If Hugh Howey Was In Charge Of A Publishing House

K.B. Parker · Jan 9, 2014

Hugh Howey has some great advice on his blog, directed towards the trade industry.

http://www.hughhowey.com/dont-anyone-put-me-in-charge/

This means something, I’m just not sure what. I think it means that a sustained and profitable career as a science fiction author is more likely, these days, to have its origin in self-publishing. I don’t think traditional publishers can foster the sort of release schedule an author needs to really break out in a big way in the popular genres. It should be noted that an author can rank on this list with a single bestselling title, as with Rysa Walker, who has a title in the top 25. So a massive new release could crack this list. Right now, we aren’t seeing that from the big houses.

Part of the problem is that the major publishers ignore the genres that sell the best. This is a head-scratcher, and it nearly caused a bald spot when I was working in a bookstore. I knew where the demand was, and I wasn’t seeing it in the catalogs. Readers wanted romance, science fiction, mystery/thrillers, and young adult. We had catalogs full of literary fiction. Just the sort of thing acquiring editors are looking for and hoping people will read more of, but not what customers were asking me for.

I don’t think it should come as a shock that indies are killing it in these underserved genres. The supply simply can’t keep up with reader demand. And this list hints at something else: It might be that publishers need to re-think how best to launch a new writing career. One book a year probably won’t cut it, maybe never will again. Look at what Random House did with E.L. James last year: All three books came out and buttressed each other. If they would have spread those out, the novelty may have worn off before readers got to books 2 and 3.

MacAllister · Jan 9, 2014

Ah, yes. Mr. Howey.

He's the "Suck it, bitch" guy.

He's done well for himself, self-publishing. He's still a complete neo-pro, though -- hardly a publishing industry expert.

Deleted member 42 · Jan 9, 2014

This part?

howey said:
Part of the problem is that the major publishers ignore the genres that sell the best. This is a head-scratcher, and it nearly caused a bald spot when I was working in a bookstore. I knew where the demand was, and I wasn’t seeing it in the catalogs. Readers wanted romance, science fiction, mystery/thrillers, and young adult. We had catalogs full of literary fiction. Just the sort of thing acquiring editors are looking for and hoping people will read more of, but not what customers were asking me for.

That speaks more to the book buyer at that store than to publishers.

Go look at your local non-specialist book store.

Romance will have a huge section. Romance has had a huge section since the eighteenth century, where it essentially funded the early circulating libraries.

SF/F will usually also have a large section. YA sections are growing; Western and Mystery are shrinking, alas.

And a simple check of what agents want will in fact, verify that agents, like editors, are still looking for romance, SF/F, (and the cross-over genres like paranormal) and YA and and and . . .

I also note that there's no way in hell I'd work for or with any publisher who had an employee who thought "suck it bitch" was ever amusing.

K.B. Parker · Jan 9, 2014

Right.

We're never going to get past that.

K.B. Parker · Jan 9, 2014

MacAllister said:
He's done well for himself, self-publishing. He's still a complete neo-pro, though -- hardly a publishing industry expert.

In trade publishing? Definitely not an expert. In the self publishing industry? He's definitely an expert. Denying that is fantasy.

thothguard51 · Jan 9, 2014

He is an expert for what works for him...

K.B. Parker · Jan 9, 2014

thothguard51 said:
He is an expert for what works for him...

In that case, nobody is really an expert. Because experts are what they are, because something worked.

Stephen King is an expert, but nobody can replicate his success. By your measure, he's not an expert either.

Treehouseman · Jan 9, 2014

I remember an article by Bill Gates on "its easy to become a millionare software developer" a few years before the social media explosion. The programs were all geared for business applications and, "You price your software at $100 and sell ten thousand units! Instant millionare!"

I think of that article a lot, the kind of reductive logic of it. Everyone who ever wrote a computer program ever should have been just like Bill Gates. Every SP person should be like Hugh H. Ehhhh... theres a lot of luck in those equations.

