Category Archives: John

September 06, 2011   John   advice, e-books, John, reading, technical help, technology  
5

Non-linear reading (or why the Kindle drives me nuts)

Howdy, folks! Hope everyone had a good restful Labor Day, and that you’re feeling recharged for autumn. Writing from cold, rainy NYC, it sure feels like summer headed out the door in a hurry. Of course, it will probably turn scorching and steamy again by Friday, but right now it’s one of those gray early-fall days where all you want to do is curl up in a corner with a good book—or codex,  as this insightful piece in the Sunday Times Book Review puts it.

It’s certainly thought-provoking to consider how e-readers restrict non-linear reading, and I was most excited to see Lev Grossman identify my biggest beef with the Kindle. Whenever I have an e-readers conversation with editors, we almost always agree on how great they are for reviewing submissions—I certainly don’t miss the days of dragging 300-page manuscripts home in my bag every night. But it drives me crazy that if I start reading a manuscript at my work computer, I cannot for the life of me find my place on the Kindle when I get home, no matter how many searches I try. Invariably, it’s just a long skim from “Locations 1-32” until I find the chapter where I left off—and Lord help me if I left off mid-paragraph or the document doesn’t have chapter headings!

So kudos to Grossman for pointing out this issue, and hopefully the good folks at Amazon will read the article and figure out a solution. But in the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions for how to find your place more easily? Any tricks? I’d love to know—especially on a cold, wet day that’s tailor-made for dipping into a book without having to hit the Next Page button ad nauseum.

August 23, 2011   John   celebrity, fun, John, libraries  
5

Libraries of the rich and famous

As my wife would probably tell you, home design isn’t usually my cup of tea. But I couldn’t help myself on this one: the Accredited Online Colleges blog (I know, random—thanks to the good folks at Shelf Awareness for digging it up) posted this awesome slideshow/list of 20 celebrity libraries to die for.

Leather binding! Oriental rugs! Mahogany! Fireplaces! Ahhh….

While I’m sure it would be lovely to sink into one of the couches in the Hearst library, my faves here would have to be Nigella and Keith Richards—something about the clutter makes them look like places you’d actually want to read, instead of just admire. Though I do like the clean look of Jane Fonda’s room—feels like a great space for escaping from the world.

On the other hand, what’s up with Sting, Rod, and Michael and their stuffy, faux British-manor reading rooms? Not exactly sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, guys. And while I guess Karl Lagerfeld’s space is meant to be utilitarian, you’d think a fashion designer would come with something a little more… attractive?

Thoughts? Picks? Pans? Anyone know other celeb libraries worth checking out? If so, please link away…

August 09, 2011   John   future of publishing, John, opinion, optimism, publishers  
4

A little ray of sunshine

Who would’ve thunk that with the economy going to hell in a handbasket, publishing would actually offer a beacon of hope?

Believe it or not, a survey conducted by the The Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group concluded that in the past three years the publishing industry has actually expanded. While the reported increases in net revenues and sales are only in the single digits, hey, that’s a lot better than plenty of other industries. Better yet, it appears that the growth is across the board—trade as well as professional/educational publishing. It’s also encouraging that ebooks, while they certainly contributed to the growth, were not the only driving factor. And kudos to adult fiction!

So for those of us who’ve been feeling pretty low watching the stock market collapse, I hope this raises your spirits a bit—we ain’t dead yet!

August 02, 2011   John   advice, fun, inspiration, John  
1

Hang ten, writer-dudes!

Dude, I totally had to blog about this piece I saw in The Guardian via yesterday’s Shelf Awareness. Yep, forget the Agatha Christie you pictured sitting in an English drawing room sketching out mysteries over scones and tea—turns out Agatha was one gnarly babe, catching tasty waves at Waikiki long before the Beach Boys were a glimmer in their daddy’s eye.

Not to read too much into this piece (that might harsh my mellow), but you’ve gotta love stories of writers trying things that seem completely at odds with their literary personae. I’m always stoked to be reminded that curiosity is a writer’s best friend, even if the experience doesn’t end up as direct material for a book—as The Guardian notes, Miss Marple never exactly shredded a fat wave…

So while chasing tubes may not be your thing, I do hope you’ll find time this summer to indulge in a totally rad, totally counterintuitive pursuit—who knows, you might end up as, er, the world’s greatest mystery writer!

