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Mar.21.2013 The New Yorker And The Slush Pile (NOT A Short Story) A number of years ago an author took a number of famous short stories, penned by famous authors, and submitted them to a number of prominent magazines. All were rejected. I don't know if any 'personal' comments were made. Memory says that only one or two of the stories were recognised for what they...	Jan.20.2012 Confessions of a Book Doctor: Five Things that Every Writer Must Know This week I've asked my friend and book editor/book doctor Liz Fitzgerald to weigh in with: Confessions of a Book Doctor: Five Things that Every Writer Must Know By: Liz Fitzgerald I’ve worked as an editor and book doctor for a number of years, both with a publishing house and more recently...
Jul.08.2011 More Turmoil? More Reads? More Slush? Image via Wikipedia The discussion goes on regarding the turmoil of traditional publishing, self-publishing, e-books and POD. Does it mean more choice for the reader? The writer? How are book stores handling the stormy climes? Will the big publishers fail? Who's job is it to decide what, from...	Jan.20.2010 The Slush Pile The Slush Pile Let us consider the slush pile. David Patterson, a senior editor at Henry Holt, whose taste in books I admire greatly, sent me an article from The Wall Street Journal online entitled: "The Death of the Slushpile." Way back when, the slush pile was an uncomplimentary term...
Jan.18.2010 Goodbye to the slush pile Even when I worked in publishing back in nineties, the slush pile (i.e., that pile of unsolicited manuscripts sent in directly by authors and put aside while agented manuscripts were given priority) was rapidly becoming a thing of the past. (And yes, it literally is a “slush pile”: towering stacks...	Jan.17.2010 THE SLUSH PILE HAS FROZEN OVER Well - "Alas", say I. My first novel was purchased "over the transom" and plucked from the "slush pile". From small town Canada to NYC. Via the post office. Typed pages. Letters back and forth. A trip to the Big Apple to meet the editors. Wined and dined. With nary...
Nov.23.2009 EPIDEMIC You only have to look over your shoulder to lay eyes on a writer. They’re everywhere, sitting at an outside table at Pricilla’s, standing next to you browsing books in Vroman’s, or jotting notes at a Saturday Scriptwriter’s Network seminar. Everyone’s got a story to tell whether through novel,...	Aug.03.2009 4,000 to 1 First, something fun. National Public Radio is hosting another writers' competition. This one has to do with writing titles. In honor (well, kind of) of the late Robert Ludlum, NPR is asking listeners to tweet their attempts at the worst possible title for a spy movie. In order to read the...
Dec.15.2008 Speaking of Editor Rejection Letters... Recently I wrote about another author's (very) final response to the rejections of her manuscript: it was to bury it with a formal funeral. The act of creating characters, plot and emotion consumes a writer's body, mind and soul. So yes, I'm glad she found the catharsis she sought in that act....