• Joe Esposito
• Scholarly Kitchen

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01 September 2010Joe Esposito on why a front-end strategy focused solely on 'more good books' might be a dead end•

The editorial fallacy is the belief that all of a publisher’s strategic problems can be solved by pursuing and publishing the finest books and articles.

I first encountered the editorial fallacy when it was not entirely fallacious. This was some time ago, when the most striking thing in the business environment was the growth of the national book chains, at that time Walden and B. Dalton. How to publish successfully to these impersonal, financially driven entities?  “In publishing,” my colleague said, “the best book wins.”

That comment was not entirely fallacious at the time. While one could argue about what is meant by “the best book” (a question among scholarly publishers that is a matter of some importance), when the landscape for the distribution of publishing products is more or less stable and even showing some growth, having superior editorial products is the best strategy. Indeed, it may be the only successful strategy. Imagine a world where library budgets are growing, where bookshops stock books of intellectual merit, where the economy and demography provide a bit of a tailwind:  publish the best book in this environment and its sales are assured.   Excellent editorial work becomes a differentiator, since all journals and books have access to the same distribution channels. All things being equal, the best book wins.  The question is, what happens when all things are not equal?

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