Michael Bourret tackles some more questions

Annie said...

No burning questions, but would be interested to read your thoughts on either of the following...the influence (or lack thereof) of movies on contemporary fiction. Or, in the kids world, the seeming division between school/library and commercial markets...

The influence of movies on contemporary fiction is as strong as the influence of movies in any other area of our culture. Film (or the motion picture, I should say) is our preferred method of communication. That's why authors have moved on from simple blogs to using things like Flash and YouTube to connect with readers. I also think that authors now have film in mind when they write, which is something Jane Austen certainly wasn't thinking about, though her books are made into movies more often than anyone else's! I won't decry the influence of film on writing, as I think it's inevitable that one medium will affect another, but I think authors would benefit themselves by writing a good book first and letting the movie thing follow.

As for the second question, there certainly are books that work better in one than the other. It's just that the needs of the markets are quite different. Nonfiction, for instance, is a staple in the school/library market -- kids have to write reports, and they need sources, but there isn't a desire, for the most part, to own those books. The library is the perfect place for them. In fiction, there's much more overlap, and I'm sure that Stephenie Meyer's library sales are pretty darn good. But what I love about libraries is that they'll buy quiet books, the books that kids can't find on their own, and give them a chance to flourish. While big commercial success doesn't necessarily follow, it can, and it's great that the libraries are there to expose kids to new kinds of books.

Anonymous said...

I read on another lit agent blog that, while he is open to queries, he has in his entire career only picked up two authors out of his slush pile. This made me wonder is the problem isn't that he has a full slate of books to take out at all times and is rarely hungry for someone/something new. Sort of like having 3 square meals before heading out to the buffet. Might this mean that perhaps someone starting at a new agency, who states he or she is looking to build their list, might be more receptive to slush pile queries?

I definitely think it's smart to go after young, hungry agents. While it's nice to have that big-shot agent, they’re tougher to get. As the agent you mention exemplifies, a lot of very established agents aren't as interested in sorting through all of the queries to find the next big thing. Perhaps there's a young agent at the same company who is more open to new authors -- that's the person I'd target. That said, there are established agents who look to the slush pile to find new talent, and you should be looking into those agencies, as well (ahem, DGLM).

Anonymous said...

This summer I've begun to query my big, serious literary novel, got a dozen requests. Most have come back with personal notes: "beautiful poetic prose" "I think it's very good" "I like the voice" but they always reject it. Some hate the voice, some say the plot is too thin. I know it's not your average book, it's old-fashioned and big and not like anything that's out there. At this point is it advisable to keep querying for that right agent, or is it time for something else?

It sounds to me like you need to keep querying. Since what you're writing is unconventional and not on most agent's "I do this, this, and this" list, you're going to have to keep trying until you find someone whose sensibilities are right for your work. It may be a long, hard road, but if you believe in the work (and I'm making that assumption), you should keep knocking on doors.

Rikitikitavi said...

How often does a publisher change the title of a book, and do you try and lobby for the author's original title so that the publisher won't change it? I had that done to me, and my agent at the time didn't care.

I would certainly try to lobby for the original title if that's what the author wants, and I think most publishers want their authors to be happy with the title. That said, the publisher has a lot of people giving feedback on what works and what doesn't: sales, marketing, publicity, and even feedback from buyers. If Barnes & Noble won't buy kids' books with the word "sucks" in the title, you're going to have to change it if you want your book to sell. The publishing process includes a lot of give and take, and you have to pick your battles. Sometimes the title is one you have to choose not to fight.

Also, what about the "last minute" calls, where the editor attempts to make changes hours before your book goes to the printer. I know two authors that threatened retraction if the changes were made. Only then did the editor back off.

This isn't something that's ever happened on one of my books, if I'm remembering correctly. The author, however, should always have a chance to review and approve changes. Nothing should go in without your knowledge. But, when production schedules are compressed and everyone is rushing, things slip through. This is why it's important for all people in the publishing process, authors included, to do their work on time. There's a reason books take a long time to get published, and oversight is a big part of it.

In my case error was added to my nonfiction book despite my protest (and some things added without my review that were wrong).
That's a very odd situation. I hope they fixed the problems in subsequent printings, and I hope you chose not to work with them again.

A few more of your questions answered by Jim McCarthy

I think we’re about 25 down, 15 to go on the open call for questions. We’ll keep plugging along, and we hope that our answers are helpful!

Athena said...

My questions are:

1. Since it's been over 8 weeks, should I send the agent a "hey, haven't heard from you about that late Roman Empire novel set in North Africa"? Or should I assume that because I was a big dork and queried with a (not perfect) partial, the answer's going to be no anyhow?

--If eight weeks is the amount of time they say they need to respond to a submission, then by all means, send a follow-up to check in.

2. Since I haven't done diddly-squat on that MS since I queried (because I'm a neurotic little scrivener and I've been immobilized by my angst about the opinion of the agent), am I totally screwed if the agent comes back and says, "I would like to represent this--where's the rest of it, dear?"

--Well, it wouldn’t be the best of situations. The reason you want the entire manuscript ready to go is that you should be able to strike while the iron is hot. If the agent wants to read the rest of your manuscript now, you want to be able to give it to them. If they have to wait for you to finish, they’ll most likely be willing to look whenever you’re done, but their enthusiasm could have a chance to wane.

3. Does the fact that I even asked question #2 mean that my ego has reached megalomaniacal proportions, and that I am not able to recognize the simple and salient fact that my writing does, in fact, suck?

--Yes.

Kidding! Nah, the querying process is neuroses inducing for the sanest of authors. It’s tough to get a handle on, but you’re clearly trying to learn, so good for you. In the meantime, do what’s most important—keep writing! The ins and outs of submissions will get clearer and clearer, but if you’re not actively working on your craft, then who knows if you’ll ever have a book ready to send?

Aimless Writer said...

Pitching at conferences:
If you are at an RWA conference is it okay to pitch a mystery if you know the agent your interviewing with handles mysteries?

My book is a little of both but heavier on the mystery/suspense part. I do belong to RWA but this book fell out of my head more toward the mystery genre.

--That should be fine. And maybe that particular agent might be thrilled to have a break from romance pitches for a moment! Long story short, if they represent what you do, you’re welcome to pitch it. And if you’re going to RWA this weekend, have a blast!

Anonymous said...

