Pub Rants

Category: Publishing Industry General

Gone Fishin’

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I wish. Home sick today. Again. Sorry about the blog silence.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? Nothing at the moment.

Yes, this nasty crud is going on 11 days now. I talked with my doctor this morning and she said that this bad cold is lasting from 2 to 3 weeks with the sufferer occasionally feeling better only to be smacked down worse the next day.

Great. So I think I’m mending and it’s just misdirection.

This also means I have, on average, another 4 to 10 days to enjoy this crud. Shoot me now!

I do hope to be back in the office tomorrow…

So PW Hates Your Book

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m really hoping to feel less congested tomorrow.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SEASONS OF LOVE from the musical Rent

No doubt about it. It sucks when you get a negative review from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, or Kirkus. Although from Kirkus, we all kind of expect one since it’s so rare for them to write a good one. It’s almost badge of honor to get a bad review from Kirkus! Means you have arrived in publishing.

By all means, take a moment to be sad. Email close friends so you can get some immediate emotional support.

But don’t bother getting mad; get even.

And the best way to do that is to take the sting out of that bad PW review. You know it’s going to be out there on Amazon.com, BN.com, Borders, and your closest large Independent bookstore website. There’s nothing you can do to change that. All those websites will post the big reviews. But you can minimize the impact.

How?

By gathering all the good reviews you can and by getting solid “must read this book” blurbs from well-known authors. Then you bug your editor or in-house publicist to bug their contact over at the main sites to also include all these other good things about your book.

With any luck, these sites will post new info as it comes in and that black eye of a PW review will be lost at the bottom of the page. Even if it’s still there, prominently coming up as the first before all other reviews, at least you have populated that page with all kinds of good stuff that any discerning reader can then weigh and judge if they want to buy the book. The one bad review won’t be center stage.

Action is the best medicine.

MLK

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Good.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? PRIDE IN THE NAME OF LOVE by U2

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tomorrow’s inauguration is quite the historic milestone and what a tribute to his birthday. He will definitely be present in spirit.

Let There Be Light

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Working very late to finish up a contract.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LINUS & LUCY by Vince Guaraldi Trio

Firings at HMH. Layoffs at Simon & Schuster yesterday, layoffs at Scholastic a month or so ago, huge structural changes at Random House announced yesterday, HarperCollins delaying pay raises until next summer, and Macmillan CEO outlining that not everyone might have a job going forward

And yet, Michael Cader at Publishers Marketplace had this to say:

“Meanwhile, despite all the attention for the books HMH isn’t buying, our deal reports continue to show steady activity in the marketplace. (Over 90 deals in the past three days; 700 reports since November 1; 1375 since October 1.”

I like that ray of light!

Perfect Timing

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Starbuck’s eggnog Chai is back! This is a dangerous thing.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU by Mariah Carey

Today I was reading Deal Lunch (a daily email from Publishers Marketplace that lists announced deals) and I noticed a sale for a manuscript that I had passed on earlier in the year and I bet that blog readers wonder how that makes an agent feel. Do we instantly regret the lost sale that we passed on?

To be honest, I have to say it really just depends on how we felt when we read those sample pages.

For example, for the deal I saw today, I simply looked up my notes on the manuscript and I had written a specific message to the author outlining how I saw the talent in the manuscript but felt like it was just over the top for my taste but that I could really see another agent digging it.

Guess what? I was right. Another agent did dig it and found the right home for the author. In this instance, I only felt pleasure for the writer as the deal posting wasn’t a surprise to me.

But that’s not always the case. In fact, just this summer I was swamped and we received sample pages from an author who was looking for an agent after selling the first book on her own.

I read the sample pages and thought the writing was really good but I had reservations on the story line. I kept vacillating on whether I had time to read a full when I had a niggling doubt. I finally decided that I was just too swamped at that moment to ask for a full. A month or so later, I kept thinking about the samples pages and I knew that I was probably going to regret passing. Sure enough…

Several months later, I heard that an agent friend had signed the writer and had just closed a six figure deal. Yep, there was some regret there (although I was also really delighted for my agent friend because she really is the crème de la crème and I love seeing her succeed). We went to dinner and toasted her obvious good taste.

Being snowed under is never a good reason to pass on manuscript but sometimes, that’s the literal truth which brings me to the point of this blog entry. In publishing, landing an agent or selling a project is sometimes about timing. I know. It sucks to hear that.

My dad used to say that to me when talking about love and finding that perfect partner. I just rolled my eyes but darn, he was right. When the timing in my life was right, I did indeed meet my husband. I’m not sure I would have “seen” the great person he is at an earlier point in my life. The timing had to be right.

