Through agent Nathan Bransford’s weekly wrap-up (recommended reading every Friday) I was tipped to The New York Times story on self-publishing. The author kind of glosses over problems with distribution. Also missed: the general lack of editing self-published books suffer and their snake-belly low chance of being a hit. However, due to economic changes across the publishing industry, many books suffer from too light editing and proofreading–I’m looking at you Writer’s Digest Books (among others.)
Also, nobody really knows what will be a hit. JK Rowling was famously rejected twelve times before the thirteenth publisher said yes. The editors who rejected Harry Potter and The Most Profitable Franchise of All Time now work in animal husbandry. In the Sudan. Beaten by Oompa-Loompas. In heat. Uphill. Both ways. (Rim shot!)
As the most underrated novelist of our time, William Goldman, said of Hollywood, “Nobody knows anything.”
Filed under: agents, publishing, self-publishing
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