I am in the unfortunate circumstance of finding another agent. In the query process, should I mention that I had an agent but it didn't work out, or leave it out all together?

On one hand, it shows that another agent thought my work was good enough to offer representation (assume I'm talking about a good agent, well known, not one new to the biz) but on the other, the prospective agent could wonder 'why' it didn't work out.

I don't want to hurt my chances, but I'd like to help them, if possible. My dream agent is out there!!

--It does help to let us know you had another agent and how far along you got in the process. If a project has been submitted or editors have said they want to see more of your work in the future, these are things we should know. If the information will be necessary when it comes time for us to submit, that’s likely something we should have up front. It shouldn’t hurt your chances if you’ve had another agent. We realize that the agent/client relationship can be a very close one. Sometimes you and your agent just aren’t the right fit. That doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be.

Linda said...

Is a historic setting for a first book (in this case, it's a thriller) an automatic minus?

--Historical fiction can be tricky, but not really any more so than other fiction. If it works, it works. Sure, if we’re positively drowning in Civil War novels, maybe we won’t feel like we can fit another one on the list. But that can be said of any setting, topic, style, etc.

Anonymous said...

I just read on another blog that no manuscripts sell during the summer months because all the decision-makers are on vacation. Is that true, even for agented submissions?

--This is one of those publishing myths that everyone seems to believe. In fact, a lot of people in publishing do take their vacations in the summer months, so sometimes things can slow down. That said, we’ve had numerous successful sales during the summer months (even in the dead of August). It can just take a little more planning and making sure the right people are around when you submit.

Rachel said...

How did you discover the Kushiel books? Was it a gem in the slush, or is there some grand series of coincidences?

I really love Ms. Carey's books, and I'm interested to know if she had to go through the slush pile too, or if things just happen when you've got something that good.

--We love Jacqueline Carey’s books too! If memory serves, she did come across the transom and was discovered in the slush pile by Todd Keithley, a former agent here who changed career paths a few years back. It is the possibility of finding books like hers that make the query pile such a strange and wonderful thing. You never know when you’ll strike gold!

Lauren Abramo answers (some of) your burning questions:

In lieu of thinking up my own topic—that audible sigh of relief you’re hearing is coming from my desk—I thought I’d take a crack at some of your questions this week. Thanks for so many interesting and thoughtful ones! If we haven’t gotten to yours yet, check back because we’ll continue to cover as many as possible.

xoxochristine said...

What is the difference between chick lit, women's fiction and literary fiction that is from a woman's perspective? For example, would Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible be considered woman's fiction? And what about Susan Minot's Evening?

--To be honest, there isn’t a ton of difference. And it comes down not so much to what is written as to how it is written. Let’s say this: if you have doubts about where something falls in these categories, just call it women’s fiction. It’s such an insanely broad category that just about anything written from a female perspective or about female characters will fall in. Barbara Kingsolver and Susan Minot are generally considered to be more “literary” than commercial, although their books sell well enough to be both.

May said...

What would you do if you got a query letter that asks you to email the writer if it's a request? Or should I be focusing only on agents who accept e-queries?

--If we want the material, we’ll request it. Just make a note at the end of your letter that because you’re writing from overseas, SASE’s are cost-prohibitive. And, of course, e-query when it’s an option.

Eliza said...

How does an emerging fiction writer create a market for her work? What should we do to create a sales base even before we've been picked up?

--We talk a lot about market and platform, but that’s quite a bit more important with nonfiction than it is with fiction. If you happen to have access to a mailing list of thousands, or if you have a dedicated readership somewhere, by all means let us know. But it really will come down to how we (and ultimately book buyers) feel about the work. Honest.

Anonymous said...

What are questions for your agent, and what are questions for your editor? I don't want to step on my agent's toes by circumventing her, but at the same time, I don't want to make her work harder for her 15% than I have to. If, for example, I want to know whether a book will be released as a hardback or a trade paperback, to whom do I direct that question?

--Knowing what to ask, when, and to whom can be tough—especially for a first time author. As a general rule, if it’s a business question, it should go through your agent, and if it’s an editorial one, your editor is probably your best bet. When in doubt, especially if it relates in some way to the publisher’s contractual obligations to you, you can ask your agent. And if someone needs to be the bad guy, you should definitely let your agent take care of that. Don’t be afraid to get in touch when you have questions—that’s why you got an agent in the first place!

Anonymous said...

In response to Jane Dystel's just previous post: why do so many agents seem to object to authors querying multiple agents? I queried 10 agents all of whom represent work in my genre. I researched them all and tried to personalize every query. I got six form rejections, one request for a partial which immediately turned itno a request for a full (which I am still waiting to hear about)and 3 non-responses. Are we authors supposed to put all our eggs in one basket?

--Here’s some clarification on that point from our response in the comments to that post: It isn't that we turn things down just because a few other agents have seen it. But if names are switched, other agents are listed on the same e-mail, or you make mention of how many people have turned you down (why do people do that??), then it becomes apparent that you're applying to any and every agent just because they're agents. We'll take more time with someone who has chosen us because we might actually be the right fit.

David said...

Why is this latest post displayed in Times while the preceding ones are displayed in Arial?

(It's a question!)

And Anonymous said...

Not a question but a request: do you mind having all the fonts in your posts the same size? That will make the articles easier to read. Thanks.

--Sadly, Blogger hates us. We’ll keep trying to make posts show up in the same font and same size, but every once in awhile, things go all wonky.

Anonymous said...

How long, on average, do you take to read a full? Reading comments about your agency, I have heard that some agents have responded within a week, but what is the longest you have ever taken to read a full?

And Anonymous said...

Let's say one of your agents is considering a full manuscript. How often do you prefer for the writer to contact the agent to check the status (obviously not after a week, but...)? Does the writer receive any notification if months go by, but the full is still under consideration?

--It can really vary depending on how backed up we are. We say six-to-eight weeks for our response time, but it is often a much shorter wait. If you haven’t heard from us by the end of eight weeks, something has gone wrong, and you should definitely get in touch. If you have offers from other agents or an editor, please do get in touch right away to check in with us and let us know that we don’t have much time. Otherwise, please do wait for two months to go by before you check in—we want to read your work and give it serious consideration and that takes time. Remember that we don’t sit around at our desks reading all day—we’re on the phone and on email with editors and our existing clients, so it’s in the evening and on weekends that we’re reading the material we’ve requested.

Anonymous said...

