In a world rights deal, it’s all—English and every other language—in the publisher’s hands.
The way that foreign rights deals are typically done is through a network of subagents in the major territories throughout the world. In countries like the UK, Germany, Japan, etc., there are agencies that represent American publishers and agents, and those are the people I work most closely with on foreign rights deals. Our subagents represent the full list of rights tha
by Lauren
As the (perhaps overly) proud aunt of the world’s most amazing nephew, I try to keep up with the latest children’s books offerings to make sure that my boy’s got all the most valuable reading material. No one should have to grow up without his or her
fair share of pigeon tales. I made sure to be the one to read him
his first book, even though he was sleeping and less than two weeks old—and regardless of
its apparently quite insidious actual message.
And now,
thanks to the Book Bench blog, I know what I’ll be buying him in August for his “visit with Aunt Lauren” gift. Fortunately,
my sister was raised by the same book-loving mother I was (funny how that works out), so I have no doubt he’ll grow up aware of how fun and wonderful and significant words can be. Once he’s old enough to take his reading habits to nursery school and beyond, however, I fear he might need to share the final message of
Lane Smith’s forthcoming
It’s a Book with some of his less fortunate peers, and I’d hate for him to be less than prepared.
California
artist, Lauren Gallegos is just starting out on her journey as a professional illustrator. Armed with a boat load of talent and a BFA from Cal State Fullerton, along with the excitement, passion, and a desire to see how her work will impact the young minds of the future, Lauren is currently pursuing a career as a children’s book illustrator.
by Lauren
Have you heard about the
flooding in Tennessee? At least 30 dead, more than a billion dollars in damage, and a potentially crippling blow to a local economy dependent on tourism. I haven't seen much coverage of it—except blogs lamenting that the lack of media attention hinders disaster relief fundraising efforts—and some people here weren't aware of it at all when I mentioned it.
It's actually due to Facebook that I really know the extent of the damage and need for relief. One of my closest friends grew up in Murfreesboro, a city in Nashville's orbit, and I took a trip down there to stay with her family and help her move back to college just before our sophomore year. Her family, who I know well, still lives there. One of my clearest memories of my visit to Nashville is the lovely Cumberland River—now wreaking havoc—and
how much a part of the downtown landscape it is. (The other is that Rachel ordered a veggie burger when we had lunch at the NASCAR Café, which was frankly delightful.)
With so much need, I was happy to stumble across the
Do the Write Thing for Nashville auction being run by authors
Victoria Schwab,
Amanda Morgan, and
Myra McEntire. They're auctioning off some amazing items that anyone reading this blog should appreciate—galleys, critiques, etc—so head on over and check out their wares! And if you want to offer them something to auction,
take a look here.
Keep an eye out for the DGLM auction item on day 5: a batch of galleys by our clients! Now I'm off to figure out what I want to bid on!
by Lauren
While I've not been much of a trashy magazine reader since I was a teenager (except for when I lived in Ireland where British tabloids abound, because they really are the masters of the genre!), I loved
this Flavorpill post on which tabloid staples our great literary figures most closely resemble. It's hard to decide in some cases whom the comparison is crueler to: the fictional trainwreck or the real-life one.
But I quibble with some of their choices. Gatsby and Diddy seem similar on the surface, which I suppose is somewhat fitting the themes of the book, but Diddy just doesn't seem as emotionally damaged as poor pathetic Jay. For me, Gatsby's all about the pathos and how poorly the surface covers it up if you really look. I'd probably have gone for some unloved and unloveable
poseur who hangs with the heiress set but is still never totally of them. Admittedly, I can't think of someone who fits. Nicole Richie? Clearly seems to have her issues, and she wasn't
born into wealth--though unlike Gatsby, she didn't work her way in either. Lindsay Lohan, perhaps? (I clearly love Gatsby, but have never been a fan of Mr. Combs, so perhaps that's my issue. Poor little LiLo, though, I'm still giving credit for the sheer watchability of her
Parent Trap remake, which I've seen roughly 80 million times on television.)
And perhaps it's just me, but George Clooney oozes charisma, whereas Darcy seems more reserved and steadfast. Frankly, I don't see a Darcy type ending up in the tabloids unless he...I don't know...saves a small child or cute puppy during a slow news week?
But it's got me thinking, and now I'm trying to figure out who would stand in for some other classics. Clarissa Dalloway? Jo March? And who is John Mayer in the canon?
by Lauren
Recently I experienced a moment of great joy when a friend spontaneously remembered the name of the girl band we liked in elementary school that no one else seemed to remember. I couldn’t remember any helpful details like the band’s name or song titles or song lyrics or even melodies I could hum. But it turns out they were called BoyKrazy, and they were
even worse than I might have guessed.
This is not book-related in itself, but it has come up as a topic of conversation over the last couple years on occasion with my friend Nell, who has her own life mystery to solve. On realizing the joy of solving mine, it occurred to me that I could try to pay it forward by asking for the help of you, our well read audience, to solve hers. Nell loved a children’s book when she was in elementary school that must have been first published no later than 1986, but she suspects it was probably from the mid-to-late 70s or early 80s. Here’s what she remembers:
The main character is a young girl who always paints mustaches on herself. Her teacher tells her that mustaches are for boys and that she can't paint any more on herself. She has black hair that I think is in a bowl cut with bangs.
