Mad Max Perkins is the adopted persona of a book editor for a major New York publisher. I came across this editors blog awhile back and meant to write about it then but other things got in the way and as usual, I went in a different direction and got caught up in the Virtual Thesaurus and clustering exercises as a way to tap into and cultivate the creative mind. I intend to write more about clustering in the near future but now I want to talk about Mad Max Perkins and the information skillfully presented on his blog.
First let me say, I love this blog, love the writing style and especially love Mad Max Perkins for keeping it real, even though he — the editor — is in disguise. What he writes in regards to the publishing industry and the relationship between author, agent and editor is insightful. While Mad Max did write a good-by post, which I was completely entranced and later sadden by, he has posted since then. One of his author’s book will land inside book stores sometime in Feb. 2006. He wrote about finding this author and her manuscript Here, and gives a look into the author/agent process. It’s well worth the read but be warned, you’ll probably want to buy the book!
When I first found BookAngst 101, Mad Max Perkins’ home on the net, the last post was his good-by post, Google Madness [from the secret files of N.A.*]. The N.A. stands for Narcissists Anonymous. Well, that did get my attention right away. So I started to read and the further I got into the post, the more I wanted to read. I’ve since reread that one post several times trying to figure out what was so exciting about it. Yes, I could relate to his words, to the emotion oozing through a thinly vealed disguise but it was more than that. Max has an interesting writing style (voice) and I’ve since read most of content on his blog. All fall into his unique style but none grabbed me as much as that good-by post. I have decided it’s because of the way he paced the piece, like a musical rhapsody where it builds toward a climax but pauses just short of the final cord, then drops down and and starts building again, faster, than slow, then faster , faster, then slow, slow, then faster until the final cord reverberates through every cell in your body. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration but I did feel the rushing (faster) then the slowing and then the rushing again as I was reading. I did know what the outcome would be but it didn’t stop me from reading every single word.
Hopefully Mad Max will stay around for awhile and what has already been posted will reach the eyes of those who need his encouragement and need to know more about editing, publishing, and marketing their books.
*I have added a few other agents and editors blogs in my directory under Writers Markets. More will be added as time permits.
Update: Found this information on Mad Max Perkin’s identity at MediaBistro. It just confirms what many who followed Mad Max probably figured out on their own.