What would happen if you had a really catchy title for a non-fiction book (as catchy as "He's Just Not That Into You") but found that an obsure blog in another country had the same title? Would you still use it? Could you still use it?

--Titles can’t be copyrighted, so you’re in the clear. You don’t want to go with something too familiar only because of any potential confusion, but that’s the only thing to consider.

Anonymous also said...

Also, have any D&G agents ever had to choose a project between a client and a potential client?

Meaning if the projects are competitive? It depends how close they are and in what category (it matters less if two novels have some common ideas than if two prescriptive nonfiction books do), but if we receive a query we think is promising that sounds too much like something one of our clients is already working on, we’ll usually pass it on to a colleague.

Anonymous said...

If you're rejected by an agent at DGLM, can you query another DGLM agent with the same project or is it not allowed?

--You shouldn’t. Most of us have been working together for long enough that we know each other’s taste very well, so we pass material among each other regularly. Ultimately, it doesn’t pay off to submit twice.

And while we’re on that subject—please don’t query each agent at the agency simultaneously either. As it says on the submissions page on our website, if we notice that a query has come to multiple agents here, we’re not going to read it.

Anonymous said...

Two questions:

1) When dealing with editors for a clients manuscript, is the time it takes them to get back to you any indication to the MS's quality?

In other words, does a manuscript that they know they wouldn't want get a quick no, to clear their desk, and one they might want get kept for 3 months (even if they pass)?

2) Does the agent's personality have more pull than we all realized -- I heard at a writer's conference recently that editor's pay close attention to what their favorite agents send them and have a tendency to be very critical of an abrasive agents's submissions.

--A lot of writers do seem to think that response time has a lot to do with manuscript quality or interest, both for agents and editors, but it’s usually not an indicator of much at all. There are too many variables, and there’s no reason to believe that the letter passing on a project is written the same day that decision is made. In fact, though, it’s much easier to pass on something you know you don’t want to handle quickly and move on to the next thing. It’s those in-between projects that require mulling over that tend to sit on our (and editors’) desks for a while.

Re: the agent’s personality—it’s a business, and everyone in it deals with people they don’t necessarily like. But of course, it’s a business full of human beings and some are more sensitive than others. Most editors and agents are professional enough to consider the work and not the person submitting it. Ultimately, it’s the quality of the projects an agent handles that will make editors take notice when they receive a submission, not whether the agent is everyone’s best friend.

Mary Witzl said...

I love memoirs, particularly when they are about ordinary (or rather non-celebrity, for lack of a better term) people who have led extraordinary lives, or when they include interesting travel or cross-cultural experiences. Am I in a minority here? And how extraordinary does a memoir have to be to be marketable, in your opinion?

--Certainly not. Memoirs will always be a popular publishing category and one that has experienced a real explosion in recent years. That said, there’s actually so much out there that it is an extremely crowded category, so new memoirs must, indeed, feature either an extraordinary story or extraordinary writing for it to have a chance in this marketplace.

Ryan Field said...

I've been receiving a great deal of hints from editors lately regarding fiction with "crossover potential". Is this a trend that will last, or is it just another marketing tool that will come and go?

Your guess is as good as ours! It’s really hard to predict future trends much as we try, but for now genre crossing is working really well in certain markets—for example, paranormal stories can easily be shelved in romance, fantasy, or mystery these days. Of course, it’s important to have an idea of where exactly your book would fit in a bookstore and to know that however appropriate something may be for multiple categories, it’s only going to be shelved in one in the majority of stores.

Anonymous said...

I'm interested in hearing an agent's take on working with an intentionally non-prolific author. I know for many writers, the hope is to write book after book after book and hopefully publish all of them. I look at Harper Lee and the value and reach of To Kill a Mockingbird and think I might feel finished as a book writer and choose to focus my future creativity towards other art forms. As an agent, when you hear this are you inclined to seek other clients instead, or are you intrigued? Do you find my approach to be unusual or surprisingly common among the "literary" writers you encounter?

Some authors have only one book in them, and I think we’d all agree that writing one fantastic novel is better than writing one fantastic one and then writing terrible failures just to keep going. Of course, the odds are stacked against you, so writing only one novel is putting all your eggs in one basket. The reality is that agents and editors would prefer to work with authors who are going to write multiple phenomenal books, but if a book is amazing we won’t turn it down because the author has no current plans to write another.

Anonymous said...

Tell us the truth (as you always do) please:

What differences do age and looks make for a novelist?

The work is what matters first and foremost. Are a disproportionate number of big buzz debut novels written by attractive 20-somethings? Sure. But in the end it’s so much more about the work than it is about the author’s promotability where fiction is concerned.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes I think the US publishing industry doesn't care as much about West Coast lifestyles or Midwestern ones. Over 75% of fiction I see takes place on the East Coast, mostly in New York. Am I imagining this, or is it real? And if the latter, is there anything we can all do to improve the situation and make the industry more realistic/representative?

I don’t think it’s quite as dire as that figure would suggest, but since so much of the US publishing industry is based in New York, there is going to be an unintentional bias sometimes. And, if fact, it’s all about supply and demand. Those New York books are being bought by a large audience or they wouldn’t continue to be published. If Wichita, KS, suddenly became a bestselling destination, you’d be surprised at how many books would suddenly be set there. Plenty of people who work in publishing are not actually from the East Coast and we are all conscious that we need to find books for the broadest possible readership.

Anonymous said...

I'm one of your authors and would like to know if you think it's possible to plan a career in publishing (as an author, that is!). I've just had my seventh book published and as the years pass, it seems like it's getting harder to map out any kind of career path. Do you think it's possible?

Sure. It does depend on the author and the category—and certainly paths aren’t always going to go as planned, since a big success, a book that just doesn’t perform, or significant life change can alter that path—but part of what we good agents and editors do is to help build authors’ careers. It’s important to have goals in mind and to think about the big picture, as well as to be open to changes and opportunities.

JDuncan said...

I'm curious about how you all are as agents in relation to your clients. Are you all the hands on type of agent that gets into the editing process, helping with book ideas, etc. or are you a more hands off sort that likes to just deal with the business end of things and leave all the writing stuff to the writer? If you have different approaches, does this have any effect on how you interact amongst each other when dealing with client issues?

