The Daily Rumpus
Get Overly Personal Emails
From Stephen Elliott
All writers should go read every word of this essay by Maria Bustillos, written on the occasion of editor Carrie Frye’s departure from the Awl.
The gist of it: your editor is your friend, not some censorious know-it-all trying to ruin your work.
...moreEditors, publishers and critics have their own industry-specific lexicon.
People in the industry are used to hearing words like “acclaimed” or saying that a book “brilliantly defies categorization,” but apparently this is only the surface level of description. Beyond the commonly used adjectives and phrases, there lies the truth—what they actually mean, decoded.
...moreJonathan Lethem has been hired for David Foster Wallace’s old teaching post at Pomona. (via @maudnewton)
“Lots of people in Indiana Jones hats today. I approve.” From @WriterDaniel at this Twitter roundup from the LA Times Festival of Books.
...moreIn the 1960s and 70s, Central and South America were rife with dictatorships which used secret police, the military, right-wing death squads and tight control of the media to quash dissent and keep power. One of the most egregious of these police states was Argentina, still recovering from its anti-democratic Peronist era.
...moreAre marketing departments running the major publishing houses? Do editors and agents know what they’re doing? Are small presses the future of literature? Is everything a crapshoot? What’s a first-time novelist to do?
...more