John M. Cusick: Publishers Don't Want Good Books

[FONT=&quot]My advice to my clients, to all novelists (and to myself), is always the same: push yourself. [/FONT]

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Excellent article, Ari. Thanks for the link.

Sure hit home for me. Confirmed what I've suspected for some time now. Just a nagging feeling I've had that's told me that a 'good' story is not enough, and really, if looked at objectively, of course it wouldn't be, given the number of books written and the increasingly less time and energy people have to read novels. A story that has to be written, and that many people would feel has to be read ... Unfortunately, or maybe not, it's also what had me abandon my last attempt, a "novel" where I felt I finally found my style, 50 K words in, and which has kept me more or less paralyzed for the past few months.

But, I believe Mr. Cusick, as a course of common sense, and in knowing what an impatient reader I am myself.

I believe there is poetry in the human struggle. I see it every day. There's beauty there, there's meaning, tragedy and salvation, so why can't I find a story that has to be told? Maybe I'm overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. I see stories everywhere, but at some point I think I subconsciously say to myself, so what? That's life.

Sorry for rambling a bit, but this article was right on the money for me.

and that is, sad to say, darn near unsellable.

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This is the truth, not that the book must be 'special'. It must sell. And what sells is not always super-duper special, in fact award winning books are more often than not, not great sellers (until they win). And many books with high volume sales are not good, let alone special. And what sells - well that is a combination of luck, marketing, and genre.

Rose_C said:

This is the truth, not that the book must be 'special'. It must sell. And what sells is not always super-duper special, in fact award winning books are more often than not, not great sellers (until they win). And many books with high volume sales are not good, let alone special. And what sells - well that is a combination of luck, marketing, and genre.

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I was going to say the same. Agents and editors aren't just looking for good, or even special books. They're looking for books they think have a better than average chance of being top sellers. Many of us have gotten rejections where the agent expressed regret over a book they really liked for various reasons but felt wasn't marketable for various reasons.

And of course, agents and editors, even the best ones in the business, have to make calls and take risks that don't always (or even usually) pan out. Most books they pick up don't become best sellers, and many sell depressingly few copies. Getting picked up, even with a nice initial contract from a big-5 imprint, doesn't guarantee a long-term writing career. If a writer without a track record of prior success writes a series of books that languishes in the low mid list, chances are they won't get another contract (or their contract may be killed in the middle). This happens fairly often in SFF (and isn't all that new of a thing), which is why there are some writers I really enjoyed who just dropped off the radar after 2-3 books (or sometimes more, even). I used to wonder what happened to them, why they stopped writing when their books were so good, but now I know their books just didn't attract enough attention for whatever reason.

It's frustrating for me, both as a reader and as a writer, because I have kind of weird taste, apparently. I also experience the frustration of knowing that when I go online and browse for new books to read, I'm only scratching the surface of what's out there, even though I pretty much limit myself to trade-published titles. I don't have enough time to skim the opening of every book that Amazon thinks might be interesting to me based on my past purchases, let alone pore over all the new "mid-to-down list" releases in SFF (let alone other genres I read).

As a reader I find the entire process of finding new books to read incredibly frustrating. Talking from my personal experience - it's really hard for me to find something specific to read. I don't know how authors make themselves visible but whatever any given author / publisher is doing is not working. If you do the rounds of Amazon, Goodreads, review sites etc you are offered the same small pool of books over and over. If those either don't appeal or you've the ones you will ever be interested in stepping outside of that grouping to find something else is just not worth the effort involved. The sites that do give-aways like Bookbub and the ilk pretty much (as far as I can see) only take books that are in the same top lists on the other sites, so by the time I get an offer from them, I've already browsed it elsewhere. These days I almost exclusively rely on suggestions - and I browse suggestion threads on a variety of forums regularly. Unfortunately this means I'm seldom reading new authors but what else can I do?

The reason I'm talking about this is that it highlights the difficulty of selling a book. The system is stacked to prefer those who have already sold, and even as a reader I find that frustrating. I can't ever find something to read! I know there are people writing what I'm looking for, but I'm not connecting with the books. And if there is no accessible way for me to find a book to read, how am I going to put my book in the hands of the reader who is looking for it? Or any author for that matter. I'm a reader who is regularly desperately seeking books and can't find them, and I know there are authors out there looking for me to read their book, but aren't finding me.

