AMA: I work in book publishing

[booksandstories]

Recently advertised for a job joining the team I lead and received 200+ applications so I thought there might be interest in book publishing!

I work for one of the Big Five book publishers and have done for several years.

I work across fiction and non fiction.

Ask me anything!

[booksandstories]

@BiscuitLover3678

Why don’t they like David Walliams?

what do you think of self publishing?

how did you get into it?

how much do you end up changing?

and last of all, thank you for this thread.

Walliams has a reputation for not being that nice; I've never met him but this is an industry built on relationships so it does spread when people are unpleasant.

I think self-publishing can be amazing; if you are keen on it the most important thing is a brilliant cover and good reviews. You can make money, stay in control of when you release, go a little bit left field and be your own brand manager. However, you need to replace a team of several people so it is a lot of self-publicity and also quite time consuming to promote, particularly if you then need to write the next book! Some bookshops don't take self-published authors as seriously and they are very rarely reviewed either. It can be hard to make huge sales self publishing but it's not impossible.

I got into it slightly sideways! I had a job I didn't like and a friend was working as an editorial assistant at an independent publisher. When she described her job I thought it sounded fun so I decided to do some work experience then apply!

In terms of how much is changed in a book, it just depends. Sometimes basically nothing, just neatening up punctuation (everyone has something they get wrong) or bringing the book into house style. Some authors don't want to be edited but others don't mind. Sometimes an author will just scrap a whole book if it isn't working! Marian Keyes scrapped her book before Again Rachel, for example, after working on it for several months.

[booksandstories]

@OnlyYellowRoses

How do you go about getting to be a published author that actually makes an income from it?

It's just hard work and having a backlist to spread out your chances, particularly in genre fiction. Advances for most aren't huge, so it's getting royalty payments for previous titles too as well as advances to keep money coming in.

There is a Facebook page called 20 Books to 50k that helps early-career authors to monetise their writing. Broadly authors feel that it's a lot of responsibility to expect their talent to pay their bills and that it can lead to writer's block. So many keep a day job even if it is just part time.

Some authors also teach creative writing, or even work as Amazon delivery drivers or in cafes (or anything else!) to make money. I know authors who are graphic designers, copywriters, coaches, trainers, postal workers or waiters as well as being fairly successful authors - they want to keep a fallback just in case they never write again!

Liz Gilbert's book Big Magic is interesting about this in that she didn't finish her day job until AFTER Eat Pray Love was published as she didn't want to have to rely on her talent to feed her.

[booksandstories]

@Yucca78

Why are so many children's books written by "celebrities "?

Parents like buying books by people they recognise, I think! So lots of comedians write books.

Lots of people think 'I could have a bash at writing a kid's book' and famous people are more likely to have the large social channels to be able to get the book to sell.

All publishing is a gamble but it's a bit more certain that a book by a famous person will sell. Unfortunately that means Geri Halliwell, Madonna and a pile of randoms get book deals.

[Tonkerbea]

Really interesting AMA, thank you! Can you describe a typical working day please?

[booksandstories]

@Bideshi

Straight white men are complaining that no matter how good their work, they can't get published. There does seem to be an element of truth in that. Whats do you think?

I think because women are far more likely on the whole to read than men are, and women currently like reading books by other women.

Straight white men haven't done badly out of publishing in the last 200 years, on the whole!

[FortunaMajor]

Who would be your dream author to work with?

[booksandstories]

@Abra1d1

I have been published for over 15 years. Had a couple of bestsellers. My current publisher ditched me last autumn. No surprise—I had had three editor maternity leaves in two years and I t

I’ve been ghosted by an editor I approached. Her director is someone I have worked with on one of these bestsellers.

Why don’t editors just fire off a quick rejection?

Sorry to hear that. Don't be afraid to chase - editors sometimes need to take manuscripts to editorial meeting s to discuss, which can take a long time.

You shouldn't be ghosted, though, and I'd be chasing that up. I hope you're snapped up elsewhere.

[JustoneQuickquestion]

I read at least one, and up to four, books a day, across traditionally published books and self published books. Most books I read have errors in them, so my question is how many people/times is a book read to pick up on errors?

[FuncaMunca]

What's your salary?

[felulageller]

With memoirs how do you make sure someone doesn't sue if they recognise themselves and don't like how they're portrayed?

[booksandstories]

@IchbineinBerlinerin

How do you "know" a novel is going to do well? Which criteria do you judge it on? (Style of writing, characters, plot etc). I hope that makes sense 😅

You can just tell, sometimes.

