I'm considering a new "blog column" (or running blog joke) entitled Books I Would Have Rejected--and why. Are bestsellers on the list? Yup. Books that have won awards? Those too. Books that have changed lives? Most assuredly. Am I wrong? Maybe. Don't care. I tend to think that there aren't any objective standards of right and wrong in this business--we're just a collection of people who, at some point or another, have proven ourselves to be in possession of reasonably good (if subjective) literary tastes.
I personally don't care if I think a book would sell ten bazillion copies--if I don't like it, I'm not taking it on. Why would I spend my time putting something displeasing into the book world? Since each editor can only take on a finite number of projects, it takes a spot away from something good.
Today, after reading 27 pages of Eyes Like Stars, I threw it (not literally, but) into the NY Public Library's return bin. (One of the great things about the NYPL: you never have to talk to a human being when returning books at the main branch--and you can check them out by machine.) I'm not usually so return-happy; however, I was in the neighborhood (a new mother-daughter chocolate-coffee place opened up, and I had to try their mocha, which features two scoops of molten chocolate), and in theory my copy of Catching Fire was waiting. This was the second time I'd gone to pick it up--it was supposedly there as of Tuesday--and, nope-- "It's not ready yet," they told me. Grrr.
I think they should give priority to books that are in a series. Don't they realize the anticipation it's building?
Need. This. Book!
But. Back to ELS. I'm reasonably pro-fairy (they're cute and have a lot of story potential) and most definitely pro-theatre (having come to New York thinking I'd somehow take Broadway by storm).
But--and this is something that I know isn't just me--I hate openings that have more dialog than narration. Drives me up the (subway, in this case) wall. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Plus, the ridiculous fairy names (and so many of them! Could barely keep something-puff from something-flower) didn't help either.
Lesson for the day: IMO, you should ensure there's at least a 2:1 ratio of narration to dialog in your opening.
4 comments:
I tried Eyes Like Stars too... confusing and I just didn't care about any of the characters. I think I got 10 pages in?
I'm a sucker for fairy stories, and the squished fairies book in the previous post is definitely going to be gifted to someone I know - or perhaps just myself.
Squished fairies...I'm imagining it less gross and more artistic, like the splattering of vivid paints and loads of glitter.
Hi Ally,
Yes, oddly enough, the smashed fairies--like all of Brian Froud's work--are quite beautiful. Some are a little grotesque, but still, somehow, watercolor-lovely. See: http://www.worldoffroud.com/www/cott/lcbook/ldy2.cfm. I also really liked his The Faerie Oracle--it's a tarot-like set with a book describing each character and a deck of gorgeous cards.
I hope you keep up the "books I would have rejected" theme. The subjectivity of publishing is always interesting. Of course, agents have as diverse tastes as readers, which must make it tough to guess the market!
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