On the Value of Book Reviews

Much has been made recently of the demise of the book reviewer position and possibly the book review page at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, ostensibly because of the rise of availability of reviews on the Internet. First, let me explain that most newspapers haven't really had the luxury of a dedicated reviewer. When I was at The Indianapolis News and The Indianapolis Star, we had an individual who was responsible for unpackaging the book -- or sometimes the glorified galley -- and putting it on a shelf or in a box for the taking of his colleagues. If we had time and felt particularly moved, we wrote a review. Otherwise, he coordinated the Sunday books pages using wire service reviews and photos. There was no rhyme or reason as to what got reviewed, though many of us gave preference to books about Indiana or written by Hoosiers.

There are several reasons why I am less alarmed than many others appear to be at what the industry makes out to be an enormous loss:

• Newspapers are businesses that are losing ground to the Internet and are trying desperately to find ways to remain competitive. Yes, I was president and avid supporter of The Star's Newspaper Guild Local for a short while, but I don't believe in protectionism. I fully believe in letting the market run its course. And newspapers often conduct studies to determine how best to serve their readers ( read get them to spend their money). The newspaper review may just be a feature that's run its course -- at least in the print format.

• Some have expressed a concern for the loss of the literary voice to the newspaper. That's not necessarily so. Writers can be quoted and their works mentioned in the course of regular reporting. In fact, the first day we arrived at the Algonkian Pitch Conference, presenter Sally Koslow, author of Little Pink Slips, arrived late because she had been doing media interviews about Rosie O'Donnell's departure from The View. The talk show host/comedian figures in Koslow's book, making it a timely release.

• As I've been writing my thriller The Nubian Codex, I relied on reviews to avoid the pitfalls faced by other popular books. What I found as I perused the reviews was that the media reviews were less useful because they failed to be critical. For instance, with a couple of exceptions, a survey of reviews of Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian on Publisher's Marketplace reveals mostly positive comments. However, looking at the reviews on Amazon.com, I think we get a little more honest assessment: it was long on pages and short on vampires. I looked through reviews of books, including Labybrinth, The Rule of Four and The Book of the Dead, at several sources. The real readers always were more candid.

The Internet has the ability to democratize the review process. There are wonderful books that never receive the benefit of publicity on a review page limited to three fully discussed books once a week. But the Internet allows the breadth of available books to receive comment. In addition, it takes the process out of the hands of an anointed few who may or may not be representative of the public's tastes and allows for broader discourse. And at $25 for a hardback, I'm looking for all the input I can get.

Racism in Publishing

I've allowed a week to pass so that I could digest a particularly negative -- and wholly unexpected -- experience I had at a recent writer's conference. I wanted to make sure that I felt the same way as before, and I wanted to run the issue by a few people first to make sure my comments would be fair. This nasty experience has led me to understand why nine times out of 10, African-American writers bypass the traditional publishing system altogether and publish their work themselves.

The basic set-up of the conference is to write a pitch and have it critiqued by a team leader and fellow writers who likely are writing in the same genre. That part of the process works relatively well because there are multiple ears who listen to the pitch and multiple voices to debate its merits and shortcomings.

The first pitch with a bona-fide editor is something of a practice pitch. It's generally not expected that anyone's pitch will result in a manuscript request, though we did have one writer we dubbed "Rock Star" who made it through the gauntlet. As an aside, however, this particular person had written screenplays and presumably knew how to work the pitch from experience in Hollywood.

The second pitch of my thriller, The Nubian Codex, was from a woman whose unpleasant attitude and demeanor reminded me of Mrs. DeVie, my first grade teacher. Mrs. DeVie, who probably was in her 50s or 60s at the time, looked, dressed and carried herself a bit like Mrs. Drysdale from "The Beverly Hillbillies." But in spite of her urbane look, she was a definite product of her time. She placed me in special education classes even though I could read, write and speak two languages at about a fourth-grade level. In addition, I knew how to do third-grade math. But this woman also made it clear that she did not approve of my parents' mixed-race marriage.

The editor, in spite of her New York area address, had none of Mrs. DeVie's style. While the other editors met us halfway at the door to shake our hands, lending a feeling of partnership, this woman sat behind a table waiting on us to come to her. She exuded a bitterness that became even more apparent as she practically interrupted my pitch to tell me she didn't believe the premise. She also told me that I had no business basing a thriller on racial themes.

For the uninitiated, The Nubian Codex is about a woman who searches for her brother who has disappeared after finding a Nubian tomb in the Honduran rainforest. I've had my best friend read it because she loves thrillers, and she has been my editor, so she would tell me if there were problems; I've had several others read it, and they keep calling me for more; and I had the first half professionally edited by a person I definitely would have expected to tell me if my premise seemed shaky.

