Because I am an author interested in someday making the NYT best seller list, my sister-in-law sent me a book on tape written by Michael Korda, who not only made it to No. 1 with one of his books, but has worked for Simon & Schuster since 1958.
This is one of the most fascinating, insider's look into publishing I've ever read/listened to. He goes decade by decade, analyzing the books that hit the top of the lists each year and relating it to the culture and current events of the time, and has brought back many pleasant memories. I've been surprised at the number of these books I remember, either because I read them, my parents read them, or I saw the movie.
It's funny to see that the nonfiction list has always been dominated by the same types of books--cookbooks, diet books, self-help books, and sometimes books on war and politics. Religion is big, too. It's really been interesting to see the rise and fall of what he calls "women's novels." They come and go in waves. Same with historical novels. I'm just now listening to the part about the '80s. Since we're talking hardbacks, romance novels won't be discussed as much as they should be. (In the '70s, no mention was made of Rosemary Rogers and Kathleen Woodiwiss, though they had pioneered a brand new genre and sold millions of copies.)
I didn't get a whole lot done today. Been chasing down info for my CPA (eeks, getting down to the wire!) and doing laundry. I polished some pages to take to critique group and fought with my printer, which gets a paper jam every time I look away. Took a nice walk and went to yoga where we did lots of "restorative flow," inversions and twisting because we all seemed to have stiff backs and a case of the blahs.
Hope you're having a great week!
Kara
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