Subject
Fw: Fw: VN's on-line editors & "Torpid Smoke"
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary Bellino" <iambe@javanet.com>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (56
lines) ------------------
> From Mary Bellino (iambe@javanet.com):
>
> I remember the incident that Phil Howerton describes below. Ironically
> (in the light of later accusations that he was a liar and a plagiarist)
> the novel was by Jerzy Kosinski -- I think it was The Steps as Rodney
> Welch suggests. In defense of the publishers who rejected the novel (and
> as a cautionary tale for any aspiring authors out there), I also recall
> that the writer began his cover letter (accompanying the submitted
> "manuscript") with "Hello--" rather than "Dear Mr. Smith," thereby
> lowering the editor/publisher's expectations considerably before he'd
> even looked at the ms.
>
> Fiction-editors-for-hire (a job I occasionally do) expect bad writing,
> but more importantly they automatically assume that the client is aiming
> for a mass market and thus actually WANTS TO write to the commercial
> formula, which is what all of the editors' suggestions on "Torpid" Smoke
> were aiming towards. A prospective author of literary (rather than
> commercial) fiction would be very unlikely to consult an online editor,
> so they're on pretty safe ground. And at the prices paid by the guy who
> submitted "Torpid Smoke" (between $3 and $15) he's lucky he got anything
> but the vaguest generalities. I personally would not even read a title
> page for $3.
>
> Mary
>
>
>
> "D. Barton Johnson" wrote:
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Phil Howerton" <phil@carolina.rr.com>
> > To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (46
> > lines) ------------------
> >
> > > The "Torpid Smoke" submission reminds me that about ten or fifteen
years
> > ago
> > > I ran across an article somewhere about a writer--he had been having
> > trouble
> > > getting his stuff published--who typed out a manuscript (and signed
it) of
> > a
> > > novel that had won the national book award five years before for the
best
> > > first novel and sent it to five or six of the leading book publishers
in
> > the
> > > country. Every one of them rejected it. None recognized it.
> > >
> > > What's it all about, Alfie.
> > >
> > > Phil
> > >
> > > Philip F. Howerton, Jr.
> > > 2812 Sunset Drive
> > > Charlotte, NC 28209
> > >
>
> > >
From: "Mary Bellino" <iambe@javanet.com>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (56
lines) ------------------
> From Mary Bellino (iambe@javanet.com):
>
> I remember the incident that Phil Howerton describes below. Ironically
> (in the light of later accusations that he was a liar and a plagiarist)
> the novel was by Jerzy Kosinski -- I think it was The Steps as Rodney
> Welch suggests. In defense of the publishers who rejected the novel (and
> as a cautionary tale for any aspiring authors out there), I also recall
> that the writer began his cover letter (accompanying the submitted
> "manuscript") with "Hello--" rather than "Dear Mr. Smith," thereby
> lowering the editor/publisher's expectations considerably before he'd
> even looked at the ms.
>
> Fiction-editors-for-hire (a job I occasionally do) expect bad writing,
> but more importantly they automatically assume that the client is aiming
> for a mass market and thus actually WANTS TO write to the commercial
> formula, which is what all of the editors' suggestions on "Torpid" Smoke
> were aiming towards. A prospective author of literary (rather than
> commercial) fiction would be very unlikely to consult an online editor,
> so they're on pretty safe ground. And at the prices paid by the guy who
> submitted "Torpid Smoke" (between $3 and $15) he's lucky he got anything
> but the vaguest generalities. I personally would not even read a title
> page for $3.
>
> Mary
>
>
>
> "D. Barton Johnson" wrote:
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Phil Howerton" <phil@carolina.rr.com>
> > To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (46
> > lines) ------------------
> >
> > > The "Torpid Smoke" submission reminds me that about ten or fifteen
years
> > ago
> > > I ran across an article somewhere about a writer--he had been having
> > trouble
> > > getting his stuff published--who typed out a manuscript (and signed
it) of
> > a
> > > novel that had won the national book award five years before for the
best
> > > first novel and sent it to five or six of the leading book publishers
in
> > the
> > > country. Every one of them rejected it. None recognized it.
> > >
> > > What's it all about, Alfie.
> > >
> > > Phil
> > >
> > > Philip F. Howerton, Jr.
> > > 2812 Sunset Drive
> > > Charlotte, NC 28209
> > >
>
> > >