From a publishers' perspective

Things you only know when you’ve worked at a big publishing house.

Intro from me (Emma) before I pass you over to the guest columnist this week.

I listened to an interview recently with author Hanya Yanagihara. She spoke about the publishing process for her global bestseller A Little Life and she kept calling her publishing house ‘The House’ during the interview. “The House decided this” and “The House allowed me to do this”. They are a big sturdy house and you: you are just one person, the writer, and you have to have your own back (and your agent will also have your back). It is a collaboration — they will take your work and hopefully publish it to the masses — but you also need to be clued up about The House because: knowledge is power.

Collaborating with A House on your manuscript means you are part of the machine now. You go into Central London. Stern receptionists. Big wide meeting rooms. Name badges. Views of The Shard. Coffee or tea in nice cups. Bestselling books lining the walls. Could be you. You’re inside The Big Publishing House. The phones are ringing.

Being an author is a privilege but it certainly comes with its challenges. Gone are the days where authors are taken out for nice long lunches, advances have dwindled, unless you’re already a big name. Many (most) authors don’t make a living just from writing books. Many authors never even see their book in a bookshop. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors to publishing a book, and being a full-time writer.

One of my favourite Substackers

Kate McKean

recently wrote all the reasons why being a full-time writer is the worst job in the world. She had a good point, actually. No stability. No salary. No benefits. No ladder. No colleagues. But, as we all know, it’s also magical and that’s why we keep going back for more.

One of the core values of The Hyphen is to demystify things to do with writing and creativity – so when

Naomi Jones

pitched her idea of ‘things you only know when you’ve worked at a big publisher’, I was intrigued to read some behind-the-scenes intel and share it with you, below.