Publishing Shenanigans
Sep. 12th, 2008 06:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penmageMan, the last two days have been jam-packed. A short summary:
Yesterday morning, Megan McCain came to the office to sign copies of her picture book, My Dad, John McCain. We all dutifully traipsed up to the 17th floor conference room and feasted on the goodies. She was very sweet, and absurdly fidgety.
The food was good, though. (An aside: later, Editor D came back from a meeting where apparently there was leftover food from the Megan McCain event. "There was food at the marketing meeting!" he announced as he came back, munching on a cookie. "Republican food." Hee!)
Later that day, we had a department-wide party. Apparently, S&S Childrens has hit 35 books so far this year on the NYTimes bestseller list. That surpasses last year, when we had 24--and we've barely started the Fall season, which has our biggest books. Yay!
Me and some other assistants went early to pour champagne and cider and set things up, and then we celebrated again.
This morning, we had a librarian preview--we had about 50 librarians in the New York area come, and we presented our Fall 08 list to them. Commence more food.
But the best thing that happened today was that one of my favorite authors who we publish stopped by the office today. We got finished copies of her first book, and I sent her one, but it hadn't arrived yet, and she was in the neighborhood, so she wanted to stop by.
I love her. Like crazy. She's a real sweetheart, and her books are fantastic. She's probably the author I am closest to on our list. Her book is also one of the first books I worked on all the way through--we just got the manuscript right when I started working for Editor D, so in a way, this is my first published book just like it's hers.
Anyway. She told me that I had a keen editorial eye, and that she thought I was instrumental in making her books good. I was wondering how she could tell what was me in the editorial letter and what was Editor D, and then she reminded me of her first manuscript with us.
She wrote a Book A, and it's great. But then she wrote Book B, and we knew that Book B would be a huge breakout novel, so we pushed the pub date of Book A back a few seasons. Which means that Book A was final by the time I started working for Editor D. He had me read it and write editorial notes anyway.
My author said that when Editor D told her that he had a new assistant who had read her book and had more notes, she was dismayed--the manuscript had already been accepted, and approved, and did she really need to put more into it?
But then she read my notes. And she found that they pushed the book the extra mile.
Aww.
Also, the author of this book emailed Editor D and me to say that as he revised, he was hugely impressed with the quality of the editorial work and attention to detail.
Yay!
So, it's been a good week to be a children's book editor.
Anyway. On to Friday.
Reading: I'm currently reading Mitali Perkins' First Daughter: White House Rules, which is decent but sometimes feels more like a lecture than a novel.
I just finished Elizabeth C. Bunce's A Curse Dark As Gold, which, you guys--it's amazing. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous retelling of Rumplestiltskin. It's fantastic. I cannot recommend it enough, especially if you like fairy tale retellings. This one will take your breath away.
My new friend at work just started reading Sandman, so I'm rereading them with her--we're up to Doll's House right now. And I have Nancy Werlin's Impossible waiting to be read, but I am almost afraid to read it lest I no longer have it to read anymore. Of course, that was my logic with The King of Attolia, which I STILL have not read, so you'd think I'd have learned by now.
Planning: Dinner tonight is just me and N! Which is great, because I have no interest in walking to services myself in the rain. Lunch tomorrow is with a family who I love.
Sunday is complicated. Here's a rundown of things I have going on on Sunday:
Ren faire with my best friend from high school
Apple picking with the community
The engagement party of my friend who lives in Israel and is in town for the week
The Brooklyn Book Fair, starring Susan Cooper (!) and Patty McLachlan
A goodbye party for our friends who are moving to Israel
A family learned program at our synagogue
AGGGGGH. I don't know what I am going to do. It's terrible.
Watching: I might be a terrible fan for saying this, but right now? I am enjoying Torchwood more than Doctor Who. Shocking! I am in the middle of Daleks in Manhattan/The Evolution of the Daleks (finished part one) and I am more interested in watching the next episode of Torchwood (Countrycide) than finished the Doctor Who episode. Ten! Why don't you appeal to me?
Also watching ANTM. This season is kind of hilarious so far.
Yesterday morning, Megan McCain came to the office to sign copies of her picture book, My Dad, John McCain. We all dutifully traipsed up to the 17th floor conference room and feasted on the goodies. She was very sweet, and absurdly fidgety.
The food was good, though. (An aside: later, Editor D came back from a meeting where apparently there was leftover food from the Megan McCain event. "There was food at the marketing meeting!" he announced as he came back, munching on a cookie. "Republican food." Hee!)
Later that day, we had a department-wide party. Apparently, S&S Childrens has hit 35 books so far this year on the NYTimes bestseller list. That surpasses last year, when we had 24--and we've barely started the Fall season, which has our biggest books. Yay!
