On Public Relations

“The power of the novel in the nation’s culture had weakened....

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:17:01 -0400

“The power of the novel in the nation’s culture had weakened. It had happened gradually. It was something everyone recognized and ignored. All went on exactly as before, that was the beauty of it. The glory had faded out but fresh faces kept appearing, wanting to be part of it, to be in publishing which had retained a suggestion of elegance like a pair of beautiful, bone-shined shoes owned by a bankrupt man.” — James Salter, from “All That Is”

“The culture of food, then – how to grow and preserve it...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:05:31 -0400

“The culture of food, then – how to grow and preserve it – needs to be safeguarded just as scrupulously as other achievements in learning and the arts. If we willfully discard it or even carelessly allow it to lapse between one generation and the next, then we lose something much more serious than a sheaf of recipes. A bit of civilization is lost, at the extreme transforming us from muscular, self-reliant citizens into feeble consumers. Eating home-canned goods is a modest but meaningful way to assert our self-reliance as citizens.”— Kevin West

LOVE THIS BOOK. YOU WILL TOO.

This poem by Sharon Olds (from Stag's Leap)

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:19:45 -0400

September 2001, New York City

A week later, I said to a friend: I don’t

think I could ever write about it.

Maybe in a year I could write something.

There is something in me maybe someday

to be written; now it is folded, and folded,

and folded, like a note in school. And in my dream

someone was playing jacks, and in the air there was a

huge, thrown, tilted jack

on fire. And when I woke up, I found myself

counting the days since I had last seen

my ex-husband—only a few years, and some weeks

and hours. We had signed the papers and come down to the

ground floor of the Chrysler Building,

the intact beauty of its lobby around us

like a king’s tomb, on the ceiling the little

painted plane, in the mural, flying. And it

entered my strictured heart, this morning,

slightly, shyly as if warily,

untamed, a greater sense of the sweetness

and plenty of his ongoing life,

unknown to me, unseen by me,

unheard by me, untouched by me,

but known by others, seen by others,

heard, touched. And it came to me,

for moments at a time, moment after moment,

to be glad for him that he is with the one

he feels was meant for him. And I thought of my

mother, minutes from her death, eighty-five

years from her birth, the almost warbler

bones of her shoulder under my hand, the

eggshell skull, as she lay in some peace

in the clean sheets, and I could tell her the best

of my poor, partial love, I could sing her

out, with it, I saw the luck

and the luxury of that hour.

Cormac McCarthy's Out of Office:

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 08:57:38 -0400

“Gone.”

James Patterson's Out of Office:

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 08:53:43 -0400

“In the time it takes you to read this, I will have written another book and published two more. LOSER.”

Samuel Beckett's Out of Office:

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 08:47:32 -0400

“There is no office.”

ACTUAL JOB DESCRIPTION (not the one you will find posted):

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:01:47 -0400

The Executive Vice President, Director of Publicity and Media Relations for the Knopf Doubleday Group (@paulbogaards) is seeking a Publicity Assistant to provide day-to-day support in a fast-paced, internal/external facing, detail and data driven environment working with authors, agents, booksellers, legacy media professionals, and other half-crazed publishing desperados.

This position will support the EVP in the daily grind that is 21^st century book publishing and corporate communications, including general admin (calendar management and scheduling with the first rule being nothing gets booked on Friday EVER), phone coverage (no calls should ever get through unless they are from Sheryl Sandberg), email and other written correspondence (making the EVP look smarter than he is), generating reports (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Bookscan, etc.), research (the EVP is on a constant hunt for information about golf courses), and interactions with press. The assistant will also have an opportunity to support high-profile authors (read: NEEDY) and their campaigns by writing press releases and pitch letters, creating other content (an author video!), assembling press kits, putting things in the mail, scheduling author tours, and rebooking hotels that the author deems unsatisfactory (“I had specifically requested 600 thread count sheets”).

The ideal candidate will possess exceptional diplomacy (“I’m sorry that we were not able to work with you on the exclusive but no one reads your fucking magazine”), writing (“Please please please book my author on your podcast before their editor accuses me of sabotaging another one of their P&L’s”), communication (WTF? AYKM?), and social media skills (must be proficient on all platforms because the EVP has been known to say things like “WE SHOULD PIN THIS ON SOMETHING”); be able to manage multiple tasks in a frequently stressful environment (“I have no idea why your book isn’t selling”); and be a stickler for detail. Previous experience providing administrative support in a corporate environment where your superior was frequently under investigation by the authorities helpful but not required. Absolutely no whiners. Knowledge of IPAs a plus.

