West Egg Communications, LLC
252 W. 37th St. 5th Floor
New York, NY 10018
212/659-7070
http://www.bookmagazine.com
The publishers of BOOK want readers to judge it by its cover. Gracing the front of the July/August issue is a glossy photo of John Irving, author of The World According to
Garp, The Cider House Rules and other bestsellers - an indication that this consumer magazine goes beyond rote book reviews, delving into the quirky communities and cult of
personality fueling the book world today. The bimonthly, founded nearly three years ago under the umbrella of West Egg Communications (named for F. Scott Fitzgerald's fictional
New York town in The Great Gatsby) has a circulation of 900,000.
Content/Contacts
BOOK caters first and foremost to "people who have made books and reading one of the important aspects of their lives," says founder and publisher Mark Gleason. The magazine
seeks to be what Rolling Stone is to music lovers, what Premiere is to movie buffs. Book reviews are part of the editorial mix, sure, but the magazine also chronicles authors'
personal lives, literary communities and the cross-pollination of the book business with other forms of entertainment (e.g. movies and TV).
Snail mail is the preferred method of contact (the editors maintain an appreciation for paper). Send books for review to assistant editor Elaine Szewszyk. Send all other
queries through founder and Editor-in-Chief Jerome Kramer.
Pitch Tips
Submitting a book for review is probably the hardest way to break into BOOK, considering the editors receive 50-60 books (or manuscript proofs) each day. The better bet,
according to Gleason, is to pitch departments such as "Shop Watch," which features unusual bookstores (e.g. a Las Vegas establishment specializing in gambling tomes), and
"Style," a new section highlighting the reading habits and personal libraries of celebrities, from Keith Richards to Bill Blass. A department called "Locations" profiles bookish
places on the map, such as the literary haven of Welfleet, Mass. on Cape Cod.
Editors begin developing features at least three issues ahead. "In the Margins," the department covering breaking news, typically closes six weeks before each issue's sale
date.
Comments
BOOK prides itself on offering avid readers what newspapers and the book sections of other magazines cannot - say, an unexpected insight into a neurosis that's frequently
manifested in an author's work, or a random connection between two seemingly unrelated writers. "We're especially interested in ideas that bring two authors together," says
Gleason, citing a recent story that paired up-and-coming novelist Colson Whitehead with the more seasoned author, Walter Mosley. "Instead of running a Q&A between a
journalist and the author, we physically brought the two authors together and taped their conversation," he says. In this case, the common thread was a blurb that Mosley wrote
for the jacket of Whitehead's novel. But the connection can be anything - in fact, the more random the better, Gleason says. "Maybe it's two authors who went to elementary school
together."
In the Pipeline
Watch for a redesign - including a bold new banner logo and a larger trim size - with the September issue, courtesy of in-house art director Timothy Jones (previously with
Civilization and This Old House). While the magazine has no formal editorial calendar, each issue includes a signature feature focusing on a specific theme. For example, the
current issue includes a six-pager on "Ten People Who Decide What America Reads." September's issue will explore the latest literary adaptations coming out of Hollywood, from
"Harry Potter" to a film based on Annie Proulx's Pulitzer award-winning novel, The Shipping News. November will profile "legends of the publishing world," such as the creator of
the paperback book. And January will bring a "newcomers" feature highlighting the hottest first-time writers of 2001 and forecasting up-and-comers for 2002.