Current mood:	Cliquish
Current music:	Judy Collins - Until a Child is Born

Romance novel publishing wank
Romance author Anne Stewart gives an interview with the All About Romance website. The interview is fairly standard. You've had a long publishing history w/a lot of publishers. At one time I thought
your best books were your Avon historicals, but I think your recent MIRA books have
been really good. Talk as openly as you can about the various publishers and how
you feel about your current contract.
Oh, crap. I'm always honest, you know. I've had trouble with publishers all along.
I probably shouldn't have left Avon -- they were for sale at the time I left and
they didn't seem to have a business plan, so I foolishly thought I could do better.
That was right before they started doing everything right. Zebra didn't know what
to do with me. At the time I was with them they seemed to have lost the ability to
sell historical romance -- all their successes were with suspense. They overpaid
me and then let the books disappear. Which devastated me, but at least I learned
that going for the money is not always a Good Thing.
I don't know what the problem was with Signet. I wrote four really really good books
for them, and they started out very enthusiastic, but that enthusiasm waned over
the years. Those are the sort of things that break a writer's heart.
So now I'm with Mira, who promised to love, honor and adore me. And maybe they do,
but they could do more. I know every writer says that, and I hate to be greedy and
ungrateful, but they're not so much about the books. They're about slots and numbers,
not about passion for what they're putting out there. Or so it seems to me. But then,
right now I'm pretty disillusioned about the lack of support from them. I'll get
over it. Maybe they're right and I'm wrong and I'm a middle of the road writer.
No, they're wrong. I'm a goddess.
And maybe I've misjudged them. It seems to me that they look at my books like boxes
of cereal on a shelf, and they're in the business of selling cereal, not loving it.
Rats. You had to ask me that question! Some day I'll learn to be discreet. </blobkquote>

Needless to say, wank follows. First, literary agent and blogger Miss Snark posts an entry naming Stewart as the Nitwit of the day.

Here's a big hunk of clue cake for everyone at the book buffet: don't diss your publisher
in public. Not now, not ever. Not even if you think you're right, especially when
I know you're wrong.
Anne Stuart c
ouches her nitwittery behind "oh I'm always honest" and "someday I'll learn to be
discreet". Honestly Anne, do you think no one from Mira will see this? Well, ok,
maybe you think they should. Why? Do you think they will have some sort of Road to
Damascus moment and leap up to be passionate about selling your work? Been awhile
since you've worked with people if you think that's a good strategy.
Here's why dissing your publisher is stupid. It removes every desire to go the extra
mile for you. Every and any.
You don't have to be grateful for the work people do for your books. Just don't trash
them in public. People aren't doing all you hoped for to help you? Suck it up, welcome
to the real world.
And if by some chance, you DO say something you regret, you call up or email the
interviewer and say "I've been a true nitwit in that comment, please don't post it
(or please delete it)". You can recover from nitwittery if you work fast. Of course
you can compound it by saying "I was right" and "it's only the truth".
And if you want to comment or email me all atwitter about this post here's what I
have to say to you: "I'm always honest". It's not true of course. I've learned that
discretion is the better part of being a grown up.

Most of the comments to Miss Snark’s entry agree with her, but there are some wanky bits here, including my favorite.

Oh god. The snippy rules and regulations of the conglomerate publishing world. I'd
think you'd be grateful if a writer ripped you self-deluded insular overeductaed
mandarins-- if the writer were any good.
Your focus on manners instead of ethics, knowledge, and real talent is why you're
discovering no great writers. You get instead merely the apple-polishing conformists.
What writer of integrity would want anything to do with you and your endless series
of hoops to jump through?
Would a Tolstoy, a Joyce, a Hemingway?
The entire lit-world is set up to shut out the independent voice.
Who are your well-hyped authors? Clueless rich kids named Pessl and Foer?
Are they telling the real story of this nation?
Do they represent authentic American culture?
If you believe they do, it shows how completely clueless the lot of you are.
Thank you.

However, if you want a much better rebuttal to Miss Snark’s column, fellow romance writer Jennifer Crussie delivers the smackdown.

Highlights include an invocation of Snacky’s Law and accusations of sockpuppetry, although at least I think Crussie manages to be funny about it.

Note that apparently Stewart’s publishers responded to her statements, but I can no longer find their comments and will add them in as necessary.