Andy Unedited – Page 60 – Exploring Books, Life, and Writing

Creating Readers

July 13, 2007 by Andy Le Peau

I was in Atlanta this past week at the International Christian Retail Show with thousands of others interested in Christian books and Christian music and Christian gifts. As we stood in the aisles, one colleague reminded me of APA President Pat Schroeder’s comment that publishing is the only industry that doesn’t seek to create consumers. The tobacco companies do it. McDonald’s does it. (Those Happy Meals are hard to resist.) Publishers do some–but not much–to grow readers.

“But what about Harry Potter?” you protest. “Look, we’ve got a 12 million copy first printing! Biggest in history! Kids lined up at stores at midnight! Surely that is helping!” Apparently, not so.
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Starting to Read

July 12, 2007 by Andy Le Peau

My recent blog on the need to encourage reading among youth got me thinking about my own early experience with reading. I clearly remember growing up with two older siblings who, to my mind, were book hounds. They belonged to kids’ book clubs and seemed to read all the time. Not me. I was (my …

Nothing New Under the Publishing Sun

July 9, 2007 by Andy Le Peau

Looking for new publishing ideas? One neglected place to look is the past.
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The Good News About Going Out of Print

July 5, 2007 by Andy Le Peau

One of my least favorite tasks is attending the meeting where we decide which books will go out of print this year. Every book is a friend and companion. Some are even like children. We want them all to do well in life and find success. Occasionally that does not happen.
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The First-Book Syndrome

July 2, 2007 by Andy Le Peau

The other day one of our editors, Dave Zimmerman, came to me with a proposal from a prospective author for a book. It was on prayer, mission, evangelism, the history of global Christianity, the future of Christianity, the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God and justice.

I looked at Dave and said, “First-Book Syndrome.” He grimly nodded in agreement.

What is First-Book Syndrome?
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Integrity and Mission

June 28, 2007 by Andy Le Peau

Joe Klein wrote in his book Politics Lost that maybe the reason Al Gore lost the 2000 election is that he listened to political handlers too much. They massaged and homogenized his message so much that it felt flabby. Gore was passionate about the environment but the polling said the public was not. So, don’t talk about global warming, Al.
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Why Publishers Rely on Authors More Than Ever

June 25, 2007 by Andy Le Peau

Recently an author told me, “After I finished writing my book, I thought my job was done. I then discovered that my job was only half done.”
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TitleZ Is a Handy Tool

June 20, 2007 by Andy Le Peau

Earlier I blogged about market research and how expensive it can be. Here’s one source that is free (for now!).
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The Serial Comma and the Plagues of Egypt

June 18, 2007 by Andy Le Peau

In another blog I promised to wrestle the serial comma into abject submission. Watch and be amazed.

Many writers and grammarians and punctuationists have traditionally preferred adding a comma before the word and in a list. So, for example, they would write, “I had bananas, blueberries, and strawberries on my corn flakes this morning.” (This, of course, is not to be confused with the cereal comma.)

At InterVarsity Press, we have a general policy of not using a serial comma. Many are horrified, disgusted, shocked, dismayed, repulsed and find themselves on antidepressants as a result of this. Why have we done so?
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Market Research by Publishing Books

June 13, 2007 by Andy Le Peau

One of the dirty little secrets of publishing is that publishers often do market research by publishing books.

If a publisher wants to know what customers are interested in reading or buying, doing full-blown market research can be expensive. You probably need to get professionals involved with focus groups or surveys with all manner of scientific, sociological number crunching. It can easily cost $20,000, $30,000 or $100,000 for even a modest project. Because of this, often publishers will cooperate through a trade association or other umbrella group and buy in to a project.
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