Books Are Not Products, They Are Bridges: Challenging Linear Ideas of Success in Literary Publishing
by Janice Lee
I want to talk about the struggle of returning home.
That is, I want to talk about the challenges I faced in looking for a publisher for my new novel, Imagine a Death, and how this process forced me to examine my own beliefs and wounds around linear ideas of success and to begin to work towards healing and freedom from a limited imagination.
In our weekend reading: thoughts on Amber Sparks’s forthcoming collection, interviews with Bernardine Evaristo and Jonathan Lethem, and more.
The guiding principle of Six Ridiculous Questions is that life is filled with ridiculousness. And questions. That only by giving in to these truths may we hope to slip the surly bonds of reality and attain the higher consciousness we all crave. (Eh, not really, but it sounded good there for a minute.) It’s just. Who knows? The ridiculousness and question bits, I guess. Why six? Assonance, baby, assonance.
In our afternoon reading: thoughts on the fiction of Qurratulain Hyder, revisiting Leonard Cohen’s cocktail recipe, and more.
In our afternoon reading: an excerpt from Ryan Chapman’s novel, an interview with Lydia Fitzpatrick, and more.
In our morning reading: an interview with Kim Sagwa, new writing by John Wray and Dan Fox, and more.
In our afternoon reading: thoughts on a newly-translated book by Wolfgang Hilbig, an interview with Sara Driver, and more.
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Mariana Enriquez, reviews of books by Porochista Khakpour and Joy Williams, and more.