May 13, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (10)

We're going through the 1000+ applications we've received via our call for PW reviewers.  Took a break and read Sara Nelson's post re: publicists.  Made me think: what makes a good reviewer?

In reading the cover letters --- and I've read hundreds this week --- one thing struck me above all.  I stopped caring about credentials.  What I looked for was a letter that made me want to keep reading.  It was "show me, don't tell me."  I picked the letters that, in the space of three sentences, gave me complete confidence in the person behind them.  That made made think: I can trust you with someone's work.

It's an elusive thing to try to isolate.  What is it in a r...Read More

May 7, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

We're looking for a few good readers here at the Bookroom.  Here's our ad on Mediabistro.

Reviewers

Publication or Company  Publishers Weekly Industry

...Read M

April 29, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (14)

After an article in the NY Times detailing a new openness in discussing personal finances, I feel ok in not letting the topic go.  Here's a slightly different tack.

Tell me about the publication of your first book.  Did you pay for it? Did the publisher?

And if you've finished a manuscript but haven't published it yet, what's your goal, money-wise, as you assess the options?

April 23, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

Recall, friends, that The $ Question is an occasional feature here on Notes where we talk about how writers support themselves.  (Here's the inaugurative installment, with Joan Silber.)

I was standing before the stack of mass market galleys in the bookroom the other day with Jordan Foster, an editorial assistant here who, among other hats, is working with me as an assistant editor of the mass market reviews.

We were kind of awed by the sheer number of books.  (We were so dumbfounded, that we didn't even take a picture or count them! All thoughts of blogging were obliterated by the sheer bulk of the stack!)

W...Read More

April 15, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Blistering Ange Mlinko on National Poetry Month:  "De rigueur jokes about T.S. Eliot's 'cruelest month' notwithstanding, the National Poetry Month FAQ web page explains why April was chosen for the honor: 'February is Black History Month and March is Women's History Month, so April seemed a logical choice.' Let's get this straight: logically, this would mean that poets are an oppressed group on a par with groups who have overcome the legal status of chattel. Needless to say, the ability of poets to interrogate their own earnest metaphors seems to have plunged in tandem with their prestige."

Can't imagine a better April essay than this.

As an alternative to the heavily-granted lay...Read More