Sometimes the same is true about publishing. The right project with the right agent/editor at the right time.

The HMH Hold Is Not For Children

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Happy Turkey Day! I’m out for the rest of the week so back to blogging on Dec. 1.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? GETTING BETTER by The Beatles
(Seriously, this is what is playing currently at the moment…)

As to yesterday’s news….

This morning, I did get a chance to talk to an Editorial Director at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s.

She mentioned that the hold did not apply to the children’s division and that she had acquired something just yesterday.

So a little good news on that subject.

As for the hold in the adult realm and how long it will last, I have not uncovered any new information beyond the rumors flying around. If I do discover info from a reliable source, I’ll pass along.

Have a great holiday and see you back here on Monday.

A Hold On Acquisitions

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Harbinger of bad news I’m afraid.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? O HOLY NIGHT by Paul Potts
(I haven’t transferred the holiday music to the iPod yet but this one was still on there from last December.)

Ack! Computers. I can deal with it. Ack! Publishers. I don’t want to deal with this. This just off the news wires folks. This is the first time I’ve seen this. Now, granted, I’ve only been in publishing for the last 7 years so really, just a baby amount of time, but I’m talking with some agent friends who have been around for a lot longer and it’s the first time they’ve seen this as well.

This might be an interesting ride over the next 6 months…

From Publishers Weekly
Article by Rachel Deahl

[excerpt]It’s been clear for months that it will be a not-so-merry holiday season for publishers, but at least one house has gone so far as to halt acquisitions. PW has learned that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has asked its editors to stop buying books.

Josef Blumenfeld, v-p of communications for HMH, confirmed that the publisher has “temporarily stopped acquiring manuscripts.” The directive was given verbally to a handful of executives and, according to Blumenfeld, is “not a permanent change.” Blumenfeld, who hedged on when the ban might be lifted, said that the right project could still go in front of the editorial review board. He maintained that the decision is less about taking drastic measures than conducting good business.

Here’s the link to the full article.

Upgrade Complete. Foibles Remain.

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: TGIF! Ack. Computers.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO by Louis Armstrong

My aplogies. The upgrade was fairly seamless but invariably, something doesn’t work properly or has gotten messed up. I’ve spent most of this afternoon trying to nail down all the fixes so Monday can be a normal work day. [snort]

I’m a little too exhausted to try and form coherent sentences for a blog entry today. Let’s hope I’m back in fighting form on Monday. Thanks for your patience.

Bigger Is Better

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Tomorrow will be as pleasant as a root canal.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? GOD ONLY KNOWS by The Beach Boys

And I’m not saying that just because I went to the dentist this morning. Luckily I got the clean bill of health so no root canal in my future—except for the metaphorical one that’s happening tomorrow. Yep, you guessed it. Computer upgrades.

That means all brand spanking new software needs to be loaded up and all files transferred. I’m sure I’ll love it when the transition is complete but let me tell you, I’m not even doing the upgrade work and it’s nerve-wracking. (And no, I’m not doing Windows Vista as my tech person advises against it. Too many bugs).

I have to say Lynnelle is the calmest person I know. She’d have to be. Just the thought of wrestling with a computer makes me cranky but she actually enjoys it.

But here’s what I’m most excited about. My new 22-inch monitor. Bigger is better baby. I actually thought about doing the dual monitors but with publishers sending contracts electronically, I really want to see the draft and the final side-by-side.

Not to mention, if the final contract is in locked Word, you can scroll both documents simultaneously. Let me tell you, this makes verifying all changes so much easier. And since I have three contracts currently in the review process, I’ll take that new monitor for a test run on Friday.

And don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten. I’m digging out my NYC notes tomorrow…. Have laptop. Will blog.

Publisher’s Weekly Best Books Of the Year

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Now this is news I could have every Monday Morning!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS by Barenaked Ladies

Just got an early peek at this week’s PW magazine and the Best Books of the Year is their cover story. In PW’s words, “Once again, we take the opportunity near year’s end to review the year in books, highlighting the very best of what American publishing had to offer in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, comics, religion, lifestyle, and children’s.”

And guess what? NLA has a client book on that list!

Huge congrats to Sherry Thomas for her extraordinary debut that made the list (as well as having the cover featured in the article!). PW reviews a lot of books in the course of the year and to be one of five titles to make PW’s list in that category, well, you don’t have to take just my word for it that the novel is good.

Click here to buy.