Writers Tricks of the Trade VOLUME 8, ISSUE 4 | Page 37

Hollywood Gets Book Publishing
Wrong
M ORGAN S T . J AMES
A SCENE FROM “Y OUNGER ,” STARRING S UTTON F OSTER , LEFT . C REDIT TV L AND
Anyone in our industry from authors to editors to publishers often let out a little groan when watching
how Hollywood depicts book publishing. It may have been all limos and assistants and first class hotel
accommodations for a book tour set up by the publisher’s publicist years ago, but for most that isn’t the
current situation.
Of course, that doesn’t make for a glamorous depiction of our chosen field on the big or small (TV)
screen, so pile on the schmaltz, the mansions and the staff. Some “A-Listers” still enjoy that life but for
most of us that isn’t the case at all.
Recently I came across a New York Times essay by Sloane Crosley on just that topic entitled How Hol-
lywood Gets the Publishing Industry Wrong
Here are a few excerpts and if you want to read the full article, go to
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/books/review/hollywood-publishing-industry-younger.html
H OW A PUBLISHING HOUSE IS DEPICTED IN THE
SERIES “Y OUNGER ”
“In the charming series “Younger,”
Miriam Shor plays Diana Trout, the
head of marketing at a boutique publish-
ing house. Diana has an award on her
W INTER 2019
desk from “the London lit fair,” which
absolutely no one calls it. As the seasons
unfurl, the nonsense piles up: Someone
from publicity asks what “PEN” stands
for; editors have publicists; publishing
houses sell books to other publishing
P AGE 32
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE