Claimed Topics

Hi all, there are two spots still open for discussion. Please feel free to stake your claim in the comments.

Clelia Gore Interview — STILL OPEN

Gina Tomaine Interview — Scout

What Editors Do

 Jane Friedman — "A New Age of Discovery" Ch. 26, p. 256. — Michaela

Matt Weiland — "Marginalia: On Editing General Nonfiction," Ch. 16, p. 169 — STILL OPEN

Wendy Wolf — "Lives that Matter: Editing Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir" Ch. 18, p. 187 — Yizi

Literary Publishing in the 21st Century

Jessa Crispin — "The Self-Hating Book Critic," p. 58 — Emily

Jane Friedman — "The Future Value of a Literary Publisher," p. 277 — Grace

John O'Brien — "19 Things: More Thoughts on the Future of Fiction," p. 120 — Ellie

books I am currently not reading (and one that I am)

"Oh, how wonderful, my workload is lighter now that we've switched to online classes, I will have so much time to read, delightful." --me, two weeks ago

Me of two weeks ago, as you may be able to guess from the title, was a liar. I have somehow accomplished less reading than I did before All This(TM) happened. This is partially due to the general feeling of listlessness that comes from interacting with no one but my family for days on end, and it is partially due to the compelling story, relatively simple gameplay, and stunning artwork of Red Dead Redemption 2. Cowboys have become my entire identity. I exist only in the dying Wild West of 1899. My personality has been assimilated into Arthur Morgan's.

Despite this turn of events, I have every intention to read--to finish Hitchhiker's Guide, to start The Alloy of Law, to finish my reread of Percy Jackson. However, given my history, these intentions will not be carried out, regardless of how bored I become, because I am, above all things, a jester and a fool. Fortunately, I have at least been doing my homework--if I am not a model student, I am at least someone who accomplishes the minimum--and my homework includes reading.

This week's book-I-was-forced-to-read-but-still-am-enjoying-very-much is Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. What a queer, queer ride, and I mean a queer ride. I've listened to the musical (because yeah, I'm that person), so I was ready for the story, but I wasn't ready for the book itself. Not only is this one of the most queer-centric books I've read in a while, it's also my first graphic novel. I've been meaning to get into graphic novels for a long time, but they always somehow got pushed to the bottom of my extensive list. I don't know if this just happens to be an exceptionally good graphic novel, but if all of them are like this, they're my new favorite genre. I have to admit, I didn't understand why people write graphic novels of books that already exist until I actually read a graphic novel. It's an entirely different mode of storytelling! Look at me, correctly using exclamation points on the Internet like some kind of gen Xer! This may not be a revelation for anyone else, but it sure is for me.

The story of Alison's father and his obsession with appearing perfect is such a perfect story to be told in this manner. The irony in so much of the text is emphasized by the illustrations, and the imagery of perfection juxtaposed with reality is just *chef's kiss*. It's one of those books that compels you to keep reading, not because it's suspenseful or thrilling, but because it's just so good. I don't mean to gush, but I think Fun Home is worth gushing over.

thoughts on The Merchant of Venice

This past week I have been focusing a lot of my time on Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice for my Intro to Shakespeare class. We've read the play, watched the movie and are working on an online digital project where we got a page from the original folio and had to digitize its, color coding some words/ themes and adding analysis. This project made me think of this class and online publishing in particular. This made me think of online textbook publishing in particular. Digital textbooks often include hyper links and footnotes. Some key words are also highlighted in here texts.
I found The Merchant of Venice to be a nice change from the previous plays that I read which we're mostly tragedies. The happy ending (that is for everyone except Shylock) was nicer than some of the plays, most noticeably King Lear and Othello. Despite the wealth, happiness and weddings, there were still man social issues with the play.
I didn't like how Shylock was portrayed as a villain because he was being discriminated against by other characters throughout the entire play. Antonio goes as far as spitting on Shylock and verbally attacking him, but still has the audacity to ask him for money so Bassanio can go marry Portia. And speaking of Portia, she is extremely wealthy but does not help Shylock get the money he is owed for lending it to Antonio. She has the means to pay Shylock (which would be the right thing to do) but instead goest to court as a pretend lawyer to make sure Shylock never got what was rightfully his.
I think this play was about wealth and greed.
I did find the read to be engaging and it was an easier plot to understand that some of the other Shakespeare plays that I have read. But there were still just some aspects of it that I didn't like.

Interesting Reads!

It is day 17 of isolation, I’ve got to say that as more time passes on I am becoming less hopeful. I hope you all are doing well and staying both healthy and safe! I decided to put myself on a self-isolation schedule, or at least wake up at 9:30 every day, the noon thing just doesn’t seem to be working anymore. I say this as I write this post at 3:30, my whole life is essentially a contradiction at this point. 

Being home seems to increase my workload greatly, and I have no sense of a “normal” schedule anymore. This being the reason why I have no time to read for pleasure (ironic isn’t it?). 

I read The Women of Colour: A tale for one of my classes, and it was really good. I think British literature gets a bad rap, it’s pretty interesting. I moreso enjoy the pieces that revolve around race, class, gender, etc. The Women of Colour: A tale gave me Jane Austen and Wide Sargasso Sea vibes. 

This book was about the daughter (Olivia) of a black slave and a white plantation owner. In an attempt to protect Olivia, the slave owner sent her to England with a load sum of money to marry her cousin. She was forced to leave her home and everything she knew because her father thought this would protect her. Olivia really did not want to leave Jamaica, but, unfortunately, she had no choice.

Dido, Olivia’s servant, was an intriguing character. She reminded me of Bertha (from Jane Austen) and I was really interested in the way the author characterized her. One of my peers mentioned that Dido acted on emotion and voiced her own opinions which are character traits we don’t tend to see in black servants during this time. I also think the relationship between Dido and Oliva was based on loyalty and friendship, though I believe this was complicated by the sense of hierarchy.

This book challenged the perception most have about women of color during this time. Oliva was the epitome of a morally conscious person. She judged people based on their characteristics and persona rather than their appearance. Olivia was presented as being someone who was intelligent, kind, religious, and independent. I admired the way she carried herself, especially with those who hurt her. She had to deal with her uncle’s wife who would constantly other and insult her at any chance she got. Olivia fought for her own beliefs and would stick to her gut.

