Give an author a fish

There's a charming interview with Neil Gaiman over at the Guardian. Gaiman's blog has probably been one of the underlying factors in his recent surge of popularity; once you know about Kitty and Olga and how icicles grow by the wallport, you're sort of invested in actually reading the book that kept getting interrupted by a suicidally bad-ass feline and Cabal and demonic produce.

One thing I think that the stories about his blog have overlooked is his role in sales of other people's books. Bloomsbury, for one, owes Gaiman a debt for the early success of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Not long after the book came out, Susannah Clarke came to the DC area as part of her book tour. First-time author, dauntingly odd and very large book that defies easy description, few to no reviews out in the press...and the place was full. A quick survey in the autograph line after her reading established that at least 70% of the people were there for the same reason: "Oh, Neil mentioned the book was good, so I figured I would see what it was like." The book stood on its own merits (and HOW), but by giving it some favorable mention, Neil reached a large group willing to take a flyer on it; the early adapters, basically. Hey, he's using his powers for good.

And sushi.