Friday Find: The Poetry Foundation’s iPhone App

Yesterday afternoon I left work early for the semiannual fun-filled dental checkup. The bad news (this time) is that I have the beginnings of a cavity that “we’ll watch” for the next several months. Oh, and I should give some serious thought to adult braces for my lower teeth (I thought all of that was taken care of with six years of orthodontia way back when).

But the good news is that while I was in the waiting room I finally downloaded the new (and free) Poetry Foundation poetry app. I have to say that it is a vast improvement over the “Poem Flow” app I paid for awhile back. “Poem Flow” ended up giving me a single poem each day—usually the same poem I was already receiving for free from the Academy of American Poets. The Poetry Foundation app, on the other hand, gives you access to so many poems, neatly organized by topic (or to suit your mood). Thumbs up for the Poetry Foundation’s app!

Wishing you all a great weekend. See you back here on Monday!

Thursday’s Pre-Publication Post: Come On Get Happy!

Earlier this week, the Fiction Writers Review blog spotlighted an essay by author Aryn Kyle. Titled “‘This Book Made Me Want To Die’ And Other Thoughts From Readers,” the essay engages with comments/reviews Kyle has received with a decided point of view: that maybe, she should try to write something a little “happier”:

“Mostly,” Kyle writes, “what I learned about my book is that it’s depressing. Not just depressing, but ‘pointlessly depressing’; ‘brutal’; ‘disturbing’; ‘unrelentingly bleak’; and ‘appalling’—just to touch on the tip of the critical iceberg. One reader claimed to be so disturbed by [Kyle’s novel] The God of Animals that, upon finishing it, she had to medicate herself with sleeping pills.”

But when people tell Kyle to write something “happy,” she can’t quite understand. “Happy like Anna Karenina? Happy like The Grapes of Wrath? Happy like Lolita or Catch-22 or Revolutionary Road? Happy like Hamlet?”

You get the idea.

Because the publication of my story collection, Quiet Americans, is still several months away, I don’t yet have access to a comparable trove of reader reaction. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t already identify with the essay and the points Kyle has raised.

In fact, while I was reading, I couldn’t help but recall one AWP conference, at which I finally met one of the TriQuarterly editors who had helped bring my story, “Matrilineal Descent,” to the reading public. I’d gone over to the journal’s Bookfair table to introduce myself. “Ah, yes,” the editor said. “Your story. It was a laugh a minute.” To which I responded—how else?—by laughing. (Attention, lucky readers! You, too, can enjoy the utter comedy that is “Matrilineal Descent” when the story reappears in Quiet Americans this winter.)

But Kyle’s essay also sent me straight to the shelf where the Purple Binder (pictured) rests.

The Purple Binder, my friends, contains all the many rejection letters and e-mail messages that I received from agents and publishers who considered my collection, in one variant or another, over a five-year period. (It should not be confused with the far thicker Red Binder, which contains rejections received for individual short stories.)

I was certain that I’d find some echoes of the comments that have come Kyle’s way within the Purple Binder’s pages. And guess what? My memory was right.

Dear Erika Dreifus,

Thank you for giving us a look at four stories from your collection, Former Title, which [Big-Time Agent] asked me to review. I’m sorry about the delay in getting back to you, and I wish I had better news. I very much admire your writing and found all four stories very strong, but I’m afraid that this collection would be difficult to sell. The cumulative effect of your stories, with themes ranging from the Holocaust, to fetal defects to racism, is too downbeat for the editors we deal with.

Nonetheless, I think you are a talented writer. If you are not too put off by these remarks and you begin a novel, we’d love to see the first 50 pages.

Regretfully,
Associate at Big-Time Agent’s Agency

P.S. Let me know if you’d like me to return your pages.

