Nine Ways to Give Better Editorial Advice

These are not ideas or techniques I created, just what I have observed working the best. I have been arranging editorial reviews for projects for over a decade and so have had a chance to see first-hand the sort of feedback that authors and editors really cherish and find useful.

Here are just nine tips for giving such editorial feedback:

1. Start Nicely. It seems almost formulaic -- you start with compliments and what you like about the work and obviously the author is just reading through it and waiting for the "But" or the inevitable other shoe to fall, right? That's possibly true, but starting with supportive and encouraging statements works because it lets the author know from the start that you see the value in the work and your intention is to help bring it out further.

2. How you say it is as important as what you say. Recognize that the way in which you deliver the editorial feedback is as important as the feedback itself. You are not doing anyone a favor by being harsh and ripping a work to shreds. You'll just isolate the author to the point that he or she stops listening. You may raise some incredible points in your feedback, but those points will never be seen nor responded to. Total waste.

3. Tear it down, but build it up, too. When pointing out what does not work, always say what will work. Anyone can look at a written piece and remark on the flaws and shortcomings. Real feedback includes offering other avenues or options when encountering problematic areas in the spirit of resolution. Criticism without offering suggestions for improvement is just whining.

4. Don't skimp on the details. Cite examples and give details of both the good and the bad in a work. Making general statements like, "There are points when the author just goes off on tangents," is really not helpful. And though a lot nicer to hear, compliments like, "There are points when the author really inspires me"? Also not helpful. Consistently provide specific examples of where something works or doesn't work, because the author can't read your mind.

5. Promote from within. When you are trying to explain how to make something in a piece flow better, always look for parts of the manuscript that do work well in that regard and use those parts as examples of what the author can do to improve the parts that don't. This is the best sort of feedback because (a) the author knows just how to fix problems, and (b) the author is more likely to listen to him or herself.

6. Become invisible. The temptation exists to start offering feedback from the "If-I-was-to-write-this-book..." point of view, but it's not your book. Your goal in giving feedback is to help the author write the best book he or she can, and all of your energy should go to that end and to the author, not toward furthering your own agenda or thoughts.

7. Be an expert. Don't be afraid to say what other authors in the same field have said about the same issues your author contends with. How did others overcome similar obstacles, what are their ideas, and how can we apply those techniques here? When you use others' works in your feedback to an author, your strengthen your own argument by giving authoritative supporting evidence.

8. Avoid the laundry list. I've seen some feedback in the form of laundry lists where chunks of suggestions or points are offered on different, particular issues, one after the other, on some sort of a lengthy bullet-pointed or numbered list. What author will want to see a list numbered 1 to 56 of all the things that need addressing in his or her book? Divide all issues and concerns into larger subjects (almost all issues will fit under categories of structure, language, argument, and so on) and then group the feedback under each heading accordingly.

9. And you are? So much of the feedback we offer stems from our own cultural and educational backgrounds, and yet we forget how the authors we provide feedback to remain unaware of those details. Knowing your background, professional and personal, as well as qualifications and areas of interest gives the author context for your feedback and helps them understand why you took a certain stand. It never hurts to have an introductory paragraph at the beginning or end of your feedback to relay this background information.

Plenty more, but this is a start.

What Got You There Won't Get You There Again

Cynthia Shannon, previously BK's Communications Manager, has now taken a new role with Goodreads (and is just down the road). This post is her parting gift to the BK community.

As noted in my previous article, working as a book publicist does not require a formal certification or training. It requires a love for books and a desire to tell other people about them.

Not much about the publicity process has changed since I started in this department seven years ago: galleys made from final manuscripts get sent out to early reviewers; review copy mailings go out to producers and reporters a month prior to publication; interview requests and reviews come in, and then start to fade as the publication month comes to a close.