I dunno if indies are making a killing so much that trade pub is seriously in danger. They're very visible, sure. And trade publishing is if nothing if not profit motivated, so it's not as if they don't know EXACTLY what is selling, and how much. Certainly there's less risk overall in the latter, and the top tier of both make the a tidy profit.

evilrooster · Jan 9, 2014

K.B. Parker said:
In that case, nobody is really an expert. Because experts are what they are, because something worked.

No, that's not what makes a person an expert. That's what makes a person a success, perhaps, but that's not the same thing.

An expert has a wide knowledge of the field in question. They know multiple paths to success, even ones they haven't personally tried. They know what fails, too, and why, and how often it has done in the past.

Howey, however successful he has been, doesn't demonstrate that kind of wide, deep knowledge, not even of self-publishing. So he's not an expert. There's nothing wrong with that, mind, until people start relying on him to know more than he does.

cornflake · Jan 9, 2014

This part strikes me as particularly kind of bizarre -

Look at what Random House did with E.L. James last year: All three books came out and buttressed each other. If they would have spread those out, the novelty may have worn off before readers got to books 2 and 3.

Does he really think they did that because of some sea change marked by self-publishing and not because, you know, the books were already in wide release by other houses internationally?

Look at the buildup for the recent release of whichever in the Divergent series for how much the above isn't the case.

K.B. Parker · Jan 9, 2014

I disagree. If he was advocating that his way is the way, then I would agree. But he doesn't. If you followed him, then you would know that he preaches that his path isn't the only path. He talks about many other self published authors who have reached success with opposite tactics.

If he's not an expert, then who is in the self publishing world?

thothguard51 · Jan 9, 2014

What the evilrooster said...

cornflake · Jan 9, 2014

K.B. Parker said:
In that case, nobody is really an expert. Because experts are what they are, because something worked.

Stephen King is an expert, but nobody can replicate his success. By your measure, he's not an expert either.

Mario Lemieux, pretty inarguably, had playing forward work for him. I wouldn't say he's an expert at it. He's certainly an expert at what HE did but he could explain it forever to someone else and it likely wouldn't help.

His success came from his innate talent at his sport, not from something he could reliably pass on to others.

Some people can pass stuff on, because their success is based on expertise, but just being successful doesn't make you an expert. I've met children who were expert musicians. I've also known people with Ph.Ds in the pedagogy of music who never played before a big paying crowd. The kid might be a success but not an expert - the expert may not be a success at music, but is an expert (and may be a success at teaching).

Joe_Nobody · Jan 9, 2014

I like Hugh. Form your own opinion about his advice, but my sense of the man is that he is a champion of the writer. He wants the author to succeed, get a fair deal and not have regrets. Right, wrong or indifferent, that says a lot to me.

Old Hack · Jan 9, 2014

There are plenty of people who want writers to succeed, get a fair deal, and not have regrets who also manage to be well-informed, give good advice, and avoid making sexist, misogynist slurs.

thothguard51 · Jan 9, 2014

K.B. Parker said:
If he's not an expert, then who is in the self publishing world?

Just my opinion as I am not an expert, just an observer, but there are no true experts in self publishing. Why?

Because without verifiable reporting methods, who can say what works best for this industry. All that can be said is that so and so did this and it worked for them, while this writer went this route and that worked for them.

Hedging one's bets by saying not everyone can expect the same results by doing this or that, or, that certain SP authors have found success doing this, this, and this, really does not make someone an expert. They are just repeating what they hear, or read and without the verifiable reporting methods to confirm their success...

Lastly I would say that unless Hugh has some inside information on why FSoG was released as it was, then he does not have a leg to stand on. Its his opinion, for what its worth. Right, wrong, or close, its just his opinion and opinions do not make someone an expert.

Polenth · Jan 9, 2014

Given the idea of having to turn out a book a year like clockwork is something I don't like about trade publishing, I'm not exactly all aboard making the situation worse. I don't want to sign up to a publisher who insists I have to write a book every three months, because I'm not capable of doing that. Or one that insists I write three books before they'll give me any money for the first one, because they want to publish them all really close.

He's giving his dream trade publisher, specifically tailored to his needs and preferences. For me, that sounds like a nightmare.

And I really don't care which is the best business model. I care about not burning out and being able to work on a comfortable schedule. In the end, I feel my happiness is more important than maximising corporate profits.

