What is the single biggest problem with the book world today?
Distribution. Especially for smaller books. Because the bookstores won’t take a chance. And if a writer has a not-so-rosy track record, then they won’t order more and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Then, if the book happens to get good reviews, you’re caught out of print and have to reprint and maybe the books don’t get to the stores fast enough. And distribution is a problem on the other end, too, with books that are overprinted, books that may get on the best-seller list. It may look good to the outside world, but the returns may negate the rosy picture. One of your agents here, Eric Simonoff, has sold a novel by James Frey to HarperCollins. Tell me about that decision, the decision to represent him. Is that something you sign off on? I don’t know anything about it. I haven’t read the book. Eric can do anything he wants. He’s codirector of the agency. Tina and Eric are very important forces in this agency. I don’t mind it anyway. Get over it; it’s fiction. But tell me how you