At some point in the story, she makes a new friend who has an electric train set in her attic, closet, spare room, or someplace like that. I believe the story takes place in New York City or some other metropolitan area with apartment buildings (I vaguely remember the new friend living in her building), but I may have projected that on my memories from my earliest childhood memories.
The story ends with the girl painting mustaches on everyone in art class, including the girly girl and the art teacher--who ends up laughing about it.
So, please, if this is at all familiar to you, help a girl out in the comments! If you understand the agony of kind of sort of remembering something that no one else seems to know exists, you’ll want to lend her a hand. Thanks!
by Lauren
Poetry doesn't often find itself a subject of our blog entries around here, since it's not within the purview of this agency or most others professionally speaking. And unless we're talking the poetry of pop music, it's not necessarily of interest to the majority of us personally. I'm something of an exception to the rule: I've only recently learned to identify Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift by voice, much to the dismay of Jim and our interns, but do happen to know a bit about poetry. I've studied it and even used to memorize it for fun, because that's just the kind of nerd I am.
So I was delighted to finally learn who this Ke$ha girl is through
the Princeton Tiger's video interview with Pulitzer Prize winning poet Paul Muldoon, the subject of my grad school dissertation. If you love pop songs, allusive poets, or college students in very brightly colored ties, check it out.
by Lauren
As the rights director, part of my job is trying to synthesize information on an author’s entire career to pitch front and backlist titles—and to know what is available to be sold or resold now. Foreign rights don’t have as short a shelf life as many others, and we still make foreign deals on books years down the line, sometimes after they’re out of print in the U.S. Recently, I asked one of our clients to send me a copy of an old contract from before we represented him, and he quickly pulled it from his files and got it in my hands. He remarked that he had heard from other authors that they didn’t really keep accurate files, and he couldn’t understand how they functioned. The truth is, sometimes, they don’t do it very well.
So if I can offer you one piece of advice today, it’s this: get organized. Even if organization doesn’t come naturally to you. Even if you find it inherently loathsome. Do not assume that other people will keep records of things you’re getting copies of and don’t assume that you’ll still be in touch with them when you need those things later. Don’t assume that people who you’ve stopped doing business with will prioritize giving you information you want at the speed with which you need it. Keep every single contract, license, and royalty statement you receive. Any time you sign a legal document or are given a financial statement, be sure you can get your hands on it in the future and within a few hours of it being asked of you. Think about saving things digitally to make them easier to find and save space (though you should still keep hard copies with original signatures of any legal agreement as well).
And start early. Plenty of well meaning authors tell me--as they sigh with dismay that they think they
maybe did a deal with some country that begins with T for their 3rd or 4th book--that they’re going to organize their paperwork this time. But 20 years in, that’s a much more difficult task than if you start organizing yourself from Day 1. And who wouldn’t want a career with that kind of longevity and potential?
by Lauren
Have you ever discovered that the exact information you were looking for was readily available online, but not found it until months after you first decided it would be of use? It just happened to me this morning, and it’s a reminder that no matter how hard you search, there’s still a lot out there that you might be missing. While Googling can get you far in life (and I firmly believe everyone should cultivate reasonably good search skills for their personal and professional benefit), sometimes the greatest sites are ones you’d never know to look for. It can be really helpful to know what sites others with similar interests and needs find handy.
Certainly, all authors should be sure to check out the website of the
Authors Guild. Some of their resources are only for members (authors with publishing contracts should think about joining), but others, like the information on the Google settlement, are freely available. For anyone interested in the possibilities that the world of social media has to offer (and frankly, you should all be, because it’s not only personally fun and useful, it’s critical to a successful career in publishing these days!),
Mashable is one of the best sites out there, including how-to guides both basic and advanced to get you started and then help you take it to the next level. If, like me, you’re a grammar nerd (or simply need the help), check out the
Chicago Manual of Style’s free monthly Q&A. There’s also the option to subscribe to the manual itself online, though I’m personally partial to the hard copy on my desk with post-its flagging the issues for which I’m most likely to need reminders.
Which sites do all of you find useful? We find the blogs in our blogroll (take a look to the right!) to be pretty informative, but I think the best resources for authors, both published and aspiring, are probably those their fellow authors are already using. So share below your favorite resources for authors and publishing professionals! I’ll definitely be looking to add to my list.
by Lauren
Are you new to the whole publishing thing? Maybe you’ve just finished your first ever masterpiece (and by finished, I mean edited, polished, had readers give you feedback, etc.) and are ready to look for an agent. Maybe this is even the first place you wound up after googling—in which case, welcome to publishing, my friend! You’re going to love it here (also sometimes hate it, but mostly, we hope, love it). There’s a lot of great advice
here, if we do say so ourselves. But much of it is detailed and narrowly focused, and maybe you need a quick overview. If so, Eric over at Pimp My Novel has
a very brief tutorial that’ll help you figure out where to begin—and give you a sense of what questions you need to be asking. My only caveat is that the year he mentions between acquisition and publication is more likely to be two years for non-fiction—or fiction that is sold on a partial or needs a lot of editorial work before acceptance.
