You Can't Handle the Truth

I heard five stories in the last few weeks about editors/publishers lying to authors when it came to the facts of print run/ marketing/pr/co-op/ etc. decisions & issues.

I've heard these stories from either the publishers/editors who lied or the authors who were lied to.

The publishers/editors admitted they didn't tell the truth because they didn't want to "upset" or "disappoint" the author or they didn't know how to explain that despite the decision they still cared about the book and were still hoping for a success.

The authors all said they believed the lie until they came face to face with the reality.

And in all five instances, after looking into it, I found out that not knowing the truth affected how the author did helped or didn't help his or her own book.

In four cases there was significantly more the author could have done had he or she know what was really going on. In the fifth the author could have saved himself a lot of independent pr money had he known the reality of the book's distribution.

We all know dozens and dozens of examples of how well it can work sometimes but why are there still so many cases of authors being treated like children?

Can you imagine the brand manager of Proctor & Gamble not telling the account exec at Agency A that the budget on the new cold medicine has been cut because they've allocated more money to the hot new hair loss lotion that Agency B is handling.

Of course they'd tell them. It impacts everyone.

Oh I know I'm being crass. Comparing art and oranges or books and hair loss lotion. But that's part of the point.

An author writes a book for a year, or two, or three -  that's art.

Next he or she turns it over to a publishing house that pays decent, maybe good, maybe even great money for it.  That's commerce.

Now they are in business together and there is an implicit promise that the house will do its best to publishing and promote the book. If the publisher can't even be honest with the author about what they are and aren't doing then they are not giving the author a fair shot at helping or in some cases saving his or her career.

I am not saying that changes in plans don't happen. Of course they do. And sometimes they are tough to hear. But at least give us the benefit of the doubt.

At the same time, authors have to prove we can handle the truth. It's up to each and every one of us to behave like adults - even pissed off adults. Because every time one of us reacts like a child upon hearing the news, it reinforces the stereotype of authors as two years olds which doesn't do anyone any good.

Comments

[Jeri]

Good points, MJ, on both ends. I knew an author who spent thousands of dollars on a top publicist for a "breakout" novel, only to find out much later that the print run was too small to even earn back the advance.

In cases like this, where the publisher has pretty much decided ahead of time that the book will fail, is there anything the author can do? How would knowing all the facts ahead of time (assuming the facts are true) affect an author's marketing strategy?

And aren't print runs determined by early orders, which are in turn determined in part by the publisher's own enthusiasm for the book (good cover, sales people pushing the book to the booksellers and distributors)--things that the author can't control?

[Ray Rhamey]

How depressing. Lying to authors? My notion that publishing was a business where professionals worked is dashed. This is so far from professional that it's difficult to imagine.

Ugh.

Ray

[Susie Bright]

I couldn't agree with you more on this. Authors are treated like children who need to be kept dozing on Tooth Fairy stories. Kept away from the business end at all costs.