April 28, 2010
We’re in the third day of the Warriors in the Crossfire blog tour, I was fortunate enough to score an interview with the book’s acquiring editor, Stephen Roxburgh.
I met Mr. Roxburgh several months ago when I was in his Founders Workshop (highly recommended). He’s a fan of electronic publishing (I had to link to that article because I love the sketch of him being blown away by the iPad), and he’s married to Carolyn Coman (see Arthur Levine rave about her coming book–16.20 minutes into the video).
So, here we go—20 questions with Mr. Stephen Roxburgh:
1) What was it about Warriors in the Crossfire that made you want to acquire it?
SR: The unique setting, the voice, and, generally, the quality of the writing.
2) Did Warriors come in on the slush pile or did you know Nancy already?
SR: Nancy had worked with my wife, Carolyn Coman, at a Highlights Foundation Whole Novel Workshop. Carolyn brought the book to my attention.
3) Do you like spare writing or full writing or different styles for different genres and stories?
SR: You’ve answered the question. Each story requires its own style.
4) Plot or voice? Which one is more important to you?
SR: Voice captures my attention and plot keeps me reading.
5) Name some books that marry commercial plot with literary voice.
SR: I don’t know what a “commercial plot” is, or, for that matter, what a “literary voice” is. Implicit in the question is that “commercial” and “literary” are somehow contrary. I don’t think that is true.
6) You started namelos, why?
SR: I believe the publishing industry is going through a sea change. I wanted to find a business model that could adapt to the changing industry. namelos is my attempt at that.
7) How many authors have you published with namelos?
SR: We’ve published the ebook editions of most of the Front Street fiction list: that’s probably 30 or so authors. So far we’ve signed contracts with 10 or so authors to publish at namelos in all formats.
8) Are you doing YA and MG? What about PBs? Do you see a market for interactive PBs growing?
SR: At this point we are focused on YA and middle-grade fiction, and some poetry. We can not publish picture books ourselves just yet (stay tuned!) so any picture book projects we take on we will develop and attempt to place with traditional publishers.
9) What do you think of that new iPad. Did you buy one?
SR: I think it is a game-changer. I’ve bought two.
10) Can you tell me something about putting theme into a story without preaching?
SR: It’s the old “show, don’t tell” issue. If your characters’ actions reveal an inherent theme, the reader will get it. If your characters or the narrator tell the reader what you want the reader to get from the story, it will feel like preaching.
11) What is the thing you hated the most about the last submission you rejected?
SR: Having to reject it. Time spent reading and rejecting manuscripts is time lost. I want to read and accept manuscripts.
12) What is the thing you loved the best about the last book you published?
SR: The book is POD by Stephen Wallenfels. I love many aspects of the story but what I loved most about publishing it is that it is the first book I’ve published under the namelos imprint. That means we’re up and running again and I couldn’t be more pleased.
13) How many submissions do you get at namelos?
SR: “Submissions” to namelos are, in fact, requests for our evaluation of the project which cost $200. We receive two or three a week.
14) How was Bologna?
SR: Fabulous!
15) Why isn’t namelos capitalized?
SR: namelos means nameless. I believe the “brand” we are promoting is the author and the book, not the publisher. To that end, I play down the name of the company. Hence the lower case “n”.
16) Do you have a favorite genre?
SR: The novel.
17) You’ve worked with some amazing people—Roald Dahl and Isaac Bashevis Singer, to name a couple. Can you pass on something you’ve learned from one of the incredible people you’ve worked with?
SR: I learned that no matter how famous or successful an author is, he or she is as vulnerable and insecure when delivering a manuscript as any young or unpublished author. That never changes.
18) Are the stars in children’s literature as exciting in person as they are on the page or are you disappointed when you meet them?
SR: Some are, some aren’t. I’m never disappointed to meet an author or artist whose work I admire. I may not, at the end of the day, want to spend a lot of time with them socially, but that’s not what our relationship is about. We know each other for one reason and one reason only, we both want to publish the best book possible.
19) You seem to have a great grasp of human nature in general and of the writer type person in particular. What non-writing advice can you give new writers to help them succeed in the business?
SR: Your “business” is making the best book you are able to make at the moment. Everything else is a distraction. Do what you have to do, but don’t confuse life or the business of publishing with your creative work.
20) What book are you doing right now that excites you?
SR: Whatever book I am working on at the moment excites me, whether its a manuscript evaluation or a first novel we are publishing, or a picture book we are developing for placement elsewhere. I’ve finally learned that the process is what matters to me, first and foremost, and the consequences of the process will be what they will be. I can only do the best I can do in the present moment. This is both liberating and exciting!
Bio:
Stephen Roxburgh acquired his first hardcover children’s book (/LassieCome Home/) at the age of ten by winning a bet that he rigged. It was the first crime he committed for a good book, but not the last. He has been involved professionally with children’s books and publishing for more than thirty-five years, first as an academic, then as senior vice president and publisher of Books for Young Readers at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and as president and publisher of Front Street, a small, independent press he founded, deliberately, on April Fool’s Day of 1994. In 2004 Front Street was acquired by Boyds Mills Press, where Stephen was publisher until September 2008.
Stephen has worked with such authors and artists as Felicia Bond, Nancy Eckholm Burkert, Brock Cole, Carolyn Coman, Roald Dahl, Donna Diamond, Madeleine L’Engle, Martine Leavitt, Patricia McCormick, An Na, Marilyn Nelson, Adam Rapp, Alvin Schwartz, George Selden, Uri Shulevitz, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Garth Williams, and Margot Zemach.
Stephen lectures and publishes widely on children’s literature and children’s publishing. He is on the faculty of the Highlights Foundation. For many years he taught in the Radcliffe Publishing Program, the Stanford Publishing Program, and the Columbia Publishing Program.
Stephen lives in rural New Hampshire with his wife, Carolyn, his black dog, Shadow, and his black cat, Pup. He reads a lot, hawks vegetables and swaps recipes at his son-in-law’s farm stand on Fridays, practicesyoga, and will be planting a field of raspberries momentarily.
categories: Interviews, Publishing
tags: namelos, nancy bo flood, stephen roxburgh, warriors in the crossfire
tags: namelos, nancy bo flood, stephen roxburgh, warriors in the crossfire
