One of my beloved clients allowed as to how he was hurt that I hadn’t written about him. Let’s correct that now. On Tuesday, he and I went to his publisher’s office for a meeting with the publicity and marketing people. Publishers will not always grant these meetings unless you are McKenzie Phillips. And sometimes, bringing a writer in can do more damage than good. Not in this case, my client is handsome, articulate, charming, in other words, eye-candy for the literary set.
The office began to look like the inside of a clown car: one person after another kept coming in. The Publisher, the editorial director, the associate publisher, the publicity director, the publicist, a web person and later their Amazon sales person. Most everyone had read the book! Brainstorming about the jacket ensued! Ideas were exchanged about how to reach the market! It went on and on. This is not your average meeting. And my client is not Mckenzie Philips. (Can’t have everything.)
I was really grateful that the publishing team came together for my client. It’s a shit-all climate out there for selling books and everyone is pulling back. This publisher has been very successful. What’s key, I think, is having a publishing team, like a ball club, that believes in itself where the various players respect one another. At some of the publishing houses where I worked, certain employees weren’t above crucifying a colleague in a full conference room or behind her back in a bathroom stall. I’m telling you, it was very Gossip Girl. Fun, but the books suffered.
Afterward, I had lunch with my client. The waiter reminded me of a guy at my alternative camp who I had a crush on.
Filed under: Agent, Authors, Publishing |
Betsy Lerner 
Did you ball the waiter in the coatcheck room?
I hate when my agent does that.
What’s alternative camp? I just googled it and this is the first thing I got:
Yıllardır Alternative Camp vb projeleriyle 10 binlerce engelli vatandaşımıza engelsiz sosyal yaşam çözümleri ve olanakları sunan AYDER, UNDP (Birleşmiş Milletler Kalkınma Programı) ve Türkiye Vodafone Vakfı finansal desteği ile Düşler Akademisi’ni 15 Kasım 08’de hayata geçiriyor.
Düşler Akademisi; engelli ve sosyal dezavantajlı gençlere ücretsiz olarak kültür ve sanat eğitimlerinin verildiği uluslar arası bir sosyal sorumluluk projesidir. Vokal, ritim, dans, film, fotoğraf, Dj, enstrüman, resim, düş tasarımı atölyelerinden oluşmaktadır. Katılımcılar atölye eğitimlerini tamamladıklarında branşlarında iş edinebilecek yetkinliğe kavuşacaktır.
Betsy, could you translate?
I really think that the movie Wolf with Jack Nicholson is a parody of the publishing “industry.” Did anybody else see that? And young James Spader being the one “crucyfying a colleague.”
No champagne? The Countess got champagne at Gotham Books.
I get everything I know about the publishing industry by watching The Housewives get their book deals.
The same holds true for schools. I’ve worked in several and when the staff doesn’t work together, the kids suffer.
LOL at “eye candy for the literary set”.
I think that would look grand on a business card. Or book cover, whatever.
Lucky writer! Sounds like a great day out.
So was the client Neil Gaiman?