This editor, however, doesn't know me and clearly had no desire to get to know me. She had made up her mind before I finished the pitch that she wanted no part of it. She was the one who went into The DaVinci Code comparison to say that clearly there was an enemy of the grail issue but that I had no discernible enemy. I guess the white supremacists I'd mentioned in my pitch aren't formidable foes to white people, but as far as I know, they scare the dickens out of Black people. She went on to say that if someone -- I think she meant herself -- didn't want to believe the premise, they just wouldn't believe it. Since she brought up The DaVinci Code, I pointed out that the same could be said for it. I know many people who refused to read the book because they did not accept the scholarly premise that perhaps Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus. And as I recall, those people didn't hurt the sales of the book. I also should note that this particular editor asked for no one's manuscript and was inappropriate for our group because she represents cozies, not thrillers.

I guess I was rather surprised that this woman actually could utter that race was not a reason to kill. As a former police reporter, I can tell you that anything can be a reason to kill. Sure, the most common motives are sex, drugs and money. But I've actually seen reports of people killing others over chocolate chip cookies on Christmas. That may not sound like the motive for a thriller, but the cover up for that murder could be.

As for the issue of race, what planet is this woman from? It wasn't that long ago that a man in Texas was dragged behind another person's car for being Black. And why are there hate crimes laws and state task forces on hate crimes? I remember when I first started writing about being biracial 20 years ago, people came up to me and told me how brave I was. That came as a surprise to me because I never felt endangered. But obviously, many people are aware of the pitfalls surrounding the discussion of race.

And who is this woman to decide whether race is an appropriate subject for a thriller? I think anything is up for grabs by any writer as long as he or she can pull it off. This woman had no idea whether I actually managed to do this effectively because she chose not to see the manuscript. She reminds me of all the other people who have told me what I would not be able to do, and I've proven every one of them wrong.

A few years ago, I took a class on public relations campaigns. We had to dissect the campaign and write a paper on it. I remember reading our textbook in which it erroneously stated that the first campaign involved a railroad incident in the 1800s. I disagreed. There have been persistent campaigns of persuasion since the beginning of communication. So I decided to write a paper on how the Counter Reformation was a public relations campaign. The teacher was doubtful about my ability to pull it off, but he was intrigued. In the end, my grade was an A+, and he said I should use it to write my master's thesis.

People like this editor are precisely why I chose the thriller as my vehicle. It is one that people are willing to read, and it allowed me to present important information in a format they could digest. I think all editors should heed the general advice to readers: "Don't judge a book by its cover" -- or its jacket copy.

In Defense of Dan Brown

Dan Brown and his book The DaVinci Code has dominated conversation at writer's conventions since the blockbuster was released in 2003. Much of the conversation is centered around second guessing as to the safety of fledgling authors comparing their books to his. Much also is devoted to the quality of his writing. Somehow, Dan Brown has managed to become a literary Barry Manilow. Everyone was buying his product, making him extremely rich in the process, but now he's deemed lowly by people who have yet to be -- and likely never will be -- published themselves.

Granted, there isn't a huge amount of lyricism, character development or memorable turn of phrase, but the book has managed to do one thing brilliantly: take a topic familiar to few, dust it off and raise it from the basement of academia into the light of mainstream culture. That's an enormous undertaking. I'm sure there are those who would love to bottle that success and use it as they try to stem obesity, teen pregnancy or domestic abuse.

Last year, a friend of mine told me how Toni Morrison was named the most influential writer of the last 25 years. I respectfully disagree. I love me some Toni, but influential? No way. Especially, not up against the record of someone like Dan Brown. Here's why:

• Brown has sold more than 65 million copies of The DaVinci Code. Toni Morrison may have sold that many all together over decades. But let's suppose that Jazz has sold 25 million copies. I feel confident in asserting that at least 50 million of the copies sold by Brown actually have been read. And given that one copy of a good book may be passed around to five other people, that would be a total readership of 250 million. Even if readers made an admirable stab at Jazz, however, most likely abandoned it, unable to catch the wave of her lyricism. Frankly, when they have to work too hard, most readers give up. Based on their own abandonment of the book, I doubt these potential readers passed it on to anyone else. I've seen reviews in which Brown's work was called "an easy read" as if that equates to "an easy write" or even to poor writing. It's often is more difficult to construct prose that appeals to a sixth-grade sensibility as we are taught to do in journalism so that everyone can gain knowledge from the printed word. Influence hardly is possible if the reader is unable to decipher the prose.

• I don't recall driving by churches and seeing "Song of Solomon Deconstructed, 7 p.m. Sunday" on their marquees. The premise of The DaVinci Code was the hot topic of most book clubs, many churches and an awful l of water coolers for a long time. Song of Solomon may have made the reading list of a couple of African-American book clubs and college courses, but in my opinion, forced reading doesn't provide the maximum intellectual result.
  

• As important as some of the issues in Morrison' book Beloved are, The History Channel has never devoted a week of prime-time programming to its themes. Heck, I don't recall them giving up an hour. Yet the channel has packaged programming on a variety of themes from The DaVinci Code, including Mary Magdalene, the Templars Priory of Scion and Opus Dei; and decoding the alleged symbolism of the painter's Last Supper.

• The DaVinci Code also has had a huge economic impact. Aside from the staff who made the aforemenetioned History Channel programming, there are those who conduct tours to DaVinci Code sites in France and England and developers of games and myriad other licensed products. There are the dozens of books on related topics. In fact, I found it quite ungrateful of the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail to turn around and sue Dan Brown when he put their book back on the bestseller list. Aside from the staff of the feature film Beloved and the publishing house that released the book, I can't think of any great economic boon generated by Toni Morrison books.
  