by Lauren
Yesterday,
Michael offered some really sound advice on how to deal with potentially difficult situations that arise in the publishing process, and I wanted to follow that up with a link to
something of a companion piece over at Pimp My Novel. Eric outlines what you can’t control as the sales force tries to make magic happen for your book and then finishes with a sobering but important fact: “Everything from having your partial MS passed on to the agent by his/her assistant to the final sales call to winning all kinds of fancy literary awards will inherently contain an element of randomness or luck, and it's up to you to make the best of it, regardless of the circumstance.” That last part is key to a satisfying publishing experience. Some things will be affected by chance, but that doesn’t mean you should just passively leave your entire career in the hands of fate! For everything that lines up perfectly, capitalize on opportunity and don’t bank on chance. Lucky enough to have some author signings in an era where that’s less and less the case, don’t forget to tweet about it, make a Facebook invite, and email your address book. When things seem to be going wrong—and inevitably
something will—do what you can to fix them and do everything you can in other areas to minimize their impact. Pretend you’re in AA and memorize the serenity prayer—and talk to your agent when you need help with the “wisdom to know the difference” part.
And if you’re still wondering how to make the best of it, run don’t walk to the previous post Eric links to in his entry:
What You Can Do: Twelve Easy Steps. His hypothetical timeline may well be much shorter than what you’ll experience—except in the parts where the work is on
your desk and you’ll be praying to every god anyone has ever believed in for more hours in the day—but it outlines clearly just how proactive you can and should be. You can’t force luck to go your way, so make sure you don’t forget to do all the things within your power.
by Lauren
The ever entertaining
Laura at Combreviations was inspired by a
Guardian blog entry to recount her year of not buying books: a year in which money woes meant reading all the books she already had. The horror!
I'm a pack rat perpetually lured by the siren song of materialism to own an awful lot of things that I don't, perhaps,
need to permanently possess. I rarely get rid of books I've read and dislike. I get a bit twitchy when items loaned out don't get returned, even if I don't have any need for them back. And if I love it, I simply must give it pride of place.
I certainly don't
want people to stop buying books simply because they don't need to (if they did, how on earth would I make money to buy all the books
I want to buy?), but I am sometimes alarmed by the sheer percentage of books in the teetering piles that I have not and, let's face it, will not ever read.
When this happens, though, I just resolve to read twice as much, to continue to justify my spending. And with a weekend of rain and a day's wait for the cable guy looming on the horizon, it's nice to have the reminder to aggressively get through at least something the next few days to make room on the to-be-read pile for the six recent purchases threatening to fall off my desk here before I get them home.
by Lauren
(For details on Slush Week, see
Chasya's introduction.)
Dear (Agent's name),
Cleopatra Giancarlo is different from your average twenty-something career girl. For one thing, she knows when people lie because she can see the truth in their shadows. For another, she doesn't use her power for good. Or evil. After repeated failures to help others, she mostly just uses it to get deals at Bloomingdale's. She fears what the government would do if they discovered her ability, yet she longs to find out if there are people like her out there. If there's anything more she could be.
She gets her wish when two strangers whisk her away from her old life and introduce her to the world of suprasensors. John Arlin and Samantha Grooms represent an organization called YuriCorp, one of many privately-owned firms that employ supras like Cleo to increase their profit margin. Any of these firms would be thrilled to have Cleo on staff, and their methods of recruitment aren't always friendly.
But even in the world of supras, Cleo doesn't get to be normal. Her new boss wants her to go undercover and seek traitors in the company ranks. Her new friends know what she can do and how to work around it. And her new assignment might end up with her in a coma--or worse.
The Whole Truth is a 100,000 word paranormal women's fiction with a mouthy heroine who finds out people are people even when they can bend spoons with their brains. I've got an MFA in creative writing and am published in (titles/publishers/genres redacted for Slush Week purposes).
Thanks for your time, and I look forward to your response.
(Author's name)
Dear (Agent's name),
Cleopatra Giancarlo is different from your average twenty-something career girl. For one thing, she knows when people lie because she can see the truth in their shadows. For another, she doesn't use her power for good. Or evil.
(This kind of rhetorical set up is a bit too common and doesn't feel fresh to me.) After repeated failures to help others, she mostly just uses it to get deals at Bloomingdale's.
(This, on the other hand, works for me. I found it funny without being too cute. It's where the author first gets my attention.) She fears what the government would do if they discovered her ability, yet she longs to find out if there are people like her out there. If there's anything more she could be.
She gets her wish when two strangers whisk her away from her old life and introduce her to the world of suprasensors. John Arlin and Samantha Grooms represent an organization called YuriCorp, one of many privately-owned firms that employ supras like Cleo to increase their profit margin. Any of these firms would be thrilled to have Cleo on staff, and their methods of recruitment aren't always friendly.
Interesting premise. It's hard to write paranormal that doesn't sound like a million other books, but this manages to stand out.But even in the world of supras, Cleo doesn't get to be normal. Her new boss wants her to go undercover and seek traitors in the company ranks. Her new friends know what she can do and how to work around it. And her new assignment might end up with her in a coma--or worse.
