SHOCKING Random Publishing Facts
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- čas přidán 7. 07. 2024
- When I found out some of these random things about publishing I was like WHAT?! Some more innocuous than others ha. I thought it would be fun to share some of the things that have delighted and horrified me about publishing over the years. Some of these may shock you!
00:00 Introduction
00:51 Author sales portals
02:14 Royalty statement mess
05:34 1st royalty statements accuracy
07:48 Bigwigs read your book
09:27 Celebrity readers
10:47 NYT List lies
12:12 Starred reviews are curated
15:18 Superstar agent difference
17:40 Some editors don't edit
20:21 Trade reviews aren't guaranteed
21:54 Huge authors have problems, too
24:40 Secret sales benchmarks
25:37 Pay to play
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Me, who's had a book out with Penguin Random House UK for over four months now, not knowing that that the PRH author portal existed. And THAT'S why I watch this vlog!
OMG! Go! Sign up! (I hope they have it for UK authors too?) It is GLORIOUS!
The craziest thing I’ve heard so far is that all debut authors aren’t actually “debuts” and some very successful authors were unsuccessful early on and then developed a new pen name and “re-debut” and hit lists etc.
oh? any examples? O.o
@@FatimaZahra-lu8bf Riley Sager. Final Girls was promoted HARD as his debut novel, but he’d already published three novels as Todd Ritter (his real name) and one as Alan Finn, all well before Final Girls. But publishers love for authors to have that debut sparkle, so they would often rather put out something new by a “debut” name than try and elevate an existing author who isn’t a huge seller. Debut culture is huge in the industry. That’s also why when an author writes in a new genre, there’s hype about “So-and-so’s DEBUT thriller” even if they have two dozen romances under their belt (as an example).
@@RachelBateman Really? Good eye BTW 👍
This industry is becoming hardcore commercial day by day.
@@jemajoy8839 They weren't even very secretive about it. His bio has always said that Riley Sager is a penname, just not what his real name is.
@@RachelBateman they are clumsy too! This really drives me to pick up self-publishing 👍
That bit about editors makes so much sense. I've read several books that are showered in NYT bestseller stickers and in every bookstore that... really need a few more editing passes. And with the bit about the superstar authors too, things make much more sense now.
exactly, it always seems to be the superstar authors who dont get edited properly. probably bc "they sell anyways" is what i assume...
My biggest mindblowing publishing fact is that you gotta treat it like a job! I know it sounds daft, but watching your videos showed me that I can't just "write a bit on the side, for fun", if I want to be published. I still find joy in drafting and still write poetry for the "writing for fun", but stumbling upon your videos after I fell down the stairs on New Year's Eve 2019 meant I had the epiphany moment.
This helped me complete a 115k manuscript, edit it down to 90k, have it beta read and gain a mentorship for my YA thriller, all in the space of 18 months. I have't broached the query trenches yet, but going from three shelved 20k manuscripts from past Nanowrimos to actually pushing through, leveling up, learning about the industry, making writing friends and actually having a concrete future plan - all this is due to listening to you. Thank you so much, Alexa!
*Alexa compares difficult to read royalty statements to deciphering Greek*
*chuckles in Athens*
Love your honest vids, Alexa. I was naive about so much of this when my first book came out a few years ago. It made the Indie Next list and I was so psyched! I thought that meant the indie stores around me liked the book and would want to promote it. I eagerly visited them all, volunteering to sign copies or do an in-store event. Many of them I'd shopped in for years. They were...mostly not excited? They took my card, barely glanced at me, and were like "don't call us, we'll call you!" Only when I learned that the Indie Next list is basically pay-to-play, and that my publisher had made it happen, not that the indie bookstores had some big love for my book, did I realize why my local stores were not enthusiastic. I am now convinced that almost everything in publishing involves money changing hands.
Graduated with a master’s in book publishing in 2016 and yeah, this all tracks from what I learned then. As an aspiring writer, I found it especially crushing to learn that major publishers pick just a few titles to put all their money and energy behind, and if any of the rest break out, great, but they’re not expected to so little to no effort is really put behind them. Like why even acquire them then??? I get it, financially speaking, but it is a frustrating fact that probably buries a lot of great books.
