The whole story sends me into a full-body cringe rictus. Still: the podcast is such a rich text for you all that I'm going to peck out a hot take here with my cringe-claws.
The breakdown of all this was extremely valuable. I am not familiar with this person or their work, but I found the discussion about professional communication styles (words mean what they mean, not what you hear) to be particularly helpful. I would love to read more case studies/hot takes like this, from any part of the spectrum of publishing experiences.
“I get the impression Rushford’s team tried to ‘handle’ her with what human resources guru Kim Scott would call ‘ruinous empathy’ vs. what she actually needed: ‘radical candor.’”
Sure sounds like it! And also that nobody wanted to risk being the one who definitively upset Rushford and blew a “multiple six figures” project in a way that made escaping blame impossible.
After years of hearing how important platform is, I sorta expected that agents and editors might have figured out how to work with very needy influencers who can only see through their own world view. So many odd expectations from this author! Book advance= salary. Yikes. Thanks for using this sorry mess as a teachable moment. There’s always more to learn.
Thank you so much for this brilliant, fascinating piece. I’m mostly published in the UK, but I’ve just had an experience with a US publisher that has left me feeling so upset and frustrated. Like Rushford (possibly!) I know I have a tendency to take things extremely personally, when it helps no-one. (As the saying goes, it’s showbusiness, not showfriends.) A lot of things went wrong after my finished MS was accepted (several changes in publication dates meant I had to keep rescheduling the launch event I’d organised with a high profile, busy guest. Promotional content I’d delivered to a very early deadline got lost) and I was desperate for my editor to acknowledge her mistakes, apologise for them and acknowledge that she appreciated how hard I was working. When the truth is that the woman is not my mother, or my teacher, or my friend - I’m guessing that she didn’t want to acknowledge any culpability, for legal reasons!
Ironically, my book is about growing up and muddling one’s way to emotional adulthood - during publication process for this one, I became a screaming toddler. This piece has helped enormously, it’s restored my equilibrium and helped me manage and regulate my emotions. Thank you, thank you thank you! (If I can get my publication advance and my author copies this side of Christmas, I’ll be all set!)
It’s so refreshing and helpful to hear about the psychological side of relationships in the publishing industry, and the boundaries and emotional maturity required on all sides for things to go well (or have a chance to).
This is such an informative and sensitive look at or account of the business side of writing (and the realistic side of poor writing as well as very poor expectations) that I feel privileged to have read it. As a writer with a complete, professionally edited 86,000-word mystery manuscript, looking for an agent or publisher, I do want to understand what to do and how to do it. Thank you.
I very much appreciated this breakdown. There’s an update but I don’t know what it is. HR had a video on insta this week selling off everything and stating she would be leaving social media. I feel like there’s probably life lessons in whatever that story is too. But I refuse to subscribe to her email to find out.
I just finished listening to all. four. segments recently and was left with an opinion quite similar to your own. Although I learned some new things about trad publishing I didn’t know before and sympathised with a lot of her frustration, the whole story didn’t sit quite right with me. Thanks for sharing this, I loved how you articulated it with both empathy and candour.
What an incisive character study. Yelled aloud 'savage!' upon getting to your chapter review and startled my cat off the couch, but dang, deserved; an introduction as difficult to read as disformed. The watercolors were nice tho :)
Thanks for this piece! A pleasure to read and just became a paid sub. Excited to check out the rest of your work
Hey, are you sure you’re not really a gifted therapist masquerading as a book agent? Just sayin’
The breakdown of all this was extremely valuable. I am not familiar with this person or their work, but I found the discussion about professional communication styles (words mean what they mean, not what you hear) to be particularly helpful. I would love to read more case studies/hot takes like this, from any part of the spectrum of publishing experiences.
“I get the impression Rushford’s team tried to ‘handle’ her with what human resources guru Kim Scott would call ‘ruinous empathy’ vs. what she actually needed: ‘radical candor.’”
Sure sounds like it! And also that nobody wanted to risk being the one who definitively upset Rushford and blew a “multiple six figures” project in a way that made escaping blame impossible.
After years of hearing how important platform is, I sorta expected that agents and editors might have figured out how to work with very needy influencers who can only see through their own world view. So many odd expectations from this author! Book advance= salary. Yikes. Thanks for using this sorry mess as a teachable moment. There’s always more to learn.
Thank you so much for this brilliant, fascinating piece. I’m mostly published in the UK, but I’ve just had an experience with a US publisher that has left me feeling so upset and frustrated. Like Rushford (possibly!) I know I have a tendency to take things extremely personally, when it helps no-one. (As the saying goes, it’s showbusiness, not showfriends.) A lot of things went wrong after my finished MS was accepted (several changes in publication dates meant I had to keep rescheduling the launch event I’d organised with a high profile, busy guest. Promotional content I’d delivered to a very early deadline got lost) and I was desperate for my editor to acknowledge her mistakes, apologise for them and acknowledge that she appreciated how hard I was working. When the truth is that the woman is not my mother, or my teacher, or my friend - I’m guessing that she didn’t want to acknowledge any culpability, for legal reasons!
Ironically, my book is about growing up and muddling one’s way to emotional adulthood - during publication process for this one, I became a screaming toddler. This piece has helped enormously, it’s restored my equilibrium and helped me manage and regulate my emotions. Thank you, thank you thank you! (If I can get my publication advance and my author copies this side of Christmas, I’ll be all set!)
oh boy, muddling one's way to emotional adulthood - no wonder you like my newsletter. LOL
It’s so refreshing and helpful to hear about the psychological side of relationships in the publishing industry, and the boundaries and emotional maturity required on all sides for things to go well (or have a chance to).
Fascinated! Tried to listen to the podcast but couldn't get through it--your summary and insights are much appreciated.
This is such an informative and sensitive look at or account of the business side of writing (and the realistic side of poor writing as well as very poor expectations) that I feel privileged to have read it. As a writer with a complete, professionally edited 86,000-word mystery manuscript, looking for an agent or publisher, I do want to understand what to do and how to do it. Thank you.
Loved reading this!
I very much appreciated this breakdown. There’s an update but I don’t know what it is. HR had a video on insta this week selling off everything and stating she would be leaving social media. I feel like there’s probably life lessons in whatever that story is too. But I refuse to subscribe to her email to find out.
FYI, there was no info in that email or multiple emails. She just sent several looooong emails explaining how much she wanted to explain but couldn't.
I just finished listening to all. four. segments recently and was left with an opinion quite similar to your own. Although I learned some new things about trad publishing I didn’t know before and sympathised with a lot of her frustration, the whole story didn’t sit quite right with me. Thanks for sharing this, I loved how you articulated it with both empathy and candour.
What an incisive character study. Yelled aloud 'savage!' upon getting to your chapter review and startled my cat off the couch, but dang, deserved; an introduction as difficult to read as disformed. The watercolors were nice tho :)
Thanks for this piece! A pleasure to read and just became a paid sub. Excited to check out the rest of your work
Yep.