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| +CommentSome sharp comment from people in the book world in 2007 Comment archive 2007 archive 2006 archive 2005 archive 2004 archive 2003 archive 2002 archive 2001
'Increasing demands' ' Amazon has been removing the 'buy button' from some of our books and removing some of our titles from promotional positions... to apply pressure on us to give Amazon even better commercial terms than it presently receives. There are important strategic reasons for us to resist completely Amazon's demands...Despite these advantageous terms (the most generous in the English language world from publishers) Amazon seems each year to go from one publisher to another making increasing demands in order to achieve richer terms at our expense and sometimes at yours... If this continued, it would not be long before Amazon got virtually all of the revenue that is presently shared between author, publisher, retailer, printer and other parties.' From a letter to authors sent by Tim Hely-Hutchinson, Group CEO of Hachette, quoted in The Times
'The most important thing in life' 'Books are the most important thing in life to me. I want to be doing the
thing I love best. It's a need to process life, instead of just taking what life
throws at you and being passive, a need to take life and make something of it.'
'The birth pangs of a golden age' 'It remains the paradox of the world wide web and the global economy that, while this has been the decade in which millions have found a voice through the internet, only a minority has discovered an audience. Self-expression has been democratised, but books and writers still face that age-old struggle to achieve a readership. How they do that remains a mystery, but in the alchemy of literary success, 'word of mouth' remains essential… 'Behind the brilliant facade of new technology, new money, and new markets, there has indeed been a massive interior renovation in the house of books: senior editors taking early retirement, small imprints selling up, little magazines folding, middle-aged writers giving up and corner bookshops closing down countrywide. At the same time, introspective, old-style bookishness has been replaced by another icon of these times - the literary festival... ‘What I have described are the birth pangs of a golden age. The market for the printed book is now global; the opportunities for the digital book are almost unimaginable. To be a writer in the English language today is to be one of the luckiest people alive.' Robert McCrum in the Observer
'Confident and optimistic' 'Bookselling is a noble profession and physical bookstores do have a future. Books are the essential cornerstone of civilisation and fundamental to human knowledge. Our stores have a huge role to play in the cultural life of particular areas. Bookshops should reach out to neighbourhoods and be involved with the community - they perform an important social function. People want experiential activity that you cannot get online - most book-lovers do want to interact with other people.' The book trade is relatively safe. It is well established and stable. There are more books sold than ever before, the market is growing and more people are reading. Its profits and margins are also significantly robust. I think the trade should be confident and optimistic.' Luke Johnson, Chairman of Borders UK, at the Booksellers' Association conference, in Publishing News
Switching to writing for children ‘Part of the reason why I couldn’t finish it is that I think I belong in children’s literature. As soon as I thought of writing a children’s book my imagination just expanded hugely and all the darkness and the surreal elements that were in my adult novel could still come out but I could deal with them in a more irreverent and playful way. In adult literature there seems to be this pressure to ‘say’ something, especially something that’s ‘never been said before’, and I realised that I’d been navel-gazing when I was writing for adults, but I found I really enjoyed myself when I started to do it for children.’ Emma Clayton, author of the The Roar, in Publishing News
Literary versus commercial fiction 'America has a ridiculously divisive line between literary and commercial fiction. One New York Times reviewer skewers me annually, but the best revenge is that review coming out the same week that you have two books at number one on the bestseller lists. I'll get slagged by critics in the UK too, but I defy them to be able to say that it's not a well-written book... 'Early on I had to choose whether to go towards literary or commercial fiction. Literary fiction gets you the accolades and awards but no marketing budget, a small print run, and no one can find your books in a bookstore. Commercial fiction has marketing, advertising, larger print runs, and you are reaching people which, ultimately, was what I wanted to do. If I happened to slip them a well-written book at the same time, then so be it.' Jodi Picoult in the Independent on Sunday
Do creative writing courses offer a fantasy? 'One of the things you notice is that when you switch on the television and a student has gone mad with a machine gun on a campus in America, it's always a writing student. The writing courses particularly when they have the word 'creative" in them, are the new mental hospitals... 'The fantasy is that all the students will become successful writers - and no one will disabuse them of that. When you use the word "creative" and the word "course", there is something deceptive about it... 'When I teach them, they are always better at the end - and more unhappy.' Hanif Kureishi, speaking at the Hay Literary Festival, quoted in the Independent on Sunday
