aka eraser
An editor-friend sent me this today. I thought some of you might find it interesting.
www.villagevoice.com/issu.../essay.php
www.villagevoice.com/issu.../essay.php
The way he rambled, I'm not entirely sure what his point was. But the history is indeed interesting, and on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis the essay does contain some good stuff.This guy kinda missed the point.
are "not overfond" of the wheelings and dealings of agents: "They say he has been of advantage to the few writers of the first class, having made their work much more expensive, while he has been the ruin of all the smaller fry. The steady, old-fashioned relationship between publisher and author no longer exists."
now many publishers will not even look at this manila-enveloped tide of humanity: They happily leave that drudgery to agents. Publishers, to their great relief, no longer have to be the first to say: I like it.