Wicked Witch Smokes Cigars with Ron Hogan of Galleycat.com
What a beautiful place, I thought, as I walked into The Carnegie Club in New York City. Great selection for a quiet meeting to “dis” and “dish” about online publishing, writers, editors, authors, the publishing industry, independent bookstores, Barnes & Noble and Borders. What better source of insider information is there than Ron Hogan, all 6’4” of him? He and his colleague Sarah Weinman crank out the kind of information that has made them the first click in the morning for those who know and those who want to know what’s going on in the publishing industry right now.
From about a half-a-block away I saw Ron waiting politely outside The Carnegie Club. Thank goodness, I thought. It’s always a relief to me not to walk into a bar alone and decide whether to stand self-consciously by the coat check or slip onto a bar stool and hope (particularly at 4:30 in the afternoon) that no one thinks I’m there for a jump on happy hour.
“Funny kind of a smoky smell in here,” I commented to the waiter as he escorted Ron and me to a cozy, quiet corner near the windows overlooking West 56th Street. “That is because,” the waiter said, “you’re in a cigar bar.”
That’s a “second,” I thought, having wandered into my first cigar bar recently with a cigar smoking friend in Sag Harbor, NY. I actually love the smell of most cigars and my head snaps up at the scent of that cherry tobacco with which men used to fill their pipes before pipe smoking fell out of favor and cigarette smoking was banned almost everywhere—except cigar bars.
So Ron and I hunkered down, with him smoking his cigar and me smoking by proximity, drawing in all the second hand smoke I could get.
Ron and I talked about a lot of things, many of which I plan to blog about. He’s headed for Washington, DC and BEA–BookExpo America—which is billed as “the largest event serving the book market in the world.” I’m thinking about going. I have it on good authority (Ron’s) that press passes are given out liberally to bloggers who blog about books and the publishing industry. I might ride the rails from NYC to DC and spend a few days networking and loading up on free books, though you can only carry and then read so many books. Frank Wilson, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s book review editor and Books Inq. blogger, also asked if I am I going. So, I’m thinking about it. I’m tempted.
We also talked about the Indian princess who has fallen from grace. I still feel so bad that the disgrace of this will haunt Kaavya Viswanathan for the rest of her life. She didn’t think about that when she cadged more than a few lines from Megan McCafferty’s books. Kaavya is much too young to understand the stigma of being caught cheating. She should have a chat with Senator Ted Kennedy about his Harvard experience. (People may not talk about it, but they always remember, and if they forget, believe me, someone will remind them, whether it’s one year or thirty years from today. Look, I just mentioned Senator Kennedy. If you don’t know what I am talking about, it won’t take you long to find someone who does.) And call me just too empathetic, but I can only imagine what her family is going through: Higher than high one minute on the glory brought to the family and then ….
We talked about “real” salaries in publishing and how much people really make given the hours editors, for example, spend working in the office and working at home at night and over the weekend. I have it on good authority (mine) that in the city most senior editors max out at about $75,000 or $6250/month and then fall into the 25-28% tax bracket. (That’ll make you borrow receipts from a friend!) Seventy-five thousand, by the way, is considered a very good salary in publishing. I’m not talking about the publishers and I’m not talking about the “star” editors making a few hundred thousand or several hundred thousand dollars a year. I’m talking about someone who has an adequate track record of successes and has been around for a while, doing creative quitting along the way to squeeze a two- or three-thousand-dollar raise out of the next publishing company. I don’t know any editor who works only a 38 or 40 hour week. My guess is that many editors work a 50-60+ work week. How much are they making when you factor in all those hours? How much do they have to live on? In New York City a one-bedroom apartment is renting for about $2300 - $2500/month. Throw in a garage (outdoor or indoor, side street, not avenue) and you can add $350-$400/month. No wonder editors walk around with the lining of their pockets hanging out and eyes dialated and fixed from exhaustion.
Ron and I talked about driving traffic to websites and blogs. Mediabistro’s Galleycat.com has the publishing industry pacing outside its door at dawn each morning. Thousands of people drop by each day. I do, too. I’d be interested to know how galleycat.com and publishersweekly.com compare in unique hits each day. (Notice I am saying unique hits, not just hits. There’s a difference: the former being someone entering the blog, the latter being the number of pages viewed by the former.) Of course, it’s none of my business, but that doesn’t usually stop me from asking!
Nice chat with Ron! Two drinks (Ron), two diet cokes (the Wicked Witch of Publishing), two cigars (Ron) and an entire bowl of mixed nuts (the Wicked Witch of Publishing) and we parted at the corner of 56th and Seventh avenue. Ron headed uptown and I headed for the play Shining City with Oliver Platt on Broadway.
The next morning when I woke up, I thought: WHAT IS THAT STINK! I sniffed around the apartment, but the stink was everywhere. Actually, it seemed like it was following me. Of course, it was my hair! It reeked of cigar smoke and the pile of clothes thrown on the chair in the corner of the apartment stank, too. No wonder people seated next to me at the play were leaning as far away from me as possible and seemed to have hankies over their noses much of the time. No wonder on the subway ride home people slid a little bit away on the seat.
Next time, Ron, I’m picking the place–a juice bar.
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April 30th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
Go to the Book Expo.
May 1st, 2006 at 6:54 am
oooo….I knew it!!
LOL
Sign me up.
Hope you got that cigar smell out of your clothes - hair is easy, clothes are more difficult. Ugh.
Not a fan.
However in retrospect, I do have to say that this is probably the one thing I didn’t try in the bad old days…maybe if they looked more appealing…but no, I don’t think so. The smell always bothered me too much.
As for the Book Expo, of course you should go.
How else are we supposed to get a first hand report?
