tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15916138.post114884737394743049..comments2023-09-25T05:45:41.437-07:00Comments on The Art of Fiction: McCrums of ComfortUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15916138.post-1149071543361983732006-05-31T03:32:00.000-07:002006-05-31T03:32:00.000-07:00I have a friend who is exactly the same predicamen...I have a friend who is exactly the same predicament. First book rush of publicity, second book distinct lack of interest from his publishers...Adrian Slatcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13946068316432524571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15916138.post-1149071073827543342006-05-31T03:24:00.000-07:002006-05-31T03:24:00.000-07:00Sorry - what I meant to write was 'harder being a ...Sorry - what I meant to write was 'harder being a has-been THAN a novelist who HAS yet to make it to publication'. So hot under the collar, see...Elizabeth Baineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17193751871434773972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15916138.post-1148989676542648162006-05-30T04:47:00.000-07:002006-05-30T04:47:00.000-07:00Yeah, there was some lack of clarity, and I found ...Yeah, there was some lack of clarity, and I found I had to read it 'from a distance' as it were, to try and get the gist. But the point he's making about big advances is this, I think, and one which the lit mag MsLexia dealt with in the last issue: if an author gets a big advance, as the Londonstani guy did, then the novel absolutely has to be a huge success, ie like sell a million, so that the advance is earned back. If the author fails to do this, then however much he might be a success in critical terms and even sales, no way will the publisher bother with his second novel, cos they'll look at the computer point-of-sale record and see that they lost money on his last. As McCrum says, Londonstani is now being airbrushed from the records and this will be why. This is also why publishers are always now looking for the Next New Thing, ie first-time novelists: they have no poor sales record since they have none at all, and have the pie-in-the-sky potential to be best-sellers. It's why I am always saying that in this cultural climate every new literary sensation is a has-been in the making. And believe me, it's harder being a has-been that a novelist who hasn't yet to make it to publication - I know from personal experience!!!!Elizabeth Baineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17193751871434773972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15916138.post-1148988087444586212006-05-30T04:21:00.000-07:002006-05-30T04:21:00.000-07:00Hi, I spotted the article and was equally bemused....Hi, I spotted the article and was equally bemused. In fact, I ran a short piece on my own <A HREF="http://rogersplog.blogspot.com/2006/05/theres-no-pleasing-some-people.html" REL="nofollow">blog</A>.Roger Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08071467030127707462noreply@blogger.com