Andrew Wylie on publishing
October 7, 2013 9:09 PM   Subscribe

"Not very many people read. Most of them drag their knuckles around and quarrel and make money. We’re selling books. It’s a tiny little business. It doesn’t have to be Walmartized." Superagent Andrew Wylie, who represents Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie, Elmore Leonard, and Philip Roth, among others, talks about the future of publishing, his on-again-off-again relationship with Amazon, and "effete, educated snobs who read," with the New Republic.
posted by escabeche (30 comments total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
The pull quote made me expect to hate this, but it was actually very interesting. He is a little acerbic, but mostly just interesting.
posted by poe at 9:30 PM on October 7, 2013


He does not represent Elmore Leonard.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:34 PM on October 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Perhaps I shouldn't admit, but this guy is hilarious:

AW: I think that Napoleon was a terrific guy before he started crossing national borders. Over the course of time, his temperament changed, and his behavior was insensitive to the nations he occupied.


posted by bumpkin at 9:44 PM on October 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


At first, I was like, "Christ, what an asshole." But by the end, he had me like Andrew Undershaft.

If I have to read James Michener, Danielle Steel, Tom Clancy, I'm toast. Fuck it. ... I'm not going to sit around reading this drivel in order to get paid less than a clark at Barclays. That's just stupid. So if I want to be interested in what I read, is there a business? Answer: Yes, there is.
posted by mykescipark at 9:48 PM on October 7, 2013


He does not represent Elmore Leonard.

He still represents Elmore Leonard's estate according to his client list.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 10:10 PM on October 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Interesting that he is representing disgraced Pop Sci author Jonah Lehrer.
posted by flippant at 10:19 PM on October 7, 2013


[Amazon Publishing does] better with genre fiction, at least.

AW: They can do all of that shit. Take over daytime television, too. They are deeply into refrigeration.

posted by stbalbach at 12:26 AM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


Would like to read this, but my cellphone never finishes formatting the page.

But given his quote about genre writing, maybe it's better this way.
posted by newdaddy at 12:34 AM on October 8, 2013


I like the cut of this man's jib.
posted by Caskeum at 1:13 AM on October 8, 2013


"Unless you’re a terribly bad writer, you are never going to have too many readers."
posted by jeffburdges at 1:48 AM on October 8, 2013 [4 favorites]


I think we’d be fine if publishers just withdrew their product [from Amazon], frankly. If the terms are unsatisfactory, why continue to do business? You think you’re going to lose thirty percent of your business? Well, that’s OK, because you would have a thirty percent higher margin for seventy percent of your business. You have fewer fools reading your books and you get paid more by those who do. What’s wrong with that?

The only thing wrong with that is that publishers would have to spend a lot of money duplicating Amazon's infrastructure which is not so appealing as it might seem. If it is insufferable to work with hack authors wait until you have to deal with an IT department.
posted by three blind mice at 2:43 AM on October 8, 2013 [3 favorites]


I wanted to like him in terms of this article! But it was not to be. So he hates Amazon - big deal. Lots of people in publishing hate Amazon. The guys at Melville House come to mind. And he's a book snob. Also not so interesting. Saying he doesn't know how much Odyssey Editions is bringing in is disingenuous, at best.

The guy's a respected agent to be sure. I Googled a bit to find out more about him, and I thought this article from the WSJ was very informative while not making me feel weirdly defensive. There, he says this: "Sure, writers these days can go directly to readers, without publishers or agents. But there needs to be a chain of people who have authority and can help convey what is essential." which I truly believe.

Made me think before my coffee - thanks escabeche.
posted by lyssabee at 3:55 AM on October 8, 2013


Great interview! So refreshing to read someone being a bit more honest and upfront about business. Rather than hiding behind a bunch of corporate press release crap.

And I totally did not get that he "hates" Amazon - its purely a business attitude. It didn't come across as bitterness to me. Just lack of interest.


If Mrs. Bezos had published her book with Amazon, I’d be more convinced. She seems to feel that Knopf is a better publishing company than Amazon.

posted by mary8nne at 4:12 AM on October 8, 2013 [2 favorites]


AW: The Frankfurt Book Fair is my idea of heaven.

The London Book Fair is a sort of squalid thing. The agents are in an agent center and it’s ghastly. Like being in a primary school in Lagos. It’s a bunch of agents sitting together at primary school tables.


what
posted by jquinby at 4:46 AM on October 8, 2013 [2 favorites]


He's definitely got a personality. He seems to confuse literary fiction with publishing as a whole, or maybe he simply would prefer that be the case. Literary fiction is read by a very small crew; genre fiction is not.
posted by shivohum at 4:55 AM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


That was very enjoyable both for the interview and the page formatting. Like a cool breeze.

If only, and this is pure hypothetica, but if the focus is that narrow, wouldn't one be able to build a better "buy me" / "download me" clicky button? Salmanrushdie.com, say? It's not really duplicating Amatron's infrastructure, it's just selling books without them.
posted by petebest at 5:17 AM on October 8, 2013


If Mrs. Bezos had published her book with Amazon, I’d be more convinced. She seems to feel that Knopf is a better publishing company than Amazon.

