The Dysfunctional Relationship Between GR and Authors (at least in YA)

[Jimmy]

Orianna is too nice.

I'm still waiting for Paul Auster to rebut my review.

[mark]

every time someone says something cutting about JCO, an angel falls crying from heaven. she's the best!

[Jessica]

thank you!
JCO gets pissed on from a great height A LOT.


I happen to love her short stories.

That said, I've never read one of her novels.
Not because I don't like novels (I do), but because her topics don't interest me so much.

[mark]

i am deeply in love with her writing. although admittedly she can be hit or miss. her short stories are great and that may be the ideal format for her. i love the stories in Haunted, Heat, Museum of Dr. Moses, Female of the Species, etc.

[Jimmy]

Jessica wrote: "thank you!
JCO gets pissed on from a great height A LOT.

Really? I thought I was the only one who didn't like her work.

[Jessica]

Oh no, she gets dissed all the time for being so damn productive. For churning out novel after novel. She's a writing machine. I met her once at a conference and it's true, you can see the writing wheels turning as her eyes bore into you.


But, I like her. Again, for her short stories. And some of her essays.

[Jimmy]

Yes, I've met her before too. I just don't like her writing, it has nothing to do with her productivity.

[Jessica]

even her short stories?

(yeah, I already know the answer).

[Jimmy]

Well, I've not read her novels. So I'm just saying I don't like her short stories, especially the hugely praised Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

[Jimmy]

PS - sorry for all the angels I've killed with my opinion of JCO ;)

[Jessica]

The stories I like are her later edgier ones, she's a good creepy psychological writer. She's also very good at getting at the darker and violent side of America. Stories like: "Naked," "Why Don't You Come Live With Me Now, It's Time," "The Doll Lady" (I think that's the title) and others. Sometimes collected in "grotesque" or New Gothic anthologies.

[Angel]

Lisa wrote: "A small, independent publisher is likely to promote just about anything, especially in this day of e-publishing."

Small press publishing is, indeed, where one gets to see the best and the worst of the publishing world. A well-run, serious small pub has staying power, though. The ones who are in it for the quick hit, quantity over quality, don't normally last too long, in both the e-pub and the print pub worlds. Horror stories abound concerning the lack of editing or sloppy editing, inconsistent submission criteria, contracts broken, payments pocketed.

My advice to prospective authors is, unless there's some compelling reason such as a new publishing house being opened by someone you trust, don't go to the houses that are less than five years old. Let them sort things out - five years usually shows whether they can stay the course, and do it with integrity, or implode in a fiery shower of civil suits and recriminations.

(And, thanks, Lisa - you made me blush,lol)

[Eh?Eh!]

There was an author v. reviewer round-up on this thread: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...