I enjoyed reading this, it definitely challenges one's perception of what we assume the 18^th century to be. Sorry, I realize this may not be my most interesting post, but I recommend attempting it before you bash it!

On a completely irrelevant note, I highly recommend Harlots. It is a great show to binge and avoids all responsibilities. It is about 18th-century British prostitution. And it is much more compelling than love island. 

Gore Interview, Children's Books, etc.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying sane!

I really enjoyed listening to the Clelia Gore interview, I'm totally jealous that she gets to read children's books for a living. Like some of you already mentioned, it was interesting to hear that most of her job involves reading a lot of bad writing. I admire her patience, as I find it hard sometimes to motivate myself to read even good writing. But I also imagine it must be fun sometimes, like watching a movie that's so bad it's good. If I were in her position, though, I fear I would find it hard to trust my instincts in figuring out what is good writing and what is bad (she's been doing it a while so she's obviously a pro). But I'm not sure how I would navigate around constantly wondering, am I being too harsh? Maybe if I don't like this, how do I know another reader won't love it? Reading feels like a such a personal, subjective thing; how can one person be the gatekeeper of what is good and bad? It kind of goes back to what we talked about at the beginning of the semester -- how many bestsellers must there be floating around in used bookstores or on your grandma's computer, never to be discovered by mainstream publishers?

I also enjoyed reading everyone's responses to the reading. Re: Hayleigh's post, it's crazy to think about how much children's recreational habits/reading habits have changed over the past 10-15 years, with iPads and e-readers. I remember when I was little (pre-iPad days), I had this electronic book reader (?) that looked like this:
 It had books that fit into it, and you could press the pen to a word and have the thing read the word out loud. This was my first experience of any kind of electronic reading experience, and I remember thinking of it more as a toy than a book. I can only imagine what kind of cool, multi-media stuff kids can get into these days using way more sophisticated technology. I hope, though, that kids are still interested in reading physical books. It's SO cliche, but there is something special about a physical book, especially when you're a kid. When I was little, I would make my mom read me a huge stack of books before bed. I loved how different they all were -- different shapes and sizes, kinds of paper, even different smells. They were all part of the story to me. My favorite book was called "At the Beach" - I forget who wrote it, and I can't find it online because it's really old, but it had these beautiful black and white illustrations. The book itself was from my mom's childhood, and had a really good paper-y, basement-y smell that I thought smelled like hot sand on the beach, so it only added to the reading experience.

Unrelated: Like some of you in Davis' American Renaissance class, I just started Moby Dick, which I tried to read a couple summers ago but abandoned a quarter of the way through. I am loving it this time, though. Something about being stuck inside makes reading about a grand sea adventure particularly appealing. It's also quite funny. I'm always pleasantly surprised when the humor in an older book holds up, regardless of when you're reading it.

distractions

To be honest, I haven’t been doing that much reading, partially because I don’t know what I feel like reading right now, but mostly because I’ve been playing Animal Crossing on the Switch. 

I have gotten a bit farther into my reread of The Secret Garden, though I’m now wondering exactly how the movie adaptation of that is going to come out. It was supposed to be released in late April, presumably in theaters. I know this isn’t exactly publishing related, but I wonder how movie releases are going to be done right now. Would it be beneficial for them to go straight to streaming services? Are they going to be postponed (I hope not because I’m looking forward to this one)? And to bring it to publishing, similar questions could apply to books published during this time as well, especially for debut authors who don’t already have a fanbase waiting to read their newest book. I’ve been following some authors and literary journals on Twitter and I’ve seen several chains asking debut authors during this time to tweet their book titles in the chain, but I feel like that maybe doesn’t do too much for the book’s marketing. Obviously this isn’t the most important effect of the crisis at all, but it’s something to consider.

Speaking of books coming out right now, one of the books I’m thinking about reading is The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel. That’s right, the author of Station Eleven, the book about an apocalyptic pandemic that people are saying is both a good and bad time to read. Don’t worry, it’s not actually anything like this, from what I remember of it. I’m pretty sure this particular book is not necessarily struggling too much with its release time because Station Eleven did really well when it came out anyway and now I keep seeing it all over the place again. The Glass Hotel is, thankfully, not about a pandemic, as the author has assured people on Twitter many times. 

Also only semi-related to reading, but I’ve watched the first three episodes of the Hulu series adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng and I think it’s pretty good so far. I don’t remember the book very well at all, but I think it’s following it closely, which is good. I can’t get over the fact that Reese Witherspoon picked the book for her book club, obviously really liked it, and now gets to play a main character in the show. That’s crazy! Imagine really liking a book and then getting to play in its tv adaptation! I guess that’s what it’s like to be Reese Witherspoon. Admittedly, she’s definitely perfect for the role. 

I think when I get more used to online classes and less interested in giving all my time to Animal Crossing, I will be able to get more reading done. I thought that having to stay home would make it easier to read but it just hasn’t been happening for me lately. Sad. :(

Responses

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who was struggling with the comments on Blogger! I haven't been able to have any responses so here are my comments on the post about children's publishing as well as Michael's post on Amazon (better late than never I hope!).

I also really enjoyed this chapter and found the work that goes into creating children’s books surprisingly complex. I don’t believe children’s books have been affected by technology as much as other books have. Reading picture books to kids has been a tradition for a lot of families and I think that parents want to recreate some of the experiences they may have had as a kid, including turning pages and holding the physical copy, which is a different experience digitally. 

Something kind of weird about me is that when I go to Barnes in Noble, I always look through the picture book section because it’s so different now than it was when I was a kid. The biggest difference is the representation of characters. When I was a kid, there were characters of color or with disabilities, but I can’t remember any time they were the main character, besides maybe Little Bill. Luckily, now Little Bill does not need to carry the weight of an entire race on his Little shoulders because there are more books, not only with diverse characters, but about that very diverseness. After flipping through them, they seem to have good lessons and I wish I would have been exposed to these kinds of stories when I was a kid. 

There are also a lot of picture books by celebrities which I don’t thing I ever had as a kid. On the one hand, there are books by comedians (I’m pretty sure every late night television host has a book by now). Alternatively, there are more educational books by social forces like Malala Youfsafzai. 

