Questions for the Editor [ Edited ]

[KxBurns]

Carole Baron, editor of The Sister, will be joining us tomorrow to take your questions. Please post them here!

Message Edited by KxBurns on 03-09-2008 07:43 PM

Message Edited by KxBurns on 03-09-2008 09:54 PM

[Everyman]

There has been some discussion here of the cover on the ARC, most of it unenthusiastic.

What was the intention of the cover? What is it trying to say about the book?

Is this the final cover design, or are you considering other cover art?

And is it true, as some here think, that those are actually butterflies and not moths on the cover?

[vivico1]

I liked the cover, even when I only saw it online, before I got it. Now that I have been reading, it reminds me of something old, emotionless, or stopped in time, like the stone version of a person is in a bust, so it works for me. Except for the moths/butterflies. They look pasted on the cover like bad clipart. It would be cool to see something more 3D, like the bust is, maybe even lighting on the bust. There is an eeriness about it otherwise that really suits the story to me. Is there a chance these butterflies/moths (we seem to agree we aren't sure they are moths) will be changed?

Also, THANK YOU for chapter numbers AND TITLES! It is so much easier to go back and look for something in a book, when you have titles to remind you about where it is, especially when discussing a book. I noticed there are no page numbers for the chapters, is that just because the final cut for the book isnt done yet?

[vivico1]

*** possible spoiler***
One thing that had many of us starting to skim the book instead of reading it all,(some I know stopped reading altogether because of it) is the technical stuff about the moths. Thats a pretty specialized field and not the most popular parts to read. Its kind of like listening to a scientist describe and atom in scientific terms and your interest tends to drift until it interferes with your convo and you just wait for them to come back to something you know. I think the idea of using the moths, and the way they are studied and killed and kept,all very aloof and quite emotionless, works for the story in building character ideas. (I am trying to to give too much away for those still reading here) But I found that by skimming it, getting away from the length of the technical stuff, I didn't miss any of what the comparisons were but was more able to continue to read the book, when as I said some others have given up, and then I found this to be a wonderfully eerie thriller without all that. Have you had any remarks before or in the British version about people drifting from too much of the technical stuff? I don't mean stuff like Chapter 5, the Monster, the Thief and Pupal Soup, that worked so well for what it is intended and was very readable and pretty creepy (which is good lol). I am speaking to just those times when you may have paragraphs to pages of scientific jargon about moths. Any chance some of this might be cut back some? Because I have told several people, hang in there, get past those parts and you are in for one heck of a book!

[Deenow]

I didn't find the technical stuff to be that bad, but I am very interested in science. I guess I can see where it might bore someone not interested in that sort of thing. It was a lot of technical talk about moth's. Never ending.

[thefamilymanag…]

What was the reasoning to keep all of the technical stuff regarding the moths? Some is important but quite a bit of it was not useful to the story.  Thanks so much.

Lisa

Message Edited by thefamilymanager on 03-10-2008 12:08 PM

[SandyS]

I am so glad the Chapters are titled and we have a Table of Contents.  It would be helpful to add the Chapter names on top of the pages instead of the name of the book.

Thanks for this opportunity to review the book before it's published.

SandyS

[BookSavage]

Are the titles for the chapters final?  If not, I think the title for chapter 7 "Breakfast" is not as well planned as the other titles.  I feel like that title does not portray the true nature of the subject matter.  What about something like, A Secret - I mean this chapter lets the reader know that the sisters had a secret together in the past and a secret from each other in the present.

[lcnh1]

How has the book evovlved from when you first read it to what we have been reading?  I agree with the other posters that some of the chapters we almost too detailed about the study of moths that did not really lend itself well to the overall plot.  I would have liked to have seen more about the relationship between all of the characters and wonder if there was more of that in earlier drafts?

Thanks.

[kiakar]

I know little or nothing about moths, only biblical references of the butterfly. But it seems since there was this horror of killing and the idea of torturing even a insect that affected me in the sense I wanted out of this reading about moths. Do Moths have a good purpose? Why are they here? I think I need alittle educat ion about them but I still couldn't be that interested in them like I was Bees in the History of a secret life of Bees. Bees produce a wonderful product that we all love, most of us. It had some history such as the queen bees killing the male and the workers or whatever but this is part of their nature. So what I am getting at is: Couldn't this information be presented in a different way? And it was alot of it.

[kmensing]

First of all--thank you for letting all of us to get a sneak peak at this new book. 

As many have stated, there has been much heated discussion as to the overload of moth information in this book--and I have to agree.  What attracted you, as an editor, to this book?

