LIT SOUP

To sequel or not to sequel

2009-11-06T00:52:00.002-05:00

(As a sidenote, we are surviving here at Casa Rappaport Agency. My husband still has swine flu, I may or may not have it, and we are taking preventive measures because we don't want the cat to get it. Yes, cats can catch swine flu. Odd, I know. She is confused and sad about not being able to sleep on the bed, since my husband is occupying it. I get the couch. Also, I can type, but I must take breaks... onwards to the topic!)

Anyway, one of the most common questions I'm asked as an agent is this one, roughly paraphrased:

"I have written a wonderful book. It is the first in a series of X books (where X>=3), and I am now shopping it around to agents. Should I write Book 2 in the series?"

Now that's all well and good. As a reader, I love big, fat series. As an agent, not as much. And here's why: if I can't sell the first book in your series, then I'm not going to be able to sell books 2 through X for you. So you're going to have spent however many months of your life writing the next three books in your series, and I'm going to have to tell you to write them off as practice.

But surely that doesn't happen, you say. You point to authors who have done just that, and then their agents have sold the first six books of their series all at once, and see, they should have been writing the next books.

No.

You have to think of this practically. Do you want to spend the next ten years of your life writing something that will never be published? Do you really want to invest that much time into something so risky? Or would you rather write the first book of your series, outline the others, and then start a new, different project? Because once that first book of yours doesn't sell, I'm going to ask for what you have next... and wouldn't you like to have something to show me?

Of course, there is the common caveat I give to all writers. If the book is burning inside you to the point where you will literally go mad if you don't write it, then write the sequel. But if you don't have that intensity and desire, then write something else.

Stretch your wings as a writer. Try writing something in an opposite POV than the one you just used in your prior novel. Try making your protagonist a different gender. Switch between genres. Think of new and interesting things. And experiment with them because that's the only way you're going to learn as a writer.

It may take you five novels to get published, but if each of those novels is a different one from the one before, then you know what happens when Novel #5 sells? You'll have the experience and the writerly toolbox to whip out the sequels to it. =)

I <3 Typing

2009-11-04T18:19:00.001-05:00

I can type. I can type. My wonderful certified hand therapist is letting me type. That is all. =)

NaNoWriMo

2009-11-01T10:51:00.002-05:00

I have a love/hate relationship with NaNoWriMo. It can be a great jumpstart and kick in the pants--I have several clients doing it for that reason. It can also be a huge amount of pressure, causing people to abandon families, work, and anything rational for a month. And then, when those writers finish writing their novels... they send them out right away, without editing or critique feedback or any sort of polishing.... which is pretty much an agent's worst nightmare.

But despite that, I think it's a great impetus for writers. If you know that you're going into this with the understanding that you are producing a FIRST DRAFT ONLY, then you can have a lot of fun in November. You'll have to edit it; you'll have to polish it; you'll have to let it sit for at least a month or more before sending it out to agents. But you may find out that it's something you never would have thought to write or you might discover that you have the ability to set a goal and work towards it, which is a very good thing for a writer.

So I invite you all to join me this NaNoWriMo. I'm modifying the guidelines for myself--I get credit in my head, I've decided, if I can dictate 10,000 new words on the novel I've been working on for forever. It's not a lot, but it's encouragement, and that's what I'm in it for.

How about all of you?

World Fantasy, Days 2 & 3

2009-11-01T01:04:00.001-04:00

Day 2 was yesterday, and the con was considerably more hopping. I continued my tradition of sleeping in, grabbing the illustrious Spencer Ellsworth for a late dinner of ramen (REAL ramen), and then we swung back to the con.

I went to the mass autographing where I got my book signed by Rudy Rucker; I was sad though, that it was so loud that I was reduced to pantomiming at him, and didn't get a chance to tell him how much I loved discovering his books in high school But I suppose I'll get to do so at some point. After the autographing, I took a quick break in the bar, and then we were off to the parties. Night Shade, Locus, and Tor in that chronological floor order. And then back to Night Shade at the end before the husband and I ran out early because my right hand had swollen up from the tendonitis. Yay. (Note to self: wrap entry up and stop typing)

And then today, I was all excited about the con and life and woke up to find that my left shoulder had decided that it was simply not going to function today. Yay RA. It would have to strike at a con. =) So i rested, and I sleep early today and tomorrow I go to the awards banquet!

