The Role of Book Producers: From Concept to Bound Book

An enterprising book producer, Steven Ettlinger, several years ago conceived the idea of doing a book on tools and hardware stores for do it yourselfers. Ettlinger spent two years researching the subject and actually writing the book. He then wrote a sample book proposal, which he pitched to many publishers. After a series of rejections, Macmillan bought Ettlinger's idea, The Complete Illustrated Guide to Everything Sold in Hardware Stores. It went on to sell more than fifty thousand copies. On a consumer guide such as this one, Ettlinger associates himself with an expert in the field and hires re searchers to help him assemble vast quantities of basic information. He then writes the book, or CD ROM, from this pool of resources. He directs the research, writing, illustration, and production, and acts as agent for all of his projects. He has also produced Don't Pick Up the Baby or You'll Spoil the Child & Other Old Wives Tales About Pregnancy, The Nitpickers Guide For Next Generation Trekkers, and about a dozen others.

In the article, "How Book Publishing Is Structured," we gave a capsule description of the function of book producers, formerly known as book packagers. Let's discuss their role in greater detail.

For the publisher, dealing with book producers builds in cost controls not always possible when books are produced in house. When the publishing company contracts for a book with a book producer, it knows its costs up front. A publisher might, for example, issue an order to a book producer for twenty five thousand copies of an illustrated book at $9 each. The publisher will have established in advance all the standards for the book in terms of editorial and production quality and approve the elements of the book at various stages, but its own efforts are reduced primarily to marketing.



Arrangements with producers vary. At times, the book producer's contract will call for delivering camera ready pages to the publisher, which in turn will arrange for printing and binding the book; at other times the producer supplies finished books. Often the publisher comes up with the concept and turns it over to the book producer for execution. In many cases, however, the producer acts as an agent for the writing of the book. In such a situation, the book producer receives an advance against royalties, plus an agreed fee for editing and writing services.

Paul Fargis, another book producer, was responsible for the second edition of the best selling New York Public Library Desk Reference. The giant compendium of the most asked questions at the library was published in 1993 by Prentice Hall. He was also chosen to manage the revision of Doubleday's Made Simple books, a forty five title series.

In recent years, book producers have produced such successful titles as:

• The Joy of Sex
  
  
• The Hite Report
  
  
• What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School Imagine: John Lennon Rolling Stone Photographs
  
  
• Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book
  
  
• The Best of Gourmet
  
  
• Jim Henson's Bedtime Stories
  
  
• Bom to Shop (11-book series)
  
  
• Reader's Digest Creative Cooking Club
  

Such major publishers as Little, Brown; Doubleday; Simon & Schuster; Allyn & Bacon; Crown; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; William Morrow; and Macmillan are active users of book producers.

In 1980, the American Book Producers Association was formed to further the interests of its book producer members. Today, the group has seventy members. If you are a freelancer, you may be listed on their freelancer database by writing to them at American Book Producers Association, 160 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010; (212) 645 2368, Fax: (212) 989 7542.

There are today more than two hundred book producers in the United States and Canada. They account for more than one in eight published books and are certainly considered a growth area in publishing.