And yet there are some things that just don’t work like they used to and giving these too much attention could end up being a waste of time. Here are three of them:

1. Book reviews. I used to know the names of the top 50 book review editors at daily papers in the country. Not anymore. Prestigious papers getting rid of  book review section has been one of the saddest changes to watch unfold in the last few years. Of the ones that are left, even less space is dedicated to book recommendations. This means it’s harder for a book to get the attention it deserves since it’s competing with many other titles for limited space. This means that the prime real estate is pre-reserved for the marquee names so it’s not worth the time and effort, necessarily, to try to break through if you are not an A-lister.

2. Author tours. I used to spend so much time setting up not only the event (at a university or bookstore or other venue), but also booking the flights and hotels, and coordinating the pick-up from the hotel for the author. Not anymore. Authors are expected to figure all of that out by themselves now.  You can imagine how well (or not) that can go.  Without the tight planning and organization of such tours by individuals who know which venues, times, and dates to choose and how best to exploit the author’s time in various locations, author tours are pretty much hit-or-miss (and usually more miss) these days.

3. Tchotchkes.  I used to send out Clif bars and scented soaps along with books to get the attention of an editor. I’d send elaborate press kits with DVDs and 4-color spreads. But then I found out that the editors throw them out. Tchotchkes have no bearing on how they perceive the book. When everyone starts selling to you, you become numb to the stimulus. So why spend the money on extra postage and the production of coasters and key chains?

The job of the publicist is to spread the word about a book. And the two things that still work are the fundamental qualities of a good publicist:

1. Building relationships with media. There are a few reporters who I’ve had the pleasure to work with consistently for seven years. I know what kind of books they like, when they need the material, and whether they quote from the press release or actually read the book. Those relationships took years to build and maintain, but for the right books, it’s worth it. And of course, they know and respect me, so I can sometimes “jump to the head of the line.”

2. Sending out books. Because reporters might ignore the book or they might review it poorly, but at least you’re giving them the chance to do so; if you don’t send a book, they would never have that opportunity. There are no guarantees when you send out the books that reporters will review them (especially since they receive countless publications daily), but you still have provided the crucial materials for them to do so, the rest is up to them.

Good luck to you all!

Five Insider Secrets of Publishers That You're Not Supposed to Know

I am BK's Editorial Director, and I have five secrets to spill about the world of publishing. Brace yourself!

1. Are You There, Amazon? It’s Me, Publisher. Amazon’s customer service is so great that you may find the next sentence to be shocking: You, the customer, have a better chance of getting someone from Amazon.com on the phone than we, the publisher, do. This is no criticism (really, Jeff Bezos, you’re the best!), but most of Amazon’s buying and marketing procedures are so automated that they’ve cut out human contact points. Publishers who sell hundreds of millions of dollars with Amazon spend way more time talking over books with the buyer at your corner bookstore who sold ten books last year.

2. Come Hither to My Book. Author photos are important for editors when they consider first novels—and lots of other kinds of books, too. My first job as editorial assistant at a top-five New York house gave me a shock. I still remember my surprise when I saw 8 x 10 glossy photos of the authors attached to manuscripts and proposals. Basically, your chances doubled or tripled if you had a steamy head shot. 

3. We’re Printing 20,000 Copies—No, Make that 50,000! Publishers are usually lying when they announce print runs or sales numbers. Publishers don’t mean to lie, but there is a chicken-and-egg conundrum in building a big book. If I don’t brag about how many I’ll print or how many I sold, you the bookseller won’t take a risk and order more copies. If the booksellers don’t order the book despite my hyperbole, however, I would be silly to print the first number I threw out. So the final print run is based more on the orders that come in, not on some aspirational idea cooked up in the publicity department. (BK does not announce print runs for this reason, although we’re sorely tempted at times.) The irony is that most people in the book business know how to break the code. For example, an “announced run” of “25,000” probably means around “15,000.” I will say this: all publishers WISH their announced print runs were true—that’s something, isn’t it?

4. What if You Had a Bestseller and Nobody Came? Anyone can have a bestseller if his/her pockets are deep enough. (Read the Wall Street Journal Story from February 21, 2013: “The Mystery of the Book Sales Spike.”)  Many bestsellers started out as manufactured bestsellers with multiple orders channeled through marketing companies. The companies can game the system by sending copies through accounts that they know report to the Times or other bestseller lists. There is an amazing amount of manipulation going on, but some of it is just capitalism at work and not completely unethical. (For example, if an author’s client really wants to buy 1,000 books, is it wrong to split that number up among several key stores in order to hit the bestseller list? A sale is a sale, no?)

