Pub Love

People throw around a lot of absolutes about publishing. It moves glacially. It's "hard to crack." It's a den of harlots and drunkards which...well, OK, that one goes to the cynics. And there are elements of publishing that support all of this. It takes a long time to get responses from agents and, for agents, there's a lot of following up with editors. For someone trying to break into publishing the industry can be mystifyingly closed. So, the absolutes are partial truths. Conglomerate the partial truths and you've got a pretty elitist, grim, and jaded picture of book people. But I work in publishing, and I can honestly say I've never met a-one that fits that bill.

So. What's the true nature of publishing? Who ARE these people?!

When I emerged, dewey-eyed and fresh-faced, from college, lucky enough to have a publishing gig, I asked this same question. My idealism (did I mention *fresh* out of college?) mandated that publishing be made up of pure-hearted book lovers who desire nothing more than to shepherd debut authors from the slush pile to the NYT list. People who thrive on reading and talking about--nay, obsessing about--books by their and others' authors. People bound by their love and admiration for the artists. The writers. And there are rainbows. Ehhhhhhhhhvvvveryyyyywhere. (Observe -->)


But come on. Wipe the dew out of your shining eyes, kiddo. Welcome to NY, right?

And so I waited with bated breath for my reality check.

Wouldn't you effing know it? I'm still waiting.

If there's any absolute about people that work in publishing, it's that they really are devoted to their writers. Publishing moves glacially because book deals are made in real, face-to-face conversations between editors and agents. They gush. They read. They gush. It takes time. Getting a job in publishing is hard because people hire on personal recommendation. Nearly everyone working today was once an intern, sifting through slush somewhere, and they're hiring people vetted in a similar way. They're hiring people who are willing to sacrifice, to work for no pay, who...OMG. Who love books. That's who these people are.