Good News in Publishing

A Peek at a Promising New Trend

A dazzling glimpse of things to come in publishing…

Passion will out. In recent years the old guard of conventional publishing has been quietly slipping into retirement. They deserve it. After years of shepherding book projects from the slush pile to the bestseller list, several projects each season, hand-holding authors, micromanaging every detail of each book’s layout, content, and appearance, keeping the big-box chains happy, keeping everyone happy… well the senior editors have left the building.

My own editor, Gerry Howard, included. Gerry discovered Fight Club as a manuscript in 1995. He took me along when he moved to Random House, and subsequently published the majority of my books. Then as Covid hit, he disappeared off to Tuxedo Park and Cape Cod, with side trips to the south of France. He’s hardly the exception. As of late, every legendary editor—can you say Gary Fisketjon?—has dropped out of big publishing.

These are people who lived and breathed books. They climbed the ladder from clerk to assistant-this to junior-that to senior editors, and lived at the white-hot center of a world that included agents, journalists, writers, critics, magazine editors, and the like. They were as connected as anyone could be at the center of any industry. They lived and breathed books.

At this writing, these old-school editors have been gone, oh, months and months.

I’m not surprised to see them coming back.

Recently I’ve been approached by retired editors who are looking to put together some (frankly) dazzling projects. They’re outside the strictures of Big Publishing. They know the best talent. They love the game of collaboration. These stealth editors are equivalent to independent movie producers not attached to any studio, but who package talent and build projects. And these aren’t the seasonal flood of beach books or Christmas books. These boutique projects are one-offs that combine the best of the best talent-wise, and that get the full attention of everyone contributing.

These retired editors are teaming up with retired artists and retired designers to create the most beautiful books we’ll see in our lifetime. Each book will be a dream project, not just a way to keep publishing stocks high and to pay for the massive overhead on Manhattan real estate. These editors will be looking to discover new voices, just as independent movie producers seek to discover new faces. The results will be Orson Welles-level product as compared to schlock.

Very quietly, a retired editor approaches a writer—maybe a writer between books, or a student someone says shows promise. The editor attaches a book designer. The editor finds the financing and distribution needed. All of it comes together like a small film. It’s a fascinating new business model, and it looks like the future.

Better yet, it looks like fun. Working with people who genuinely love to create great books. Life-long professionals who have the time to coach writers and get every detail perfect.

I’ll keep you posted as this trend develops. It’s funny to think the traditional gate keepers are now creating this bold new work-around that will benefit both readers and writers alike. The results should be brilliant.