We should be careful as we throw around words like "good writing" and "influence." Especially those who live in glass houses.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

It comes as no surprise that almost everyone who hears the premise to my thriller, The Nubian Codex, compares it to Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code. I deliberately wrote it that way, carefully deconstructing the elements that make up his writing. The jury appears to be out on whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Let me first say that my choice of modeling The DaVinci Code was practical. I have friends who say they write for art or for themselves. I say, "Hogwash!" I don't need to write for myself because I know what I think. And art, including communications, are useless pursuits unless I am able to persuade someone on the other end to receive my message. In addition, I have been paid -- quite handsomely, I might add -- for my writing, so it now has a distinct monetary value. In short, I will not engage in any writing endeavor that does not promise a tangible payoff in the end.

That said, my husband Jeff Brailey returned last week from the Pike's Peak Writers' Conference, and said that whatever I do, my logline -- the Hollywood-style motto that accompanies my book -- should not include The DaVinci Code. That sentiment was echoed by Charles Salzberg, my team leader this past weekend at the Algonkian Pitch Conference, even though my classmates agreed that it sounded much like Dan Brown's book. The next day, Stacey Creamer from Berkley immediately went to that place and said she was suprised I didn't invoke Dan Brown's bestselling novel. That led to a short discussion at the end of which she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't see why not; everyone else does it."

I would propose a new perspective on the matter. Dan Brown certainly must be credited for bringing a new approach to the thriller. However, the cinematic approach, easy read and complex subject matter are hardly new. Though his subject matter was more technical than historical, Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park was written much the same way. I think we should view Dan Brown's work as a sub-genre. Just as there are medical thrillers, legal thrillers and psychological thrillers, this could open a realm of the intelligent thriller. Of course, several books of this nature have been published since The DaVinci Code, but I get the impression these are considered more isolated volumes than an actual sub-genre. But every genre must get its start somewhere. I'm sure the there have been times that thrillers of various genres have been overexposed, especially upon the introduction of the first. And as with any genre or sub-genre, there's no reason to believe it will be rejected by the public unless it it poorly constructed and/or poorly written.

The Nubian Codex shares some similarities in form but certainly not in subject matter. My thriller in the end resembles Dan Brown's about as much as his resembles Jurassic Park. Still, there are worse books to which it could be compared.

The Word on Algonkian

Today I returned from the 2007 Algonkian Pitch Conference, which was a success. Two editors from Penguin's Berkley imprint were interested in reading The Nubian Codex. This, however, is just a first step that means someone who can make a decision is willing to take the time to read the manuscript. There's no guarantee they'll like it.

It was a bit different than I had imagined, even after thoroughly reading the testimonials on the Algonkian web site. There were 17 people from all over the United States in the group. Most were writers of thrillers, but there was one who had a cozy - the Jessica Fletcher with tea and a cat sort of mystery - as well as a couple whose genre was para-normal/supernatural. As I mentioned before, we had to write in advance a pitch based on our books and modeled after jackets from books that have been successful in their genre. I was luckier than most in the initial assessment of our pitches by team leader Charles Salzberg. I, of course, also made the mistake of going first. But all's well that ends well, and I had a successful pitch by Saturday. By the way, my pitch had changed by about 25 percent.

We became a cohesive group that had a vested interest in one another's success. There were some real characters, however. I think everyone's favorite was Erika Karres, a North Carolina transplant from Germany. This uninhibited woman latched on to me almost the moment I walked in the room. Reminiscent of Dr. Ruth, the sex expert, Dr. Erika actually is a nationally respected authority on school violence. The author of several non-fiction books, Dr. Erika pitched a hilarious book about a contest among terrorists in which the prize was "a pill-popping slut" and an "embittered virgin." We got a lot of laughs from this, but the editors seemed to take her relatively seriously. And Dr. Erika was nothing less than encouraging and nurturing.

Another favorite was "Ophelia," whose all-black attire, platinum blond hair and funky glasses could easily cause anyone to mistake her for a New York editor. She, in fact, was a Columbus, Ohio, homemaker/writer who has an intercontinental commuter marriage with a man who is a math instructor at a technical school in Zurich, Switzerland.

Ophelia and some of the others shared their challenge of getting into the conference. Though the web site alluded to a selection process, I thought they pretty much would take everyone who applied. But several attendees shared that they had to apply more than once to get in. Because this is a relatively new conference, we figure it's probably easier to get in right now, but as it gains in reputation, it probably will become more challenging.

My only complaints are that the editors all basically came from one publishing house, and some were not appropriate for our genre. One agent, for instance, represented cozies, and almost all of us wrote thrillers, making our pitch to her an exercise in futility.

The writers pitched all sorts of books. One had a thriller built from her own fears of getting lost. Another wrote a post-Cold War thriller. Yet another wrote a high-tech thriller about the pharmaceuticals industry. They all sounded like interesting premises.