“Great publishers were not always great readers, and good...

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:29:52 -0500

“Great publishers were not always great readers, and good readers seldom made good publishers, but Bowman was somewhere in between. Often, in the city late at night when the sound of traffic had vanished, Bowman sat reading. Vivian had gone to bed. The only light was a standing lamp by his chair, near his elbow was a drink. He liked to read with the silence and the golden color of the whiskey as his companions. He liked food, people, talk but reading was an inexhaustible pleasure. What the joys of music were to others, words on a page were to him.” — James Salter, ALL THAT IS

Green lips and a fag! That fucking @mendelsund is a mad genius.

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:54:31 -0500

Green lips and a fag! That fucking @mendelsund is a mad genius.

"The form of the story may change. The medium of the story’s transmission may change. The processes..."

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 08:28:16 -0500

““The form of the story may change. The medium of the story’s transmission may change. The processes of dissemination may change. But our love of the story will stay.””

- @mahimkajerry

OMG. This is me. Some years ago. WTF?

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 09:32:51 -0500

OMG. This is me. Some years ago. WTF?

OMG. I’ve been rooting around Harry’s old photos and...

Sun, 19 Aug 2012 19:36:15 -0400

OMG. I’ve been rooting around Harry’s old photos and unearthed this, ah, gem. Yes, that’s me. With a blonde helmet of hair.

In Memorium: Nora Ephron

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:32:48 -0400

Only Nora Ephron could come up with a line like, “Sometimes I think that not having to worry about your hair anymore is the secret upside of death.” Over the course of four decades, Nora’s intimate, dry, big-hearted humor kept us laughing, both in her movies (“When Harry Met Sally,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Julie and Julia”) and in her books (Crazy Salad, Scribble Scribble, Heartburn, I Feel Bad About My Neck, I Remember Nothing). She was our idea of perfection, neck and all, and it’s fair to say that no one in our industry engendered more affection.

Nora was a great friend to all of us. She was kind and generous and a stalwart supporter of other writers, often working behind the scenes to bring them the recognition they deserved. She loved her work, and brought joy to readers around the world. She said (more than once) that “reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something, learned something, become a better person.” Of her many essays, there’s one that seems particularly appropriate to mark her passing. It’s simply titled, What I Will Miss:

My kids
Nick
Spring
Fall
Waffles
The concept of waffles
Bacon
A walk in the park
The idea of a walk in the park
The park
Shakespeare in the Park
The bed
Reading in bed
Fireworks
Laughs
The view out the window
Twinkle lights
Butter
Dinner at home just the two of us
Dinner with friends
Dinner with friends in cities where none of us lives
Paris
Next year in Istanbul
Pride and Prejudice
The Christmas tree
Thanksgiving dinner
One for the table
The dogwood
Taking a bath
Coming over the bridge to Manhattan
Pie

NORA EPHRON
May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012

Harry Bogaards. AKA “The Horse.” Don’t ask.

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 10:57:27 -0400

Harry Bogaards. AKA “The Horse.” Don’t ask.

Dad. Rabat. 1943.

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 10:33:26 -0400

Dad. Rabat. 1943.

Domains I Am Considering

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 10:04:00 -0400

The Top Twenty:

1) .spanx

2) .dog

3) .cat

4) .ipa

5) .dude!

6) .donpepi

7) .COCKTAIL!

8) .e-fml

9) .sigh

10) .seriously?

11) .WTF

12) .douchebag

13) .fiftyshadescertified

14) .Wife: “You. Are. Not. Going. To. Use. That. On. Me.”

15) .everyonehaspermissiontotakethedayoff

16) .istillhavenoideawhatthefuckiamdoing

17) .mollyringwaldwillyoumarryme

18) .READABOOKFORCHRISSAKE

19) .indie

20) .suggestionswelcome

Why I love booksellers, part four. #smittenkitchen

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:29:11 -0400

Why I love booksellers, part four.
#smittenkitchen

Why I love booksellers, part three. #smittenkitchen

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:28:43 -0400

Why I love booksellers, part three.
#smittenkitchen

Why I love booksellers, part two. #smittenkitchen

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:28:15 -0400

Why I love booksellers, part two.
#smittenkitchen

Why I love booksellers, part one. #smittenkitchen

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:27:14 -0400

Why I love booksellers, part one.
#smittenkitchen