What authors, agents, editors, and publishers worry about

What authors, agents, editors, and publishers worry about

After more than 50 nonfiction book projects, I can tell you how your various partners are thinking about the book. What authors worry about What authors should worry about that they don’t: What editors worry about Here’s what your developmental editor — whether you hired one or have one through your publisher — is worried…

Why the editor at your publisher is so hard to get ahold of

Why the editor at your publisher is so hard to get ahold of

I recently saw a picture of the publishing industry that blew my mind. Here, in a graphic from Al Mossawi, are the imprints of the Big 5 publisher Penguin Random House. Your editor’s world All the other big publishers look like this. Consider your editor’s job. They’re probably one of four or five acquisitions and…

What to expect from your publisher’s marketing and publicity teams
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What to expect from your publisher’s marketing and publicity teams

If you signed a deal with a publisher — traditional or hybrid — they probably made you promises about all the great work their marketing teams can do for you. But the rosy picture you have in your mind about their book publicity probably doesn’t match what they actually can do. Less than half of…

What the Penguin Random House-Simon & Schuster merger means to authors

What the Penguin Random House-Simon & Schuster merger means to authors

The biggest publishing house, Penguin Random House, is merging with the number three publisher, Simon & Schuster. Here’s what that means for you as an author: lower advances, less service, more publisher nickel-and-diming, and still more of the responsibility for success landing on you. Publishing houses struggle to maintain profits and market power in a…

5 bullshit things about book publishing and the reasons behind them

5 bullshit things about book publishing and the reasons behind them

Today I launch #5BullshitThings, an industry-by-industry analysis of the whacked-out way the world works now. I’ll start with book publishing. When rapid change hits stodgy industries you get disruption. Disruption generates cognitive confusion and threatens power dynamics. That, in turn, generates hypocrisy, and incomprehensible behavior. In other words, bullshit. Let’s look at five bullshit things about…