I totally agree with what you say about Tor. I used to rep for them in NYC 10 years ago and they were absolutely fantastic to work with. And they were also quite indulgent of my interest in so many of the titles and authors they represent. I hope you stay with them for a long time! Having been out of the loop for a while, any chance of the Taltos series apearring in the Orb imprint? And hopefully you can keep the artwork as it is amongst the best cover art ever done. Cheers Al > -----Original Message----- > From: Steven Brust [SMTP:skzb at dreamcafe.com] > Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 6:47 AM > To: Casey Rousseau; dragaera at dragaera.info > Subject: RE: Sethra Lavode vs. Enchantress of Dzur Mountain > > At 04:04 PM 8/14/2002 -0400, Casey Rousseau wrote: > >SKZB replied to my questions: > > > >I can't remember the last time I asked a sales clerk for advice on > > > >what to buy, but I can see the point. > > > > > > No, no, no. I don't mean the sales staff that sells you a book at > your > > > local bookstore, I mean the sales staff that sells several boxes to > the > > > jobbers, or a truckload to the chains. > > > >The light dawneth. Of course! I suppose though this would be smaller > >audience that would be easier to give a pronunciation guide to, you > really > >don't want to have to do so. Patrick is undoubtedly right. > > I'm trying to figure out why I've been so sensitive about this. The > notion > that I might make an artistic compromise for commercial reasons irritates > me enough that I have to wonder if there is something I haven't been > admitting to myself. Well, if so, I still haven't admitted it to myself. > > The other thing, though, is that there seems to be some sort of > preconception of "Big Narsty Publisher forcing Poor Artist to change work > in line with commercial requirements." Certainly this happens--in fact, > forms of it starting happening right about the time art was invented. But > > it isn't that simple, and it isn't always the case. > > The reason I'm so happy with Tor is because the people I work with there > actually care about books--all the way from Tom Doherty to the publicity > people--as far as I can tell, this is probably even true of the sales > staff. > > Now, as Patrick was working with production, he happened to observe that > some of the production people were having a bit of trouble with the name > of > that book--they stumbled over it, and then became embarrassed. One of the > > little things that makes a book work is the enthusiasm of the production > staff (those who lay out the type, make the cover right, dot the "t"s and > cross the "i"s. Patrick concluded that this little bit of embarrassment > might have a tiny effect on how everything came down. Also, it might have > > a tiny effect on those who would go forth to see how many books got into > the hands of those who, so far, have never heard from me. He said, > "Consider a new title. If you think it important, we'll stay with the one > > it has, but this is worth thinking about." I thought about it, and decided > > to change it, because it struck that me that losing a tinge of Paarfi-ism > (and I agree with those who say the original title is more Paarfi-like) > was > a reasonable trade-off for making production people a little happier, and > maybe making the sales people a tich more enthusiastic. > > Okay, that was my choice, good or bad, artist or hack. > > But to then hear stuff that I took as, "the publisher" (i.e., my friend > Patrick) sacrificing artistic integrity for evil marketing considerations > annoyed me, and I got rather more irritated about it than I should have, > under the circumstances. > > For that, I apologize. > > > > > >Looking forward to an early Christmas present. Any chance you know when > B&T > >will start taking preorders? > > No, sorry. > > In other news, the Official Title for the three volume novel is-- > > (drum roll) > > > _The Miscreant of Cowabunga_ > ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please delete the e-mail & notify the system manager. We reserve the right to scan all e-mail traffic for restricted content and to monitor all e-mail traffic in general. The views and opinions expressed in this e-mail are those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organisation by whom they are employed, except where the sender expressly and with authority states them to be so. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been checked for the presence of computer viruses and script. We believe but do not warrant that this e-mail is free from viruses. Responsibility for virus checking rests entirely with the recipient. 5 at 356 **********************************************************************