Recognizing book creators
During the NEA Journalism Institute I attended, one of the things that we often heard is that a theater review doesn't have to be completist. There's no need to mention every single actor, technician, and administrator involved in bringing a play to stage.
It's a necessary statement because theater critics often feel obligated to mention every performer and performers often feel that if they weren't mentioned, it was because the reviewer hated them.
It got me thinking about book reviews, in part because book reviewers never have that issue. In fac, we're almost on the opposite end of the spectrum. Rare is the review that mentions anyone other than the author. Occasionally an illustrator will get a nod, but (excepting the recent O.J. flap) you'll never read the name of an editor and rarely that of the publisher, marketer, printer, or anyone else that helps to create a book.
Nor, for that matter, do many book reviewers ever feel the need to list all the characters in a book. It would be considered absurd most of the time.
Perhaps it is just that editors, publishers, printers, publicists, etc. have been trained to not expect recognition.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
When a book is really, really bad
As an editor, I have always tried to accord dignity and respect to the writers I work with. We're collaborators, both committed to the same end goal.
There is an anecdote I heard somewhere early in my career that I frequently share with writers--especially when I'm about to turn over a work bleeding with edit marks. I tell them that they should be encouraged by the presence of the red pen--it shows that the editor was excited about the work and passionate about taking it to the next level. The time when they need to worry is when there are almost no marks at all--that means the editor has written the work off as hopeless and beyond repair.
I'm currently reading a book that falls into the helpless category. It's an initial offering from a new publisher. Normally, I'm a fan of small press work and an advocate of the culture of abundance created by greater access to the means of production and distribution. Such a shift has allowed works of small commercial but great artistic value to be produced. It has increased the availability of niche books.
Unfortunately, it has also allowed some absolute crap to be produced. As I read this book, it becomes transparent that this was a book rejected by many publishers. Most likely, it was rejected with a form letter simply because it is so wretched that there would be little to suggest by way of improvement. It's the proverbial empty page that an editor has given up hope on.
As an editor, I have always tried to accord dignity and respect to the writers I work with. We're collaborators, both committed to the same end goal.
There is an anecdote I heard somewhere early in my career that I frequently share with writers--especially when I'm about to turn over a work bleeding with edit marks. I tell them that they should be encouraged by the presence of the red pen--it shows that the editor was excited about the work and passionate about taking it to the next level. The time when they need to worry is when there are almost no marks at all--that means the editor has written the work off as hopeless and beyond repair.
I'm currently reading a book that falls into the helpless category. It's an initial offering from a new publisher. Normally, I'm a fan of small press work and an advocate of the culture of abundance created by greater access to the means of production and distribution. Such a shift has allowed works of small commercial but great artistic value to be produced. It has increased the availability of niche books.
Unfortunately, it has also allowed some absolute crap to be produced. As I read this book, it becomes transparent that this was a book rejected by many publishers. Most likely, it was rejected with a form letter simply because it is so wretched that there would be little to suggest by way of improvement. It's the proverbial empty page that an editor has given up hope on.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
More books and theater
While in L.A., one of our evenings was spent listening to lecture about Sondheim that was interspersed with performances of his numbers.
One of the songs that caught my attention was one I had been previously unfamiliar with. It was sung by Fosca in the musical Passion. She sings:
While in L.A., one of our evenings was spent listening to lecture about Sondheim that was interspersed with performances of his numbers.
One of the songs that caught my attention was one I had been previously unfamiliar with. It was sung by Fosca in the musical Passion. She sings:
I do not read to think.
I do not read to learn.
I do not read to search for truth,
I know the truth,The truth is hardly what I need.
I read to dream.
I read to liveIn other people's lives.
The world
I read about the joys
Dispenses to the fortunate,
And listen for the echoes.
(Fiercly)
I read to live,
To get away from life!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Brain Haig: Fact or fiction?
Sometimes its hard to tell fact from fiction.
That's a truism that Brian Haig has been playing with for years as his Army lawyer, Sean Drummond, investigates cases that sound like they've been ripped from today's headlines. In fact, his publisher has even created an online game to see whether you can tell the difference between a Haig plot and a true-to-life current event.
Sometimes its hard to tell fact from fiction.
That's a truism that Brian Haig has been playing with for years as his Army lawyer, Sean Drummond, investigates cases that sound like they've been ripped from today's headlines. In fact, his publisher has even created an online game to see whether you can tell the difference between a Haig plot and a true-to-life current event.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
It's a thriving book market
I'm just back from two weeks in Los Angeles, two weeks spent at a National Endowment for the Arts University of Southern California Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater.
What does that have to do with books? Well, other than that it was an institute for arts critics, there was also a lot of discussion about our country's cultural affairs. One of the sessions was with Doug McLennan of artsjournal.com. McLennan addressed the cultural landscape and the health of arts culture versus commercial culture.
He pointed out that while commercial culture--defined as movies, television, radio, and the like--has been experiencing audience and financial losses in the range of 20 percent to 40 percent, arts culture has been losing at the rate of only 1 percent to 4 percent. He quoted Chris Anderson's The Long Tail in saying that our culture is moving from a mass culture mindset to a niche culture mindset.
One of the supporting details he brought up was book publishing. In 2005 there were 195,000 titles published. That's up 72% from the previous year and sets a new record. Of those, however, only 250 will sell more than 100,000 copies.
It's a shift in thinking. We're not all reading the same books anymore. Even the topsellers aren't selling as much as they used to. However, we're also reading more than ever before. We've entered, as Ben Cameron, program director at Doris Duke Charitable Foundation would say days later, a new culture of abundance.
I'm just back from two weeks in Los Angeles, two weeks spent at a National Endowment for the Arts University of Southern California Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater.
What does that have to do with books? Well, other than that it was an institute for arts critics, there was also a lot of discussion about our country's cultural affairs. One of the sessions was with Doug McLennan of artsjournal.com. McLennan addressed the cultural landscape and the health of arts culture versus commercial culture.
He pointed out that while commercial culture--defined as movies, television, radio, and the like--has been experiencing audience and financial losses in the range of 20 percent to 40 percent, arts culture has been losing at the rate of only 1 percent to 4 percent. He quoted Chris Anderson's The Long Tail in saying that our culture is moving from a mass culture mindset to a niche culture mindset.
One of the supporting details he brought up was book publishing. In 2005 there were 195,000 titles published. That's up 72% from the previous year and sets a new record. Of those, however, only 250 will sell more than 100,000 copies.
It's a shift in thinking. We're not all reading the same books anymore. Even the topsellers aren't selling as much as they used to. However, we're also reading more than ever before. We've entered, as Ben Cameron, program director at Doris Duke Charitable Foundation would say days later, a new culture of abundance.
