The Death of the Slush Pile

Today, you need an agent and your book has to be marketable:

"From a publisher's standpoint, the marketing considerations, especially on non-fiction, now often outweigh the editorial ones." says Laurence J. Kirshbaum, former CEO of Time Warner Book Group and now an agent.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703414504575001271351446274.html

Good information. It's becoming more like a lottery.

I think the line about asking not what your agent/publisher can do for you but what you can do for your agent/publisher is significant.

Interesting article, and it sure doesn't support the posts made here by some that the Internet Has Revolutionized The Publishing Industry And Will Make It More Democratic, does it?

I do admit surprise to learn that 4 (out of 10,000) manuscripts were published via Authonomy. I didn't think the number would be that high.

It is more democratic but, often, people's expectations are unreasonable. It takes a lot of training to complete a marathon and it is quite an achievement for those who do. However, it is the professional runners who win the races and scoop up the prizes. The big advantage to marathon competitors is in knowing the pace they are capable of running and being able to estimate the time it will take to run the twenty-six plus miles. They enter knowing that they do not stand a chance of winning. Unfortunately, those who write think that they stand as good a chance as any other writer, and they perceive their manuscripts as good enough to compete with the best.

I don't. Alice doesn't. There must be many more like us. We have low expectations and are never disappointed. Low royalties do not phase us and we do not bear a grudge against the whole of the publishing world. That's why we are happy doing what we do. Even when we are told that our work is garbage.

1/17/2010
Shelagh...

I disagree...I don't think our work is garbage..I do agree
that we don't have high expectations, if someone approached
me and said I would like to buy the rights to your book, I would
be happy. I'm happy knowing that somewhere in the world
there's a person reading my book...


Cheers..Joe...

Shelagh wrote:

It is more democratic

How so? If anything, I see mainline publishing as less democratic now, if no one will look at unsolicited manuscripts anymore, or talk to you without an agent!

1/17/2010

LC.....

I have someone I'm talking to , he's
well known and a producer, I do my own negotiating..
He's from New York..


Cheers...Joe

LC wrote:

Shelagh wrote:

It is more democratic

How so? If anything, I see mainline publishing as less democratic now, if no one will look at unsolicited manuscripts anymore, or talk to you without an agent!

Mainline publishing never was democratic. It was supposed to be meritocratic; authors were chosen on merit -- supposedly.

Authonomy allows readers to vote for the work they would like to see published.

Shelagh wrote:

Mainline publishing never was democratic. It was supposed to be meritocratic; authors were chosen on merit -- supposedly.

Authonomy allows readers to vote for the work they would like to see published.

Then the word we're looking for is "accessible." If that article is true, mainline publishing is less accessible than it ever was.

Re Authonomy, that isn't a democracy, that's crowdsourcing! You don't think more than 4 manuscripts out of 10,000 were any good? You have to get people to vote for you to push your stuff to the top -and you get their votes by voting for them!

Yes, commercial publishing is less accessible than it ever was.

Unfortunately, in a democracy, you have to get votes any way you can. I think that there were more than 4 really good manuscripts. The Power of Persuasion is a really good book. Whether a publisher could make a great deal of money out of it, without having to spend a fortune on marketing and advertising, is doubtful.

Do publishers make a great deal of money on any book, or spend a fortune on marketing and advertising them? Seems like most are just set on shelves, and who knows how much they bring.

Yes, LC, that's the way it is. Most books are neglected by their publishers, who cannot afford to promote every title on their list. They select out a small percentage of books and pay for front-of-store displays and other costly forms of advertising.

Do you consider putting a book in a catalog, presenting the catalog to retailers and getting it on retailer shelves as "neglect?" I don't. It doesn't qualify as "heavy promotion," but it has worked for all involved for a long time.

You cannot compare placement in a catalogue with the investment of £45,000 for front-of-store placement:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1554942/Waterstones-admit-charging-to-promote-books.html

I'm not comparing them, and the fact that publishers pay to have select titles displayed at the front door is no secret. They also pay to have select titles stocked at airport stores and groceries. I'm questioning your position that all books except those are "neglected." How do you define neglect? Anything short of placement on the front door table?

Why the Writer Is Last to Know, By MARTIN ARNOLD - July 25, 2002:

http://www.algora.com/content/writer_publisher.html

Publishers neglect (fail) to keep authors informed about how much or how little is being spent on their book ... except if the author happens to be a celebrity:

"The superstar mega-authors not only get more attention from the publishers, but part of their star treatment includes learning the precise advertising, promotion and marketing plans. And certainly the money spent."

I'm not following. I don't understand how this (eight year old) article about how some writers are unhappy with some of their publishers' practices answers my question.

What do you consider neglect, or is this it?

BTW, I know exactly what is spent on promotion for my books: the cost, whatever it is, of including them in catalogs and having sales forces visit retailers and/or colleges to get it on shelves. Nothing else. I don't consider that neglect, but maybe you do.

Here's a 2009 article. It's long, so skim if you want, but it's worth reading:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/may/16/publishing-industry-decline-libraries

Yeah, if I could get the Sparks Notes on that, particularly as it pertains to how all books except a handful of high-profile celeb ones are neglected, that would be cool.

Not that I really care -"neglect" has worked fine for me so far.

Anyhow, if all the pubs in these articles do what you consider neglect, what would you consider what Publish America did for you to be? What does Mandinam Press do for its authors? Is it neglectful?

Mandinam Press? Extremely neglectful. Not even a catalogue. However, some authors appreciate the opportunity and still mention the book:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147890842&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

You'll have to scroll down to the end of the article's first page to see the mention.

PublishAmerica? Some of their authors feel neglected. I never did. I wanted to find a way to see my book published without having to pay anything. PublishAmerica did exactly what it said on the tin (saying from UK commercial about a DIY product). All this nonsense about paying on the back end, or whatever the phrase is that is bandied about on AW, is a load of tripe. Instead of all that wailing, why don't they just walk around with a kiss-me-quick hat saying: "I am stupid." Let's face it, you would have to be stupid to not know exactly what you were signing up for.

I just received a Google alert about another Mandinam Press publication, Visual Arts Junction Interviews. I clicked on the link and pulled up a press page about one of the interviewees:

http://www.carynfitzgerald.com/pressnews.html

The book is at the bottom right of the page.

Before I was born, I found myself swimming toward an egg. There were millions who could swim faster then me. I had no idea what the egg was for, or why I had to reach it...I did not reach the egg first, but I got in first. The rest went to the slush pile. My future agent also won the race for life...we have something in common. That's a good start.
All I have to do now, is learn how to write.

Domenic