I have spent the past five years reading the descriptions of hundreds of books, trying to find things that are interesting and worthwhile for me to pitch as a freelancer. They are almost always bad.
When you read enough book jacket copy that’s the stuff on the back of the book or inside the jacket flap, telling you what to expect within you start to notice strange patterns. Books from one of the big four publishing houses will have a line or two promising that the latest in literary fiction is a sober look at our current dilemma/modern age/social media addiction/technological approach to dating. If the copywriter is feeling bold, maybe they’ll let us know that the writer is a “dazzling new voice,” or that the release of this debut novel is “heralding a brave new voice in fiction.” From there, a frustratingly vague description of the plot usually contains a foreboding line letting us know the protagonist needs to go on a journey to another country to find herself, or that
How Jeff VanderMeer Prevents Writerâs Block
Credit.Jillian Tamaki
April 15, 2021
âI get superstitious,â says the author, whose latest novel is âHummingbird Salamanderâ: âI once had a book sent to me that was disrupting my ability to write a novel because of a superficial similarity between the two. I took that book and dug a hole and buried it deep in the backyard.â
What books are on your night stand?
I chose the night stand for its stalwart qualities and it is currently holding up well under the eclectic weight of an advance copy of John Paul Brammerâs â¡Hola Papi!,â B. R. Yeagerâs âNegative Space,â Bernard Rudofskyâs âThe Prodigious Builders,â Eley Williamsâs âThe Liarâs Dictionary,â Rita Indianaâs âTentacle,â Stephen Graham Jonesâs âThe Only Good Indians,â Julienne Fordâs âParadigms and Fairy Tales,â Angelo Maria Ripellinoâs