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Comment from the book world in July 2009

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July 2009

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'The touchy-feely side'

27 July 2009

'Of course publishing companies should spend money and time on trying to define how the new digital world will work, making it easy to read books on whatever electronic devices appear. What I have a problem with is the inordinate amounts of time spent on the touchy-feely side: attempting to use these social networking sites to try to get inside the heads of people who may or may not at some time in some indefinable future be those that precipitate a financially viable conduit to readers of electronic books, or some such. It's all the hype about Facebook and Twittering and blogging and whatnot and how we can sell books through them.

What I don't seem to be able to fathom is any indication of how all this activity is making us any money - or, indeed, how we might turn it into making us some money. I do understand that there is benefit in facilitating readers to converse with one another in the manner of a virtual reading group but, however one cuts it, people like to talk face to face. That's why there are still pubs and airlines and why video conferencing equipment gathers dust in boardrooms. Human beings are social animals: physically social. That's why cinemas and concerts have never been more popular... E M Forster, The Machine Stops anyone?

I wonder if we are losing sight of the prize. Are we in danger of confusing this tidal wave of "choice" with that of empowerment?'

Trevor Dolby, Publisher of Preface, on Bookbrunch

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'Shocking the psyche'

20 July 2009

'Hobgoblins, chimeras, piles of Medusa heads. You have to keep shocking your psyche, or nothing happens in your writing - nothing charged, nothing enduring. It's imaginary encounters with death that generate life on the page...

'There are plenty of books that tell you how to become a writer, but not one that suggests how, if you want a normal life, you might reverse the process.'

Hilary Mantel, whose latest book is Wolf Hall, in the Observer

Irish women writers

13 July 2009

'Women's fiction is a multimillion pound industry in the UK, and everyone in publishing is looking for that next woman with the Midas touch who can make you think "That's exactly how I feel!" or "Don't let him talk to you like that!" It's not all about handbags, cocktails and Sex in the City frivolity. It's about warmth and empathy and getting that fuzzy feeling. Knowing that when you open the book you bought during your lunch break, it's guaranteed to take you to a place you really want to be, meeting characters you really want to know.'

Kate Thompson, author of The Kinsella Sisters in the Independent on Sunday.

How agents find clients

6 July 2009

'Every agent has their own style. Ed Victor goes to a party and signs up someone. Luigi Bonomi goes and talks to a film company or football agent. But I like doing it this way (through his website) because it brings in interesting books, often ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I love the range and serendipity...

Publishers are taking longer to make decisions and are being more careful and more selective. But I'm amazed that they are buying as much as they are. It would be very easy for them to sit on their hands, spread the lists out a bit and see how everything looks in 2010.'

Andrew Lownie in the Bookseller

His website