The NYT List section could also apply to the Amazon Best Sellers list. I have noticed several authors put their books into categories that are either almost empty, quite obscure, entirely new, or purposely not in the correct category, to claim awards or titles for #1 author. The author then puts something similar to: "#1 Amazon best selling writer" on everything else.
You have one of the most useful channels on this site for writers who are interested in publishing. Thank you for being so open about your experiences publishing your books and pulling back the curtain on how things work for authors who are going through the process. I've really enjoyed the videos that have focused on this and don't find them at all dry no matter how day-to-day the facts and behind the scenes information you want to share. I also really like your book reviews and wrap-ups and I hope there will be another one of those soon! Take care!
I publish in the Spanish market and many things are similar. My royalties have always been paid to me twice a year on the same date, that's how it has been for eight years. As I have always worked with the same publisher, I was very surprised when I find out others pay when they feel like it (the horror).
I also found it overwhelming that there are editors who don't edit. In these eight years, I have worked with three editors, two were very involved, I had to change endings, add chapters; the other one, well not so much, if any a basic question about the plot if I´m lucky. She is more like a calendar manager.
Re: not all editors created equal, there's more than one time I've read a book and thought, "Hmm, wonder how this got published, it seems only 'almost' finished." Now, I'll be wondering about the editor, not just the author!
This! When you read a book and go, "did this not get edited??" - well, maybe it really didn't!
Sadly, this makes me want to self publish more than ever.
Ever since I was a little kid, I always wanted to go traditional (like all my favourite childhood authors), but the more I learn about the realities of the industry the more I value the freedom and control self publishing gives me.
Not having transparent payment information is a gigantic "NOPE" from me. That shouldn't be okay/normalized. It isn't funny or a cute "quirk" of the industry. That's messed up. As are most of these facts.
It's just...so disappointing. :(
(Your Santa Claus analogy is totally on point haha)
Couldn't agree more. Everything I hear about the publishing industry leaves me ever more baffled about how it's allowed to get away with such egregious behavior. It's enough to make one wonder if authors could find a way to unionize or something!
Self publishing has its own issues. It's all about which devil you want to tango with.
@Jessi P Agreed. Both are very hard to be successful in and require a lot of work and determination. Self publishing demands a completely different approach than traditional and vice versa. It's an uphill battle no matter which way you go. Mixing art and business can be difficult for a lot of us.
I love Alexa's channel and don't mean to knock on traditional at all. It's just not for me.
*If anyone reads this comment and is interested in self pub, all I can say is DO YOUR RESEARCH. Some genres work better than others (romance is huge, but middle grade still dominates traditional pub, for example), you have to wear many hats, and it can get expensive if you don't know what you're doing.
You can be the best writer in the world, but if your cover sucks, if your bad at marketing, if you write in a dead niche etc none of it will matter.
And if there's a teeny, tiny part of you that wants to go traditional, stick it out. I know, query trenches suck, submissions suck, but once you upload your work online, publishers generally won't want to buy it anymore. So keep that in mind.
Luckily, like Alexa's channel, there are lots of resources online to help you make an informed decision. Whether that's the gates you have to conquer in traditional, or the hurdles you have to overcome in self pub.
You absolutely can make money in both.
Just beware anyone trying to sell you courses, most of the time, you don't need them. I promise.
Good luck, fellow writers.
@@talizorah I've wondered about author unions before. Other artists have them (like actors guilds). But it might just be a case of an oversaturated market. There are a lot of writers and not a lot of publishers, so they hold all the cards.
The recent "outing" of publishers paying people of colour less comes to mind. It's unfortunate, but I don't think it's going to change unless some very big people in the industry want it to. (And they don't want it to).
Yes do it yourself and learn Facebook ads and marketing. It’s not too hard to make 6 figures a year if you publish in a popular genre and in a series and know ads.
The part about editors actually makes so much sense! I've read some books that are worldwide bestsellers that use the same descriptive word every chapter and wonder where the editor was!
Wow. So many fascinating and surprising tidbits. On a lighter note, I've met and worked with a lot of actors and musicians, and yet, meeting one of my favorite authors (Veronica Roth) caused me to fanboy way more than any other. It's the realization that an author has the ability to create a new world, or modify an existing one, that really blows my mind.
