From Where I Sit

Choosing Which Books to Publish

My post, Too Many Books, Too Few Shelves, raised a lot of great questions about how we determine what we publish at Thomas Nelson. Therefore, I would like to address a persistent issue that was raised in the comments section of that post.

Let me say at the outset that I appreciate the robust dialog. It is very helpful to me, and I hope to other readers. Not only does it help me to clarify my position, but it may actually help shape my position. My thinking is not static, and neither is our strategy. It is a “work in progress.”

Why I Am (Still) Excited About Christian Retail

Last Saturday, April 12, I spoke to Christian Retailers at our inaugural Open House event. It was video-taped, and you can watch it here if you are interested.

Because the file was so large, I had to upload it as five separate videos. The total length is 40 minutes or so. However, if you click on the link above, it will play all five videos as a YouTube “playlist,” with each video playing one after the other.

Literary Agents Who Represent Christian Authors

Aspiring authors routinely ask me to recommend an agent. This is more difficult than you might think. For starters, we work with numerous agents and enjoy good relationships with all of them.

Second, it’s often just as difficult to find an agent as a publisher. Many agents are not accepting clients. However, if your project is good and you are persistent, you will eventually find one.

Measuring “Total Author Experience”

Our publishing business is like a three-legged stool. Its success rests on the happiness of three primary constituents: our employees, our authors, and our customers—in that order.

The rationale is that if we take care of the employees, they will take care of our authors and customers. As a result, the very first point in our vision statement says, “We maintain an inspired work environment where people connect with the Company’s purpose and values.”

Five Publishing Hurdles

If you’re an aspiring author, have ever wondered what happens to your book proposal after it arrives at the publishing house? Sometimes, I’m afraid, the acquisition process appears to be a sort of “black box.” Proposals are inserted into the black box and then disappear for weeks. At some point they pop out. Most are sent back to the author with a rejection letter. A precious few actually become a book.

But what happens while the proposal is inside the box? In this post I want to describe the internal proposal review process. If you have ever wondered how in the world publishing houses decide what to publish, this post is for you.

Strategic Relationship Management, Part 4

The Ideal Agent

In part 1 of this series, I outlined the concept of Strategic Relationship Management. So far, I have applied these principles to publishers and authors. Today, I want to apply them to agents.

I was a literary agent for six years, so I am speaking here from experience. What would the ideal, high-profit, low-maintenance agent look like from the publisher’s perspective? Here are fifteen characteristics:

Strategic Relationship Management, Part 3

The Ideal Author

In part 1 of this series, I outlined the concept of Strategic Relationship Management. In yesterday’s post I began to apply these principles, starting with The Ideal Publisher. Today, I want to provide the profile of the ideal author.

What would the ideal, high-profit, low-maintenance author look like from the publisher’s perspective? Here are fifteen characteristics:

Strategic Relationship Management, Part 2

The Ideal Publisher

In my last post, I outlined the concept of Strategic Relationship Management. In this post, I want to begin to apply these principles. Since professionally, I am a publisher, I will start with publishers.

What would the ideal, high-profit, low-maintenance publisher look like from the agent’s perspective? Here are fifteen characteristics:

It’s the Product, Stupid

One of my favorite marketing gurus, David Ogilvy, once wrote, “Great marketing only makes a bad product fail faster.” How true.

I have argued for years that, “It’s the product, Stupid.” The secret to success in any business is to deliver a great, compelling product. No amount of marketing savvy, salesmanship, or operational excellence can overcome a weak product. This is especially true when it comes to publishing.

The purpose of marketing is to get a book launched—to prime the pump. But if people don’t want to read it and—more importantly—if they won’t recommend it to their friends, you’re hosed. You can’t spend enough money or be creative enough to overcome a lack of word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM).

Editorial Standards: A Time for Clarity

Last week, Publishers Weekly ran an article about our new editorial standards. The article asserted that “future contracts will require authors—even those writing in non-religion categories like business—to signal their agreement with both the Nicene Creed ... and Philippians 4:8.”

This is, of course, simply not true. We have not written our editorial standards into our contracts nor do we intend to. As far as I know, it has never even been discussed as a possibility. Unfortunately, this error has been picked up by others, amplified, and made to sound silly and extreme.

For example, MediaBistro.com said that we were making theological demands on our authors. The New York Times ran a short piece on Saturday, repeating the PW error and claiming that authors who signed with us must “swear to two religious articles of faith.” Writing for The Nashville Scene, Bruce Barry, said we were being “heavy handed.”

Several Christian bloggers also weighed in. Most seemed confused. Some asked for clarification. Thankfully, a few even defended us.

Regardless, I thought rather than answer all these posts directly, I would try to clarify our position here.

I Wish Every Author Would Read This

Joel Miller, our crack Senior Editor at Nelson Current and the author of Bad Trip, just posted a great entry called, “Book Publishing and the Market.” In it he says,

Because I have so few publishing slots, I’m supposed to be the king of cynics, the Simon Cowell of books, e.g.: “I’m sorry, but it’s really bad. Really, really bad. Honestly.” Sentiments to that effect are communicated all the time. I’m nicer than that, of course. But book proposals are many, actual slots on the list are few. My job is similar to Cowell’s; I’m supposed to filter through the many to find the few. But it’s right at this point where everything gets difficult.

Definitely worth a read, especially if you work for one of the publishing imprints.