As far as communication industries go, traditional trade publishing is a strange middle child. She is in many ways kinder than her fabulously bitchy sister, magazine publishing, and less brutally fast-paced than her stalwart but underemployed brother, journalism. She is much less driven by artifice and sleight of hand than her cousin, film and television, and she likes to at least believe she takes a higher moral ground than big daddy broadcast news.
But even in her love of storytelling, her personal touch, and her friendly tone, publishing demands you play the game on her terms. And she can get downright icy if you transgress her nice girl code.
Who can blame her? She’s experiencing a bit of an identity crisis, after all.
Publishing is simultaneously driven by the whims of a social media-fueled buyer’s market while trundling down rickety how-we’ve-always-done-it tracks laid in the 1980s. No matter how many influencer boxers or cutting-edge debuts she produces, she’s still bound by old-school communication patterns of evasion, demurring modesty, and vague platitudes that refuse scrutiny, the twenty first century, and in some cases, accountability.
To mix my metaphors, publishing is a labyrinthine house party behind opaque windows which requires authors do a huge amount of research and knocking on doors to get invited inside, then requires them to learn an unspoken code of social etiquette once they’ve got a seat at the table.
This essay is about overused catchphrases tossed around by publishing industry people (authors you’re not off the hook), what they really mean, what they imply and demand, and why they drive me insane.
I will be redacting names to protect the innocent - and not so innocent - but I want to keep this as high level as possible to focus on the social milleau and business grease of publishing.
I don’t have beef with anyone in particular, I am simply an Observer of Trends.
The sun, Mercury, and Uranus just moved into the toxic bestie trickster sign of Gemini, and I’m a Gemini rising. Let’s bring some back-of-house conversations out into the public square, shall we?
Event pages for my west coast tour are up now, and I’m bringing you stunning tour swag to say thanks for waiting five long years to see me! Swag bags include an early look at the DIVINATION (Summoner’s Circle #3) cover art and a collectible bound booklet of the first 25 pages of Moira’s book!
Dress in your witch/magician best and bring me whatever you’d like signed.
Some events are ticketed, some are free, and some are RSVP only, but PLEASE pencil me into your dance card and bring a friend, enemy, and/or lover to the event. Let’s show my publisher that west coast readers will turn out for me so I’ll be able to return to you in the future!
Alright, enough saleswomanship, let’s get into those catchphrases that drive me crazy.
Most often muttered over barcon drinks by a criminally underpaid and overworked editor, or offered with a placating sigh by an agent who is trying to get you to take a good deal instead of gambling for a great one, because no one knows if there will be any other deals offered. See also: “nobody writes books to become famous”, most often said self-depreciatingly by a beloved and prolific mid-career speculative fiction writer on a convention panel to the knowing laughs of the crowd.
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