The Publishing Contrarian

You and I owe Frederick G. Kilgour a big THANK YOU. Because of this recently deceased librarian’s pioneering work, just a few days ago we became able to go directly to www.worldcat.org and locate the library closest to home or office that has any given book, CD or video we would like to checkout, download or view directly, even if the closest copy is 1000 miles away––or even a continent away. It’s that simple! All we have to do is type in the name of the book, CD or video AND our ZIP code. The library network we tap into links 55,000 institutions in 110 countries!

It works. I tried it! I typed in the title of one of my old, out-of-print books. Worldcat reported one copy in a library about 20 miles from where I am right now. There were no copies in my local branch of the library. Interestingly, there were copies in other languages in other countries. Yes, it’s the magic of computers once again! The intra-state library database has gone global. 

Let’s Go Worldcatting!

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What a great idea to have Novel Night at the library in East Hampton, New York. An estimated 250 author groupies showed up at the cocktail party held on a lush grassy patch of lawn behind the library and approximately 375 deeper-pocketed benefactors/patrons/sponsors headed over to “one of 22 lovely East Hampton private homes” for dinner later that night where authors would hold court.

Of course, it is very busy in The Hamptons this time of year and I was torn about which of five big events to attend. Former President Bill Clinton and Junior Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton were in town for two very pricey fundraisers. I thought about going, but I just couldn’t see how I could force down $1000 worth of scrambled eggs at breakfast and knock back $2000 worth of margaritas at the cocktail hour, and still be able make it to my event of choice, Novel Night, at 6:30 pm—where all those local authors were corralled and captive under the big tent.

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If you are sitting holed up in a dark corner working on the magnum opus that will rock the literary word and catapult you into the stratosphere of book publishing, but are lamenting your pitiful inability to get a literary agent or editor to appreciate your genius, and you think there is nothing wrong with your query letter, synopsis and sample chapter, then shelve The Writer Magazine, shut down your computer and step out into the sunshine and start networking your way to a literary agent or editor. 

Meet One New Person A Week

One of the biggest mistakes I made when working as a young director of sales and then a group publisher of developmental product at A/S/M Corporation (former publishers of AdWeek magazine) was that I spent too much time on the actual business of publishing and not enough time on the business of lunch. “Lunch” should be a 24/7 event. Lunch means getting out, being seen and elbowing your way around the publishing industry whenever and wherever you can: front door, side door, back door.

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