Category Archives: publishers

June 08, 2011   Stacey   fun, inspiration, opinion, publishers, Stacey  
2

On editors

Some of you who follow publishing news might have heard recently that legendary book editor Bob Loomis is retiring from Random House after 54 years. He has worked with a laundry list of amazing authors, including Maya Angelou, William Styron, Calvin Trillin, to name a few. Peter Osnos, another longtime publishing executive and founder of PublicAffairs Books, weighs in on book editors and their changing roles in a recent issue of The Atlantic.

An amazing fact he highlights is that Loomis had National Book Award winners for both fiction (Pete Dexter’s Paris Trout) and nonfiction (Neil Sheehan’s A Bright Shining Lie) in the same year, 1988. That is a remarkable achievement.

The story he shares about Loomis bringing Sheehan’s book to publication is one of those great old school publishing stories. I love the visual of two large paper bags full of manuscript drafts of the award-winning book that took 16 years to finish. I have an author who has had 4 editors in less than 5 years, just to give you an example of a pretty common story in today’s market and how different it is from Loomis and Sheehan’s experience with that book.

Overall, the piece sends a positive message about editors in publishing, and suggests even thought the business has changed dramatically, there are still a lot of dedicated, talented editors out there doing what they do best, editing books and helping authors navigate the winding road of publishing a book.

The message is that all of you writers out there should keep on writing, because there are editors on this end who want to edit your books (and agents who want to represent them)!

May 04, 2011   Miriam   agents, controversy, digital publishing, e-books, future of publishing, Miriam, optimism, publishers, self-publishing  
16

If an agent or publisher came calling

With electronic self-publishing becoming the latest tulip mania, one of the questions hashed and rehashed in publishing circles is whether authors who are finding success in this venue would be willing to give it all up in order to be published by a “traditional” publisher. E-publishing evangelists deny that there is any point or desire to go back to the shackles of mainstream publishing. Why would you sell your art for pennies and let agents and publishers take the bulk of your earnings, they query. Take your work back, do it yourselves, and make 70% of the income, they encourage the masses.

We publishing types have been losing sleep lately over our own future. Gatekeeping has gone out of vogue in this new democracy. Also, we worry that our services may become obsolete now that anyone with an internet connection can upload their work and start getting their check from Amazon or Kobo within days. Even enterprising houses are getting into the self-publishing business and calling it community building.

So, over our coffee and bagels on a recent morning, the staff of DGLM wondered whether all of the above is incontrovertibly true. Anecdotal evidence leads us to believe that many people who self-publish (including some of those who are making nice money doing so) are actually interested in traditional publishing as an outlet for their work and value the services that an agent, editor, production team, and sales and marketing force provide. Many are excited when we offer representation and seem to feel that the most important thing we agents bring to the table is allowing them to focus on their writing instead of the “business” side of the business. (This, by the way, is something I think all authors appreciate, as finding the time to be creative can be difficult even in the best of situations.)

Clearly, the future of publishing is electronic media and we love a literary success story, whether it’s generated by Random House or by a self-published author. But amidst all the greatly exaggerated reports of traditional publishing’s demise, here’s an informal survey. Would you still go the traditional route even if you were making the big buckaroos doing it yourself?

February 03, 2011   Michael   fun, Michael, publishers, video  
2

Too cute to be embarrassing

When I saw a tweet from GalleyCat that read “Random House staffers share their teen crushes in a book trailer; who was your teen crush?” I immediately assumed it would be from children’s book editors.  As much as I would have loved that, I was tickled to find some of the more venerable names from the very literary Knopf talking about the guys and gals that made them swoon, to promote Allison Pearson’s I Think I Love You.  It turns out that Allison had a thing for David Cassidy as a teen, as does the protagonist of her book.   I don’t want to reveal who crushed on whom, because it was just so much fun to hear Judith Jones and Chip Kidd acting so silly in the video. Definitely worth three minutes!

