Fly on the wall – Reporting in Launch Meeting – Spring Titles 2010
2010! That number has such a science fiction-y ring to it. How do we abbreviate it? “That book’s slated for 0-10?” or “10 is the pub date?” This zooming fast millennium stuff is still taking some getting used to.
Onto the event of the week: HCI’s Spring 2010 Title Launch meeting. I’ll try to recreate it as best I can so you can feel like a fly on the wall yourself.
It’s 10:30 am, Thursday, August 20. More people than are probably legally allowed to be in the conference room start spilling in. Usual chairs around the standard faux blonde wood conference table and additional chairs placed around the perimeter of the room. Some attendees with yellow pads. some with bottle water or soda, some empty handed. I show up with the standard gear plus my iphone. (I’m pre-occupied with flight plans for an author on tour).
Before us on the table or on the seats of the outer chairs are orange cellophane bags filled with tootsie pops. lkit kat bars. green plastic frogs and gold coins NOT filled with chocolate. (I didn’t get the symbolism of the coins). Catering was courtesy of HCI managing editor, Carol Rosenberg. She’s very playful.
Our illustrious editorial editor, Michele Matrisciani, commenced the meeting with a title about the crash of flight 1549 on the Hudson. This one’s a story collection written by the survivors of the event. It’ll come out at the first anniversary of the crash in January. Good choice and good publicity fodder in my book.
Spicing up the HCI list are two sex-centered books. Yes, sex, from the publishers of everything wholesome and nice. One is about healthy sex for sex addicts and the other is healthy sex for my peeps – the over 50 set. We’re thrilled about that one for a lot of reasons not withstanding my personal curiosity!
We’re going to learn how to “live well with bad credit” this spring, how to keep our dogs healthy and slim, how to live like nobility, experience the power of hope, learn Jen Singer’s formula to “stop second-guessing ourselves” during baby’s first year, read about successful secrets for domestic adoptions, and teach girls to decode the lies being sold to them by teen boys.
If you’ve ever heard of the play, “A Jew Grows in Brooklyn,” then you’ll understand how lucky we are to have signed a book with its creator, Jake Ehrenreich. He’s a delightful storyteller with whom I’m tremendously excited to work.
There’s a book for runners and a book for bird lovers. What these two have in common is that two of us HCI employees have been vying to get something published on these subjects for YEARS. Finally, our wishes have been manifested and we’ve expressed our passion by respectively contributing stories to the books. You KNOW that I don’t run, so three guesses which book is mine?
A powerful new title focuses on a young man’s weight loss and how he actually “cut himself in half.” The other is a compelling true story about a video game addict. Anyone out there relate?
My presentation, leaving out just a few titles, seemed to go along quite fast, didn’t it? Not quite so smooth and succinct are the real meetings. Picture people cutting into the editors’ presentations with comments about the title not expressing the right message, or the listed shelving category being off, or that a competitive title mentioned in the hand-outs is archaic, or who actually is going to buy this book. It’s all over the map and the people who usually talk at these meeting say their piece. (That includes me, big surprise) If I’m lucky enough to have some early media interest in a title or if there’s something to be said about publicity value, I’m there.
Now, it’s about 11: 50 and our stomachs are growling. We’re getting a little cranky in the tone of our comments and thinking that we’ll never get through the remaining pages before lunch time. We’re reassured that the rest will move swiftly and they do. We’re now more cognizant of dawdling over details and we sail through.
It’s 12: 30ish and we’re home free.
There’s a round of applause for the great list and the presentation by the authors. Everyone is happy and dashes off to their salads and sandwiches.
And, my touring author’s flight is resolved.
All is well in the world.
2010? Bring it on!
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Thanks for the shout-out, Kim. I’m looking forward to having all three books in the series out next spring. It makes it easier to promote them that way.