Writer's Guide to Marketing

The Art of Fielding a Publishing Contract

Did you read the October issue of Vogue magazine? There was a fabulous article in it titled “The Book on Publishing” by Graydon Carter and Keith Gessen. In case you missed it, you can purchase the article for $1.99 from Amazon.

It’s an engrossing tale and a good read.

The article chronicles the life of Chad Harbach, author of the novel The Art of Fielding, from his undergraduate studies to an MFA program as he pursues his passion of writing. Like too many writers, he wades through the morass of low-paying jobs while committing himself to the one novel he keeps rewriting.

 With the support of friends who believe in his talent, Harbach meets literary agent Chris Parris-Lamb of the Gernert Company in Manhattan. The agent loves Harbach’s novel and forwards copies to publishers.

After an initial offer of $175,000, which Harbach turns down, Parris-Lamb calls for an auction. Bidding starts at $100,000 and eventually ends with Scribner’s successful bid – of $750,000 and an opportunity to work with the editor of David Foster Wallace.

Now Harbach is not only a successfully published novelist but also a publishing story that Vogue and other media outlets can’t resist.

By the way, his book is doing great too. On GoodReads, the book has generated 1,242 ratings and 389 reviews. On Facebook, the book has nearly 500 “likes.”  

This kind of story gives me hope. None of us will know the outcome of our passion for writing unless we stick with it, make time to write, work on our revisions – and never sell ourselves to the lowest bidder.  

Let me know what you think of the Vogue article, this blog, or any other thoughts you’d like to share. Thanks!

 ©Frances Caballo 2011 – This post cannot be reproduced without the expressed permission of the author.