January 19, 2011   Stacey   advice, fun, publishers, Q&A, Stacey  
3

Editor Q&A: Nichole Argyres of St. Martin’s Press

I know that our blog readers are always looking for good insider advice about how to get published. So I had the idea to ask an editor friend to answer some questions about what she likes, doesn’t like, and to talk a bit about the kinds of books she’s worked on to get a sense of her taste and interests. To share some background on my relationship with Nichole, I haven’t known her very long, but I connected with her right away. Our first meeting, over coffee last spring, started with me asking her what kinds of things she was looking for. She answered by telling me that she was very interested in mental health and that she’d love to find a memoir written by a young person suffering from bipolar disorder. It just so happened that on that very day I was planning to send out a proposal written by a mother and daughter about the daughter’s battle with bipolar. True story! And the best part is that she bought the book just a couple of weeks later. Perfect Chaos by Cinda and Linea Johnson will be published in 2012.

How long have you been an editor?

I’ve worked in publishing for almost twelve years.

Can you share with us a few titles you’ve worked on, both fiction and nonfiction?

Some recent fiction titles I’ve worked on are: the Denver Post bestseller Hester by Paula Reed (the story of Hester Prynne that The Scarlet Letter left out); The Pursuit of Other Interests by Jim Kokoris (the story of a man who loses his job but can’t tell his wife and son, and how he finds his way back to his family), India Edghill’s marvelous biblical historical, Delilah, and Marshall Karp’s funny an crackerjack mysteries Flipping Out and Cut, Paste, Kill starring Lomax and Biggs. Finding Jack by Gareth Crocker is coming out in February, and it is the amazing story of a soldier, his dog, and a friendship.

Recent nonfiction titles include: Goldsworthy’s memoir Piano Lessons (for anybody who has ever loved a teacher), the reissue of Paul Loeb’s classic handbook for social activism, Soul of a Citizen, Eleni Gage’s memoir of Greece and family, North of Ithaka, and both of Brigitte Gabriel’s New York Times bestsellers. Stacey Edgar’s memoir Global Girlfriends: How One Mom Made it Her Business to Help Women in Poverty Worldwide will be out in April.

What kinds of books interest you personally?

For pleasure I love memoirs of all kinds, fiction that sweeps me away to another time or place, mysteries with great characters, fairy tales, cookbooks, and medical narratives.

What kinds of books interest you professionally?

Personal stories that take the particular and make it universal; narrative science of all kinds, especially neuroscience and mental health; upmarket women’s fiction; smart nonfiction for women—parenting, mental health, current events.

Can you give our readers an idea of what draws you to a nonfiction project?

For memoir, I need a clear, strong voice telling a story with which I can identify. For science and other topic-driven nonfiction, I need a clear strong voice, a good platform, and an identifiable market to go after.

Can you give our readers an idea of what draws you to a fiction project?

I am an old-fashioned reader, so I like a strong narrative voice in the driver’s seat. I need a protagonist I can identify with and like. I have a weakness for large families and limited locations (neighborhoods, villages, islands). I like dark around the edges but not edgy. I am drawn to historical and international fiction.

Is there anything you really like and/or don’t like to see in a submission for nonfiction?

I like to see that the author has a strong sense of his or her project and has thought about the market, especially reasonable and current comparable titles. I don’t like to see unreasonable or older comp titles (The Secret, Angela’s Ashes). Memoir that relates—without perspective—a difficult childhood, horrendous divorce, fatal illness, or loss of a child is not my favorite. I think readers come to memoir for similar reasons they come to fiction—for an escape, a glimpse or an unfamiliar life, and an experience that he or she can take with them back to their own life. Memoir without perspective is just a therapy session. And other people’s therapy sessions aren’t that interesting.

Is there anything you really like and/or don’t like to see in a submission for fiction?

Plot, plot, plot. And strong characters with convincing relationships moving through the convincing plot. And plot. Did I mention plot?

What books have you read recently that you loved?

I am in the middle of Adam Gopnik’s Through the Children’s Gate and I find his mix of the everyday and our internal terrors and wonderings incredibly satisfying and smartly done. I recently finished Glenn Kurtz’s Practicing: A Musician’s Return to Music, which is a marvelous wonderful tribute to music, and an honest investigation into desire, ambition, and love. The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz I found to be life changing. Louise Penny’s latest mystery Bury Your Dead, is amazing, she is a favorite. And Old Filth by Jane Gardam reminded me why I love literary fiction.

