Category Archives: advice

January 18, 2012   Stacey   advice, bestsellers, editing, marketing/publicity, selling, Stacey  
11

An editor and publisher who gets the job done right.

Some of you might know Amy Einhorn by name, especially if you work in book publishing. But even if you don’t, you certainly know some of the books she’s helped to bring to market. Most notably and successfully The Help, a compelling but challenging first novel by Kathryn Stockett that was famously (and embarrassingly in retrospect) rejected by 60 agents and publishers. The book has gone on to sell over 10 million copies! It was the first novel ever published by Amy Einhorn Books.

This interview with Amy from a recent New York Observer gets to the heart of why she’s so good at what she does. And I think there’s something to be taken away from her approach to publishing. She doesn’t just tell her authors to market and promote their books. She does it too. She takes each of her books and pushes them gently into the market, overseeing all aspects of editorial, production, design, marketing and publicity.

While it’s an impossible business to master, and there is no question that luck and timing play a big role in an author’s success, there is definitely some strategy at work here too.

Amy’s imprint has more hits than misses, and reading about how she does it you can understand why. She has a small, eponymous imprint with the resources of a big house behind her. It’s that rare combination of little gal and big gun that has the potential turn books into bestsellers. That combined with her good instincts and loving touch makes for each book to get its share of support and attention. It’s like raising kids. You have to treat each one differently and play to their strengths. There is no one size fits all model for parenting, and that same can be said for selling books. It makes me think about how many good books are out there that don’t get the right kind of support to nurture them along and wind up selling poorly.

I love the anecdote in the piece about a manuscript full of Post-its — this is so old-school, and I also admire writer Emily Witt’s observation about Einhorn’s “commitment to thorough editing and a lot of exuberant salesmanship.” These are things that still matter. A lot.

I know Amy personally (we have 7 daughters between us!) and professionally (we had a book together when she was at Warner, and I would so love to sell her something for Amy Einhorn Books), and I like her very much. I think it would be hard to not like Amy. She’s got that kind of personality that just bubbles with positive enthusiasm and it’s infectious. She’s genuinely curious, interested, engaged, and she makes you feel like you could talk with her endlessly. Come to think of it, with her gift of the gab, she would have been a good agent too!

So, while there is a lot of talk about publishers getting things wrong, I think this piece about a really smart and savvy publisher is worth a read and offers a bit of inspiration to start the year. Good things can happen in book publishing, and with the help (just caught the pun!) of people like Amy Einhorn, sometimes they even do.

January 17, 2012   John   advice, John, production, publishers  
9

Why is this taking so long?

After reading Jane’s post about joining Twitter, as well as a number of in-house discussions about how we should ALL be tweeting, I signed on as well (@johnwrudolph). And while I’m still hemming and hawing about my inaugural tweet (I know, I know—time to get off the pot), Twitter has already proven its worth. Thanks to Twitter, I found a subject for today’s post!

Actually, the real thanks here is to Veronica Roth, author of the YA bestseller Divergent, whose blog was tweeted by someone I follow. Yesterday, Roth posted a great piece on her website, “A Peek Behind the Publishing Curtain,” which outlines the various milestones in the publishing process from acquisition to publication. It’s one of the most clear, readable dissections I’ve seen on how a book gets made, and it does a great job of answering the question every exasperated writer asks at some point—why the *$%#? is this taking so long?!?!

(One caveat: Roth writes from the perspective of a highly successful author whose next book is already under contract. So, for the first-timer, I would replace Step 1 with the submission process, which likewise can anywhere from a few months to over a year. And then, once the book finds a home, an editor will basically treat the manuscript like a rough draft, so the rest of the schedule holds up.)

In particular, I love how Roth focuses on the physical aspects of bookmaking. I always think it’s important for authors to keep in mind that regardless of content, in Econ 101 terms a book is a manufactured product, and so it’s great how Roth shows that production issues like paper weight and shipping necessarily contribute to the time lag. I also like how she sums up the interplay between sales and manufacturing, and that there actually is some method for arriving at the number of copies that are printed.

So, if you ever find yourself at that point of screaming in frustration that your book still hasn’t seen the light of day, reread Roth’s piece and see where you are in the process. It will probably explain things more clearly that the fumbling apologies of your editor (or agent)!

January 09, 2012   Jane   about us, advice, Jane, social networking, Twitter  
15

@jdystel

Happy New Year everyone!

So, after resisting the urge to join Twitter, I just read this piece in yesterday’s New York Times Book Review written  by Anne Trubek, and I decided it was absolutely time for me to get on board.

Quite frankly, I haven’t been certain that being a part of this community would be useful and, considering that all we have is time, I am very aware of how I use mine.  But Trubek’s piece makes some very good points about being isolated from those we really should be communicating with and so I am learning.  It is going to take a while, but I actually think this could be even more fun than Facebook.

