Comments on: Jane Dystel reflects on publishing then and now.

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By: Amos

Amos — Tue, 29 May 2007 23:30:00 +0000

The real shakers of that period -- and the decades before it -- were the books that bean counters and market measurers could never have predicted, because they filled a need that was deeply felt just below the surface, instead of tracking to some precedent. RIchard Bach's breakout "Jonathon Livingston Seagull" comes to mind.

So, in an age when the measurers and counters get to control the creative outlet (for perfectly sound business reasons, of course!) where do the great surprise books, the ones that tell us what we didn't already know, come out?

A.H. Jessup
San Diego

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 17 May 2007 20:02:00 +0000

Jane, you are right; I am a food author with 10 books out there and I can tell you that I have seen a dramatic drop in care for authors by editors. I literally wrote all my books without much advice from my editors. It is disouraging to put so much effort into your work, only to have the bottom line be not quality but what will sell the most, even if it is trash.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 11 May 2007 04:31:00 +0000

My wife went to theAlgonkian Writers Conference a couple of weeks ago and was fortunate enough to have two out of the four agents she pitched say they wanted to see her manuscript. Even given this interest, she is having a great deal of difficulty finding an agent who is interested in it. Why is that?

BTW, I have been pitching my book to agents since I first pitched it at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference last month. I get all sorts of encouraging rejections, but they are rejections none the less. They all are very encouraging, but none have wanted to see the manuscript. I am running out of agents who say they represent my genre. What to do?

http://novemberghosts.blogspot.com

By: Todd Wheeler

Todd Wheeler — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:15:00 +0000

What influence might a succuessful author have to help make a change in publishing culture? For example, if the author sells well, does their opinion hold any weight with marketing/sales about what the editor does or which new writers the editor is trying to acquire?

Are we entering an age of independent editor/agents? Or literary agencies with a staff of editors?

By: Steph

Steph — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 16:23:00 +0000

Your comments are spot on. And they bleed into all areas of publishing. I was a magazine editor for years and often found sales would dictate what articles we would select. Much depended upon what would suck the dollar from the pockets of our readers. Quality was a sad little redheaded stepchild in many cases.

These days I work as a writer and designer for an advertising agency (I prefer the term Media Whore, thank you). I do desperately miss editing and I still write a great deal for myself on the side. If we could wrest the majority of control away from the fingers of sales staff who lack the editorial training to polish a piece, I'd most definitely jump back into the game in that capacity.

By: Bob Liter

Bob Liter — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 14:04:00 +0000

I’m a retired journalist and was aware for many years of who had the power in the newspaper business. It wasn’t the editor or the writers, it was the money departments. The product isn’t that important, it’s the sale of it that is.
Bob Liter

By: kathie

kathie — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 13:59:00 +0000

Thanks for making the complicated business of publishing a little clearer, Jane. We writers don’t often consider these elements until immersed in some particular issue or problem. Here’s hoping your counterparts on the editor side are thinking along the same lines as you!

By: Kanani

Kanani — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 20:23:00 +0000

Excellent insight. I remember reading Michael Korda's book on publishing and he said the same thing. What's clear in my mind was the way the editors reworked "Catch-22." Would this novel even make it past the first round of readers today in the form it was when the editors first saw it? Maybe, but maybe not.

My favorite writing teacher was an editor. He showed me the very rudiments of writing. I learned how to cut something down and pick up the pace, how to make the prose flow, when the similes weren't working and why, and also encouraged me to find my character's values which will drive the entire piece. More importantly, I learned to dive deep and keep at it.

A marketing expert has different goals in mind, which are no less valid however, without the skills of someone to hone the language to original and sharp imagery, their job is far more difficult. And less interesting or challenging.

The balance of art and commerce had never been easy, the process everchanging.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 23:47:00 +0000

What's the communication like these days, between the departments? Art + Publicity + Editors.

Do they work closely together?

Carrie Kabak