In the old days of publishing, getting your manuscript into the hands of an editor often meant mailing the unsolicited finished product to the offices of literary agents or editors, where it would receive a cursory look from an editorial assistant — or none at all.
A modern version of the slush pile is the online “writing community,” a Web site where aspiring novelists can post their ideas, writing samples or manuscripts and open them to comments and reviews from strangers. On Tuesday Penguin Group USA, the publisher of Tom Clancy, Kathryn Stockett and Nora Roberts, will unveil its own venture, Book Country, a Web site for writers of genre fiction. In its initial phase Book Country will allow writers to post their own work — whether it’s an o
pening chapter or a full manuscript — and receive critiques from other users, who can comment on points like character development, pacing and dialogue. Later this summer the site will generate revenue by allowing users to self-publish their books for a fee by ordering printed copies. (The books will bear the stamp of Book Country
, not Penguin, and the site is considered a separate operation from Penguin.) The site will also explain the business of finding an agent, marketing and promoting a book, using social media and handling digital and subsidiary rights.
Penguin hopes the site will attract agents, editors and publishers scouting for new talent, and allow writers to produce work with more polish and direction than they could otherwise. The project has been spearheaded by Molly Barton, the director of business development for Penguin and the president of Book Country. “One of the things I remember really clearly from my early editorial experiences was this feeling of guilt,” Ms. Barton said in an interview. “I would read submissions and not be able to help the writer because we couldn’t find a place for them on the list that I was acquiring for. And I kept feeling that there was something we could do on the Internet to really help writers each other.”
小题1: How did an author send unsolicited finished products to editors in the old days of publishing? _______________________________________________
小题2: The online “writing community” is where aspiring novelists post their ideas and ___________________________________________________________________________
小题3:The site uses social media and
digital and subsidiary rights to _______________________.
小题4:What’s the real purpose of Penguin creating the web site? _______________________________________________
