The Doctor will see you now
It's not often I'll diverge from books and publishing business on the blog to talk about other things. And I rarely rave about TV or other books - I usually don't have the time to read much other than submissions and the only TV I watch is on catch-up!
However, as a long-time Doctor Who fan I have been watching the progression and coming-of-age of the Doctor with great interest . . .
A Day in the Life of an Author - with Paul Cornell
Having worked in publishing for so long I know that, from the outside looking in, it can seem a rather bewildering and daunting industry. Most readers don't know how long it takes to put a book together, the process involved in getting a script from (a)uthor to (b)ookshelf. It takes a hell of a lot of work both from the author and publisher and all those in between including typesetters, printers and booksellers. It's usually between 12-18 months before a delivered script will see the inside of a bookshop. So what happens during that process?
Is SFF more mainstream than people give it credit for?
So at this year's London Book Fair I was invited to moderate a panel to discuss this very question. Joining me were David Bradley, the editor and chief of SFX and Total Film magazines and Rosie Fletcher, the editor of Total Film. It was a lively discussion and the audience seemed to enjoy it but it did get me thinking. What is this 'mainstream'? Is it an invite-only club? What do you have to do to get this collective's attention? And is this 'mainstream' welcoming to genre or do they shun it?