When I was a kid, I used to love reading those books called “who was ‘blank’”. They had historical figure at focus illustrated on the front in huge bobble head caricature fashion. I wish there would have been more books like these that taught me about different lives/ struggles that I would have otherwise not known about. I’m glad picture books are evolving in this direction in order to teach kids about these topics before they reach the chapter book level.

We talk about representation in publishing a lot in this class and this chapter made me realize that children’s book publishing is a part of the industry where representation would make a huge difference. I have hope for children’s book publishing!

I thought the amazon piece was interesting, but not really surprising. Considering that the company essentially runs a monopoly over online shopping, it makes sense that book sales make up only a fraction of their market. I would argue that this fraction probably represents the same amount that book sales make up in the real world market. 

Personally, I love having a physical copy of a book, however, some of the comments here on the blog have made me realize that this is kind of a privilege. I’m glad that eReaders exist because I do agree that they can increase accessibility. Even if someone can afford to buy real books, having a Kindle makes it easier to download content and could widen the range of audiences for books.

I liked the metaphor Riannah made about Amazon and the book industry being like an internship at a large company. Yes, there are people buying books and benefitting from the access that amazon gives them, so even if Amazon isn’t paying much attention, the customer is still satisfied so I don’t think it matters much. Does it make me resent Amazon and Bezos’ power? Definitely. But sadly, I guess that’s just good business.

Some Thoughts on Clelia Gore Interview!

All in all, I really enjoyed the Clelia Gore interview. I wish we were still in class to be able to interact more, but it is what is and we're making do! I'm grateful that Professor Stockman recorded it, and we are able to access it virtually.

Right off the bat, I feel like the term "literary managers" is a lot easier to interpret than "agent." Whenever someone says they're an agent, even though we have been learning about them, I'm still not entirely sure what the whole picture of their job entails. Hearing from Clelia how she manages writers gave me a better understanding. When she said something along the lines of, "The #1 responsibility of my job is to read bad writing," I thought it was really refreshing to hear. I feel like that would become tiring quickly, and I wonder (and admire) how she doesn't get discouraged! I wanted to know more about how she goes about finding her "diamonds in the rough" from a personal criteria standpoint, not just the publishing criteria of 1) Is it any good? and 2) Will it sell? 

Another analogy she used which I liked was the idea of being a matchmaker for editors. It's a cool way to think about it and for me, it felt like it kind of humanized her job more. It makes me wonder though what happens if there is no possible match for editors. Does that mean a book just doesn't get published at that point, or is it put on hold until a perfect match eventually shows up? The super specific requests were entertaining as well from the Easter bunny books to the graphic novel about the history of underwear – I wonder why editors would want that story, but I'm sure it serves a greater purpose. From an interview standpoint, Clelia seemed like she was really fun to talk to and clearly passionate about her work.

I grew especially interested when the conversation steered towards subsidiary rights with the sheer number of films and tv shows popular right now that were based off books. To hear that one of her books was optioned by Disney and Apple + is impressive, and I wonder if that's impressive from her perspective as well. (Or maybe it's just impressive from mine because that seems like it would be a really big deal from a college student standpoint.) How common are deals like this? Is it an everyday occurrence, or do those deals pop up once in a blue moon? Also around this point in the interview is when I realized I didn't know how many different book rights existed (foreign rights, audio rights, ebook rights).

Her interview also made me feel more optimistic about the publishing world when she started talking about all the different submissions she receives, whether unsolicited or through referrals. To hear a publishing professional say, "My rule is to always say yes" warms my heart a bit. For me, it reestablished the importance of networking and connections because sometimes it really is a game of who you know. The concrete example of Wonder by A.J. Palacio, which is wildly successful today, helps add to the bigger picture, too. 

Sometimes the publishing world can seem big and scary (especially now when who knows what will happen), so it was a nice and engaging interview to watch. 

P.S. I'm trying to start Educated by Tara Westover. I will keep you guys updated. 

Welcome to my home library!

Welcome to my home library! I have a few more books on my desk and the shelf attached to it, but it's far too messy to show you guys. I tried to get the best picture possible, but my bed is directly in front of my bookshelves, so this was the best I could get. It's a bit disorganized, as I'm definitely running out of room for books, but I love it nonetheless. 

Quick life update before I get into the books. As you may be able to see on my bookshelf, my roommate Jackie sent me a corgi birthday card. 1. because I'm obsessed with corgis and 2. it's my 21st birthday on Wednesday. Yes, April Fools Day, because my life is a joke! Turning 21 at my parent's house under strict social distancing isn't ideal, I won't lie. When I pictured my 21st birthday, it definitely wasn't that, but I guess a celebratory, very cautious trip to the liquor store will have to suffice! I'm healthy and my family is healthy, so I'm trying to stay positive. It could be so much worse. 

I haven't left my house in days. I've spent many hours laying in my bed reading school reading, all while longing for time to read the beautiful books sitting in front of me on my shelves. My time is coming, I have Summer I off from school because my Dialogue was cancelled, so plenty of time to read is coming. Not as cool as going to Ireland for a month, but I'm excited. 

So, I think I'm going to use this blog post to make a little TBR (To be read) list in preparation for the summer, which will probably still be full of social distancing with the way things are going. 

Back over Christmas break I read the first two books in Rebel of the Sands series by Alwyn Hamilton. These first two books in the trilogy were pretty good, and I'm interested in finishing the series with the third book, Hero at the Fall. This book is definitely towards the top of my list. We also have House of Earth and Blood, which is the book by Sarah J. Maas that I wrote a post about a few weeks ago. I am about 100 pages in, so that is going to be the first book I finish hopefully. 

For the longest time I've been meaning to read Brandon Sanderson's Way of Kings, which is very ambitious because it is almost 1000 pages of high fantasy. I had heard so many things about this legendary book, and I really need to commit to reading it. No better time than during a pandemic! Another book I've been wanting to read but never really got down to it is Red Rising by Pierce Brown, I've heard a lot of good things about this series as well. 

Maybe one day I'll just have my mom pick a random book off my shelf and I'll read it. I feel like sometimes I get too caught up in TBRs and choosing the perfect book to read. I have so little time I never want to waste it reading a bad book, when another amazing one could be sitting there gathering dust on my bookshelf. Does anybody else sometimes stress out about what book to read next, especially if a good portion of your library is unread? Maybe I'm just crazy.