I would love to hear what benefits you get from being on Twitter. Any and all opinions are welcome as I am at the beginning of my learning curve and as with everything I do, I would really like to get it right.

December 21, 2011   Stacey   advice, Stacey, suggestions, writing  
0

A different kind of best-of list, and a more practical one

As the holidays move in on us like a speeding train, it seems a good time to share with our loyal readers a list that might actually be useful for the end of the year, and one that will take you into next year too.

Writersdigest.com has compiled a list of their 18 most popular writing articles for 2011. A personal favorite that could probably be a book in itself is the 25 Ways to Improve Your Writing in 30 Minutes a Day. Check it out, take a well-deserved break over the holidays, and let’s come back in 2012 refreshed, inspired (maybe a few pounds heavier), and ready to make some great books in 2012!

A big thanks to all of you for continuing to visit and read our blog. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

December 21, 2011   Miriam   advice, fun, great books, Miriam, reading  
2

I wish you books…

Read a book!

Because it makes you smarter.

Because it’s fun.

Because it sharpens your wit and develops your capacity for empathy.

Because it makes the existential void a little less like a black hole.

Because it allows you to defy the laws of physics and travel through time and space.

Because it forces you to consider other opinions, other practices, other “right” ways to do things.

Because it allows you to walk into the most well attended, interesting party, listen in on outrageous conversations, get caught up on all the gossip…and leave whenever you want.

Because the more you read, the more your brain and soul expand.

Because you can’t be lonely when you’re immersed in a good book.

Because just this year, I’ve hung out with Keith Richards and Patti Smith, fallen in love with Hemingway all over again, realized that Dr. Seuss writes the best self-help books, been dazzled by Jonathan Franzen and Jennifer Egan, transported by Mary Stewart, titillated by Eloisa James, and tickled by Nora Ephron’s latest review of her crazy life.

Because I can’t imagine how bleak the world would be without books to record and re-imagine our achievements and losses, our  triumphs and tragedies, and all the greatness and smallness of our shared humanity.

So, go to your nearest bookstore or click on the “buy now” button on your eReader and get a book (or books) and start reading.    Then, tell everyone about it.

Happy holidays!

December 14, 2011   Miriam   advice, agents, authors, contracts, Miriam  
9

Know when to walk away, know when to run…

I warn you, I’m feeling crabby this week.  Christmas is in ten days and I’m woefully behind on my shopping and general preparedness.  Sure, I’m not like Jane who’s finished buying everyone’s holiday present by July 4th weekend, but I like to give myself a little leeway and not have to deal with the last minute rush to buy, wrap, and decorate.  This year, I’m so swamped, I can’t even run out during lunch to visit the shops in Union Square Park.

I know, I know, I should be grateful that business is booming at a typically dead time of year.  And in theory I am.  Unfortunately, I’ve been busy with a slew of difficult contract negotiations that have me yanking at my already unmanageable hair.  In general, difficult contracts don’t make me all that crabby.  The difference right now is that the negotiations are unnecessarily difficult—lots of lawyerly requests for language that does nothing but overgild the lily  without adding anything of substance to the deal.  Or, worse yet, a negotiation that has taken weeks of pointless back and forth for something we advised our client to walk away from in the first place.

To be clear, we don’t often advise our clients to walk away from any deal that has the potential to make money for them.  That would go against their interests and ours.  But we draw the line at allowing our clients to be treated unfairly or exposed to onerous terms and liabilities without a strong word of caution and a push in the direction of “run, don’t walk away from this deal.”  It pains us when our advice is not heeded because, usually, we’re right.  And even when the most dire consequences do not materialize, a process that starts out as contentious and unreasonable usually continues to be so up until the bitter end…of the book project that is.

So, while we like to keep our clients busy and happy and in funds for their own Christmas shopping, sometimes the only thing that makes sense to us is for them to walk away no matter how tempting it might be to take a bad deal.

Here’s my question to you guys:  If your agent is suggesting that you walk away from an offer—whether it’s a publishing offer from a house that wants your first born in exchange for print publication of your work or a chance to collaborate with a celebrity housewife on her juicy tell-all, say— and you are not in desperate financial straits that leave you without choices, would you listen and take his/her advice?

P.S.  Boy, you guys really don’t have any interest in headlines, do you?  I’m gonna call it a tie between Tamara and Sarah.  Send me your addresses at miriam@dystel.com for your prizes, ladies.

December 13, 2011   Morris   advice, reading  
10

Reading Two Books At Once – Yay or Nay?

So, after having blogged about a reading slump last week, I’ve only made the situation worse for myself. Over the weekend I finally picked Stephen King’s Full Dark, No Stars off my bookshelf, and thinking it was a collection of short stories, started with the first page. Full Dark, No Stars is not a collection of short stories. It actually is a collection of four novellas, and the first one, the one I started, 1922, is 133 pages long.

