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     Dee Power Awareness Member Post Number: 45 Registered: 05-2004 Rating: N/A |
Can Writers Expect Changes on the Horizon for the Publishing Industry? During the research of “The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories from Authors and the Editors, Agents and Booksellers Behind Them,” Dearborn Trade, to be released March 2005, the authors Brian Hill and Dee Power talked with editors, agents, booksellers and, of course, authors. They also conducted a survey of over 100 editors and literary agents. Copyright July 2004 all rights reserved worldwide. Over 100 editors and literary agents participated in a survey conducted in mid 2004 by Brian Hill and Dee Power, authors of “The Making of a Bestseller,” Dearborn Trade, March 2005. Most of the participating editors were from major publishing houses; however editors from small and university presses participated as well. The agents completing the survey were from well known agencies as well as boutique agencies. As part of the Hill and Power 2004 Editors and Agents Survey, the following questions were posed to determine what the current and future environment is for new authors trying to become published, and what does that tell us about the state of the publishing industry? Survey participants were asked: Question 1: Is the publishing industry environment more or less favorable for new (unpublished) writers than 12 months ago? Please rate your response from 1 – much less favorable to 5 – much more favorable. Question 2: In the next 12 to 24 months do you see the publishing industry becoming more or less favorable for new (unpublished) writers? Please rate your response from 1 – much less favorable to 5 – much more favorable. The average responses were: Now vs. 12 Months Ago The Next 12 to 24 Months Agents 2.5 2.7 Editors 2.8 2.8 Neither agents nor editors see a great deal of change on the horizon; both groups were mildly negative about the next 12 to 24 months. Agents had a somewhat dimmer view of the current environment compared to 12 months ago, but also see a slight improvement for the future. From the Literary Agent’s Point of View Agents are often thought of as the people who make “deals” happen on behalf of their clients. That of course is their objective. But before the negotiations can begin with a publisher, the agent has to decide which clients to represent out of the hundreds or thousands of authors who contact them every year. Thus, they perform an important screening function for the publishing industry, keeping editors from being even more inundated with manuscripts and proposals to read than they already are. And, they are also the first ones to read the rejection letters from editors. Imagine opening your mail each day and seeing all those polite “no thank-you” letters—and a number several times that much of correspondence from new, hopeful writers clamoring for representation. The most common reasons behind their outlook for the next two years in order of frequency of mention were: > Industry Consolidation, Changes (Or lack thereof) Within the Publishing Industry Itself > Changes in Book Retailing > Publishers are Becoming More Risk Averse > The Impact of the National Economy When asked why they rated the publishing environment the way they did literary agents had strong opinions and frequently piquant comments. The number to the left of each response indicated the agent’s numerical rating for Question 2, the lower the number the more pessimistic the rating. The 12 page report is much to long to post here in its entirety. The free report covers the following topics and is available as a PDF file. Just send an email Mailto:writersreport@brianhillanddeepower.com and it will be sent to you at no charge. You will also be subscribed to our free monthly newsletter, “Words For Writers and Readers.” Why Do Editors Say No. Why Editors Decline Nonfiction And Saying No to Fiction Looking to the Future of Publishing from Experts, Agents and Booksellers Advice From Editors On How To Succeed As An Author Thanks Dee Power | ||
| Frederick A. Babb Hunger Member Post Number: 78 Registered: 04-2004  Rating: N/A |
Dee, You provide great amounts of info. But to answer the question to your thread in one word, NO! (Which pretty much summons up editors and agents thoughts). If there is not a vision of making money on the project submitted, things will never change. It would be romantic to think that good conquers evil and the world of publishing will change to help new authors pursue being discover. To put it into simple words from an old rap song called Survival by GrandMaster Flash: It´s all about money Ain't a damn thing funny You gotta have a con in this land of milk and honey. Still, I am interested in reading your new book when it comes out. Keep me posted. Frederick A. Babb Preview books: http://frederickbabb.bravehost.com | ||
| Gary D. Kessler Wandering Member Post Number: 170 Registered: 07-2004 Rating: N/A |
I think there are changes creeping in that agents/publishers don't seem to see changing and/or don't want to talk about changing. --For many years after the Internet revolution started, having a Web site was considered declasse by print publishers; then it became trendy to have one on the side; now it's often at the center of the operations (although some publishers are still back at step one). --Before the postal Anthrax scare in the United States, you couldn't find an agent or publisher who would accept a submission by e-mail; now it's increasingly becoming common and increasingly partials and text submissions are even being accepted electronically (and conveniently from out of country). --Despite what the print traditional publishers say about the print-on-demand technology and e-publishing, they are getting more and more involved in both. --Niche genres are being published and multimedia books produced now that never would have made it into print 20 or 30 years ago (largely through the print-on-demand and e-publishing revolutions). --Although posting material in a central location on the Internet for agents and publishers to consider still hasn't caught up with the capability to do so, as younger agents/publishers come into the field who have grown up with computer technology, this too inevitably will become the norm. --Computerization has redone the whole innards of the in-house and at-printer processes over the past 10 years. --The technology revolution has also increasingly taken agents, publishers, and book copyeditors out of the "ya gotta be in or near New York" reality--and book files (and manuscripts) zip around the country in minutes (electronically) and overnight (via Fed/Ex, UPS) rather than in weeks and months. --Book research and factchecking happens almost instanteously via the Internet rather than over years in some remote library in Tibet. --Publishers have ways to check on market status and to get at market information now that they never had before--and to move books quickly from where they aren't selling to where they might sell. And they can make quicker decisions on what to buy. --Although they really have no plans to stop going to the Frankfurt Fair and other venues where they can buy and sell rights (and schmooz), they don't really have to--they do that all now by e-mail (whereas before they did it all by snail mail or by waiting to see each other in Frankfurt), and in Frankfurt they are lifting glasses to books already in the market rather than negotiating rights on books for future publication. --And the number of manuscripts on offer continues to burgeon, which is already leading to forced changes at the agent/publisher level (more closed submissions, more publishers finding their authors themselves, a trend to more types of upfront fees). So, I don't think the question is really whether the industry will change but, rather, how fast and in what ways it already is changing. http://www.editsbooks.com "Finding Go: Matching Questions and Resources in Getting Published" (with Carol Kluz; Winterwolf, September 2004) |
