Category: Uncategorized

Matchmaking for readers – Book Expo Part 3

For all the money spent on advertising and the push to get great reviews in the “right” publications, it is independent booksellers and readers, like you and me, who really determine whether a book is successful or not. At Book Expo, I spoke with publishers and marketing reps to hone in on those titles that would speak to my friends and the book groups I work with. Over the years, I’ve learned where to go and who to speak with and developed enough relationships that a few in the industry came to me when there was a book that they want to “test drive” with some groups. Some of the books they’ve touted have been great successes, for the groups and commercially. Others have just missed the mark.

At the National Book Festival in 2003, James McBride, the author of The Color of Water and The Good Lord Bird, started his presentation by thanking the Jewish and African American women readers and book groups in attendance for his success as an author. Color of waterHe knew it was word of mouth, not the initial reviews, that kept The Color of Water on the bestseller list for over two years. Today the internet, and Amazon and its stepchild, Goodreads, can feed short-term bookselling frenzies (did you pre-order Go Set A Watchman last spring?) but many titles with simmering staying power are those chosen by book groups.

One of the final events at Book Expo for the last several years has been Book Group Speed Dating. Thanks to ReadingGroupGuides, book group leaders and power readers register to attend a 90-minute session where representatives from about 25 publishers present on their upcoming titles of potential interest.  The 150+ guests sit at round tables and one or two publishers at a time give 8-minute pitches about their lists to 8 people at the table.

So what do publishers think we want to read? Mostly novels, with occasional memoirs and short story collections in the mix. These are titles with complexities to the plot and/or characters, no bodice-rippers and few whodunits. Many of the titles are available on the tables to be taken home so they are scrutinized then Here I Amand there. And the poor soul who suggested a 1,200-page magnum opus! There was unanimous sentiment that it was a non-starter for this audience regardless of the literary merit. Of course, for every rule, there is the exception. Jonathan Safran Foer’s Here I Am will be published in September and is just short of 600 pages.

For your TBR (to-be-read) pile here are two books released earlier this month. From the author of A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman, is his latest Britt-Marie Was Here. Chris Cleave’s Everyone Brave is
Everyone is BraveForgiven looks to touch the readers of All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr’s wonderful novel.

In August/early September, there will be numerous big releases. Adnan’s Story will have previously undisclosed information in a book written by the family friend key in the case that became the “Serial” podcast sensation. Ann Hood’s The Book That Matters Most is tailor-made or book groups and she will be Skype-ing with many in the coming month. The Gone Girl/The Girl on the Train variety of thriller is still going strong. You will see the promotional material for these everywhere.

Now it’s time to get back to the books and read!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmailby feather

Chicago through different eyes

I love Chicago. My first visit was on a college exploratory tour and I was hooked.  My undergraduate years were spent at Northwestern and I seized every opportunity to explore the city and use it as my classroom.  And my spare time was taken up with explorations of ethnic neighborhoods, unfamiliar foods and head-spinning music and culture.  Even today, a chance to revisit this long-time friend is filled with anticipation.

When you attend a big convention in Chicago it takes real effort to see anything of the city at all. McCormick Place is an enormous complex sitting as an island on the South Side.  It’s really not far from the science museums but you can’t get there from here, even if you were to have the time. To get here you need to take a taxi or a conference bus – like I said, it’s on an island among highways.

I arrived Wednesday just after the fog lifted enough for air traffic to move.  My flight, and countless others, was delayed living up to the reputation of airport chaos. A fairly quick ride from Midway dropped me into familiar turf in a new locale: Book Expo America 2016, Chicago style.

Book Expo America is the largest annual conference of publishers, authors, booksellers, librarians, bloggers and all the ancillary industries that work to bring books to the attention of readers.  Huge banners hang from the ceiling and cover large surfaces in the massive corridors, hawking upcoming titles.

Snake-like lines of attendees wait to enter the convention floor to find unreleased treasures.  Booth after booth of different genres and audiences, primarily in English but with international pockets here and there.  Everyone is carrying (or picking up) large tote bags to bring books home. While e-books may be huge, here paper is king.

Hour-long lines form to get 15 seconds and a signed galley/ book from a top author.  Debut authors are introduced, ” if you enjoy xxxx, s/he will appeal to a similar audience with this twist.” Faces of other attendees become familiar as you stand in the same lines and periodically compare notes on what portion of the book world you inhabit.

For many, a periodic stop is the shipping room where you can fill boxes and ship them home for an exorbitant service fee.  A carefully filled box may contain 30+ titles and enough cloth totes for a week’s supply of groceries.  So if you would buy 3 or 4 of the books anyway, it seems a fair deal.

I was prepped before my first BEA 7 years ago so I know the right shoes are key.  Think Keens or Merrills if sneakers are too casual.  Even with hours in endless lines, 5 miles on concrete crisscrossing the aisles is normal.  So between that and carrying heavy bags of books, ibuprofen is my friend.