The fact that she said "Hello everybody" instead of "Hello everyone" had me reeling in the first 3 nanoseconds 😂
Two instances of publishers screwing well known authors that I've heard first hand: Sherrilynn McQueen (formerly Kenyon) doesn't get to pick her titles, and Timothy Zahn doesn't get royalties on audio book adaptions of his books.
MIND BLOWN. The moment you realise Alexa's read your book 😱
14. Not surprised. It is like the arcade, and the more money you put in there, the more you get out. It IS like gambling after all...and those with deep pockets will go far.
secret sales....25k is a average number, 35k is classed as good. You have to do really well to hit those invisible numbers and then you have to do really better on the next book that you bring out.
I love how it’s industry standard for traditional publishers to pay people to review books, but when self publishers pay for book reviews they can lose their entire career. /s
I heard as a general rule, that "secret number" that publishers think you'll sell is deeply related to your advance. Maybe this isn't the case anymore, but if your advance is 10k, then they expect you to sell that many books. I might be wrong tho.
Hey Alexa, I'm a beginning writer of The Netherlands and I've been a fan of yours from very early on your CZcams career. I've finished my first 100 pages of a new book, that I started to write because of your advice. So, thank you. Unfortunately, I wrote it in Dutch, otherwise I'd have loved to send it to you, to show you.
Anyways, thanks, I hope you read this and I'll continue to follow you of course!
Are you on Wattpad or another writing platform?
@@Disgrace_917 No, I'm not.
Reminds me of the liquor industry my wife used to work in. We found out a lot of those award winning bourbons & Scotches were paid for like the San Francisco Fest Awards listed in many trade mags.
Thank you as always for the info, great video.
I knew there was a reason I never cared whether or not an author had made that list. *not that if a friend made the list I wouldn't be happy for them (or myself lol). I just never let it impact my in what I read.
Me too..its literally every "author's" tagline. #1 new York's bestselling author. I can guarantee you, give me any author's name. I will go on their Twitter account or instagram page and that's what it will say.
oh my god, I so want to know who the two British actors were!
Lol me too! Spill the tea Alexa! 😂
My weird ultimate author goal is to have Neil Gaiman know of, or read, one of my books one day and think it’s at least ok. It will make me happier than a huge royalty check 😂
Me too, but with a different author. A writer can dream, aye
I'm new to owning a bookstore and find your videos so helpful!
Oh man when you hit that high note on true friendship, yes I feel like we just became best friends 😆😂 as always awesome video
Such an interesting and helpful video Alexa, thank you! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 Seriously useful stuff. Am amending my list of questions I want or wish to ask and considerations to keep in mind...☕
Just stare into the obyss.... publishing!!!! ROCK ON!!!
Always love, love, love her vids! ❤️
very good, thank you xxx
If you’re interested in self publishing, I highly recommend Dave Chessen‘s channel, as well as Derek Murphy’s channel, and Sarra Cannon’s channel “Heart Breathings.” That’s all I’m saying XD
You are such an inspiration to me: I want to join the author/book tube community so I can participate in streamed writing sprints and make friends who I can’t talk about writing with.
Thanks to the info you freely share on this channel, publishing a book feels so much more achievable to me. I am getting a grasp on the lay of the land in the industry, the jargon, and how to approach my writing career with a realistic and strategic mindset.
So thank you! You are amazing! And super well-spoken and delightful and charming and smart and aspirational! Keep doing what you’re doing 💫
Ironically, my video today has to do with my experience with freelance editors as an indie. The standards and styles vary widely! I definitely shopped around and discovered that not all were created equal! It's disheartening that in trad pub you might not get a choice in the quality. (I'd like to be hybrid down the road.)
What do you mean, Santa doesn't exist??? 👀😮
When I was with Orbit, there was an author portal. It was super cool and you could see day to day sales. It was kind of addictive and I had to stop myself logging in too often! 😆 I got so lucky with my agent. She's a force of nature for sure!
Who is your agent?
As soon as I wrote my first draft I started working in the film industry, trying to get it signed to a movie deal. I guess I didn't read the fine print, but becoming your own agent on the spot without any training, was a bit of a learning curve. It's sad, because some people simply aren't creative, and it's just a formula... which is always weaker. I am tree, I am boulder, I stand a lone. My stories may fade, but they were nice to know.
I
What?!?!? Santa Claus isn’t real!?!?!?
