a very bad memory

Steve Bartman being escorted from Wrigley Field
CBS NEWS on the Bartman Ball

make my day…

interesting reality in publishing

…a reader about how many copies a work of literary fiction needs to sell before it’s considered a success, and the answer’s simple: 7,000 in hardcover.

“If you’ve sold between 4,000 and 7,000 copies, in hardcover, of your literary novel, you did a damned good job… If you sold between 2,000 and 4,000 copies of your literary novel, you sold pretty strongly. You’re still in a good position to have your publisher want to take on your second project, or to comfortably find a home elsewhere.

“If you sold below 1,500 copies, your publisher is probably disappointed, although they will never tell you that. Instead, they will tell you that debuts are hard, and literary fiction is nearly impossible. Both these things are true.”

“Your publisher might also be happier or sadder with your numbers depending on how much they paid for your novel,” she concedes, “but odds are, if it is in fact literary fiction, they bid with these kinds of specs in mind.” And then, in the comments, she explains why switching debuting authors to trade paperback isn’t necessarily a solution: “We need to sell literally 4-5 times as many paperbacks of a book to make the amount of money we would have off of a hardcover, and while MORE books sell in paperback, in the case of MOST books the discrepancy isn’t that great. That means that if national accounts are denying us hardcover placement, there ARE going to be books we’re not going to be able to afford to publish.”

King is ready for the Playoffs

Sports Center King

just give ‘em da moniez why dontcha

Round One: Cubs -v- Dodgers

Saving the house where Superman was born

The house where Google was created is saved. The farm where Hewlett Packard was founded is preserved. And Richard Nixon’s house is a museum. But the house where Superman — one of the world’s most recognized heroes — was created? It’s a wreck. It’s actually a great old house — painted bright red and blue (really) — and owned by one of the kindest elderly couples in the world. But as the neighborhood sank, so did the house. When you walk inside, you feel like your foot might go through the floor. The roof is flawed. The paint is a mess. When you look up at the ceiling, you see the exposed rafters overhead. It’s a mess. Worst of all, the city of Cleveland let it happen.

Christie Lit Estate Revels in New Discovery

The recent discovery of unknown audio recordings by Agatha Christie has created excitement in the literary world along with a few publishing questions. What to do with the tapes–whether and how to publish them–is now being decided, in part, by Chorion, the British company which oversees the Christie estate.

The tapes, discovered by Christie’s grandson in one of the author’s former residences in England, relay Christie dictating the last third of the first draft of her autobiography. Christie was notoriously press shy, making the artifact, which includes 13 and a half hours of tape, of particular interest.

http://www.agathachristie.com/

A new Hamilton….

Harrison Ford, a long time board member of Conservation International has partnered with Hamilton watches to create the Khaki Conservation watch. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of the watch (4,000 units to be offered from mid-November to the end of December) will go to support Conservation International.

The Khaki Conservation is a 42mm stainless steel watch in Hamilton’s Khaki series and has a Swiss automatic GMT movement which can be seen through its see-through case back. The watch’s second time zone highlights locations of CI projects, from Colombia to Indonesia.The signature of Harrison Ford and the Conservation International logo are engraved on the caseback window. And no fancy watch box here, it comes in corrugated recycled cardboard packaging. The watch sells for $1,195.

Walt Disney Signature | Fantasia Collection

After nearly 70 years, Fantasia continues to be an innovative artistic highpoint in Disney’s heritage having received two honorary Academy Awards: for outstanding contribution to the advancement of the use of sound in motion pictures, and unique achievement in the creation of a new form of visualized music. The enduring, enchanting images from Fantasia exemplify Walt’s passionate pursuit of excellence. In developing the Walt Disney Signature Fantasia Collection, we looked to salute the artistry of Fantasia and capture it’s innovative spirit. The writing instruments’ central color story is Royal Blue with silver accents. The fountain pen is enhanced with a 14kt gold nib, available in Fine, Medium and Broad widths. Cartridge/converter fill. The collection is completed with a matching rollerball and ball point pen. 1940 Pens in each Writing Mode.