🚀 go-pugleaf

*******
I realize that by posting this to misc.writing and a few other news groups,  I
am risking the receipt of a few "hate" messages from some readers, but in my
long history on the net I have learned that some risks are worth taking.  And
while this may be what some would call off-charter, it is not off-topic and as
most readers of this NG know, there is little consensus on either.
******

[For newcomers: This is a weekly article designed to educate, and editorialize
on issues pertinent to the publishing industry and book selling.]


A Saturday Rant 9/20/97

I usually reserve this space for a monologue on topical issues that relate to
the publishing industry. However, I want to deviate from the usual format and
write a review of a book that has been discussed in passing on the list. 

PUBLISH TO WIN

I don�t get many offers to do book reviews. My reputation for being brutally
honest (or just brutal, depending on how you see it) precludes most writers from
asking me to critique their work. I�m not easily impressed, I�m not easily
pleased, and I�m on record in my belief that at least half of the 60,000 books
published each year are either trash, a waste of good trees, or generally trite.
Having been a freelance writer for the past 25 years, I think I�m qualified to
judge if a book is well written, no matter how inane the content might be. And I
find damn few book well written, and far to many inane. I�m not on anyone�s
short list of most preferred reviewers (no surprise!) I�ve often thought that
most writers are very pleased if I never hear about their book, much less write
about it. It takes a brave scribe to subject their work to my cynical pen. 

When I received my copy of Publish to Win by Jerrold Jenkins and Anne Stanton,
as soon as I looked at the cover, I noticed something very strange and
disturbing. And when I opened it to a random page and read the following few
pages, I became mildly angry. I�m a writer and I have a small talent for
recognizing the style and tone of other writers whose works I have read. I also
know who in this industry is a good writer and who is not. I know from
experience that Jerry is not going to win a Pulitzer prize in my lifetime. And I
know from experience that Anne just might. Anne is a great writer. Indeed this
book was, in my opinion, almost entirely written by Anne Stanton. It may be
Jerry�s experience, but it is unmistakably Anne�s style and tone. 

So what is the big deal? On the front and inside cover are both names
(obviously). However, Jerry has his name in large bold caps while poor Anne is
relegated to smaller non-bold lower case. And as a writer I take a certain
umbrage at this. But, not knowing "everything" (as I�m so often reminded by my
critics on the PMA list) I looked through dozens of co-authored books in my
personal library (of some 900 or so tomes.) I could not find one that had one
author�s name more prominently displayed than another, except for a few "as told
to" books. Once again, the publisher (producer, director, distributor, etc.)
gets the gold mine and the writer gets the shaft!

When I saw the back cover, there was another "puzzlement." The price is $20
even. Now every publisher and his/her dog knows about 95 cent pricing theory.
Study after study shows that a price of $19.95 is psychologically much lower
than $20 and results in less buyer resistance. Here is a man who wants to teach
me about book marketing but doesn�t know how to price his own book? Come on! I�m
supposed to learn from his book? I might have been born at night...but it wasn�t
last night!

So, with that mindset, I began reading Publish To Win. And as I went through the
book, I became even more distraught. When I finished it, I was in a fit of
depression. It seems that the only problems with the book are the typeface of
the author�s names on the cover, and the price. This is a great book. Really.
There are no other words to describe it. I called Jerry this morning and told
him so. How many authors of books I�ve reviewed do you think I�ve called in my
writing career? You got that right! 

What a terrific combination: an executive with extensive experience in the
publishing industry coupled with an experienced journalist and editor. Together
they have created a book that  will become as important to the industry as Dan
Poynter�s Self Publishing Manual. I say this because Publish To Win picks up
where the Self Publishing Manual leaves off. Dan takes the neophyte who knows
zero about publishing to a point where he/she knows enough to successfully put
out a book. Jerry and Anne do not dwell on the mechanics of publishing (like
Dan�s book does) but instead stays true to its charter of showing publishers how
to sell. Publish To Win opens the door to many of the secrets and practices that
more seasoned publishers have learned, usually the hard way. The subtitle of the
book says it all: "Smart Strategies To Sell More Books." And folks, thats what
this book is. If you don�t come away from this read with some good ideas on how
to sell books and how the industry "really" works, than you must already be the
president of Random House, or you live with Dan Quayle on Planet Zardo.