The Whole Truth is a 100,000 word paranormal women's fiction
(This makes me wonder why the author doesn't call it paranormal romance, since paranormal women's fiction isn't really a category people usually refer to. Is the author trying to separate herself from romance or not doing her research or what? From a shelving standpoint, most paranormal is going in one of three places: romance, fantasy, or children's. Women's fiction typically goes in general fiction. Categories may be somewhat artificial, but it pays to know where you fit.)
by Lauren
Since reading
this Guardian article from earlier this month featuring Julian Gough's criticism of fellow Irish novelists, I've been feeling torn. On the one hand, I do get his point that contemporary Irish novelists tend to be backward-looking, that "reading award-winning Irish literary fiction, you wouldn't know television had been invented." Yet, as a book lover with a Masters in Irish Studies and
an on-the-record Colum McCann fanatic, I want to have a strong argument against Gough's claim. While I don't have an exhaustive knowledge of Irish lit by any means, I have studied it and
have even worked in an Irish bookstore, where Irish content is generally separate from similar sections, so that Irish fiction gets a separate set of bookcases from fiction, and so on. I feel I should be able to call to mind some great literature that feels present rather than past. Gough doesn't necessarily assert that they aren't writing good novels, merely that they aren't reflecting contemporary culture. Now, no doubt novels set in the past still often reflect the ethos of the time in which they're written, but it does seem unusual for a culture not to directly document the contemporary world in novel form.
So help me out, folks! I'd love to be able to leap to the defense of the subjects of my academic study, even if only in my own head where Gough's objections are lingering.
Short weeks always feel so busy, so rather than try to grapple with the news of the day, how about some comic strips?
Dinosaur Comics and
xkcd are, for my money, two of the best web comics out there--and conveniently, both sometimes talk about books/publishing, so I can offer you relevant joy right here on our blog! Below, some happiness to end your week. (And if you enjoy what you see here, head over to their websites or
buy their
books!!)
Ha!
I'm always on the lookout for something ne
by Lauren
Thanks to all who
competed and
voted in DGLM's first competition! Robert Kent (of Robertkent.net fame, naturally) is the winner of our contest and this pretty blue DGLM water bottle!
Robert's winning entry in the hilariously bad titles contest was
ATLAS HUGGED: A Guide to Encouraging Charity in Your Community.
Congratulations also to runners up Scott Martelle's
TWEET JESUS: Bible Passages for the Twitter Age and D. Antone's
WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THAT BOOK? Everything Known and Forgotten about Alzheimer's Disease. Your prize is the (dubious) glory of knowing you made us laugh!
Robert, write to me at
[email protected] to send your mailing address and claim your prize!
by Lauren
I know we talk about e-books a lot around here (and around the publishing world in general), but two of the issues we haven’t touched on quite as much as other subjects are free e-books and piracy. Two blog entries this week made me think more carefully about both issues.
First, free e-books. Mike Shatzkin over at the IdeaLogical blog
dissected the question of free. As he points out, it’s generally fairly accepted by those on the publishing and agenting sides that free e-books engender more sales than they endanger, at least in the short term. (Anecdotally, back when it was available, I downloaded the free e-book from oprah.com of the absolutely stunning
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, who regular readers will know
we’re quite fond of around here. Half way through reading the free e-book, I bought a hard copy, because it’s amazing; he deserves my money and so do his publisher and agent for making it possible for me to experience it. Plus, I need to share it with people who don’t have e-readers and ultimately give it pride of place on my shelf. Noticing the really reasonable price, I also told all my friends to go buy it ASAP. I know at least some of them did.) Do you lose some sales? Absolutely. But popular consensus seems to be that you gain more than you lose, and I fundamentally agree.
Shatzkin also goes into the separate questions of how we count free downloads vis-à-vis sales, and, more important, what impact the free download has on sales and the industry overall. We know it helps that book in the short term and probably in the long run, but does it hurt all books and publishers and retailers, etc., at the same time? It’s an interesting argument—and the sort of question that always makes me worry. How do you put the genie back in the bottle, and how do you know when it’s too late? If you’re not reading Shatzkin’s blog, you should, because even when I disagree with his conclusions, he always seems to take the conversation that extra step further and never fails to look at the big picture.
And second, a different kind of free: piracy. Sure,
this piece on hard copy piracy through a nefarious chain of libraries is tongue-in-cheek, but it’s an interesting counterpoint to the people whose fear of piracy prevents them from embracing a technological revolution. I understand the concern of
authors who feel that they’re losing money on piracy—in a time when they’re losing money on everything else (advances, royalties, returns, self-promotion), it must be aggravating to add to the list. However, we don’t ban libraries just because someone who took the book out of the library might otherwise have bought it. I don’t know that many avid library fans even though I know a lot of readers, but the people I do know who are addicted to their library cards don’t buy a whole lot of books. If libraries didn’t exist, they probably would buy more books a year because they are big readers, but we don’t use them as a reason to ban libraries. We also don’t count every book we lend to our friends as a loss of sales, and I actually think if my friends lost their library cards, they’d probably just spend more time looking at my bookshelves. If you create something worth experiencing,
some people are probably going to experience it for free. I
by Lauren
Because it is Friday and the short weeks always somehow feel longest, today seems like a nice day for
a slideshow of literary drunks and junkies.
Life magazine put this together, complete with not-so-fun facts about the authors' addictions. It is both troubling and somehow understandable that we almost instinctually feel genius and addiction go hand in hand--though undeniably tragic, what clearer manifestation of mental struggle than to spend your life at the bottom of a bottle? If nothing else, the slideshow taught me some things: in spite of my love for
Little Women, I know little about Louisa May Alcott and had no idea she was an opium addict. Also, F. Scott Fitzgerald, who I swear I must've seen pictures of before but somehow hadn't noticed--pretty hot!