Thanks to Nichole for her time and candid answers to my questions. I look forward to hearing what our readers think about this kind of editor exchange, and if it’s popular, we can try to do it again soon. If you have any questions, let me know and I will do my best to answer them.

November 15, 2010   DG&B   digital publishing, future of publishing, Jane, opinion, publishers, selling  
13

Time doesn’t matter

by Jane

So, this week I talked with a number of editors in our business who are complaining about recent poor bookstore sales and it caused me to consider again how our industry is changing and how I wish publishers would begin to “rethink.”

Traditionally, books are launched and shipped in a certain season and then, in subsequent seasons, these books are considered “backlist” and hopefully continue to sell (with virtually no support from the publishers). So, if the book doesn’t “take off” in its first few weeks, the publisher literally abandons it and moves on to the next one.

The beauty of this new “electronic publishing age” is that books are always there and available. And they can easily continue to be publicized and promoted during the course of the year with very little additional cost and effort. Publishers, in the acquisitions process especially, are totally losing sight of this phenomenon and they certainly aren’t taking advantage of it.

If a novel, say, which contains a story line about breast cancer and also takes place in a highly trafficked summer vacation area is published in March, there is the initial publicity for the book. But then there can be a solid push in May or June because of the location of the story and then again in October for Breast Cancer Awareness month. And this can go on year after year. The novel doesn’t just have one season.

I am currently trying to sell a book with a graduation market; but it is also a great gift title. Publishers are passing because they say that there are too many books aimed at the high school or college graduate, but to my mind that is limited thinking. Why not take advantage of the enormous marketing ability of the internet and not only publish this for that graduation market but also for September when kids leave for school and for Christmas? And what about birthdays? Why just limit the publication to a single event?

Time simply doesn’t matter any more in our business. Backlist can become front list again at a moment’s notice. If only publishers would realize this. I think they simply don’t take the time to consider the inherent possibilities that electronic publishing affords and that, I’m afraid, does matter.

What do you think?

October 26, 2010   DG&B   canon, editing, favorites, opinion, publishers, Stephanie  
10

The Austen question

by Stephanie

As a former college undergraduate who majored in English literature, I was never too far removed from the world of Jane Austen. Hers are novels that are firmly situated in the literary canon, and rightfully so. Her writing is more than well-known for its ability to weave elegant moral thought with comically ironic plot turns that prove to be not only witty but profound as well.

So I was interested to see this article at BBC News regarding a three-year-long study that suggests that someone else was heavily involved in the editing process of Austen’s manuscripts, namely an editor who worked for her publisher, John Murray II. This is a pretty big revelation, and indeed one that could incite both discussion and derision. Some could argue that the claim diminishes Austen’s prowess, making her writing not the product of her own talent, but rather something from an editor’s red pen. In other ways, as the article suggests, it could stand as an indicator of Austen’s openness to trying new things with her writing.

Either way, it’s interesting to think that new discoveries can still be made two hundred years after a book is published.

September 27, 2010   DG&B   format, Jane, opinion, publishers  
12

The "curse" of the trade paperback

by Jane

Over the years, there has been a kind of stigma attached to a book if the publisher’s plan is to issue it originally as a trade paperback. In fact, this is something I have never understood.

Sure, the royalty rate to the author is lower if it is published as a trade paperback, but if the hardcover doesn’t sell—or sells a fraction of what the trade paperback will sell—the difference between the hardcover and the trade paperback royalty rate really doesn’t matter.

And then there is the thought that trade paperbacks aren’t reviewed to the same extent hardcovers are. While this was once true, I believe this is something that is beginning to change with the rise of book blogs and online publications. Last week there was a very interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal which addresses all of this.

Interestingly, I rarely think it important that we stipulate in a contract that a book be published initially in hardcover; and that is more true today than ever before. More and more, I am finding that when the hardcover doesn’t sell up to expectations, the publisher is choosing not to do a trade paperback at all—and that really limits the book’s sales and hurts the author’s reputation overall. So, I almost always let the publisher lead the way in terms of the format they will publish a book in and when I disagree with what they want to do, I present my arguments and hope they will be heard.

