Saturday 5 September 2009

"Finding the Debutants"



There is an interview with Will on the Bookseller site on the subject of MNW, with some interesting sales figures (well done Ann and Brian - and Will and Sophie ...)

16 comments:

Ellie said...

Thanks, Len. Interesting link.

http://abebedorespgondufo.blogs.sapo.pt/ said...

Good blog.
Portugal

Frances Garrood said...

Thanks, Len, for this post, and well done to Will for standing his ground. I'm amazed that there still seems to be an undercurrent of hostility towards MNW, and am totally bemused by the comment that being a WNW is 'like throwing mud against a wall'. What mud? What wall? What bollocks!

Frances Garrood said...

Thanks, Len, for this post, and well done to Will for standing his ground. I'm amazed that there still seems to be an undercurrent of hostility towards MNW, and am totally bemused by the comment that being a WNW is 'like throwing mud against a wall'. What mud? What wall? What bollocks!

Frances Garrood said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ann Weisgarber said...

Thanks, Len, for keying us into the interview. Will is one cool customer in the face of continuing doubts and verbal slings. Alis is too; thank you for speaking up. As for me, I'm not feeling so cool as I consider the mud on the wall comment. It's fine to voice concerns about a new business model; change is often scary. But to call the authors a piece of mud? Inexcusable.

Faye L. Booth said...

That 'mud-throwing' line literally made me laugh out loud. Oh please.

Len Tyler said...

Not sure how much I like being compared to mud either (though, honestly I've been called worse). Of course some agents don't like MNW because they lose out - though only in the short-term.

Worth noting though that a lot of people have been very supportive of the MNW imprint - see for example Martin Edwards's comments in today's review of James McCreet - see
http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com/2009/09/incendiarys-trail.html

Faye L. Booth said...

My more detailed comments are on my blog: http://fayelbooth.blogspot.com/2009/09/if-i-were-sufficiently-undignfied-as-to.html

mattfwcurran.com Web Admin said...

Len

Many thanks for posting this link. It's an interesting article, both in terms of profile, but also the continued hostility against the imprint which is quite bewildering. You would think they would have learned by now.
Equally bewildering is the stance of Anthony Goff who has not helped his cause at all, nor the agents he represents with the apparent disdain he shows writers and their choices. Though I have to remember this is the society to which a cowboy agent I had dealings with was a member of - so the SoAA is not a flawless source of wisdom, but as Len says, agents are only looking after themselves after all.
Still, it's nice to see MNW is still controversial, even when those voices creating the controversy are reducing to incessant yapping lost in the loud rush from aspiring writers around the country (12,000!!) who want to be published by a damn fine imprint.

My advice to writers is always speak to those who are involved in the whole process from the bottom - such as the writer - than those who have their separate agenda (Anthony Goff, take a bow...)

David Isaak said...

After all the abuse heaped upon the imprint before its first book even rolled off the press, I can't get too worked up over the "mud" remark.

Like Faye, I laughed.

Alis said...

Thanks for this Len - slightly astonished to see myself quoted but at least it was accurate and, yes, I am 'fiercely loyal' to my literary home!
The mud quote - I'm not even sure what it means? What's the wall - the public? The literary scene? Bewildering.

Faye L. Booth said...

Frankly, I'm a little disappointed that the SoA (how many of us "pieces of mud" pay them membership fees?) have set Mouth Almighty loose on this. Of course, the views of one employee don't necessarily reflect...yatteryatteryatter...but you see what I mean.

mattfwcurran.com Web Admin said...

Hi Faye

Bookseller have fucked up on this one - Anthony Goff isn't the Acting President of the Society of Author's Agents, but the Association of Author's Agents, which is very much different to the SOA (and not to be confused with an organisation who hasn't really been that negative towards MNW). Which is pretty shoddy journalism as it would be pretty easy to make the mistake of blaming the SOA (my membership is up for renewal and I thought twice about it because of the Bookseller article). However, I'll let Bookseller off just this once, because it's good to get MNW's profile out on the 'net...

PS: By the way, everyone should check out the "Ask a Macmillan New Writer" link as Baher Ibrahim has asked about the difference between MNW and the Harpercollins initiative and I'm stumped if I can see a vast difference between the two without too much digging... Anyone got an answer?

Faye L. Booth said...

Matt - ah, that's a relief.

mewmewmew said...

Shame on those who will attempt to strip others of their dignity and their right to walk among us as equals on this earth.