Notes On Publishing

Sale PSA: Heeled wooden clogs from Topshop, now $51, a pretty floral midi dress from Rebecca Taylor, now 40% off, a great merino cardigan from Uniqlo, now under $30, and an embroidered eyelet dress from Alexis, also 40% off.

Since I published my first book (and am going through the agonizing process of writing another) I’ve learned a few things about the publishing industry. It’s funny because I spent most of my life knowing absolutely nothing about publishing, and just being someone who really loved books – who was always searching for more books to read, because I knew that there’d be books out there that I loved, if only I could find them. Often I would be so excited to try some new book, only to find it disappointing. And of course, there would be the times when I found a true gem, and any reader knows that moment when you’ve just started a really great book you can’t put down…

So! This is a post for all of you readers – the ones who want to find great books, and some of my tips for how to find them, given how the industry works. Here we go!

Sometimes good books are popular and sometimes bad books are popular and sometimes good books are unpopular. Similar with movies/TV/music, once a book hits a certain level of momentum, it starts to self perpetuate. Like, if everyone else likes a book, then certainly I should too, right? Hence the success of a title like Where The Crawdads Sing (which I did like). However – I think this can lead sometimes to the perception that only good books rise to the top. Which unfortunately isn’t true. We’ve all read stinkers in the bestseller section and also there are SO many books out there each year that are released and then just kind of float and fall away quietly. And that doesn’t mean that they weren’t good! Especially since taste is so subjective. So even if it’s not in the bestseller section/only has a few Amazon reviews (see more on this below) – give it a chance! Thumb through it in the library. Ask me for a recommendation (more on this below too). There are so many great undiscovered gems! Though of course the bestseller list also has some great ones. Are you all getting the new Atwood this week?

Don’t judge a book by its cover. As in, I know some of you are lit snobs! You want books with super artsy covers that you would be proud to show in a coffee shop! That would be appropriate to share on your Instagram! You’ve all picked up that book with the super pretty or abstract cover that all the reviewers are raving about and the tastemakers are posting about and you hated it, right? The writing was pretentious and bloated and you couldn’t finish. It’s okay, you can whisper it only to me.

That’s because, every season, a few books become the “cool” ones to like. And then they get reviewed and photographed and there you are, wandering along in the bookstore, and you pick it up, it has some amazing endorsements, and you pick it up. And sometimes they are actually as good as the hype! (And sometimes they aren’t – see my next point below).

BUT – there are lots of great books out there with less “cool” covers- the ones with some little kids holding hands, or a girl dancing in a field, or whatever. And yeah, maybe you wouldn’t choose to wear a Laura Ashley dress anymore (I actually love these), but – a book’s content and literary quality can’t always be discerned by its cover. There are SO many great, modern books hiding behind cheesy covers.

Blurbs aren’t always trustworthy. Do you ever pick up a book, with a blurb (that written praise in the front or back) from an author you trust, who says that it is the best thing ever written? And then you hate it? That’s because a) personal taste and b) blurbs can also be so misleading. I know many authors who will only blurb a book they actually love. However I also have heard many stories of authors who don’t even read the book, just ask that the blurb be written for them, and they’ll add their name – and the industry is also very close, in that maybe a powerful agent/editor is asking for a blurb and why make someone angry? I’ll give an example on the tech side – it’s like if you work at Facebook but maybe one day want to work at Google and Sundar Pichai asks you to write a one line endorsement of his latest product. Are you going to say, “The writing was tepid and I wouldn’t recommend?” Wouldn’t it just be easier and potentially better for your career to say it was the best thing ever?

This is even true for reviews. One thing I didn’t realize until I actually started to recognize names is that other authors review books all the time. Authors who will one day also wish to have their book reviewed in the same paper, by another author. Though that doesn’t mean that they aren’t trustworthy! I have read some great and fair reviews written by other authors! However – it does kind of mean that you have to take the reviews with a grain of salt.

So – how to find great books. My advice is to follow the reviewer. For example – NYT has multiple reviewers, not authors doing a one off, but actual reviewers being paid by the NYT to offer their literary assessment: just a few off the top of my head – Parul Sehgal, Dwight Garner, Janet Maslin. Find a book they reviewed well that you liked. Maybe you’ll like others they liked too. This also applies to Goodreads reviewers too. I generally find Goodreads highly unreliable for the sort of books I like. So I don’t use it or really pay attention to rating. What I do do is follow specific reviewers and see what they’ve liked. On that note, because Amazon owns Goodreads:

Just because it has tons of Amazon reviews, doesn’t mean it’s good. Of course this doesn’t mean it is bad either, I’m just thinking back to when I was a reader and was looking for books on Amazon. I mean, I would buy a children’s toy with 5000 reviews and 4.5 stars so why not a book, right? And then I’d be disappointed. Just two notes on this: first, Amazon has its own publishing house, which it use its great might to push (you can imagine how traditional publishers might feel about this). It also also offers titles from their own publishing house for free each month which lead to extra reviews. If you work in any industry that sells on Amazon, you already know how powerful Amazon’s algorithm is. So just because it has tons of reviews on Amazon doesn’t necessarily mean it’s “good”. But of course it could be! But that’s why you might be seeing so many books with thousands of reviews you never heard of!

Conversely – there are some CLASSICS out there, which sold REALLY WELL in their day, which don’t have a high number of Amazon reviews because they came out before the site. Like my #1 top read of the year, Random Family. I have no doubt if this was issued today it’d have thousands. It is really so good.

Taste really is SO subjective. Truly! There’s no objectively great book or bad one that everyone agrees on. Editors and authors and agents will have heated debates, one liking and one hating and one loathing the same title. You don’t have to like something just because everyone does. Or hate it, either. PS: some of the authors that are popular to hate (for reason X,Y,Z) people secretly like, and some of the titles that are popular to like or extoll as great a lot of people haven’t even actually read. Books and authors because popular for all sorts of reasons, not always related to literary quality. You are your own tastemaker! Give books a try! You may love something another person hated, or vice versa.

Let me leave with two more notes (for today – I have soo much more to say but this is getting long) –

First. If you need advice on a new book, leave a comment below! Let me know some other books you’ve loved and I’ll try to recommend.

Second. I know that I link to Amazon for books on this site. I do this for ease and because I accept Amazon as a necessary and immovable component of the ecosystem. That being said – if you have good memories of bookstores growing up, if you take your kids to bookstores, please, please do buy a book from an independent bookstore on occasion! Or all the time! Or even Barnes and Noble, because they are also suffering and we need them. We do! Oh God, I hope Barnes survives. Because it really might not. The booksellers in all these real, brick and mortar stores know SO much. Ask them for recommendations! And they need our business. Yes, it might be a few $$ more, but really truly hear me – you are contributing to a vital and necessary ecosystem! Sometimes when I’m in a bookstore and can’t find a book I want or am willing to pay full price for, I buy some children’s books instead, either for my own kids or to stock up on presents. OR I buy cards. Love cards! Believe me, you do not want a book industry that is completely controlled by Amazon! A lot of your favorites might not exist in such a system.

Also – if you have any tips/tricks you’ve learned over the years for finding good books – please share below!