So yeah, lots of reading ahead of me. One good thing about being home indefinitely is I have access to the full powers of my home library, which is exciting. I hope everyone is staying safe and getting more reading done than I ever do! 

How Long will this Last?

Another week done; another week isolated.

After being cooped up in the house for so long, I have caught a case of Cabin fever. I feel like I’m going insane and have been trying to occupy my time with new projects. But here’s the thing, I have schoolwork I could do, but for some reason I would rather waste time lying on the couch complaining about having nothing to do instead of being productive with my homework. Some good news though, as one of my new projects was to de-clutter my bedroom, I found 4 old Barnes and Noble gift-cards that haven't been used in my desk. This is because, being the only English nerd in my extended family, a Barnes and Noble gift-card is a staple present on holidays. I’m not complaining though! This means that for the past day I have been scouring Barnes and Noble’s website and Goodreads to find any books to buy.

If anyone has any recommendations, please comment!!

Staying on the topic of Barnes and noble I saw an article in the PW Daily email talking about how over 400 Barnes and Noble franchises have closed in-store shopping. They have also closed all in-person events until April 30^th, this virus has really been affecting businesses. I was kind of holding on to hope that this would be over by the beginning of April, but that doesn’t look like it is too likely anymore. The Library I work for back home has been shut down for two weeks now and I know that they are starting to make programs virtual, my boss has been filming virtual story times for little kids. Authors have been cancelling their book tours, and in the same email it said that all of the Big Five publishers have withdrawn from BookExpo and BookCon which take place in July.

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! Hopefully this situation will get better soon but it looks like things are continuing to be cancelled.

Response post to Hayleigh on Children's Publishing (and Maurin's question about replies)

Everytime I try to type in a response to someone's post and then press submit, it disappears, I don' know why it does that. (So Maurin, this isn't just happening to you). Anyways, here is my response post for this week to Hayleigh about Children's publishing.

In response to your question about whether or not technology has had an effect on children's attitudes towards reading, I think that technology is causing young people to not be as enthusiastic about reading. As a child, I read all the time because I needed something to constantly entertain me. Now, tablets and other electronic devices serve a similar role to books in that they are there to constantly entertain kids with games, videos, or other content. When children have all of this technology at their fingertips, their interest in books will go down. I think that even most young adults spend more of their time on their devices looking at social media, the news, watching videos, etc instead of reading a book (myself included). I think that this is sad because I value reading, but it just seems that this is where society is going. Although I think that publishers are usually against this, I think online publishing is a solution because stories will be available on the devices that children are so frequently using.

In terms of books I read as a child, when I was really young, I loved Amelia Bedelia. This was a series about a housemaid who took every instruction literally which resulted in the house being a complete mess whenever the owners would come home. However, they never got mad because right as they were about to, she'd bring out a lemon meringue pie and they would forgive her. I also read the Junie B. Jones books a lot. When I got to 4th grade, I remember I started to read the Series of Unfortunate Events and loved them throughout the rest of elementary school and even middle school. I'd check them out from the school library and I wouldn't return them until I had read it twice. 

The Power of Rereading

I am happy to report that I have spent this last week using my time in isolation and social distancing to read a lot! Being back home and close to my bookshelf has inspired me to do a bunch of rereading and while I have yet to reread a book from front to back, I have ended up working through at least 1,000 pages of a wide range of novels. This bizarre pandemic has unsurprisingly caused me to revert back to my middle school habits and read good old trilogy Young Adult Dystopian. So far I have reread parts of the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi, The Diabolic by S.J Kincaid and the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. I remember really loving The Diabolic when I first read it but after my rediscovery of the novel I have realized it, like many other books I read during this phase of my life, is not as complex or well written as I thought. It almost makes me scared to pick up other things I remember loving only a few years ago in case I decide it is not as profound or interesting as it once was. 

I also could not resist reading parts from my favorite series Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas and I ended up spending two days rereading the best parts from the eight-book saga. No matter how many times I reread it, certain scenes from the books always make me cry and for some reason, I hope this emotional response never goes away. 

I have also started the perilous and long journey of reading Moby Dick. I have to read it for one of my classes and decided that I might as well start now while I am out of a reading slump. Wish me luck on this voyage!

All of this reminds me of a time in high school when one of my friends was talking about how they do not understand people who reread. That when they watch a movie or read a novel they do it once and never again. I would be lying if I said that some part of me wasn’t horrified by this. I can not imagine only listening to a story once, especially if you like it. I am the kind of person who even rewatches bad movies just for comfort or to give them a second chance. I know we talked about this once in class but what are all of your opinions on rereading? For me, rereading has always added to my understanding or provided me with a new way of thinking about a story I enjoy. Do people who don’t reread not feel this way? As someone who almost always buys the books they read I am also curious for people who don’t reread why would they buy a novel only to never pick it up again? I’m curious as to what you all think. Stay safe.

I have a blogger question, can you help?

Hey guys, quick question.

     I have been commenting on posts, or so I thought, but they dont show up once I 'publish' them. Is anyone else having this problem? I can see others comments but can't seem to see my own once I've sent it in. For example, I attached a screenshot of my comment before I posted it on Savita's post on the chapter on illustrated books (one I hit publish it disappeared and the post says there aren't any comments from me).

 Can you all see it? or are they truly disappeared?? let me know 

Ch. 7 The Other Side of the Desk (Response)

     Hello all! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying some good down time. I, for one, am confused about all this free time talk when I seem to be busier with work than when at school. Maybe I should start walking up before noon...

     As for the chapter, I reached out do volunteer to report but haven't heard back so I am just going to go ahead and give it a shot. Chapter seven is written by Susan Rabiner, a long time editor turned agent. While I found the content and differences touched on to be interesting, her writing style made this chapter a little more compelling than the other two assigned for this week, but maybe that was just me. The personal side of her essay is what kept me reading. It was interesting to hear less of a play by play of how something works, but instead have a dual sided piece where the intersection and differences can be explored and appreciated rather than a timeline of events. She opens the text by sayin, "There were important editorial questions that editing hadn't prepared me for but that agenting required I figure out." I think by beginning with this statement she really set the tone for much of her essay to come; time in the industry doesn't necessarily equate to knowledge on the whole and there is always another side and another piece to learn. 