If my spouse owned a huge publishing company, I'd probably get my book published elsewhere, too. Just saying.
posted by Huck500 at 6:30 AM on October 8, 2013 [2 favorites]


As someone who very much enjoys literary fiction, and as someone who has squirted out the odd little publication (nothing with its own spine yet, but maybe someday?), it is nice to read something about the state of publishing that doesn't have a sense of might-as-well-break-out-the-cyanide-capsules doom. And maybe it is his erudite asshole-ness creating the illusion of authority, but damned if I didn't want to believe him.
posted by erlking at 6:50 AM on October 8, 2013


Not very many people read. Most of them drag their knuckles around and quarrel and make money.


...yeah, bullshit. Caricaturing people who don't read literary fiction as neanderthal brutes is just the sort of attitude that guarantees new literary fiction to be of minimal cultural importance. If this guy were alive in Shakespeare's time, he'd no doubt dismiss theater as mere vaudeville for the illiterate masses.
posted by belarius at 6:52 AM on October 8, 2013 [6 favorites]


Tangentally related, but apparently Amazon hasn't killed bricks & mortar stores.
posted by Mezentian at 7:03 AM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'm prepared to forgive a multitude of sins for his dismissing Timothy Ferriss as "that muscle man".
posted by nanojath at 7:56 AM on October 8, 2013 [8 favorites]


Mod note: Folks, maybe keep your threats to yourselves and just comment on the article? Thanks.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:09 AM on October 8, 2013


>Saying he doesn't know how much Odyssey Editions is bringing in is disingenuous, at best.

He was being polite. In his circle you don't talk about your income.
posted by Dragonness at 8:18 AM on October 8, 2013


Tired of these arrogant old men. There will be a world after you and there's nothing you can do about it. You can try to qualify your time as having been better but it'll be for naught. Why not try being gracious and not making asses of yourselves before you go?
posted by ChuckRamone at 8:41 AM on October 8, 2013


The biggest single problem since 1980 has been that the publishing industry has been led by the nose by the retail sector.

I know that in the UK the biggest bookseller now isn't an actual book shop but Tesco. Is this the case in the US now too? It would explain why so many books seem to have very similar covers these days (or there's a generic template for chick-lit/misery memoir/WWII home front saga/book about deceased pet) - it makes picking up something you think you'll like as easy as buying magazines.

Also, I used to live somewhere which ended up with two 'bookshops' - one was a small WH Smith which was the size of an airport bookstore, and the other one of a chain of remaindered title bookshops - following the closure of the two independents in the early 90s. I would bet there are places where literally the only place to buy books in an actual shop is a supermarket.
posted by mippy at 8:45 AM on October 8, 2013


Tangentially related, but apparently Amazon hasn't killed bricks & mortar stores.

Worth noting that those statistics are being misrepresented. They are memberships to the American Bookseller Association, not necessarily indie bookstores. That more stores have joined the trade association in the last couple of years isn't proof that Amazon has had no effect on bookstores or even bookstores for that matter. Those statistics come from this piece, which specifically notes it's using the ABA member numbers as its source. Note also that since 1995, the year after Amazon shipped its first book, the US went from 5,500 bookstore members of the ABA, to the current 1,900. The statistic also doesn't take into account that the newer members don't seem to be what we have considered bookstores in the past, but instead include non-book retailers, buyers clubs, and supermarkets, which instead may be interested in the lobbying efforts that the ABA champions, like sales tax fairness.

My favorite line in the Wylie interview: I believe that Amazon has its print publishing business so that their behavior as a distributor of digital content can be misperceived by the Department of Justice and the publishing industry in a way that is convenient for Amazon’s bottom line.1 That is exactly what I think.

Amen, brother Andrew.
posted by Toekneesan at 9:13 AM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


[Amazon Publishing does] better with genre fiction, at least.

AW: They can do all of that shit. Take over daytime television, too. They are deeply into refrigeration.


And yet ... he was happy to make money off of Elmore Leonard, crime novelist. So maybe Amazon can't do all that shit?
posted by Amanojaku at 10:39 AM on October 8, 2013


I know that in the UK the biggest bookseller now isn't an actual book shop but Tesco. Is this the case in the US now too?

Certainly the Cheap Chains are considered crucial to making best sellers sell best.

A little curious that they should call him old school. Old school agents didn't poach other agent's clients.
posted by IndigoJones at 2:46 PM on October 8, 2013


AW: They can do all of that shit. Take over daytime television, too. They are deeply into refrigeration.

And yet ... he was happy to make money off of Elmore Leonard, crime novelist.


Elmore Leonard won a National Book Award etc.. not the type of author AW means to compare with a common appliance produced in quantity.
posted by stbalbach at 10:17 PM on October 8, 2013


And yet ... he was happy to make money off of Elmore Leonard, crime novelist. So maybe Amazon can't do all that shit?
posted by Amanojaku at 12:39 PM on October 8


To this sort of person, good genre fiction is magically transformed (only by virtue of its goodness) into non-genre fiction. It's a sort of No True Scotsman thing.
posted by joannemerriam at 12:30 PM on October 9, 2013


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