I don't have any answers but I know I'm not the only one who struggles to find new books to read. And I know from the other side that authors really struggle to make sales. Somehow there has to be a better way to connect readers to books they want to read. I would welcome it, both as a reader and a writer.

Rose_C, you said, "Somehow there has to be a better way to connect readers to books they want to read. I would welcome it, both as a reader and a writer."

Does Goodreads not help? I have a couple ebooks on there, but have no idea how the site works.

For myself, I just read the first few pages, and if I connect with the voice, then cool. As a reader, I'm not all hung-up on this 'story-that-has-to-be-told' thing, hahahaha.

Rose_C said:

Somehow there has to be a better way to connect readers to books they want to read. I would welcome it, both as a reader and a writer.

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Bookshops. Either bricks and mortar or their online faces - not Amazon, but bookshops staffed by people who love to talk books.

mccardey said:

Bookshops. Either bricks and mortar or their online faces - not Amazon, but bookshops staffed by people who love to talk books.

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And libraries.

Rose_C said:

As a reader I find the entire process of finding new books to read incredibly frustrating. Talking from my personal experience - it's really hard for me to find something specific to read.

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This has been my never-ending frustration since Amazon decided to be a publisher. In the old days Amazon was amazingly reliable as far as pointing to wonderful books/new authors/old authors I hadn't read, in the "If you liked..." feature. Now it's all promoting their own published books. After getting burned with some really terribly written or ungodly short books because I was clueless they'd begun pushing Amazon-published authors the same way (this is in the way-back, too, before I learned) I just won't trust them. I used to spend hours surfing Amazon and then...

mccardey said:

Bookshops. Either bricks and mortar or their online faces - not Amazon, but bookshops staffed by people who love to talk books.

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...this. I'd take my research to Borders because I wanted instant gratification and because of the little shelf notes they'd put up occasionally. I also had 3 or 4 go-to tiny bookshops with owners who knew my reading taste and recced some of my all-time favorite books. But as Amazon ballooned, they all closed, along with almost all the bookshops around Seattle, both large and small. I was so shocked when I was in NYC last fall and there was actually a real book store on the corner in Greenwich Village! I guess they're not so rare in NY, but they sure are here.

Undercover said:

And libraries.

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We have a great library system with not-so-great librarians. They're busy doing everything but recommending books. I miss my old small-town library, where the librarians knew the patrons and weren't occupied with keeping an eye on the dude surfing porn on the computer facing the children's section.

ETA: Bleh, forgot to comment on the OP. I read the article earlier today, and I came away sort of demoralized. I text my CP bits of some of the books I'm reading, just so I have someone to tell me, no, it's not you: there's just so much truly poorly written stuff on the market. And yet, to break through, we're supposed to strive for "special." Don't get me wrong, I think most of us are striving for special, we think we have it. But when there's so much mundane...it's frustrating. I have no idea where the bar is.

Yeah, what's special, what needs to be told? My problem is I think everyone's story is special, everyone's story needs to be told. I mean this in the sense that I've found that the more I know about people the more interesting their stories become. I still believe it, everything is interesting if you truly know it. I'm at a loss.

ElaineA said:

I have no idea where the bar is.

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Just down the street, on the left. Order one for me, will you? I'll be there in a minute...

hahahaha, first round's on me.

I love you guys. I'm on the far stool by the dartboard.

ElaineA said:

I love you guys. I'm on the far stool by the dartboard.

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The feeling's mutual, Lainey. But once I get a couple of pops in me, best move away from the dartboard, as I tend to wobble and sway, and we don't want any accidents now, do we?

I'm sorry, but I find this article ridiculous. It would be nice to think that this-story-needs-must-be-told is putting words onto the mercurial element of getting into the right hands at the right time, but I don't believe it for a second. And trying to get writers to self-justify their work, if only in their heart of hearts, is pointless and slightly cruel.

The regular, old advice of learn your craft, try to vault the Dunning-Kruger effect, and don't give up will have to do for me.

Ari Meermans said:

It may seem the purpose of the article is to dishearten authors today, but it really should be viewed as an empowering article.

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I don't think it's disheartening or empowering, because I don't think what he's saying really means anything. Trying to convince yourself that your story must be told is a sidestep into silliness. No it musn't. And that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. I mean, it doesn't mean that you should, either. But, there you go.

Of course, this is only my opinion. Inspiration will happen in all sorts of ways. I just don't get this one.

