It's not the author, stupid!

Over at Galleycat is a very disturbing note from an editor talking about how when a book fails everyone  blames the author when in reality, in most cases it's the publisher's fault.

I work as an editor at a major house...Nine times out of ten the author is blamed for poor sales; even though, the house more often than not does support the author in marketing the book. As an editor I can assure you that I have too many books to edit and there are too many books to promote. Why is it a safe bet to blame the author? Because we all want to keep our jobs, that's why. What I am telling you is very important because it will give you some insight into the mindset of publishers today. The bottom line is this: When sales are good we all pat ourselves on the back and take credit, but when sales are bad, we find fault with the author, when in fact many times the poor results are our own fault!

What's telling about the vote at the end - asking what "you" think goes wrong they list everything but "not enough marketing." They do mention the "publicity" failing... but in today's marketplace there's so little available publicity anyway, no one should be relying on publicity to get a book out there. Esp with fiction!!!

Of everything, it won't come as a surprise to readers of this blog that I believe lack of marketing is the reason most books fail. If no one knows the book exists, no one can buy it and publishers simply don't have enough money or time or creative thinking to give every book the marketing it needs to break through the clutter.

Comments

[David J. Montgomery]

At first glance it seems natural to blame the author if a book fails -- we reason that the author didn't produce a product the marketplace desired. But the publisher, the entity actually selling the product, has already determined by acquiring the book in the first place that there IS a market for it. If, as it turns out, there isn't demand for the book, that's the publisher's mistake not the author's.

The publisher is the one producing and selling the product. The author has next-to-no control over how the book is produced, distributed, marketed, publicized and sold. All of the crucial decisions, all of the crucial responsibilities, are in the hands of the publisher. Therefore, if the product fails, they are the ones responsible.

That's not to say that the author shouldn't do whatever s/he can to make the book a success -- but all of his/her efforts are a drop in the bucket compared to what the publisher does.

[Terry Finley]

I like your attitude...thanks.

[Douglas Clegg]

First, I loved the headline, "It's Not the Author, Stupid!" -- Too funny.

Second, great quote, great blog entry here.

[Tracy Cooper-Posey]

Well, I had one book die on me because Canada Post went on a 6 week mail strike the week the book was released...so that wasn't me.

While I agree it's not always the author, and yes, marketing has a huge influence on the success of a book, authors are also expected to be responsible for the marketing of their book...so aren't you back where you started?

I would prefer to think that a) authors are responsible for their own success, and b) authors have control over their own success. If I don't keep that faith, I have no reason to get up in the morning.

[TLC]

This is a really interesting post. Taking credit when things go well and placing blame when they don't is found in every industry, isn't it? It's human nature, I suppose.