The complicated world of book publishing

The complicated world of book publishing.

I have just returned to San Juan, from attending the Book Expo America in New York. I left after only one day to Santa Marta, Colombia where I will speak tomorrow. President Alvaro Uribe is also speaking so if there is anything interesting to report, I will cover it in next week’s column.

I must tell you that it is an impressive sight to go into the Book Expo and see hundreds and hundreds of booths from publishers, marketers, authors, public relations people and you name it.

This book fair is among the first three fairs in the world, competing with the London book fair and the Frankfurt, Germany book fair which is huge. For people that like to read or like the book business, this is a most. You can buy a pass for a hundred dollars or so and you can go in to see the fair, although, if you want to really see each booth and you want to take your time, it would take two or three days to be able to do so.

Imagine seeing books that will be published in the fall, right there and in many occasions, you can get a copy of the book because they give them away. I got copies of a few interesting books, one of them is titled “Connected” which is all about how social networks are affecting everyone’s life.

You can also meet many of the authors when they do their book signings at the fair. I had the experience of signing my books in the book fair when it was held in Los Angeles a couple of years ago. It was quite an experience.

Very important point, the fair is a place where you can meet literary agents. Not many people know that it is very difficult, not impossible, but very, very difficult for a major publisher to accept your manuscript. My publisher, Penguin, second largest in the world, won’t deal with authors, only with literary agents. This is the case with most reputable ones, although like everything in life, there are exceptions. Well, there is a section with hundreds of tables, with little signs, and literary agents, some of the best in the country, sitting there meeting with authors. But, they only meet with authors that have appointments. And again, another obstacle is that it is very difficult to get a good literary agent. They won’t talk to you unless you are referred by someone, or unless you are a celebrity or very well known. They don’t like, generally, to deal with first time authors because it is very difficult to sell their manuscripts to a publisher.

That being said, for those people that think, that use creativity and don’t accept being beaten by obstacles, there are ways to meet those agents. I noticed that some agents were seating there waiting for their next appointment, and at that specific moment, someone could approach them and talk to them. And if you are presentable, if you conduct yourself well and you have the skills to say something interesting that will catch their attention, you are in.

Let me give you an example. My literary agent, Dystel and Goderich is a very exclusive and reputable agent. They had a table and I have a very good friend from Germany, Adele Landauer, a best selling author in Germany but unknown in the US, that wants to break into the US market and needed a literary agent in the US. When my agent was alone sitting in the table because her appointment had not arrived, I went to her, warmly said hello and at that point I introduced her to Adele. It was great, because Adele caught her attention and she became interested in Adele’s book. I tell you, there are always ways to get through if you are innovative and have the guts to try.


I have always told everyone that there is a book inside every single person in the face of the earth, no matter how successful or unsuccessful that person has been in life. If the book is written by a successful person, great, that person can share the secrets to his or her success. If it has been written by an unsuccessful person, it would be interesting to know what kept that person from succeeding, what obstacles he or she wasn’t able to overcome. I repeat, every single person, no matter the circumstances, has a very interesting story to tell.

The publishing world is hurting now. There are fewer companies in the business because many have gone bankrupt. Many publishers have had to close although others that have understood that they need to change are doing well.

Can you believe that if we took all the books published in one year and divided them by the number of titles sold, the average number of sales per book is less than 200 copies? That is correct, only 200. This is why publishers are very reluctant to get new authors, because they know that most books won’t sell and they will lose money.

You want to hear something else which is crazy about the book business? When a publisher sends a book to a retailer, say Borders, Barnes and Noble or any other, if the book doesn’t sell within the first three to six months, those retailers will return the books to the publisher and ask for a credit. The publishers are stuck with the book and what they thought was a sale is now a return. Bummer, right?

So, if this is the case, why do I say that everyone should write a book?

Because now, in the moment we are living, is the best time ever to write a book.

In the old days, you needed to be published by a publisher otherwise you book would never see the light of day. Now, there are countless ways to publish the book without the need of a publisher. Now, thanks to technology, there is Print on Demand, which means that you can print one book or one hundred. There are also printers that can print a book for you if you are going to print more than let’s say 500 or 1000 books.

If you want fame, although you can make money if the book becomes a best seller, you should try to have your book published by a traditional publisher. If you want to control the whole process, you are willing to find a distributor and you want to make money, you should self publish. Write your book then decide which route to go.