World Fantasy, Day 0 & 1

2009-10-30T05:33:00.002-04:00

I'm not supposed to be typing this, but I blogged Worldcon, so I feel weird not doing the same.

Briefly: it's sort of dead. The parties ended REALLY early tonight. We were home by two. Weird. Had dinner with Jay Lake and his tremendous entourage, caught up with a lot of people, had cake (twice!), saw Teddy--who I still adore, and am now back home. Maybe a trip into San Francisco tomorrow, instead of hanging around the con.

The hotel doesn't allow signage, which is odd. Otherwise, it's really pretty and nice. Got to meet one half of Zeno Agency today; lunch with the Johns on Saturday. And now, no more typing. =)

Library of Congress

2009-10-28T21:00:00.001-04:00

A bit of short notice, but I thought you'd like to know that my client, David J. Williams, will be speaking at the Library of Congress tomorrow. Seriously cool. =)

Details here

Wee vacation post

2009-10-22T03:37:00.002-04:00

I saw sea lions. I saw redwoods. I ran around Northern California. Love it here. =)

And now, because F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of my favorite writers (bet you didn't know that!), I really want you all to hop over here and read what Mr. Scalzi has to say about F. Scott Fitzgerald's income. It's definitely interesting!

The state of my wrist

2009-10-13T15:54:00.002-04:00

Since I know you're all dying to hear about how my right wrist is...

In actuality, this is getting put up on the blog, so that I don't have to type this over and over for various people. Please bear with it. :-)

I still have tendinitis. The tendinitis is apparently a complication of the rheumatoid arthritis I have. It may never go away completely, but the doctor is hopeful that it will be alleviated with Occupational therapy. Theoretically, the occupational therapy is supposed to teach me how to use my wrist, so that it does not have repetitive strain. I see the therapist when I return from California, in the beginning of November. Blog posts will continue to be scarce around here, due to the fact that I hate dictating.

I am hoping that the therapist will let me knit again, at some distant point in the future. I'm pretty miserable about all of this, as you can imagine. :-( The fact that I may not have a working right wrist until December is very depressing. I am keeping imaginary fingers crossed that the tendinitis will be able to be alleviated enough that I will not have to wear a brace anymore.

Not Explicit Enough

2009-10-10T01:25:00.002-04:00

Dear Viz,

This is an open letter to you about OOKU, Volume 1 by Fumi Yoshinaga. I recently purchased it at my local Barnes & Noble based on the many reviews I had read of it online, and the fact that it had won an Eisner Award. I devoured the manga, reading it in about two days, because I was so entranced by the story. The artwork is beautiful and the writing good.

But I am very, very confused about why you found it necessary to sell the book wrapped in shrinkwrap. I could understand if the book contained scenes such as in Alan Moore's LOST GIRLS, which justifiably is sold shrink-wrapped. But OOKU is not a work of erotica like LOST GIRLS. It is an alternate history manga, which deals with adult subjects in a very non-graphic way. The only sex scene in the book literally fades to a black panel, and picks up the morning after. There is no nudity in the book.

I found nothing explicit in the book that wouldn't be sold as part of a romance. In fact, in the romance industry, OOKU would be regarded as a "sweet romance". In my local Barnes & Noble, the romance section is only a few feet away from where the book was shelved. I am puzzled and bewildered at your decision to publish the book as "explicit content", and to sell it in shrinkwrap.

Given the subject matter of the book, I am left with only one conclusion. And as much as it pains me to make that conclusion, I am forced to do so. I do not like to point fingers. I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. But considering the fact that a good bit of OOKU addresses the romances between the men of the inner chambers, I am left to conclude that you sold it in shrinkwrap because it dealt with homosexuality frankly and maturely.

Now, of course this may not be the case. But if this is not the case--if you can give me a reason other than that--then I would like to hear from you. In my opinion, as a publishing professional, OOKU was not explicit in any way, and did not deserve to be sold shrink-wrapped. In fact, I would venture to say that the shrinkwrap will hurt your sales and Ms. Yoshinaga's profits because prospective readers will not be able to browse through the book in bookstores.

Additionally, if I am correct that you sold it that way because of its discussion of homosexuality, then I think you're underestimating the intellect and cultural maturity of your readers. We live in a multicultural world, where there are people of every sexual orientation, creed, ethnicity, and race. To attempt to protect your readers from something that is "different" and to then label it as "explicit content"is simply shameful.

