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| Musings on Writing William Cane says that our culture's obsession with originality has crippled young writers and I agree! When kids start a garage band, they don't start playing original songs. They start by playing cover after cover. They learn the songs they love and then eventually develop their own style and sound. But our education system does not encourage young writers to write in the voice of their favorite writers. The students are encouraged to "be yourself". Consequently, most people trying to write never develop a worthwhile voice - and others stumble on it after years of trying. But William Cane has the book to guide aspiring writers: Write Like the Masters - Emulating The Best of Hemingway, Faulkner, Salinger and Others. It is a wonderful guide and enthusiasm for the writing exercise of emulation and a beautiful book to boot. Pick it up and accelerate your pursuit of finding your voice by covering the greats. Are there any authors in the house?? Publishing is going through a difficult period of adjustment - not unlike what is happening in Detroit. In these times, people are buying fewer cars, and they need a more compelling reason to buy a car than to get the latest model of Cadillac every year. That appetite just is not there any more. And the automotive industry is feeling the pain of adjusting to the new American diet for cars. Publishers too are feeling the compounded pain of fewer people buying books, those people buying even fewer books, and with all the books already available there needing to be an even more compelling need for an individual to purchase a new title. There is a new diet for books and publishers are adjusting. They are acquiring less books and in many cases paying smaller advances for the books they do acquire. In the near term this is bad news for marginal authors, agents and others who rode the wave of publishers putting out over 100,000 new books per year. But it could be good news for authors and agents who understand that it is also an opportunity for those who appreciate which books will thrive. As imprints that previously published hundreds of books per year look to Algonquin; Little, Brown; Riverhead and Twelve as examples of success for the brevity of their list, they will scale back to fewer titles. Let's say sixty instead of one hundred titles per year. But that publisher already has forty house authors that reliably succeed book after book, year after year. So they will pay those authors handsomely to stay put - a bird in hand etc. That only leave twenty opportunities to throw good money in the competition for the few debuts that promise to become house authors, or to pay aggressively to poach another imprint's house author to bring them in the fold. So the advice for aspiring author is to strive to be a house author. Trying just to get published is not enough - hoping to get lucky with one book is a fantasy. To succeed, you will need to exhibit talent and craft that suggest a pipeline of books in the future; a knowledge of your market and capability to reach it consistently; and know what publishers' house you will want to live and work in. You do not want to just stumble around the publishing neighborhood -- because it is getting as tough as Detroit after dark.
To all our Clients and Friends: Thanks to all your hard work and talent, Jamie and I have closed out the best year ever (by far) at Artists and Artisans -- despite the generally unfavorable economic environment. And we want you to know that 2009 is shaping up to be even better. The market continues to demand well executed and positioned books, and with our many recent trips to Hollywood and forays into new media technology we are poised to manage you as storytellers and experts regardless of the health of the book business. So thank you for being part of our story so far, and we hope you are ready for some hard work, fun and success in 2009! With much love and appreciation, we wish you and yours Happy Holidays and all the best in 2009, Adam and Jamie Adam Chromy: People often ask me what it takes to make it as an author. And I tell them they need the right stratitude. Stratitude is the combination of strategy and attitude. You have to have a sound strategy that includes branding and marketing plans and a never say die (or no) attitude to keep trying and do whatever it takes to make that plan work. If you don't have that you are sunk before you start. So don't ever let anyone tell you they don't like your stratitude!
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