Mike Shatzkin is one of the most knowledgeable people in the entire publishing industry, and when I saw that he had written a book on the book biz with the late Robert Riger, this was an insta-buy.
The Book Business: What Everyone Needs to Know did not disappoint my expectations. Everyone has something to learn from this helpful guide, whether you’re a publishing newbie or a seasoned veteran. It’s organized in a very readable Q&A format and has everything from an overview of the major players to a history of the industry to the latest trends shaping the business.
I especially learned a ton about the ways in which the current e-book era resembles past publishing industry disruptions, especially the advent of mass market paperback books, which were initially very popular among readers of pulp/genre fiction and were disdained by the publishing establishment of the time. Sound familiar?
You may also remember Mike from a past conversation we had around the impact a (as yet hypothetical) Barnes & Noble bankruptcy would have on the publishing industry.
Definitely give this book a read, you will learn something!
Affiliate disclosure: I’m linking to this via an affiliate link and will receive a small commission if you buy, but I really did enjoy this book!
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Thanks, Nathan! Yet another for my towering TBR pile. I sometimes wonder if there’s TOO much publishing industry guidance around these days, most of it free and much not even worth its non-existent price. But Mike Shatzkin, like your good self, is worth real money.
It also occurs to me that publishing, like medieval maps, should bear the warning ‘HERE BE DRAGONS!’. Like Game Of Thrones. Hatred, terror, murder, mayhem, betrayal, publishing has it all, and that’s just Middle-Grade chapter books! Maybe Netflix will make a series out of “The Book Business”. They seem to be adapting everything else these days.