July 26, 2011   John   advice, etiquette, John, rejection, submissions  
8

Responding to rejection

As one whose manners could always use improvement (well, table manners at least), I’m usually hesitant to weigh in on questions of etiquette. However, I got some emails this weeks that I thought were worth discussing…

Perhaps the only benefit of the recent heat wave is that things were quiet enough for me to catch up on submissions. Typically, I respond to queries with my standard form rejection, which I think is polite and honest in that it gives the ultimate reason why we chose not to take on any author’s work—we just don’t think we can sell it. Hence, when I do get an email back, it’s usually an equally polite thank-you note or a query about a new project, which I’m always happy to look at.

However, this time around I got a few replies from authors letting me know that while they were waiting for my answer, they either signed with another agent or got themselves a publishing deal. To which I say, congratulations… but why are you telling me this now, instead of when the interest in your project actually happened? Is it just to fill me in? Or is it to chastise me for being too slow? To show that my rejection doesn’t matter, since things worked out anyway?

Regardless of your motivation, telling me your news after you get the rejection means I just wasted time considering a project that wasn’t available anymore. So, a simple request: if you’ve got a submission with me and something develops, send me an email and tell me at the time—I’d love the opportunity to compete for your affection. (That’s why you initially queried me, right?) And if the message is that you’re withdrawing your work from consideration, then at least I can give you a genuine congrats!

July 19, 2011   John   Borders, John, news, opinion  
13

Bye-bye Borders

It’s finally official: Borders is closing for good. Certainly, it’s not happy news, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that nearly 11,000 employees will soon be out of their jobs. And while Borders hasn’t really been a credible alternative to B&N for some years now, it’s disturbing to think that B&N is now the only nationwide physical bookstore chain.

But on a reading/shopping level, I’m curious—are any of you actually upset to see Borders go?

Personally, I was never a big fan of my local Borders at Columbus Circle. It always felt disorganized, especially in the children’s section, and the author appearance area had all the warmth of an airplane hangar, with acoustics to match. Then again, I’m lucky to live in a big city with a lot of bookstore options—for any of you, was Borders the only convenient bookstore? If so, was it a good place to shop and attend author events? And now that it’s gone, are there other smaller, regional chains you’d like to step into the breach?

FYI, for a more sympathetic eulogy, check out this piece from today’s Shelf Awareness—wish I’d had more experiences like Bethanne!

July 05, 2011   John   children's books, fun, holidays, John  
3

You’re a grand old picture book!

Happy (belated) 4th of July, everyone! Hope you’re all feeling rested and refreshed after a weekend of all-American activities. The 4th has always been my favorite non-gift-giving holiday, mostly for the food and fireworks—guess I never really outgrew being a pyro. In fact, this 4th, I was thrilled to discover that Connecticut has relaxed their fireworks laws—picked up some great Roman candles and other assorted goodies at Stop & Shop. No M-80s, but still, it’s a start!

Visiting my folks in CT, who are in driving distance of the beach, I’ll admit that books weren’t at the forefront of my thoughts (gasp). But as I watched Henry prance around the yard waving a little American flag, I did start to wonder a little about how to explain the holiday to him. So, back in the City last night, I combed through his bookshelves and discovered to my chagrin that we really didn’t have much for him—a copy of Lynne Cheney’s AMERICA: A PATRIOTIC PRIMER (which, no joke, is a really good book, but way too old for Henry), but that’s about it.

Thinking about my own reading, though, most of the books I remember from childhood, like Jean Fritz’s Revolutionary-era stories on Patrick Henry and John Hancock, would be too old for Henry. And doing a little Amazon surfing this morning, it seems like the bulk of Americana for kids is either in the early reader format or aimed more for the 5-10 picture book readers than the younger end.

But maybe I’m just not finding them… so, I turn to you, dear readers. Anyone got any recommendations for young picture books on America? Think of it as your patriotic duty…

June 30, 2011   John   controversy, John, opinion, YA  
21

YA throwdown–part II

Since my blog post a couple of weeks on dark YA ago got so many responses, I had to share Meghan Cox Gurdon’s rebuttal to her original article—I admit it, I’m a sucker for comments!

So, here we go again. Considering the fury generated by the original piece, Gurdon does a pretty remarkable job of sticking to her guns and fighting back. Interestingly, from just a quick glance at the comments on the WSJ site, it seems that there’s a lot more support for her position this time around, though I wonder if that’s partly because she’s recast herself in the “victim” role. And so far, outside reaction has been muted, probably because she doesn’t offer much that’s new or different.

