Elisabeth Scharlatt has been at Algonquin Books for 25 years. As publisher, she has maintained a small list of 20 new titles annually, half fiction, half non-fiction. Algonquin is celebrating its 30th anniversary since its founding in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, by a professor of literature at UNC. It still has an office in North Carolina as well as a small office in New York, on the premises of its parent company, Workman Publishing, an independent, family-run publisher of non-fiction.
‘Life After Life’ pulls literary double duty | USA Today | March 26, 2013
A publishing nightmare has turned into a publicity bonanza after two prominent novelists chose the same title for their books, to be published six days apart.
Two well-known writers, two highly anticipated novels with the identical title arriving within a week of each other: That’s the dual story of Life After Life.
The first, by Jill McCorkle (from Algonquin Books), is set in a North Carolina retirement center and explores community and family bonds. It goes on sale Tuesday.
The second, by Kate Atkinson (from Reagan Arthur/Little, Brown), revolves around Ursula Todd, born in England in 1910 only to die and be born and die again repeatedly. It arrives April 2.
Algonquin publisher Elisabeth Scharlatt and Little, Brown publisher Reagan Arthur faced a literary nightmare last fall when they discovered the books would be published within days of each other.
Both publishers were surprised, and not by joy. “I would love to know the statistical probability of this happening,” says Scharlatt. Because marketing and publicity plans were already underway, neither wanted to change the title.
But as publication day dawns, there’s a silver lining: media attention, say Arthur and Scharlatt. Adding to the sense of a jinx turned lucky: For the first time, independent booksellers have declared a tie for their No. 1 Indie Next Pick, selecting both Life After Life novels for April.
McCorkle, 54, tinkered with her story — her first novel in 17 years — for a dozen years. Why such a gap between novels? This new one “engages a lot of characters,” she says. (She published two short-story collections during those 17 years.)
She picked out the title about 2½ years ago. As she Googled “life after life,” she kept thinking, “I can’t believe no one has ever used this, it’s just too good for the title of a novel.” (She did notice Raymond Moody’s non-fiction best seller, Life After Life, first published in 1975.)
Similar titles happen, says Nora Rawlinson, former editor in chief of Publishers Weekly and founder of EarlyWord, a book website aimed at librarians. She points to E.L.James’ Fifty Shades of Grey and Ruta Sepetys’ young-adult 2012 novel Between Shades of Gray. There also have been books with identical titles (for example, Motherland by Amy Sohn was published last year; Motherland by William Nicholson arrives next month, and both are novels). Titles cannot be copyrighted, says Rawlinson.
Originally, Rawlinson thought “What a nightmare!” about the two Life After Lifenovels. But now, seeing the two different covers, the way the title works for each book and the media attention, “I don’t think it does them any harm at all, though I wouldn’t counsel people to try this in the future.”
Elise Howard Moves to Algonquin to Start List | Publishers Weekly | October 27, 2011
Chapel Hill, N.C.-based publisher Algonquin, which made it big just five years ago with the runaway success of Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, is launching a line of books for YA and middle-grade audiences. In a conversation with PW, Algonquin publisher Elisabeth Scharlatt called the line a “natural way for Algonquin to grow” while maintaining its short, carefully selected adult list of 20-25 new titles per year. “If we are to grow,” she said, “it makes sense to keep our adult list as it is—small and mighty—and expand to a new audience.”
Scharlatt said that she’d been dreaming of a YA line for “at least” a decade, but couldn’t go ahead with it until “the absolutely right person came along to do this with us.” That person is Elise Howard, a 12-year veteran of HarperCollins, who has been named publisher of the new list. According to Scharlatt, her expertise and “sensibility” made her a natural fit at Algonquin. “Of all the opportunities that have appeared in my path over the years, this one instantly felt right,” Howard said in an e-mail. “I’ve had a long, satisfying tenure at Harper, but the idea of a startup venture, a small list, and the chance to seriously acquire and edit again appealed to me very much.”
Asked about author possibilities, Scharlatt said that “Elise will be starting from scratch,” making a point to indicate that Howard won’t be expected to raid the stables of HarperTeen. As for Howard, she says she will be looking for work consistent with Algonquin’s list as it is: “Books for serious readers, you could say, though that doesn’t mean all books on serious topics, by any means.” She also hopes to publish books “that might entice a casual reader to become a true reader—that’s probably the biggest reward in creating books for young readers.”
Howard says that her list will include YA and middle-grade fiction, “perhaps initially leaning more toward YA, but that’s entirely dependent on what exciting manuscripts make their way to my desk.” She adds that she’d also love to find a “great memoir.” She will be starting at Algonquin in mid-November and will work out of the publisher’s New York office.
According to Scharlatt, the YA line will swing into action once Howard puts together a small list, “between four and six books.” Though that per-year count should grow over time, Scharlatt said, “we’re not putting pressure on ourselves. We want the right books—that’s the way Algonquin has always operated.”