THE MAKING OF A BESTSELLER
"No matter how big or how consolidated or how commercial the publishing industry becomes, it will remain at its core a cottage industry, for the product it is selling is homemade, woven by hand by individual craftsmen, piece by piece, book by book."
—The Making of a Bestseller
American publishers release thousands of new titles every year. Most disappear quickly from bookstore shelves (if they reach bookstores at all). A few win modest acclaim and a small market. A very few become best sellers—sometimes for a month or two, sometimes for decades.
The book business is built on questions that seem impossible to answer. What drives a person to write? How can a publisher determine which manuscripts will be successful books? Why do people buy (or not buy) the latest titles? What can authors, editors, publishers, and reviewers do to help a book's chances to be a bestseller?
The possible answers—and the many new questions each answer raises—make for intriguing reading in this lively survey of writing and publishing in America.
CONTENTS
A Matter of Mystery
Winning the Genetic Sweepstakes
Sing, O Muse
The Writing Life
Your Stupid Book Stinks
We're All Connected
Barbarians Through the Gates
Judging a Book by Its Cover
De Gustibus
Non Est Disputandum
Make a Joyful Noise
Making the List
A Boy Has to Peddle His Book
With a Little Bit of Luck
Hats Off to Jackie
Apply It to the Problem
PRAISE FOR THE AUTHOR
Vanderbilt tells all that every aspiring writer should know about publishing today, and every reader, too.
LOUIS AUCHINCLOSS
It's a joy to take this tour of the book business with its eye-opening emphasis on writers.
JUDITH APPLEBAUM