I'm not equipped to judge the seeming correlation between genius and addiction (and not entirely sure whether there's actually a relationship--what percentage of brilliant artists of all stripes are perfectly sane and sober? What percentage of addicts have no discernible artistic ability?). But if we assume for a moment there is one, I wonder how many of these authors would have taken the trade of sobriety for a lack of a legacy.
(via
Book Bench)
by Lauren
The
Ghostbusters theme has been ringing through my head this morning, because of a charmingly named article I’ve been corresponding about written by one of the agency’s clients. I’ve had “Paperback Writer” stuck in my head for days because of
my own foolish blog post title from Friday. And I was once tormented for months by two projects I had on submission at the same time that had song lyrics as working titles.
Titles can certainly stick with us, especially when they’re allusions to something else. In college I took a class on literature of the “transition” with a professor who was fond of irrelevant tangents, so I often entertained myself by picking out book titles from the poetry course pack. WB Yeats’s “The Second Coming” alone is owed a debt of gratitude from the classics
Things Fall Apart and
Slouching Towards Bethlehem, and if you search the poem’s key phrases you can find a surprising number of others. WWI era poetry has also provided authors quite a bit of inspiration.
And beyond songs and poetry, puns and movie titles provide a treasure trove of opportunities for books, especially series fiction. Our own Victoria Laurie’s two mystery series are a perfect example.
Unfortunately, titling books is often much, much harder than just coming up with something to reference. As agents, we often have a hand in helping to come up with great titles for our books—and brainstorming lists of options for each others’ clients can be both a fun and trying experience. Recently, after hundreds of choices were suggested and nixed for a particular book, I decided to consult the internet for help and stumbled upon a great and also hysterical tool for authors: author MD Benoit’s
Random Title Generator (note: there are words that might offend some, so use with caution). We actually found a handful of really good titles—though none quite right for the book—and some that were so delightfully unfortunate we had to share those with each other, too. Click on over to the title generator and get yourself a new title for your masterpiece or a working title so atrocious it’ll help lighten the mood whenever you get frustrated with writers’ block.
But we think that
you, our faithful blog readers, can do better than a random word combiner. So come up with the best bad fake book title you can and leave it in the comments—bonus points for giving us a logline or subtitle to give us context. We’ll take entries until the end of the day on Friday, select our favorites as finalists, and let you fine folks pick the winner here on the blog. Winner gets a shiny new DGLM water bottle!
by Lauren
I've been on a bit of a Beatles kick lately, and--rather than my usual method of creating playlists of songs I already love by various artists--I decided to actually listen to some albums in full. Much to my surprise, I've discovered that a song I never liked is actually pretty fun: "Paperback Writer."
I wonder if my opinion has changed since I probably last really
listened to it before I spent so much time with the slush pile: a song that's actually a query letter is truly a delight. (It bears an unfortunate resemblance to some of the more misguided queries that come our way!) I can certainly think of songs about books or about writers or about trying to write, but I can't think of any other songs about the
business of publishing.
There must be some, and I love a good themed playlist, so can anyone think of any other songs about the publishing industry? Songs about writing, books, and authors also welcome.
by Michael
Lauren pointed me to
this excellent post about dos and don’ts for publicists from blogger Lindsay Robertson. The don’ts should be obvious, but sadly, it seems that they aren’t. What I found more interesting, and possibly surprising, were the dos. The rule that really caught my attention was “Pick Eight Blogs.” She suggests that publicists pick eight blogs to publicize to. Yep, just eight. By targeting the most appropriate outlets and building relationships with them, the contention is that coverage will be both better and wider. But how is that possible if you’re only pitching eight blogs? Because the bigger internet sites scan the smaller sites to find their content. And by not throwing things at everyone in sight, you can get higher-quality coverage that people actually pay attention to. Very savvy, very practical, and much more fulfilling for the publicist, I think.
It strikes me that there are lessons here for authors. By being smart and focused about submissions, whether when looking for an agent or promoting one’s own work, authors increase the likelihood of a hit. In a world where it’s easy to communicate broadly, who doesn’t appreciate a tailored message? I know that I more carefully consider the queries that are specifically tailored to me. By doing the research and narrowing the list, an author with an attractive project is more likely to find an agent.
The same is true when author goes to promote her own book. By selecting a limited number of bloggers to approach and tailoring the pitch to each blogger’s interests, an author is more likely to get serious attention. It likely takes the same amount of time as blindly contacting hundreds of people, but the quality of the hits you get will certainly make up for anything lost in numbers.
I know this is something I’ll have in mind when talking to authors and book publicists in the future, and I’m sure this concept can be applied to other aspects of book publishing and beyond.
by Lauren
Aspiring authors, published authors, and non-authors alike, do yourselves a favor and take a moment to check out Ben Yagoda's
essay in the New York Times on readers' access to writers in our technological age.
I can only think of one occasion that I've done it on a purely personal level: I was trying to recall the title of a beautiful novel I'd read in college (Bapsi Sidwha's
Cracking India) that had been titled one thing when originally published, another in the US, and a third when made into a film. Upon googling, I stumbled across the author's website. Uncharacteristically, I took a moment to reach out to her and say how fantastic her book was and how much it had stuck with me. And I was delighted when, over a year later, she came across my email and realizing she had not thanked me, wrote back.
