Literary Losers

Publishers Marketplace ran a news item the other day about a book deal that includes some of our favorite writers… 

John McNally, author of The Book of Ralph: A Novel, sold the rights to When I was a Loser to the Free Press last week. The book is scheduled for publication in 2007. It is an anthology of 30 original essays “about defining moments of high school loserdom,” with contributions from Johanna Edwards, Owen King, Andrea Seigel, Brad Land, Julianna Baggott, and one of our favorites, Mike Magnuson. Jenny Bent at Trident Media Group was the agent for the deal.

It goes without saying that I, naturally, am interested in this project for research purposes only. The fact that I was in some form of orthodontic torture from 2nd Grade through my senior year, and did not posess an automobile and wasn’t even allowed to get my driver’s license for about 9 months after I hit the legal driving age, and had a midnight curfew even though I lived so far out in the country that it took about an hour to get home, had no bearing on my own illustrious high school career. None whatsoever. So I’d like to read these fabulous essays in order to learn the trials and tribulations that others go through in high school. Obviously.