News, essays and notes on writing
I must admit to not pulling punches when I edit. That attitude comes partly from my experiences with editors whose brutal honesty I have come to respect and appreciate, and partly from their admonition to return the favour when my time came. And, like our Senior Editor Dr.
I don’t often intrude with personal paradigm and thought here, have always felt it too personal, too crass to discuss in public these ideals which guide my life and thereby this publishing house. But today, inspired by a voice I’ve often read and always admired, I break with that self-imposed restriction.
When Five Rivers launched into publishing, it was with humble beginnings and a small catalogue, primarily my own works. It was never my intention for Five Rivers to be a vanity house, yet in those first two years we were very embryonic, soliciting manuscripts and developing our mandate, which was to be a showcase of new and established Canadian voices.
Any of you who know me, also know I’ve bleated on for some years regarding the profound changes occurring in publishing, how it is the traditional method of publishing and bringing books to market is obsolete and simply not viable in today’s global, technology-driven economy.
In the publishing world the turn of every new year raises discussion of marketing strategies for possible literary awards. Marketing strategies for awards, you ask? Indeed yes. Let it not be thought that even in a juried award that some tacit form of opinion lobbying doesn’t take place.
For as long as I can remember I’ve been reading articles, and listening to discussions, about creating the perfect pitch to a publisher. I used to spend hours refining cover letters, CVs, synopses, and then refining again when the manuscript would be rejected, again, by my prospective publisher.
Gary and I often sit in the evening discussing the day’s events, how business is chugging along, the progress of various books in production. And part of that discussion often revolves around marketing, awards and reviews.
Once again I find myself stunned by the increasingly moralistic, repressive response we seem to be experiencing in Western society. My astonishment is centred around PayPal’s recent McCarthyistic bullying of Smashwords, among others.
I’m going to delve into purely Five Rivers house style. We have an aversion here to the overuse of quotation marks and italics to create emphasis on a word. If you’ve written your sentence or scene well, emphasis will be implied without any additional gimmick by way of quotation marks or italics. Again the rule, less is more, should apply.
While we’re dealing with speculative and science fiction, I’m going to deal with overdone dystopia in SF literature. Just as the evening news focuses on catastrophe, so does SF literature focus on a future that’s gone to fiery regions in a wicker contraption. In fact dystopia has become so common in SF that it’s simply an accepted scenario.
We either see sex scenes that belong in an issue of Hustler, explicit in detail and street language, or love scenes reminiscent of saccharine romances. It’s rare to find a debut manuscript that handles erotica of any kind with a deft hand and subtle impact.
I’m afraid I’m a tyrant about good research.
I’m guilty of this, I have to admit. I love words. I love language. Sometimes I get so carried away with descriptors I forget about advancing the plot, and sharpening prose to a keen edge.