cellini's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Publishing is Retarded I had a really good phone call with an editor at S1mon and Schuster today. They are very gung ho about this book and said that they expect it to be culturally important and potentially a very big seller. We didn't talk money, but when a publisher of that size is coming directly to me to say that they think the book is going to be big, I expect something at least in the $50k range. Since I have a lit agent, I told him that I'd get the proposal and sample chapters to him through her. So I emailed everything to my agent and she replied to me with a stupidly short email that just asked why not show it to my current publisher. Jesus fucking christ, lady. She could not have even looked at what I sent her. My current publisher puts out how-to books. This is adventure travel and science and ecology and shit. Not 'how to build a henh0use'. So then I asked if she has time for a quick phone call this afternoon. That was hours ago and I haven't heard back from her. I am not happy. Not at all. I have busted my ass for this project for months and months and thrown everything into it, single-handedly built a media strategy and PR campaign that put this book and project in front of millions of eyes, created the kind of platform translating into instant book sales that every agent and publisher dreams of, AND SHE DOESN'T HAVE 5 MINUTES FOR A PHONE CALL? For fuck's sake, I've got the editor of a major publishing house primed and ready to talk. This shit is all lined up. All she has to do is have a 5 minute conversation and send the fucking proposal to him. I've done half of her fucking job for her. If she fucks this up, I'm getting a new agent. Our contract is up for renewal this month. ____________________ I keep wishing that I had someone to ask for advice about various steps in the publishing process. Yet not only do I not have such a person to talk to since Erin disappeared, but I also have the awful feeling that I already pretty well know everything that I need to in order to navigate the business. I am continually encountering unprofessional and retarded behavior not because I'm doing something wrong but because the whole damned industry is just that half-assed. Am I alone in this industry in actually wanting to sell books and make a living? Because everyone else just seems to be sitting around with their thumbs up their asses, drinking lattes and gossiping. _________________ I did two interviews today. One over the phone with a Canadian daily newspaper, and the other via email with what appears to be the Brazilian answer to 'Playboy.' 4:45 p.m. - 2011-01-05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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