She says that when she worked in publishing, “I also learned about the oxymoron known as a marketing budget. Often, at least for the kinds of literary memoir I generally worked on, it all came down to publicity, which seemed the equivalent of going to Vegas and throwing the dice. You could a get a young publicist filled with enthusiasm and a Rolodex thinner than Anna Wintour. Or a war horse devoted to the big authors, her Rolodex bulging, with absolutely no interest in your newbie author. Your galleys could go out with a bang or a whimper. And in no time, prior to publication, you would be able to tell if the book had any traction, or if it would “come into the world with the fanfare of a stillborn,” as James Purdy wrote in some of the darkest words about publishing I’ve read.”
Read more of her thoughts here.
