Just when you thought the publishing world couldn't sink any lower or become any more ridiculous

First , we read about authors who create sockpuppets (here and here) or simply enlist friends, fellow writers, and relatives to either write rave reviews on their books or to defend the books from particularly negative (or insightful) reviewers.

Then, we read that, in order to be a successful author in today's dog-eat-dog online and self-publishing world, where so many more authors are getting their work known without the help of an agent or a bricks-and-mortar publishing house, you need to have a "brand." Doesn't matter if your stuff is any good--this could be a zero draft you're hitting the "publish" button on; a logo, a tagline, catchy cover art, will get your name known, and the aforementioned sockpuppets and friends who are willing to post raves for you on Amazon and Goodreads will "build" your brand. It's just good business sense.

But why go to all that trouble?  Why enlist friends and family, promise them brownies with extra frosting or free copies of your book, and create multiple accounts to post positive reviews of your own work when you can.. .

. . .wait for it. . .

Buy reviews for your books online? No, I am not making this up. You can find these services online, and they are growing in number. The business referred to in the linked Times article has gone bust, but a quick Google search to the effect of "book reviews for sale" nets some interesting results.

Yes, aspiring writers, gone are the days of honing your craft, refining your art, sweating over multiple drafts of your work, earning honest reviews by people who actually read your book. Skip all that attention to craftsmanship or the goal of telling your audience a great story and giving them characters with whom they actually want to make the journey. Pay a professional hack and don't worry about having worked for and earned positive reviews.

"The Great American Novel": My humble (of course!) opinion

A couple of years ago, the question, "Which American novels would you recommend to a European who is trying to understand American literature and the American experience?"  was asked on a message board of an online book community. Suggestions were for the usual touchstones--Hawthorne, Melville, Faulkner, Steinbeck,  Vonnegut, et. al. One person suggested some dystopian fiction. Some even suggested Ayn Rand. Though she wasn't born here, she resonated, and continues to do so, with American narcissists and pseudo-intellectuals.If there is an afterlife, I'm betting Sartre, Descartes, and Socrates aren't inviting her for coffee. "Life's too short to read bad books." Unless you get huge giggles from trashing them.

So, here are my picks for Great American Novels, by time period, using the criteria above:

Collaborating across timezones: Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan on their new novel

Team Human is a new novel, a collaboration by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan.  At this link you can read a live chat, moderated by Justine's husband Scott Westerfeld, about the book and what it was like to collaborate by e-mail from time zones several hours apart.

Among the highlights:

Justine believes outlines are EEEvil; Sarah makes outlines of her outlines.  The two were able to find a middle ground as they worked together.  It may have helped that there was no disagreement between them on how the book would end; therefore most of the major plot points must have been agreed on as well.

Both writers were able to keep the book a secret from their public and from their agents.  No mean feat, considering the lack of privacy in the era of Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere.

Being in time zones so far apart -- Justine in Australia, Sarah in Ireland -- actually worked well in some ways. When one was asleep, the other was working.  Thanks to technology, they could be sort of a tag team. Sarah got to write the first make-out scene.  If that sort if thing is important to you, make sure you pace the writing with your partner so it's your turn when that chapter comes up.

Sarah gave the following advice to writers who want to co-write a book:  Be considerate of each other, be determined to compromise and (I'm sure she was tongue-in-cheek wen she wrote this) draw up an agreement.  Justine's contribution was, of course, be willing to compromise and remember it's not YOUR book, it's a SHARED book. My suggestion:  have an idea where you want to take your story, make sure you agree on the big stuff, and just be a grownup about the rest.

After some discussion, the "floor" was opened to fans with questions. One was about handling criticism. Justine's advice was handle it OFFLINE and IN PRIVATE.  This makes her a class act. See this post and this post if you want my opinion on that.

It's a fun read.  Go and check it out.  And maybe buy the book.