Anne Stanton did her research, much as you would expect from an award winning
journalist. She contacted a wide assortment of luminaries in the publishing
field, many of whom are frequent contributors to the PMA online listserv. These
are people known and respected by publishers through the country. And they give
"good quote." While I might quibble over a few of Anne�s selections as "expert"
publishers, for the most part her choices were good ones. 

I won�t go into chapter and verse of the book�s contents. It covers everything
from selling books as premiums to selling books via the home-shopping networks.
Indeed, like Kremer�s 1001 Ways To Market Your Books, there is too much
information to be easily absorbed. One must digest the Jenkins/Stanton tome in
small bites, as this 6x9, 350 pager is too crammed with information to be a
quick, casual read. 

Of course, information on how to sell books is available from many sources. And
while finding new gems of wisdom and discovering new ways to market is good, you
will, like me, take something else of value from your time with this tome. 

Early in her writing, Anne asked me if I would consent to be quoted in Publish
To Win. I respectfully declined because I did not think I was worthy of such an
honor. While I have been running Adams-Blake for the past six years, and while
we have had some "winning" years, all in all, I don�t believe that we are
winners at this game. Good players, yes. But winners? I don�t think so. I told
Anne that my definition of "winning" has a dollar sign somewhere close by. 

What I learned from Anne and Jerry is that in publishing, winning has many more
definitions. For some, it is in educating people about some important topic. For
others, it is working in an "uplifting" business and being around bright,
educated people. And for others, it is the journey itself...the quest to create
something from nothing, see it grow, and maybe get the brass ring on the
publishing merry-go-round: a big bestseller. Without hype and without
exuberance, Anne�s gentle style leaves the reader with a positive message, that
this is a good industry to be in. And while you may not make a lot of money in
it, there are other measures of success than money.  This is the gift I received
from Publish To Win.

Over the past two years I have heard many bitter complaints and criticisms of
The Jenkins Group from long-time PMA members who think Jerry is trying to take
over the "mission" of the organization. I believe Jerry (and Anne) are honest in
their feelings when they state in the last paragraph of the Acknowledgments
page: "Finally we want to thank Jan Nathan for establishing the Publishers
Marketing Association forum on the Internet, where hundreds of publishers
exchange scores of ideas each day." There is room in the industry for PMA, The
Jenkins Group, SPAN, and other organizations that my follow. Neither PMA, nor
anyone else has a monopoly on good information.

Publish To Win is a wonderful work, and wonderfully written. Jerry and Anne make
a good team. From my association with each over the past few years, there is no
doubt that each has contributed to the success of this book. I congratulate
Jerry Jenkins for a fine publishing effort. And as for Anne Stanton, while her
name may be in lower-case letters, make no mistake about it, she is truly an
upper-class writer.


[Publish To Win, Rhodes & Easton, ISBN 0-9649401-2-4, 1997, 350p, $20.00,
1-800-706-4636]

Alan N. Canton
Vice President
Adams-Blake Publishing
abpub@ns.net
http://www.adams-blake.com

Past CFO: Sacramento Publishers  Association
Contributing Columnist: Wall Street Journal "Manager's Journal."
Contributing Reviewer: New York Times Book Review

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Copyright 1997 by Alan N. Canton. This material may be re-published on any
Internet listserv or Usenet newsgroup without prior permission by the copyright
holder. Any other re-publication is prohibited without express permission of the
copyright holder.

--
Adams-Blake Publishing  
http://www.adams-blake.com