"Personal" question(s) to John Jarrold

[John Jarrold]

Originally Posted by David Elliott

Shocking ...

Mind you, one of my favourite short stories is "Chivalry" by Neil Gaiman - A woman finds the holy grail, under a fur coat, in Oxfam - which is probably about as British, regarding the style of humour, as you're likely to get. A bit Peter-Cook-esque, really ...

And doesn't he do quite well in the US? Or is he more known for his comic work over there?

Novels now, as well as comics, but it was Sandman that really got him well known. You can ignore short fiction, in terms of the mass market and authors being well known. They're really for a specialist audience.

[John Jarrold]

Originally Posted by Doctor Sax

I stand corrected! Bring on the tea and scones.

But of course many British SF authors aren't specifically 'British' either. Banks again, Al Reynolds, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Neal Asher... Extremely varied writers, but no tea or scones!!!

[Doctor Sax]

Doesn't Gaiman live out in the States, now?

[lin robinson]

Apropos of the "Steampunk" discussion a few posts back.... there's THIS

[John Jarrold]

Originally Posted by Doctor Sax

Doesn't Gaiman live out in the States, now?

He's lived there for more than a decade.

[John Jarrold]

Originally Posted by lin robinson

Apropos of the "Steampunk" discussion a few posts back.... there's THIS

Great stuff! You can hear the creak of metal and the splutter of steam and oil...

[David Elliott]

How does Robert Rankin do over there?

I know a lot of his stuff can be quite "British" - the ongoing Brentford Trilogy, for instance - but the likes of Armageddon: The Musical, didn't seem to be based in any particular country, or use any regional dialect (as far as I can remember, anyway ...)

[John Jarrold]

I think the UK editions of Robert's books are simply distributed in the US, as far as I'm aware he has no US publisher - same with Tom Holt.

[David Elliott]

It's strange how humour doesn't always travel ...

I read somewhere that when Hitchhiker's Guide was first published in the US, they really played on the fact that Douglas Adams had co-written a sketch with Graham Chapman for Monty Python's Flying Circus ... even making it seem as if he was part of the team.

Apparently, there was a quote from each Python on the dust-jacket ...

[John Jarrold]

Quite possibly. You tailor cover and publicity to specific markets.

There are US authors who sell very well over there, but who would never be used for quotes on a UK book, because they don't sell here and would be seen as a definite negative by the book trade - and vice versa with certain UK authors in the US. No matter how good the quote is, if it comes from an author who is perceived as having failed commercially in a given market, it will not be used.

As a publisher, you don't attach your books to anything but successful authors, in a specific market. That's basic business sense.

[Hilarious Joke]

I bought a book by Jude Fisher because it had a quote on the front by Robin Hobb.

Out of curiosity, do you think quotes from acclaimed, best-selling fantasy or sf authors are better than excerpts from a review in a mainstream newspaper?

[lin robinson]

I don't what John will say about his much wider slant on this. But speaking as a reader, I'd take the writer's endoresement every time over some clown who is writing reviews for a newspaper.

(Speaking also, by the way, as an ex film and music reviewer for a newspaper)

[Doctor Sax]

A cynical devil's advocate might say, though, aren't newspaper reviewers generally considered to be more impartial, while an author quote could just be the result of some mutual back-slapping among friends?

Personally, I don't get swayed more by one or the other, but I do always read the shout lines, regardless of source.

[David Elliott]

I think it can only be a good thing to have positive quotes from well-known authors in the genre.

During my teenage years, I discovered so many horror writers - James Herbert, Clive Barker, Richard Laymon, Dean Koontz, etc - purely because I was such a huge Stephen king fan, and he'd contributed quotes to their various books ...

[lin robinson]

A cynical devil's advocate might say, though, aren't newspaper reviewers generally considered to be more impartial, while an author quote could just be the result of some mutual back-slapping among friends?

I don't know about "generally considered", but I'd consider the idea that newspaper hacks are "impartial" or even knowledgeable is absurd. Maybe things are different in UK.

I'd rather take a chance on a writer I like and trust backslapping somebody.

Not that I choose my reading based on cover blurbs, anyway.

I'm rounding up blurbs right now. I'm going to hit up the head of the newspaper book review section in the area the book is set, but mostly am going for writers of similar material.