May 1st, 2006 at 7:44 am
I share your concern re: the long-term outcome on the poor little Indian princess. And, while I loathe the lack of character of authors like her and Frey, I can’t help but ponder how much she was encouraged or pressured into swiping and/or fibbing by marketing pimps eager to capitalize on a prettyyoung face.
May 1st, 2006 at 7:51 am
I posted my thoughts about Kaavya over the weekend. I hope you go to BEA if only so you’ll blog about it.
May 1st, 2006 at 8:00 am
Hi, Karin. Thanks for dropping by. Yes, I, too feel that in many ways the problems in Opal are the result of bulldozing the author.
May 1st, 2006 at 1:31 pm
Heck fire, I’m of the generation that should remember Ted Kennedy’s Harvard experience, but I don’t. He’s done quite well, though, even with Chappaquiddick, and so will young Kaavya if she plays her cards right. She’s not sorry she did it–she’s sorry she got caught. But everyone loves a sinner/come-back artist and she will be either a best selling author or a corporate lawyer, where they love such behavior.
As far as incomes, it’s all lights and mirrors. The average US cop pulls in 55,000 a year, the firefighter about 48, and both are stripped of most of their Social Security because of their occupations. The average CEO limps along on 11.75 million. Hank McKinnell of Pfizer is trying to survive on a pension of 6.5 million–and gets his full social security, bless his heart.
Our priorities are wrong all over, including in the writing and publishing industry. Part of the problem for young Kaavya is the publishing industry’s hunger to find brilliant young prodigies from five years old and up, put out tripe of any kind–the penny arcade of publishing.
May 2nd, 2006 at 5:51 am
I’m not having any luck at all finding lodging in Washington, DC anywhere near BEA. I’m canvasing B&B’s and apartments online right now. Rooms have been booked for months. Yes, BEA is a HUGE event. Short of sleeping under a bridge or day-tripping it from NYC, I’m not too optimistic right now, but I requested press credentials from BEA just in case I turn something up that is under $1500/night! No kidding, that’s what is left. I’d like to go, but not THAT much.
Is it cherry blossom time in Washington that week, too?
May 2nd, 2006 at 8:00 am
For the record, I think there is a big difference between Kaavya and James Frey, one being that Frey is (theoretically) old enough to know better. But that’s neither here nor there. Lynne, the reason you’re having trouble finding rooms is that BEA was booked in Washington the same weekend as a big real estate conference, one that wasn’t using the convention center but did book up all the in-town hotels. The “official” ABA hotels this time are actually in Crystal City which, though some distance away, is convenient to the convention center via the subway. You may have better luck trying in that area.
I’ll be there because I have to–my wife is president of the Southern Independent Booksellers’ Alliance board, and I’m on the ABA’s Bookseller Advisory Committee. So let us know if you plan on making it down. You do get some decent swag on the show floor, but it’s also completely overwhelming. Getting caught in human traffic jams in the bigger booths is common. I myself find our regional trade show to be a lot more fun.
May 2nd, 2006 at 10:21 am
Thanks, Frazer. No wonder I am having such a hard time with a reservation.
By the way, Maxine Clarke’s blog Petrona and David Thayer’s blog Booksquare for two views of Kaavya Viswanathan that are well worth reading.
May 7th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
Hi Lynne:
I’m afraid that my cynical take on the whole thing is even worse: those editors and others involved have such a low opinion of readers that they will forge ahead with anything that bodes to become a cash cow. If a reader thinks that she has read it before, will she care? Further, will she care enough to try to remember where she read it? In the rush and hustle of work and play, will she remember wondering about it? Alas…
I am a native Seattleite who is happily ensconced in Cannon Beach at the Cannon Beach Book Company.
Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing: Valerie has been a bookseller for 26 years. The Wicked Witch has been to Cannon Beach many times via cafe racer! What a fabulous place.
May 8th, 2006 at 9:42 am
Hi Lynn, read your blog. Funny story about Ron Hogan. Re: Kaavya:
>>>>>>>>>Kaavya is much too young to understand the stigma of being caught cheating.
You’re kidding???!! That’s an excuse on which she will heavily rely. She has put out this image of a very bright and her attendance at Harvard supports that — so I’m confident of her understanding. Her youth may have bolstered her hope that she wouldn’t get caught.
It’s unfortunate that her family has to go through this with her in such a public way, but that happens when anyone does something idiotic or criminal and gets caught and/or publicized. But they didn’t do anything and that’s their out: We’re sad she did it, don’t know why, know we raised her better, but bottom line, she chose to do it.
DA
May 8th, 2006 at 7:19 pm
The Indian princess may have a tough road to hoe on the homefront. Hopefully, the funeral pyre is not built yet or the arranged wedding happening right now. She may have to change her name and go the witness protection routine. Wonder where her home town is. It’ll be in the legals soon.
Yeah, I used to love the smell of cigarettes and pipes. I hung out with my late mother when I was a little kid going to see the reporter and sucking in the smoke.
Last book I read was a great one: “The Wright 3” by Blue Balliott. For kids but great fare for a 49 year old, too. The one before that I got for free at PLA in Boston: “How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved my Life” by Mameve Medwed. It was amusing. The ultimate best read in years is “The Deafening” by Frances Itani. “Fashion is Spinach” was really good, too. 1938. I’m a huge fan of Ivan Doig and I’m looking forward to reading his new book. He writes slow and well.
-Rowena in Newport, Rhode Island
May 10th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
She can easily overcome this. She can write a book about how she wrote her book at 17 years old with the help of her manager and the folks at Alloy. Let’s see–she can’t use Shattered Glass; it’s taken. How about “I’m Sari”?