Guest guest Posted June 7, 2001 Report Share Posted June 7, 2001 I just re-read this and it makes the Jewish publishers sound as if they'll accept any old rubbish. This isn't true. When I first started trying to get my novels published by Jewish publishers I was rejected by several, much to my chagrine, as I had thought they were easy pickings. My own editor, the lovely Mimi Zakon of Targum press, who has become a good friend (and her DH and sons friends to mine..whenever we are in Jerusalem we get together..) said that they reject plenty of really bad writing, but that if they see a book with a spark of hope in it, that Mimi (a good writer herself) feels she can work on and improve, they'll accept it on that basis. A mainstream publisher would never do that; they have far too many well-written books on offer which they have to reject, to even think about accepting badly written work and re-writing it. My books usually need minor changes, mainly things they feel the " frummest common denominator " wouldn't accept, but they always leave any rewrites to me. Ruthie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 7, 2001 Report Share Posted June 7, 2001 > So will they only accept Jewish writers then Ruthie? says, > getting all hopeful.... > > Lesley Well...let's put it this way. they would probably accept a non Jewish writer if the subject matter of the book has a Jewish slant/content/is spiritually uplifting to our faith. But in general, non Jewish writers have little or no interest in writing books which have that slant. In my crime novels, for example, I can't just write a straightforward crime novel. Enteraining, yes, free from bad content, also yes, but pointless. " So where's the Jewish content? " Mimi would ask. So my main character, Detective Inspector Colin Sommers is, at the beginning of Dark Tapestry, a competely assimilated Jew who rejected his orthodox roots as a teenager (a *very* common problem in the USA unfortunately). When 8 yr old Josh Hardman is abducted from an orthodox home in NW London, Colin is reluctantly sucked back in to the very community he strove so hard to escape ten years previously, and as he begins the task of finding Josh, he finds himself on another journey, to seek another lost son, himself. The struggle Colin has with his orthodox roots is a continuing feature throughout the series. In Dark Tapestry he meets feisty US forensic scientist Leora Jakober, herself a " Baalas Teshuvah " (returner to the faith), who is commissioned by the missing child's American parents to help find Josh, and they become an unlikely team throughout the series investigating crime and giving each other spiritual uplift. (I won't give too much away by saying they marry in " The Movement " ) You get the idea, I'm sure! :-)) Ruthie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 7, 2001 Report Share Posted June 7, 2001 > So will they only accept Jewish writers then Ruthie? says, > getting all hopeful.... > > Lesley Well...let's put it this way. they would probably accept a non Jewish writer if the subject matter of the book has a Jewish slant/content/is spiritually uplifting to our faith. But in general, non Jewish writers have little or no interest in writing books which have that slant. In my crime novels, for example, I can't just write a straightforward crime novel. Enteraining, yes, free from bad content, also yes, but pointless. " So where's the Jewish content? " Mimi would ask. So my main character, Detective Inspector Colin Sommers is, at the beginning of Dark Tapestry, a competely assimilated Jew who rejected his orthodox roots as a teenager (a *very* common problem in the USA unfortunately). When 8 yr old Josh Hardman is abducted from an orthodox home in NW London, Colin is reluctantly sucked back in to the very community he strove so hard to escape ten years previously, and as he begins the task of finding Josh, he finds himself on another journey, to seek another lost son, himself. The struggle Colin has with his orthodox roots is a continuing feature throughout the series. In Dark Tapestry he meets feisty US forensic scientist Leora Jakober, herself a " Baalas Teshuvah " (returner to the faith), who is commissioned by the missing child's American parents to help find Josh, and they become an unlikely team throughout the series investigating crime and giving each other spiritual uplift. (I won't give too much away by saying they marry in " The Movement " ) You get the idea, I'm sure! :-)) Ruthie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.