Since I haven't done it again, apparently the reward of hearing back wasn't enough to encourage me (though by that point I was an agent, and ethically it had become more complicated) to continue reaching out. Obviously the examples in the essay are the odd, amusing, or frustrating ones, but do any of you routinely contact authors of books you've read? And published authors, what emails do you get to rival Mary Karr's love letters from the incarcerated?
by Lauren
Yesterday,
Jessica discussed Laura Miller’s book on CS Lewis, and today I bring you more of her wisdom, this time from Salon.
Earlier this week, Miller recommended we all try something new in 2010: read a book we think we won’t like. I’ll admit that while I’ve grown much more open since I began working in publishing, with my personal reading, I invariably leap for the same sorts of books I’ve always loved. My “free time” reading piles at home have the same general character as the ones that were in my college dorm rooms. When taking the luxury of reading purely for my own enjoyment, I rarely think it’s worth reading trying something I’m not naturally excited about. But I know from my professional experience that sometimes wonderful books are hiding in categories we hesitate to touch or under plots that seem at first glance unappealing.
I’m not generally one for New Year’s resolutions (as it’s universally acknowledged that those are merely things we pretend we’re going to do or else we’d have begun them when we decided they were important rather than arbitrarily on January 1st…er, 7th…oh, by early February at the latest), but I’ll take Miller’s suggestion on in 2010: I will read, for my personal reading, at least one book I’m convinced I will hate.
Since I’m the naturally contrary sort, it shouldn’t be too hard to find something wonderful that I’d normally shove aside. And hey, if I do hate it, I might’ve wasted my time, but I’ll also feel totally vindicated.
Is anyone else prepared to take on this challenge? And does anyone have ground rules about what’s unreadable as delightful and random as Miller’s? If anyone has a graphic novel about 20-something magicians living on a ranch in Prague while working in the silent movie business and feeling disenchanted with their relationships with rabbis, they may want to suggest their publicist steer clear of Miller’s desk at review time. (But they should probably send that manuscript to me, because I bet it’s
amazing!)
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6 Comments on Building enough bookshelves, last added: 5/31/2010
I'm so glad I'm not the only one! Even in my own novel, the main female is not the strong, brave heroine so many books focus on.
But I do have a few favorite strong women on my favorite characters list. I really enjoy Harry Crewe from Robin McKinley's THE BLUE SWORD. Lizzy from Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is a fabulous gal with attitude (though I do prefer the quieter Anne from PERSUASION). CADDIE WOODLAWN and OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA are great, quick reads about strong teen girls, and I really enjoyed THESE IS MY WORDS.
As for favorite female authors, a few favorites are Robin McKinley, Katie DiCamillo, Madeleine L'Engle and Tanith Lee (I read a lot of YA fantasy, in case you couldn't tell...).
Good luck!
Madison Merlot Dayne, a young twentyish woman, who has a stilted L.A. attitude. She gets caught up in cliff hanger action on the Big Island of Hawai'i and every man she is attracted to has a fatal flaw...in new book just released, "Captain Cooked" by S.P. Grogan--seems to be an attempt to jazz up and spark the culinary mystery, make the niche more brassy and sharp-edged.
I think a good part of why some kickass female characters just drive me nuts instead of compelling me can be summed up in this old Overthinking It article (which I love): Why Strong Female Characters are Bad For Women.
When said female characters are actually strong, and not just flat characters with one tough trait slapped onto them, I love them.
I'd recommend Jacqueline Carey, but it seems a little odd when she's a DGLM client :) Her first trilogy's heroine is a marvelous balance of inner strength, great resilience, but not just arbitrarily kicking asses and taking names, which would be vastly inappropriate for a courtesan to do.
Rachel Morgan from The Hollows Series by Kim Harrison. Mainly because she kicks ass, but in her own ways and she isn't afraid to make mistakes. In fact, she makes them often. She's a very realistic, down to earth, understandable character, which is hard to come by in most kick butt heroines because they all seem like they can do anything and still have perfect hair and nails lol.
"Mists of Avalon" and "The Firebrand" by Marion Zimmer Bradley...two incredible books with really strong women and a different take on the myths from which they were inspired. "Mists of Avalon" relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters. The mini-series was a travesty and insult to this wonderful book. "The Firebrand" narrates the Trojan War, focused on Kassandra, princess and priestess of Troy.
Also, in the "Wheel of Time" series (Robert Jordan), the females just keep getting stronger as the books develop. It has a rich world with wonderfully complex characters.
Okay, so these are kind of time consuming suggestions...but, believe me they are worth it! Don't forget to let us know what you select.
PLJ
I seem to find most of my fave kick-ass heroines in YA, a genre that also happens to be riddled with weak, codependent female leads. Usually I rely on reviews to help me separate the wheat from the chaff. Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games, and Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series both have pretty proactive female leads.
Robin McKinley's Hero and the Crown had one of the first kick-ass heroines that made an indelible impression on me.
Paranormal romance can be just as bad as YA for weak heroines, but I liked Alexia Tarabotti in Gail Carriger's Soulless.
Why can I only think of kick-ass female protagonists that are girls, not women? Is there something about being an adult that takes the kick-ass out of the female? Hmmm.
But you were talking fondly about kick-ass girls. Have you read these?
Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
True Grit, by Charles Portis
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley
Lianne Blakely in Elizabeth Lowell's Jade Island is the first to come to mind. I tend to write my female leads with a lot of independence and can-do attitude, because it's how I was raised. So, I am surprised, and encouraged to know that at least someone is looking for this kind of character. Finding the right man for her, not so easy, though.
I agree with Anonymous: Mattie Ross from True Grit was a great role model. (The Coen Brothers are doing a remake of this and I can't wait.) I loved Caddie Woodlawn too, and I couldn't agree with you more about Jo March -- I was outraged about her choice of husband and wanted to believe it was somehow all a mistake. Stephanie Plum is another one of my favorite heroines. She's not impossibly tough, but she's flawed and funny and believable. Taylor from Barbara Kingsolver's Bean Trees & Pigs in Heaven is yet another. I love her adventurous spirit and humanity.
My favorite women authors are Barbara Kingsolver (I really admire the way she can work humor and pathos into a thoroughly riveting story), Amy Tan (ditto), and A S Byatt, whose novel Possession I've read over and over and enjoyed every time.
I love Lennie from The Sky Is Everywhere, written by Jandy Nelson.
I also love Bianca from The DUFF, written by Kody Keplinger.
Two more recent examples of gals I think are pretty awesome. :)
Some others have pointed to Robin McKinley already, so I'll just second that--I love both THE HERO AND THE CROWN and THE BLUE SWORD, and both have great female characters.
Patricia C. Wrede's DEALING WITH DRAGONS heroine, Cimorene, was one of the ultimate heroines of my childhood, although now I think these books would be considered mid-grade, and so may not be what you're looking for (though they're really quick reads!) Not only is Cimorene tough, but she's unfalteringly practical, and I love that about her.
I love Juliet Marillier's DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST for the heroine, Sorcha. It's a retelling of the six swans fairy tale, in which the little sister must toil to save her brothers from an enchantment. She's a fantastic character.
Katniss in THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins is both kick-ass physically and tough emotionally, which I love to see in stories about women. She does what she has to do to keep herself and those she loves alive, and if it isn't always what seems to be the moral choice, I can't help but wonder what I'd do in her place.
And finally I want to mention Anne Elliot from Jane Austen's PERSUASION, which is a choice I think people might argue with--and one I would've argued with when I was younger, mostly by waving PRIDE AND PREJUDICE around until I was blue in the face. But the older I get the more I respect and admire Anne for her practicality and her strength despite years of heartbreak. Each time I read that book I love it more.
Quite a few of my favorites have been mentioned already, so I'll add the one that hasn't been: Ayla from THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR by Jean M. Auel. It's a story about a Cro-Magnon girl growing up in a Neanderthal tribe, and she becomes very smart, strong, and capable as a result. She is rather young, though; I think she's 11 by the end of the story, although given the differences in maturity rates and lifespans, she's pretty much fully-grown by then.
(Note: There is a pretty intense rape scene in the first book, and she is fairly young, about the equivalent of a young teenager. She continues as a strong character throughout the series, although at about halfway through the middle book, she really starts turning into a Mary Sue--she invents *everything* and is oh so perfect--and there's a love interest introduced, so things get a little porn-y for the rest of the series.)
I too admire Anne Elliot from PERSUASION. She had real strength of character. Many I might have though of have already been suggested. One that hasn't is Julia Gray from Deanna Raybourn's series that starts with Silent In The Grave. She is not afraid to step out and go after what she wants.
However, I could not disagree with you more about Jo March. Laurie would never have made her happy.
Nancy Drew! I loved her strength and independence, and the protags in my debut mystery novel for middle grade readers Dead Frog on the Porch are inspired by her. For adult fiction I'd have to say protag Rachel Morgan in Dead Witch Walking she kicks butt and keeps walking!
Tamora Pierce - Any series. She makes it a point to write strong, smart, and determined girls/women. Alanna disguises herself as a boy to train to become a knight. Daine struggles with her new-found magic in the middle of a war with immortals. Kel refuses to back down even when everything is thrown against her.
Though she's mostly centered in YA, I believe her comic book series White Tiger has been released recently...
Patricia Briggs - I've only read her Mercy Thompson series, but I've heard her other books are fantastic as well. Raised by werewolves, apprenticed by a gremlin, and fixing cars for vampires, Mercy is a mechanic just trying to make ends meet, but seems to only find trouble. Oh, did I mention she can also shift into a coyote?
Diane Duane - Another YA fantasy writer. Her series focuses on two young wizards, Nita and Kit, who have to learn the ropes of their trade before the Lone Power wipes out all life in the universe.
I agree with Vicki, right now my favorite strong female character is Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs. All the paranormal stuff aside (which yes, I like very much), I like her ethics, how she handles her romantic problems, and her stress issues.
You're going to hate my saying this (because, unless you already have, you probably don't want to read this novel), but I have always thought of Becky Sharp in VANITY FAIR as a strong lead female.
Aerin and Harry from Robin McKinley's books. I'll throw in Sunshine, too. Her strength comes from an interesting kind of practicality.
I like Patty Brigg's Mercy Thompson, especially because of her lack of drama. Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels, as much for her mouth as her toughness.
Jane Eyre, though I know it's not the feminist answer. But she had to persevere without being hot or mystically endowed with magical strength.
