Hardcover is hard

Lately I've been trying to move from paperback into hardcover, but I've found that it's a lot more difficult than I'd thought. The problem, as I now understand it, is that for a book to get a hardcover deal, it has to be approved by several different people. One editor alone can't greenlight it. You need three or four (or more) to all get on board.

Now, since three or four editors can never agree on anything, this is a tall order. I once had a book that was reviewed by three different editors. They all had completely different ideas. One editor excised a passage that he found wordy and pretentious, while another editor liked that same passage so much that he praised me for it over the phone! One editor thought there was too much characterization; another thought there was too little. One wanted the book to move faster; another thought I needed to slow down the pace.

These things are subjective. Getting three or four editors to all give the thumbs-up sign to any given project is probably not a whole lot easier than negotiating an Arab-Israeli peace treaty.

Then add office politics to the mix. You know, Bob likes the book, but Bernice hates Bob so she says she hates the book just to tick off Bob and make him look bad. Bob then gets back at Bernice by nixing her next desired acquisition. It's like a scene from the old, much underappreciated sitcom NewsRadio where two colleagues are mad at each other and take out their frustrations during a brainstorming session.

LISA: I think we should do subway updates every 15 minutes throughout rush hour.

DAVE: I don't like it.

LISA: Why not?

DAVE: I don't know, subway updates ... It just doesn't "feel" like our news station.

Of course he doesn't care about the updates. He just wants to step on her toes. I'll bet this happens in real life all the time.

LISA: We have a children's book here about a character named Harry Potter. He's a wizard, and he goes to a school for wizards where he learns magic. I think it could be a big hit.

DAVE: I don't like it.

LISA: Why not?

DAVE: I don't know, wizards, magic ... It just doesn't "feel" like our imprint.

So Lisa gets steamrolled, Dave gets a laugh, and Harry Potter gets a pass.

It's ridiculous, and it's just one more argument for the imperative necessity of developing an alternative to the stultifyingly inbred world of New York City publishing. Come on, e-books!

(You know, if there was no need to actually make money at it, writing would be a pretty darn good occupation.)

Comments

[Brins]

Why don't you try a publisher outwith New York City? Or is that not possible? I don't know anything about publishing books, so it may well not be. Still, I'd have thought that publishing firms would be a mixed bunch with different outlooks, like any other professional field (assuming that editors exist within the particular publishing firm, because I really don't know).

Speaking of publishing, how do you actually go about getting a book published? I've always dreamed of having a published book, but wouldn't know the first step to take after it was finished.

Good luck with the hard-back move, though. I hope those editors can find some common ground.

[Michael Prescott]

There are publishers outside New York City, but all the major ones are still there - in fact, they're all in Manhattan. It's a very insular, very parochial world where everybody knows everybody else. Yes, there are regional publishers all over the country, but they can't get you the national distribution you need if you're hoping for a commercial hit.

As for how you get a book published, the basic procedure is to first get a literary agent and then have your agent send out your book until someone buys it. Sounds simple ... in theory. In practice, it can be hard to get an agent and even harder to get a sale. Still, people continue to do it, so I don't want to be too negative.