SHALLA
CHATS with Bob Mayer
“The Current State and Future of the Publishing
Business”
by
Shalla
DeGuzman
First of all, who ’s
Bob?
NY
Times Bestselling author Bob Mayer has thirty-three books
published under his own name and the pen name Robert Doherty.
Bob graduated from West Point and served in the military as
a Special Forces A-Team leader and a teacher at the JFK Special Warfare
Center & School,
experiences he drew on to write Who Dares Wins: Special Operations
Tactics for Success. He also teaches novel writing for colleges, workshops
and conferences based on his Novel Writer’s Toolkit, published
by Writer’s Digest. He has over two million books in print including
his latest novel, Don’t Look Down, co-authored with Jennifer
Crusie.
He
lives on a barrier island off the coast of South Carolina. For more
information see www.bobmayer.org or www.crusiemayer.com for
the infamous He Wrote/She
Wrote blog.
Shalla: Hello Bob, we’re glad
you can join us.
Bob: Thanks for having me. I think
the Internet is a valuable resource for information such as we’re
covering in this interview.
Shalla: You offer many workshops for writers, one of them
about the state of the publishing business. So, I’d like to ask you,
what is the state of the publishing business? Especially for
new authors?
Bob: I’ve been in publishing since my first book came out in 1991
and it seems every year it’s all gloom and doom, but I think that
while the business has trends, it’s doing well and many books
are still getting published.
A big trend that isn’t good is the shrinking of the mass market
paperback market for everyone but the top tier of authors. Outside
of bookstores, most venues are only racking known bestselling authors
and
cutting back on new or midlist authors.
However, nature abhors a vacuum and the trade paperback
market is expanding.
Also,
print on demand—which people confuse with
self-publishing—heralds important changes for the future of publishing
in my opinion. POD is a technology. As it becomes more cost-efficient,
I foresee the day when books will be printed on-site in the bookstores,
eliminating shipping costs and greatly cutting down on returns and waste.
This will allow stores to ‘rack’ more titles in that the
book will be in the computer and if someone asks for it, they
can print it out in a few minutes and hand it to the customer.
There are six major publishing companies in New York, but
each one has numerous houses in them and imprints inside
those houses. So it’s not as consolidated as many people think. And inside each
house there are so many different editors with so many different
tastes.
Shalla: Does every writer need a literary agent to succeed? Why/Why
not?
Bob: It’s real hard to succeed without one. Most New York publishers
won’t deal with anyone but agents now. I think you really need
one, but not just any agent. You need a good agent. So what makes a
good agent? It’s hard to define. I’ve gone through quite
a few. Business-wise, I think they were all good, competent and understood
the business. An agent can’t survive long if they aren’t.
They all gave me pretty much the same advice.
So what makes the difference? Several factors.
Is the agent part of a larger agency? If so, does the agency
work as a team or just a letterhead? An agency that works
as a team gives you more input and flexibility.
Is the agent looking to develop a small stable of successful
writers or one that wants a lot of ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ writers
that are interchangeable parts? I think there are what I would call
old school agents who had 50-100 or more midlist writers, none of whom
were individually that important to the agent. I also call this the “sell
the next book” agent, whose focus is more immediate than long
term. This is why a younger agent, while less experienced, might be
better in some cases. They’re hungrier and they’re more
aware of current trends sometimes.
Here’s a key intangible: how do you feel after talking with an
agent? Every time I talk to my current agent, even if it’s bad
news, I feel positive. My previous agents, every time I talked to them,
I felt negative. I think it’s a question of energy level and also
personality. If you watched last season’s ENTOURAGE, I think it
did an interesting job of showing the intangibles in the agent-client
relationship, even though it was the movie business, not publishing.
I think a person that is often forgotten is the editor.
The acquiring editor is actually more important than
the agent in determining the
fate of a book. So you need a strong team of three: yourself,
your agent, your editor. I learned all this the hard
way. Jenny Crusie introduced
me to the team that handles our collaboration books and they
are wonderful.
Shalla: When should an author learn about the publishing business?
Before or after signing with a publishing house?
Bob: Before. It’s too late after you’ve signed on with
an agent and publisher. The problem is there aren’t many places
to learn what you need to know. Even then, every author’s experience
is different, so their outlook is a little different. Still,
if you go to enough conferences and listen to enough people speak and
read
about the business, you will see certain patterns. I look at
the business differently now than I did ten years ago. I actually used
to boast I
never meet my agent or my editors face to face. Now I make it
a point to go to NYC at least twice a year. The strange thing is, you
feel like
you never really accomplish much solid in those meetings, but
they are critical.
At conferences, too many people focus on agent/editor panels
and not enough about authors talking about the business. Some
of that is because a lot of authors don’t talk about the business. But
remember, an agent and editor has a different perspective on the business
than an author does. One thing I hate is panels where agents and editors
tell you what they don’t want and what will make their job easier.
That’s their issue. Not an author’s.
Even with the best agent in the world, it pays to stay on
top of the business. Today I’ve been emailing my agent discussing
editors at a certain publishing house. A friend of mine sent me the
list of editors at the house and I checked them and the books they publish.
We’re trying to find the right ‘fit’ for my manuscript.
No matter how much you learn, every decision you make about
your career is going to have good sides and bad sides to
it. There are no
black or white rules. It can get very complicated, very quickly.
This is where it also helps to have author friends who you
can bounce things
off of.
I was sitting at lunch during the Maui Writer’s Conference with
several authors and we actually started talking about the business and
money. One of the authors exclaimed that she’d been in the business
ten years and this was the first time she’d ever heard authors
talking about the nuts and bolts of the business, especially
money.
An author is self-employed in the world of publishing.
So you are your own boss and responsible for your career.
Shalla: Lastly, any books on the publishing business you would recommend
reading?
Bob: Don Maass’s How
To Write The Breakout Novel is a good book.
I’ve read it a couple of times over the years and I pick up different
things each time, because my situation is different.
My Novel
Writer’s Toolkit has a large section on the business.
Jenny and I will be covering the business in our year long blog He Wrote/She
Wrote How To Write. We’re doing the business part late in the
summer. www.crusiemayer.com/workshop
There are other blogs out there that discuss the business.
It’s
good sometimes to read what the ‘real’ story is behind the
business and the success and failure of various books.
Shalla: Thank you Bob, I will surely get a copy of A Novel
Writer’s
Toolkit.
For
more on Bob Mayer, please visit http://www.bobmayer.org.
