Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century

This book explains the book publishing industry, from the inside out. It starts with the authors, explains why they need agents, explains how the agents work with the publishers, and publishers with the distributors, the distributors with the retailers, etc.

It does a masterful job of explaining the entire… chain of players that get an idea out of a writer’s head and into a reader’s hands.

All throughout, it gives you the actual scoop, in the form of anonymous quotes from people in the industry. And they reveal what’s really going on – how the business can be very… loose. A lot of the publishing industry is based on gut feeling and trying to time the market.

Also, the industry is built around “Big Books.” Every year, publishing houses lose money on a dozen titles, then make a fortune on two or three.

The biggest thing I came away with was the feeling that the industry sucks. Being in book publishing is a sad business. If you love books, you will have to set that aside and play the numbers just to survive. You’ll pass on books that you think are great, and publish books you might not want to read, because that’s what sells and that’s what keeps you in business.

Seriously, I cannot stress this enough: this book taught me to never go into book publishing. It’s like owning a restaurant – if you love cooking, then don’t do it, because you’ll come away hating it. The publishing industry will strip away everything you love about books, and leave you with just the numbers behind them, and those numbers often suck.

To be clear, the book wasn’t trying to be cynical. It was just honest. And the honest truth of publishing is rough.

(For more on this – and to boil this book down to the most basic points – read this article: No One Buys Books)

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