Joe_Nobody · Jan 9, 2014

Now I'm befuzzled on the expert versus success thingie. Do I seek advice from someone with proven success, or do I give ear to someone who has never accomplished anything but the gathering of experience? How do I qualify the expert? I could listen to someone who has been doing the same thing for n years and never accomplished squat. They know a lot, but is it sound?

It's all so confusing.

evilrooster · Jan 9, 2014

Another important characteristic in an expert, particularly one whom I would be willing to rely on, is that they know and articulate the limits of their expertise. I find myself distrustful of someone who uses the same authoritative tone when discussing all topics, whether they know much about them or not.

Putputt · Jan 9, 2014

I know next to nothing about self-publishing (and trade publishing, come to think of it), but this strikes me as weird:

K.B. Parker said:
Part of the problem is that the major publishers ignore the genres that sell the best. This is a head-scratcher, and it nearly caused a bald spot when I was working in a bookstore. I knew where the demand was, and I wasn’t seeing it in the catalogs. Readers wanted romance, science fiction, mystery/thrillers, and young adult. We had catalogs full of literary fiction. Just the sort of thing acquiring editors are looking for and hoping people will read more of, but not what customers were asking me for./

There are two major bookstores where I live (Waterstone and Blackwell), as well as a handful other small ones. Aside from the specialty bookstores, they ALL have nice, big sections for romance, scifi/fantasy, thrillers, and YA which I could easily spend a happy afternoon in. In fact, on the display windows, I see a happy mix of lit fic and genre titles. I don't know much about Howey. Was he working in a specialty bookstore?

Deleted member 42 · Jan 9, 2014

Polenth said:
Given the idea of having to turn out a book a year like clockwork is something I don't like about trade publishing,

I wouldn't sign a contract like that. I explicitly line out dates for future book deliveries beyond the dates for the current book.

Good publishers want good books.

There's an adage that I think comes from film making, but that I heard in software;

You can have it good
You can it fast
You can have it cheap (in the American sense of affordable/inexpensive)

Pick two.

I think that's true of books as well.

K.B. Parker · Jan 9, 2014

Old Hack said:
There are plenty of people who want writers to succeed, get a fair deal, and not have regrets who also manage to be well-informed, give good advice, and avoid making sexist, misogynist slurs.

I would say that Hugh is well informed and does give advice. I'm not commenting on the third, because it's irrelevant. He said something he shouldn't have but he is in no way a sexist.

Joe_Nobody · Jan 9, 2014

Old Hack said:
There are plenty of people who want writers to succeed, get a fair deal, and not have regrets who also manage to be well-informed, give good advice, and avoid making sexist, misogynist slurs.

And I would probably like them as well.

amergina · Jan 9, 2014

You know, Orbit (the SF/F arm of Hachette) puts out the first three books by debut author one month apart. They did it with Kevin Hearne (who is a member here).

It's not a horribly new idea. It does require that the author have the first three books or so written, though.

I'm pretty sure Tor has released multiple Brandon Sanderson books a year (or he has multiple publishers, I'm not sure which) because the man is a writing MACHINE and produces a lot of pages a year.

The thing is, many authors aren't writing machines. Maybe they need to be in the new future...but this isn't a *publisher* issue.

evilrooster · Jan 9, 2014

Joe_Nobody said:
Now I'm befuzzled on the expert versus success thingie. Do I seek advice from someone with proven success, or do I give ear to someone who has never accomplished anything but the gathering of experience? How do I qualify the expert? I could listen to someone who has been doing the same thing for n years and never accomplished squat. They know a lot, but is it sound?

It's all so confusing.

There is a difference between "doing the same thing for n years and never accomplish[ing] squat" and "studying the topic from many angles for n years".

Obviously, if your circumstances match the specific ones that made the "someone with proven success" a success, then you may find their experiences to be all that you need. Otherwise, surely someone who has studied the matter from many angles will be more likely to have knowledge that would be of use for you than someone who only knows their own well. After all, the time they spent moving forward is time they did not have to spend looking around.

If Hugh Howey Was In Charge Of A Publishing House

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