In Japan, manga is published for readers of all ages, and such a title would most likely be shelved with manga intended for adult readers. It would not be considered explicit content, and it would be read by a variety of women and men. It would be treated with respect. By shrinkwrapping OOKU, you have shown that you do not trust American readers to make the same informed reading decisions as their Japanese counterparts.

I look forward to hearing from you about your rationale for using the shrinkwrap, and why you chose to do so.

Sincerely,
Jenny Rappaport
-----------------
OOKU can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and independent booksellers. I heartily recommend it.

Dystopia!

2009-10-09T20:32:00.002-04:00

This is just one of a few new things I've been working on for my clients. :-)

		October 9, 2009


		Fiction: Sci-Fi/Fantasy		John Joseph Adams's BRAVE NEW WORLDS, a reprint anthology featuring the best of dystopian fiction from best-selling authors, to Jeremy Lassen at Night Shade Books, in a nice deal, by Jenny Rappaport at The Rappaport Agency (World English). jenny@rappaportagency.com

Job Posting: Literary Agent Assistant

2009-10-06T12:22:00.002-04:00

My wonderful assistant, Jodi Meadows, has let me know that she will be stepping down from her post at the end of this year, in order to focus more on her own writing. Jodi is a talented writer in her own right, and although I am saddened by her departure, I know that she's going to end up producing great stuff for me to read. :-)

In the meantime, I am searching for a new assistant. The job description is as follows:

The Rappaport Agency, LLC is looking for a smart, hard-working, book-loving assistant with good organizational skills for our Freehold, NJ office. Responsibilities include evaluating manuscript submissions, writing revision letters, communicating with authors and editors, and learning the ins and outs of the publishing process. The Rappaport Agency, LLC offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of book publishing and mentorship by Jenny Rappaport, an experienced literary agent.

A love of genre fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy, is a must for this position. Ideally, a dedicated period of time as an assistant will lead to future employment as a literary agent. Although the position can be partially filled through telecommuting, serious applicants will be able to travel to our office at least once a week. Cat allergy sufferers should be aware that the office contains a cat.

This is a part-time position with a small amount of financial compensation.

Please send all resumes and cover letters by e-mail to jenny@rappaportagency.com with the subject line "Assistant".

Etsy Stuff

2009-10-05T06:42:00.003-04:00

I rarely post about my Etsy shop, but being able to manipulate photographs with my left-hand-only lately has been one of the things keeping me sane with the tendinitis. A creative outlet is important, and writing is so insanely slow with Dragon. I'm having a sale, so feel free to check it out.

My ETSY shop Kitten String has been updated today with a sale. Details are below. Kitten String has hand-dyed fiber and yarn, as well as fine art photography.

WELCOME TO THE “I WANT TEN SALES… SALE!”

This is how it works:

SALE #6 gets 50% off their entire order
SALE #7 gets 40% off their entire order
SALE # 8 gets 30% off their entire order
SALE # 9 gets 20% off their entire order
SALE #10 gets 10% off their entire order

So if you want to make a purchase, this is the time! Your refund will be given back through Paypal after the payment clears! Any custom dyeing orders will count for the sale, as well, but must be submitted through Alchemy.

Standard disclaimer: Making or not making a purchase has no effect on your chances for literary representation.

Tendinitis...

2009-09-29T02:31:00.003-04:00

... is not something I would ever wish on my worst enemy. I touch type; have touch typed since they taught us how to do it in fourth grade. Consequently, it is difficult for me to hunt and peck with only my left hand, because all of a sudden, the right hand is typing too!

I have about one week to two more weeks of dictating... expect blog posts to be scarce around here until then. You would think I would love talking all the time, but between answering e-mail and attempting to complexly format contract by voice, I'm worn out. :-) I keep reminding myself that at least I have all my limbs.

Why I'm afraid of writers conferences

2009-09-21T13:29:00.003-04:00

I wrote this two weeks ago, just before I left for Denver. Enjoy! :-)

Suite 101 Guest Blog

Dragon!

2009-09-19T02:17:00.003-04:00

Hello, LIT SOUP readers! It just took me five minutes to figure out how to get it to capitalize LIT SOUPIn the prior sentence.