     She writes on this idea of 'conceptualization;'the act of bringing together "facts, stories and commentary in search of a larger meaning" (77). I think we all have read texts that offer facts and data but bring no true 'compelling point' to their existence. I liked the fact that Rabiner is focused on the meaning of a work and the value which it might add to our ever already convoluted world. From this idea she was able to diverge into the difference editors and agents have in the creation or recognition of such artifacts. As an editor, had a project been proposed holding 'conceptual problems' she would drop it. I found this interesting, the places in which different positions hold power and how they choose to use it. As an editor it makes sense to be able to recognize when a book will be too much work to, well, re-work. But are there ever cases where, yes there are conceptual problems, but you're willing to work for the gratification of a final product that you believe will be truly great? Where does the distinction lie? I think this goes hand in hand with something she mentions later in the chapter about how personal of an industry publishing is; publishing is all about feelings and how we evoke thought and sentiment. Thus, communication in the realm is largely centered around those same themes as they pertain to the person they end up with (wether that be the editor or agent). Connections are personal and grow from that relationship and can similarly be harmed in the same way. Do you all feel the same? I think I am glad such a space exists as reading relies so much on how a text makes us feel and bringing out enough emotion or intrigue to bacon you to read something else. 

     Back to the comparison, as an agent, Rabiner gets to work out the kinks before hand in hopes of the editor finding no conceptual problems and, again, working to find that personal connection. The special part of this chapter is the knowledge of both sides being accessible in the same text. Seeing the work that goes into the agents work which may go unnoticed by the editor, but only when the agents role is removed is when the editor may notice the bulk of the work they do when pushing authors to refine and rewrite as to gain better chances. Speaking of chance, that is a big part of this. So much is reliant on those chance relationships that end up furthering beyond initial ideas. 

     I enjoyed her writing on genre, not as we usually see it, but as the recognition that an author truly understands their audience and material as made evident through things such a point of view or stylization of syntax. Again, she notes that these are all things the agent must be concerned with as they "can't be resolved through editing" (81). Once the text gets to the editor, these issues, if they are issues, should be resolved so the editor can do what it does best. The dual awareness of Rabiner brings, both to her and the reader, a new admiration for the coherence of the work between editor and agent; although ultimately different in what they do, one would not be as possible without the support of the other. Im interested in this idea as a whole for the publishing industry: how do others factor in? what is the division of labor amongst assistants and teams? how do specific roles support the larger whole? 

Some of her tactics as an agent (such as writing the whole to-be book as a table of contents of 50 pages) seemed pretty intense to me, a non-writer. However the explanation of such assignments and the reasoning behind her pushing her authors and questioning their intentions prepares them to work with editors who will take them seriously and hopefully work with them to completion. Are there methods that work best to gain attention and praise? Surly there is no fit all formula, but ideas like Rabiners (and connections as well) seem to be a good place to start and push those stuck towards better chances as success. While the whole relationship bases of the industry can work toward your favor, it's pretty daunting as well. Getting an insight into many sides from the same vantage point is pretty helpful in gaining an understanding of the system, but will it really help you succeed? When it is so personally based, the game can be a hard one to win. Being left to the devices of others... kind of frightening but I guess that's part of the allure as well; to be liked and liked enough to be presented to others....seems like some mean metaphor, good think we have lots of time to think.

Bookshelf Inspecting

I, like many of you all, have decided to take advantage of this quarantining time by reading as much as possible. Since I have nothing to do all day, you would think that I'd be able to do all my school work, read lots of books, and still have time left over to walk aimlessly around my house and watch TV. But since my days have no structure whatsoever, I have found that I can't do any of these things without getting distracted by another one of these things. In my house, each of my family members keeps their books in different places. I found a few books on everyone's bookshelf that I am going to try to read and have moved them to my book stash. The book I've been reading most is my mom's, The Water Dancer which is by Ta-Nahisi Coates who also wrote Between the World and Me which I read earlier in the semester. This book is so good. I highly recommend it to everyone. It's well written, relevant, and just a really interesting story.
My little brother is reading Their Eyes Were Watching God in his American English class. I also read that book junior year and reread parts of it last summer so I'm going to try to read along with him and maybe be able to help him in his distance learning.
My dad's bookshelf is one of the most disappointing sights I've seen since being home on quarantine. He has a lot of books about business with titles like "The EQ Difference". Basically just a bunch of business buzz words strung together. Also the covers of these books are all white with no pictures and normally have red or blue font in all caps - overall unappealing. I did, however, find an old copy of the Giver which I haven't read since 8th grade. No time like the quarantine to read a dystopian novel I guess.
I'll keep you all updated after I raid my older brother's bookshelf, which I have the highest expectations for. I hope everyone is handling this quarantine to the best of their abilities and is reading (or trying to read)!

My Thoughts on Children's Publishing (Ch. 17)

Hi guys. I hope everyone is staying healthy, safe, and mostly sane. I volunteered to share some thoughts on the Chapter 17 in What Editors Do, “Once Upon A Time Lasts Forever – Editing Books for Children.” 

I found this chapter to be super interesting and I have a ton of thoughts on it. One thing that stood out to me right away is how much pressure there is for editors of children’s books to find a happy medium in so many different aspects of the books they’re working on. They need to juggle text and illustration, figure out how to entice an adult to purchase the book (a new gatekeeper!) but also appeal to the child reader, and educating without being condescending. All of these things are a lot to keep in mind, and showed me that children’s book publishing is a lot more complex than I originally anticipated.

There are so many differences between children’s publishing and adult publishing. One thing that really struck me was when Siscoe says you need to consider when you want the page to turn to maintain suspense and interest. This is not something editors usually need to contend with, as it doesn’t matter where a page ends in the plot of a novel. This must add a whole extra layer to the editing process, as you need to delegate what needs to happen on each page to maximize space and keep the reader entertained. One thing remains the same between the two genres of publishing: books must try to be as precise and concise as possible. Children and adult audiences don’t appreciate unnecessary fluff that distracts from the story. 

I found this chapter to be refreshingly optimistic, especially in comparison to other texts we’ve been reading in regard to publishing. Following the somewhat depressing Amazon piece, hearing an editor talk passionately about their work was reassuring to hear. I loved so many parts of this chapter, specifically when she says “I want to help create the books that will delight and inspire the next generation of readers” (177). This is something I really resonate with, and I imagine many of you feel the same. Most, if not all of us, probably took this class because we enjoy reading books and maybe have an interest in making them. I think we all had that one book (or books) that we adored as children, that started our love for reading. I want to help create books like that, whether its for children or for adults. 