You can read more about it on the About Us page of our website, but here’s the gist of our philosophy: “Being involved in every stage of putting together a non-fiction book proposal, offering substantial editing on fiction manuscripts, and coming up with book ideas for authors looking for their next project is as much a part of our work as selling, negotiating contracts, and collecting monies for our clients. We follow a book from its inception through its sale to a publisher, its publication, and beyond. Our commitment to our writers does not, by any means, end when we have collected our commission. This is one of the many things that makes us unique in a very competitive business.”

Rose Green said...

I see a lot of internet commentary on what a writer should NEVER do (usually along the lines of bad formatting, sending bribes and/or threats along with the query, not knowing how to use the English language--or possibly any written language--etc). I'm more interested in that top 5 percent who all get full requests. Some make it and some don't. Are there any systematic characteristics you see that clearly cut off a ms from the running, once you've read the whole thing?

Ah, see, that’s because it’s easier to tell people what not to do then to tell them what they should actually do. But if we actually read an entire manuscript and turn it down, chances are that we either really liked it but don’t believe we can sell it (because the market is especially crowded, or it has some fatal flaw that can’t be fixed with some editing) or because that elusive spark just isn’t there.

Kanani said...

Actually, I much prefer to hear all of you spout out. You're funny, you can be wise, you can be direct, and you do it all very nicely. So this? We have to ask you? As in what Miss Snark did so well?

So you've driven me to ask the basics.


Boxers or briefs?

Hipsters, bikinis or thongs?

Clooney or Jolie?

Thank you—finally someone’s asking the critical stuff! Boxer-briefs. Anything but thongs. And we’re a bit divided on the Clooney/Jolie issue (quick insight into the dynamics of the DGLM workplace: we fight about nothing more than trivial things related to celebrities—the Jake Gyllenhaal: Hot or Ugly debate rears its head far more often than we should probably admit) but if Jim gets his wish, Angelina’ll be co-hosting The View any day now!

An open call for questions

Though we’re of the opinion that any random thing we chatter about is endlessly fascinating, it occurred to us recently that it might be time to find out if there is anything in particular that you, our delightful readers, want to know from us. Or about us.

So here’s your chance: ask anything at all that you’d like an answer to. Feel free to direct questions to us en masse or individually (though this isn’t your chance to pitch us, natch). Keep in mind that with the holiday, summer vacations, and general busyness, responses will come in a bit sporadically, but you can keep an eye on this space, and we’ll try to answer as many questions as possible!

Jim McCarthy on literary and commercial fiction

It didn’t surprise me when someone asked me recently what the differences are in how I handle the projects I love and the projects I work on for money. It did, however, irritate me. The question came loaded with the insinuation that there are two kinds of books—the ones people should read and the ones they actually do. Often, I find that literary and commercial fiction are pitted against each other, as though they’re totally different beasts that serve entirely separate purposes. But is that really the case?

Too often, category fiction is treated like the bastard stepchild of the written word. But, frankly, I’m a whole lot more likely to pick up Stephen King’s new book than dive into Thomas Pynchon’s latest doorstop. Which isn’t to dismiss literary fiction, either.

Years ago, I was getting a ride to a train station from an MFA student in Massachusetts, and we talked about the challenges of fiction writing and writer’s block, not to mention how competitive the marketplace is. And then he unleashed this on me: “I could knock out the sort of mystery novels that sell hundreds of thousands of copies, but I’m better than that.” If he weren’t behind the wheel of the car, I would have smacked him upside the head. I mean, really. Do you honestly think the only thing holding people back from becoming bestselling authors is…integrity?

As I patiently explained to him (who am I kidding? I sounded like a howler monkey in heat), it takes a lot of talent to write a fantastic mystery, just as it does to write an amazing literary novel. They just happen to be very, very different talents. Anyone who thinks that just because someone is a wonderful writer means they can pull off working in other genres clearly hasn’t read Michael Cunningham’s SPECIMEN DAYS. I recommend they keep it that way.

And let’s not get too far without mentioning that literary and commercial are not exact opposites. There are plenty of authors who mix the two forms freely. One can see this by reading the stunning, bleak mysteries of Dennis Lehane or the thrilling horror of Clive Barker. And is it just me, or is the award winning COLD MOUNTAIN as much a retelling of The Odyssey as it is a historical romance novel?

What I’m saying is, let’s let the snobbery go. Reading MADAME BOVARY can be as entertaining as reading VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and vice versa, and there’s nothing wrong with that. To those people who consider genre fiction to be “guilty pleasures,” let it go. I grew up on a steady diet of Stephen King, Charles Dickens, Jackie Collins, and Victor Hugo, and I’ll happily debate the merits of Lucky Santangelo and Esmeralda any day. I’m the guy on the subway reading The New Yorker and Romantic Times.

The lines for me just aren’t that sharply drawn. So whether I’m pitching a new cozy mystery or a collection of interconnected stories previously published in literary journals, you can know one thing links them: I love both.

Why Jane Dystel turns things down

I love to say “yes” to writers who send me ideas, proposals and manuscripts, but, in reality, I wind up doing this less than two percent of the time. Why, I am asked often, do I turn down so much of what is presented to me for representation? In no particular order, here are some of the reasons I and many of my colleagues say “no” instead of sending out agency agreements:

A quick turndown is a submission that has obviously been sent to many other agents and editors. Most of the time, I simply don’t find this kind of wholesale submission attractive and, because there is so much else on my plate, as soon as I see that the material has been indiscriminately submitted to others, even to agents at my own agency, I pass and go on to the next idea.

Then, of course, there is the appearance of the material. Often, ideas or pitches are badly written and chock full of misspellings and grammatical errors. A pet peeve is those who refer to their work as a fiction novel. Again, these submissions fall into the “life is too short” category. If the author doesn’t care enough about his or her idea to present it only after carefully checking grammar and spelling, then why should I?

There are the non-fiction ideas whose author has not carefully thought out who the potential reader is (one of the most important questions any prospective author should address), or where the writer has no credentials to write about the subject he or she is suggesting. These days, rightly or wrongly, credentials and platform are everything and those without them are turned down by publishers all the time. Potential authors really need to spend time dealing with these issues before mailing off their queries.

And then there are the ideas that have been over-published. What is the point of writing the millionth dog training book (unless you’re Cesar) or Italian Cookbook (unless you’re Lidia or Giada) or knitting book (unless you’re the knitting guru to the stars)? We agents are looking for new ideas, creatively thought out and presented.

