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dreaded questions
You know that Tied to the Tracks is coming out next summer with Putnam, or at least, you know that if you've been following along here. I'm really pleased about the whole Putnam thing for lots of reasons, some of which I can't mention here.
I've also mentioned that Leona Nevler -- my new editor, the one who acquired TTTT for Putnam -- took me out to lunch when I was in Manhattan this past July. And that she is a very smart, funny, kind person. Also, she has great taste in novels. Obviously. We haven't had a lot of work to do together yet, just some very pleasant discussions along these lines:
Leona: I was thinking about [character] and I'm wondering if maybe she has too many tension headaches.
Me: Did a search. You're right. I'll fiddle.
Leona has that Chanel-suit, Jackie Kennedy, slender elegance thing going on. Which would normally make me nervous, but she's also funny and kind and easy to talk to. Also, I realize as I type this, she's awash with the Jewish mother vibe of the best kind, which is a lot like the Italian mother vibe. To summarize: Very professional, but approachable. Are we clear on that? No reading between the lines here, I want to make it clear: I have nothing but goodwill and cheer for Leona.
And still: there are a few unavoidable exchanges that are common to every editor-author relationship. Questions editors always end up asking sooner or later, that the author doesn't want to think about:
1. Do you have any ideas for authors who might be willing to read [title of upcoming novel] and comment?
My translation/interpretation: we need cover blurbs. We'd like cover blurbs from Really Big Names, and it would be great if you could jump in here and add some to our list. Any chance you're best friends with/ grew up next to/ saved the life of Candace Bushnell, Oprah Winfrey, Rebecca Wells, Alice Munro, Elinor Lipman, Jennifer Wiener, Annie Proulx, Ann Rice?
The whole cover blurb thing is agony, especially as it's a racket, and everybody knows it's a racket. I have been burned too many times by a cover blurb to trust them. Even a cover blurb from an author I adore is absolutely no guarantee -- and no, I'm not going to name names.
And yet, you must have them. Unless you are John Grisham or J.K. Rowling or someone else of that stature, the cover blurb is important. I admit, I look for them so that I can ignore them. Note: I look for them, and then I ignore them. If they aren't there to start with, I do wonder.
So Leona asked me the cover blurb question in her usual professional, friendly way. And still I clenched at the idea of providing a list of names of people who won't say Rosina Who? People who might say, Sure, send it along. People who won't email me immediately and say, what were you thinking, giving out my name? The gall. The chutzpah. Most important, people who won't say, oh, well. If it were another book like Homestead.
You see, the already significant challenges of coming up with names is compounded by my own odd history. Because there are two of me. The Sara-Donati me who writes big complex historicals with lots of plot and characters, and the Rosina-Lippi me who wrote Homestead and has a half dozen short stories in literary journals. A lot of readers cross this boundary without any problem, but many other authors and critics seem to have a harder time. And on top of that, Tied to the Tracks isn't like the Wilderness novels or like Homestead. In fact, it's pretty hard to put into any kind of box at all. Contemporary, a big love story, a bigger love story, social commentary, serio-comic. I actually don't know how they are going to market it, as romance or general fiction. And thus my problem: who the heck to ask for blurbs? My romance-oriented colleagues, or the litcrit MFA types?
I get a headache thinking about it.
Tomorrow, the next dreaded question: any ideas about a tag line?
September 12, 2005 07:59 PM
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Comments
OK, I'll do it.
Posted by: Simon at September 14, 2005 10:20 PM
Hi Rosina.
What about Carolyn See? Maybe she's not famous enough, but she crosses genres and is nice, and interesting...
And I agree: blurbs, bleh.
Posted by: stephanie Rosenfeld at September 15, 2005 07:36 AM
Stephanie -- that's a great idea. She actually reviewed Homestead (and very positively) so she might be willing. THANKS.
PS what are you working on?
Posted by: sara at September 15, 2005 02:55 PM
You know, the cover blurb racket may be common knowledge among authors and publishers, but I believe that it is not that well known to the general reading public. At least I had never heard of it described that way. Also none of my family or friends have ever commented upon it.
I know I've told you this before, but it was the blurb by Diana Gabaldon that brought Into the Wilderness to the attention of my mom and I. And I seem to recall other readers making similar comments here on your blog.
I'm not necessarily recommending that she do a blurb for you again. I just want to point out that they can be helpful to readers who enjoy a particular genre of fiction or style of writing.
Posted by: Danielle at September 17, 2005 10:29 AM
Danielle-- that's a good point, and thanks for raising it.
Really I should have been more specific. Not every cover blurb is suspect. Many are sincere and honestly come by, but there's no way to tell the difference between the good and the bad. If you've personally never been taken aback between what a blurb had to say, and your own opinion of the book, then the system does work at least some of the time.
Posted by: sara at September 17, 2005 04:26 PM
And, everyone I know says they don't read blurbs, but I just don't believe it. I admit, blurbs are comforting to me, in a way -- not what they say, so much, but I use them to scan for whether or not I'm in the book's intended audience. Roughly. I mean, I know the marketing departments can be wrong (like they were for my short story book) but... Wait, I think I'm only pointing out the obvious, so will stop. Or, if I tell you the blurb names which will make me slam the book back on the shelf like a radioactive...um, potato? you might think I'm just a cynical, closed-minded, angry woman...
In answer to what I'm working on: a BIG pile of pages that might or might not agree to become my second novel.
Have you read See's book on writing, which I can't remember the name of right now? From about 3 or 4 years ago? I thought it was good. Very...human or something.
Posted by: stephanie rosenfeld at September 19, 2005 07:31 AM