Six Great Books

Meg Wolitzer's "The Second Shelf" Strikes a Nerve

If you haven't read author Meg Wolitzer's provocative essay on the different rules for men and women in the world of literary fiction, you must read this. Her April 1, 2012 essay, The Second Shelf, for the New York Times Book Review told known and rarely acknowledged truths about the publishing industry. Basically that "isms," (racism, sexism, chauvinism and I would add ageism) are alive and well in traditional publishing. The"isms" result in first rate fiction by women being marketed as second rate "Women's Fiction," aka something a man would never read. Seems when men like Jonathan Frazen, Jeffrey Eugenides and Chad Harbach for example, write about the same subjects as female writers - marriage, family, relationships - they just write great fiction. I suppose that's because testosterone instead of estrogen was involved in the writing of the book. What else could possibly explain the disparity?

The Times is still printing letters to the editor on Wolitzer's essay, the links are below - read, learn, comment.

Thanks Meg.

The Second Shelf

The Second Shelf - Readers Respond

The Second Shelf - More Readers Respond

Of Platforms, Reviews and Social Media Savvy Authors

A recent article by Peter Osnos, The Platform: Good Reviews Are No Longer Enough, should be required reading for the novice author. It considers how a book review in a respected weekly newspaper used to be what made a best seller - snag a good one and your book got the kind of attention that makes people talk and hopefully buy. Well today it seems, not so much. 

Armed with Facebook, Twitter and a list of Internet book sites and reviewers, a good book and a savvy author can develop their own social media platform, launch an effective campaign and rack up the sales. Of course, a good review in The New York Times Book Review would be good too.