Feeling kind of blah today. I think it's the weather: just gray, gray, and more gray. On days like this, if it's not going to be sunny then I wish it would either rain or snow. That's end of November in Chicago for you.
Spent the day on agency stuff. Followed-up on a couple proposals I have out to publishers, one of which is a great YA memoir called "The Heartless Bastard" written by my client Rainesford who is currently a freshman in college. Rainesford has a terrific website (http://www.rainesfordalexandra.com) and told me today she's a fan of this blog. (Thank you, Rainesford!) So this publisher--who shall remain nameless but does have the word "Teen" in its name--got back to me today and said that this project is all wrong for the house because they do not handle YA. Huh? Does 'teen' not include 'YA?' It made me feel a little snarky, but I'm over it now. It's not atypical of publishers to reject projects with little to no constructive feedback. But oh well. We've got other promising irons in the fire.
I did have a good call with a potential new client who contacted me all the way from Canada after seeing me on Twitter. I realized during this call how much I enjoy talking to and educating people about publishing. It's such a crazy, ridiculous, and in many ways antiquated industry that always seems to be in a constant state of flux, particularly in regards to handling social media and e-books. I'm always telling new authors that the one place where they can expect the author/publisher relationship to break down is within marketing/pr. I am encouraged, however, to see that many if not most new authors get this and are actively working to build their marketing platforms prior to being published. It's really quite easy to create a Facebook page for one's literary work, and Twitter is a great tool to build awareness of your project and--perhaps more importantly--your brand as an author. I'm learning this myself. Publishers can/will only do so much for you. All you prospective authors out there: start marketing yourself now! You may have written the greatest work of literature that's ever been written, but if no one knows who you are or what you've written, chances are your book isn't going to sell...and no one likes ending up on the returns pile. At any rate, I'm looking forward to reading this prospective client's proposal!
I'm heading out to the opera tonight. Richard Strauss's "Ariadne auf Naxos" is playing at the Lyric...looking forward to it and looking forward to grabbing a drink at intermission with my old friend Heather who also happens to be a very talented writer. I feel privileged to have been able to read the first three chapters of her new novel...based on what I've seen so far, it has real potential! Keep it up, Heather! Your descriptive writing is beautiful.
Of immediate concern though is...what am I going to wear tonight?
Ciao.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: "How do you keep track of what's going on with your favorite authors?"
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