Please Stop Bashing Book Publishing

I didn’t think I’d write a newsletter while bogged down with work and a final project for my MBA program, but here we are. This is not going to be a missive. Instead, I want to point out some things about book publishing.

When I set out to write this newsletter, my guidelines were simple: Do not complain about the industry, offer solutions, and provide valuable information to my readers. You get a dose of my personal writing and an opinion piece every now and then. Recently, I’ve read other newsletters and posts on social media that have made me feel like this is all for naught. If I feel that way, imagine how other people working in the industry must feel. I’m not talking about high-level executives. Instead, I mean the people in the trenches, day after day, who work hard to bring books into the world. Often, I feel we are forgotten about in exchange for clicks, “likes,” shares, and comments. It is unfair.

This week, a newsletter on Substack entitled “No one buys books” made the rounds. I am not linking to it because I found it misinformed and missing a lot of context. It mostly rehashed the DOJ vs Penguin Random House case, which is ancient history at this point. My issue with the piece is that 1) Plenty of people still buy books, and thinking otherwise tells me that one is not educated about the publishing business, 2) The writer makes a case that perhaps Substack will replace books (memo: it will not), and 3) The piece doesn’t dive into the nuances of what makes a successful writing career (it is not all about bestsellers). Yet, the piece made it to number one in the fiction category on Substack. This isn’t a slight to the writer, but it is a request: The next time you dig into the industry, have a better understanding of it than what was reported from one trial.

Then, there was the post that went viral on Threads, claiming that “publishers don’t do anything for authors.” Allow me to make this clear: publishers big and small do plenty of things for authors, from editing, copyediting, typesetting, cover design, printing, warehousing, shipping, and more. Further, production departments are the unsung heroes of book publishing. Do you know what those departments go through to get books onto shelves? You probably don’t, so I will tell you. Production departments ensure books are copyedited, typeset, printed, and shipped. When a book is on a tight schedule, the production department absorbs A LOT of stress, as do the managing editorial departments. It is not news that most departments in publishing houses are understaffed, overworked, and underpaid. So my question is, do you think declaring that they “do nothing” will make them want to work harder for you? The answer is no. Comments like that demoralize staff and make them feel like they don’t matter. In reality, most publishing staff work hard every day with the resources they have. Sometimes, those resources are the bare minimum, which is an ongoing problem in the industry. While it is true that the amount of marketing and publicity publishers invest in books varies, it is also true that authors must be active participants in their book promotion. That will not change because the most effective way for authors to reach readers is through building their audience. Granted, I’ve seen publishers drop the ball on books in some horrifying ways, but I also know how insane things can get when you are working with a small staff. That’s not to excuse the ills of publishing, which I have written extensively about.

Finally, there is the newsletter in which the writer included a screenshot from an email they received from a publicist at my former employer. I wish I could say that didn’t happen to me when I worked there, but it did. At that time, a journalist on Twitter (X) posted a screenshot of a press release I sent out and allowed others to pick it apart. Someone wrote a mean tweet about me that I still have framed in my office as motivation when I am having a bad day (it makes me laugh because it is so ridiculous). Putting their pitch on blast is unnecessary whether you include the publicist’s name or not. It is childish and petty. Publicists are given directives from publishers that they must follow. It’s their job. How would you feel if publicists started posting screenshots of your writing and commenting on it? We are out here every day fighting for books that we work on. We don’t deserve to be ridiculed for doing our job.

Further, when you constantly take issue with a publisher, you have no qualms about insulting the staff there. In this case, I know good people who worked for my previous employer. I made good friends there, and they continue to cheer me on.

If I’m being honest, I feel deflated by what I’m reading about my industry. It makes me feel like crap about my job. I know I shouldn’t take it personally, but I do because I care. I care about book publishing so much that I’ve stayed in the business for nearly 30 years. I wish others would understand that every publishing employee fights a daily battle. We don’t need to get beat up by people who pick apart what we do as a sport.

Okay, now I am on hiatus until after graduation on May 4. One more assignment to go…