Question for Neil Nyren

[Jon Loomis]

As Senior vice president, publisher and editor in chief of G.P. Putnam's Sons, how would you describe the current state of the publishing industry? The news all seems pretty grim from where some of us sit--book sales down, advances drying up, booksellers disappearing, industry layoffs, etc. In your view, where are we now, and where are we likely to be in five years, say?

[B.R.Stateham]

John, gotta say with the number of posts in this discussion, you must have hit a nerve somewhere. Good job!

[B.R.Stateham]

Jon--not John. Whatever!

[B.R.Stateham]

Jon (got it right, this time by god!) Doesn't waiting kinda increase the odds that something bad is going to happen?

[Dana King]

I think Jon has a healthy attitude about the whoe thing. Meaning no disrespect, but no publisher is doing you a favor by offering you a contract. They're planning to make money on the deal. This is as it should be, so long as both sides profit. Jon appreciates that both sides have somewhat divergent needs, and what is in the publisher's short-term best interest may not be in Jon's long-term best interest.

He's also helped by his recognition of how many other things he would enjoy writing if the deal offered isn't to his satsfaction. We all have options, though we all sometimes get too focused on a goal to remember that, and that's how bad deals get made.

Best of luck, Jon, and keep us posted.

[Jon Loomis]

Thanks, Dana. I'm hopeful that things will work out--I like these characters a lot, and would hate to let them slip into oblivion after just two books. In the meantime, it'll make my tenure committee happy if I publish some more poems.

[B.R.Stateham]

Well, Jon--Dana is right. Each writer works his craft in the fashion that has to fit his needs. No arguement there. If you believe you need to hold your cards close to your vest, go right ahead buddy! I hope you land the Mother Of ALL Deals!

[Jon Loomis]

Thanks B.R. We'll see what happens--as I said above, I'm hopeful that industry conditions will improve before too long, and that my #2 will do even better than #1. If not, I'm content to move on.

[B.R.Stateham]

In this vast discussion going on, one question remains to be answered: Where's Neil?

[Jon Loomis]

I'm guessing he's said his piece, and is currently frying other fish.

[Karen Dionne]

I can tell you where Neil will be on May 29 at 1:00 p.m. - at my Backspace Writers Conference!

Neil, along with my editor, Natalee Rosenstein (vice president and senior executive editor at Berkley), and Mark Tavani (senior editor at Ballantine/Random House) are going to present a panel discussion at the 2009 Backspace Writers Conference with a focus on non-fiction. What a fabulous wealth of knowledge and experience from these three!

2009 Backspace Writers Conference.

(sorry - couldn't resist putting in a plug!)

.

[Neil Nyren]

I haven't been commenting because I have one of those whaddyacallits -- a job. Keeps me kinda busy. But I've been reading everybody else's comments with great enjoyment. I wonder what the Crimespace record is for most number of replies on a single thread?

See you in May, Karen!

[I. J. Parker]

Probably this one holds the record for most responses in the shortest time.