What Publishers Want
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Question of the day: What do publishing companies look for in a new book?
Oh boy, this is a doozy of a question, only because it's like asking me to capture lightning in a bottle - in other words, impossible! :) But hey, because I've never met a challenge I didn't embrace, I'll try!
Publishers are looking for that X factor, that book that will generate buzz, have people talking at the water coolers, tweeting about it on Twitter. Can you possibly know what this X factor is? Not really. That's the tricky part. You can't - and shouldn't - write for trends because you'll likely never nail the right trend at the right time. You can only write the best book in your capacity, and sometimes, this will be enough to be what publishers are looking for.
Various imprints will differ in the specifics of what they're looking for: some will want something more literary, some want beachier reads, some cater to women over/under a certain age, some opt for non-fiction. But the underlying thread - in my opinion - that they all seek/share, is they want something that they can't put down, that their buyers (in the imprint's demographic) haven't seen before, or if they've seen it before (because not every book is groundbreaking, let's be honest here) is still fresh enough (ugh, I do hate that word) to be slightly different while resonating with their readers.
Do they look for good writing? Sure, of course. But this is a subjective value (as, of course, is all of the above). So it goes without saying that they're not going to buy a book that they think is written for crap.
I've talked about the "high-concept idea" before here on the blog, and I still think - or think even more so in this tough economic book-buying market - that there's something to be said for it. For that instant a-ha moment that can be summed up in a rockin', unique pitch. I do think editors look for this, and I think, if you can come up with that high-concept idea, you're starting off on the right foot. (And if you can't, so what - keep writing anyway!) But from there, it's timing, luck, and yeah, good ideas and good writing, but it's never an exact science. If it were, this job wouldn't be such a tough one to land. Bottom line - write well, write what you're capable of, and hope and do everything else in your capacity to make it work out. I'm not sure that there's more of a magic wand involved.
Anyone else want to weigh in on what publishers want? (Because I know that I didn't even get in half of it, I'm sure!)
Industry
Reader Comments (9)
I can't wait to find out first-hand what they want! In the meantime, I'll keep writing and improving my craft. I'll check back to see what others have to say. Love learning as much as I can about all aspects of the business.
Great post Allison.
The "high-concept idea" is a great point. However, as you mention, people shouldnt fall into the trap of waiting, and thus coming to depend upon, a "great idea." In a business setting, this dependence is called the "the myth of the great idea" .. that entrepreneurs and business people wait around idly for one idea, that "big break" that will launch them into riches. Only to discover that waiting for the big idea is what keeps them back from the beginning!
Writers should take this to heart. Don't wait around for the single biggest and best "great book idea," perhaps start many writing projects, see them through, and see what sticks. Agreed?
The problem with "high concept" is one that publishers should have learned from the film industry of the 1980s which was so obsessed with the idea (most famously, of course, "Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny De Vito. Twins!" and the whole satire in The Player). It's very simple - the person who comes up with the concept isn't always best placed to execute it. I can't imagine it's different with writing. The most brilliant elevator pitch can be direly executed, and there's not even a studio of scriptdoctors to work on it.
I was told categorically by one agent that gentle literary fiction by new writers is 100% out at the moment, which is one of the reasons I'm self-publishing. Then again, that's in the UK - we authors need to be prepared to think broadly - I'm looking at Japan and France for my book, for example.
Publishers buy plenty of books that are written for crap. What they want can be summed up in one word: PLATFORM.
The first question out of the majority of editors' mouths when an agent submits them a new writer is, "What's your platform?" In an age in which bookstores are closing, catalogs are contracting, and editors are getting "downsized," the actual writing itself has become secondary. Book publishing, especially on the nonfiction side of the ledger, has become the print extension of reality TV--vapid, polemical, inconsequential. Meanwhile, in fiction, there's apparently no storyline that can't be improved by adding a vampire or zombie into the mix.
This isn't to say there's not great nonfiction and paranormal fiction out there--there's plenty, believe it or not--but publishing suffers from the same copycat syndrome we see from all forms of art. Editors keep going back to the well until they bleed it dry, then they go back one more time just to see if they can dupe readers into swallowing a big ole' heap of dirt. Only then do they seek out new stories and new literary voices, and nine times out of 10 they still find "the next big thing" completely by accident.
Sell your platform first, your writing second. The equation is that simple...and that ridiculous.
We're all b*ggered then. I hear Michel Houellebecq's already done that...
A memorable pitch, an engaging main character, and a plot that keeps things moving. Easy to recognize, but hard to create.
The surge of interest in ebooks online has made us, traditional book publishers, to look at non-fiction. Its amazing to see the niche ebook industry has grown exponentially and are widely circulated and distributed over the net. Earlier, non-fiction is limited to some huge reference books on important topics. But now, we are looking for non-fiction manuscripts that are short and interesting. They are affordable and can be made into ebooks and can be sold online as downloads, thereby reaching a huge audience in a short period of time. Yes, the book needs some buzz though.
Just found your blog -- good stuff. Will be sure to return. Thanks for posting!
This is the million dollar question. I suppose if we can get the answer right then we have a chance to make the million dollars too :)