The editor who turned down John Kennedy Toole might seem myopic in hindsight, but some of his questions about the novel remain hard to answerHumility is something you learn quickly as an editor. If you have the good fortune to find and publish excellent novels, you are sure to miss plenty of fine work. As a co-founder and editor at independent press Galley Beggar, I wake up in sweats with the certain knowledge that somewhere in my email inbox lies a stone cold classic. Perhaps I won’t even find the time to read it, let alone mistakenly turn it down. I’ve had to refuse perfectly good books in the past and will do it again. The hard truth is that you can’t publish everything – and that every publisher is human and correspondingly flawed. But at least I can console myself that I haven’t yet said no to a Pulitzer winner like A Confederacy of Dunces. I am yet to attain the unenviable fame of Robert Gottlieb, marked by history as the man who didn’t publish John Kennedy Toole’s cult masterpiece.There is another problem: that with all its wonderfulness, the book – even better plotted (and still better plottable) – does not have a reason; it’s a brilliant exercise in invention, but unlike CATCH [22] and MOTHER’S KISSES and V and the others, it isn’t really about anything. And that’s something no one can do anything about. Related: John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces is June's reading group book Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2017-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#robert gottlieb
Walter Zacharius emerged from the world of true-confession magazines and paperback genre fiction to found Kensington. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#romance publisher
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 13:45 Transworld is to publish the autobiography of Happy Mondays star Shaun Ryder. Editorial director Sarah Emsley acquired UK and Commonwealth rights through Matthew Hamilton at Aitken Alexander Associates. Emsley said:... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#matthew hamilton
#living legend
#life lived
#absolutely thrilled
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 08:20 Harvill Secker is to publish Nanjing Heroes, a novella by Chinese author Yan Geling, which is currently being made into a film starring Christian Bale. Editor-at-large Rebecca Carter acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#harvill secker
Adobe Digital Publishing Suite supports tablets running Android as well as RIM PlayBook and iOS tablet devices. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 02/03/2011 - 15:24 Gardners has received backing for its Hive consumer website from publishers including Hachette UK's c.e.o. after it presented its new initiative to more than 300 publishers. The wholesaler has yet to confirm a live date for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#titles sold
The clothing boutique Kitson sold twice as many books in 2010 as the year before. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 11:35 Fourth Estate has bought a début novel from a permissions manager at Faber. Editorial director Clare Reihill bought UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada to Someday Find Me by Nicci Cloke through Jo Unwin at Conville and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#fourth estate
#jo unwin
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 15:56 Almost three quarters of primary head teachers are expecting funding for books to be inadequate in 201112, as the Publishers Association has warned of a challenging year for book sales to schools. As schools begin to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#school budgets
#publishers association
#challenging year
#book sales
#key stage
#learning resources
The Royal Mail's request to increase the amount it can charge for bulk mail has been slammed as a "shortsighted" move that could cause long-term damage to the magazine business by Barry McIlheney, chief executive of the Professional Publishers Association (PPA). Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#magazine publishers
#royal mail
#long-term damage
#magazine business
Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 23/02/2011 - 09:35 Print on demand, digital and self-publishing are continuing to push up the number of books published in the UK and overseas, according to new output data issued by Nielsen Book. The statistics also reveal that the number of new... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#nielsen book
#ten years
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 22/02/2011 - 09:08 The International Publishers Association is urgently trying to locate an Iranian publisher on women's issues after she was named in an alleged blacklist of Iranian publishers. The blacklist, reportedly circulated by a chapter... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#iranian publishers
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 21/02/2011 - 08:47 Michael O'Mara has acquired an anthology about the writers of "Hancock's Half Hour" and "Steptoe and Son", dubbed "the fathers of the British sitcom". Commissioning editor Kate Moore bought world rights with Elly James of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#publish book
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 18/02/2011 - 08:15 Publishing staff at Cambridge University Press (CUP) have voted to reject a pay increase of 2%. The proposed pay increase, which CUP has described as reasonable and in line with other pay settlements, has led the Unite union to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#economic downturn
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 18/02/2011 - 08:18 Virago is publishing a new collection of 13 early short stories by Daphne du Maurier, including five discovered by a Cornish bookseller and du Maurier enthusiast. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
There may not be a ton of enthusiasm in the publishing world for Apple's new policy for subscription services--particularly when it comes to giving Cupertino a... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#publishing world
Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 16/02/2011 - 07:06 Author Margaret Atwood used her Tools of Change keynote speech to warn the industry not to eliminate authors, and make sure they are paid enough to "pay for the cheese sandwiches". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#tells publishers
Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 15/02/2011 - 08:53 Publishers' demands for control of pricing in Borders' closing sales are delaying its impending bankruptcy ruling. Reuters reports the retailer is in discussions with liquidators over a plan to close around 20 of its 650... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#reuters reports
#sources told
By Joe Wilcox, Betanews Somebody call the cops -- eh, antitrust authorities. Apple's subscription plan is here, and it's as bad for many, if not most, publishers as rumored. The first of several key sentences from Apple's press announcement: "Publishers may no longer provide links in their apps... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book sold
#barnes noble
#raise prices
#profits handed
#things digital
#steve jobs
#android tablets
European publishers have added their voice to the chorus of criticism of Apples plans for iPad newspaper subscriptions. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#european publishers
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 10/02/2011 - 16:00 The National Maritime Museum is looking to publish its "unrivalled" archive of images. The London-based museum has appointed the Creative Rights Agency to pursue publishing opportunities and also seek product licensees for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |