# The inside world of book publishing - according to a friend



## BryanJ62 (Jan 12, 2017)

A friend of mine hit the jackpot a few months back. A publisher accepted her novel. It should be released sometime next year. I am really proud of her. For all of us who are willing to work hard, set goals and ignore the negative stuff because the dream is just to damn strong seeing our work on display can happen.

On the other side of all this it has been interesting to see the other stuff going on. The most notable are the publishers demands. Her book is in first person, three points of view. I've read most of it and I thought it was great. We were able to see the story unfold three different ways and the way she wrote it was top notch. It drew me in. The strength and weaknesses of each character and how they dealt with situations was a story on to itself.

Unfortunately her publisher didn't see it that way. They want her to rewrite it in third person. By doing so the plot is now a straight line. Those other views, which was the strength of the novel, are gone. She's a bit concerned about it. First person is her strength but her hands are tied. She will get her novel published but she has to do as they say.

This would be tough but I would probably do what she's doing. I would give in knowing if it does well I'd have more power with the second book but at the same time if it failed I would always wonder had they did it my way would the book have been a success.


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## Ell337 (Jan 12, 2017)

The advice I've seen given to others in this situation is twofold - only fight the battles you are REALLY adamant about, give in on everything else because they do know what sells better than you do. And bottom line it's not how wonderful a book it is, it is about 'can we sell it and make some money'. The writer is usually fighting for art, the publisher for sales. These are not the same thing.


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## Jay Greenstein (Jan 12, 2017)

That request doesn't track.

So who is this publisher? Since you haven't mentioned the friend by name there's no problem with using the publisher's name. At least in general, are we talking someone who will place the work in the bookstores, a reputable online house, or... 

I ask because online publishing is a different animal. If they, for example, handle all genres, that's a red flag to me, because their editors my not be experienced in your genre—may not be what a brick and mortar publisher views as an editor.


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## BryanJ62 (Jan 15, 2017)

That is a good question. I did not ask her and I will. When I find out I'll post it.


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## Caragula (Jan 15, 2017)

I had to make some significant changes to my novel in order to get it aligned with what the publisher wanted, and I wasn't sure as I was doing it that it would make the book better. Overall I think it is, but it's a tough one isn't it, when the contract is being dangled before you.
Publishers do want to make money of course, but given the book we settled on, which has strongly divided those who've reviewed it, I think they were looking at it from a 'make it the best book we can' point of view, i.e. it is less straightforward to read than it was, but richer and more nuanced.
That may also make more money. At the heart of it, I think the author retains the power. If they're really not happy with a choice that's made they should not pursue a contract to the contrary, but I imagine you'd have to be really unhappy, because of the opportunity.


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## Mikeyboy_esq (Jan 16, 2017)

Last summer, I pitched my book proposal to 3 dozen traditional publishing houses... unfortunately, none of them accepted it.  However, one large company showed some interest and asked if I was willing to re-write the book in 3rd person and I gladly accepted.  I then had to re-write the first few (sample) chapters in 3rd person to complete my book proposal for them.  That is when it struck me as to how much work it would be to re-write the entire book in 3rd person!  Honestly, I'm glad I changed it to 3rd person b/c it made me take a hard look at the language.  

They also asked me if I was willing to remove all adult language/curse words.  I was not comfortable doing that change b/c my book is about my unique/irreverent teaching style (I teach college classes) and is intended to be fun and "edgy" (just like my teaching style).  At that point, I offered a compromise of using symbols (#@!%) in place of actual curse words and they said they would consider that possibility when the acquisition committee reviewed my book proposal.  Ultimately, my book was a bit too edgy for their taste and my proposal was rejected. As disappointing as it was to be turned down, I was also RELIEVED b/c I didn't want to censor the language to appease the publishing house. I felt that revision would negatively affect the spirit of my book.  I supposed these types of compromises are common, and it's ultimately up to the author as to what revisions are acceptable or not.


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## Plasticweld (Jan 16, 2017)

One of my favorite books "Sometimes A Great Notion"   by Ken kesey, uses the 1st person approach to just about every character in the story, I would says as many as 7 or 8.  While I loved the book and thought it was the mark of true brilliance in writing; I was surprised at how many people whom I consider avid readers struggled with the book.  It may have more to do with the size of the market, verses...is this really good this way.  The ability to write in such a manner is probably one of the toughest to achieve in my humble opinion.


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## Mikeyboy_esq (Jan 16, 2017)

I forgot to mention that I ended up changing my manuscript back from 3rd person to some 1st person and some 2nd person b/c I thought the storyline made more sense.


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## TKent (Jan 16, 2017)

You can do alternating POVs in third person. So are they making her change from 1st person to 3rd AND having her rewrite it from on POV? 



BryanJ62 said:


> A friend of mine hit the jackpot a few months back. A publisher accepted her novel. It should be released sometime next year. I am really proud of her. For all of us who are willing to work hard, set goals and ignore the negative stuff because the dream is just to damn strong seeing our work on display can happen.
> 
> On the other side of all this it has been interesting to see the other stuff going on. The most notable are the publishers demands. Her book is in first person, three points of view. I've read most of it and I thought it was great. We were able to see the story unfold three different ways and the way she wrote it was top notch. It drew me in. The strength and weaknesses of each character and how they dealt with situations was a story on to itself.
> 
> ...


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