Once upon a time, someone had a crazy idea and the power of persuasion, and thus, a blog was born. It was months in the making, and was the subject of endless phone calls and emails back and forth between the creators. Eventually, they just decided to "push the button".
As you will see from reading their final email exchange, the creators of this blog still haven't figured it out. They have no idea what they are doing. They just hope it will be fun and informative.And they promise to never again write about themselves in the third person.
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Ann: So Michael, why the heck are we starting a blog when we don't even have time to clean off our desks?
Michael: Because talking about books and doing a blog are more fun than cleaning off our desks!
Ann: True. Though honestly, I find talking about books easier than writing about books most days.
Michael: I guess we'd better just dive in with both feet and not look back! We've both been working in books for a long time, so we should never run out of topics... Books we've liked. Books we've hated. Books with lots to talk about. Nice jackets. The crazy industry of publishing. The noble vocation of bookselling. Why we keep doing it day after day (and why it NEVER gets boring!). and on and on...
Ann: Oh, my days are too short spend time even thinking about books I've hated. There are way too many great books out there that I want people to discover. Plus, I'm not a critic. Even though I've been working in publishing for more years than I want to admit publicly, I still tend to approach my reading as the average reader. At least, I try to do that.
I love to talk to my friends about books I've enjoyed, or that I think they will like. They don't read reviews. They just want me to tell them about the next book they should read. Sadly, they don't let me prattle on nearly often enough, so now I have to find a new audience.
Michael: Agreed. I've never been good at expressing why I DON'T like a book. And every time I try to read a review, I get lost. Either reviewers are way smarter than I am, or they're very nitpicky.
Ann: OK, so I think we can agree on Rule #1: No "reviews". Just honest recommendations.
Oh, I have another one: No using the word "unputdownable."
Michael: I will agree to ban "unputdownable!"
I can't think of any other hard-and-fast rules. It's going to evolve and change, whether we want it to or not!
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So there you have it. They We have no idea what we are doing -- but you're welcome to join us as we figure it out.
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