Our Magazine

Like everyone else, my college started to panic about the failing economy this year. In the spring, they released a proposal to eliminate about 10% of the operating budget in order to preserve the rapidly diminishing endowment. The largest budget-cut, and certainly the one that sparked the loudest din and debate, was the closing of one of the libraries.

It was the performing arts library – a collection of original musical scores, scripts, taped dance performances, reams of sheet music, and countless musical recordings. The administration hoped to distribute the collection among our neighboring schools, moving the bulk of it into the main library, and begin to put everything into electronic form.

Fuming and itching for a fight, the performing arts faculty began to plead for their course materials in class. Students bitterly recounted experiences with belligerent library staff at other schools. However, the most controversial aspect of the proposed change was the part about going digital.

While everyone was reliant on the internet for everything, everyone was reluctant to make that final step: we loved books, we loved holding them, we loved everything about them. The recent revelation that E-Books are subject to the whims of Big Brother only promotes the idea that nothing can replace the ownership of a physical book.

By the end of the year, the plan to close the library in my school was disbanded and the debates faded out, unresolved.

I was going to list everything wrong with the Emmy nominations announced this morning in this entry under the reasoning that all pop culture happenings are interrelated and, therefore, television awards are totally relevant to a publishing blog.  Instead, I’ll write about a book, and settle for telling everyone to go watch the first three seasons of Friday Night Lights.

The big thing with all my Smith College peers in recent days is the new book, Commencement, written by Smith alum J. Courtney Sullivan. We all went out and bought it and are in varying stages of readings and re-readings. I finished the book yesterday and was ultimately disappointed. It held the thrill of recognition – like the four heroines of Commencement, the phrase “freshman” has been entirely wiped from my vocabulary and I now accidentally say “first-year” when talking about ninth grade – but otherwise, it probably too broad and too sentimental.  But it had it’s moments of insight, of  genuine emotion, and it makes me eager for the beginning of another year at Smith.

I’ve spent the bulk of  my time today linking, researching, listing, and now writing blogs. All this begs the question, does it work? Does it matter?

As a way to disseminate information – perhaps. A creative outlet, certainly. Validation, only if people read it. But in business?

Personally, I have followed just one blog. It was about Lost and I was heartbroken when it was closed. However, it didn’t really achieve anything concrete – I never bought anything (it didn’t sell anything), I watched the show religiously anyway, and I disabled pop-up ads. Such is the glory of the internet.

So, when I started interning, I was (and still am) bewildered by the emphasis on blogging in publishing. It makes me think that the internet will either be seized by corporations who force you to look at ads and pay for things, or that business will dissolve altogether and that the world will essentially evolve into Star Trek, where “the acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives.”

Neither, however, seems very likely.

As I plowed through my little list of intern-type duties this morning, I began worrying about what to blog about. I spent last week visiting relatives in New England and the weekend watching the first season of The Wire, so I was going to have little new to say about the state of publishing.

Luckily, skimming through the blog entries written in my absence, I read the aforementioned list of “1000 novels everyone must read,” and have actually just read one of the books: Possession by AS Byatt. My best friend has been promising to lend me her copy since we were 14, but lent it to someone else when we were in high school and never got it back.  At long last, I found an ungainly hardcover copy at my grandmother’s house that I lugged back to New York and finished at one this morning.

I had seen the movie when it came out (2002? 2003?) and was surprised that that modest, understated film came out of such a majestic novel. Even at such a length, and even with the density of all the very long Victorian-style fairy tales and poetry embedded within Possession, I loved it and would recommend it to just about everyone.

Now, I’m attempting to read Nabakov’s Pale Fire – another book on the list.  After reading and loving Lolita a few years ago I wanted to read anything and everything Nabakov ever wrote – a desire that abruptly cooled when I tried to read Ada. After about ten pages of Pale Fire I’m pretty sure I’ll never finish it either, and will again be in need of something else to read. Any suggestions?