As some of you may know, especially those that met me in Colorado, I've been wearing a brace on my wrist. At first, I thought this was my rheumatoid arthritis acting up, but then not only was my wrist swollen, but the palm of my hand started to swell. I am very dominantly righthanded, and this caused me a great deal of trouble as it is my right hand that is messed up. To make a long story short: I saw the doctor today, found out I have tendonitis, and received a very painful shot.

The tendonitis will heal, but in the meantime I am now using Dragon NaturallySpeaking to type pretty much everything. By the way, the program recognizes "Dragon NaturallySpeaking", but has trouble tendonitis. I am overjoyed , however, that I get to type at all.

To celebrate, I'm going tell you about CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins, which I read last night. I literally devoured the bookin about four hours, from when I bought it at the bookstore. It was interesting to me, not only as a reader, but as a writer. Ms. Collins does some really amazing things with plot. She probably did the same things in THE HUNGER GAMES, but I hadn't been to Odyssey when I read it, so I'm pretty sure I missed a bunch ofwhat she did. Apologies for all the mistakes but I'm still having trouble getting Dragon to recognize everything I'm saying.

Anyway, CATCHING FIRE is really great in that it does stuff with plot turns. At Odyssey, we learned that when you end the scene you need one of three things: your character must realize anticipation, realization,or have a turn. A turn is easily defined with a physical turn. A physical turn is something like a horror movieplot sequence--the hero and his girlfriend are running from the zombies, the zombies get girlfriend, instead of just running anymore, the hero literally turns around and goes back to fight. The really hard part about plotting, at least for me, is figuring out how to get all of this into a story or novel. If your scenes, and I mean every scene, don't have one of these three things, then they are doing nothing to propel the story forward.

And what Ms. Collins does is make sure that every single scene in CATCHING FIRE does that. it makes for not only a suspenseful novel, but one that shoves the story forward, while not sacrificing character development. I loved the book, and although I think I know who Katniss will end up with, I'm not willing to bet on it, and I can't wait for the third book.

Bedtime now for me as this is absolutely exhausting to dictate. :-)

Dirty Dancing

2009-09-15T01:47:00.003-04:00

This is what I remember:

I am seven years old and my friend, Valeria, is seven and a half years old in the summer of 1988. Dirty Dancing has aired on HBO, at least once, and someone's parents have taped it for us. We are sitting on the tile floor of her playroom, watching the movie over and over again. We love the dancing. We are fascinated by the fact that the two main characters have sex during the day--we didn't know people did that. We love Jennifer Gray. We love Patrick Swayze. We are two young girls who are fascinated by this movie and we are able to recite lines of dialogue verbatim by the end of the summer.

Winter comes and they play "The Time of Your Life" at the Old Bridge Ice Skating rink, where Valeria and I both take lessons. I skate around and around the rink to it, so much so that it's the one song I always associate with ice skating, despite the many songs they played. I skate and I sing as I skate, and I am pretty much the proverbial dorky little kid as I practice my crossovers.

And now I am twenty-eight years old, and Valeria and I have fallen out of touch, although our mothers are still good friends. I find out that Patrick Swayze is dead from Twitter, and I run downstairs to tell my husband who is making dinner. He gives me a hug and tells me he understands, although he really doesn't--I remain firmly convinced that little boys in the 80s did not experience the movie in the same way as little girls.

I no longer ice skate regularly and that long-ago video tape has been missing for years. But I have Netflix and I have this:

First Fiction Sale!!!!

2009-09-12T06:21:00.004-04:00

I am stunned and pleased to announce that a flash story I submitted to Knitty has now been published!

Please click through to read "The Sock Thief", wherein I immortalize John Joseph Adams, my friend and client.

And now to get in touch with the Knitty people, because you know, it would have been nice to be told about the story being accepted, and I'd like to get paid. =)

ETA: I am indeed getting paid and the Knitty people are lovely. Yay! =)

But still, overwhelmed, very pleased, and uber-excited!

Long day

2009-09-11T21:54:00.003-04:00

I seem to be in total conference blogging mode this year, so look, another post!

Everyone in Colorado is lovely.

I did an agent panel with six other agents, and we were so crammed on the stage that we could have toppled people off like dominoes. We were good and behaved though. =) I then went and did a three hour long critique session of people's manuscripts, where I got to do mini-lectures on writing craft, which was a total blast.

