You feel poor. We feel poor. Let's feel poor together. This week only, almost everything is half-price in our online store. Escape the holiday rush and cross every name off your list in one cheap swoop. - - - - |
This page will cover news from our happy adventures in book publishing. This page will provide both good news and bad news, and will detail the various issues and problems that arise when trying to print and distribute books. As often as our authors allow, we will be perfectly frank and open about the numbers involved, because part of improving this entire process, and thus the lives of many writers, involves thickening and quickening the flow of information about publishing. - - - - DECEMBER 26 At this point we have a good deal of good news. After our recent announcement about the books planned for the spring, we have received thousands of orders online, which we will talk more about later. For now, we would like to announce some news involving McSweeney's abroad. What was news, a few years ago, to those running McSweeney's, and which might be news to you, is that many writers depend very heavily upon the largesse of publishers in other countries, where people often speak languages very different from our own. When they purchase the rights to translate and publish a book, they often pay generously, and this money, which is often unexpected, can improve a writer's lot tremendously. It is very much like 'found money,' becuase who would have expected, for example, the Italians to translate The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature? That is one recent happening. It was also sold to a Spanish publisher. So Neal's book last week was bought by both Arnoldo Mondadori Editore of Italy and Grijalbo Mondadori or Spain.Both will translate this modern classic, and each has paid $5000 for the privilege. They are excited and Neal is excited and so are we. In addition, Neal's book is now being distributed in Holand by Vassallucci, the premier publisher in that land, where Dutch people and Neverlanders live in a fragile sort of peace. Interest in Neal Pollack has been strong in Holland, since his blowout performances at the recent Crossing Border festival--if you have a chance, go next year; it is a fantastic event which this year featured Daniel Johnston, Magnetic Fields, Bettie Serveert and a great lot of McSweeney's friends, including Arthur Bradford, Heidi Julavits, Zadie Smith, Sarah Vowell, and Magnus Mills--at which Neal, in a red sweater, performed his "American Poem," and other new works, to standing-room-only audiences. As for Lemon, Lawrence Krauser's book, just out in stores in New York and soon nationwide, he has shared the same sort of luck and then some He also will be published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore in Italy and Grijalbo Mondadori in Spain. Further, Lemon will be available, sometime in late 2001 or early 2002, in a Dutch language edition, again courtesy of Vassallucci, who is, by the way, the exclusive distributor of the McSweeney's Quarterly Concern in Holland. The foreign rights for Lemon have thus far netted Mr. Krauser $14,000, a not-inconsiderable sum, especially for a book which for years could not catch the eye of publishers in the U.S. We are not yet sure if Mr. Krauser will hand-cover all of the foreign editions. As always, the authors will receive all the benefits of these sales, without our extraction of any sort of percentage. We will pay our tiny expenses in brokering these sales, and then the rest will go to those who wrote the books. We hope you all find this sort of thing interesting. We certainly do. We are learning every day. Thank you as always.
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