Inside Publishing

Revised 2010-11

The Publishing Maze

I have spent my whole working life in publishing. I take for granted the inside knowledge which you absorb in any business or profession, but it struck me quite recently just how esoteric some of this information is.

This can make it tough for a writer trying to get their work published. It is not easy to understand how publishing works, let alone why it works the way it does. This tries to explain how the publishing business works.

Why revise it?

This series has been written over a number of years but revised in 2010 to take account of changes in the book world.

Why Book Publishing?

I’ve worked for eight publishers, two book club groups, a literary agency and a literary charity. I still think that book publishing is about the most enjoyable thing you can do – aside from running a writers’ website, of course! It’s a curious mixture of a business, an industry, a profession and a compulsion, but those who work in publishing find it hard to tear themselves away from that heady mix of books, authors and commerce.

What about the Writers?

Inside Publishing has built into a series about publishing, which will help writers understand what goes on inside the business. Some columns will be a bit technical, but please keep reading if you want to understand what’s really happening inside publishing houses and what it all means for you.

These are the topics I have covered so far:

• Advances and royalties
• The Relationship between publishers and agents
• Subsidiary rights
• The English-language publishing world
• The Marketing Department – what does it do?
• The Frankfurt Book Fair
• The Sales Department
• The Production Department
• Pricing - how it works
• Distribution
• Book clubs and direct mail
• Direct selling
• Print on demand
• Copyright
• Children's publishing
• Copy editing and proof-reading
• Vanity publishing
• Creative Commons
• The Writer/Publisher Financial Relationship

Chris Holifield