I socialized and talked to a prospective client, then joined Janet Reid and Kaitlin Heller of Del Rey, along with a group of other lovely people, where we dissected the intricacies of novels involving ex-nuns who were also Miss America winners and brilliant physicists. Then, dinner! I ate dinner! I talked to more interesting people.

And now, in a stunning event, I'm going to call my husband and then go to bed by 8:30pm. The world may end, be prepared...

....there are pitch sessions starting at 8:30 am and I MUST be caffeinated...

Meeting my Idols

2009-09-11T02:23:00.002-04:00

Well, not really my idols... more like smart and sassy professional women who I haven't gotten the chance to meet in person yet.

I'm at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference, and it's my pleasure to tell you that I've finally gotten a chance to have a good long talk with Janet Reid (she's sneaky!) and Emmanuelle Alspaugh (who I knew before and is not as sneaky...yet). I also got to briefly say hello to Kristen Nelson, who I intend to corner later during the con to get to know her better in person.

I've also met a bunch of writers, showed up at the Twitter cupcake party, and went to the initial opening party for the agent/editor/writer guests. Surprisingly, I also got to hang out with my brother who was magically in Denver on business too! It was a wonderful surprise--especially since neither of us knew the other one would be here until our parents called us. We had yummy, yummy Italian food and walked around downtown Denver. =)

And now, off to save the wrist for more client e-mail that must be answered.

North California recommendations

2009-09-09T08:38:00.002-04:00

Because John Joseph Adams is nominated for a World Fantasy Award, I'll be trekking out to San Jose, CA in October. I'll have a bunch of sightseeing time, so if there's something you think I NEED to see in the Bay Area/Napa/somewhere else within reasonable driving distance, leave a note here.

Slowness warning

2009-09-08T22:34:00.002-04:00

As some or all of you may be aware, I'm one of those lucky people who manage to get rheumatoid arthritis in their twenties. It's usually controlled by medications, but due to a number of reasons, I can't take most of them right now. Which means that the RA, which is everywhere in my body, has been coming at my hands and feet with a vengeance lately.

At the moment, my right wrist is fairly shot, and I'm even slower answering email because of a wrist brace on it. Client and editor e-mail must, must come first right now; everyone else, I have your email, but you must wait on a reply for a bit. I'm really sorry, but there's only so much typing I can do before I want to scream in pain.

I'm off to the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference tomorrow, but when I get back I think it will be time to bite the bullet and shell out the $200+ for Dragon Naturally Speaking software so I can get more work done.

If it's urgent and you need to reach me, call the number on the agency website.

Willy Wonka!

2009-09-05T10:50:00.001-04:00

I don't know how I missed this yesterday, but I chalk it up to distraction. =)

Paul Goat Allen of Barnes and Noble has some really nice things to say about my client, John Joseph Adams. Especially the parts where he compares John to Willy Wonka.

David Barr Kirtley has made an interesting illustration to go along with it...

And all of you should hop over to John's blog or Twitter and wish him well--his mom just had an emergency triple bypass!

Classics We Love To Hate

2009-09-01T00:55:00.002-04:00

Ok, so you know that article I linked to in the blog post before this one?

It's apparently started going haywire out there and people left and right are posting things.

Meg Cabot says this.

Candy at Smart Bitches says this.

And as for me, I think I fall solidly in the middle of them. "Classics" are good, but reading freedom is even better. To understand my point of view, I think I need to give you the short history of my experience with reading.

I have very smart parents. They are educated and well-read, and one of the first things they did was talk to me. They talked to me a lot. I could recite my vowels before I could say any words. I spoke at four months, and was speaking in full sentences by eleven months. I was an advanced child.

And my parents read to me, too. Lots and lots of stories, of every kind. I could recite my favorite fairy tale, "Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse" when I was a year and a half old, my mother tells me. My parents fostered this in me, and my mother taught me to read when I was three and a half. I haven't stopped since.

But here's the important part of this story: they never told me what I could or couldn't read. They very, very rarely removed books out of my reach. I can think of a handful of examples, including several Harlequin novels that my mom wouldn't let me read when I was eleven. But other than that, they never yelled at me about what I was reading. They told me about books they liked, and they sometimes read to me still, even when I was much older. We talked about things I liked, a lot. And we talked about the books I hated.