Awesome video as always, I didn’t know most of these!
Harlequin has an author portal too!
Wayne Dyer always encouraged writers in public. " Don't die with that book you didn't write" Now, come to find out many ppl gave him manuscripts to critique and help publish and he just pitched them in the Garbage without even opening them. This hurts, to play with ppls dreams! Of course those ppl never heard from any publisher or writing club.
The review situation and unregulated royalty pay is worrying! 😢😪 I think with the review situation (where trad pub editors might change reviews where opinions are chafing/uncomplimentary etc) a safe bet might be looking into unpaid reviews? Or reading a couple reviews from people whose taste seems to meet yours as a reader and/or checking if a reviewer (esp paid) has published not complementary/not entirely so, reviews from the same publisher before 🤔
I wish writing was just about writing, helping your imagination travel and reach people to help them escape reality, all this technicality makes me so uneasy, I don't even know why.. it just feels so weird, marketing and everything, even if the book is good, it just feels like the whole process of mind to mind interaction between the writer and the reader is corrupted by all the strategies, often times manipulation and the money talk... Still, good books are out there, and good readers as well, besides this whole another world existing in between, so I guess there's hope... I don't know if I am just overreacting or if it's actually that bad...
this makes me want to self publish without any interference between my imagination and the reader's mind, no matter how it'd be at least it would be me, not a calculated move by a some industry
That makes me wonder about the publishing world in Germany. What you are talking about is describing publishing in the US. I know for instance that in Germany you don't need an agent to send in your book. It probably works faster if you have one, but it's not an obligation to get published. I going to do some research about that. Thank for the video :)
You might be right. In America the publishing houses usually dont take unsolicited manuscripts, and that's why it's difficult to get published. But I understand the reason. The middle man (agent) has to swift throguh the bad pile of manuscripts. That way, the publishing houses can focus on printing and selling the book. It's just a bit more organized in my opinion. Other wise, imagine the pile up of manuscripts they would have to go through, and many of them are probably pure garbage of wanna-be- authors.
I hope these will someday be topics that I will have a reason to know about. (Which would mean I will have managed to get a book published, wine for everybody on that day!)
I didn't know the starred thing. I've been at this a long-ass time, and I didn't know that.
Other publishers: What is Time? XD... this made me chuckle bcuz it's so true
Hahahaha I saw a remix of this video LOL I think it's called mind blowing xD I knew it! I recognized you =p
Can you elaborate on the film and television agent thing?
The fact that the NYT bestseller list is curated just makes the Handbook for Mortals debacle more ridiculous.
Me, a pleb, trying to at least get a lil old indie publisher interested in my debut manuscript...
《MIND BLOWN》
This video was quite unhelpful.
Question about the real time sales; is that purchase/bulk order from companies like Ingram or purchases made by consumers? I ask, because I know many indi's have their own barcode system. I'm also a former BN bookseller and I'm aware of how many books are Due Out (get sent back to the publisher after x amount of months)
It's given to us SUPER topline and AFAIK isn't 100% representative, but is relatively accurate. My editor has more drilled down info she has shared once or twice, but I'll take even a topline set of data! So it will say "copies shipped to wholesalers" which of course is super broad, and so on. Then the sales aren't broken down by where they sold, I don't think, but format.
@@AlexaDonne wow. Thanks for the reply.
Wait... Santa Claus doesn't exist?????? Whoa ;)
Just went to your amazon author page and thought I'd let you know that it's now dated as it talks about the next book that is coming out in May of this year which has occurred. May want to update your author page soon.
WHY DO THEY NOT TELL THEIR CLIENTS THESE THINGS!!!!!
Jesus Christ!!!
Editors who don't edit? So how did they even get their jobs?! Why are the still there?!
This is an ad for self pub lol
I thought it was the opposite. If I get published by Tor and Tom Doherty himself loves my book, that would make my day. Also if an editor didn't want to edit my book, that would mean I'm such a good writer I don't need editing😂
I want to say these are surprising to me, but they aren't. These are business decisions. I hate it, but this is normal for the end of history. Maximize profit no matter what. Who has time to be honest or genuine when there's money to be made?
Wait…. Santa’s not real????? 😢😅
.............This all sound too much like music industry.. things.. I'm.. @_@