Quibbling with Bookbuyer
From Lady Rachel Biliington
Sir: I am flattered to provide material for Bookend (October 5) which as a novelist I have always admired. However I must defend my choice of books reviewed in October's Cosmopolitan. My aim was to review in the October issue, which sells and is read throughout the whole of that month, books published in October. Since Cosmopolitan goes to press three months ahead of time it is very hard work to be up to date and sometimes I must resign myself to following in the dust of earlier reviewers. This makes Bookend's attack sadly ironic. In fact my policy seems to please everybody concerned — except Bookend.
To return to his particular criticisms, of the four books quoted, one had a September publication date, one October 3 and was also reviewed in the October Vogue and one was scheduled for September 26 at the time I went to press.
I do hope that Bookend can be persuaded-to be more understanding (as are publishers) of the problems of monthly reviewers. As a novelist myself my only aim is to review books in the most useful way for a magazine which is
bought by 400,000 potential book readers.
Rachel Billington 30 Addison Avenue, London, W I I.
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