Usually though, it's mix between the author's talent and the publisher being able to pitch it perfectly.

I remember reading the manuscript for the first Richard Osman and it was obvious it was going to be massive. Right author, right topic, right genre. There was a frenzy of activity to try to grab it.

More often, though, people are left kicking themselves afterwards for not seeing a book's potential!

Sometimes everyone is looking for the same thing so it goes berserk and there is an auction - for example people a couple of years ago wanted gothy city novels, so when one came up at editorial everyone offered loads of money. Then the book gets loads of campaign money spent to try to guarantee success, so it's a self fulfilling prophesy.

[booksandstories]

@Abra1d1

Sorry, pushed send too soon.

I was trying to say, why not say sorry, no thanks? I’m a big girl, I’ve been round the block and it would just draw a line under it. Though obviously I’m not hanging around just waiting for them to get back to me and have moved on!

Sometimes they need a longer conversation, or everyone wants to read - it's usually that if it's a no it's a fairly quick turndown but if the sales director wants to read it and have a view, it can take longer.

You can ginger them up by giving them a deadline.

[ZoeQ90]

What would you say are upcoming trends that people are looking for? I've seen talk of increasing interest in cli-fi.

[booksandstories]

@Thehighlandcoo

I'm an in-house copywriter but do SO MUCH editing and proofreading. I love it and I'm good at it. How would I go about branching off into book editing/proofing?

If you work in publishing already, you can just email the managing editorial director and ask.

If not, there is a day-long course you can do - bigger publishers will pay for you to do it. Then you need to contact publishers (managing editorial) and they will give you samples to try. They usually start copyediting and then try proofreading.

Structural editing is a longer process but also run via that team.

[booksandstories]

@Tonkerbea

Really interesting AMA, thank you! Can you describe a typical working day please?

Basically loads of meetings! We have an editorial meeting where we talk through ideas, and acquisitions is where we pitch to the sales team. There will be meetings with other teams and calls with authors to talk through their work or the book campaign.

Actually editing mostly takes place outside working hours; during the commute or in the evenings.

[booksandstories]

@FortunaMajor

Who would be your dream author to work with?

Usually if I get to publication day and they still like me, and I like them, that's enough for me!

I've been lucky enough to work with a few idols - many are lovely but some aren't as cheery as their public persona!

[booksandstories]

@JustoneQuickquestion

I read at least one, and up to four, books a day, across traditionally published books and self published books. Most books I read have errors in them, so my question is how many people/times is a book read to pick up on errors?

V impressed by you reading four books a day!

Usually the agent and author work on a book, then it goes between an editor and author on average about four times, and to a proofreader and a separate copy editor, then back to the editor and author again! That said, things always slip through the net and have to be corrected at the next round of reprints!

[booksandstories]

@felulageller

With memoirs how do you make sure someone doesn't sue if they recognise themselves and don't like how they're portrayed?

It does get a bit sticky sometimes! We have an in-house legal team and every non fiction book gets at least one legal read.

With memoir usually the people featured have to sign off a legal disclaimer before publication. Sometimes details are altered too.

[booksandstories]

@ZoeQ90

What would you say are upcoming trends that people are looking for? I've seen talk of increasing interest in cli-fi.

I read about cli-fi but haven't heard anyone talk about it in-house!

Horror is having a resurgence, romance is becoming even more massive, anything that TikTok gets behind works (so fantasy, romance and New Adult), and celeb memoirs are having a bit of a moment after the success of Bob Mortimer, Billy Connolly and Dave Grohl last year.

If you are a writer, keeping to a series is good as readers like to get stuck into a new series.

[booksandstories]

@FuncaMunca

What's your salary?

Circa £50k and a bonus.

[ElizabethBest]

There’s been a trend towards “gentle thrillers” in the last couple of years. What do you think will be the next literary trend? (And please don’t say misery lit is due a comeback!)

[JustoneQuickquestion]

@booksandstories

V impressed by you reading four books a day!

Usually the agent and author work on a book, then it goes between an editor and author on average about four times, and to a proofreader and a separate copy editor, then back to the editor and author again! That said, things always slip through the net and have to be corrected at the next round of reprints!

Thank you for your reply!

[ElizabethBest]

Oops - crossed questions!

[ginghamstarfish]

Why is the standard of proofreading/editing so poor these days? I see errors in almost everything I read these days. Are prospective staff not tested in some way?

[newbiename]

How is it that even quite successful authors don't earn enough to live on ?
Can you say how much an author would make on a paperback which sells for £8.99 , or are there too many variables?