With that being said, the pressures of the publishing industry are definitely still present in the world of children’s publishing. We all know that the two questions of publishing are is it any good and will it sell? It seems there is a bit more at stake with children’s publishing, as Siscoe quotes Richard Jackson, who said “Does this story convince me? Do I care what happens to these people? Is the voice authentic? Has a young person’s nature somehow caused the action? Have I read this before?” (179). While I do think some of these questions are present in adult publishing as well, it made me think about all the things children’s publishing needs to do fundamentally. While yes, children's publishers need to produce books that are good and will sell, they also need to focus on educating and entertaining children.

Okay, I’m done rambling now. All in all, I really enjoyed this chapter. I have some questions that I’d like to know your thoughts on:

• How do you think our experience reading as children has changed for children today? (reading on kindles/iPads etc). 
• Do you think technology makes children more resistant to reading books? If so, how do you think publishers should deal with this challenge? 
• Would any of you want to pursue publishing children’s books?
• Has this chapter persuaded or dissuaded anybody from children’s book publishing?
• What are some of the books your loved as a child? (This includes YA too!)
• This is an unrelated question, but does anyone have any book recommendations while we’re all social distancing?

Deb Aaronson's Creating Illustrated Books Response

Hi all, I hope everyone is doing okay during these crazy times! Hopefully, everything will clear up soon (though I’m a little doubtful).

I do not own very many illustrated books, I wish I owned more! I have an illustrated book about Bauhaus and two cookbooks but that is about as far as my collection goes. Do you all own illustrated books? If so what kinds? Aaronson mentioned “Aside from cookbooks and children’s books, trade houses invested in limited resources in these kinds of projects and the staff to make them (215). Thus, showing that those who do publish illustrated books have to be both creative and savvy in terms of ideas and the way they chose to present these books

I found this piece very intriguing and slightly saddening. I came into this class not knowing much about the publishing industry and I did not expect the illustrated books industry to be so different. The essay touched upon a multitude of aspects: ideas, industry, connections, aesthetic appeal, process, etc. Aaronson said, “Illustrated books are not defined by their subject matter but rather by the capacity of that subject matter to be expressed visually” (214). It shows that the ideas for illustrated books aren’t limited but can come from essentially anywhere. Aaronson mentioned he once published a book about a woman who dressed up her pet parakeets in tiny little outfits and photographed them against the elaborately staged representation of historical events clearly showing us that there is no limit. How do you feel about this? Is it better to have a variety of idea choices or none? Would it get overwhelming? 

Oftentimes nonprofessional authors are creating these books and being represented by agents. I think here the editor’s job differs in the sense that now they have to “help authors express their ideas in a language that’s not necessarily their primary one [...] And an important part of the editor’s job is to create a lingua franca that serves as a bridge between the visual world of the authors and the audience of readers” (216). This reminded me of our earlier conversation about ownership, when is the editor doing too much? How do we determine those boundaries?

The illustrated book industry is very small and very competitive. Aaronson says “this has, inevitably, resulted in a more crowded field in which project is now frequently subject to stiff competition, preemptive offers, and biddings wars, and to a more congested market where everyone needs to work harder to distinguish any given book from all the others out there (21). I think this is both a blessing and a curse because it has the potential to keep the books afloat. Though at the same time a lot of books won’t have the ability to get published because they will just be overlooked. So then once again we face the struggle of certain books not being recognized! Do you believe there is a way to avoid this or will we eternally be faced with this problem? Also, how should we market illustrated books to make them more appealing? I mentioned earlier I only have three, but I also didn’t have much knowledge of illustrated books prior to this reading.

A common thread through all books is the mere fact that there is a story to be told regardless of what “format” it is in. Aaronson says, “Creating this arc for visual books is accomplished by selecting the images and organizing and sequencing them in such a way that the reader is led through the pages of the book with grace, style, and momentum (217). I think it is interesting how though it isn’t written primarily with text, we still need to consider flow, voice, organization, etc. There are also so many more people involved, we need to consider the author, editor, a third person, and the designer of the book. All these people contribute so much to the books in order for it to be successful. Aaronson said, “A designer’s aesthetic intelligence and engagement with the content inform the balance and interplay of these elements and profoundly impact the way the books will be seen and received (217). We spoke about how important our initial introductions to books are because the design could essentially make us pick it up. I think to some degree illustrated books are even more dependent on this in order to draw folks in and as a means of encapsulating what the books are really about.  

I tried to touch on as many aspects of illustrated books as I could, though it is likely I missed a couple of things. I thought this was really insightful, so many things go into illustrated books, and I think they allow readers to form a different relationship with them. It also amazes me how many production issues could arise and potentially prevent allowing the book to be published. 

  

Additional Question:

- Do you believe illustrated books are seen as “less than” other books? Why or why not?

- How do eBooks affect the production of illustrated books? Will they eventually go extinct or do you think the increased competition in illustrated books will keep it afloat?

- What do you think is the most important aspect of an illustrated book? (this is pretty broad, take it wherever you want!)

I Did Not Expect Self-Quarantine to Be This Chaotic

What a week! Since I started moving into my new off-campus apartment over the Spring break (which I mentioned in class before the break and Sub commented as “a weird time to move”, but now it turns out I am really being lucky), I had been hoping for Northeastern to cancel classes and move online just so I could finally breathe in this heavy-loaded semester (Imagine taking 7 courses at a time!).

The concept of self-quarantine did not bother me at all. In fact, I was quite excited about it since I am such an indoor person (with slight social anxiety of course), and the idea that I can stay in my shell with a proper justification (so that I don’t seem too antisocial) couldn’t be more pleasant to me. Yet in reality, quarantine is not as relaxing as I expected. On top of all the packing and unpacking, furniture assembly and grocery shopping I had to do, I had homework due all throughout these two weeks (Seriously why can’t Northeastern just give us a one-week break since it’s kicking us all out of our stay?), which makes me work on Adobe excessively until my eyes start to hurt. What’s worse, one of my professors literally DOUBLED the workload for her course, which I am still super mad about. Sorry I am just dumping my complaints here and sorry I am easily annoyed after sophomore year's wicked transformation, but seriously, I do understand that cleaning supplies are running out of stock, but why is pasta ALL GONE? What am I stocking up marinara sauce for??

