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Good News for the Publishing World

Posted by Gloria Kelley on January 12th, 2009

People ARE reading!!!

According to this article in today’s New York Times, the National Endowment for the Arts has found that a “quarter-century of precipitous decline in fiction reading has reversed.” That certainly deserves an exclamation point!

The report, “Reading on the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy,” being released Monday, is based on data from “The Survey of Public Participation in the Arts” conducted by the United States Census Bureau in 2008. Among its chief findings is that for the first time since 1982, when the bureau began collecting such data, the proportion of adults 18 and older who said they had read at least one novel, short story, poem or play in the previous 12 months has risen.

Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts credits this rise with a number of factors. He attributed the increase in literary reading to community-based programs like the “Big Read,” Oprah Winfrey’s book club, the huge popularity of book series like “Harry Potter” and Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight,” as well as the individual efforts of teachers, librarians, parents and civic leaders to create “a buzz around literature that’s getting people to read more in whatever medium.”

This is great news for a Monday morning!

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Book Deals

Posted by Jocelyn on January 8th, 2009

We love keeping track of the deals that are being brokered in the book world. It should be seen as inspiring that new work is still being acquired. If, perhaps, you don’t agree with some of the books that are being published, than it is food for thought. Here is a round-up of the latest deals.

New York City Countess LuAnn de Lesseps

{image courtesy of Amy Sussman}

Star of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City Countess LuAnn de Lesseps with Diane Reverand’s CLASS WITH THE COUNTESS: How to Live With Elegance and Flair, a complete course in the art of sophisticated living including contemporary etiquette tips, to Lauren Marino at Gotham, by David Vigliano at Vigliano Associates (World).

The deals keep rolling in for debut novelist Anne Fortier’s JULIET. It recently sold to Universal, with James Mangold and Kathy Contrad (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma) attached to produce and direct, by Rich Green at CAA, on behalf of Daniel Lazar at Writers House.

Sandra Bullock’s sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado, recently sold the rights to her debut book. CONFECTIONS OF A CLOSET MASTER BAKER an humorous and edgy memoir (with recipes) of the author’s journey from sugar-obsessed child to miserable, awkward Hollywood insider (she ran her sister, Sandra’s production company) and how she left it all behind to follow her love of baking and open Gesine’s bakery in Montpelier, Vermont, to Stacy Creamer at Broadway, in a significant deal, at auction, by Laura Nolan at The Creative Culture.

John Irving’s LAST NIGHT IN TWISTED RIVER, set in a New Hampshire sawmill settlement, spanning five decades, as the central character and his 12-year-old son become fugitives after a case of mistaken identity, to Louise Dennys at Knopf Canada, in a significant deal; to Alexandra Pringle at Bloomsbury UK, for hardcover publication in October 2009; and to Bill Scott-Kerr at Transworld for paperback, in a major deal, by Dean Cooke at The Cooke Agency (UK/Commonwealth).

Star of Full House Jodie Sweetin’s WILD CARD, about growing up on the set of the hit TV show, her downward spiral of drug and alcohol abuse that began when the show ended, and her path to sobriety, to Sarah Sper at Simon Spotlight Entertainment, for publication in 2009, at auction, in a significant deal, by Kirby Kim at Endeavor (NA).

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Amazon Stores Enhance Author’s Presence

Posted by Gloria Kelley on January 2nd, 2009

Amazon.com has launched a new program to allow easier access to your favorite authors and their titles. Author Stores. According to Publishers Weekly, the program launched on December 29th. Author Stores are single pages that feature all books from a particular author, plus, in many cases, an author photo and some related content, such as a biography, message board and streaming video. It is Amazon’s long-term goal to have an Author Store for every author whose books are available through Amazon.

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Jodi Picoult Tackles Issues

Posted by Jocelyn on December 16th, 2008

There is a great debate regarding the artistic process of writing and the business end. You don’t want to think about the business side when you are creating your art, but you can bet that the minute the time comes to start promoting your work, you are going to be sifting through your manuscript looking for angles and hooks that will get readers to pounce.

Jodi Picoult is a great example of a writer who pays attention to what readers want and tries to incorporate that into the stories she wants to tell. It seems to be working for her, as her books only continue to gain attention as they tackle issues that are prominent in our society. She also just received a starred review in Publishers Weekly for her upcoming release, HANDLE WITH CARE.

Handle with Care Jodi Picoult. Atria, $27.95 (480p) ISBN 978-0-7432-9641-0

Perennial bestseller Picoult (Change of Heart) delivers another engrossing family drama, spiced with her trademark blend of medicine, law and love. Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, was born with brittle bone disease, a condition that requires Charlotte to act as full-time caregiver and has strained their emotional and financial limits. Willow’s teenaged half-sister, Amelia, suffers as well, overshadowed by Willow’s needs and lost in her own adolescent turmoil. When Charlotte decides to sue for wrongful birth in order to obtain a settlement to ensure Willow’s future, the already strained family begins to implode. Not only is the defendant Charlotte’s longtime friend, but the case requires Charlotte and Sean to claim that had they known of Willow’s condition, they would have terminated the pregnancy, a statement that strikes at the core of their faith and family. Picoult individualizes the alternating voices of the narrators more believably than she has previously, and weaves in subplots to underscore the themes of hope, regret, identity and family, leading up to her signature closing twists.

But you don’t have to write about huge social issues (death sentence, church scandals, etc.) for your book to be newsworthy. If you write about issues that people face on a daily basis (relationships, careers, health, happiness, depression) then you are tapping into an area that you can explore in the media when your book is released. Become an expert in whatever you write about and your readers will appreciate it. They want to know they are in reliable hands when they pick up a book. Bring awareness to your readers and they will keep coming back for more!

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Seth Godin Talks Publishing

Posted by Jocelyn on December 14th, 2008

In an interview over at 26th Story, Seth Godin talks about free content and the publishing industry. Should the publishing industry go the way of the music industry? Could it be the best move ever made? Here is what Godin had to say about it.

The market doesn’t care a whit about maintaining your industry. The lesson from Napster and iTunes is that there’s even MORE music than there was before. What got hurt was Tower and the guys in the suits and the unlimited budgets for groupies and drugs. The music will keep coming. Same thing is true with books. So you can decide to hassle your readers (oh, I mean your customers) and you can decide that a book on a Kindle SHOULD cost $15 because it replaces a $15 book, and if you do, we (the readers) will just walk away. Or, you could say, “if books on the Kindle were $1, perhaps we could create a vast audience of people who buy books like candy, all the time, and read more and don’t pirate stuff cause it’s convenient and cheap…” I’m a pessimist that the book industry will learn from music. How are you betting?

Read the rest of the interview here.