Graphic novels ‘So why is it that publishers seem to ignore the natural evolutionary step of adapting their own novels to penetrate an increasingly lucrative market? It’s down to a clash of cultures. For too long has the poor old comic book, and its big brother, the graphic novel, been overlooked by the intelligentsia as nothing more than a way to get children interested in reading books. Yet graphic novels are an expanding market, as any visit to a bookseller would reveal. And their subject matter is just as varied as any in the fiction department… Publishers are masters at what they do; but they’re not so good when it comes to stepping outside their comfort zones. To make an impact they should be collaborating with an art studio or comic publisher that has a track record in producing quality graphic novels. The keyword here is quality. It sometimes feels that mainstream publishing underestimates the sophistication of the average comic book reader.’ Andy Briggs in Publishing News
'Leave the novels to me' ‘Like any novelist, I’m a sucker for a good story. Yet fiction and non-fiction are shelved in separate sections of a bookshop for good reason. However imaginative its variations, fiction conforms to amazingly strict narrative criteria. Novels begin with an instigating event, develop complications and plot tributaries, build to climax and proceed to a swift, satisfying resolution. Novels employ heroes and villains, red herrings and suspense. Even contemporary literary novels still need to make a point or teach a lesson. And all novels require an element of surprise… Journalists have to remain committed to keeping reality intact, even if the real story is flat. Because that is their job. My job is to make stuff up. My job is to concoct stories that work in their own narrative terms, and I try to craft proper page-turners. Like many literary novelists, I may blur the distinction between hero and villain, but I still furnish conflict, a climax and thematic resolution. So leave the novels to me. That’s what capitalism calls division of labour.’ Lionel Shriver, author of We Need To Talk About Kevin, on the Madeleine McCann case, writing in the Sunday Telegraph
Are book lovers financially astute? 'The booksellers I spoke to were an interesting group. They were confident enough to have left the bunkers of their bookshops for a foray into the informative and often bewildering world of this publishing extravaganza. The fact that they were in the big smoke suggests that they are open-minded and keen to read the zeitgeist. Also, they run businesses that allow them the time to stroll the aisles of Britain's biggest book bonanza. The majority of them seem to be bucking the trend of economic negativity - and sales are increasing in a retail market that appears to be imploding, if one is to believe Fleet Street. This is most heartening, and I think I can explain it: book lovers are financially astute. They have appropriate levels of borrowing and have kept their credit cards under control. This is fabulous news for them and us, as they can continue to buy seriously affordable entertainment (books!) for the foreseeable future. Is it so astounding that people who love the written word can control their finances? Or maybe turning the pages of the latest Amis keeps them from other, more financially frightening, activities.' Polly Jaffe, co-owner of Jaffe & Neal bookshop in Chipping Norton, on the London Book Fair, in the Bookseller
250 words a day ‘I try to write so much a day. I set myself a small target, ie to write for an hour or perhaps 250 words and not to do anything else. You find once you start that you’ve written for hours or 1,000 words. I have to con myself into that really.’ Is historical fiction escapism? ‘For me, no, inasmuch as all fiction is escapism really. I’ve always loved (historical fiction) since I was very small. It was a way of discovering things that I didn’t know about, a way of entering into people’s lives that were unknowable in any other way.’ Celia Rees, author of Sovay in the Bookseller
'A condescension chromosome' 'When it comes to women's fiction, critics have a condescension chromosome. The demeaning label chick-lit says it all. While male authors such as Nick Hornby, who also write contemporary comic fiction satirising the sex war are hailed as the new Chekhov, you will be dismissed as having undergone some kind of DIY lobotomy.' Kathy Lette in The Times
'A half-full view' ‘All prizes have eligibility criteria: nationality, or ethnic origin, or language, or country of residence, or subject matter, or religion. For those who see the world in negative terms, prizes celebrate the achievements of one group at the expense of another. But for those who have a half-full view, celebrating achievement is a good thing. Since 1996, Orange has done just that – celebrated international women’s achievements for the benefit of male and female readers everywhere. This is what matters – reading, and promoting writing. In much the same way, every single weekend millions of men and women (myself included) celebrate men’s achievements – except on the pitch not the page. And quite right too. It’s not unfair. It’s just football.’ Kate Mosse, co-founder of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, in the Bookseller
'The ultimate magic' 'Done badly, fantasy is more risible than any other genre, perhaps because there is such a fine line between heroic endeavour and bathos. Success isn't just a matter of consistency (Tolkien despaired of C S Lewis when he introduced Christian myths such as Father Christmas into a world with nymphs and satyrs). A gifted writer makes the mundane magical and the magical mundane. We believe in everything they tell us because the ultimate magic is to make us think that what they describe is true.' Amanda Craig in The Times
