The Observer tells the story behind the publication of Home Land, Sam Lipsyte’s hilarious novel that two years ago was turned down by 24 publishing houses, then published in England, and is now finally available here in the United States in a trade paperback put out by Picador. Since then, it’s received positive reviews in The New York Times and New Yorker and garnered some major blogger buzz. (I picked up a copy this weekend and so far it’s as wrenchingly funny as everyone’s been promising.)
However, the story behind how the book nearly “became the tombstone of Mr. Lipsyte’s career” is sobering, shedding light on how publishing works today and the dangers that face mid-career writers. (link via Sarah.)
(For the Total Downer Experience, read the Observer piece in tandem with Justine’s essays on first-time novel advances. If you’re a writer, the net psychological effect neatly combines the hysterical paranoia brought on by smoking too much weed with the sense of doomed certainty that one will die miserable, poor and alone that comes with the fifth g & t of the evening: Yay!)
Take-home message: smoke just the right amount of weed. And stop after the 4th g&t.
Comment by Jimmy Beck — 2/9/2005 @ 4:34 pm
Words to live by, JB.
Comment by CAAF — 2/9/2005 @ 4:39 pm
The story of multitudinous rejections is not a new one. The most extreme instance that I know of was Tibor Fischer’s rejection by 56 of the 58 imprints in Britain.
By all accounts Homeland is a worthy book. But it should come as no surprise that the book publishing world is rife with, uh, serendippity and irrationality.
Actually the surprsingh thing is that (seemingly) savvy observers frequently express shock and such.
Comment by birnbaum — 2/10/2005 @ 8:45 am
Which Fischer was that, RB? Thought Gang?
While I’ll agree that publishing has never been an easy bizness, the Observer piece chronicles some new crinkles that are worth knowing about. In other words, while it’s the same old shit, it is a different day.
Sarah outlines them in her post but they are:
1) Use of computers to track authors’ previous sales records. This translates into publishers being less likely to take on midcareer writers who haven’t sold a gazillion books.
2) More in-house decisions made by committee (and we know how well committees think)
3) More money for debut authors, leaves less for midcareer.
4) There’s also a weird thing about marketing, i.e., that it’s better if you’re the age of your protaganist … so that your readers can identify with you. Which is horseshit as far as writing but somehow the spirit of the zeitgeist.
What’s interesting about the “big advances for debut novelists” is that a couple writers have written to tell me that it’s strange to see that first-time novel advances (see post about Justine’s essays) have gone down from when they first published their first books. Which leads me to think while a few authors hit the jackpot with their first novel advance, the majority will not.
Nothing in this to make one stop writing. But important to know …
I have a good friend whose had trouble placing his third novel (it’s been placed now) and I think he felt really confused and rejected while the process was going on. Esp. as his second novel was pretty successful as literary novels go. And I think it’s good to be reminded that you’re not the only one going through stuff.
Comment by CAAF — 2/10/2005 @ 9:27 am