…is just how much they mean to those who’ve written them.
Publishers sometimes lose sight of this. We are so used to producing books. It’s not that we stop valuing them, but sometimes you forget just how exciting and life-changing it is for an author when their first book arrives on their doorstep.
I had a message recently from an author whose advance copies had just arrived, which brought home to me again just what an amazing moment it is:
“Love the book! It’s amazing! I can’t stop crying!!!!… I feel like I’ve just given birth or got married again! Thank you so much, I could NEVER have done it without you!! I’m high as a kite right now.”
I love that she instinctively reached for those two life experiences as the closest parallels: it’s a wonderful reminder to me as a publisher just how important this job is, and that while the books I publish might be primarily tools for business development, they’re also expressions of the author’s deepest values and identity.
“The book that will most change your life is the book you write,” said Seth Godin. It’s a privilege being part of that for every author I work with.
