reality check
8:30. Phone call. By a weird turn of circumstances I am not asleep, but rather washed, awake and in a work mode. On the other side of the phone there a laconic voice who calls me by my name and pretty soon I realize I am talking to one of the editors from the publishing house I am currently doing freelance lectorships for.
My latest report, about a book that has been selling like hotcakes all over the world, has been understood as a recommendation of rejection. What? No, no, that is not what I meant entirely.
Well, but you mention the book's disadvantages.
...
Srsly? Srsly? Just because I'm not gushing over something like a fourteen-year-old on fairy-stereoids and pointing out both the bad and the good (which are more extensive) parts? Just because I am aware, and trying to make the editors aware, that the audience for which this book is intended is - albeit wide - specific? Just because I mention that as a literary piece this book will not go far beyond a movie (maybe a sequel, or even trilogy if they have a good director).
Yes.
It takes me a few moments to understand this, but this is a publishing house. Business. Sales' is the loudest voice. No one really cares about a piece of profound literary value. This isn't bad, per se. It is a fact. And if I wish to work in the field, I will have to remember this. There are books you breathe and books you sell. Recognizing these is good. Collapsing them will not help me in the least.
I am, by the way, taken in by the book, and wholeheartedly believe it is worth investing time and money in. It is exciting and engaging and freaks you out entirely! But it's no Shakespeare.
My latest report, about a book that has been selling like hotcakes all over the world, has been understood as a recommendation of rejection. What? No, no, that is not what I meant entirely.
Well, but you mention the book's disadvantages.
...
Srsly? Srsly? Just because I'm not gushing over something like a fourteen-year-old on fairy-stereoids and pointing out both the bad and the good (which are more extensive) parts? Just because I am aware, and trying to make the editors aware, that the audience for which this book is intended is - albeit wide - specific? Just because I mention that as a literary piece this book will not go far beyond a movie (maybe a sequel, or even trilogy if they have a good director).
Yes.
It takes me a few moments to understand this, but this is a publishing house. Business. Sales' is the loudest voice. No one really cares about a piece of profound literary value. This isn't bad, per se. It is a fact. And if I wish to work in the field, I will have to remember this. There are books you breathe and books you sell. Recognizing these is good. Collapsing them will not help me in the least.
I am, by the way, taken in by the book, and wholeheartedly believe it is worth investing time and money in. It is exciting and engaging and freaks you out entirely! But it's no Shakespeare.