‘American Dirt’ Is Proof the Publishing Industry Is Broken is a revelation for any who think only high-quality books become bestsellers. I know better because bestseller status can be rigged and gamed. Example: Trump’s son’s recent book became a bestseller because the RNC bought $98,400 worth in a month. Without merit, he can claim to have authored a ‘bestseller.’
New authors often wonder why their excellent work can’t get the traction it deserves while other—less worthy—books (backed by buzz and money) get attention. And their work is good because enough independent readers have of their own volition shared their thoughts about it. Yet there’s a struggle to be discovered and scale to a higher level of success. The fact is some of the best writers and writing are overlooked by publishers seeking the ‘next sure thing.’
In the article: “The clumsy, ill-conceived rollout of ‘American Dirt’ illustrates how broken the system is, how myopic it is to hype one book at the expense of others and how unethical it is to allow a gatekeeper like Oprah’s Book Club to wield such power. Imagine a publishing industry that dispensed with hit-making, that used the millions of dollars poured into ‘American Dirt’ to invest more into promoting a greater number and panoply of authors.”
