Book Industry Characters - Nora Rawlinson
Meet just one of the many characters that make up the book world. Every few days I'll post a new profile of a Book Industry Character and to meet more, create your profile on myBEA. On myBEA you can organize your schedule and to-do lists, build your FREE custom Daily Planner and connect with other Book Industry Characters! Membership to myBEA is FREE to all registered attendees. We have almost 6,000 attendees and 4,200 exhibitor staff and 927 Exhibiting Companies on My BEA now.
Who are you?
Nora Rawlinson, Co-Founder (with Fred Ciporen) of Early Word (http://www.earlyword.com/), a new Web site that connects librarians and publishers. We want to treat the library market the way good publishing sales reps treat their customers -- giving them insider tips on the upcoming list and recently pubbed titles that are on the rise.
Why did you start Early Word?
Libraries are an important market for publishers, but most publishers don’t know how to reach them. That’s why I’m doing two panels this year -- How Libraries Buy (Saturday, 9:30 to 10:30, Room 402 A) & What Librarians Wish Publishers Knew (Saturday, 1:30 to 2:30, Room 402A). The Web site gives librarians useful publishing contact information and identifies titles that are getting buzz. For instance, we were the first to write about The Art of Racing in the Rain, which had great buzz at the Public Library Assoc. meeting at the end of March.
If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing?
Working in a library!
What are you reading?
I just finished re-reading a 1980 book on publishing, The Blockbuster Complex. It got a lot of attention when it was first published as an article (a very long article) in the New Yorker. The author, Thomas Whitehead, announced that publishing had become a business (shocker), with books selling as many as 200,000 copies, that big money was being paid for advances and the status of editors had changed (and, as a result, the standards of editing had declined) and the midlist was suffering.
I find this oddly encouraging – if we’re still talking about midlist books, it means they are still with us. In fact, midlist has a new life, since many trade paperback successes are born there.
The book also has some great publishing lore and a wonderful interview with then S&S CEO, Dick Snyder, which is vintage Snyder. Get from your library.
What's the last trip you took?
Two weeks in an apartment in Taormina, Sicily. Our balcony had a great view of Mt. Etna and the Aeolian Sea. I took SO many pictures of Etna; it changes constantly. Can’t wait to go back.
What's the worst part of your job?
My boss (please don’t let her see this!). She’s demanding, unreasonable and a perfectionist. Plus, she never gives me a vacation.
How many BEA's have you attended?
So many that I may have actually attended more ABA’s than BEA’s. I went to my first one when I was the librarian in charge of buying for Baltimore County Public Library. The ABA was definitely not librarian-friendly. One of our wholesalers urged us to go because “that’s where the books are” and he snuck me in. What a revelation. I went every year after. When I was Editor of Library Journal, I encouraged other librarians to attend. We even made up “I Buy Books” stickers for librarians to put on their badges, to try to generate librarian friendliness. It’s great to see the change.
What’s your favorite BEA moment?
I think it’s coming up – I can’t wait to see Lewis Black perform. My second favorite was watching Knopf publicity director Paul Bogaards talk to the Secret Service on his cell phone when Bill Clinton was the BEA keynoter.
What's your drink of choice (latte, scotch, vitamin water, etc)?
Whatever you’re buying.
What excites you about our business?
Trying to figure out what draws people to particular books.
Who are you?Nora Rawlinson, Co-Founder (with Fred Ciporen) of Early Word (http://www.earlyword.com/), a new Web site that connects librarians and publishers. We want to treat the library market the way good publishing sales reps treat their customers -- giving them insider tips on the upcoming list and recently pubbed titles that are on the rise.
Why did you start Early Word?
Libraries are an important market for publishers, but most publishers don’t know how to reach them. That’s why I’m doing two panels this year -- How Libraries Buy (Saturday, 9:30 to 10:30, Room 402 A) & What Librarians Wish Publishers Knew (Saturday, 1:30 to 2:30, Room 402A). The Web site gives librarians useful publishing contact information and identifies titles that are getting buzz. For instance, we were the first to write about The Art of Racing in the Rain, which had great buzz at the Public Library Assoc. meeting at the end of March.
If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing?
Working in a library!
What are you reading?
I just finished re-reading a 1980 book on publishing, The Blockbuster Complex. It got a lot of attention when it was first published as an article (a very long article) in the New Yorker. The author, Thomas Whitehead, announced that publishing had become a business (shocker), with books selling as many as 200,000 copies, that big money was being paid for advances and the status of editors had changed (and, as a result, the standards of editing had declined) and the midlist was suffering.
I find this oddly encouraging – if we’re still talking about midlist books, it means they are still with us. In fact, midlist has a new life, since many trade paperback successes are born there.
The book also has some great publishing lore and a wonderful interview with then S&S CEO, Dick Snyder, which is vintage Snyder. Get from your library.
What's the last trip you took?
Two weeks in an apartment in Taormina, Sicily. Our balcony had a great view of Mt. Etna and the Aeolian Sea. I took SO many pictures of Etna; it changes constantly. Can’t wait to go back.
What's the worst part of your job?
My boss (please don’t let her see this!). She’s demanding, unreasonable and a perfectionist. Plus, she never gives me a vacation.
How many BEA's have you attended?
So many that I may have actually attended more ABA’s than BEA’s. I went to my first one when I was the librarian in charge of buying for Baltimore County Public Library. The ABA was definitely not librarian-friendly. One of our wholesalers urged us to go because “that’s where the books are” and he snuck me in. What a revelation. I went every year after. When I was Editor of Library Journal, I encouraged other librarians to attend. We even made up “I Buy Books” stickers for librarians to put on their badges, to try to generate librarian friendliness. It’s great to see the change.
What’s your favorite BEA moment?
I think it’s coming up – I can’t wait to see Lewis Black perform. My second favorite was watching Knopf publicity director Paul Bogaards talk to the Secret Service on his cell phone when Bill Clinton was the BEA keynoter.
What's your drink of choice (latte, scotch, vitamin water, etc)?
Whatever you’re buying.
What excites you about our business?
Trying to figure out what draws people to particular books.
0 comments:
Post a Comment