Going beyond ‘why don’t boys read?' ‘What surprised me is that nobody states what is blindingly obvious – that literature/literacy still represents the biggest demarcation in 21st century society. That dreary old question – why don’t boys read? – is an enormous red herring. Come to one of my book signings and, I’m afraid to say, you could easily imagine yourself to be in one of those southern states of America before Martin Luther King. Where are the black kids? Boys and girls from ethnic minorities are so rare that when one turns up, I almost want to sweep them into my arms. Malorie Blackman and Benjamin Zephaniah may entice a more ethnically mixed audience, but the answer can’t be black writers for black kids and white for white. We cannot be cosy about the debate any more.’ Anthony Horowitz, author of Snakehead and many other bestsellers, in the Bookseller
The return of the bonkbuster ‘I was in the airport lounge at Heathrow, wanting something big and juicy for the sun lounger and looking in the commercial women’s fiction section. I’d read everything that Jackie Collins and Jilly Cooper had to offer. Everything else at the lighter-weight end was misery memoirs and chick lit. I just thought, this really isn’t what I wanted. I wanted Valley of the Dolls, Lace: the sort of books that seemed to be out of vogue… Storytelling is key. I don’t think you can write 160,000 words on sex and shopping.’ Tasmina Perry, author of Gold Diggers, in The Times
An overnight success 'I never planned to be a children's writer. I wrote short stories for obscure and wonderful magazines. Then one day a new story flared into life. I knew that it was the culmination of years of hard work and, amazingly, that it was a children's novel. Skellig was taken by the first publisher to read it, won a string of prizes, and has been published in 30 languages. I was an overnight success after almost 20 years.' David Almond in The Times
Working as a Poet in the Community ‘Interestingly (to me, anyway) it’s meant that I’ve had to become three types
of poet. There’s the Slim Volume Poet: the poet who writes what most people
think of as Contemporary Poetry, (but which is often not very linguistically
adventurous, and just sounds like gentle stand-up comedy chopped about a bit,
and which I try to move away from when I can); there’s the Out Loud Poet who is
called upon to perform at events where they need a performer who can be a bit of
a battering-ram, who can enthuse a crowd who weren’t expecting to like poetry,
in the upstairs room of a pub, or in a draughty public hall at the edge of a
windy estate, or on a train full of sweaty commuters, and there’s the Occasional
Poet, the poet who can be called on to write something light and rhyming to
liven up a public event, to introduce someone or open a new building, and then
(in my case, with the aid of my trusty flipchart and a couple of felt-tip pens)
create an Instant Poem with the audience to send them away happy. Ian McMillan in his article on The Poet in the Community: A little adventure on 57 Productions’ website, along with other interesting articles on poetry.
'Readers want to read more' 'Despite resistance from all sectors of our industry, the book market is changing. Readers want to read more and if they are going to increase the amount of books they buy they are almost certainly going to do that in the cheaper paperback formats. Consumers will read literary fiction if we present it to them in a way they find attractive and enticing. Once an author has built a sufficient following then they probably can justify the move to hardback, but not before. Why pay £16.99 ($35) for a novel by someone you've never heard of when you could buy three or four paperbacks for the same price?' Scott Pack of the Friday Project in the Bookseller
Authors on the road 'We whine a lot, but it's not so hard. You stay in fancy hotels, and go to signings where people buy your books and want your autograph and tell you lots of nice things… I remember with my first book… no-one would show up at my signings. So where I am now, I have a greater appreciation of it all… (but) I have to remember that what got me here was writing books, and I want each one to be better than the last.' Harlan Coben, author of The Woods, in Publishing News
On teaching creative writing 'I tell them to forget about the business. That's nothing to do with me… They'll figure it out in the end. If they haven't got talent, you're not going to give it to them, but they will have it because you've chosen them. But they might turn out to not have will; which you can't always judge very easily at the beginning. If they don't have will, they're screwed. But you can't make them write every day or get up early in the morning; you can give them an example, or tell them what they should be doing, and they might listen.' Peter Carey, talking to Erica Wagner in The Times
The end of the novel? 'For a commissioning editor, the pressing question is this: when most books are sold on the net as downloads, how will this change their content? My hunch is that will finally spell the end of the novel. Of course there are good, perhaps even great novelists writing today. But in contemporary fiction there seem to be no monumental novels that dominate our mental landscape in the same way as the masterpieces of Dickens, Thackeray or George Eliot. Few titanic novels wrestle with the great questions of life and death and seek to alter our perceptions of them… The great new literary form that will replace the novel will, I believe, arise on the net and will take on its wild frontier spirit, its intellectual risk-taking, its two fingers at academic control-freakery, but it will also help forge a new form of consciousness in a much more fundamental way that has to do with the form of the internet.' Mark Booth, Publishing Director of Century, part of Random House UK, in the Independent on Sunday.
