So here's the plan. Sara Nelson of PW writes the foreword to PW - her weekly column on what's new in the publishing industry - and at the end of the column she always asks, "Agree? Disagree? Tell us at www.publishersweekly.com/saranelson." I wonder if she usually gets any response? I bet since they gave her the newer, kinder, gentler, more accessible (read - PR agent told her to change her look) picture in her column they got some response.
Well, Ms. Nelson, I will be responding. I'll be answering your columns each week - picking up your gauntlet and drawing my pen in response - as soon as my new PWs start rolling in, that is. I sent in the check two days ago. I know, I know. Having the first issue arrive this week would be a little too much to ask for. But hey, you never know. I will officially notify you about my blog as soon as I have my first issue in hand. Just as an aside - and for the record, I liked the older, arms crossed, business suit look you had during your first year at PW. It smacked of cigarette smoke, broken fingernails, and ink on the palms. Call me a romantic.
For all the rest of you out there, feel free to comment on my comments, dialogue on my dialogue. And if you want Sara Nelson's old picture back, let her know. Then perhaps I won't be the only one.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Who writes all those books?
Is it possible for Nora Roberts/JD Robb to have written over 150 books? Is that physically possible? The pulp writers of the thirties and fourties wrote several novels a year, sometimes a dozen to keep up with the monthly publishing schedule so I know it's possible. My father in-law asked me this question yesterday (we talk about publishing sometimes since I'm a writer and he loves to read) and I said, "Sure, it's possible."
He looked at me disbelievingly. "Nahhh," he said.
"It's possible," I repeated. "I know Lawrence Block writes a book in a month." (though truthfully I think he has the book in his mind and is plotting it out way before then, so his process may not be able to be restricted to that one month).
Vince shook his head again.
"I was at a writer's retreat with him and I saw the manuscript pages. He told me himself. He writes the whole thing in one month."
"Yeah but 150 books by this Roberts?"
I shrugged. "It's not what I'm capable of, but I know it's possible." We went on like this for a while and then moved on to other topics. But today, after a day out on the beach with my family I'm still thinking about it. So I checked her website to see what her pattern is. Here's the list:
1981 - 1 book published
1982 - 5 books published
1983 - 8 books published
1984 - 10 books published
... and so it goes until Montana Sky (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) in 1996 when she hits her 100th novel. She regularly published 8-12 books a year since then. As I said, this isn't my process - I wrote a novel in a year a ways back, but that was writing 20 minutes a day every morning before I went to work. I worked at Gay Men's Health Crisis that year doing AIDS work and was so stressed/exhausted by the time I finished work I couldn't write at night so that 20 minutes was all that I had to keep the writing pistons firing. That was a good pace for me then and still is now. I'm on my fourth year of working on my latest book. BEcoming a father five years ago is my excuse for being slow with this one. Slow but steady. That's my motto.
Do I believe Nora Roberts could write all those books at that pace, all by herself? I'd have to read one of her books to really have a valid opinion if I was going to say no. But my father-in-law says she's pretty good - especially her time travel series under the JD Robb moniker - even if he wonders whether she actually wrote them herself.
I'm probably better off talking about someone like James Patterson, whose book, The Jester I did read and enjoyed for it's storytelling but not for it's depth or stylistic nuance (there was little). But then he's only published some 40 books since 1976. He doesn't seem quite as prolific - even if these days he's a two to three book a year guy. Still, many of his newer books are co-authored with others. Did he co-author before and just never tell anyone about it? It doesn't really matter to me one way or the other. William Shatner on the other hand and the books he's written, well... don't get me started on him. I don't care if he is Captain Kirk.
He looked at me disbelievingly. "Nahhh," he said.
"It's possible," I repeated. "I know Lawrence Block writes a book in a month." (though truthfully I think he has the book in his mind and is plotting it out way before then, so his process may not be able to be restricted to that one month).
Vince shook his head again.
"I was at a writer's retreat with him and I saw the manuscript pages. He told me himself. He writes the whole thing in one month."
"Yeah but 150 books by this Roberts?"
I shrugged. "It's not what I'm capable of, but I know it's possible." We went on like this for a while and then moved on to other topics. But today, after a day out on the beach with my family I'm still thinking about it. So I checked her website to see what her pattern is. Here's the list:
1981 - 1 book published
1982 - 5 books published
1983 - 8 books published
1984 - 10 books published
... and so it goes until Montana Sky (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) in 1996 when she hits her 100th novel. She regularly published 8-12 books a year since then. As I said, this isn't my process - I wrote a novel in a year a ways back, but that was writing 20 minutes a day every morning before I went to work. I worked at Gay Men's Health Crisis that year doing AIDS work and was so stressed/exhausted by the time I finished work I couldn't write at night so that 20 minutes was all that I had to keep the writing pistons firing. That was a good pace for me then and still is now. I'm on my fourth year of working on my latest book. BEcoming a father five years ago is my excuse for being slow with this one. Slow but steady. That's my motto.