The novels I consider should be complete (partials are almost always turned down) and checked for correct grammar and spelling. If others have read and commented on them, it is often a good idea to include their opinions. Novels are the most difficult projects to find homes for and so we, as agents, are most critical of these. Again, with fiction, the writer should be able to identify his or her reader in a covering note.

Finally, and sadly, I turn down material that has previously been represented almost all of the time. Even if I like what I have read, because the material has been previously “shopped” my chances of selling it are greatly diminished. Spending time on projects like this isn’t fair to those clients whose projects I do think I can sell.

Having said all of this, I am out there in the market every day, looking for new, exciting writers and projects to represent and though I do turn down about 98% of what is presented to me, I try my best to say “yes” at least several times a week..

Miriam Goderich chats about Paris Hilton, Tony Soprano, and Charlotte Bronte

I’ve been preoccupied with weighty issues this week: Paris Hilton’s prison saga and the (genius) ending of The Sopranos.

The fact that I’m spending so much time pondering the fate of one of the most superficial pop culture fabrications in recent times (Paris) and the absurdity and high camp that seem as part of her birthright as free booze at any Hilton bar around the planet makes me feel a little icky. Kinda like when you laugh at a joke that’s offensive to someone but funny nonetheless. On the other hand, I’m happy enough to obsess about the greatness of a groundbreaking television series and the parallels between the last episode’s shocking sign-off and Charlotte Bronte’s brilliant and mostly overlooked Villette (any of you agree?) and not at all embarrassed to discuss it.

What these preoccupations with high and low popular culture say about my intellectual life is also something I’m wrestling with. I find myself ruefully wondering what happened to the avid bookworm who couldn’t wait to turn off the world and embed herself in a book (or series of books), finishing one and immediately starting the next like a chain smoker lights a new cigarette from the butt of the last. I can find some solace in the rationalization that, as agents, we have to keep up with events in our media driven society – you never know when a Hilton (or a Hilton hanger-on) will come calling with a tell-all – but I can’t help but worry that so much time and mental energy spent on tabloid stories and on television – the good as well as the cringe-worthy – is relegating books to a dusty shelf in my library of priorities.

A few years ago there was much debate about whether e-books would mean the demise of traditional books as we know them. Those of us who treasure the experience of holding a fragile, musty tome or a crisp new paperback, feel that reading involves much more than a visual or imaginative process. It is truly a sensual experience that e-books, for all their virtues cannot replicate. Well, e-books have been around for a while now and they haven’t taken the place of our beloved traditional books. Turns out, it’s hard to curl up in bed with an e-book and have the same kind of sensory input.

A bigger threat to books, I think, is the pull on our attention by other media, the fast pace of our lives, the tabloid size reduction of the world into uni-dimensional bites of information that fail to tell the whole story – Paris Hilton would have been a wonderful Wharton heroine, no?, but who has time for a 500-page novel when her whole experience is summarized and trivialized by tmz.com, UsWeekly and Barbara Walters.

In response to Adina’s last blog, I think my summer resolution is to pay less attention to what’s on television and the tabloids and go back to my first love.

Adina Kahn wonders what she'll read this summer

Summer is approaching, and that means it’s time to put together a summer reading list. As I was contemplating what books to put on my list, I realized that in recent months my reading has primarily consisted of bestsellers: THE THIRTEENTH TALE, THE KITE RUNNER, THE EMPEROR’S CHILDREN, and THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER among others. As an agent, I always strive to stay informed about what is popular and whose books Matt Lauer or Oprah have decided to plug on their shows. While I’m always aware of new book releases, both big and small, my goal for the summer is to go beyond the buzz and actually read some of the lesser known titles. But if you’re not taking advice from Matt or Oprah, how do you go about finding out which books are worthwhile to add to your summer reading list?

New York magazine recently ran a great article about “The Best Novels You’ve Never Read.” Professional critics and writers were asked to come up with the best “under-the-radar book” of the past ten years. In an article titled “Read Any Good Books Lately?” from the New York Times, a handful of writers such as Stephen King, Nora Ephron and Michael Crichton were asked what their favorite books have been in recent months. These articles are great starting points for crafting an eclectic summer reading list. Magazines and the internet are great sources for information; still, my favorite thing to do is to go into a bookstore and just browse the shelves.

As serious readers, we should all be making an effort to share information about lesser known books. Word of mouth can be a very powerful tool for a writer--a recent example being THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER, which never made it onto the hardcover bestseller lists but blew everyone away in paperback once the buzz built.

Don’t get me wrong, my summer reading will definitely include the new titles from Ian McEwan, Don DeLillo and Khaled Hosseini. But I also hope to discover some new talent in unexpected corners.

And now I put the question out to the readers of this blog: read any good books lately?

Jim McCarthy takes on Oprah

I’ve mentioned before that I love competition. Set me loose in a Pictionary game and suddenly it becomes a contact sport. So it should be no surprise that I track the comments on this blog with depressing fervor. Therefore, I’m going to make a blatant effort to elicit as much discussion as Michael’s take on THE SECRET did. What could I possibly talk about that would engender that level of conversation? Miriam suggested “The Bible: Fact or Fiction?”

But I won’t do that. I’ll go even bigger than God. I’ll go Oprah.

As everyone who works in publishing does, I follow Ms. Winfrey’s book club selections closely and keep an eye out for surprise bestsellers that can be explained only by an author’s appearance on her show. Anyone remember how fast ON THE DOWN LOW became a bestseller? I watched the fallout from Freygate on the office television set and pondered what it would mean for the future of memoirs (more disclaimers), and I bemoaned the choice of THE ROAD for her next book club (I know, I know, I’m still not over it).

I keep my fingers perpetually crossed that someday one of my clients will have the patented Oprah seal of approval stamped on his or her book, and I get a great big kick out of the fact that she uses her enormous commercial power to promote reading. I’m thankful that she introduced me to Wally Lamb whose SHE’S COME UNDONE is an outstanding read. And I’m delighted that she has compelled thousands upon thousands of people to keep returning to the works of my favorite author, Toni Morrison.

So why is it that there’s an eensy weensy nagging voice in the back of my mind that always questions whether Oprah, the woman and the show, is actually a good influence?

Let’s go back a few years to Oprah’s selection of Jonathan Franzen’s THE CORRECTIONS for the book club. This is an exceptional novel that deserves every reader it can snag. But the unthinkable happened: after the official announcement, Franzen cancelled. Ye gods! All hell broke loose.

It seems that Franzen questioned whether or not it was appropriate to allow one person so much control over what we read. At the time, the argument made sense to me. With hundreds of book critics nationwide, why should such an enormous group of readers instantly jump on board with whatever a talk show host happens to have picked for them to read?

It wasn’t too long thereafter that Oprah did her stint in the classics. Suddenly John Steinbeck and Leo Tolstoy were huge bestsellers. And people began to complain that those authors didn’t need the help. For one, they were already classics. And also, they were dead. Give the royalties to someone who needs them, right?

I’ve come around a bit over the past few years. No, I don’t think we should have one arbiter of literary taste. But then again, we get what we deserve, don’t we? If we lived in a society of readers, maybe the number of people buying Oprah’s selections wouldn’t make us blink. But we just don’t. One of the biggest shocks to me when I started working in this industry was how few books it took to create a bestseller. I figure there has to be a backlash to technology at some point and that readers are waiting to be made—just look at how much people latched onto a certain boy wizard and you can see the possibilities. But until then, perhaps I’ll just find happiness in the fact that at least someone out there is encouraging folks to read literature. Even if it is just a talk show host.

P.S. Dear Ms. Winfrey:

I mean absolutely no offense by that “just a talk show host” comment. I think you’re the greatest thing since Nutella. You’re a hero of the people. Hermès never should have slighted you. You’re looking awfully thin these days. Pretty, pretty please pick one of my clients’ works as your next book club pick...

Your devoted follower,

Jim McCarthy

Lauren Abramo adds it up

Numbers don’t mean a whole lot to me. I was always much better at the arts/humanities portion of my education than the math/science one. That’s not to say I don’t find math absolutely fascinating—I actually do, I swear!—I just don’t get it the way I do literature and language.

Without a ton of context, statistics don’t tend to make an impact on my brain. But there are some numbers that even the biggest numerophobe in publishing really ought to know. Here are some you might find interesting:

• U.S. publishing is a $35 billion industry, the Book Industry Study Group reported at BEA last year—net revenues reached $34.59 billion in 2005, which was an increase of 5.9% over the previous year. We may tell ourselves that in this age of video games, technology and instant gratification people are reading less and less—but if that’s true, we’re certainly paying more and more for the books we’re not reading. That same report projects that revenues will break $40 billion by 2010.

• How many books does it take to bring in that kind of money? Well, approximately 200,000 new books are published each year, reported PW in 2004.

• And how much paper does it take to print so many books? According to the New York Times (via the Authors Guild Bulleting in Summer 2006), Random House buys 110,000 tons of uncoated paper to publish books each year.

• Many of us know that the Bible has more copies in print than any other book, but what’s number two? Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care, with more than 50 million copies in print and still going, according to Publishers Weekly from 2/12/07.

• In 2006, Bowker, the self-proclaimed “world’s leading source for bibliographic information,” published a survey based on 13,000 novels published in the U.S.
• 1,550 of those with a location that could be identified were set in England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland.
• New York and London were the two most common cities used as settings.
• The same study showed that 65% of romance books, 61% of science fiction titles, and 58% of mystery/detective novels were published in paperback (meaning both mass market and trade).
• And just how long were those books? The average for sci-fi was 329 pages with romance on its heels at 324. Mysteries were just shy of 300 at 292, followed by westerns at 261.

• So just how long does it take to write those 13,000 novels anyway?
• Tom Perkins, ex-husband of Danielle Steel, wrote Sex and the Single Zillionaire in 100 hours over 30 days.
• Compare that with Donna Tartt and Shirley Hazzard. Tartt published The Secret History in 1992, then spent the next decade writing her second novel, The Little Friend.
• Hazzard’s follow up took even longer—2003 saw publication of The Great Fire, 23 years after her debut, The Transit of Venus.

• And do they sell well? The standards for success really do change from book to book based on any number of factors—category, author’s platform, size of the advance, size of the marketing budget—but everyone agrees that the majority of books fail to earn out their advances (meaning that the author’s royalties never accrue to the point that they actually earn more than they were paid up front). What percentage? An exact number is probably impossible to pin down, but it’s said that 80-85% of books published don’t earn out.

• And how can we know how many copies of a book have sold? The closest we get to reliable public information is via Bookscan, a tracking database operated by Nielsen, the same people who tell us what everyone’s watching on TV. (As you may know, it’s not a perfect system since Bookscan only reports sales from certain segments of the market. If a book sells a large percentage in the “special sales” category—i.e., via outlets other than traditional book channels, including stores like Wal-Mart, which declines to report—Bookscan might not give a particularly good idea of how well that book is selling.) Just how accurate is Bookscan? They claim to be 70-75% accurate, according to a Publishers Weekly article from 2004. Of course that also changes depending on what type of book you’re talking about. Bookscan is more accurate for books that sell primarily via traditional book retailers, and less accurate for categories—like mass market fiction, cookbooks and children’s—that sell a large volume outside those channels.

Some numbers are critical to understanding how publishing works, and others are just an interesting way of looking at what seems like a completely abstract world. What statistics do the rest of you find fascinating? Which sets of numbers comfort or terrify you? What numbers do you wonder about?

Psst...there is no Secret, says Michael Bourret

I think, at this point, that everyone is familiar with The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. It’s a runaway bestseller, Oprah loves it and Boston Legal (the second-best show on television that nobody watches) even poked fun on a recent episode. Someone I know was even told to read The Secret for work. But you know what the real “secret” is? There is no secret. There is no magical way to make your life better. If there were, don’t you think someone would have discovered it by now? Oh, wait! Someone actually discovered “the secret” in the ‘50s, when it was The Power of Positive Thinking. The self-help industry is amazing. Despite the fact that they seemingly haven’t even cured one person – how else could they keep coming up with new ideas about changing your life? – they continue to be some of the biggest money makers around. One of my clients, Dr. Paul Pearsall, discusses these ideas in The Last Self-Help Book You’ll Ever Need. As Paul so aptly points out in the book, the industry first convinces us that there is, indeed, something horribly wrong in our lives, and then it offers up a nicely packaged solution that usually comes in several formats, including books, CDs, and now DVDs. You need all three to really make a difference. So is it all just a big scam?

