K Is for Killer - Hardcover

When I first began working at Ballantine as the mass market managing editor, my mother was so excited. All she could think about were all the free books I could bring her. She immediately wanted a list of all the authors we published; it's a long list, and I told her I only had time to read off a handful of names. (I was so new that I didn't know myself; I was reading it straight out of a catalog.) Suddenly, she called out, "Stop!" "What's the matter?" I asked. "You publish Sue Grafton?" she said excitedly. I looked at the catalog again. "Yeah, I guess we do," I said. "I just finished G IS FOR GUMSHOE and H IS FOR HOMICIDE. Can you get me the I, K, and L books?" she asked. "Well, um, I, uh, hold on a second," I said, quickly running to the person next door, who told me that I IS FOR INNOCENT and K IS FOR KILLER were already in paperback, but L IS FOR LAWLESS wasn't due to be published for another six months. I ran back into my office and shared this information with my mother. "Can you get me L any sooner? I'll probably have the other two books done in a week or so. Then what am I supposed to do?" my mother almost demanded. After explaining to my mother that I didn't think I could change our publication schedule just to fit her reading requirements, she said she'd be happy to take what she could get. So now, whenever my mother tells her friends what I do, she says, "He's Sue Grafton's publisher," as if I do it all by myself.

Mark Rifkin, Managing Editorial