They never, ever told me that I had to read a certain book because it was important and it would tell me something.

As a result, I always, always read above age level. I've said before that I read JANE EYRE when I was ten. I read HAWAII by James Michener when I was eleven (at my mother's recommendation). I plowed through most of the YA section before I entered middle school, and was firmly into adult books by that point.

And then I encountered English teachers. Granted, I had a few good ones, but most of them were terrible. Lest you think this was a problem that started with middle school and above, I'd like to point to the example of my sixth grade teacher:

We read THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE in our gifted and talented sixth grade class. We were all smart kids. I had read the book literally years before. I love that book. And my teacher WOULD NOT LET ME SPEAK ABOUT THE BOOK BECAUSE THE OTHER KIDS MIGHT NOT HAVE READ IT YET. I wanted to talk about it, to discuss it, to engage in it and explore the allegory and the writing. I wasn't allowed. It was infuriating.

The pattern continued in later years, although I was allowed to talk about the books or plays at least. We read A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM in seventh grade, ROMEO AND JULIET in ninth grade, JULIUS CAESAR in tenth grade, MACBETH in eleventh grade, and HAMLET in twelfth grade. I like them all, even JULIUS CAESAR. But you have to understand that I was bored to tears in all those English classes because I had plowed through a good portion of Shakespeare when I was about eight years old. (I particularly liked THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR at that age, although I'm not sure why.)

And then we had to read the required books, which continued to bore me. Things like A SCARLET LETTER, OF MICE AND MEN, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, and JUDE THE OBSCURE. I was so bored in my AP English class in twelfth grade that I downloaded the list of "recommended books" from the AP website and started reading through it alphabetically.

Which all adds up to the fact that there are certain authors and certain books that I despise because school tainted them for me. I have no suggestions how to get rid of this dislike, nor do I suggest trying to dissuade me from my dislike of the following authors and books.

Classics That I Love To Hate:

Charles Dickens (except for A CHRISTMAS CAROL)
John Steinbeck
Ernest Hemingway
A SCARLET LETTER
THE CRUCIBLE
TUCK EVERLASTING
Herman Melville
NECTAR IN A SIEVE
JUDE THE OBSCURE and everything else by Thomas Hardy
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT and everything else by Fyodor Dostoevsky

I'm sure there are others, but those are the classics that I love to hate. I have classics that I love, but I'd like to point out that I read all of these before we touched them in school, and many of them we never, ever encountered in an English classroom.

A short, non-inclusive list of Classics That I Love:

Anything by Ibsen, but especially "Hedda Gabler" and "A Doll's House"
"Miss Julie" by August Strindberg
Anything by Shakespeare
Anything by Jane Austen
Anything by Louisa May Alcott
JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte
THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD by Zora Neale Hurston
Anything by J. D. Salinger, but particularly CATCHER IN THE RYE
BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
THE GODS THEMSELVES by Isaac Asimov
THE SECRET GARDEN and A LITTLE PRINCESS by Frances Hodgson Burnett
THE CANTERBURY TALES by Geoffrey Chaucer
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
1984 by George Orwell
THE FOUNTAINHEAD and ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand

If it hadn't been for my parents' influence, I wouldn't have known how much fun books were and searched for the classics that I love.

If it hadn't been for my English teachers, I wouldn't have had to read the classics that I love to hate.

I think there are arguments that can be made for either side, but I strongly prefer the principles by which my parents raised me. You can say that puts me more on Meg Cabot's side, but you also have to remember that my parents had these books in their home. They had read some or all of them, when they were students. I read Shakespeare at my aunt's house, in a giant volume she had of all the plays. I was exposed to classic books as naturally as I was exposed to any other book.

But what about kids who don't have parents like me? What about kids who weren't exposed to books, both high-brow and low-brow? Should they have mandatory reading in school still? Should the goal be to introduce them to books and have them discuss them altogether? Or is the new method in the article the way that reading should be taught? Or is any required reading just a way of forming even more Classics We Love To Hate?

Thoughts are welcome!

The Reason

2009-08-30T04:12:00.003-04:00

I have sat down over the last few weeks and tried to write post after post about publishing. And have come up with nothing to say, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it's not really you guys--I'm still dealing with the situation in my family and it's eating up a large amount of my brainpower.

