How do so many bad books get published? Today, we'll be discussing this question—one that a lot of writers shout at the top of their lungs when they get yet another rejection.

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Video Transcript: How do Bad Books Get Published?

One of my favorite/least favorite questions to answer in my position as an author and a speaker and an expert on the writing and publishing process is how do so many bad things get published? My name is Mary Kole. This is Good Story Company and today, we will be dissecting a little bit that old chestnut that a lot of writers shout at the top of their lungs when they get yet another rejection. And yet something that they perceived to be crappy, pardon my French, is published and doing well.

So this is a cry I hear a lot and, for me, it's almost, and I don't mean to negate your feelings or somehow invalidate you or discount you, but this thing that people say is almost irrelevant to me, all it does, and here I want to reframe your thinking a little bit, all it does is show me in a very clear way that publishing is so subjective. The person that wrote that crappy thing probably thinks it's pretty great or it was just a naked money play and they were like, "Okay. Yeah. I can write a mermaid romance, no problem," you know? And they got to work. But odds are they think it's pretty great and their agent, if they used one, thinks it's pretty great. Their readers, if they're publishing independently, think it's pretty great. And the publisher that ended up publishing it either said, "I think this is pretty great," or, "We really need a mermaid romance. Let's make some money," right?

So not everything is necessarily done in publishing for the love of the art. Cat alert. Some of it is very much done to capitalize on a trend. Or, hopefully, the two can coexist and you're doing something with artistic value that also capitalizes on a trend. Long story short, I think that a lot of things that are not to my personal taste get published and I think you are recognizing the same if you find yourself saying, you know, "Why do so many crappy things get published?" Well, there are people out there who are not you, who don't have, pardon me, your taste, who do not have your sensibility, who do not like the same stories as you, who do not like the same categories as you . Everyone is different and a lot of publishing is built on this idea that a worthy work or, in some people's opinion, maybe a less than worthy work will still find its readership, will still find its tribe. And some projects are not necessarily the end-all-be-all but, you know, sometimes you just want a beach read that goes down easy or sometimes you want a really thinky project that moves a little bit slowly. Not only are you different, but you are a different reader in different times of your life or for different purposes like, you know, taking your vacation book and then your self-improvement book which you're really looking to study and achieve a goal or breakthrough, whatever.

So I would say books are sometimes utilitarian. They fit a purpose, they fit a need, they fit a niche, they fit a goal that either the author or the publisher or the reader has. And just because something isn't for you doesn't mean it isn't for somebody else. One of my favorite quotes that I got from reading Amy Poehler's autobiography that came in the wake of "Bossypants," she just said, you know, "Why do we all tear each other down? All you can say sometimes is, you know, good for her, not for me," right? And that doesn't mean that it's not good for you. It just means, you know, whatever this person is doing over here, good for them. But it's not my thing. I'm gonna do my thing instead and focus there.

And so when I hear frustrated writers, and sometimes frustrated for a very good cause, writers ask me, you know, "Why did XYZ get published? It's so bad. I hate it." It's very subjective. And all that reinforces for me, being in the industry, is really there are so many different flavors and so many people out there that something may not be for you, but the next thing might be for you. And something that you write may not be for everybody either. You know, that's something else to remember. Of course, everybody wants the work of their heart to be universally loved and well received. But it's important to, sort of, prepare yourself that not everybody's gonna love your thing either. And that's okay. We're all different and the diversity of people who are readers, people who are writers, people who create and consume content is a wonderful thing. At the end of the day, you cannot please everybody and that's one of the surest, I think, ways to fail. Even in a project where you are trying to be as commercial or high concept as possible, you're still not gonna please everybody.

I think being okay with other people doing their thing, you doing your thing, and being hopeful that your thing, just like their thing, is going to find its own audience, I think that's really all we can do. Because it can be so easy to get bogged down in negativity and looking over here at what person X is doing, looking over here at what person Y is doing, looking at the market and seeing what the market is doing. That can really consume a writer. And while I do believe it's important to keep an eye on the market or keep an eye on what the neighbors are doing, it can also be detrimental, I think, to the overall mindset. They found their audience, you are gonna find your audience too. And let's not drag each other down or, you know, it's not a mad scramble to the top. There's room on shelves for your thing as well as this other thing that, maybe, you don't like so much.

So, hopefully this has been a helpful reframe. I don't tend to like to think in that like, "Ugh, who published this?" I mean, have I had that thought? Yes. I am a human being. Is that a helpful thought? At the end of the day, I don't know. So, food for thought. This has been Mary Kole and Good Story Company. Here's to a good story.

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