"Conversations in the Book Trade" -- Fred Ramey

"Conversations in the Book Trade" is an ongoing series at The Screenplay-novel Manifestos.

I am in the process of contacting people involved with books: either professionals or passionate readers. Hopefully this project will turn into something of a forum: both a resource for readers/writers interested in how the publishing side of things work, and an opportunity for editors, agents and authors to explain their side of the literary equation.

The focus of this project is literary fiction -- in particular, how it is to survive in an increasingly competitive "culture of narratives". I am interested in the reality of publishing now; not how it should be, or might have been if our culture had evolved differently, but how it is at this perilous moment in the early 21st Century, and how it might be in the near future.

Current interview:

Fred Ramey of Unbridled Books:
"What is shadowing the art of literature seems, rather, to be a combination of the corporate need for a sure thing and the instant availability of sales numbers. ..."
[To read the entire interview, click here.]

Previous:

Bev Daurio of The Mercury Press

"A Distant Mirror, Accelerating Quickly"

My op-ed on why literature is necessary for our full comprehension of history is up at the Korea Times:

Imagine a country is occupied by American forces after a war. Imagine these forces are greeted with tremendous euphoria when they first enter the capital. They are cheered and covered with garlands. An occupation government is established. It proceeds to reorganize the society. But it makes several serious mistakes, and within months the mood of the population has changed...

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