Friday, March 23, 2012

If you Love books

It is so very easy in this business to get swamped by the day-to-day minutiae.

Reading queries, partials, fulls.
Researching the market.
Talking with editors.
Making and following-up on submissions.
Waiting for contracts.
Negotiating details.
And on, and on, and on.

The details are often so all subsuming, that one can lose sight of the purpose, the goal, the reason for being in this business. I didn't realize how lost I may have become until today when I stopped to smell the roses, (well they were actually hyacinths), but you get the idea.

Call it spring fever or taking time to restore one's soul. Not only did I enjoy the blooms of spring, but I also took out a few minutes from the work day to look at the Oscar winning animated short, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. It is delightful. It made me happy, but more importantly it restored my faith in the power of books. All those flying words brought such joy to all the people they touched, that it was impossible not to see books as an essential part of life. It felt good to think that authors and agents play a part in that joy and to remember why my love of books got me into this business in the first place.

If you haven't watched the video on U-tube, you really should. I'd love to hear if it brings a smile to your face as well.