Nan Talese
Nan Talese is an American editor and is highly influential in the New York publishing industry. She is the senior vice president of Doubleday. Talese is also the publisher and editorial director of Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. She has worked with Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Houghtin Mifflin.
Interviewed by Lena Desmond & Ashli Rosario
Howl: As a publisher what draws you most to a book?
Talese: The voice of the author.
Howl: What is something you enjoy as a publisher? Likewise, what is a challenge?
Talese: The good manuscripts. The market is so oriented to best sellers, not well written books. But the corporations want profit, profit, profit.
Howl: How did you get into the publishing business?
Talese: Gay Talese, not yet my husband, noticed that I read a great deal and he was asked by an editor at Random House and he suggested I see him. I was then at Vogue and felt it was s bit silly even though I like dressing well. I had two interviews and despite the fact I was inexperienced in publishing they took me on.
Howl: What advice would you give to young authors?
Talese: Read good books, read, read, read.
Howl: What could someone who wanted to be a publisher expect the work to be like?
Talese: You work around the clock 7 days a week.
Howl: Is there a particular book you’ve published that you are most proud of or perhaps a type of book?
Talese: I started publishing Ian McEwan with his first novel and he was not well known in this country until his seventh, Schindler's List, which the author told me about in a brief note asking if I were interested. But I had always admired Thomas Keneally’s writing and he knew it. I publish authors, not just titles, and have published Margaret Atwood, McEwan, Pat Conroy, Thomas Cahill, for about 30 years—check . I also publish new writers such as (not like) Nina Seigal, Deena Goldstone, and Leah Vincent. Again, look at the website.
Published 1/31/14
Talese: The voice of the author.
Howl: What is something you enjoy as a publisher? Likewise, what is a challenge?
Talese: The good manuscripts. The market is so oriented to best sellers, not well written books. But the corporations want profit, profit, profit.
Howl: How did you get into the publishing business?
Talese: Gay Talese, not yet my husband, noticed that I read a great deal and he was asked by an editor at Random House and he suggested I see him. I was then at Vogue and felt it was s bit silly even though I like dressing well. I had two interviews and despite the fact I was inexperienced in publishing they took me on.
Howl: What advice would you give to young authors?
Talese: Read good books, read, read, read.
Howl: What could someone who wanted to be a publisher expect the work to be like?
Talese: You work around the clock 7 days a week.
Howl: Is there a particular book you’ve published that you are most proud of or perhaps a type of book?
Talese: I started publishing Ian McEwan with his first novel and he was not well known in this country until his seventh, Schindler's List, which the author told me about in a brief note asking if I were interested. But I had always admired Thomas Keneally’s writing and he knew it. I publish authors, not just titles, and have published Margaret Atwood, McEwan, Pat Conroy, Thomas Cahill, for about 30 years—check . I also publish new writers such as (not like) Nina Seigal, Deena Goldstone, and Leah Vincent. Again, look at the website.
Published 1/31/14