3 Common Misconceptions About Publishing that I’m Sick of Hearing
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Online writing communities on sites like Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok can be amazing for connecting with fellow authors, sharing your experiences, and learning more about your publishing options — not to mention building a support network. Unfortunately, all of these platforms are also filled with misinformation related to the publishing industry — especially surrounding the traditional publishing process.
What I've seen happen time and time again is a specific lie about the traditional publishing industry going viral via one of these communities. These common misconceptions about publishing spread like wildfire because people who don't understand how the industry works will amplify them not knowing any better, and then this lie just spreads and gives people a negative view of the industry, even though they don't realize that it actually isn't true at all.
As someone who has worked at Big Five publishers as well as a literary agency, I am passionate about debunking the myths surrounding the traditional publishing process and educating writers about the publishing industry, which can often feel opaque and inaccessible.
So, today I want to go through three claims that have been made about the traditional publishing industry that are incorrect and give you the truth behind them so that you have a more robust understanding of how the industry actually works.
1. Agents and Publishers Tell Their Authors What to Write
Let's talk about the first common misconception about publishing that was going viral online, which is that agents and traditional publishers tell their authors what to write. Many authors who have opted to go the indie or self-publishing route — which, by the way, is a completely valid and great option for many writers — cite one of their reasons for going that route as wanting to write whatever story they want and not having to be told by an agent or publisher what to write.
While indie and self-publishing is absolutely a great path and a profitable path for many authors, it is simply not true that traditionally published authors are told what to write by their agents and publishers. It is not the case that traditionally published authors don't get to pick the subject of their stories, especially when we're talking about works of fiction. While a traditionally published author is certainly going to talk about their ideas for their next novels with their literary agent and possibly also their editor at their publishing house, these publishing professionals are never going to dictate that they must write a specific story. They are going to give ideas and potentially even suggestions on the story and obviously are going to be there to workshop and edit it with you throughout the publishing process, but they're never going to say, “You have to write about this, you have to have this character, this is how the plot goes, this is the setting.” That was never something I saw in the industry and is something that would, quite frankly, baffle me and I think would blow up the publishing industry at large.
Remember that agents and editors at publishing houses see their authors as the creatives and the visionaries, and they love their writing and their work and their storytelling, so they trust them to do that part of the job. This overarching idea that publishing professionals are very prescriptive with their authors and tell them exactly what they want and demand that authors produce a specific story is simply not how it works.
The only case I could see where maybe this makes a little bit of sense is if a publisher has signed a contract with an author saying that they are going to produce a certain number of books in a series — then they will expect you to uphold your end of the contract and continue that series. However, they're not going to tell you exactly how that series has to play out. In that case, they would expect that it flows with the rest of the series and that it has the same characters as the rest of the series, but they're not going to say, “You have to do this with the series.” And this is certainly not the case for authors who are not writing series. You can write about whatever you want for your next book!
When I was in the industry, how these conversations happened was that agents and publishers were always keen to hear about an author's idea for their next book and they loved to discuss it, but they never told them, “You can't write that, and you must write this instead.” A good agent and a good publisher are going to give you the space and the time to craft the stories you want to tell, and they are not going to limit you creatively. In fact, they're going to be there to support you throughout the creative process.
If you ever feel restrained by your agent or your editor at a publishing house or your publisher, that is a sign that they probably aren't the right fit for you and this is not a productive editorial match.
2. Half of Traditionally Published Books Sell Less Than 12 Copies
The next common misconception about publishing that I want to debunk today is that half of traditionally published books sell under 12 copies. This statistic went viral on Twitter, and frankly, when I saw it, I was also shocked. I wanted to dive deeper because when I read it, it didn't seem true, but I wanted to understand where it was coming from because this obviously seems very shocking.
To give you some history here, in the wake of the trial between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster and the Department of Justice, there were a lot of book sales statistics coming out because they were cited as part of the trial arguments. So, there was a lot of discourse about book sales statistics on Twitter between publishing professionals and authors. When this statistic was posted — that half of all traditionally published books sell under 12 copies — a lot of publishing industry naysayers, as well as some indie and self-published authors, amplified it, citing it as the reason that traditional publishing is dead and why self-publishing is the only way to go in the future.
I dove more into the statistic, and many other people did as well and responded with their interpretations. When you dive a little bit deeper, it's clear that the source of this statistic is totally unreliable, and it's very unclear where this came from. Book sales are not a straightforward metric. You would think that they are, but because there are so many different formats of books, including hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, etc., and they all have different ISBNs, it can actually be quite challenging to get a full picture of a book's sales.
Also, keep in mind that where that book is bought, such as via online retailers versus brick-and-mortar retailers, also affects the data. So, the databases that we have for tracking book sales are limited and flawed, which means you can kind of slice the data however you want, especially if you aren't explaining where it came from.
You also have to get a sense of what timeframe we're talking about in the case of the statistic. Are you talking about how many books are sold in a year or in the book's lifetime? Also, are we talking about only first editions, or are we talking about reprints as well, which might sell fewer copies? Also, with this statistic, it was unclear if it's including academic books as well as what we call trade books, which are the books that we tend to see in bookstores like Barnes & Noble.
So many industry professionals responded and debunked this statistic. It is more likely, according to many industry professionals, that most traditionally publish books sell anywhere from hundreds to thousands of copies — not fewer than 12.
3. Trends Dictate What Agents and Publishers Want
The last rumor I want to talk about today is that trends totally dictate what agents and publishers are looking for from authors. Publishing trends are seemingly constantly a hot topic of conversation among writing communities online, and admittedly I've even talked about trending genres on my channel.
It makes sense because authors want to know what genres are going to be hot in a given year because they want to capitalize on that and ultimately find the widest readership for their book. But the notion that agents and publishers are only looking for books that fit specific criteria, like teen vampire romance, for instance, is simply not accurate. Any time I talk to agents about trends in the book publishing industry — which I do quite a bit because I also want to know if there are specific trends we should be aware of — they tend to shut down any idea that trends should inform what you as an author are working on.
At the end of the day, agents and publishers are looking for compelling stories that resonate with them and that they see have commercial potential. They don't see focusing on very niche, specific genres or specific trends as productive because trends are, by definition, constantly evolving and changing, and the publishing industry is notoriously very slow. After you sign with an agent, it could still be two to three years at least before you see your book out on the shelf. So, any trends that the publisher or agent was responding to in that time are likely going to be moot by the time your book is published anyway.
Agents and publishers know this, so while there may be buzz about specific trending genres in the air, at the end of the day, it is not going to meaningfully affect an agent or publisher's decision whether to take you on or not. What is going to affect their decision is the strength of your story and your writing.
I hope this helped you better understand the truth behind many of the common myths about book publishing and the lies and misconceptions that are spread online about the traditional publishing industry. I really believe in the power of educating yourself on how the industry works so that you are fully informed on what the publishing landscape is like and what your options are as an author.
Thank you so much for reading and happy writing!