Want to know what it’s like to be a novelist these days? You sell the novel over a pleasant dinner (or an efficiently emailed proposal and outline). You write the novel. You send it in. You get the editorial letter. You rewrite the novel. The novel is accepted. Everyone is pleased and cautiously optimistic. Then you get that introductory email from your publicist. Your abdominals clench and your heart sinks. Ellis Weiner captures it beautifully in this Shouts & Murmurs piece in the New Yorker:
Let me introduce myself. My name is Gineen Klein, and I’ve been brought on as an intern to replace the promotion department here at Propensity Books. First, let me say that I absolutely love “Clancy the Doofus Beagle: A Love Story” and have some excellent ideas for promotion.
To start: Do you blog? If not, get in touch with Kris and Christopher from our online departrment, although at this point I think only Christopher is left…
If you’re a professional, it will make you laugh, sway with recognition, and reach for the vodka. (No, beer is not enough at times like these.) If you’re a beginner, well, one day, if you’re lucky, you too will get that sinking feeling…
Nicola Griffith 
I was cc'd on that email.
I read the piece last week, it was very funny. The changes taking place in the workforce are so beautifully captured by his article and you are right, beer is not enough!
I've read that column a few times, and I;m not sure who it's really parodying – authors without a clue how to promote their books, companies that use interns in a recession instead of skilled professionals, or the readers who think books appear like magic on the shelves.
Cheers,
Erica
Hungry for Yuri? Have some Okazu!
http://okazu.blogspot.com
rory, I'm busy catching up with my reading. That one made me howl. So very close to the mark.
erica, that's the beauty of this article–it gets us all with one elegant swipe.
I laughed too. Hopefully, I won't be in tears later.
Drinking and swearing = much more productive than crying :)
Email gives me a sinking feeling anyway, so, you know, I probably wouldn't even open it. Makes me wonder if there's a clinical term for email avoidance.
How about 'stress'?
Blogs are so informative where we get lots of information on any topic. Nice job keep it up!!
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Advertising Dissertation