5. I Am A Book Publisher and I Approve this Message. Your bookstore displays copies in prime spots because the publisher paid them to do that—they’re not making a personal recommendation.  Chain bookstores operate on a “co-op” system similar to that used in supermarkets—books that are face out, on higher shelves, ends of shelves, or front tables probably had to pay for the privilege. (Good store managers go rogue and slip their own favorites into the mix anyway. Also, independent bookstores rely far less on this type of payola.) One of Borders’ final co-op programs (called “Make”) required publishers to pay for one-on-one verbal recommendations by staff to customers. You can’t make stuff like that up.

The Insight at the Heart of Berrett-Koehler

The dominant view in book publishing has long been that when an author signs a publication agreement with a publisher, the publisher now owns the book and the rights pertaining to the book.  The publisher “acquires” the book and it belongs to the publisher.

In 1991, as I was reflecting on my nearly fourteen years of experience in book publishing, the insight came to me that there was a better way to structure the relationship between publishers and authors: they could be equal partners, with shared rights and responsibilities, instead of publishers owning authors’ work.

This insight has influenced all I have done in publishing since then and it has had great impact on the design and operation of Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

One initial consequence of this insight was the BK publication agreement.  Our objective, as I wrote, was “to create a more balanced and fair agreement – one that is more of an equal partnership – between the author and publisher,” whereas “most publishing agreements today are grossly one-sided: the author has few rights and many obligations, while the publisher has many rights and few obligations.”  Accordingly, the original BK publication agreement created nearly 22 years ago contained many provisions – all of which are still in our agreement today – to give authors rights that they often desire (such as partnering with the publisher in deciding many publishing details) and to strike from the agreement common provisions (such as the publisher having the right to the author’s next book) that smack of the publisher owning the book.

The most radical and unique provision is that the author is given the right to terminate the publication agreement after the book is published “if, for any reason, the Author is not satisfied, in the Author's sole judgment, with any aspect of the relationship with the Publisher or with the Publisher's performance in any aspect of publishing and selling the Work.”  This turns on its head the normal publisher-author relationship – wherein authors sign away their rights for life – and gives BK a powerful incentive to be responsive, collaborative, and high performing in all aspects of the publishing relationship.

This partnership insight has also led to a host of other distinctive BK practices, including:

- A “Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for BK Authors.”

- Viewing authors as insiders within BK who can interact whenever they wish with any and all BK staff rather than being expected to interact with just one “gate keeper” who tries to keep them from being a “nuisance.”

- Supporting the creation of an independent organization, the “BK Authors Cooperative,” that is owned and managed by BK authors to represent their interests and to aid each other.

- Launching each new book with an Author Day that connects the author to the whole BK staff, gets everyone excited about the book, and creates close collaboration between the author and publisher on all aspects of making books successful.

Because of these and other partnering practices Berrett-Koehler is viewed by many authors as one of the most “author-friendly publishers.”  As a result, even without our having any contractual obligations for authors to give BK first option on their next books, authors keep coming back to Berrett-Koehler.  Over 100 BK authors have already published multiple books with Berrett-Koehler, including 22 of our top 25 bestselling authors.

This partnership relationship with authors is clearly one of the secrets of Berrett-Koehler’s success.

Steve

Five Lessons from Five Colleagues

The great advantage of this job is the ability to learn so much from some of the brightest authors in the nation and the world. But some of the most important lessons have come not from our books or authors but from my colleagues. Here are five lessons I have learned from my five main editorial coworkers:

1. Steve Piersanti (President and Publisher):  
"We are all sinners and saints." 

I once spoke with Steve about one of our authors who actively  supported organizations with ideals that were in opposition to the values BK espouses and about how working with this author made me feel uneasy. Steve responded by giving me the "saints and sinners" talk. We are all sinners and saints in the sense that every human has qualities that are admirable and others that are less desirable. No one (ourselves included) can be considered "ideal" in any way because to be human is to be flawed. So no one has the moral high ground to judge another. Instead, we should aim to embrace that which is good and positive in others and spare as little energy as possible on the negatives.


