Book Publishers
topic on 3 shows · 5 statements across 4 episodes
the Knowledge Project 
Lenny's Podcast 
Top Founders
5 statements about Book Publishers, every show
Book publishers pressure authors into heavy promotion despite lacking success prediction data
“The publisher put all this, they put so much pressure on you to do all these other things. And they have no data to tell you how well the book's going to do or not going to do it.”
Howey: Book publishers cannot reliably guarantee or manufacture hits
“I knew that no publisher could guarantee me that I would have a hit no matter what they sell you when they sign you. If they had that ability, they'd have hits all the time and they're very rare.”
Graziosi: Most book publishers don't know how to market
“Most of the publishers don't know how to market. They rely on you to market.”
Publishing advances rely entirely on an author's existing platform over agents
“Agent is, I mean, it's part of the battle, my brother, but it's really all about platform. I mean, I hate to use Michael Hyatt's term and everybody else, and you know that term, but it's, it truly is about, if you can push a button to make shit happen, you're …”
Traditional book publishers act as mere printers without providing distribution value
“And frankly, you know, there's self published, there's hybrid publishers and there's traditional. I've done all three. And at the end of the day, publishers are nothing more than printers. You know, so, I mean, all they do is print, you know, the books for you…”