I started this blog because I have always been fascinated with the creative process. Where do and author’s ideas come from? How does he do his research? What obstacles does she have along the way?
I have been remiss.
It has been brought to my attention that the author is just one part of the equation.
Without light, there is no darkness. Take away the sour, and we wouldn’t know what “sweet” is. Without the publisher — and the acquisitions process — there is no book.
Publishers are people, too. Where the author has to provide the product, the publisher has to evaluate the product and see what — if anything — can be done with it? How can the presentation be turned from an adequate manuscript into a full-fledged book? What’s worthy of further exploration, and what should be tossed into the fireplace (as environmentally-incorrect as that might be).
Mark Weinstein of Skyhorse Publishing posted this very evocative entry on his Bluenatic blog about “The one that got away” — in this case, Josh Wilker’s baseball card memoir, Cardboard Gods. I never thought about the almost courtship that goes on between writer and publisher (with an agent thrown in as a possible “triangle”). Interesting stuff, that.
is available on Amazon.com,
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