Hello writerly people! I’m back with another guest post to take you behind the scenes in the sometimes all-too-mysterious world of book publishing. In my first post last month, we talked about the acquisitions process: how an editor acquires a book for a publishing house/imprint. Now let’s pick up where we left off and discuss […]
Publishing Industry
How an editor at a publisher acquires a book
Greetings writerly people! I’m so happy to be here in this great community my friend Nathan has built to offer semi-regular posts about the publishing industry. For the last two decades, I’ve worked as a book editor at various Big Five houses, as a freelance editor and ghostwriter, and in October will be publishing my […]
How will you publish your work in progress? The results! (2021)
Before we get to the results of this year’s poll, first, the caveats. This is unscientific, the poll audience changes from year to year and, because I’m a former literary agent known for my advice on query letters in particularly, the traditional crowd is probably over-represented relative to the book world as a whole. Still… […]
How do you plan to publish your work in progress? (2021)
There are more options than ever for authors seeking to publish a book. Has that affected how you’re considering your options? Has the pandemic affected your thinking? Time for my annual poll! Yes yes, this is unscientific as my readership changes through time, but it’s still an interesting look at this moment in the publishing […]
For the real threshold for traditional publication, look at debuts
It’s not a secret that the quality of books published by traditional publishers varies greatly. Some are breathtakingly magical, some read like lukewarm porridge. I personally have long felt that authors cast too many aspersions against traditionally published books and underrate how good they really are, particularly if you’ve never read slush to get a […]
We need to talk about email thread etiquette
If you don’t know what an email thread is and why it is imperative that you respect their integrity when corresponding with publishing professionals, well…. please pull up a chair. We need to talk. Literary agents and other publishing professionals are very, very busy people. At any given time, a literary agent may be corresponding […]
