Publishing, Same As It Ever Was.

I started my career in traditional book publishing at Simon & Schuster in 2004. And over the years, I’ve heard the same complaint from authors.

The industry has changed. No one cares about the writing.

Instead, it’s all about followers/social media/author platform. 

I shake my head even typing that because these statements simply aren’t true. 

AND like every good conspiracy theory or misinformation — there are nuggets of truth in there.

Let’s explore.

The industry has changed.

This is true, in part. There’s definitely more options for authors — like self-publishing, hybrid publishers, and even startups operated by insiders that are trying to change the game.

But where this is false is in the perception many people have. What hasn’t changed is the reasons why a literary agent, editor and publisher choose to champion an author by offering to publish their work.

That brings me to the next point.

No one cares about the writing.

This is blatantly false. As an editor, I often turned down projects because the writing sucked. 

And though the writing is generally less important in nonfiction — especially for the how-to books my team and I work on — content is still a crucial piece. 

In order to be successful, a book needs writing that is entertaining and effective. That’s a big reason why editors, ghostwriters, and collaborators like me exist.

Instead, it’s all about followers/social media/author platform. 

What goes unstated in this sentence is that once upon a time, authors didn’t need an audience to have a bestselling book. This has never been true in my career, and I’m not sure it was ever true.

Even the authors we read in school, who published decades and centuries ago — people like John Steinbeck, Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens — had followers. These authors would publish in magazines and newspapers, or submit essays and short works for awards that got readers’ attention. Nonfiction authors would do the same thing, often serializing their work before putting together a compilation in book form. 

The difference today is that we actually have more tools and greater ability to reach even more people than Jane Austen did. 

There was never a time when an author could sit back, do nothing, and magically watch their books sell. That’s because in order for a book to be successful, people have to know about it.