2. David Marshall (VP for Editorial and Digital): 
"There is a mostly subconscious passive-aggressiveness in all of our social interactions with almost anyone at all levels."

I was at a loss to explain a particular author's seemingly hostile behavior toward me and was discussing the incident with David when he suggested that the author could have simply manifested deep-seated (but different type of) passive-aggressive behavior. This type involves being upset at someone about one issue, but instead of confronting it directly, being difficult or unresponsive on a totally different issue (or even a different person). It's subtle but can cut deep. Such passive-aggressive behavior remains very common within groups, organizations, friends, and even couples, but that most of it goes unnoticed because it's part of how we function and interact with each other. We notice passive-aggressive behavior only when it is egregious and therefore obvious, and this awareness gives the illusion that the root cause of such behavior is always evident. Whenever you are at a loss to explain a particular reaction or behavior, consider whether a passive-aggressive strain runs through the interactions. You'll be surprised at how often such strains represent the underlying factor in many scenarios.


3. Neal Maillet (Editorial Director):
"Being a good editor means that sometimes I need to edit and work with books and authors whose ideas I don't necessarily support."

Neal and I were debating a particular title with a controversial message when I asked him point-blank how he could support an argument that he did not entirely believe in. Neal pointed out that his role as an editor is not to help present to the world only those messages that he approved of. His role is to disseminate a wider range of philosophies to help people understand how studying multiple points of view -- whether they agreed with what they were studying or not -- made them better informed global citizens. In other words, Neal wants to furnish people with as much information as possible so that they can reach their own conclusions rather than tell them what to think. His selflessness sickens me at times, but he's right.


4. Charlotte Ashlock (Digital Producer and Editor):
"I am a strong environmentalist, and I am also not a vegetarian or vegan. Why should one predicate the other?"

I remember being surprised when I first heard Charlotte order a meat dish when we went out to eat. I had assumed that all ardent environmentalists were also vegans or at least vegetarians. (If you know many environmentalists, you know this assumption isn't a completely ignorant one.) Charlotte explained how one choice does not equate another, but more importantly, she showed me that we often assume certain characteristics about a person based on just a few factors. And we often try to fit certain molds ourselves. Can someone be a liberal and still support gun ownership? Can someone be conservative and still support a woman's choice? Can someone be a libertarian and yet support social welfare? Yes, yes, and yes. We pigeonhole others, and we even force ourselves into convenient stereotypes because we can't or won't accept our own complexity. And labeling is just sad because it crushes true dialogue, debate, and personal choice.


5. Seth Adam Smith (Editorial Assistant):
" Faith is its own foundation and is not based on facts. Faith is making my mind believe that which I cannot through reason alone prove for certain."

Seth is a sharp young man and a practicing Mormon. The atheist in me can't help but challenge him on various ideas and concepts within the Mormon faith, but he has also wisely shown me the limitations of my own beliefs. I believe in facts, so when I find facts questionable, I find everything that those facts support to be equally questionable. Seth, however, has his faith in, well, faith. Whether the facts of certain events are valid or not is irrelevant because facts change. (The truth is rarely the truth, but rather only an interpretation.) Faith, however, is a constant and remains. It matters little to Seth if certain facts are questioned or even proven wrong because his faith is real and solid -- and more concrete than any facts could be.

Five Ways to Make Sure Your Outside Publicist is Competent

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Hiring an outside publicist to work on your book is a big investment, so it’s important to make sure you know what to look for when hiring. Since being a book publicist requires no formal certification or training, a lot of people consider themselves publicists despite having little experience or knowledge. They in turn are hired by authors who have even less experience or knowledge of book publicity, leading to an inevitably disastrous outcome.

