Betsy Lerner

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Posted on May 27, 2009 by betsylerner

Just got my royalty statement from Penguin. It comes in a large envelope with a window pane. (Cellophane not to be confused with late 70’s acid.) I still find it miraculous that after nine years the book is still earning a royalty. Not a fortune, mind you. But enough to buy a bracelet and a few qualudes, as a good friend once put it.

I want to thank everyone who bought a copy this reporting season. And if you send me your address, I’ll send you an original, authentic pencil from the historic and highly imitated marketing campaign. I know, this blog never stops giving.

Filed under: Publishing | 2 Comments »

I Heard the News Today, Oh Boy

Posted on May 26, 2009 by betsylerner

It isn’t every day that a poetry dog fight makes the front pages of the New York Times. Makes me feel proud. Makes me feel alive.

Seems that Ruth Padel, the first woman to be elected to Oxford University’s prestigious chair in poetry, resigned. She admitted to having been part of a smear campaign to discredit her main rival Nobel laureate Derek Walcott, alleging at least two known cases of sexual harassment.

My favorite part of the article relays that British commentators pointed out the “irony of hounding a distinguished literary figure on the basis of long-ago sexual transgressions when many of Britian’s greatest poets were social or political reprobates, by the standards of modern-day Britain.”

I have a few reactions, only half way through my morning decaf:

refreshing that women poets can keep up with the men, scoundrel-wise
refreshing to be reminded that most poets, well great poets, are serious shitheads
refreshing to be reminded that great poetry doesn’t care who writes it.

As a side note, and as gently pointed out to me by Hamilton Cain, Carol Ann Duffy did not get the post, but was awarded the highest honor in the land: poet laureate.

When I was in London last year, I happened upon her book Rapture in a little shop on Charing Cross Road (okay, it was a chain store in Notting Hill). I read the title poem, the first poem and the last. My usual test for buying a poetry book. I bought it, devoured it, and have reread it a few times. I haven’t been able to find her poems on-line, or I’d link one here. Treat yourself. Anyway, I hope they find some dirt on her soon, like she eats babies for breakfast.

Filed under: Poetry | 3 Comments »

Acquainted with the Night

Posted on May 24, 2009 by betsylerner

If you have a chance, read David Orr’s superb reckoning with Frederick Seidel’s poetry in today’s NYTBR. I’m still struggling with the rhyme “china vagina.” But, hey, that’s just me. Though I was happily reminded of a guy in my grad school workshop who rhymed Milton Berle with squirrel.

Filed under: Poetry | 1 Comment »

FAQ-Are Multiple Submissions Kosher?

Posted on May 21, 2009 by betsylerner

N.P. from the great state of Long Island asks if it’s okay to make multiple submissions when you are querying agents.

In a word: yes.

Do you have to tell the agents?

In a word: not really. Some writers will divulge that the project is with others. I see this as a courtesy, not a necessity.

What if two or more of the agents are interested? Happy days are here again. At that point you really must inform all of the agents that you have interest. This will accelerate the process, and if possible you should try to meet the interested parties in order to make an informed decision.

Don’t some agents require exclusivity? Sure.

Do I have to honor that? Sort of, but I wouldn’t wait for 4-8 weeks for someone to get back to me. Agents submit almost all of their projects to publishers on multiple submission for a reason. I think writers should enjoy the same benefits: it’s in the interest of time, and could potentially create a competitive situation.

How many agents should a writer go to at one time: I think the magic number is six. If everyone passes, it’s a useful pool from which to draw information. i.e. if you receive all form letters, go back to the drawing board. Close calls mean some tweaking is called for. Invitations to send the material, or see more material, this is a bullseye. Your query letter did the trick. Now, of course, the material has to hold up.

Did I leave anything out? Please ask or let me know where you stand with multiple submissions or your experience with them.

Filed under: Agent, FAQ, Protocol, Query | 1 Comment »

I Want To Know What Love Is

Posted on May 21, 2009 by betsylerner

Maybe I’m elevating, but NYC, my giant ashtray, looked so beautiful this morning on my walk to work. I take the same route every day, but today everything is in high relief: a 9/11 sky, the baked red bricks of a crumbling building, a beautiful woman whose left cheek twitched as if the cricket from Times Square got in there. Even my shuffle offered up a perfect slate of rock anthems. Something has lifted.