But while I held my tongue the first time around, Gurdon’s rebuttal really bugs me, not only because of her message but her sophistry as well. Despite an initial protest to the contrary, once again she’s generalizing about all YA being dark, and while she talks about taking collective responsibility, the examples and quotes squarely place the blame once again on publishers and librarians—yup, back to the ol’ bogeymen. And in the tradition of the worst cultural censors, she closes the essay by saying she just wants to “discuss the subject.” Arrgh!

So, there’s my two cents. Your thoughts? Come on, lemme see them comments…

June 21, 2011   John   galleys, John, libraries, opinion, questions, reading, recommendations  
5

What to read?

One of the blessings of working in the publishing industry is that you’re given plenty of books for free. Right now, I’ve got three stacks of books and galleys on my desk, plus another tower on my night table at home, none of which I actually bought. And it’s not like they’re all cast-offs or remainders, either. We’re talking front-list, big-book titles here—in other words, good stuff!

Yet, as much as I appreciate the swag, I find that sometimes it’s a curse as well. The constant availability of books means that I often procrastinate on reading what I actually want to read—or worse, I don’t get to them at all. I’m a huge fan of the Hunger Games books, but it took me months to get around to Mockingjay, not because of the reviews or word-of-mouth, but because I simply had other stuff that looked intriguing at hand.  And I still haven’t gotten around to A Visit from the Good Squad. Or Freedom.

Are the freebies books I would have sought out and purchased? Probably not. But in most cases I was glad to read them, and certainly there’s an educational benefit to reading books on subjects I’d never consider while browsing in the store. On the other hand, it’s been years since I read any classics, because that would mean actually going out and getting the books—and I do worry that my sense of perspective has become limited to what’s contemporary.

I know, it’s pretty obnoxious to complain about having too many free books… and okay, when it comes to book shopping I’m remarkably lazy, too. But still, I’m curious: do you ever put off reading what you want for what’s at hand? Or are you always more focused in your reading choices? If so, do you have a varied reading list? Any strategies for mixing things up?

June 14, 2011   John   fun, John, memory, reading, suggestions, Uncategorized  
3

Parks and reading

This past Sunday, in a futile effort to wear out our toddler so that he just might take an afternoon nap, we got moving early and checked out the new extension of the High Line. For those who haven’t been, the High Line is the park that’s been developed on the abandoned elevated train tracks that run from Greenwich Village up to 30th Street along the West Side. Conceptually, it’s an amazing space—narrow and industrial, yet full of greenery and neat architectural features, plus the views are spectacular. For anyone visiting New York these days, I’d put it on the must-see list.

Anyway, as we paraded uptown from 18th Street, I noticed more than a few people sitting on the benches reading newspapers and books. In the moment, it seemed a little odd to me—while there’s ample seating on the High Line, the walkway is so tight in places that it’s hard to believe one could concentrate with passers-by literally walking on top of you. But then I started thinking about the open spaces or parks around town where I go to read, and it’s actually a total mix of quiet and bucolic, noisy and public.

For instance, when I was at Penguin and worked from home on Fridays, I’d often hit one of the relatively uninhabited stretches of Riverside Park, especially a certain walkway that becomes a truly mind-blowing explosion of color when the trees start to bloom in late April. (sorry, I’m not telling where!) Or, later in the season, I’d go down to the Hudson River to catch the breeze off the water—likewise, a very quiet spot to read during the day.

Yet at the same time, I’d sometimes plant myself on a bench in Washington Square park, which is one of the busiest in the city, no matter what time of day. Another favorite bench spot is at the boat pond in Central Park, which is lovely but always full of tourists and kids running around. And then there’s the Sheep’s Meadow, where I’ve actually done a lot of quality reading despite the ever-present threat of getting beaned by a Frisbee.

I’d like to think there’s some correlation between what I’m reading and where I want to read it, or what kind of atmosphere, but I can’t really come up with any pattern or system at the moment. So I guess I’ll just chalk it up (as Lauren and others have written before) to the myriad pleasures of reading in nature. But what about you? Any special green spots here in the City or elsewhere that readers should know? Do you find you gravitate toward different parks or types of parks depending on your reading material?

Now that I’ve got this all down on the blog, I’ll certainly have these questions in mind—and maybe, if you get up on the High Line in the near future, you just might see me head down in a book!

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