I read the article (I am, by nature a reader and not a writer) and I found this interesting

Now ask yourself, why does my story need to be told? What about it is new, what about it pushes boundaries? What about it has, at least, the potential to change a person’s life?

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. Then I looked to see what he agents: picture books, middle grade and YA. Boundary pushing, life changing is probably what he's looking for. It is, I confess, not what I'm looking for. In this context, what he seems to be describing is the good ol' 'issue book'.
After I read my third 'girl gets unexpectedly pregnant' or 'girl gets hooked on drugs' 'teen novel' (yes, I'm old) I moved on to adult books: mysteries and science fiction.

I want someone who writes like the team that was Emma Lathen. A modern version of the classic old-fashioned mysteries. Where is the new Agatha Christie, or Dorothy Sayers, where the mystery is what counts? Instead the 'new book shelves' at my library are cluttered with 'cozies' - less about the mystery and more about the quaint, and the romantic. Or, very dark stuff apparently designed to show off how vile a serial killer can get before the police detective (who, of course, has a personal stake in solving the crime) catches him.
I think the article disregards that there are many different ideas of what 'special' is, and it's not what story 'needs to be written', but what story people want to read.

ElaineA said:

We have a great library system with not-so-great librarians. They're busy doing everything but recommending books. I miss my old small-town library, where the librarians knew the patrons and weren't occupied with keeping an eye on the dude surfing porn on the computer facing the children's section.

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Check around the reference desks, or the circulation counter - I use the small local branch of my library system, and while it's more clerks than librarians, the front desk has constantly updated lists of pamphlets suggesting books by topic or genre. Usually new books, sometimes older stuff that fits the theme.
It was a clerk shelving books who noticed what I was usually looking at (I guess because he had similar tastes) and suggested GRRMartin's 'Song of Ice and Fire' - at the time, a two book series.

ElaineA said:

ETA: Bleh, forgot to comment on the OP. I read the article earlier today, and I came away sort of demoralized. I text my CP bits of some of the books I'm reading, just so I have someone to tell me, no, it's not you: there's just so much truly poorly written stuff on the market. And yet, to break through, we're supposed to strive for "special." Don't get me wrong, I think most of us are striving for special, we think we have it. But when there's so much mundane...it's frustrating. I have no idea where the bar is.

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Me too. And the more I learn what all the things a book should and shouldn't have, the harder time I have believing in anything I write. How can I know if something I've written is more than just "good," let alone special (or marketable)? My first completed novel I just wrote for me initially. I didn't really think I'd ever be able to shop it, but I wanted to finish a novel instead of just starting one. So I forged through in spite of not being able to outline, or even knowing exactly how all the things that kept coming to be were going to tie together. I got some really good feedback from people about my writing from crit groups and workshops. Some people impatiently bugged me for more chapters as I was writing it. So I started to hope that it had a chance after all.

In the end it didn't sell (got some nibbles but not enough to think that my writing or idea was as cool or special as some people said they were). And the more I read about and discuss writing, the less competent and more confused I feel. And the less confident I am in any of the new ideas I have. Because now that I've shopped a novel and gotten a little bit of traction, at least, even if it didn't sell, I want the next book I write to be better. I'll never be writing just for myself again, and nothing feels as good as the first book did to me, and almost everything feels stale and cliched, and I have no confidence in my ability to create plot elements that hold together and obstacles that my characters can realistically surmount without making them (the obstacles) feel trivial or the solutions to the problems feel anticlimactic.

Another issue is I'm finding fewer and fewer books that really pull me in and keep me turning pages. There's something a bit off about every book I read, whether it's the premise, world building, characterization, plot elements that don't quite make sense, voice, narrative viewpoint, pacing or whatever. I can't just lose myself in a story and just read it without thinking how I'd have tried to write it and wondering if I have any ability to judge quality at all.

Note, I've never been a person with a passion for literary fiction. I'm a genre fiction reader. I like stories with nice, descriptive, emotion-grabbing prose, but I don't like prose that calls attention to itself or feels forcefully lyrical or experimental. But now I notice that a lot of reasonably, or even very, popular novels have elements that are cliched, a bit silly, or (sometimes) even offensive in places.

mccardey said:

Bookshops. Either bricks and mortar or their online faces - not Amazon, but bookshops staffed by people who love to talk books.