Do I believe Nora Roberts could write all those books at that pace, all by herself? I'd have to read one of her books to really have a valid opinion if I was going to say no. But my father-in-law says she's pretty good - especially her time travel series under the JD Robb moniker - even if he wonders whether she actually wrote them herself.
I'm probably better off talking about someone like James Patterson, whose book, The Jester I did read and enjoyed for it's storytelling but not for it's depth or stylistic nuance (there was little). But then he's only published some 40 books since 1976. He doesn't seem quite as prolific - even if these days he's a two to three book a year guy. Still, many of his newer books are co-authored with others. Did he co-author before and just never tell anyone about it? It doesn't really matter to me one way or the other. William Shatner on the other hand and the books he's written, well... don't get me started on him. I don't care if he is Captain Kirk.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Lapse or Relapse?
February to May - over fifteen months without an entry. Talk about a dry patch. Have I been writing at all during this crossing of the desert? Yes. Keep it simple. A revision of my novel, Remise, blog entries in Trainjotting under the moniker of Straphanger Joe, a children's book, and four poems. The novel was the hardest to finish, followed by the poems. Poems are hard - at lesat for me they are. And of course, one of the reasons for crossing the desert, a third agent has come and gone, before the ink was even dry on the contract. But that's a story that will have to wait before it's uncovered. That's called self preservation in the face of typical publishing wacky-ness.
But here's the really interesting part. I've gone seven months without Publishers Weekly. I went through withdrawal for a while - three days of headaches and dry mouth, a runny nose that lasted for a week, followed by craving for short book reviews that made my thumbs twitch wnenever I passed a bookstore.
Why did I quit reading PW? I went to yoga school. Don't laugh. Writer's do all kinds of things to earn money while they are dreaming of hitting it big. In my case yoga school helped me to cope while family members dealt with cancer. It also took my PW fund, and we all know the PW fund is by necessity, large. Funny thing, though - my subscription ran out in July and the weekly issues kept coming through the end of October. Every issue asked me to "come back to the fold" with slightly reduced prices each week. About a month ago I got another letter from them and the yearly price had been reduced to $170. I took it as a sign.
Not long after the arrival of the newest discount, I went to Disneyworld with my son and wife and I brought along the whole month of October with me (not the days, the four issues - stay with me). I hadn't read them. They'd been sitting on a pile of PWs next to my desk collecting dust. I read them quickly on the plane while clouds passed below us, and late at night with my aching feet elevated from walking all over the Magic Kingdom/Epcot/Animal Kingdom, while the giraffes and gazelles and bongos on the savanah outside the window of our balcony at the Animal Kingdom Lodge slept. I'd relapsed smoothly and efficiently. But was it a lapse or a full-blown relapse? I asked my wife on the plane ride home if I could spring for the subscription price one more once. She nodded with a smile. Sometimes you gotta get it out of your system before you can let it back in.
By the way, I'm teaching yoga now also, and making some money at it too - not a lot of course, that wouldn't fit my profile. But as every writer knows, it gives me plenty more things to write about. And the characters I've met in the world of yoga - spiritual ministers of the cosmic soul speak to me - are worthy of some attention. Just wait a minute while I write that last slogan down...
But here's the really interesting part. I've gone seven months without Publishers Weekly. I went through withdrawal for a while - three days of headaches and dry mouth, a runny nose that lasted for a week, followed by craving for short book reviews that made my thumbs twitch wnenever I passed a bookstore.
Why did I quit reading PW? I went to yoga school. Don't laugh. Writer's do all kinds of things to earn money while they are dreaming of hitting it big. In my case yoga school helped me to cope while family members dealt with cancer. It also took my PW fund, and we all know the PW fund is by necessity, large. Funny thing, though - my subscription ran out in July and the weekly issues kept coming through the end of October. Every issue asked me to "come back to the fold" with slightly reduced prices each week. About a month ago I got another letter from them and the yearly price had been reduced to $170. I took it as a sign.
Not long after the arrival of the newest discount, I went to Disneyworld with my son and wife and I brought along the whole month of October with me (not the days, the four issues - stay with me). I hadn't read them. They'd been sitting on a pile of PWs next to my desk collecting dust. I read them quickly on the plane while clouds passed below us, and late at night with my aching feet elevated from walking all over the Magic Kingdom/Epcot/Animal Kingdom, while the giraffes and gazelles and bongos on the savanah outside the window of our balcony at the Animal Kingdom Lodge slept. I'd relapsed smoothly and efficiently. But was it a lapse or a full-blown relapse? I asked my wife on the plane ride home if I could spring for the subscription price one more once. She nodded with a smile. Sometimes you gotta get it out of your system before you can let it back in.
By the way, I'm teaching yoga now also, and making some money at it too - not a lot of course, that wouldn't fit my profile. But as every writer knows, it gives me plenty more things to write about. And the characters I've met in the world of yoga - spiritual ministers of the cosmic soul speak to me - are worthy of some attention. Just wait a minute while I write that last slogan down...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)