There may have been a time, back in the mists of time, when I believed that every word I wrote was golden. I have written and edited for a living for many years and now I'm happy to get input from anyone and grateful for a good editor. It seems likely that ego drives the lack of editing of some best-selling authors, but I also think that publishing companies have no idea what makes something a bestseller and they're afraid to meddle.
My whole life just flashed before my eyes! I gotta get me a life!
Xander ,'Dirty Girls'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Ginger - Mar 28, 2004 6:33:34 pm PST #1914 of 10002
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
Consuela - Mar 28, 2004 6:35:21 pm PST #1915 of 10002
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
I also think that publishing companies have no idea what makes something a bestseller and they're afraid to meddle.
Probably true, although for people like King, I doubt there's anything an editor could do that would prevent the book from selling. Even bad reviews don't do that.
deborah grabien - Mar 28, 2004 6:44:29 pm PST #1916 of 10002
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Yup - I'm with 'suela. Once you're a monolith, you're a monolith. Or in King's case, more like a menhir.
high plains grifter - Mar 28, 2004 7:07:10 pm PST #1917 of 10002
At dinner I am getting earful.
I've read several of the list above and quite liked A high Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes. Not really one I'd recommend for a 'normal' book club, tho.
'Odd' bookclub? You're in bidness.
bon bon - Mar 28, 2004 8:24:46 pm PST #1918 of 10002
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
doubt there's anything an editor could do that would prevent the book from selling
Makes sense not to edit it, then. Just leave it be and rake in the dough.
Jess M. - Mar 29, 2004 5:48:51 am PST #1919 of 10002
Let me just say that popularity with people on public transportation does not equal literary respect. --Jesse
I loved Exodus. Great book. In the "can't put it down" category. I think my dad read it in a weekend when he was in college (and my dad's not much of a novel reader, much more into periodicals and non-fiction books).
Jesse - Mar 29, 2004 5:54:06 am PST #1920 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Makes sense not to edit it, then. Just leave it be and rake in the dough.
Especially if, even though you are an editor, your bosses think the most important part of your job is keeping your biggest-selling client happy, rather than putting out the most polished text possible.
Steph L. - Mar 29, 2004 5:57:10 am PST #1921 of 10002
I look more rad than Lutheranism
So, I think the final Left Behind book is released tomorrow -- where apparently everything is happyshinynice for the people who were smart enough to get on the Jesus Train, and those who didn't will be getting the shit beaten out of them. It has a white cover (versus the black cover of the last 11, because it was all gloom, doom, and gnashing of teeth).
I'm ashamed to admit, I want to read it, because I want to see how it's wrapped up.
Kind of like the way I skipped the last 2 years of Dawson's Creek but watched the finale.
Fred Pete - Mar 29, 2004 5:59:29 am PST #1922 of 10002
Ann, that's a ferret.
Teppy, no doubt the good end happily, and the evil end unhappily. After all, that is what is meant by fiction.
Especially in 3-volume (or longer) novels.
Steph L. - Mar 29, 2004 6:00:55 am PST #1923 of 10002
I look more rad than Lutheranism
Well, I knew that -- I mean, I just want to see how it plays out.
Plus, I'm kind of impressed that the author has the sheer unmitigated temerity to decide he can write Christ, as a character in the novel.