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I have a teeny tiny house, and was previously moving around a lot, so I went digital and it's been a life-changer. If I converted my digital library (4000 and growing) to books I'd be living inside a mountain of them. Also small town = no bookshops. The closest town where I'd find bookshops with English books is over 100km away over a horrendous mountain pass. It's not a trip I do unless I absolutely HAVE to!

Undercover said:

And libraries.

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small town, even smaller library, mostly caters to the dominant language in town (not English).

ElaineA said:

This has been my never-ending frustration since Amazon decided to be a publisher. In the old days Amazon was amazingly reliable as far as pointing to wonderful books/new authors/old authors I hadn't read, in the "If you liked..." feature. Now it's all promoting their own published books. After getting burned with some really terribly written or ungodly short books because I was clueless they'd begun pushing Amazon-published authors the same way (this is in the way-back, too, before I learned) I just won't trust them. I used to spend hours surfing Amazon and then...

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I share your frustration, and having a digital library Amazon is where I end up to buy books, but finding books ... I've tried. Oh how I have tried, but if you try and scroll through more than 50 - 100 books to find something it stops giving you new titles. You literally can not search widely through as many titles as it takes to find something. I've tried going at the problem sideways to beat the system by changing categories but that doesn't help much. It gives you a few new titles but as authors try to beat the Amazon system by having their book listed under as many categories as possible the same books pop up in multiple places. And the search function is still not unlimited.

Roxxsmom said:

Another issue is I'm finding fewer and fewer books that really pull me in and keep me turning pages. There's something a bit off about every book I read, whether it's the premise, world building, characterization, plot elements that don't quite make sense, voice, narrative viewpoint, pacing or whatever. I can't just lose myself in a story and just read it without thinking how I'd have tried to write it and wondering if I have any ability to judge quality at all.

Note, I've never been a person with a passion for literary fiction. I'm a genre fiction reader. I like stories with nice, descriptive, emotion-grabbing prose, but I don't like prose that calls attention to itself or feels forcefully lyrical or experimental. But now I notice that a lot of reasonably, or even very, popular novels have elements that are cliched, a bit silly, or (sometimes) even offensive in places.

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I read both genre and literary (Fast food and fine dining is how I view it LOL) and I enjoy both. I just want to be able to connect with books I enjoy, and I enjoy a huge range of styles and genres. It's not that hard to please me (although in a way it is). One of the problems I'm finding with the vast pool of self-pubs is that it is exhausting wading through the truly awful to find the gems. At least with tradpub the publishers would be the filter system through which books would pass or not pass. Now everyone who thinks they can string a sentence together can put a book on Amazon, and they do, but really really shouldn't. What's even more astonishing is that some of them sell. I can't tell you the pile of books I've attempted to read (give-aways for the most part, thankfully) that would have greatly benefited from someone being kind enough to tell the author that they need to be able spell, write grammatically correct sentences, and to get an editor!


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Regarding the OP - I find that these discussions tend to get compartmentalized with little cross-over. If you read the threads on the all important query letter, you get a very different impression on what publishers are looking for - and it's definitely not a wonderful book. And if you look at what self-pubs do sell on Amazon - "good" in a literary sense (or even, often, a grammatical sense) is not a word that immediately comes to mind with a lot of them - not all - but many. Too many.

Roxxsmom said:

Me too. And the more I learn what all the things a book should and shouldn't have, the harder time I have believing in anything I write. How can I know if something I've written is more than just "good," let alone special (or marketable)?

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If I may... I think a lot of that sort of angst that writers deal with comes from the shape-shifting nature of the "really big market". I'll go out on a limb and say that if your book is competently written with a decent story, it's good. Even if it does not have the "je ne said quou"-du jour (pretentious? moi?). These days especially, the new book that is going to light up a publisher's eyes is some weird combination of totally new yet very familiar. Something that is going to blow people away without taking any risks. The reason it's so hard to hit that is because no one really knows what it looks like. These are the rare books that a publisher relies upon to sustain operating costs, rents, salaries, etc etc.

One unquestionably good thing about self publishing for me (I know its not for everyone, but it does have its advantages), is the ability to be very profitable while operating in much much smaller markets than the Big 5 have to operate in. And in those smaller markets authors can flourish without having to write the next Gone Girl or Game of Thrones or Harry Potter or Twilight. Books which are all good and have value but saw massive success for reasons probably no one will ever understand fully.

At some point, does this paradigm not become, de facto, a form of censorship?

caw

blacbird said:

At some point, does this paradigm not become, de facto, a form of censorship?

caw

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How so?