Changes in Publishing

I discussed a book proposal with an author the other day, and it reminded me how much publishing has changed.

In the old days, a book proposal described the planned content and why the author was the right person to write about it.

Today, the content is secondary. A book proposal largely exists to show that the author already has an audience or platform that will make marketing the book easier.

Publishing is expensive and labor intensive, so publishing houses need strong backlists that keep selling with very little effort from them. That allows them to focus their efforts on the relatively few titles that might be bestsellers.

In the old days, the publishing house generated the readership for the authors. Today the authors generate the readers for the publishing house.

Many publishers have become more-or-less processing houses for manuscripts. That's one reason many authors choose the self-publishing or hybrid publishing route.

Another is that few people in publishing houses have the time to help an author turn a so-so book into an outstanding book. Most of the editors with that skill are now freelance. That's great, because authors can hire them directly. But it's another reason why a big publisher isn't the be-all-and-end-all it once was for authors.

These days, no Big Five deal doesn't have to be a disaster.