Commissioning Fiction Editor's Take on the Book Industry, Horror, Etc.

[Stacy]

Hi All,

Saw this in another writing group and decided to pass it along. Might not be anything too different but it's from Donna Condon's (commissioning editor) point of view so I thought it's cool just to see what another inside person has to say about how things are changing.

http://www.horrorreanimated.com/2010/10/13/are-we-doomed-is-the-apo...

Best Wishes!

[I. J. Parker]

Well, I'm not into horror. And what a "commissioning" ? editor thinks are the "best books" may differ from the readers' views.

I zoomed in on that "discounted" phrase. Publisher blame their failures on discounters apparently. Let's face it, that affects authors more seriously than publishers and it's based on publishers allowing the discounting in hopes of making their bucks more quickly and in volume.

My experience with my books has been that they sell equally well (or poorly) at higher prices. I want to be consulted before my books are discounted!

[Stacy]

She mentioned again what I am seeing more and more these days, that aspiring novelists have to have platforms. In the last few articles and some blogs I've read, agents and editors are stressing this. I've also seen new writers mentioning that they are being told this at conferences or through rejections they are given. They want people who blog, social network, have a site already, etc.

Another hurdle for new writers to cross.

Best Wishes!

http://www.stacy-deanne.net