From the Author Blogworld...

Tess Gerritsen is one of my favorite writers. She is also one of the authors, like myself, who blog.

Recently, she spent time at BEA (Book Expo America, where everybody who is anybody in the publishing business goes--please note, I was NOT there, as I am officially "nobody") and then blogged about the experience.

Paranoia and pity.

That's what I felt as I walked the aisles of Book Expo America last weekend in New York City. Well okay, maybe I shouldn't use such extreme words -- maybe what I actually felt was anxiety and sympathy, seeing the hundreds of publishers and the thousands and thousands of books on display. So much competition, so many titles vying for attention, and there was my upcoming book, VANISH, up against the many books being hawked. Attending a huge trade convention like BEA is a stark reminder to any author that publishing is a seriously competitive business, and that any author is lucky just to make a living at a job that everyone and his cousin seems to want to be doing, the wonderful job of, as my hero Lawrence Block puts it, "telling lies for fun and profit." That's what I do, folks. I tell lies. And I get paid for it.

That someone of Tess's calibre can admit how overwhelming this business can be just SCREAMS to be noticed. Wannabe writers, are you listening? It does not get easier once you sell. It does NOT get easier once you hit that first bestselling list. It does not get easier when you finally garner that six-figure advance.

If you think a "sale" is the magic potion, you are wrong. The fight has only begun. But I know I can say this until I am blue in the face, and the unpublished will not listen and will not understand.

Don't get me wrong. I am not dissing the unpubbed masses. I used to be one. I used to believe that a "sale" WAS the magic potion. I was almost as naive then as when I first decided I could write a book, get an agent, and immediately become rich and famous.

Thanks, Tess, for having the courage to tell it like it is.

*****

I am a blog-whore. I believe I've mentioned this before. I don't have a lot of spare time, but when I do, I spend a lot of time reading my favorite author blogs.

One that never disappoints is that of Tod Goldberg. Tod's blog first caught my eye when it was mentioned on MaudNewton.com, which you all know I read religiously.

Tod is not shy about voicing his opinions, which is probably why I find him so amusing. In his most recent post, he talks about a controversial novel he is reviewing, and why America's panties are in a knot about it, for all the wrong reasons.

4. The book is about as titillating as a bowel movement. (And before the arguement is raised about how titillating it would be if I were a 14 year old boy, I contend that I am a 14 year old boy.)

5. If parents need a reason to ban this book from their children, it should be this: it's exceptionally poorly written, poorly copyedited and lacks the basic building blocks of good fiction -- characters, setting, dialogue and plot -- in such a way that most 15 year old would bore of it by the end of chapter 1.

Success, Regress, and Back to Success

Karin Tabke Makes the Grade
Karin Tabke, who regaled us in the last blog post with her tale of trying to sell her work, has been offered a contract from Kensington! Congratulations, Karin! She will be in an anthology featuring a work titled Politically Incorrect, coming out January of 2006, and a single title, Internal Affairs, date to be announced.

Both of these are for Kensington's new erotica line, launch date Jan '06, and both titles are subject to change.

We look forward to Karin sharing more of her experiences as she makes her way from unpublished to published writer.

*****

Gender Book Bias
Women like a good book, and don't really show a bias as to whether the writer is male or female. The same does not hold true for men. This has been bandied about for years, but has now been verified in research carried out by academics Lisa Jardine and Annie Watkins of Queen Mary College, London, to mark the 10th year of the Orange Prize for Fiction, according to an article in the Guardian Unlimited.

But a gender gap remains in what people choose to read, at least among the cultural elite. Four out of five men said the last novel they read was by a man, whereas women were almost as likely to have read a book by a male author as a female. When asked what novel by a woman they had read most recently, a majority of men found it hard to recall or could not answer. Women, however, often gave several titles. The report said: 'Men who read fiction tend to read fiction by men, while women read fiction by both women and men.

'Consequently, fiction by women remains "special interest", while fiction by men still sets the standard for quality, narrative and style.'

In the survey, men were asked to name the 'most important' book by a woman written in the last two years. Brick Lane by Monica Ali and Carol Shields's Unless were frequently among the replies, but many men admitted defeat and confessed they had no idea. At least one who suggested Brick Lane admitted he had not read it.

You've come a long way, baby? We still have a long way to go.

*****

And now, for a book on getting published that promises to be something all the others are not: entertaining.

Seventy-eight Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and Fourteen Reasons Why It Just Might by Pat Walsh

The Publisher's Weekly Review says:

"Walsh mercilessly presents the cold, hard facts about why authors don't get published: 'You think too highly of yourself,' 'You missed your first-chance glance' and 'You scare away agents,' along with 75 other dispiriting reasons. This tough-love approach aims to enlighten writers committed to their craft and discourage those who are all talk and no work. A founding editor of the literary publisher MacAdam/Cage, Walsh has spent a good deal of time reading lousy submissions, and he points out some common errors made by novices. His advice can sound more like an editor's exasperation (say, with writers who can't take criticism) than helpful tips. Walsh also describes the bottom-line world of publishing, which, he says, views books as products rather than cherished works of art. He provides basic information about agents, auctions and promotion. What saves this manual from being hectoring is the author's humor and clear-eyed awareness of the difficulties involved in getting even an outstanding book published. On a more positive note, he recommends that rejected authors cultivate patience and flexibility (i.e., learning from mistakes). Many readers may simply skip to book's end to get to the scant good news." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

This business is brutal. Sounds like Walsh is dishing out the realities, rather than the fairy tales.

*****