Uncategorized

Unedited

We’ve got ARCs galore right now. Five boxes of them to be exact, of: Pilgrim in the Palace of Words, Something Remains, Minerva’s Voyage, The Silver Anklet, Polish Orphans of Tengeru; and a hardcover box of Frances Gage. That’s a lot of books! And it put my 300 lb bench press to work.

That’s a big chunk of my job, sending our ARCs to sales reps and reviewers. It’s exciting because I see the nearly finished book first, and it’s kind of fun, in a real book nerd kind of way, to go through the unedited books and find the mistakes.  Also, the cover art is always great — thanks to Erin, Jennifer, and Courtney.

It’s all part of the process. And to be honest, I’ve never been a fan of process. I’m better at being creative than implementing an idea and putting it through a process. That’s why this job has been good for me. I’m always putting things in order, tracking changes, and trying to keep up on the piles of books coming in and out! I haven’t had a nightmare about that yet.

I see the end of the process, since I’m not in editorial. I have to be aware of where the books are in their stages, so when a rep wants a book early I know at when and at what stage that book is at. Books, BTW, take a long time to get to an ARC. And that is a cost.

Which brings me to all the articles I’ve been reading about the costs of books and ebooks. One company’s attempt at keeping their paper book’s price competitive with ebooks has started a controversy. But books and music are apples and oranges.

I think a 99 cent book undermines the thought, work, and effort of the writer, not to mention the staff that all work to make sure every book has its best chance at success. There is also the fact that an ebook reader is for readers with a hefty disposable income. Those readers aren’t going to diminish the other readers who still need to buy books, and are choosy about which books they buy.

It’s interesting that many people outside of the industry don’t realize that books are made by a team of people. From inception, books aren’t dropped off and chosen –though our acquisitions editor has piles nearly sky high. Ideas are passed around. Books are manufactured. It is part of the process, involving authors, editors, designers, publicists, marketing, sales, internet/technology, and the big three PP&B.

It’s a wonder any books are made at all! And they are made every day because people choose to do it. Our Publisher Kirk told me a while back, while he drove me into Toronto after a conference, that when he started he knew nothing about book publishing. He just thought you made books and sold them. That’s at the core of the process, and thirty odd years later he’s still making books, albeit, with a much larger staff and a great deal more technology. And so books continue on.

© 2009 Defining Canada.