Our "publish then filter" future

Bill Janssen:

> So, I think what you're saying is (1) most people buy most books at  
> bookstores,

More than 80% of all books are sold through physical (not net-based)  
bookstores.

> and (2) that a bookstore provides a critical "filtering for  
> quality" for the reader,

Actually, the distribution chain that gets you INTO bookstores is a  
filter -- it sieves out smaller publishers and the (most of the)  
vanity presses, rather than low quality books, though.

> and (3) to accomplish that filtering, the bookstore operators  
> depend on publishers to sort out the 5% of "good
> stuff" from the rest of the dreck,

Not really. However, bankruptcy awaits those publishers that fail to  
filter appropriately, or to market like crazy inside the distribution  
chain, and mildly market to readers, or to meet minimal production  
standards.

> and (4) without that two-level filter, people will become so  
> disgusted by the amount of junk they encounter, they may well not  
> buy books at all.  Am I getting that right?

That could well be right. There are lots of studies about the  
squelching effect of too much variety. And we all know that there are  
about 2 million ms circulating among agents and publishers,  
generating about 300,000 new titles in the US each year.  That's  
already a LOT of variety.

Elizabeth Burton:
>> If a writer has submitted their book to every publisher they can  
>> find, and been rejected by them all, there's likely very good  
>> reason: either the book isn't of professional quality or the  
>> market for it is so small no publisher can afford to take it on.  
>> My experience for the last five years is that most fall into the  
>> first category.

Very true. Although I'm continually stunned when a would-be author  
says -- Oh, I couldn't get publishers to look at my book, and then I  
find out that they didn't bother to follow the rules in formatting  
their submissions, or they only sent it to 3 agents or some equally  
ridiculous number, or skipped agents entirely, or . . . .

> I believe this, but I think that most would-be authors don't know  
> how to "find" many publishers, so I think this argument is weaker  
> than it sounds.

There are almost 8,000 books available on Amazon under the  keywords  
"Book Proposal" (how to write and submit them). EVERY library has a  
few. There are far more websites with directions.

Anyone who can't figure out how to format a book proposal for their  
type of book, and then find agents to send it to, is so far out of  
the loop that you have to wonder how well they could possibly do  
going it on their own.


Marion Gropen
Gropen Associates, Inc.
By-The-Question Consulting,  Tools for Publishers, & Classes
www.GropenAssoc.com
Her blog: www.GropenAssoc.com/blog





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