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!

@JustBooks ask away! I'd say if you're approaching publishers cold they will want to see either a Twitter page followed by other publishers or a website. You don't have to have anything super fancy, though, just the companies you've worked with and which services you offer.

Ideally, a few endorsements from the people you've worked with would be great, too!

@booksandstories thank you again! I have started working on my website finally and will get a Twitter account soon too - I think I'm actually going to be enjoying it a lot ;)

I'll probably manage to think of another question soon... ;)

What percentage of your thoughts and actions are focused on anti-terrorism?

What do you do to protect the people around you from violence perpetrated by religious or ideological violence against free speech and writing? Salman Rushdie was attacked recently, the receptionist at a registered office of a publishing house was violently assaulted this year and of course we have Charlie Hebdo. We live in a violent world and I am interested to know how you approach these risks?

@JustBooks good luck!

@Qisk terrorism is a consideration but as a bigger picture rather than in the day to day. Post-Charlie Hebdo the reception got a new security system installed including turnstiles and less lax entry if you forget your keycard.

We always have security guards on the doors anyway - every publisher I've worked at has that. We nearly always have two people on the front door too.

You do get the odd strange person turning up to the front door but it's usually with a book they want you to publish rather than anything malicious.

Like any media job, there is an element of vulnerability, but in the UK, attacks are so infrequent, the risks are very small. They are very shocking when they happen, but the security is very good in the offices I've worked in.

I agree. As freelance proofreaders and copyeditors, we have to be well trained, and that training includes grammar, spelling and punctuation, to be even considered by publishers. We are asked to take proofreading/copyediting tests or do a sample proofread before being offered a job. The 'sloppiness' is rarely caused by proofreaders with poor grammar. It is rather caused by not enough rounds of proofreading, not enough editing before proofreading or not enough hours paid for. Plus, it's virtually impossible to have a book that is totally error-free - we are human and we can overlook things or even introduce new mistakes.

And yes, that's true - the Big 5 publisher I've worked for paid me £20 per hour for proofreading earlier this year. It is sadly quite less than the CIEP's recommended minimum hourly rate for proofreading which is £26.90 at the moment...

At this year's CIEP conference, more experienced editors told me to work for indie authors as they often pay more. But in order to upgrade my CIEP membership and be more appealing to indie authors, I need hours and hours of work experience for publishers... And I don't dislike working for publishers - both the Big 5s or indie ones with less mainstream titles. But money's important too.

Most of the errors I see in print are poor grammar, a strange lack of commas, poor phrasing, and generally using the wrong words. A couple of recent examples 'she bore her teeth at him' (meaning 'bared'), and 'he tucked into a plate of freshly caught kippers'. These were both in published books, which had presumably been through both proofreading and editing. If I come across something like this early on then I usually abandon it. Bestsellers by big name authors are no different.
Every day, I read and hear poor grammar such as 'he was sat/I was stood', and poor phrasing which again places the burden on the reader or listener to figure out what is meant. I am amazed at the low standards of those who are paid to write or broadcast in the English language, yet cannot use it correctly.

Is it a good idea to self-publish a first book, a children's book, and then use that to get an agent and then to go to a publisher? Or is this worthless?

If this isn't a good way to get to a publisher, what is?

And it's true of academics and newscasters now as well.

Good question! The process of self-publishing is quite different to trad publishing - it's not that people try to get a agent/traditionally publish and if it fails they self-publish. Self-publishing isn't a 'substandard' form of publishing, just a different business model. If you have self published and sold more than 1,000 copies that would make a publisher sit up and take notice in most places I've worked.

For the vast majority, they are just two very separate routes to market.

With self publishing, you are in charge of everything, so get all the money, but you also need to be editor, marketer, publicist, brand manager, production and possibly brand extension team if you want to have products (eg soft toys of your characters).
Some authors love and thrive off that. The benefits are that you are quicker to market, keep all the cash and control your brand.

If you are traditionally published, the pay is probably quite low, and you might be competing with huge super-brands for your campaign team's resources, when they might be focussing on their bigger brands like Walliams, Peppa Pig, the Dahl estate or Harry Potter. The benefits are that you get more input and support so it's easier to build your brand. Also parents 'trust' brands like Ladybird so they are more likely to take a chance on an author they don't know. It's easier to get sold into more bookshops if you are traditionally published, whereas nearly all self-published books are sold on Amazon, via events, and in a handful of local shops.

Children's publishing even more than adult is built on heritage brands, which are what makes the megabucks, so you can find it hard to break through against a sea of Donaldson and Walliams. However, you can capitalise in your local area by doing library visits, going to schools, and doing signings or readings in local bookshops, growing your brand gradually.

This thread is excellent. Thank you. I’m wondering if there are any books that have been a commercial success but you have not particularly liked personally?

Have you read a thousand splendid suns and this little life? I thought they were fantastic

Apologies… A little life!

What is the best way to find a literary agent? There are a few publishing houses that I see only accept proposals from literary agents. Thanks!

@Question10 I've read A Little Life but not A Thousand Splendid Suns (I loved The Kite Runner though!).

There are hundreds of books that get overhyped - but also, books don't suit everyone so those big books have a big marketing budget, but it's more that they have a very broad appeal rather than that they are the best stories.

Mostly, books don't get big marketing budgets and word-of-mouth is what sells them.

@whiteorchids44 I always advise people wanting an agent to get the Writers' and Artists' yearbook for details of agents.

Also, looking at comparison authors for what you have written and see which agency they are represented by.

The author's agent might not take you on if they feel your book is too close to the existing author, but it gives a good idea that they are the kind of agency who go for those books. They sometimes pass authors on to other agents in the team.

Thank you very much for your advice!

I'm very late to the party. I'd just like to know, where do US and UK publishers advertise jobs? Here in South Africa it's very hush-hush -- book publishers only advertise through specialised channels such as professional editors' associations. You won't find their job adverts on LinkedIn!

I get the "bore" (ugh!) but what's wrong with "he tucked into a plate of freshly caught kippers"?

Sorry this is late to the thread, I'm doing some specific research 😃

I presume it's because kippers are smoked, not caught...

Ah yes, of course! Thank you!😂

@Dibilnik - because kippers are herrings that have been caught then smoked... Takes about 24 hours.

But if you're doing research, you would be able to Google this...?

I wasn't thinking about the fish, I was looking at the grammar!

A relative worked for a major publishing company and both my DC worked there in their vacations and gap years. Sheer nepotism - she got them in but they had to prove themselves or they were out because everyone else had a niece, nephew, son etc who wanted a job. DS was actually offered a really good job there when he finished uni. Mostly the staff were underpaid but weren’t working for the money. It was just acceptable and fashionable to say they worked in publishing. A nice job till you got married.

Hi ButternutSoup. If you're in the UK, I recommend the magazine The Bookseller - they list ads for jobs in publishing and bookselling every week and they also have a newsletter with more jobs.

Thank you! I'm not in the UK yet but hope to move there this year, and am putting my feelers out. I currently work as an in-house editor of authored law content for a South African legal publishing company. So I should also contact LexisNexis et al, I suppose.