Not necessarily. Plugging another book of ours, Joachim de Posada’s Don’t Eat the Marshmallow...Yet is a terrific book about how delaying gratification makes one a stronger person. And there are certainly good books on overcoming shyness (Goodbye to Shy by Leil Lowndes), sex (anything by Sue Johanson), nutrition (Joy Bauer’s Food Cures), networking (How to Work a Room by Susan RoAne), and the list goes on. These books, however, have a few things in common: they generally only tackle one specialized subject, the author is already an expert in said subject (or the information is based on a study), and the books don’t claim to fix your entire life. In fact, I’d say the authors are rather humble about what they can help you accomplish. They’ll tell you that it’s going to take hard work to make an improvement. They don’t suggest that merely thinking something will make it happen.

I think what we like about The Secret and other “big fix” books is the promise of a better life. The fact is that things aren’t great for most Americans. Our economy is weakening. The poverty rate is increasing. Many of our citizens are without healthcare. We’re stuck in a disastrous situation in Iraq. We can’t trust our elected officials. Corporate crime seems to be at an all-time high. Global warming turns out to be more a current reality than a future threat. We’re warned that another act of terrorism could be around the corner. No wonder we need fixing! But the help we need won’t come from The Secret. It’s not going to happen just ‘cause we wish it so; if it were that easy, wouldn’t it have already happened? It will come from pulling together and working hard for a common goal. It will come when we decide to make a change.

Okay, that was me on my soapbox. What do you writers think? Do you spend all day picturing your manuscript, or do you actually write your books?

Jane Dystel talks gossip

The publishing business is a multi-billion dollar industry that still manages to be small, insular and somewhat incestuous. Indeed, that is one of the reasons I love it. The biggest publishers and agencies are primarily based in New York City and my colleagues and I all run into each other constantly – at lunches, at publishing events, at temple or church, on the street, etc. Even on the weekends when we are out of town, we often share the same neighborhoods. Through the internet and the numerous writers conferences that have sprung up all over the country, our community has grown to include thousands of established authors and potential authors. But, it’s still a small community where rumors fly and gossip is a favored pastime.

And so much of this gossip hurts. Recently, at a writers’ conference attended by many perspective authors looking to find out if they needed an agent and the ways they could benefit from having one, one of our agency’s clients gossiped about how ineffective our agency was in some very specific ways. He was speaking to a large audience of people who were truly there to learn. It so happened that in the next room was one of our senior agents who was horrified to hear these unprofessional (to say nothing about untrue) comments. And of course, when our agent reported back to us after the conference there was enormous shock, unhappiness and disappointment among our staff – especially because we had worked so hard for this particular client over the years.

Mean-spirited gossip is, indeed, destructive and in a business as small as ours it hurts the person responsible for it more than anyone else. That writer, or editor or agent is noted for what they say and colleagues tend to avoid future serious dealings with someone they can’t trust will be discreet and professional behind their backs. I try to encourage our staff – all wonderful, very able agents and support people – to be caring and careful of what they say and how they comport themselves – especially at writers’ conferences where so many aspiring authors are eager to learn about our wonderful business.

I do admit, however, that having had more than one unfortunate experience with the kind of gossip that flies in these venues, I am less likely to attend these gatherings (to which I am invited often) than I was in the past. This is truly unfortunate as I love to teach people about the business I have worked in for so long and help writers become successful. I would much rather follow a constructive path than be confronted by this kind of destructive, hurtful behavior and so I stay in my office and conduct my business from there.

And so, I pray that those of you reading this will stop and think the next time you are tempted to gossip about an editor or an agent who is only trying to help move you and your career forward. Know how your words and behavior will affect the person you are talking about. Also be aware that, because of the very small business we operate in, this kind of behavior will most likely adversely affect your future in the publishing world.

Miriam Goderich discusses 1001 books (sort of)

One of my colleagues here at DGLM is obsessed with a list of the “1001 books you should read before you die.” (I won’t say who the colleague is but if you’ve been reading our blog posts, you’ll probably be able to guess.) This person forwarded the list to me and I started looking through it to see whether I could die happily knowing that I’d go to the part of heaven where the well-read people hang out debating relative greatness – Homer vs. Virgil; Hemingway vs. Fitzgerald; Flaubert vs. Turgenev; Mailer vs. Roth, et cetera ad nauseum. As it turns out, despite undergraduate and graduate degrees in literature and a lifetime of defining myself as a bookworm, I haven’t read all 1001 titles. I long ago made peace with the fact that I will not ever be able to read all the books I want to read and certainly not all the classics -- it’s hard enough to keep up with the current bestsellers and award winners! What I found interesting about the list was how many of the books listed fell in the “liked-but-didn’t-love” or “outright-loathed” columns of my own personal ratings system, especially because other books by the same authors might be well established residents of my “love-love-love” column.

As the list-obsessed colleague and I were discussing why Heart of Darkness and The Old Man and the Sea are books to be admired rather than loved (as opposed to Lord Jim and The Sun Also Rises, for instance), I got a query from someone who said she hated a book I’d recommended on the “staff recommendations” section of our web site. None of this is surprising, of course. Literature is all about falling in love and there’s no accounting for taste. Despite all the experts, pundits and pedants trying to tell us what to like (and what not to like), the bottom line is that we all fall in love for different reasons, some as hard to explain as the mad crush we had on that odd-looking, nerdy kid back in seventh grade who wouldn’t give us the time of day (or maybe that’s just me). While I do believe that there are certain qualities that elevate the great from the so-so literature, part of the impact of a great book is how it affects us emotionally and intellectually when we’re reading it and how long it stays with us after. While unpacking a box of books from my basement the other day, I came across The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell and just holding the dog-eared copies of Justine and Clea made me smile remembering my pleasure at discovering these titles. I don’t usually have the same reaction when I see my uncreased copy of Finnegan’s Wake, I’m afraid.

We in the publishing business spend a lot of time trying to communicate to authors why their work doesn’t grab us – especially when the writing is solid and the idea strong. We fall back on “I simply did not fall in love,” and many a frustrated and irate author has come back to us with “is that the best you can do for an explanation?” In fact, it is. Because in order to put in the time and energy required to see a novel through from query letter to publication to the morass of the current marketplace, we have to fall in love with it, believe in it, defend it when it’s rejected, and stay with it even when the critics take their shots at it and the buying public walks right by it on its way to the latest James Patterson thriller. For us it’s personal, as personal as any list you might make of your favorite books.

