Publishers at the Palace

Today I started out with a fool's errand: I drove my youngest child to an orthodontist's appointment in Herkimer. Wrong blinking date! Afterward I did the line edits on "The Girl in the Fabrilon." And I received an acceptance for "The Fire Girl." I'm having a good week for acceptances. After my three children go to bed, I'll work on my talks for the Let's Read! conference.

Another thing I did today was to read blogs by Dan Green and Scott Esposito. Both were on that perennial topic, what's wrong with publishing--leading to a vision of New York publishers crumbling onto the pavement while self-published zebras of all stripes run amuck. I can probably fret about publishers and publishing with the most stalwart complainers, and I have intimate knowledge of the usual disasters: editor departing at just the wrong moment; editor giving publisher the bird and grabbing rolodex; publisher obsessed with the antics of the lead book author; publisher waiting so long to print that I withdraw a book; lack of marketing; great reviews without any increase in marketing, etc. I've even had the misfortune of a slightly delayed book coming out right after 9-11. So I'm an expert at black thoughts regarding the fate of my books. With six books behind me, I've published with three houses: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, a New York publisher now owned by Holtzbrinck (4 books, 2 from the adult division and 2 young adult/crossover books from the children's division); David R. Godine, Publisher (1 book); and Louisiana State University Press (1 book/poetry). That's one large house owned by a multi-national corporation, one smaller house, and one university press.

Let me figure out what has mattered to me about a link with what Dan calls "mainstream publishing." In the simplest terms, what have I gained?

1. I possess the exquisite one-of-a-kind Queen Elaine: that is, the instantly recognizable copy editing of a paragon. I could tell within a page when FSG substituted somebody else. I cherish the exactitude of her nitpicky work.

2. I have been lucky enough to have editors with expertise and taste. Yes, I am satisfied with how my books have been and are edited. I find the comments I get from editors to be interesting and always worth considering; I find the burnishing that happens during copy editing to be satisfying and worthwhile. I've learned something from editors since the days when I--an innocent poet who had perpetrated some fiction and knew nothing of the ways of publishing--sent a novella and some stories to Mr. David R. Godine in a brown paper envelope. Sadi Ransom, Elisabeth Dyssegaard, Robbie Mayes: yes, definitely satisfied.

3. It's a wonderful thing when a person of taste recognizes one's work immediately. Here's one example. Catherwood arrived in New York offices on a Monday; two days later it and I had a home. When an editor sees and understands with such celerity, it's encouraging in a way that isn't soon forgotten. When one is wandering the sands of obscurity, one stumbles on an oasis of welcome...

4. While I can't say that I've been coddled by a house, I can say that a writer benefits from an ongoing link to an editor. Unfortunately, most links end with breakage these days. Editors move on. But where I have had continuity, I feel that I've gained something: that the editor sees the arc of my work and is thoughtful about strengths.

5. Once upon a time I taught, even got tenure in my fifth year. That year I also quit, because I didn't feel that the profession was good for or conducive to my writing. Yours, perhaps. Not mine. If I had no connection with publishers, I would be even more cut off--I live in the absolute boonsticks of the world, and I regard my connection with publishers as a supportive one. Do I wish it more so? Of course.

6. The sorts of publishers who have published my books are not the ones throwing "chaff" to the winds. I feel, in fact, a little protected from that landscape by my publishers.

7. My books have stayed in print. The only one that has not is Catherwood, oddly enough, as the book was paddling along and doing fine when it abruptly capsized. It was a Literary Guild alternate, sold a movie option, sold French, German, and Spanish rights, etc. But the book went into paperback in the old Bard imprint, newly revived. When HarperCollins purchased William Morrow/Avon, they spat out a lot of lines, including Bard. All the others are still in print. Not bad.

8. The physical books are sturdy, well made, often beautiful.

9. I don't have to warehouse them or mail them here and yon, etc.

10. And then there are elements like the lovely jacket image--a Steve Cieslawski oil painting--that hangs over my writing table, and all the generous, encouraging people I've met through my books.

None of those elements address the way mid-list books are marketed, or the pressure for the writer to help market. They don't grapple with the way most books, good or bad, are dropped into a well. They don't deal with the fact that much of what is recommended in the way of marketing just doesn't work, or with how a writer must think "outside the box."

My young adult/crossover book, Ingledove, is being marketed by my publisher in the customary way, with more web contact than in the case of my prior books. What have I done to help my marketers? I spent a good deal of time developing a interactive information base with links to web sites and hot email addresses. I bugged my editor about helping me get a blurb from a notable writer. Thanks to him, it has a splendiferous blurb from Diana Wynne Jones. And I've spent a lot of time sending out recent poems, stories, and novellas, partly in order to publicize the book. Will it help? I'll have to wait and see. I have some events coming up, but not as many as for the last book; I'm not impressed with their effectiveness, unless they are special venues, like the Let's Read! conference I'm doing next, thanks to my marketer--it's an event with a 19-year history, a built-in audience of over 300 teachers, and great coordination by Frank Hodge, owner of Hodge-Podge books in Albany.

And now I'd better go work on those talks...

The Midnight Crier (at 2:00 a.m.): that was the Shaara...

Some days ago I announced that a penpal, Philip Lee Williams, had won the Shaara for 2004. Then I had to change it to the ______ because the award hadn't been formally announced. Now it has been. The unpacking of confetti and fireworks, party hats and bugles is in order: http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/cwc/mshaara.htm#2004.

The Palace P. O.

Bookish NYC picture postcards, all from the last three days:

Robbie-the-editor in his new beard (already scraped off, though I said that I liked it, honest!);

Rebecca-the-middle-child-bookworm, age 13, devouring sushi again and again and yet again;

Sabeth and Lee--why are marketers always so attractive, I wonder?--plus the rest of the children's division at a wine and cheese pillage;

a letter from Jane to her dear sister, Cassandra, plus George Eliot's notes in Hebrew;

Elaine, Queen of Copy Editors, in her leafy chamber of books and manuscripts;

an abysmal lot of correspondence in my FSG file (never thought that they'd keep the stuff--I'll never tell anything, ever again!);

several of Renato Alarcao's original drawings in Robbie's office, including one from Ingledove;

Liz-the-agent with a picture book starring her fat stripey cat, Magic;

the grumpy FSG cat, picture-book dummies, inner sanctums, book hoards, etc.!

The Midnight Crier (at 10:00 p.m.): Ingledove in BOOKLIST

Like Youmans' previous fantasy for young people, The Curse of the Raven Mocker (2003), this one follows a girl, Ingledove, into Adantis, a hidden land in the Blue Ridge Mountains that is inhabited by magical creatures as well as people who count the Cherokee, English, Scots, and Irish as their ancestors. After Ingledove's older brother Lang is bewitched by a shape-shifting serpent woman, the siblings set out for Adantis. There they find their mother's grave, the dammed lake that has drowned their birthplace, and the evil creature who enchants Lang and threatens his life. Beyond all the associations with death, in Adantis they also find beauty, friendship, and hope. Jarrett the witchmaster foresees their coming and joins Ingledove in the perilous journey she must take to save Lang. The appended Adantan glossary discusses the meaning of words, identifies people and creatures, and explains aspects of Adantan lore. Besides the richly imagined setting and history, this fantasy offers a sympathetic heroine involved in an exciting adventure. -Carolyn Phelan