Librations

I’ve been a Librations contributor in the nominal sense for a month or so now, so I figured it was about time for me to actually step up and contribute. Oh sure, I could explain the delay away by saying that this is a ridiculously busy time for me at work (almost true) and in my personal life (actually true). And then, of course, I spent several weeks fussing about what I was going to write, and by the time I had finally drafted something that I was happy with, Librations went down for two weeks. Such is my life.

But the real cause of my initial fussing is that I was a little intimidated by kdt’s invitation. This is a blog for librarians, for crying out loud! Yeah, I spent five years of my life working in two different libraries (Oberlin College and Boulder Public). But that whole time, I was plotting and scheming and going to school and doing anything I could to get out of libraries and into publishing. (Not that I have anything against libraries. I love libraries. I just didn’t want to work in a library. But I’ll save that explanation for another post.)

So here’s my story: I’m not a librarian. I don’t even want to be a librarian. I’m an acquisitions editor in a publishing company. That means that I don’t really do much pen-on-paper editing (don’t worry, I won’t be all nitpicky about your grammar or spelling). I’m one of the people responsible for deciding what books get published. And I know what benefits I get from talking to librarians (anyone want to tell me what type of books you need or want for your library or yourself in history, geography, and international studies?), but I’ve been struggling with what kind of information you’d like to hear from me. So rather than struggle with that any longer, I’m just going to ask you: What kind of things do you want to know about publishing or content-related issues? Or, since this is the internet’s first library/bar, about my other area of expertise, Colorado microbrews? (Hint: pretty much everything from Left Hand Brewery is fantastic. But right now, I’m really into Avery’s Karma Ale. Just right with Pad Thai.)

I’m really interested in developing better relationships between publishers and librarians. If I publish books that you want, we both win. So I’d like to hear your questions and comments so I know what type of things you want to know from me. I’m not going to be intimidated by all you librarians anymore. I’m ready.

ps: I plan on tagging all my entries Colorado. Take that, Michigan!