I haven’t finished Embassytown yet.

I’ve always steered away from reading two books at once. I’ll take a break to read some short stories or graphic novels when reading a book, but I never liked the idea of having two ongoing unfinished narratives in my head at the same time. But I’m doing it now –  I don’t plan on giving up on Embassytown, and 1922 is really gripping, so I’m going to juggle them.

I’ll report back with the results, presumably next week, but in the meantime, do any of you read multiple books at once? Or do any of you decidedly not read multiple books at once?

December 12, 2011   Jane   advice, future of publishing, Jane, opinion, optimism  
8

Moving forward positively

I spend almost every weekday lunch with an editor or a publisher talking about, among other things, our business; what has been happening and where it is going.  Sadly, most of the time these days, my lunch companions are bemoaning the state of things.  Fewer books are being published, editors are losing their jobs, and advances are going down.

Perhaps I am being a Pollyanna, but I don’t see the future as anything but positive for writers.  Of course it can be more challenging to sell a book these days – as I have stated in this blog more than once, publishers appear to care more about platform and credentials than they do about the actual contents of the proposals and manuscripts they are considering.  But there are still those out there who do care about the writing and, even if the particular material presented to them isn’t quite right, many do want to help the author develop a book that will work.

What’s most exciting to me though, is the developing world of ebooks and online publishing.  There are now so many more possibilities for unpublished and even traditionally published authors.

We at DGLM had a very interesting meeting last week with some publishing executives from Amazon who are launching a large number of publishing initiatives.  It has been such a long time since there has been really original thinking in our business and I, for one, am hugely encouraged by what I heard.

And then, of course, there is the Wild West world of online publishing.  Last Friday, Alexandra Alter wrote this article in The Wall Street Journal about one woman’s success in this area. Though Darcie Chan’s experience is unusual and very few will be able to duplicate it, the piece does point out that there are so many new possibilities available to writers who have previously been turned down by publishers.  This also opens the door to those who never really aspired to be published by a traditional publisher as well as to those whose books are out of print and who want to breathe new life into them.

The DGLM online publishing initiative is something I am very excited about building – just as I have helped to build our agency over the last twenty-five years.  It would be wonderful if my colleagues on the publishing side, rather than seeing the negatives in today’s publishing landscape, looked forward to the future with excitement and a willingness to change.

As I have said all along, digital publishing has increased reading and book buying.  Looking into the future, we all need to help to build that world so its foundations are strong and it can offer more possibilities to more writers and readers. As always, I am eager to hear your thoughts and comments about this.

December 07, 2011   Stacey   advice, inspiration, Stacey, timing, writing  
5

What’s your favorite writing success story?

It’s funny how in this business, as in life, sometimes it takes something small to remember why we’re in it in the first place. As you all by now know, the publishing industry has been a fairly controversial place of late. I won’t go through it all again here, or get into the nitty gritty of some of the latest news headlines pitting Amazon against independent booksellers, but suffice to say there’s a lot of fear about the future.

That’s why I was happy to find this video recently that shares an unbelievable story about how  Cherie Priest got her start as an author. After having been rejected by Tor with a form letter a couple of years earlier, a young editor found Cherie’s manuscript while cleaning out the office of someone who died, and after reading it (because she says she can’t throw anything away without reading it first) and loving it, e-mailed her hoping she was still at the same address. It was a good thing the e-mail address was there because she’d long since moved and the editor’s letter had already been returned unopened. The rest, as they say, is history. A really cool publishing story, right? And one that gives faith that good things still happen and dreams really can come true. Alright, enough with the cotton candy fluff, but you get my point.

What is your favorite writing success story? It doesn’t have to be getting an agent or a publisher. I’m thinking more about what led you on a writer’s path. Could be getting an A on a grade school paper, or finding a writing teacher who inspired you to do your best work, or getting dumped and realizing the only way to survive was to write about the experience. Please share. Sometimes it’s the little things that can make the biggest difference.

December 07, 2011   Morris   advice, reading  
10

How Do You Break A Reading Slump?

I’m generally always reading a book. Maybe I go two or three days between books, not much more than that. And I read fast. I inhale books. But in the past week or so, I’ve been reading less and less. I’m reading Embassytown by China Mieville right now, and it’s really good in a hard sci-fi kind of way, which I often love. But I’m listening to music on my commute and watching TV at home. These reading slumps hit me every once in a while. I had a very bad one last winter which I broke by reading The Lord Of The Rings again.

I’m going to stick it out with Embassytown – it is good, after all –  and up next is the Art of Fielding. I hope that does it. If it doesn’t, I may have to return to Stephen King…

Do you ever get caught in a reading slump? Got any tricks on breaking them for me? I could use ‘em…

« Older posts
Newer posts »