Will their be any changes to the final printing of the book after reviewing all the feedback from the ARC readers?

Message Edited by kmensing on 03-10-2008 02:27 PM

[CAG]

I have really enjoyed this book and thank you for sharing it with us. I too am wondering about what seemed at times, like an overload of moth information. Will any of that be cut out at this point before publication? I would also like to know what made this book interesting to you from an editor's viewpoint.  

[dumlao_n]

I like seeing a Table of Contents, but I wish the page numbers would be listed as well. I don't like seeing just 0's.

Thank you.

[Tasses]

Thank you for presenting 'The Sister' as an ARC for our fun club here at B&N.

While it wasn't one of my favorite reads, I felt like I was able to give it an honest review as I always finish ARCs. It's my belief that if a publisher is kind enough to send me a free book, I should at least read it. This leads me to my question:

Given the possibility that any exposure is better than no exposure, would publishers rather recieve honest reviews or have us just skip reviewing titles we find faulty? I've wrestled with this quite a bit (good ole guilt there). Thanks.

[Everyman]

Tasses wrote: Given the possibility that any exposure is better than no exposure, would publishers rather recieve honest reviews or have us just skip reviewing titles we find faulty? I've wrestled with this quite a bit (good ole guilt there)

Excellent question. I've wrestled with it myself. With a book I've bought and paid for, I have no problem giving it a negative review if that's how I feel about it. But the ARCs feel a bit different; they are gifts, and you know what they say about gift horses! Since I can't give this book a glowing review, at least as far as I've read so far, I'm wondering whether I should just not review it at the end. But then, is that fair to other readers who might get to save their tie and money if they had a better picture what the book is about?

[Carole_Baron]

---

lcnh1 wrote:

How has the book evovlved from when you first read it to what we have been reading?  I agree with the other posters that some of the chapters we almost too detailed about the study of moths that did not really lend itself well to the overall plot.  I would have liked to have seen more about the relationship between all of the characters and wonder if there was more of that in earlier drafts?

Thanks.

---

Hello;  it is always difficult to get the right balance in a book.  I actually think that the moth background gives the book a unique quality.  The study of moths is as much a character in the book as the each one in the family. To answer your question: there was not "more" of the characters in the first draft.  Thank you 

[Carole_Baron]

---

kmensing wrote:

First of all--thank you for letting all of us to get a sneak peak at this new book. 

As many have stated, there has been much heated discussion as to the overload of moth information in this book--and I have to agree.  What attracted you, as an editor, to this book?

Will their be any changes to the final printing of the book after reviewing all the feedback from the ARC readers?

Message Edited by kmensing on 03-10-2008 02:27 PM

---

Hello:  YOu asked what attracted me to this book.  When I opened the manuscript to read it, the first paragraph  attracted me(where Ginny is waiting for her sister) wanted to read more. I was also fascinated with the study of moths; I had never read that before and added to the atmosphere of the story for me.

As you probably know the galleys that you are sent is the final book without the proofreading, so there will be no editorial changes from this to the final book.  

Thank you for reading.

[Carole_Baron]

---

CAG wrote:

I have really enjoyed this book and thank you for sharing it with us. I too am wondering about what seemed at times, like an overload of moth information. Will any of that be cut out at this point before publication? I would also like to know what made this book interesting to you from an editor's viewpoint.  

---

Hello:  I receive dozens of manuscripts to read for possible publication a week.  I was attracted to this story with the opening paragraph.  ANd then I thought the background of the study of moths was fascinating and added an atmosphere to the book.  ANd I loved reading about the secrets of this familoy and the two sisters. 

To answer your question: the book you read is the final edit.  Thank you for reading. 

[Carole_Baron]

---

Everyman wrote:
Tasses wrote: Given the possibility that any exposure is better than no exposure, would publishers rather recieve honest reviews or have us just skip reviewing titles we find faulty? I've wrestled with this quite a bit (good ole guilt there)

Excellent question. I've wrestled with it myself. With a book I've bought and paid for, I have no problem giving it a negative review if that's how I feel about it. But the ARCs feel a bit different; they are gifts, and you know what they say about gift horses! Since I can't give this book a glowing review, at least as far as I've read so far, I'm wondering whether I should just not review it at the end. But then, is that fair to other readers who might get to save their tie and money if they had a better picture what the book is about?

---

[mwinasu]

SPOILER?

 Please tell me what happened to the dog. And I just want to say that I think the readers will understand the moth analogy at the end of the story.