Anyway, as can be easily figured out from the above, I haven’t much time to read in the past week. I am trying to utilize however much time I have to devour my library books (FYI Snell is extending my due dates to near the end of April and BPL stops charging fines before sometime in May. There are great people and organizations out there for your service!) I started War and Peace (checked out from Snell) which I have been keeping for over a semester but never had time to read. I have a weird favor for Russian writers since Russian was required in my middle school, although all I remember now are the alphabet and greetings (it be like that sometimes). Yet as of now, it’s embarrassing to find myself more interested in reading the introduction rather than the actual text (sorry Tolstoy). 

I’ve seen many of you posting pictures of your bookshelves, so I consider it a good idea to stick to the trend. Since the majority of my collection is at home in China (of course 99% of them are in Chinese) and some are in Rochester NY, I only have a picture of my books in my current apartment (Imagine moving all of these from on campus to here!). My last roommate called them a ResLibrary and how I love that name! Anyway, it’s my first ever bookshelf in a country other than my own and I still can’t help staring at it while giggling after having it for almost a week.

Observations in Quarantine

Well, if there is anything to get you to read its being stuck in the house 24 hours a day for 6 days. I hope everyone is doing well right now and is safe! Since being home I’ve been able to successfully start (and finish) new TV shows, read a lot, and avoid unpacking everything I brought back from college.

            Being home, I tried to unpack all of my books, the problem with that being I had acquired quite a few books while in Boston and now there is no way they will all fit on my two-level bookshelf. Which means I’m going to have to make some tough decisions on what books to give away and which to keep. My parents only got me a small bookshelf as a way to police how many I buy. I have had to go through this process before, so I have down to a pretty exact science, I keep the books that I have already read, only if they have sentimental value or if I think they are good enough to lend out. The majority of my bookshelf though I try to keep to books I have not yet read. How do you guys try to organize your bookshelf? I have known people to do it alphabetically, by genre and even by color, which always looks really cool!

           

            While also being home I’ve been able to observe my family members reading habits. My sister, as I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, only recently got into reading, but she reads books pretty regularly now. Usually the cycle will begin with her coming into my room around 1 am to look through my bookshelf. I guess that’s when her inspiration to read strikes. She usually takes that book and then returns at 1 am a week later looking for another. Something different though is that she switches between reading the paper version of the book and the audio version. Something I have never been able to do. My dad really likes to read but he only listens to audio books. I have bought him books before, but he never seems to end up reading them. He says he doesn’t have time, but his commute to work is about an hour, so he loves to listen to them in the car. My mom is not a huge reader, she is in a book club with her friends, but she won’t always finish the book. She always reads e-books on her kindle fire though, which isn’t great after reading the article. My brother is the strangest reader to me. He will read a huge book in a matter of hours. He reads super quickly and usually enjoys the books he reads. But he won’t read. He’ll read one series a year or sometimes only one book. I truly don’t understand it, because he likes to read but won’t read. I can’t recommend books to him, because he is my brother, and he won’t read something just because I recommend it. I found it interesting to see all of my family’s reading habits because I’m usually only around friends, people that are similar to me, and my reading habits.

Quarantine Reading

Wow, what a surreal 7 days! I hope everyone is adjusting ok and staying safe. I feel like I haven’t been in a good school headspace all week, having suddenly had to move out of my apartment and go home. Driving out of Boston to return to Long Island was particularly sad this time because no one knows how long this is going to last. Sadness and fear aside, I’m trying to stay positive + full of gratitude. 

I’m hoping to use my extra free time to catch up on reading. I have a few chapters left of Little Fires Everywhere, which my mom is pressuring me to finish so we can watch the show together. After I finish that, though, I have no idea what I’m going to read. Being in my childhood home is a little overwhelming because of the sheer multitude of books laying around. There’s books of all genres and from every decade. I have no idea where to start (a pretty good problem to have). I really want to read some Zadie Smith because I've never read her before, and I think my mom has Grand Union on the pile next to her bed. I'm also intrigued by my dad's collection of Arthur Conan Doyle mysteries. I’ll probably just end up rereading Harry Potter. Or watching garbage reality TV, which is what I’ve been spending most of my time doing. I’ve also been walking my dog, like, four times a day. Walking the dog is the only excuse any of my family members have to get out of the house. I feel so bad for him. He’s probably so tired. 

Yesterday I was in my backyard forcing my dog to play frisbee with me, and I had a live, human interaction with someone not in my nuclear family. My neighbor Gary showed up at the fence and we had a very Wilson-from-Home-Improvement kind of chat. I’ve never been more thrilled to talk to a 60-year-old man. Anyway, life’s crazy! (I am going crazy)

eighth grade rereads

Nothing like a movie adaptation to get you reading again!

I noticed last week that Disney Plus came out with a movie adaptation of Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. I don’t know if this is true for anyone else, but in eighth grade at my middle school, Stargirl was the book. It was the biggest focus of English class that year and every class read it. It was like The Outsiders. And I. Loved. It. 

I’ve since discovered that it was not everyone’s book of eighth grade, so to give a brief synopsis, it’s told from the point of view of this boy named Leo (which is also my cat’s name, but my cat is not named after this Leo because this Leo sucks) who starts eleventh grade at his high school when a new girl shows up in tenth grade after being homeschooled up until that point. Her name is Stargirl and she is Different. Her normal attire is a floor length flowy skirt or dress and quite often she mixes it up for something more wacky. She carries around her pet rat Cinnamon and plays Happy Birthday on her ukelele for the birthday kids. There’s a bunch more but you get the idea (please keep in mind that this is a children’s book). At first everyone likes her but then her weirdness and nonconformity begins to get frustrating, particularly when she becomes a cheerleader and cheers for both teams (*gasp*). Eventually everyone hates her, which is a problem for Leo who is totally in love with her but also wants the approval of his peers. This is when he starts to be the worst. 

Anyway, I thought it was fantastic because eighth grade me wanted nothing more than to NOT be like everyone else. Also it’s an adorable book. 