But how do you know a competent publicist from a bad one? BK's Publicity Manager Cynthia Shannon shows you five ways to know you’re in good hands:

1. Your publicist reads your book before putting together a proposal for her work for you. If you get a template proposal, you don’t know if the publicist understands your message. A good publicist will always tailor even an initial proposal to reflect the specific demands and marketplace for your book.

2. Your publicist listens to what you want and sets reasonable expectations. Not every book is “perfect for Oprah/John Stewart/Good Morning America!” and knowing which audience will most likely buy your book is more important than naming a random bunch of top-tier publications and media venues. Your publicist should also take the time to talk to you about your goals of the campaign - for instance, whether you want to promote your company along with your book, if you want the publicity to increase your speakers’ fees, or if you simply want to sell a lot of books.

3. Your publicist has worked on successful books similar to yours. A publicist’s work and level of success on similar books to yours will indicate whether they know the relevant media for the topic. Go one step further and ask if those authors they worked with are willing to endorse them.

4. Your outside publicist coordinates with your in-house publicist. This means being very transparent on who the outside publicist plans to reach out to and coordinating strategy with your publisher’s publicist. There are only so many relevant media contacts out there, and a lot of contacts will overlap between the two of them, so figuring out who has the better relationship before reaching out to contacts is key.

5. Your publicist reports on her progress and activities to you and your in-house publicist on a consistent basis. You have the right to know at what consideration stage the book is at with various media outlets, and what the process is to proceed. Your outside publicist should also communicate confirmed media hits to your in-house publicist so that the information is shared with the publisher's sales team.

At the end of a campaign, the results should be compared with the original goals. If the final publicity report matches the initial proposal, you know you've had a successful campaign. Then it’s up to you as to whether to renew the contract!

Six Ways BK Fights Against Shareholder Primacy

One reason that Lynn Stout’s new book, The Shareholder Value Myth, resonates so much with Berrett-Koehler Publishers is that we have always believed that a company needs to be operated in the interests of all of its stakeholders, not just shareholders. 

We have reaffirmed this stance many times since I expressed it in our first catalog in 1992: “If I were to choose one word to describe our vision, it would be ‘stewardship.’  By this I mean a deep sense of responsibility to administer the publishing company for the benefit of all of our ‘stakeholder’ groups – authors, customers, employees, suppliers and subcontractors, owners, and the societal and environmental communities in which we live and work.  Each of these groups contributes to the success of our publishing venture, and each has a ‘stake’ or investment in its success, whether that investment is time, talent, money, or other resources.”

We put this philosophy into practice in multiple ways:

1. Stakeholder Ownership.  Berrett-Koehler currently has 240 shareholders, who include all of our stakeholder groups: employees, authors, customers, suppliers, service providers, sales partners, and publishing/bookselling industry colleagues.

2. Stakeholder Board Representation.  The Berrett-Koehler Board of Directors includes representatives of each of our stakeholder groups, including an employee representative, an author representative, a customer representative, a supplier representative, a service provider representative, a sales partner representative, and a publishing/bookselling industry representative.

3. Mission.  The Berrett-Koehler mission is “Creating a World That Works for All.”  This helps keep us focused on bigger objectives than just maximizing return to shareholders.

4. Values.  Berrett-Koehler’s core values, as spelled out in our strategic plan and other documents, are stewardship, quality, partnership, and sustainability.  These values help us keep our focus on the good of the whole.

5. B Corp Certification.  Berrett-Koehler recently became certified as a “B Corp,” which means that we are committed to creating benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.  We have joined the 500 other certified B Corps in creating a new sector of the economy that harnesses the power of private enterprise to create public benefit.  Click here to learn more about this growing movement:

6. Impact Assessment.  To qualify as a B Corp, Berrett-Koehler recently completed a rigorous assessment measuring how well we meet standards of social and environmental performance, including operating our company in the interests of all stakeholders.  Click here to learn more about this impact assessment.

We are continually searching for ways to better serve the interests of all of Berrett-Koehler’s stakeholders.  I welcome your ideas and feedback on how we can better do this.

Steven Piersanti

President