Poochie from Deborah LeBlanc's Water Witch is the only one that comes to mind.
Have you read The Lost Summer of Louisa Alcott? It was really interesting, ESPECIALLY for Jo/Laurie shippers!
That said: Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon, because their curiosity, imagination, and love of words get them into trouble (and sometimes out of it). I liked Magic for Marigold a lot too, except for the ending.
Skullduggery Pleasant - zany and confusticating and fun.
Jacky Faber, from the Bloody Jack series.
Lots of strong, realistic women in The Help. All three principal characters are lovely.
Katsa from Graceling. Her physical strength and combat skills remind me a lot of Katniss from Hunger Games.
Yelena from Poison Study and its sequels. Her strength is more internal - grit and determination.
I was going to mention Ayla from the Jean M. Auel's series, but Kristin beat me to it. The first two books, The Clan of the Cave Bear and the Valley of Horses show the incredible strength and spirit that this young girl has and the hardships she endures as she matures into a young woman. Wonderful books!!!
I don't agree with Krisin, however, about things getting "porny". The reason why I don't recommend the other books in the series is simply because Ms. Auel gets lost in descriptive details that seem to go on forever.
I have only read the first of the 3 Larsson books GWTDT, and I have to say I don’t really see how a girl that instigates her own rape gets all the accolades that have been delivered to her.
Also Lisbeth Salander is very much second string in GWTDT, of the 535 pages she occupies way less than half and for 70% of her tenure she plays Robin to Blomkvist’s Batman. But what I really can’t understand is why after reading GWTDT anyone would read another Larsson book.
Over a number of years pressed, framed flowers arrive on Vanger’s birthday, which Larsson tries to convince are sent as a torment from the murderer of Vanger’s niece, as his niece used to send such a gift when she was alive. The niece’s body has never been found (could it be she is still alive, as nowhere that I can find in the annals of crime has this sort of trait by a killer ever been recorded.) It is known that the murderer was one of the people that was on the island that day, all but a dozen are resident on the island. The flowers have arrived mostly from Stockholm, but 3 from London, 2 each from Paris and Copenhagen and once each from Rome and Florida. Vanger along with a glut of sleuths, private detectives and the Swedish Police Force have spent the best part of 4 decades trying suss out who the murderer could be, but never thought to find out which of the dozen could have been in the cities mentioned at the right time to post the pressed flowers. Could it just, maybe be the girl who works cabin-crew for an airline?????
There goes my suspension of disbelief.
I always think a book benefits from a plot, but it seems this is not needed if like Larsson you are already in bed with a publisher.
If you want a female protagonist in a book with a plot, try Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple.
Or a female character who starts off a well rounded person but slowly erodes as the story progresses, Bobbi Anderson - Tommyknockers, Stephen King
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I'm not a big mystery reader, but Sara Paretsky's V.I Warshawski comes immediately to mind. Great independent, strong-willed character.
Also, Lyra in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series is very resourceful, brave, and loyal. I admire her most in The Golden Compass. (Sadly, once Will shows up, she seems to lose some of her vigor and independence.)
Wow--thanks for all the recommendations, guys. I've got a lot of reading to do!
Hayley, I love that you recommended Jacqueline, who I really need to read more of! And I also absolutely love that piece you linked to--anyone interested in this subject should check it out. It says just what I was trying to articulate. Thanks!
It's interesting to me that so many of these suggestions are YA and fantasy--I don't know if that's reflective of the readership of our blog or of YA and fantasy authors just being better at it. Something to ponder!
Clix, I'll have to check out your rec for the book about Alcott. I wouldn't so much call myself a Jo/Laurie shipper--I've just always found the whole "You're too good for me!" "Oh, well, in that case I'll just marry your sister and we'll all pretend it's OK." "Hey, condescending old German guy, I love you!" thing to be incredibly irritating, and not in character for the Jo I'd come to love. It's one thing to not love Laurie, but to end up with the professor? Just doesn't work for me.
I'll be sure to report back--I think I'll start with THE HUNGER GAMES, which several of you suggested, since that's already on my bedside table "must read next" pile!!
Thanks!
Lauren
oh no! someone in here did not adhere to the "no spoilers" rule :( on page 80 of TGWTDT and found out a little more info than I would have liked to...
I truly love female characters who are conflicted, flawed and perhaps a bit damaged but also thoughtful, honest and brave. I think that sort of complicated mix creates a very strong character - be it male or female.
I wanted to second HARRIET THE SPY, Lyra in THE GOLDEN COMPASS and GRACELING. I also thoroughly enjoyed FIRE, by Kristin Cashore.
Personally, Harriet in THE LITTLE FRIEND is one of my all time favorite female characters. And Donna Tartt is one of my favorite female writers.
Also to add to the list:
Scout in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Meg in A WRINKLE IN TIME
Liesel in THE BOOK THIEF
Gemma in THE GEMMA DOYLE TRILOGY
Sabine in THE MAGICIAN'S ASSISTANT (Ann Patchett is also another favorite female writer)
I'm definitely making note of some of the earlier suggestions, including THE HUNGER GAMES.
Jill, I’m very sorry. That was very wrong of me. I just wasn’t thinking when I posted comment. And the fact that I find the book so flawed, is no excuse as others plainly don’t.
Apologies to anyone else in mid-read of TGWTDT also.