There is a separate category for debut fiction, the first novel for some excited author, but I have begun to wonder just what a debut actually entails. Good old Google, always comes through.
Natasha Bauman is listed in the debut fiction category, represented by Lisa Grubka of the William Morris Agency. For a rookie novelist to have landed such a heavy hitting agency, it was hard to believe that Ms. Bauman was so devoid of previous publishing credits. If there was more to this 'debut' than a single novel, I had to know.
Checking with Google turned up countless hits for an actress who appeared in some obscure film and one episode of M.A.S.H. Somehow, it did not seem like the right person. Scrolling through the list, I uncovered an English professor out in California who shares the same name. Now, until the book is actually printed up and distributed, with an author bio on the flap, there will be no definite way to tell if the author and the professor are one and the same. Sometimes, though, these slight coincidences (author : English professor) seem to tie together logically, at least in the street cred sphere.
How surprising is it to discover that a Natasha Bauman won the Editor's Choice Award this past January at the San Diego State Writers Conference? Not very. Further digging uncovered yet another entry for Ms. Bauman, this time on a list of Glimmer Train very short fiction award winners. She was one of twenty-five finalists, which is nothing to sneeze at, considering the prestige of that particular literary rag.
So that is what debut boils down to. The first novel of someone with some credits. Or should I say, 'platform'? Think all you have to do is write an outstanding piece of fiction to get published? Think again.
Technorati tag: Lisa Grubka
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