Ever since I learned the alphabet, I've wanted to do nothing but read, and In 2010, I tricked a prominent e-book publishing company into paying me to do just that. Since then, Open Road has published over 10,000 e-books, and I've written descriptive copy for more than 2,000 of them.
Just what the hell is descriptive copy? Well, it's the jacket copy, the back of the book, the tantalizing paragraph or two that draws you in without spoiling the ending. It's a strange niche, but it's one where I am astonishingly happy, as it lets me to spend all day reading and thinking about books.
It's allowed me to spend time in the company of some truly remarkable writers, from Buzz Aldrin and Octavia E. Butler to James Jones and Jules Verne. It's the best job a bibliophile could have. Please don't tell Open Road how much I love working there, or they might quit paying me.
A few samples of the thousands of titles I've written copy for:
WALTER LORD: A NIGHT TO REMEMBER
Lord’s classic bestseller, and the definitive account of the unsinkable ship’s fateful last hours
At first, no one but the lookout recognized the sound. Passengers described it as the impact of a heavy wave, a scraping noise, or the tearing of a long calico strip. In fact, it was the sound of the world’s most famous ocean liner striking an iceberg, and it served as the death knell for 1,500 souls.
In the next two hours and forty minutes, the maiden voyage of the Titanic became one of history’s worst maritime accidents. As the ship’s deck slipped closer to the icy waterline, women pleaded with their husbands to join them on lifeboats. Men changed into their evening clothes to meet death with dignity. And in steerage, hundreds fought bitterly against certain death. At 2:15 a.m. the ship’s band played “Autumn.” Five minutes later, the Titanic was gone.
Based on interviews with sixty-three survivors, Lord’s moment-by-moment account is among the finest books written about one of the twentieth century’s bleakest nights.
Alan sillitoe: a start in life
An outrageously funny novel of adventure, sex, corruption, and crime from one of the greatest British authors of the twentieth century.
Michael Cullen is proud to be a bastard. His first memories are of the war, when his mother welcomed every soldier in Britain into her house, and young Michael hid beneath her bed to let the rocking of the springs lull him to sleep. By the time he’s eighteen, he’s got a pregnant girlfriend, and is staring down a long life of working-class respectability that simply makes him sick. So Michael says goodbye to his girlfriend and his home in Nottingham, and hits the road for London, where he will make his fortune—or die trying.
From the nightclubs of Soho to the depths of London’s underworld, Michael can’t help but get into trouble. But whether he’s chauffeuring a vicious gangster or smuggling gold bullion across the channel, he never stops having a wonderful time. Indeed, Michael is something else entirely: a happy bastard with nothing to lose.
A rollicking picaresque novel by the legendary author of such classics of kitchen sink realism as The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, A Start in Life is one of the funniest British novels of the twentieth century.
ERICA JONG: FEAR OF FLYING
The blockbuster novel of female freedom and empowerment that launched a sexual revolution
After five years, Isadora Wing has come to a crossroads in her marriage: Should she and her husband stay together or get divorced? Accompanying her husband to an analysts’ conference in Vienna, she ditches him and strikes out on her own, crisscrossing Europe in search of a man who can inspire uninhibited passion. But, as she comes to learn, liberation and happiness are not necessarily the same thing.
A literary sensation when first published in 1973, Fear of Flying established Erica Jong as one of her generation’s foremost voices on sex and feminism. Nearly four decades later, the novel has lost none of its insight, verve, or jaw-dropping wit.
This ebook features a new introduction by Fay Weldon, as well as an illustrated biography of Erica Jong, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
H.G. WELLS: THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
When hostile Martians land on Earth, mankind must fight back—or be destroyed—in this science fiction masterpiece
At the turn of the twentieth century, few would believe that mankind is being watched from above. But millions of miles from Earth, the lords of the Red Planet prepare their armies for invasion, waiting for the moment to strike. When they land in the English countryside, baffled humans approach, waving white flags, and the Martians burn them to a crisp. The war has begun, and mankind doesn’t stand a chance. As Martian armies roll across England, one man fights to keep his family safe, risking his life—and his sanity—on the front lines of the greatest war in galactic history.
H. G. Wells’s groundbreaking novel, adapted to radio and film, among other mediums, by visionary artists from Orson Welles to Steven Spielberg, remains one of the most chilling, unforgettable works of science fiction ever written.