Now, a few comments:

  • I’ve worked on the collection so long that it’s really not surprising that not all of the stories that went out to this agency–supposedly my “best” stories at the time–have ended up in the final book. Among the now-excluded stories is one that was, for a long time, intended to be the title story. Hence, the need for a new title. So if you’re thinking that you’ll actually find the Holocaust, fetal defects, and racism prominently displayed throughout the book, well, don’t get too excited, because not every happy theme I’ve ever dealt with in fiction has made the cut into the final collection.
  • Similarly, I’ve been working on these stories so long that this particular correspondence dates from George W. Bush’s first term, an era when it was still very common to send work via postal mail. Hence, the offer to return my pages. I guess I hadn’t included a SASE.
  • Here’s what may be most interesting. I hadn’t approached Big-Time Agent. Rather, Big-Time Agent had contacted me, based on a story that had appeared in a literary journal. And frankly, that story didn’t exactly present a thousand points of light. Admittedly, it did not feature fetal defects or racism. But, in a mere 2500 words, it did manage to encompass parental death, post-9/11 anthrax attacks, incapacitating depression, divorce, and—I know you’re waiting for this one—the Holocaust. Hence, my surprise that “downbeat” might present a problem for this particular agency.

(By the way, that part of the message about welcoming a novel didn’t surprise you short-story writers, did it?)

In truth, I’m trying not to think too much just yet about what people will say about Quiet Americans once it has been published (assuming that it receives any attention at all). But if the book is faulted for not being “happy” enough, at least I’ll be prepared. And in good company.

Friday Find: The Library of America’s Story of the Week

Want to download some free reading for the weekend? Consider “Business Deal,” a fairly brief short story by Nathanael West (1903-40) set in a bygone era of screenwriting and movie-making, which the Library of America has made available from Nathanael West: Novels and Other Writings.

Or check out any of the other offerings in the Library of America’s Story of the Week site/archive.

(For more background on the West story, check Carolyn Kellogg’s Jacket Copy post, through which I discovered this find and the accompanying archive.)

Have a great weekend, everyone. See you back here on Monday.

Thursday’s Pre-Publication Post: Permissions Phase Ends; New Focus Begins

Two weeks ago, I gave you an update on my permissions quest. I am delighted to report that that particular phase of the journey seems to have ended at last: The Big Publishing House charged half again (150%) of the original fee I was quoted to use an epigraph in the print edition of Quiet Americans so that I can include said seven-word excerpt in the e-version, too. Just in case you were wondering! The agreement has been signed, sealed, and mailed back. And I’m glad to check that particular task off the to-do list!

So we move on. As the summer progresses, I expect to be focusing much more time on the redesign/consolidation of my Web presence (something else I’ve mentioned before in these pre-publication posts). Many of you offered helpful comments when I first brought this up. Now, I’m going to ask for your advice once again.

I’ve noticed that some author websites feature Q&A material that might best be described as a “self-interview.” Interestingly, “self-interviews” have shown up lately as topics on various book marketing sites/feeds I follow, too (for example, this one).

The self-interviews labeled as such tend to have at least a bit of humor attached. That is to say, they are very self-consciously self-interviews, and they tend to revel a bit in the inherent oddity/awkwardness of the form. On the other hand, an author can also create a Q&A that is completely serious and doesn’t necessarily present itself as something s/he wrote on his own (and maybe it was, in fact, guided by a publicist or other PR professional). At this point, I’m still considering both approaches.

Here’s what I’m hoping you’ll tell me: What kinds of topics/questions do you think should appear in an author’s self-interview? Are there any such interviews you’ve found especially interesting? What made them so engaging? What are you hoping to learn about authors—and, more importantly, their books—when you read these features?

What’s your take on the more humorous approach (for an example, see a self-interview on Stephen King’s website–look for the entry dated September 4, 2008) compared with something that may be more, well, somewhat more nuts-and-bolts-and-business-like (again, just for an example, see Mark H. Zanger’s “Behind the Scenes” feature for The American Ethnic Cookbook for Students).

And if you’re an author who has written one of these interviews yourself, what suggestions would you offer? Whether they’re your own or others’, please point me toward author website Q&As that you think I should be sure to see as I formulate something along similar lines to help introduce Quiet Americans and its author–moi!

Thanks very much in advance for your comments, you wonderful people!