Book Publishing: A Brief Overview
So let's start at the beginning. What is book publishing? Well, I'm glad you asked! Book publishing is a process that takes a manuscript and turns it into a real, physical book for sale. The publishers do all of the stuff from printing to marketing. It's part of what makes us one of the most advanced civilizations in history - we read books! In fact, I'm reading "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" right now...which is pretty cool because two guys wrote it! Did you know that?! If they hadn't published their book, it would have never been printed or sold...which means I wouldn't be reading it right now. Pretty crazy when you think about it like that, huh?! So thank you Douglas Adams and Karey Kirkpatrick for writing "The Hitchhiker's Guide"! My life is better because of your hard work. If anyone else has an interesting story about how their books came into being please share in the comments section below this post!
Book Publishing: The Fun Stuff
Now that we've covered what exactly book publishing entails let me tell you about some things they don't teach in school - namely some funny stories from my days working at Scholastic Book Fairs - a company known for its amazing children’s programs and publications including best sellers such as Goosebumps series by R. If you're publishing your own book, I would definitely look into Scholastic Book Fairs. It's a great way to get your book out there!
I'm going to start with what is probably my favorite funny story about book publishing. The year was 2005 and I had just gotten married and moved to Connecticut so my wife could go to grad school at Yale...and yes, that is absolutely true! We didn't have an apartment or even a car (we took the train into New Haven every day), but we were in love, so it made sense. Anyway, one of our neighbors liked us enough that they offered us their unused summer home in East Hampton - how cool is that?! It was great because we were able to save some money for rent and the beach house was totally empty (no furniture or anything) - it seemed like everything was working out perfectly...until Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans...which is where our friends lived! Needless to say they weren't happy when their storm-ravaged town destroyed all their possessions while they were away for the summer. To make matters worse, there wasn't much left in terms of personal items because everything had been thrown around by the hurricane's force. One of our neighbors' worst fears came true - her cat died while she wasn't home during Hurricane Katrina! She must have been so sad when she got back from vacation only to find her beloved cat dead on her front lawn...but wait. There's more!
While my wife and I were out one night, our neighbor came over to talk about what had happened. She was telling us how traumatic it was for her to return home only to find her cat dead on the lawn...when suddenly she remembered that her cat wasn't home when the hurricane hit. She went back into her house and returned with a leash, leash holder AND collar...the same one she had left for her cat while they were gone! She could have just taken all of this stuff inside but instead she left it outside so the neighbors' dogs wouldn't get into it or whatever. Then Hurricane Katrina hits and - somehow - even though everything else is destroyed by wind, water and animals - the collar, leash holder AND leash are still completely unscathed! It's like they were made out of some sort of indestructible material...but wait there's even more!
The next thing you know my neighbor is showing me pictures from before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans (where all this crazy stuff is happening). Despite being taken in a neighborhood with a lot of trees (you can see a few in each picture) there aren't any branches anywhere in sight. The trees are all perfectly pruned by some sort of amazing tree-trimming machine which makes them look as if they've been professionally manicured. In fact there isn't anything living around these houses at all except for grass and flowers as far as the eye can see.
If you want a really good laugh, take a look at the pictures below. It's pretty amazing when you think about it - how can all of this stuff end up in one place?! I mean it's crazy! So, enjoy your laughs and I hope they brighten your day!
So that was my favorite funny story about book publishing. There are lots more stories that I could tell but we don't have time for them all...so let me just summarize by saying: Book publishing is full of weird things and funny stories. If anyone else has any funny stories please share them in the comments section below! I'd love to hear about them and maybe even include some in future blog posts on this subject. So thanks again for reading "The Funny Side of Book Publishing" and be sure to check back soon because there's more to come soon enough!
