rkb:
I know exactly how large those piles of unsolicited advance copies of books are that come through the mail. At my old paper, one woman was in charge of sorting through that mess, and she was smart and cared about books, but the bulk of them still just went straight to the local library. So how does one get reviewed in a national newspaper?
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It also helps if you’ve written something scandalous (Apparently a one-night stand followed by a baby doesn’t cut it. I’ve got to get cracking on “Dreams of Screwing My President”) or been noticed elsewhere first. Editors stumps tend to stir when there is a media cluster brewing. I got a lovely review in Entertainment Weekly, for example, unexpectedly, and I hoped that there would be a corresponding reaction from some of the other big guns. Again, disappointment.
So far, we’ve heard from several beyond the online media world on gender imbalance. This above rings true, as I know the piles of books, unreviewed, gone straight to donation from my time at the SF Chronicle Book Review. I was there less than a year, but it was enough time to observe that male authors were outreviewed compared to female authors by about five to one. This was 10 years ago. Judging from the book review sections I read each week, not much has changed.
We’re still interested in links and pics you’d like us to bring up in the SXSW talk Sunday. Send ‘em this way…
