JILL CORCORAN BOOKS: Daniel Menaker, former Executive Editor-in-Chief of Random House & fiction editor of The New Yorker, on the state of publishers and publishing.

Monday, September 14, 2009

debbie said...: I read the WHOLE thing... oy. All the way down through the part that says "Despite their often intense neediness, writers are often fascinating and stimulating company."; September 14, 2009 at 5:41 PM
Jill Corcoran said...: Hi Debbie,
Well I'm a writer and while I am fascinating and stimulating company, I am not intensely needy so I'll just ignore that sentence. Feel free to do the same.; September 14, 2009 at 8:10 PM
Sam said...: Excellent article - informative and fun to read at the same time. Thanks for posting it!; September 15, 2009 at 6:20 AM
Caroline Starr Rose said...: I don't think I can call the article fun -- informative, though.

I'm hearing more and more editors and agents talk of the gamble publishing is, and I appreciate this honesty. There is no special formula. I can see how easy it is to be cynical in such a climate. I still believe, though, there are editors and agents making choices on what resonates with them first (before they think of the work's potential sales).

By the way, I'm going to have to find a way to work "metaphorical abbatoir" into a conversation!; September 15, 2009 at 6:37 AM
Jill Corcoran said...: Hi Caroline,
Oh, I did not say it is a fun article. That is for sure.; September 15, 2009 at 7:16 AM