Nov 16 2008
Publishing is a crapshoot. What else is new?
Excellent NYT article on publishing. It’s nothing new, just well put, with examples and numbers. Always good for some nausea with your Sunday morning coffee.
Come back and let me know what you think.
For me, it means that even with best sellers and amidst the trend of diminished sales, no one knows what will appeal to readers and what won’t — sort of.
It means that if you don’t try you don’t know — and hopefully editors feel the same way.
Found the article through one of my Tweets, author Allison Kent.
Oh, and if you were confused about best seller lists before, pour yourself a drink and read this blog post.
That article makes the greatest point of all, that publishing does TONS LESS (if any) test marketing than any other entertainment industry. I think that’s the most dangerous part. And, clearly, not working. I mean, really, we’re hearing all these bad numbers. Why is there so little reader testing and research?
If it works for movies and television, there’s no reason why it can’t work for books. We needn’t throw up our hands and say, “it’s a mystery!”
I can picture you, Spy, throwing up your hands.
Maybe we can start “a wave!”
Amy
I was thinking the exact same thing – they test for movies and tv shows, why can’t it work for books. Anything would be better than nothing.
Is it wrong that I laughed at the editor’s note at the very end of the article?
Melanie,
I actually had to read it twice to realize it wasn’t a joke.
As for the rest, it’s frustrating, no doubt about it. All I can say is that if the powers that be keep in mind that they truly do not know, perhaps they will have more of an open mind when unusual books cross their desks.
Amy
Wow – and I thought there was some logic to the book biz! In a way, this is good news. The bottom line is, the “experts” don’t know anything more than we do. Therefore, what we think is brilliant (i.e., whatever it is we’re working on!) has just as much of a chance of actually being brilliant as anything else out there. So, we may as well give all we’ve got to our work and hope to find an agent who will feel the same way. After all, it’s “just a feeling”!
I’ve quit reading the “experts.” I get more helpful, hopeful information from blogs like yours than from the speculation.
I’d like to see a nyt article offering something inspiring and innovative about the publishing industry. There’s got to be SOMETHING new & exciting to report?
Hmm, sounds like ye olde book publishing industry is a little crooked. Now, let me see how I look as a pretzel.