From: Vicki Cobb <vicki.cobb2>
Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2007 11:30:00 -0400

    I certainly sympathize with Jane Yolen. I, too, can't complain in spite of the fact that HarperCollins is putting me out of print and has no interest in buying anything new from me, in spite of the fact that the Science Play series (still in print) won rave reviews and a national honor (Seibert).I'm told that their policy is to buy celebrity books and movie tie-ins.

    Interestingly, my public speaking business has never been better, and in fact is becoming the tail that wagged the dog. I put on a show for kids that's like a nightclub act. I get that, before anything else, I must be entertaining. Schools buy into the celebrity culture and need to treat me as a celebrity so that kids will become interested in reading science. My agent tells me that in the future the money will come increasingly from author's public appearances with bookselling at such events. Like it or not, authors will have to get their acts together if they want to eke out a living.

Vicki Cobb
Received on Wed 06 Jun 2007 10:30:00 AM CDT