One example that we at Dystel & Goderich have seen of the success of the trade paperback format after good but not spectacular sales in hardcover is Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen, which is represented here by Michael Bourret. The trade paperback has been on the New York Times non-fiction trade paperback bestsellers list for 23 weeks and has sold over a quarter of a million copies. As a result of this, Rhoda’s next book will be far more successful in the hardcover format than this one was.

So, my advice to those authors who object to having their books initially published in trade paperback is to listen to their publisher’s reasons for doing this very carefully. Beginning in this format, which always means a lower cover price, will help increase sales and if the book is successful, the author’s name will be “out there” and a hardcover publication for subsequent books will become more likely.

Of course, I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

September 08, 2010   DG&B   distribution, future of publishing, marketing/publicity, opinion, publishers, Stacey  
1

Small-scale publishing

by Stacey

This piece about the successful online magazine Rumpus becoming a publisher is pretty interesting. Because they have a built-in readership, and members through their book club, it seems to make sense to go this route for them. But my question is with such limited resources (a staff of two), wouldn’t it be more efficient to go with a traditional publisher for better marketing, sales, and distribution channels? I’m not sure if they tried this and for some reason it didn’t work out, or maybe they want to fully be in control of the product they are releasing, but this seems like the kind of thing that if it works for them to publish successfully on their own, traditional publishers will be knocking on their door to try to get in on their built-in audience and make the stakes even higher and the numbers even bigger.

I think as an idea, this small-scale publishing has merit, but in actuality will be difficult to manage successfully, and to build on and grow at a sustainable level. And I know that at least one of the Rumpus writers is working on her own book project, and my guess is that she, and others affiliated with the mag, will be going the more traditional publishing route. I’ll be curious to see how it all plays out.

September 03, 2010   DG&B   advice, contracts, deadlines, Lauren, publishers  
3

Yikes!

by Lauren

As we leave you for the holiday weekend, a cautionary tale:  Apparently Penguin is suing an author to recover the signing payment on a contract they’ve canceled for failure to meet a deadline.  It must be said, that deadline was in 2007, and there were presumably multiple extensions that got them here, so Penguin has been quite accommodating.  And that signing payment is not exactly chump change.

As a person who is ever so slightly panicked at the prospect of finishing my to do list before leaving for the holiday weekend, the notion of breaking a contract for non-delivery strikes fear into my heart, but for those of you who need that extra bit of danger before something seems real, it seems this might just be it.

But hey, a three day weekend is a great time to hunker down and write, right?

August 16, 2010   DG&B   Jane, memoir, opinion, optimism, publishers, selling, why I signed up  
10

Memoirs don’t sell?

by Jane

So I just saw this story about Justin Bieber’s memoir at age 16 (which really isn’t a memoir because that would be ridiculous, right?), and it made me think of a recent experience I had with a project in this category.

We had discovered an author who had previously published a couple of true crime books but who now sent us material for a possible memoir. Her voice was simply superb and I was thrilled as, after all, this is why we do what we do—to find those voices that stand out. The discovery of wonderful writing is what our business is all about.

We helped this writer develop her proposal and I thought we would put it into the newsletter we distributed last May and sell it shortly thereafter. First, though, I thought I would send it to three publishers just to test the waters. I picked three very good publishers and three very good editors. And despite the fact that the material was superb and the publishers and editors were very strong, they all turned down this excellent proposal. Why? Because their marketing and sales people said that “memoirs don’t sell.” At one of the houses I submitted to, the editor didn’t even take the time to read the material.

I found this absolutely shocking, but I wasn’t giving up. I couldn’t believe that in the business of reading people weren’t reading.

And so some weeks later, after the newsletter had gone out and a number of editors had expressed interest in my client and her work, I sent the proposal out to several other houses. We had seven bids at auction and in the end the material ultimately went to Knopf, a terrific publisher. We sold it well. Fortunately there are those in our business who still do read and who aren’t daunted by purely commercial considerations, and all I can think is thank goodness for that!

Do you all read a lot of memoirs?

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