the future of publishing: a note in honor of my up and coming friends

I am quoting now from a comment I received earlier this week from Liviania, one of my very first young friends in this blogging arena.  Her words, entire:

I'm at the Columbia Publishing Course right now, and one of the themes is that publishers need to be more transparent. They need to talk about what they do, so that authors understand the value of a publisher versus just putting an ebook on the internet themselves.

Your editor, your copyeditor . . . you blog so frequently and beautifully about the team behind your books. I'm sure they appreciate it even more than you can imagine.

I write about my editors, my copy editors, my dream editors, those collective teams because they matter to me.  Because they have changed the way I've thought about books. Because they have made room, from time to time, for my stories, while keeping me safe from myself.

Judging from the quality of the minds of my students and of those younger bloggers who have befriended me both on this page and off of it, I can say with absolute assurance that there is a rising class of editorial types—a stellar cadre of wordlovers and wordsmiths, grammatical giants, and opinionated tastemakers that will define our next generation of books if we, as a culture, remain open to them.

We must, I think, remain open to them.  Eric Felten, writing in the Wall Street Journal (which has lately emerged as a hotspot for book talk) is of that opinion, too.  Here he is, opining with a piece he's called:  "Cherish the Book Publishers—You'll Miss Them When They're Gone."

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What is Beauty? This is.

I found her at the Devon Horse Show earlier this summer, before the heat had swept in, before I understood that this summer would be a slow walk through time, when I would have to learn to measure the days differently.

But I thought her beautiful—radiant was the word—and that is how I feel today, reading these two reviews of Dangerous Neighbors.  I had been trying to explain to my son what it meant to be on the verge of releasing a book like this one—the hopes one has, the fears, the gratitude I feel toward all of you who have reached out to me, so kindly.  Then word of these two reviews came in, and I started to cry.

Thank you, In Bed With Books.

Thank you, Lillie of Read My Mind.

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In Bed With Books—A Nothing but Ghosts Conversation and Giveaway

You all know Liviania, yes? You do, right? I interviewed her here once before, and she's consistently impressed me in the intervening months. Her blog, In Bed with Books, is a growing triumph, and her reports out, from her life as a college student, are often story enough.

In any case, she's been having a birthday, and she asked me to be one of several authors to help her celebrate. Our recent conversation is posted here. A Nothing but Ghosts giveaway is part and parcel of our party.

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Introducing Liviana (In Bed With Books)

This isn't actually my door (or my overpainted doorknob), but that silver shine against that sun-hued frame does remind me of a friend I've made over the past several weeks, a young blogger who has been self-christened Liviana. She caught my eye from the get go, for her unexpected reviews—no mere story summaries, no mincing of words, no pretending to like something that frankly doesn't suit. Who, I wondered, is Liviana, and why does she talk about tomatoes in her banner?

http://www.inbedwithbooks.blogspot.com/

One question led to a conversation, led to condolences about hair (we have similarly strong-minded hair, as it turns out), led to help on the days leading to my son's departure for college (don't forget the shelf liners, she warned, and I didn't), led to more questions. Finally it was time to turn the tables and to interview her— to find out how this nineteen year old with enough college credits to be a junior gets her work done, her blog updated, and her future (as a possible editor) in order.

You are an entirely charming, probably precocious reader and writer. When did you decide you wanted to have a blog-public presence, all in the name of books?

Thank you! I owe most of my decision to my ninth grade librarian, who is the sort of lady all readers aspire to be. She introduced me to the world of galleys and ARCs, seeking my opinion about various novels. My sophomore year, some older students started a book club at the high school. Between our sponsor (an incredible English teacher, also the sort of lady readers aspire to be) and her, we were kept in books and went to the ALA Conference in San Antonio. I've been involved with various publishers before I started a blog, as well as reading other blogs, but eventually I just decided to start my own. (Plans are for other people.) It felt like the natural thing to do.

What was the first book you reviewed on your blog, and why, and when? What was your first early favorite blog comment?

I reviewed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling on March 20th of this year. I read through my personal blog and it was the first book on which I wrote a mini-review, so I decided that made it the perfect choice.

I really loved receiving this comment, "Many thanks for the reviews. You remind me that I should put a sex warning on Cerbo en Vitra ujo," from Mary Robinette Kowal, because dude. The author READ my blog. My tiny, just started blog.

You share your blogging powers with a friend. What is it like to share such responsibilities?

It might be different for some bloggers, who only meet online before working together. I've known Deimyts for years, and if he doesn't write a review soon I'll go to his house and steal his kimono made out of a living room. But basically, he knew about my blog and thought it sounded kind of fun, so I told him he could just write on mine instead of opening his own. I gave him some books I thought he might like (which I would've done anyway, since we share books pretty freely) and told him I'd like at least a review a month. Currently he's working on a picture to represent the both of us, which I know will be awesome because he's a fabulous artist and only getting better due to his classes.

What are you studying, as a college sophomore? How does blogging affect the way you think about what you are learning, and what you might do?

Due to testing hours, I'm technically a junior. (So, yay for upper division courses!) I am primarily studying English, but my program allows great flexibility in curriculum. My schedule this semester includes a philosophy section about the nature of knowledge, an intro linguistics course, Chinese history, medieval literature with an emphasis on how Europe viewed its "others," and a biological course focused on AIDS. It may sound disparate, but the courses complement each other almost too well.

I don't know if blogging affects the way I'm learning, but what I'm learning certainly affects the way I read and blog. I always enjoy reading fiction about subjects I'm interested in reality, but the more I learn about the subject the more I'm likely to get annoyed by the author making an honest, factual mistake about some obscure bit of knowledge.

Basically, there are some analytical parts of my mind I can no longer shut off while reading. Not a bad thing, not a good thing, just is. As I write my reviews based on what I remember most about the book, how I perceive a book is very important. As for how it affects what I might do - I've already got the basic idea of what I would like to do, but I am keeping my mind open in case something stirs my passion.

How do you make time for blogging?

I'm decent at budgeting time, and I'm only planning one post a week. One post takes about 30 minutes to an hour, so it's not too much of a strain. The trouble is keeping on top of my TBR pile. I'm assigned 40-70 pages each class in all my classes, so some days I just don't feel like reading more. (On the other hand, I watch more movies. Free videos in the Union Wednesday and Thursday, free video showing in the dorm library, plus free rentals from the A/V library. Perfect for procrastination.)

Do you have aspirations of writing your own book?

Depends on which day you ask me that question. My real goal is to become an editor, but I don't think writing a book and being an editor are mutually exclusive. I write several short stories each year (most of which aren't fit to see the light of day, in my opinion), but most of my writing goes into an epic fantasy series.

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In Bed with Books

Someday, maybe soon, I will write an essay about these incredibly funny, charming, soulful creatures who populate my world these days—these bloggers who stop by, who tell stories, who remind me to buy drawer liners for my kid's dorm room, who explain how best to eat eggs, who commiserate about mind-of-its-own hair.

Someday I will.

For now, let me introduce you to a new friend. She calls herself Liviania. She's off to her sophomore year on Saturday.

You can find her on her blog today, talking about Undercover.

http://inbedwithbooks.blogspot.com/2008/08/undercover.html

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