– Sylvia

The LA Times article “77 novels for 60 years” celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the National Book Foundation and its 77 award winners sent me off on a task I take on once every few months: googling “Must Read Books” or “Top 50 Books of All Time” or “Books to Read Before you Die.” This search yield: a great article from January’s Guardian “1000 novels everyone must read: the definitive list”. I dutifully went through this mamoth, checking and circling books, conveniently divided by subject, but by the end I had to wonder what it is I’ve been spending my time reading…. woefully all my checks (read it!), circles (own it or on the to read list), and strikeouts (a combination of the movie version ruined it already, or I started it and will never pick it back up) left a huge list, some titles of which I didn’t even recognize.

The obvious first excuse came to mind, The Guardian is a BRITISH paper, so obviously my AMERICAN self had not been exposed to some of the titles. But really- we all know that is complete crap, especially in my own case as I have actually lived in London. So back to the drawing board.

I realized, sadly, that those circles indicated many books that have been on my to read list for YEARS. With all the hoopla of each next season of books- my BEA stash for this year is already well tapped- it gets increasingly difficult not to read the highly recommended new thing (Jonathan Tropper- This is Where I Leave You LOVE IT!), as opposed to the book you have been trying to read for the last 10 years (The Name of the Rose- Umberto Eco).

Solution: I am going to hold strong, pull out the pile of books I have been collecting (Fingersmith by Sarah Waters– purchased December of 2003, as yet unread) and start making a dent. While the offerings this year have been great, and I have been raving to any who will listen about more than a few, I must admit, there is nothing worse than realizing, as is so sadly true, that I have never actually read ANY, of Jane Austin. I think I just failed publishing 101. First on the list:  Persuasion… to be followed by my book group’s selection of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Thoughts?

In the July 12 issue of the New York Times Book Review section, which was happily plopped onto my desk 20 minutes ago, I found my new favorite Letter to the Editor.

It reads:

“I continue to be amazed at the number of advice books listed each week in the Book Review as best sellers. I have led a long, productive life based on only two pieces of advice, both of which I learned as a preschooler some 80 years ago. First, I try to place nicely with everybody; second, if I am crabby, I take a nap. What more does anyone need to know?” – Eleanor Blumenberg of Santa Monica, CA

All I can say is, with jems like that, Ms. Blumenberg- are you by any chance looking for a book publisher? Call me.

Muslim extremists jailed for arson attack on Mohammed book publisher’s home (UK)

” Sentencing Ali Beheshti, 41, and two accomplices to four and a half years, Mrs Justice Rafferty told them: ‘If you choose to live in this country, you live by its rules.’

‘There is no such thing as “a la carte citizenship” and, in your case, there is no such thing as “a la carte obedience” to the law.'” [From Daily Mail Online]

While I am thrilled and releaved to hear of the sentencing, I must ask- 4 1/2 years for trying to fire bomb someone’s office and home? Does that seem a bit short to anyone else?

FOOD JOBS: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers by Irena Chalmers had been awarded the 2008 Best Food Book for Professionals in the World, following her January award of Best in the U.S. by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards committee. FOOD JOBS was selected from more than 6,000 submitted titles in 40 languages from 107 countries.

The Gourmand World Cookbook Award has recognized FOOD JOBS for offering uniquely practical and vital insights and answers to entering one of the few industries that is growing in the U.S. and around the world.

Edouard Cointreau, founder and president of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, calls FOOD JOBS very timely, useful and needed. “In these difficult times, jobs are probably the most important issue, before banks or real estate,” said Cointreau. “FOOD JOBS is packed with practical information, easy and even funny, very serious and accurate in its comments and advice. It is difficult to imagine how it could be better.”

Follow Irena Chalmers’ I’ve Been Thinking blog @ http://www.foodjobsbook.com/

More about the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards @ http://www.cookbookfair.com/

Happened to catch an episode of Kathy Griffin, My Life on the DList last night.