So when I saw that Disney Plus made it a movie, I immediately knew I was going to be rereading it, which is exactly what I did in just a few hours (again, kid’s book, easy read). Good news, I still think it’s fantastic. I really enjoyed reading it as a fun and light read. I kept laughing at it and remembering when we would read it out loud in class and it was one of the only times I volunteered for anything. Obviously it’s a little cheesy and maybe a little cringey at times and the message seems too blatant, but given that it’s for children, I think all of that is great. 

The message that being different and nonconforming is okay is not an uncommon message, but it’s definitely something that remains important for kids to hear, so I would definitely still recommend it for young readers. I’d honestly recommend it to older readers too if they’re in the mood for something like that. It’s also about first love, which is really sweet and heartwarming to read about, albeit a bit awkward and again, cheesy.  

I’m really excited to watch the adaptation, though also terrified that Disney has butchered it. Wish me luck. 

Back into Blogging & Quarantine Chronicles

I feel like I've definitely been M.I.A. with this class, and I apologize profusely and will definitely try to make up for it by the end of this semester. So after this little update of a blog post, I will be posting another more relevant one to get back into reading and books and literature (and publishing)!

It's hard to believe that everything has happened in a span of about two weeks. Two weeks. Let me emphasize that again: TWO. WEEKS. Two weeks ago, COVID-19 was merely a vague talking point, and neither I nor any of my friends really paid any mind to it. Now, it's everywhere. My dad is constantly on the phone talking about it while he works from home (WFH, which for some reason I thought stood for something Northeastern-related), and during that my mom streams the news which rotates headline after headline. It's kind of exhausting.

Although my hometown is a little quieter and seemed semi-okay, now the whole California shelter-in-place has been imposed. So there goes my last walk on the beach for a little bit, but not to fear, I'm sure the time will come around eventually for another one. Now that all of us are inside, there's a few things on my to-do list doing this fun quarantine period. Reading, writing, playing music, FaceTiming friends are just a few. Probably sleeping a whole lot more, which is definitely a plus. I think it'll be good for all of us to reset, despite the stress of the whole situation.

Still, while I'm trying to make the most of my time, it's overwhelming, and I can't stop thinking about how happy I'm going to be when things return to normal. It's wild to think that this is probably a history book event for the later generations. My parents have both said that they've never experienced anything like this, while my older neighbor from Austria said it was a little familiar to her. Everything is crazy, and it's definitely been a perspective shift. When it's over (which I hope is in the next couple of months and not next year), I'll be sure to be giving all my loved ones long hugs and probably taking more risks. It's cheesy, I apologize, but I also can't help thinking of all the things I didn't do this semester just because I always assumed I had more time to do it. More from the quarantine chronicles soon.

Home, I guess

Well, I am suddenly home, as I certainly did not expect to find myself the last time we all saw each other. Tragically, I had to return The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to the BPL before I left, and I hadn't even finished it. Woe is me. However, in a stunning display of intuition and anxiety, I managed to check out the entire series the day before the public library in my hometown closed.

I'm always looking for new sci-fi, she said, having read not much actual sci-fi beyond Ender's Game. I enjoy the genre very much and have always wanted to get more into it, but fantasy has always been my first love. Just barely. Hitchhiker's Guide, however, immediately sucked me in in a different way than the other sci-fi I've read. The worldbuilding, while complete, feels in no way forced, which is very difficult in books that take place in settings other than our own. And it's so...clever, I guess, is the only way to put it. Witty. Very British, I suppose, as if I knew anything about Britain beyond Doctor Who.

I hate when people say books are an "escape from reality," but honestly, this week, it's been quite a relief to go on a whimsically distressing space adventure with Arthur Dent. Odd, considering that the Earth blows up in the first chapter of Hitchhiker's Guide (sorry, but I'd argue that it's not a spoiler if it happens in the first fifteen pages), but it's sort of comforting to relax into shoes that aren't my own for a while. Even if they are shoes that are constantly in danger of death by space, alien, or poetry. I'm bored out of my mind here. The least I can do is take a quick trip off world and laugh at some life threatening plights.

In my endless quest to vanquish boredom, I've also picked up The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I love a good 1920s novel, I have to say, even if they do all kind of read the same after a while. Oh, no, some twenty-year-old white dude is in love and depressed about it. Whatever will he do? Talk about being depressed for a hundred pages, according to the Lost Generation. And there will be no point to the whole story, just as there is no point to life. At least, that's what it feels like right now. I'm not very far in, but it's very The Sun Also Rises at the moment. (Did Hemingway and Fitzgerald hang out? Oh, Google says they did.)

You'd think I'd be reading more since I've literally been doing almost nothing since last Thursday, but instead, I have started three new TV shows, eaten gross quantities of bread my mother baked (there was no bread in any of the stores by us because people, as we all know, are awful), and slept. Very little has occurred, but I am unlikely to get sick. So there's that, I guess.

My Mom's Messy Book Club

My mom told me today that her book club has chosen to read none other than American Dirt this month. In a moment of true daughter pride, my mom told me she has already spoken to the club about problems she has with the book, without even telling her about our big feelings over here. I sent her a couple articles today in hope that she will forward them along and I am thinking I might have to attend the next meeting just to make sure they know what they are getting themselves in to. As you have mentioned as well, I am hoping to watch Oprah's show thing to see how she handles the whole conversation. And who knows, maybe I can sneak out a copy and read some of it and get back to you on that as well.

Along similar lines, when looking for articles to send to these lovely ladies (they are nice...just misled), I stumbled across one covering different authors and why they chose to write characters outside their own identities. It was an interesting read and I would love to hear your thoughts and how it relates to the whole American Dirt involvement as well.

As for what I am reading, I just finished a short story called "Perfection" by Mark Helprin which follows a Hassidic boy who believes he is on a mission from God to save the Yankees. It was really interesting and odd as I dont usually gravitate to 'sports' stories but this one held its own in a sense that I felt drawn to the characters and the message. The whole short story is about the balance of perfection and how things must be good and bad to summate perfection. One example given was that the rich and the poor may not seem equal on earth but both are necessary for them to be seen as perfect in heaven. Kind of a lot to think about and unpack there so I will leave you with a quote that helps with the same idea:

"The subway, inexplicably elevated aboveground, rolled down its track, taking Roger home. It made many turns indirectly in directions different from the one in which he was headed, but the sum and subtraction of the departures would constitute the precision of the aim, and had the train gone merely in a straight line, it likely would have missed."

A nice thought. Hope you all are well.