Book Publishing Masterclass (Macmillan CEO Interview)
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Do you ever wonder how the book publishing industry works? How does the CEO of a top-five publishing house even think? That's what this episode is all about.
My guest is Jon Yaged. He runs Macmillan, which is one of the top five publishing houses. I asked him to talk to me like I'm a young writer who has never published a book before. And that's what he did.
If you're interested in improving your writing, if you want to be a super successful writer and understand how this industry works, then you're going to like this episode.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:01 Consolidation in book publishing
00:04:01 Are celebrity books the new trend
00:07:57 How many books get published
00:09:48 How to get your book published
00:10:43 Deciding what to focus on
00:14:15 Why publishing stays in New York
00:16:26 Can data and algorithms find great books
00:19:03 Predictability vs creativity
00:27:06 The problem with formulas
00:29:33 Should authors push back on publishers
00:31:11 The economics of a book deal
00:36:42 What makes sequels work
00:42:21 Why children's books are evergreen
00:47:30 Why Waterstones is so succesful
00:48:42 American vs European book covers
00:50:25 AI in publishing
00:54:40 What if AI wrote my book
01:00:57 How books get printed and shipped
01:02:53 Who should self-publish
01:04:52 What matters in book marketing
01:08:16 Finance vs cultural mission
01:09:52 What a publishing CEO does
01:11:06 AI vs human-narrated audiobooks
01:15:17 The literacy crisis
01:18:20 Are publisher catalogs like venture portfolios
01:19:08 How Macmillan makes money
01:21:17 What makes Macmillan unique
About the host
Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.
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