A really beautiful, thoughtful essay about the necessity of showing the world as it is, not the fantasy of white, straight, cisgendered, able-bodied protagonists that has somehow convinced the mainstream it is the default.
I don’t think any writer wants a reader to read their book, and think: ‘Well, I’m not there. Guess I’m on the Isle of Issuelandia. Oh man, not again. Kind of like always going to the Isle of Wight for your holidays. We never get to go out clubbing in Spain.’ It is wrong to banish people from the mainland!Sarah Rees Brennan
My Only Regret
- CAP’N SWEET VALLEY: (on phone) Today is Friday.
- JJ: We-we-we so excited! Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards…
- CAP’N SWEET VALLEY: ?
- JJ: …I have few regrets in life, but Googling Rebecca Black? That is one of them.
Haters Gonna Hate
Words of wisdom today from Nathan Bransford, as well as the best macro I have ever seen. As Oscar Wilde saith about negative reviews, “Haters gonna hate.”
Is Katniss White?
On the left, Jennifer Lawrence. On the right, my choice for Katniss, Hailee Steinfeld.
Ah, Twitter, you are always good for blog post ideas when I am running dry. Never let me down!
Today I was mostly inspired by this fascinating discussion on Malinda Lo’s blog about the casting of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in THE HUNGER GAMES. There are some really interesting comments, so I would recommend you go check it out.
But my post isn’t really about Katniss’s ethnicity, so much as readers’ assumptions/expectations when it comes to race in YA fiction and our weird hangups about it.
Ebooks and Price
A bit of a heavy topic for a Friday, but I just wanted to foster a discussion and ask what other people think, really. As ereaders become more and more common, the question of “how much should ebooks cost?” comes up again and again.
The simple answer: Ebooks should cost what the market will pay.
The complicated question to the simple answer: But what will the market pay????
I’m no digital proselytizer and despite my relative youth, I am slow to jump on the digital bandwagon. If it weren’t for the fact that I get an ereader issued to me through work, I probably wouldn’t have gotten an ereader in the first place. (Although I probably would have saved up for the iPad.) Why? No real reason. Am I book romantic? Do I love the smell of the pages? Do I love the sound a book makes when its spine is cracked open for the first time? Do I obsess over the font, leading, and typesetting? Yes, yes, and yes.
However, I have slowly come around to buying ebooks, mostly because I am a fan of instant gratification. Why walk 5 blocks to the bookstore when I can have a book zipped to me straight away? The price point doesn’t hurt either.
The Family
Is there a shadowy mafia controlling publishing?
Recently on the internets, there has been talk about a so-called YA Mafia and how one online misstep can spell the end of a career for book bloggers and unpublished writers. Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier have given far better breakdowns of this idea, but here’s the honest to god truth:
Nobody can ruin your career but you.
Really. I mean, really. Bloggers cannot ruin a writer’s career, a published author cannot ruin an aspiring one’s career, etc. The onus is on you. I work with an extremely high profile author on a huge commercial property, and even she cannot ruin someone else’s career because your writing career is what you make of it.
Read…ALL The Things?
From my fabulous colleague Terra. I think this pretty much says it all. Riffing from Hyperbole and a Half, of course.
Triggers
Oh look, an ice storm! On my fire escape! Pretty, but OH-SO-INCONVENIENT.
Dear winter: I am so over you it’s not even funny. In addition to the 50+ inches of snow you’ve dumped on the city this year, last night you saw fit to send us an ice storm. Which is gorgeous, by the way. Bravo, it’s one of the prettiest sights I’ve ever seen. But however pretty it might be, it is also incredibly inconvenient, especially as I don’t have a pair of skates to strap to my feet so I can glide my way to the subway station. I made my TV debut this morning by taking a header in the background of some reporter’s weather segment. Still, despite the slipping and sliding, it is kind of fun to crack the film of ice on top of snow like the glaze of a crème brûlée.
When I finally made it to my desk this morning, I saw that the internets was stirring itself into a frenzy over Bitch Magazine‘s inclusion and subsequent removal of a few books from their 100 Young Adult Books For The Feminist Reader. Mentioned in particular was Margo Lanagan’s TENDER MORSELS, the content of which includes incest, rape, and horrific violence. A reader said the book was triggering and asked that it be removed from the list.
Other people have said better than me why the inclusion and then removal of a few select books based on one reader’s comments is troubling (because heaven knows there are a ton of other books on that list with triggering content), but it made me think about “triggers” in general, especially as I had an experience myself last night.
What We’ve Acquired Thus Far
Dear me, I have been lax with updating you all about the goings-on in the office! We have been extremely busy since the new year, having acquired three new authors for our New Adult endeavor, bringing our stable of authors up to seven! The stats and projects are as follows:
Nonfiction
WORKING GIRL: How To Have A Fabulous Life on 30 Grand by Laurel House
Lifestyle and fitness guru Laurel House writes a how-to guide for post-collegiate and young professional women, including ways of making your dollar stretch to your best advantage without having to sacrifice the things you want. I have to say that as a poor publishing professional, her tips were quite useful!
THE ROARING TWENTIES: Adulthood Redefined by Hannah Seligson
Hannah is a wonderful young writer and journalist, and she examines what it means to be an “adult” in today’s society, focusing on the milestones between the ages of 18 and 30. A comprehensive look at most walks of life, it is part memoir, a large part research, part anecdotal, and entirely awesome.
DATING IN THE NUDE by Harlan Cohen
Harlan is best known for his college survival guide THE NAKED ROOMMATE, which was an extensive look at the emotional and practical aspects of going away to school. Having spoken at length with many “new adults”, he now parlays the insight he gained from talking to young people into a dating/relationship advice book.
DEAL OF THE CENTURY by Frank Sennett
Y’all know of Groupon? Y’all know how awesome it is? Wanna know about how the company got started, why they didn’t sell out to Google, and what its social media oriented business is about? This is the book for you!
Fiction
SWEET VALLEY CONFIDENTIAL: Ten Years Later by Francine Pascal.
Ever wonder what Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield were like as adults in their twenties? Francine Pascal reveals all in this long-awaited novel. Released March 29, 2011.
UNION STREET by Gemma Burgess
The first in a series about six young women living together in a Brooklyn brownstone, figuring out life, love, and adulthood together. The first book features Pia, a Swiss-Indian third culture kid and a recent college graduate. (Can I just say here: HAPAS FOR THE WIN!)
THE PFEFFERNOOSE CHRONICLES by Nora Zelevansky
A young college undergraduate from a quirky, Royal Tenebaums-esque Upper West Side family gets a gig writing a blog for dazzling (and possibly magical) socialite Veruca Pfeffernoose–getting swept in Veruca’s whirlwind and glitzy life.
I won’t lie when I say fiction has been much more difficult than nonfiction to acquire. Many of the things we’ve seen have been too young without crossover potential. Thus far we’ve only acquired contemporary, but we would love to find some more genre here, myself in particular. I love me some fantasy and historical. Send me stuff!
Show Me Some Love