Adina Kahn explains why she became an agent

Ever since I joined DGLM, many friends and colleagues have wondered what convinced me to become a literary agent after having worked for the past few years in film development. The truth is that many people who lack direct contact with the publishing world do not have a clue as to what an agent does, and therefore do not even know that this rewarding profession even exists.

I gained exposure to the field when meeting with literary agents during my time at Sony. Filmmakers in New York have strong ties to the publishing community, and I would take meetings with literary agents to find out if they had any material suitable for film adaptation. In fact, a few years ago I found myself sitting in a meeting at DGLM to hear about the fantastic books they represented with film potential. As I gained more exposure to the world of literary agents I began to realize how exciting and rewarding it could be. After all, what could be more thrilling than coming across an entirely original and brilliant manuscript and being closely involved in making sure it reaches bookstores?

When I worked in film development, the most inspiring thing for me was finding quality stories. But finding a good story is only one aspect of filmmaking, and sometimes it frustrates me to watch a movie and know that the story was not the filmmakers’ top priority. Books appeal to me because the writing is the priority and the focus.

Reading a book is a different experience than watching television or films. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge movie buff and I love watching both good and bad television (unfortunately, I think I may like watching bad television a little more). But books affect me more and stay with me longer. There could be a number of reasons for this. Perhaps it’s because a novel allows you to visualize everything for yourself, and forces you to use your imagination. Or maybe it’s because you tend to read a book over a stretched out period of time, and therefore may associate a book with a certain event in your life (that reminds me, some advice: don’t bring THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING by Joan Didion on your honeymoon, that’s a mistake I wish I hadn’t made).

Finding intelligent non-fiction is equally as exhilarating as discovering good fiction, and I love that I can offer writers the chance to share their work and possibly enlighten people who are eager for some new ideas to contemplate and discuss. I appreciate the opportunity to meet writers with all sorts of backgrounds and build a partnership based on mutual enthusiasm for a given subject matter.

I see the role of a literary agent as being similar to that of a film producer, and I have been able to apply lessons learned from my previous experiences to this job. Like a producer, a good agent will oversee a project from start to finish and make sure to solve any problems that come their way. Ultimately, I became an agent because I simply wanted to help talented writers fulfill their dreams of becoming published, and I try to make the rocky road to getting their work to a bookstore as smooth as possible.

Jim McCarthy talks The Tournament of Books

Let’s get this out of the way: I’m obsessed with awards shows. And not just the big ones like the Oscars and Emmys. I’m the guy watching the SAG Awards on Bravo, the Independent Spirit Awards, the Tony’s, the Emmy’s, the Golden Globes. If there’s a trophy, I’m there. I was in the audience (okay, I was working the event) when Jonathan Franzen snagged the National Book Award for THE CORRECTIONS (a very just victory), and Arthur Miller received a lifetime achievement award. I’m the kind of person who still remembers with an unfortunate degree of anguish that Leaving Las Vegas didn’t even get nominated for the Best Picture Oscar the year that Braveheart won. So when I caught on that Powell’s and The Morning News were doing a Tournament of Books to coincide with March Madness, let’s just say I found a new favorite website.

Starting with 32 books from 2006, each title was pitted against one other for single round eliminations as judged by a small panel of random literary types. This went on until there were two semi-finalists. Now, two eliminated titles will be brought back for a second chance. Then, once down to two finalists, all of the judges will have to pick between them to crown one ultimate victor.

Looking over the initial list of contenders, I realized that I had only read two of the books so far. An anemic showing at best. There are a bunch of authors whose previous work I’ve read (I’ll get to your new one soon, Richard Ford!), and some of the novels are already in my piles to read at home. This is to say, I don’t have a favorite in this contest. There is, however, one novel on the list that everyone seems to love, and I happen to…well, let’s say, dislike.

When something receives universal acclaim, I often manage to find a way to hate it. I’m the schmuck who couldn’t stand Lost in Translation and who couldn’t fall in love with Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose. I have to wonder if it’s me being unintentionally contrarian, or if maybe, just maybe, my opinions are actually defensible. Which brings me, nervously, to THE ROAD.

Everyone loves THE ROAD. It has sailed through the rounds of the Tournament of Books, eviscerating the competition and garnering praise aplenty. In case you haven’t read it, here’s a synopsis: guy and his son walk down a post-apocalyptic road dodging cannibals. The End. Sure, the writing is terse and impressive. I can really, really picture the grey. And the ash. And the burnt logs. And the grey. Cormac McCarthy is a superb writer. With THE ROAD, he jotted down a brilliant short story. A very, very overlong short story. Philosophical musings? Check. Interesting thinking points? Sure. Sleep inducing? Ding ding ding! For a book that people have described as “riveting,” I sure couldn’t wait for it to be over.

But here’s the thing: I feel guilty for not liking it. Critics seems so often to focus on what books are unworthy or unaccomplished that I feel bad about raining on the parade of something so well liked. It makes me want to shout out the names of popular books that I thought were worthy of every bit of their praise (THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA!) if only because so much writing about literature seems focused on the negatives. This leaves me with questions: Does all of the carping about bad books make people more likely to search out the good stuff? Or does it just discourage people from reading at all?

And we’re back at the Tournament of Books. We’re a competitive people. And by we, I mean me. I love to see winners and losers. I’m inspired by competition in a strange, some might say sadistic, way. Since I’ve never developed an affinity for sports (besides the Olympics…don’t get me started), I enjoy watching competitions involving things I care about: movies, books, theater, America’s potential next top models…you know: the arts. But what role does that competition really serve? SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE is still one of my three favorite books, even if it did lose the 1970 National Book Award to THEM by Joyce Carol Oates. Can the arts, particularly the literary arts, be judged fairly in the moment? More importantly, how should they be judged at all?

I’ll be following these last rounds of the Tournament of Books eagerly, hoping for THE ROAD to fall by the wayside, but I’m probably not the better for it. I’ll give the tournament judges this: plenty seem to go about the task playfully, whether acknowledging that they’re scared of AGAINST THE DAY’S thousand-plus pages or that their decisions ultimately came down to matters of personal preference and not quality.

Having not come around to much of a point, I leave anyone reading with this: does it make sense to pit books against each other? Do literary awards make sense?

UPDATE: Apparently, Oprah selected THE ROAD for her next bookclub book. I wasn't tipped off. Just a totally random coincidence.