It’s Friday morning and I’m in line for my final day on the floor.  Having set the stage, I’ll tell the stories over the weekend.  Thanks for listening.

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmailby feather

Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story

IN A NUTSHELLUnknown - Version 2

  • PumpkinflowersPumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story Matti Friedman (Algonquin Books, May 2016)
  • In 40 words or less: Friedman shares both his personal and journalistic views of Israel’s experience in Lebanon in the 1990’s with the outpost called Pumpkin as the focus. Heart-wrenching and informative, it reminds the reader that history happens one person at a time.
  • Genre: Narrative history/memoir
  • Locale: Israel/Lebanon
  • Time: 1994-2002

Two years ago I first learned that Matti Friedman’s next book would be about the little-mentioned experience of Israeli soldiers in outposts in Southern Lebanon. These fortifications and their platoons were protection from Hezbollah incursions into northern Israel. This is a personal story for him – it was in the Pumpkin that Friedman served during his time in the IDF in the late 90s. Pumpkinflowers goes beyond his story to tell of those who came before him, their families and friends, and of the women whose outcry led to the abandonment of these positions on the hills.

In Israel, all but the ultra-Orthodox are obligated to serve in the military. Leadership is cultivated early and the bonds of service continue beyond the time in uniform.  Israel is a small country so troops are rotated from post to training with frequency and weekend visits home are a part of the culture. And when there are casualties, each wounded soldier (flower) or death (cyclamen) is a collective sorrow, invariably a distant relative or friend of a friend’s cousin.

The early days of the Pumpkin are given life through Avi, a writer by temperament, who was sent with his platoon to the Pumpkin in 1994. Friedman uses diaries and letters, interviews with Avi’s parents and others from the platoon, to paint the picture of life on the hill.  Friedman lays out the routines, the boredom broken by fear when trying to ascertain whether a shepherd is merely looking for lost sheep or is actually a threat. The platoon members are from different backgrounds, religious to completely secular, though all are schooled in the Biblical history of the land. They are at the cusp of adulthood, intrigued by popular culture, keeping in touch with their friends, trying to figure out what is next.

Access to the outposts was difficult and troops were often conveyed by helicopter. In February 1997, poor weather conditions contributed to a tragedy that changed the direction of Israel’s defense in the security zone. Begun by mothers, slowly but surely pressure to bring the soldiers home from the outposts began.

And it was after this that Matti Friedman, at nineteen, was sent to the Pumpkin.  Only after telling the story of the early years does Friedman share his experience.

Well-conceived narrative history can bring breadth in a very compelling way. In Pumpkinflowers Matti Friedman gives life to the Pumpkin and to the terrain that the platoons are charged with protecting.  The difficulty in defending borders when combatants look just like their neighbors. The combination of bravado and naiveté among the IDF’s soldiers, and a country where each casualty is a tragedy within the family. Friedman also lays out the politics and resistance.

In the end, it is a very personal story, incomplete without Friedman’s visit back to where it all began. After the Pumpkin was the temporary home to too many young men lost, it is now a hill with scars. And the view remains essentially the same as it has for thousands of years.

Pumpkinflowers is well-documented and tightly written. Covering a rarely discussed period of Israeli history, this book is important for the gap it fills and the manner it which it is addressed. As he says, this period is the beginning of a new type of warfare in the Middle East and Hezbollah was its start. This book has appeal for readers of all genres and will be a great source of discussion.

Matti Friedman is a journalist and author. His 2012 book, The Aleppo Codex, was awarded numerous prizes, including one which afforded him the opportunity to turn his attention more fully to his experience in Lebanon.  Friedman continues to write both narrative journalism and opinion pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmailby feather

My To-Be-Read Pile Has More Than 32 Flavors

(This is part of my Blogging101 education. Thanks for learning with me!)

images

For some, running the table of a beloved author’s titles is a great tribute and accomplishment. I tried that strategy with the Nancy Drew books only to realize that the more I read, the more appeared in the stores. Just as I enjoy trying new local foods when I travel, I strive to expand my reading horizons by sampling the “32 Flavors of Reading.” Now, I haven’t actually counted the genres or categories of titles I have on my shelves but here are a sample of some of the groupings not found in most bookstores:

  1. Mysteries by local authors in places I’ve visited
  2. Writers on reading (memoir or commentary)
  3. Cookbooks with cultural narratives
  4. Histories that read like literature
  5. Re-tellings of classic stories in different cultural settings
  6. Contemporaneously written novels of countries in the midst of war

While I may initially pigeon-hole a book, many end up in very unexpected categories after talking with others about them.  I’m fortunate to have spoke to some authors about their books. It turns out they are often surprised by the insights readers have about their characters and their motivations. Books provide endless opportunities to read between the lines and recalibrate my outlook.

What does your list look like?

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmailby feather