Maybe I’m crashing, but a quick glance at my inbox spells trouble. Agh. What’s worse, so many little headaches or one huge migraine? One piece of great news, though, Columbine goes back up two spots on the NYT bestseller list. The list thing, it’s like an EKG. Of course so is everything else these days: blog stats, bank accounts, Amazon rankings, and of course, the master of all gauges of self worth: the scale.

Tomorrow, I will get back to answering publishing questions. And I also want to talk about the mystery wrapped in an enigma.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Dismissed!

Posted on May 19, 2009 by betsylerner

First of all, I didn’t get picked for jury duty. Didn’t even get to the voir dire stage of the selection process. Painful flashbacks of camp socials watching everyone pair off to Color My World.

Next: what people are reading? Mostly the New Haven Register, USA Today, and the NY Post and Daily News. No one reading on a Kindle. The few books I saw:

Atlas Shrugged/Ayn Rand
All He Ever Wanted/Anita Shreve
The Bible
The Secret Life of Bees/Sue Monk Kidd
Invisible Prey/John Sandford

Not a single My Booky Wook or Silas Marner in the crowd. C’mon New Haven!

What did capture my imagination, however, was Judicial Marshall Josh. On the day that he was born, the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true. Beyond his broad sloping shoulders, his powerful chest, his badges, his sexy voice and fully loaded belt, Judicial Marshall Josh wears nerdy glasses. Is Judicial Marshall Josh…bookish? I wonder if Judicial Marshall Josh has an astigmatism, like me.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Grab a Shovel

Posted on May 18, 2009 by betsylerner

Tomorrow: jury duty.

The last time I was on jury duty, everyone was reading the same book. Everywhere I turned I saw a black dust jacket with the red thumb print. It was 1987 and, of course, the book was Presumed Innocent.

Tomorrow, I will report back on what they’re reading at the courthouse now, in 2009, in downtown New Haven. I know, I can’t wait either.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Turd by Turd

Posted on May 18, 2009 by betsylerner

Here are some tips I was going to include in The Forest for the Trees until my editor reminded me I was not Anne Lamott. (Funny, in graduate school a professor told me I was not Fran Leibowitz. That BDP I mentioned earlier told me I wasn’t Woody Allen.) Who the fuck am I? Anyway, here are some tips I dreamed up when my identity was still relatively secure:

Write your first draft in long hand.
Rewrite a famous story from the point of view of a minor character.
Rewrite a first person story in the third person.
Write a sonnet
Shower, dress, wear shoes that lace.
Do not show anyone your work until it’s in the third draft – at least.
Do not show your work to your mother, lover, or bff.
After you write something, leave it alone for as long as possible before you start revising.
Cut anything that bores you — be honest.
Use your dictionary.
Play Scrabble.
Go to a reading.
Write an editorial letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald about the structure in The Great Gatsby.
Write the same paragraph from three different points of view.
Write a character description without physical attributes.
Outline your book. Index cards for extra credit.
Clean your glasses with a soft cloth.

Filed under: Writing | Leave a comment »

Charlie Rose, Bite me

Posted on May 16, 2009 by betsylerner

I met Larry Dark in graduate school. He was a fiction writer and I was a poet which means we didn’t cross paths all that much. Then when I was a baby editor at Ballantine, we did a book together: Literary Outtakes. Now, these 467 years later, Larry developed, runs, and hosts the prestigious Story Prize. Here is the webcast from this year’s ceremony:

http://fora.tv/2009/03/04/The_Story_Prize_Awards_Ceremony_2009

Filed under: Media | 1 Comment »

Get Off Of My Cloud

Posted on May 14, 2009 by betsylerner

When I became an agent, a lot of agents called me and said, welcome to the side of angels. Angels? Really? I thought I was signing on for the dark side. And most of the time, it is pretty dark if you ask me. (Of course, I could find the dark side of a lollipop.) But not today.

Today I got to tell a writer that we sold her book, which is basically the best moment in an agent’s life. Well, that and opening royalty statements with checks inside. I also signed a new client with a book that involves poetry, my first love. And I pulled a baby out from under a burning car.

No, that blinding light you’re seeing isn’t my halo. It’s my shit eating grin.