Scott Pack
Guardian critic Tim Adams, goes in search of Scott Pack, who — as head buyer for UK bookselling giant Waterstone’s — seems to be spoken of in hushed tones:
I was talking to a few publishers in London about an idea I’d had for a book, partly, pointedly, about mid-life underachievement. Mostly, they liked the idea, but a single name seemed to dog my progress. ‘You have to understand,’ they said, ‘that whatever we think of it, we have to sell it to Scott Pack.’ Or: ‘I think Scott Pack is quite down on this kind of thing at the moment.’ When I asked around I discovered it wasn’t just me. Scott Pack was, it seemed, down on a few of my friends’ ideas, too.
Here is what appears to be an alternative take on the Tim (nice but dim) Adams article.
http://www.thefridayproject.co.uk/vox/
Thanks Aardvark.
having known various members of the w/stones buying team over the years i can confirm that most of them are swayed by the ubiquitous publisher freebie to the extent that meetings with publishers are unattended without prior cancellation because buyers are in St Peresburg with another publisher, or, in Pack’s case, on the set of Hitchhiker’s guide.
aardvark’s link above is out of date. Here’s the archive reference:
http://www.thefridayproject.co.uk/hi/vox/000446.php
Garstang, I would politely suggest that you check your information before posting such rubbish. Actually, I don’t politely suggest it at all, quite the opposite. Personally, I have attended two ‘freebies’ in 5 years. Doesn’t sound too excessive to me, and both were taken as holiday. Oh, and at both the events I attended, independent booksellers were also there.
And you have to admit, being on the set if Hitchikers is cool.