Adventures of an Independent Publisher

Over at her usually very insightful blog "Diary of a Hype Hag", which I read every day, Karin Gillespie addresses the same Baltimore Sun article I commented on earlier this week (about the disappointing sales of Ramsey Flynn's Cry From the Deep: The Submarine Disaster That Riveted the World and Put the New Russia to the Ultimate Test).

Her comments disappointed me:

"The author was disappointed that it wasn't a bestseller, and the Baltimore Sun wrote an article about how tragic it was that this book didn't make it to the top, and how that's a reflection of declining book sales--the usual gloom and doom diatribe about the pub biz. 

To me this is a obviously a niche book, appealing to only a small number of people.  After all, it's about a submarine disaster in Russia. Hello?
You don't have to be a genius to figure out why this book wouldn't fly off the shelf. If the book had been about a cruise ship disaster in Florida with Jennifer Lopez on board, then maybe the article would make some sense.

The fact is, not every book captures the imagination of the American public. How well do you think a made-for-TV on this subject would have fared in the ratings? My guess is it would have sunk as deeply as that Russian submarine."

I'm sorry, but it's not enough to say that Cry From the Deep failed to capture the imagination of readers. Obviously, it captured someone's imagination at HarperCollins, otherwise it would never have been published.

So what happened?

My best guess is that the acquiring editor's enthusiasm did not extend to the publicity and marketing departments and so this book, like many others, slipped through the cracks at HC (something which, incidentally, is impossible at a small publisher like Barricade, where everyone is involved with an acquired book from start to finish).

Karin, how would you feel if your publisher put little or no time and effort into promoting your latest book and then you were left with the explanation that your book simply failed to "capture the imagination of the American public?" Would you be content with that?

Cry From the Deep is a book about Russian submarines like Seabiscuit is a book about horses, The Devil in the White City is a book about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, Candyfreak is a book about chocolate, and our upcoming book, The Investigation: A Former FBI Agent Uncovers the Truth Behind the Most Contested Will in American History (October 2005) is a book about the Howard Hughes Will. These books may appear niche, but capture the imaginations of large numbers of readers who simply enjoy a good narrative. The trick is getting the books into these readers' hands (the job of publicists, sales reps, and booksellers). In the case of The Investigation, we here at Barricade took a chance, believing that this book is such a good read that it will appeal to a wide audience, not just readers interested in Howard Hughes. And sure, those readers are not easily reached, but it's our job as publishers, editors, and publicists to reach them.

Truth be told, I had never heard of Cry From the Deep before the Baltimore Sun story, and I haven't read it, so I'm going to bat for a book that I know very little about. But I'm willing to bet that it's a well-written and compelling account, and that it would appeal to many more readers than just those interested in submarines and naval history if it got some good publicity.

Books like Seabiscut, The Devil in the White City, The Investigation, and, I'm guessing, Cry From the Deep, defy simple categorization - sure they're history, but they're also much more.

- Jen Itskevich
Publicity Director