A Thought About Authors

I just had a thought about the difference between fiction and non-fiction authors. Berrett-Koehler publishes only non-fiction authors and so my observations are coming from this limited experience. I always thought of authors as artists. Their craft being language, of course. It is easy to see that fiction writers are creators; they must be. They are trained in the art of language, narrative, character and much more. However, I think people don't tend to consider non-fiction books art, generally speaking. Non-fiction authors are often experts in some field other than writing. But their art is to share their knowledge and experience with the world through the written word. What renaissance men and women non-fiction authors must be!

Editorial Review Writing

As an editorial intern I had the opportunity to write an editorial review of a manuscript which has been chosen to be published by Berrett Koehler. In some aspects it felt like writing a book report for school. I had to critically assess the content, explain what was the most enlightening and educational as well as the areas that were the least effective or interesting. On the other hand, it was unlike anything I had written before. I had to think about the details of the book in a way I don't usually think about while reading. I looked at things like the structure, format and language more analytically. It was an interesting task because I wanted to show what stood out to me personally, which might not be what resonated with others. The hardest part is suggesting changes because I am not the author, it feels a bit presumptuous to assume that my critique is valid when it is just one opinion. It only takes one other person with the exact opposite opinion to cancel mine out. Since the readers of the book are going to be from different backgrounds and will be using the book for different purposes, I guess all reviews are valuable to the author. Jeevan said that its really good if the author makes 50% of the suggestions from the editorial review process. I am curious to find out how authors take criticism and how much they will end up changing. Ultimately, the editor just wants to help produce the best book possible, which means they have the best of intentions. That is how I approached writing the editorial review.

Lessons from a Literary Agent

We had another author day on Tuesday, which dealt with a new book about how brands should create partnerships with consumers who are now armed with technology to influence customer opinions and choices more than ever before.

After the author lunch, the interns were able to speak with a literary agent named Andy Ross. He owned the iconic Berkley bookstore called Cody's since the 70s and two years ago became a literary agent. Andy shared his insight about the retail side of the book business, which he is not too optimistic about. He basically suggested that the invention of e-readers and online bookstores will be the downfall of physical independent bookstores. However, he then provided one possible way bookstores could stick around. He referenced the book, The Paradox of Choice: Why Less is More by Barry Schwartz saying that online stores provide seemingly infinite choice, resulting in people tending to buy a limited filtered selection that is promoted through mainstream media. Specialty bookstores can actually give the perception of offering a more diverse selection. Perhaps this is the tactic independents should play up and hopefully some will survive.

The second part of our discussion was about the role of literary agent. Andy told us that being an agent has some of the same responsibilities as editors. He has to find talented authors like an acquisitions editor at a publishing house. He often has to edit the book proposals before they are sent out to the publishers. He mentioned that getting fiction published is like winning the lottery. That was a bit surprising at first but then I realized how risky that could be for a publisher. Andy also said that his retail experience is both an advantage and a disadvantage. While he knows book buyers and local independent publishers better than most other agents, he lacks some understanding of the publishing process. He is happy to be in the business finding talent and helping to get them published. In our meeting, Andy mentioned that one of his most prestigious authors is Daniel Ellsberg who leaked the Pentagon Papers. I saw Ellsberg that same night on The Colbert Report talking about WikiLeaks editor, Julian Assange. What a coincidence!

Meeting a Rock Star Editor

Last Friday was a particularly interesting author day. The book project was fascinating. It was about optimizing the effectiveness of governmental intelligence and counter-terrorism teams. A very relevant topic for today's political environment. The author was entertaining and got the BK team strategizing like an intelligence team. I am getting a better picture of the book production process with every author day I attend.

After the author lunch, Jeevan presented the interns with a great opportunity to chat with a "rock star editor" named Alan Rinzler. To be honest, I had not heard of him prior to the praise the BK editors divulged. But after a bit of research online, I knew that he certainly is a great editor with a wide range of experience and just pure talent for the trade. He was one of the first acquisitions and development editors of Rolling Stone magazine and worked for some of the biggest publishing houses. I learned how he approaches editing, what he considers to be the skills necessary to succeed as an acquisitions editor specifically and the differences between editing for a magazine v.s. book editing. He was very open to give us his view on the future of the publishing industry in this digital world. He believes that digital does not mean the end of physical books. I am hoping he is right about that.

Overall, I am grateful to Jeevan for giving us the opportunity to talk with Alan. I learned a lot from him. One thing he said that was simple, but stood out as an obligatory quality of an editor is to know good writing. Alan said that one of authors he edited, Hunter Thompson, typed out the entirety of "The Great Gatsby" just so he could experience what good writing feels like.

Decision-making

One of my tasks as an editorial intern is to look through book proposals that come in and decide, after some deliberation with Jeevan, whether or not the book is good or fitting for BK. Of course, there are many guidelines to follow in making such decisions. Some proposals that come in just aren't right for BK based on genre or content and others would fit topically, but are not new or compelling enough to stand out in the marketplace. 


In my last post, I touched on the feeling of satisfaction when a publisher fulfills a dream for an author. This week I experienced the total opposite feeling. I had to call authors to reject their book proposals. The task was a bit daunting at first. I don't feel as though I am in a position to criticize when I am new to the industry and have such little experience. However, the rejection calls were based on a joint decision with the managing editor which gave me more confidence in the choice to pass on the projects. 


As I review more and more book proposals, I am gaining a sense of what to look for and what topics interest BK. In general, I still find it difficult to know with some certainty what prompts a wide audience to buy a particular book; people can choose to buy a book for different reasons. I am beginning to see that the decision to publish a book has a degree arbitrariness and subjectivity. The editor must have great judgement and insight into the marketplace. And I believe that is a matter of time and experience.