Writing thrillers 'The bad guys always have good bits in them and the good guys can have bad bits. My books are true to life both in subject matter and in how the plot develops - as a journalist, I like writing thrillers because they're more closely based on reality. But you can't mess around - everything has to be plausible and has to have happened, in some form, in the real world. So, I like my books to be open-ended.' Stephen Leather, whose latest title Dead Men is just out, in Publishing News
'A posh profession' 'Publishing this book made me an author, and I have since gone on to write other books, some about publishing/writing but also about parenting… So my views on the industry are sharpened by an awareness of feelings on both sides. Publishing remains rather a posh profession, and although there have been initiatives to widen recruitment… the workforce remains substantially white, middle-class, inward-looking. Publishers are suspicious of activities they don't engage in themselves, and it is increasingly up to the author/agent to prove an unfamiliar market exists.' Alison Baverstock, author of the authoritative How to Market Books, in Publishing News
Finding an agent 'Finding an agent can be even harder than finding a publisher. If you can find an established author who will recommend you to one, or some other personal contact, that's a good way to get them to read your typescript. Or you can look for someone who hasn’t been an agent for long, and who might be more hungry, have more time and be ready to take a chance on you.' Mandy Little, MD of Watson Little in the Sunday Times
TV tie-ins and children's reading 'I have published both "literary" books and licensed programmes, and have also managed some of the world's most famous classic book '"brands". Is one better than the other? It's like trying to decide between soup and pudding when both have a place on the menu. Children need a balanced diet, and above all they need books that they will enjoy, which match their interests and which encourage them to read. For long-term health they need plenty of the rich, nutritious soup of a great novel or picture book. They also need the comfort, stimulation and energy source of pudding - books that reflect what they meet every day. Both must be prepared with integrity and the best ingredients… For children who have difficulty with reading or just aren't interested, books based on familiar programming can be the vital hook that turns them into readers. As publishers, retailers and reviewers we owe our children, exposed to an unprecedented barrage from all kinds of media, a very catholic offering which admits the worth of good books of all kinds. We are all making readers.' Sally Floyer, MD of Penguin UK's brands and licensing division, in the Bookseller.
'If nothing new ever happens' 'For the book writer, the creative writer, the knowledge of a market of billions out there waiting to be tapped, is fascinating and baffling. The sorry fact is that the conventional publishing industry is currently running round like a headless chicken, giving readers what they think it wants, and getting it wrong, and losing money hand over fist. If you give people what they want, nothing new can ever happen. If it worked in the past, think the bottom line thinkers - ie made a profit - it will work for ever and ever. So, just do it again. But if nothing new ever happens, the audience drifts away.' Fay Weldon on Writing for the New Media in Writing and Education
'The Storyteller, the dream-maker' 'The storyteller is deep inside every one of us. The storymaker is always with us. Let us suppose our world is ravaged by war, by the horrors of that we all of us easily imagine. Let us suppose floods wash through our cities, the seas rise. But the storyteller will be there, for it is our imaginations which shape us, keep us, create us - for good and for ill. It is our stories that will recreate us, when we are torn, hurt, even destroyed, it is the storyteller, the dream-maker, that is our phoenix, that represents us at our best, and at our most creative.' Doris Lessing, in her Nobel Laureate's address
On having a famous father 'At the beginning there were people who said "She only got this deal because she's his daughter." There were people at home who refused to buy the book because they thought it had only been published for that reason - so I think it balanced out. People didn't know how long I'd be around. But nobody's debating with me about it any more.I've never felt I've written something and then deleted it because my dad's who he is, but then I'm not that kind of a writer. I'm fairly balanced about things - nothing is too severe or too extreme - and I think that's just the person I am as a result of growing up in a home where your parents always have to see both sides of everything. You have to be like that when you negotiate. My father's always looking at the two sides.' Cecelia Ahern, daughter of the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, in the Bookseller
Four wars ' The publishing industry today is in a position rarely, if ever, experienced before: we suddenly have the upper hand. To wit, there are four wars raging today that are changing the nature of publishing and putting us in the driver's seat: discoverability, print on demand (PoD), repositories, and e-ink readers.All of these wars revolve around the notion of long tail, the theory that the optimized search capabilities provide almost endless access to otherwise obscure products and that the demand for these obscure products exceeds demand for bestsellers. Long tail is in effect the Holy Grail of an industry which pushes out more content every year, backlist growing exponentially with each new season of frontlist. Longtail in book publishing is about selling books we no longer actively promote.' Evan Schnittman, Vice-President of Business Development and Rights for the Academic and USA divisions of OUP in Publishing News
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