Comments on: WFR’s Book Recommendations: Gifts for the Weirdie in Your Life

By: jeff vandermeer

jeff vandermeer — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 01:52:59 +0000

Steve: I think I came off more aggressive than I meant to. I’ll follow up re PDFs. Happy Holidays.

By: Steve Berman

Steve Berman — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 23:48:41 +0000

Jeff, thank you for taking the time to address my reservations. I am sorry if I sounded nastier than intended. Frustration, as you perceived, is the operative word. I hope you and Ann have a wonderful holiday season with much literary gelt.

By: Jeff VanderMeer

Jeff VanderMeer — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:44:56 +0000

As for WFR.com, if you go to our Book Review submission guidelines, you’ll find publishers can send electronic copies.

In thinking about this more, I can say I certainly do understand your frustration, though–there is definitely limited review space out there and it’s sometimes hard to get attention.

Happy holidays.

By: Jeff VanderMeer

Jeff VanderMeer — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:47:13 +0000

Steve: This is all amateur-hour. You're making all kinds of assumptions that have no basis in fact. I'm really sorry for your authors that you're doing this. It means that *you* are actively diminishing their possibility of reviews. And you are admitting you have not emailed me about your books. JeffV

By: Steve Berman

Steve Berman — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:33:08 +0000

When you post your snail mail, the assumption, Jeff, is that you want print copies not PDFs. And for small presses (even ones that have won awards like Lethe), sending out books to every reviewer is not financial possible. There is even a suggestion that, even if people recommend a book to you, you only will review it if you get a copy.

By: jeffvandermeer

jeffvandermeer — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:49:32 +0000

Steve: Wow. Way to screw your author. I get an average of 5 to 20 books a day from publishers, so there's obviously a percentage that can't be covered. I don't also recall having been pitched her book or any Lethe Press book by you or your publicist. Nor do I recall being offered a PDF option--correct me if I'm wrong. The first rule of book publishing is that with so much out there, you have to do a decent job of pushing what you're selling. So all I can say is that your statement is working from the wrong foundation and the wrong analysis of the situation.

By: Steve Berman

Steve Berman — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:40:22 +0000

Considering that Jeff and Locus and many reviewers ignore Lethe Press titles and authors, it’s little wonder why we send out expensive review copies to reviewers who have shown little interest in our releases. Thus, we did not bother with sending Jeff a copy of Livia’s book.

By: jeffvandermeer

jeffvandermeer — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:17:15 +0000

Thanks! And yes, loved The Silent Land!

By: Shopping (or just reading) weird | The Black Letters

Shopping (or just reading) weird | The Black Letters — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 02:14:00 +0000

[...] budget at this point, but I couldn’t resist poring over Ann & Jeff VanderMeer’s Gifts for the Weirdie in Your Life book recommendation post – many many additions were made to my to-read list. The VanderMeers [...]

By: Rebecca Stefoff

Rebecca Stefoff — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:54:32 +0000

Thanks much for this list. It has reminded me of a few things I meant to read but haven't gotten to yet, and it clued me in to a couple of books I might have missed. I was glad to see Graham Joyce's The Silent Land on your list; it's not an out-and-out flesh-creeper, but I thought it was a fine, and weird, read.