On (Kind of) Quitting Publishing

While I read, check out this fun, insidery piece (via Lithub) by Sarah Knight, author of our runner-up The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck, about life in and out of publishing. Breaking off the manacles of corporate life may not be such a new narrative, but it’s rarely told within the context of an industry as coveted and creatively satisfying as publishing unless the essential tension is between career and family–another story entirely. No surprises here for the publishing folks among us (especially you beleaguered editorial diplomats), but worth a read.

 

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2 thoughts on “On (Kind of) Quitting Publishing

  1. I didn’t catch why she had to have it out in 4 months — was it a publishing seasonal thing? Or because it borrows part of its title, did they not want to miss the hype? (Oh, and do you know Ms. Knight?)

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    1. I suspect it pretty much all comes down to capitalizing on the popularity of the Marie Kondo book, which is now more than a year old in the US and has a companion title, Spark Joy, publishing next Tuesday. If she delivered just a proposal in August, December is also about as early as a publisher could get the book written, edited, and into production so they may have been aiming more for ASAP than for December specifically. I’ve seen it done faster, but a lead time of less than 9 months strains production resources and sales opportunities so most publishers won’t do it unless they have a really good reason.

      I used to work at the same company as the author but for a different imprint so we were never really colleagues. We’ve met in passing–I think once drunkenly at the holiday party?–so I’m sure she doesn’t remember me.

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