But secondly, there's not much to talk about, unless you'd like me to whip out the old doom and gloom schpiel again. Sales are down. Publishers are still buying sure bets only. I'm doing my damnedest to sell books, and being reassured that I'm not the only one who's having trouble selling great novels right now. I'm being extremely picky about who I take on as new clients, as a result, at least until the economy brightens up a bit. Cash flow is down for everyone.

But then, there still has to be a reason we do this, right? There has to be a reason why I work everyday, why I read manuscripts, why I work my butt off, literally, to sell domestic, foreign, and film rights. And it's not because of the money because while that would be nice, agents aren't rich people.

And then I read this article in the NY Times, and I realized that, of course, there's a reason I do this.

It's simply because I love books.

I cannot conceive of a world without books. I cannot conceive of children growing up and not loving books as much as I did. I cannot conceive of a publishing industry that doesn't love books as much as I do.

And you may call me idealistic--but here's the thing.

Publishing is definitely a business, but it's a business that has its roots in people who absolutely love books. They could just as easily be making widgets, but they choose to help make books. They manage the contracts. They edit the manuscripts. They design the covers. They balance the ledgers in the accounting department. They are the CEOs. They are the fresh-out-of-college interns. They are the typesetters, the booksellers, the librarians, the agents, the authors, the editors, and anyone who has ever opened a book and found themselves lost in a story.

We read because we need to believe that life is different, whether better or worse, and that we can experience that difference through a book. We read because it makes us human. We are human because we read.

And we are all involved in this crazy business of making and selling and producing books, for better or worse, because we love them. It may change drastically in the years or decades to come, but it will always be rooted in a love of the written word, whether for art or for profit. That's good enough for me.

(If there are any other publishing topics you'd like me to speak about, leave a note in the comments. I'll be at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in September, and will be looking forward to seeing book-people and talking shop.)

A Summer's Worth of Books

2009-08-27T02:37:00.006-04:00

These are not in the order that I read them and I can't guarantee that I'm remembering all of them--I have yet to unpack the books I took to Odyssey with me.

But here's what I've read since I last did one of these...

26. THE WINDUP GIRL by Paolo Bacigalupi
Simply excellent. Paolo's my friend, so you may think that I'm writing all of this about the book out of friendship, but that's simply not the case. THE WINDUP GIRL is a dark and gritty look at an incredibly well-imagined future where calories are the currency and geneticists are assets. It sucks you into the futuristic Bangkok, to a land where the foreigners, the farang, are the hated ones, and then makes you care about all of these characters doing questionably moral things. I adored it. And what makes it so good, at least to me, what with all the current talk about including more people of color in novels--and I think that's a good thing--is that almost every main character in this novel *isn't* white. It makes it that more interesting and rich. Go buy the book now.

27. WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON by Julia Quinn
Julia Quinn seems to be getting her groove back...

28. A DUKE OF HER OWN by Eloisa James
Loved the end of the series.

29. FOREST BORN by Shannon Hale
While I love the Bayern books, I find that they're starting to fall into something of a pattern. I love Shannon's writing though, so I'm eagerly looking forward to whatever she does next. It's still a good book, but not a GREAT book.

30. WHO KILLED AMANDA PALMER by Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman
I'm not sure much can top the photos and the stories that go here; it's as much a work of art as it is a book.

31. STIFF by Mary Roach
I adored this book on cadavers, which says something about the quality of the writing. =)

32. THE LITTLE ICE AGE by Brian M. Fagan

33. THE END OF OVEREATING: TAKING CONTROL OF THE INSATIABLE AMERICAN APPETITE by David Kessler

Notice the non-fiction kick, which I've been expanding with other books about strange and varied topics.

34. DEVLIN'S LUCK by Patricia Bray
This was a nicely solid fantasy novel and it's good enough that I'm going to eventually go acquire books 2 and 3 in the trilogy.

35. THE BABY NAME WIZARD by Laura Wattenberg
No, I'm not pregnant. I like names. Their etymology is fascinating and this book takes a very interesting look at current American naming trends.

36. BOOK CRUSH by Nancy Pearl

37. DEADLY COMPANIONS: HOW MICROBES SHAPED OUR HISTORY by Dorothy H. Crawford

And that's it for now folks. I'm hunkering down and diving into manuscripts for awhile.