I'm pretty terrible at marketing. Most of it is attitude: I don't like thinking of writers as salesmen. Part of it is my extreme displeasure with Homo Consumerus, our new cultural form, and part of it is dislike of competition in the arts. I must be a commie for I'd as soon see all art works published and presented anonymously and given away free with artists on a standard income from the government. I know, I know.
At any rate, this is the backdrop for something I did a few months ago that for me was very difficult. I'd decided to bundle two short novels sharing a theme of "love after 9/11" and bring the book out in 2007. I then decided to do something I'd never done before: seek blurbs. Blurbs are those nice things writers more famous than you say about your work. I decided to write five very well known Northwest writers, whose work I admire, to send them a pre-publication book (like a galley), and invite a blurb if they had time and inclination to give one. I requested to receive same, if one was coming, before the end of the year.
A few weeks ago, I heard from the most famous of the five, saying he didn't give blurbs but wishing me luck. As the end of the year approached, I wondered if I'd get any blurbs at all -- not getting any would be like being refused admittance into the literary country club. I prepared for the worst with my usual cynical egomania. Fuck 'em.
Well, wonder of wonders, today the mail brought a blurb! I can't believe it.
In his compelling work, Charles Deemer focuses on ordinary people whose lives undergo extraordinary windshifts after the tragedy. His vivid characters love, divorce, die, and go to war. Deemer’s fine portrayals make the reader care about each character – writers, students, teachers, patriots and even tramps. This is a fine work with strong narrative and clean, clear prose. Everyone should read it and rethink their own lives.
-- Craig Lesley, three Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Awards, the Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award for Best Novel, and an Oregon Book Award.
There was a nice personal note attached as well. This is cool. I've had very little validation as a novelist, compared to my relative success as a short story writer, playwright and screenwriter, so it means a lot to me that Lesley dug the book and is willing to go on record saying so. All this is such a crapshoot, you never know who is going to like what.
I'm not sure when the book will be out. Spring, maybe. I have a lot of grunt work to do first.
No comments:
Post a Comment