The 9 Biggest Myths About Nonfiction Trade Publishing, Debunked
What really happens when you "get a book deal," publish your first book, and go on tour to promote it? It may not be what you've always imagined.
At least once a month, there’s a big discussion online about something or other that has happened in publishing. It might be about where novelists find inspiration, or how authors use sources in nonfiction. It might be about the research practices of journalists versus academics, the intent of a memoirist, or how much power and influence your average author has. Regardless of topic, one thing I’ve noticed—a thread that tends to run through all these discussions—is a series of common misunderstandings and misconceptions about how modern trade publishing actually works.
It makes sense, in a way. Why should your average non-author know what an author actually does in the process of writing, publishing, and promoting a book? Most representations of authors and the publishing industry in popular culture, from television and film to characters in books themselves, do not reflect reality. It’s a fantasy, and people project onto that fantasy. They see Carrie Bradshaw enjoying a book party that costs more than most people spend on a wedding, and assume that a toned-down version of this must await most authors at the end of the publishing rainbow.
Yes, every now and then, a first-time author who is not already famous will get a seven-figure book advance. But these are usually hot young debut novelists and are, quite literally, one in a million. They were the exact right person, with the exact right book, in the exact right place, at the exact right time. They did all the right work, and then got lucky. For the rest of us—the remaining nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine-hundred and ninety-nine—the reality is very different.
So what is it really like to “get a book deal,” publish your first book, go on tour, and do press to promote it?
I’m a traditionally-published nonfiction author, so I’m talking about trade nonfiction publishing here. That means nonfiction books that are published by the Big Five international publishing houses (Penguin Random House, Hachette, Simon&Schuster, HarperCollins, and Macmillan), as well as “the independents” (smaller presses not owned by a large corporate conglomerate), as opposed to academic presses, texbooks, self-publishing, and other options.
Without further ado, here are nine basic trade publishing myths.
