Eleanor Lang, Senior Publicist for Del Rey Books has been working in science-fiction publishing since 1989. She has worked at both Tor and Ace books, where she worked with Robert Jordan, Kim Stanley Robinson, Orson Scott Card, Mike Resnick, and Shariann Lewitt, among many others. For several years she ran her own publicity company. Some of her freelance clients included Peter Beagle for Roc, Tad Williams for DAW, comic book writers Neil Gaiman and Chris Claremont, and the launch tour for Vertigo, DC Comics's non-superheroes line.
At Del Rey, the authors she handles include Arthur C. Clarke, Terry Brooks, David Eddings, and R. A. Salvatore -- to mention only the New York Times best-sellers.
Eleanor spent a couple of years working in multimedia, which she thought was great fun, although she found the lack of a clear economic model (and ongoing paycheck) rather daunting.
She has red hair, is fast-moving, has a laugh like an emergency broacast signal, and wears lots of black. This makes her easy to spot at conventions, as all one has to do is watch for the loud red and black blur. An avid reader, she averages two books a week, half outside the field. Her favorite non-fiction subject is New York history. She particularly likes reading short fiction, both for the thrill of reading a new writer for the first time, and because she believes that "what the single is to rock & roll, the short story is to science fiction and fantasy; a perfect form." Other interests incude entertaining and gardening, and her idea of a good time is to read gardening catalogs while in the bath. In an ideal world, chocolates enter into it, somehow. She used to go to clubs lots, but finds her day gig more interesting than nightlife.
Eleanor lives in Manhattan with her sweetie, Greg Costikyan, a fantasy writer and game designer. In addition to Greg, she lives with two stepdaughters, Betsy, age 9, and Vicki, age 6, three very large cats, and a guinea pig. She wants a pet pig or an ugly dog, but each time she asks for one or the other, she gets jewelry instead. Readers of this bio should note that Eleanor loves chocolate, creme brulee, really good California wines, preferably red, and single malt Scotch. She thinks that working at Del Rey is "a hoot and a half."
Ellie's "Publicity 101" article is on this site; it should be of interest to anyone who needs to do publicity, in publishing, gaming, or new media.