Notes from an Agent at Pima Writers' Conference

[Bill Penrose]

>From the 21st Pima College Writers� Workshop
Tucson, Arizona, May 29-31, 2009

An update on the publishing industry by Jeff Gerecke, of the Gina
Maccoby Agency, NYC:

In summary, traditional publishing is doing worse than ever, while
self-publishing is beginning to seem more like a viable option.

To summarize his 75 minute talk:

1. The �blockbuster� marketing philosophy pioneered by Putnam and
picked up by most majors still dominates the industry. According
to publishers, readers want the comfort of familiar names and
genres. Whereas all publishers say they want fresh and new, what
they buy is the formula, the familiar, the tight genre
definition.
The herd mentality rules. Viva Dan Brown.

2. As a writer, you have to write to accepted formulas. But literary
authors can be branded, too, so they�re not shut out by the
current state of the market. New authors usually get in by way of
the minor imprints of the big houses, many of which are still run
like the old-fashioned small, adventurous presses.

3. Preference is given to books that can be marketed in multiple
channels, eg, movies and merchandise as well as the book.

4. Marketing has been seriously impacted as newspapers have
eliminated their book review sections.

5. The last six months have been �apocalyptic� for the traditional
publishing industry. Random House closed two of its five
divisions
in December. Backlist sales have tanked.

6. He uses Amazon for market research, both to find books that will
compete with a new submission and to see what readers are also
buying (using �people who bought this book also bought...�
listings)

7. Many publishers no longer see self-publication as simple vanity;
instead, many are regarding self-publishers as go-getters who
will
aggressively market themselves, and worth moving to the top of
the
slush pile.

8. Self-publishers are tending to cluster in semi-isolated universes
where most of the major players are well known and sales are
modest but promising, considering the size of the potential
readership within the closed universe. Some of these will
�graduate� to the major publishers.

9. The Internet has facilitated online meetings with book circles in
distant cities.

10. Fan and genre conventions (mystery writers, scifi, etc.) are
marketing opportunities with high return for the money invested.

11. The Kindle and other ebook readers appear to be revolutionizing
book publishing, but it is too early to be sure. Amazon may be
the
big winner in traditional publishing AND self-publishing.

12. A quote from Gerecke in response to a client who claimed his
success was a �miracle�: �All publishing success stories are
miracles...a series of random coincidences that are not easily
duplicated.�

Dangerous Bill

--
[on literary fiction] "...remember that every time someone posts a
thread defining literary fiction, a French Intellectual gets run over
by a milk truck and dies." -- Richie_d on Authonomy.com