There’s so much in this article I almost don’t know where to start. Mike Shatzkin, according to his bio, is
a widely-acknowledged thought leader about digital change in the book publishing industry. In his nearly 50 years in publishing, he has played almost all the roles: bookseller, author, agent, production director, sales and marketing director, and, for the past 30 years, consultant.
And if you’re not following him, you should consider it. He’s not on either “side,” he has a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge, and he doesn’t rant. He sticks to facts.
He’ll fasten on one topic, one piece of industry news, and start talking about that … and by the time you get to the bottom of the page—his posts are long—you’ll have more than just an overview.
In this case he starts with the survey done by Jane Friedman and Harry Bingham, which asked authors what they think of their publishers. From there, Shatzkin went here:
At the end of last week, we conducted a survey of our own among agents and editors, trying to discern whether self-publishing is a useful tool to get a deal. Much to my surprise, the consensus is that it is not useful. We got far more answers from agents than we did from editors, but the clear prevailing opinion is that publishers don’t know how to interpret independent publishing efforts and, most of the time, trying it does an author’s chances of selling that book to a publisher much more harm than good. Most agents responding said they really don’t want to try to peddle a book that has already been self-published unless it has achieved pretty extraordinary success.
This article follows on the heels of a few Shatzkin-penned articles about marketing—what publishers are doing, what authors are doing, and the twain, apparently, not meeting—and you should have a look at those in the archives (here, here, and here).
What Shatzkin does best, though, is pull it all together for you at the end, highlighting the salient points in his conclusions. If you are a part of the publishing industry and want to know what’s going on, you should pay serious attention to what Mike Shatzkin has to say.
Tweet: Keep calm and carry on with Mike Shatzkin.
Tweet: There’s so much in this Mike Shatzkin article I almost don’t know where to start.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”