Pelecanos and What It Means to Write

There’s a nice article in today’s New York Times on George Pelecanos and his particular struggle to find commercial success, and the hopes that he and his publisher have for his newest novel, The Night Gardener. Written by Motoko Rich, the article details facts regarding Pelecanos’ sales figures and advances. It notes that “according to Nielsen BookScan, none of his last five books have sold more than 13,000 copies in hardcover ...” The article goes on to state that Michael Connelly has sometimes sold “as many as 30 times” that amount, and Dennie Lehane’s Shutter Island sold “about seven times the number of copies of Soul Circus.” It also recounts the smaller advances paid to Pelecanos years ago by St. Martin’s Press ($7,500), compared with the current higher advances he receives from Little, Brown ($1.5 million for a three-book contract). The article also mentions Little, Brown’s $150,000 marketing campaign to push The Night Gardener.

Rich’s piece is about more than facts and figures, however. It is about heart and soul. He covers brief bits on Pelecanos’ private life, and his desire to write characters that matter and stories that are authentic. He mentions that the novelist finally got permission to spend time with a homicide unit, and the value that leant his fiction in depicting detail. But this article also brings out the heart of the writer: the man laboring away in an attic room, writing stories, all the while wondering if he should be separating himself from his family for a pursuit that is giving back scant reward. That’s what Pelecanos’ early days were like, and his experience resonates with all beginning (or not so beginning) writers who work to be recognized: the soul of the author determined to write fiction that challenges, his unwillingness to change that style, and clearly how much he loves both writing and his family. Jim Born talks a bit about family on his Web site. Pelecanos talks about family, too (he keeps hardback editions of his books on a living room shelf, each with a picture of his three children taped inside its front cover). Family matters to Pelecanos and to his fictional creations.

You’ll learn much about Pelecanos from this article. And you’ll maybe get to challenge yourself, as well. How much are you willing to sacrifice as a writer? How long will you be willing to deal with low (or no) money and meager sales? How high will you place commercialism over craft? Pelecanos does have critical recognition--duh. He writes brilliant novels--duh. He did eventually find the bigger money, and he wrote for the critically successful HBO-TV series The Wire. Still, that elusive commercial success factor is not in his pocket. Is that what really matters?--Anthony Rainone

(A version of this post appeared originally here.)