For typical readers outside of the publishing industry, the pre-publication action remains hidden. We only see the final product of a published work. A few of the readings for this week demonstrated for me that I have a shallow knowledge of the publishing process and that I, like many, make certain assumptions about the final presentation of published books.
I was shocked to read that Ramin Ganeshram had so little control over the illustrations that accompanied the text of her children's book. She writes, "I couldn’t respond to the public’s belief that I had creative control over the images even though, like most picture book authors, I had no authority to approve them" (Ganeshram, 2016). Prior to reading Ganeshram's blogpost, I would have assumed that these illustrations were the result of a close collaboration between the author, the illustrator, and the publisher, and therefore it's unsurprising to me that Ganeshram, the author of the text, received backlash for the images that depict Hercules as Washington's cheerful slave who delighted in his daily forced labor. Illustrations contribute greatly to the tone and message of a text, and it seems disrespectful to the author (and to the illustrator) to enforce creative directions against the will and intentions of the creator(s). Then again, I would assume that publishers will always wield a strong hand and prioritize sales over creator intent.
Hello.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that as readers we do not really know what goes on behind closed doors of the publication process of a book. I have a copy of examples to share about my limited knowledge talking to writers about illustrators.
Last year or the year before (comic cons blur after a while) I attended a panel discussion hosted by comic book author Gail Simone. Someone from the audience asked if she gets to pick her artist for her stories. Her response was yes and no. It depends on the book title and publisher and how many issues she is contracted to write. If the book already has an artist, inker, and colorist under contract then she has little to say about it. But if the title is new or is starting fresh with a new writer and artists team then she can request certain artists.
However, she did explain that in the comic book world there are different ways that writers and artist work together. Since artists and writers do not work in the same office area, building, or even on the same side of the country anymore communication is essential. When she first started sending in her scripts to comic book companies they would edit them to fit the art work. She called this “the marvel way.” The artist would get the script and create the panels as he or she wanted to. This resulted in many rewrites and plot changes of Gail’s original story. Now that she is well known and in demand as a comic book writer she writes the descriptions of each panel and layout on each page and the artist is expected to follow her suggestions or discuss changes with her.
About five years ago I was at party with some friends when I was introduced to a children’s author who was about to release another book. I do not remember her name. Being a smart self-promoting artist I gave her my card and asked her to look at my work and consider me as a future book illustrator for her work. She informed me that that is not how it works. She does not pick and choose her illustrators. There is a pool of illustrators that work for the publishing company and they decide who illustrates her books. If the publishing company gets a lot of positive feedback from patrons about certain author and illustrator combinations, then they pair them up as a team for future books.
Thanks for posting.
Robert
It is sad how little control authors have over their own works. Publishers really have a lot more control than it seems on the surface. Short of self-publishing, authors are really restricted. I have an old friend who recently decided to self-publish and science-fiction e-book, and her major issue now is trying to market for it. Publishers offer some really great perks for using them, but the drawbacks can very detrimental as well.
ReplyDeleteLeah, reading your post makes me wonder if any of the books in fake memoirs were 'creatively controlled' so to speak by the publishers and the authors just went along with it so they could be published. That is, maybe the publishers added some embellishments to memoirs and it wasn't really the authors who were originally deceitful. Publishers need to find a better balance of allowing authors more control of their content, but then also checking content (regarding non-fiction materials) for truth.
ReplyDeleteWonderful prompt response! Soo many things are occur differently in the publishing world then we imagine. Full points!
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