Editors Buzz Debut Fiction

Rachel Deahl Publishers Weekly
June 2 , 2007

fter Friday night's general Buzz Panel, a lineup of mostly young editors plugged debut authors at a Saturday panel dedicated to first-time scribes.

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The last buzzer, Rob Weisbach of Weinstein Books, took his time to plug the first title on his new imprint's list: Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. By Canadian writer--and MD--Vincent Lam, the book is already a hit Lam's home country. Weisbach said the book, which is a collection of inter-woven short stories following four doctors through medical school, has hit the Canadian bestseller lists, selling roughly 200,000 copies in Canada. Weisbach, who said he and his team have dubbed the book a "literary Grey's Anatomy" and that Margaret Atwood, Sherman Alexie and Alice Munro have "all endorsed it," added that Lam is going on a 10-city tour and that Weinstein is planning an extensive outreach to medical schools as well as a "major print and TV ad" campaign. For Weisbach, Bloodletting does what he said every buzz-worthy book does. "The best and most resonant fiction makes you say: ‘I know that feeling but I've never been able to describe it.'" Now it's a question of whether booksellers and readers will agree.

© Publishers Weekly 2007