I generally find her fantastically funny- but I especially loved her meeting with Random House. She’s sitting at the head of the table, the rest of the room filled with people whose titles are being splayed across the screen as “Really Important Editor Type” and “Big Wig,”  saying whatever comes to mind (starting with “When do I get my advance”). The uncomfortable seat twitching and looks shot across the table of “is she serious?” and “do I actually answer that?” were priceless.

Generally the question I am asked is what are our chances of getting on X show… the poor PR team at Random didn’t see the long list of banishments coming, but hey- the list was illustrious. I would kill to get my authors on half the list of shows she is banned from currently.

I think most industries have their version of that meeting, but cameras on, welcome to comedy with Kathy was a notch above. Bravo Random House- you managed to hold your own against a campion of awkwardness. And what great pr for her upcoming book- I would have let the cameras in and hoped for the best as well!

Watch a clip from Bravo! here: http://www.bravotv.com/kathy-griffin-my-life-on-the-d-list/videos/getting-a-book-deal

When I was little and I imagined my career as an author, marketing never crossed my mind. It still doesn’t – I think that someone important will read my yet-to-be-completed Great American Novel, realize my genius, and suddenly I would explode onto the literary scene.

Working at Beaufort, however, does not encourage that idea. Every author I’ve met here is in a constant state of hyperactivity. At BEA, there were hundreds of people marching around from booth to booth, manuscript, CD, and book proposal in hand and an enthusiastic smile on their face. The authors that we’ve published, certainly, are constantly making contacts, cornering people in restaurants, strategizing with PR firms, making calls, and sending out e-mail after e-mail. It’s like Singin’ in the Rain: “dignity, always dignity.”

Today in the office today we had Neil Ducoff in giving a presentation on his book: No-Compromise Leadership. He had a pile of handouts and flow-charts, five copies of his book, and a stack of business cards. After the hour-long presentation was over, one of my co-workers asked, “So, how do you get people to go into the book store and buy your book?”

It seemed like a depressing note to end the presentation on, but, perhaps unfortunately, the most crucial discussion of the meeting.

A little less than 10 hours ago, I got out of a midnight showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The theater was surprisingly empty (it was not even half-full) and the audience was excited in a low-key, pleasant sort of way. When the movie was finished, people were subdued as they exited the theater, benignly bemoaning the two and a half hour run-time as a few got in line for the 3:30 am showing.

It was basically how I felt about the movie. Probably the best thing about the first Transformers was that it knew it was ridiculous: it was charming and preposterous and genuinely funny. This time around, the comedy takes a back seat to the action and lots of it falls flat. The plot is more mainstream (though no less convoluted), the main characters are played straight, which some of the actors can pull off and some of them can’t: a few marriage proposals were shouted out to Megan Fox when she appeared onscreen, but they clearly weren’t for her talents as an actress.

The Transformers themselves are still incredible to watch, less so after two hours, but there were a few well-deserved oohs and ahhs during battle scenes.

After seeing the movie, I wasn’t moved to any kind of passionate critical opinion – I wouldn’t warn people against it, but I wouldn’t quite recommend it, either.

–Sylvia

When I was having my phone interview for this job as the Beaufort Book’s summer intern last month, I was asked the dreaded “What are you reading now?” question.

Of course, I should have been expecting this question going into an interview with a publishing house. However, I was totally unprepared and I panicked. At the time, I was deep in the throes of a chemical engineering term project and was struggling through Industrial Boilers and Heat Recovery Steam Generators: Design, Applications, and Calculations. I quickly deemed it an unacceptable answer. Looking back, I can’t remember exactly what I said in the interview – I probably mumbled something about Margaret Atwood.

Released from the fascinating intricacies of industrial boilers, I can now give a more interesting answer. I started reading the first volume of The Diary of Anaïs Nin last week. I haven’t gotten far, but I absolutely love it.

— Sylvia

Beaufort Books gets a brand new website just in time for BookExpo America.