Me and some other assistants went early to pour champagne and cider and set things up, and then we celebrated again.
This morning, we had a librarian preview--we had about 50 librarians in the New York area come, and we presented our Fall 08 list to them. Commence more food.
But the best thing that happened today was that one of my favorite authors who we publish stopped by the office today. We got finished copies of her first book, and I sent her one, but it hadn't arrived yet, and she was in the neighborhood, so she wanted to stop by.
I love her. Like crazy. She's a real sweetheart, and her books are fantastic. She's probably the author I am closest to on our list. Her book is also one of the first books I worked on all the way through--we just got the manuscript right when I started working for Editor D, so in a way, this is my first published book just like it's hers.
Anyway. She told me that I had a keen editorial eye, and that she thought I was instrumental in making her books good. I was wondering how she could tell what was me in the editorial letter and what was Editor D, and then she reminded me of her first manuscript with us.
She wrote a Book A, and it's great. But then she wrote Book B, and we knew that Book B would be a huge breakout novel, so we pushed the pub date of Book A back a few seasons. Which means that Book A was final by the time I started working for Editor D. He had me read it and write editorial notes anyway.
My author said that when Editor D told her that he had a new assistant who had read her book and had more notes, she was dismayed--the manuscript had already been accepted, and approved, and did she really need to put more into it?
But then she read my notes. And she found that they pushed the book the extra mile.
Aww.
Also, the author of this book emailed Editor D and me to say that as he revised, he was hugely impressed with the quality of the editorial work and attention to detail.
Yay!
So, it's been a good week to be a children's book editor.
Anyway. On to Friday.
Reading: I'm currently reading Mitali Perkins' First Daughter: White House Rules, which is decent but sometimes feels more like a lecture than a novel.
I just finished Elizabeth C. Bunce's A Curse Dark As Gold, which, you guys--it's amazing. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous retelling of Rumplestiltskin. It's fantastic. I cannot recommend it enough, especially if you like fairy tale retellings. This one will take your breath away.
My new friend at work just started reading Sandman, so I'm rereading them with her--we're up to Doll's House right now. And I have Nancy Werlin's Impossible waiting to be read, but I am almost afraid to read it lest I no longer have it to read anymore. Of course, that was my logic with The King of Attolia, which I STILL have not read, so you'd think I'd have learned by now.
Planning: Dinner tonight is just me and N! Which is great, because I have no interest in walking to services myself in the rain. Lunch tomorrow is with a family who I love.
Sunday is complicated. Here's a rundown of things I have going on on Sunday:
Ren faire with my best friend from high school
Apple picking with the community
The engagement party of my friend who lives in Israel and is in town for the week
The Brooklyn Book Fair, starring Susan Cooper (!) and Patty McLachlan
A goodbye party for our friends who are moving to Israel
A family learned program at our synagogue
AGGGGGH. I don't know what I am going to do. It's terrible.
Watching: I might be a terrible fan for saying this, but right now? I am enjoying Torchwood more than Doctor Who. Shocking! I am in the middle of Daleks in Manhattan/The Evolution of the Daleks (finished part one) and I am more interested in watching the next episode of Torchwood (Countrycide) than finished the Doctor Who episode. Ten! Why don't you appeal to me?
Also watching ANTM. This season is kind of hilarious so far.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 03:43 am (UTC)Seriously. Just read the summaries on Wikipedia or something.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 03:48 am (UTC)In other news, when are you back from Quebec? Are you going to be around Monday night? :ulterior motives:
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 04:08 am (UTC)I am back as of 5pm today! And I do not believe I has plans for Monday. What up, lady?
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 04:13 am (UTC)This is up. It's kidlit drinks night--they have them every now and then, but usually on Friday nights.
I wanna go, but I don't wanna go alone. Wanna come with?
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 04:20 am (UTC)Also: JANE YOLEN? Holyshite. I read 'The Devil's Arithmetic' when I was younger -- like forty times because it was so damn powerful and I couldn't get it out of my head.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 04:24 am (UTC)And, if you want anything from S&S, as always, just let me know and I'll try and grab it before we meet up.
(I still think our shiny icons look happy next to each other.)
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 03:34 pm (UTC)(They do look happy, don't they? Yay shinies!)
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 05:01 am (UTC)Now I can go to bed. I was afraid that if I stopped after Daleks in Manhattan I wouldn't be interested enough to pick up on Doctor Who again.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 03:33 pm (UTC)42 has good Doctor-Martha stuff too, but OH MY GOD just you wait till the Human Nature two-parter. Just. You. Wait.