Posted inEditor's Pick

What Does the Book Business Look Like on the Inside?

Memories and bad math from Menaker’s life in the publishing business, excerpted from his memoir My Mistake: “We make about $3 for each hardcover sale, $1 for each paperback.” “So if we sell 10,000 hardcovers, that’s $30,000.” “Right.” “And say 10,000 paperbacks. That’s $40,000.” “Right—so the P-and-L probably won’t work. So we have to adjust […]

Posted inEditor's Pick

The Andrew Wylie Rules

The renowned literary agent on his hatred of Amazon, commercial fiction, and the future of book publishing: “I didn’t think that [in 2010] the publishing community had properly assessed—particularly in regard to its obligations to writers—what an equitable arrangement would look like. “And I felt that publishers had made a huge mistake, because they were […]

Posted inNonfiction, Reading List

Stories About Unlikeable People

Emily Perper is a word-writing human working at a small publishing company. She blogs about her favorite longreads at Diet Coker. Last Thursday, the NBC series “Community” returned with its creator and original showrunner, Dan Harmon, at the helm. I like “Community.” I do. It’s warm and dark and funny and self-referential. In spite of its absurdity—perhaps […]

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