I Write About More Than Just Sex

My 19th book is about the publishing industry

I’m taking a little break from writing about sex to introduce my 19th(!) book, a passion project I’ve been researching for more than 40 years, ever since I signed my first book contract in 1980. It’s The Untold Story of Books: A Writer’s History of Book Publishing (July release from Unnamed Press of Los Angeles).

Based on my 45 years as an author, it traces the evolution of publishing from Gutenberg to today, emphasizing the fraught transition from 20th-century industrial publishing to digital publishing in the 21st. That shift has brought authors some promise but much peril.

The Promise

No more gatekeepers! No agents and publishers rejecting manuscripts anymore. Yay! Anyone can self-publish anything, and sell it on Amazon. Indeed, this model, self-publishing e-books through Amazon Publishing/Kindle Direct, can work well, but….

The Peril

Self-publishing works best for a small fraction of authors who write romance fiction or mystery/thrillers, and publish at least one title a year, and promote them all like crazy. For other authors, self-publishing is usually disappointing. Four out of five self-published titles (80 percent) sell fewer than 100 copies. So, no gatekeepers, but usually next to no sales either.

More Peril

Back in 1980 when I published my first book, U.S. publishers released 45,000 titles. Today, publishers and self-publishers release 2 million books a year. Since 1980, the U.S. population has increased by 45 percent, but book releases have soared 4400 percent. Put another way, during the entire 20th century, American publishers released 2.5 million titles. Today, publishers and self-publishers release that many new books every year or two.

The Result

New books have become snowflakes in Antarctica. It’s easier than ever to publish books. But harder than ever to promote them and get any attention. Consequently, sales per title have plummeted. And authors’ incomes have fallen. According to Authors Guild surveys, since 2009, non-bestselling authors—99.9 percent of book writers—have seen their book incomes drop by half.

Few authors, aspiring or published, and few book lovers are aware of the enormous changes in publishing over the past 30 years. That’s why I spent 18 years, on and off, writing The Untold Story of Books, to provide historically informed perspective on the evolution of the book business, and to clue authors into the daunting world of publishing today.

Here’s what some early readers have said:

“Entertaining, fascinating, deeply researched, and crisply written, The Untold Story of Books is full of surprises. I worked in publishing for thirty years and was amazed how much I learned about the industry. No other book provides such a comprehensive and witty overview. The Untold Story of Books is a must-read for authors, aspiring authors, and anyone who loves books. The publishing industry is often shrouded in mystery. This book lifts the veil and provides a fresh, new, compelling perspective.”—Mark Chimsky, former editorial director of Harper San Francisco, former director of trade paperbacks at Little Brown, and former editor-in-chief of the trade paperback division at Macmillan.

“Whether you’re an author who’s been turned down by publishers, or one whose publisher has been swallowed up by one of the Big Five, or a reader who mistakenly thought he knew something about the publishing industry (and I’ve been all three), you’ll find a feast of information in The Untold Story of Books. And it’s served up nicely spiced with wit, irony, and a dash of hope.” —Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight, King Leopold’s Ghost, and other books.

“I love this book! Castleman has created a unique, highly readable title geared toward libraries, authors, book groups, and dedicated, curious readers. It’s delightful the way he relates the history of the technological innovations that have propelled book publishing. Castleman’s concept of the three epochs of publishing works very well. One of my favorite elements is the way he explains the economics of publishing from a writer's point of view. It’s very clear and you don’t have to be a math whiz to follow it. I’ll be telling many people about The Untold Story of Books. It’s a tremendous contribution.” —Laura Lent, former chief of collections, San Francisco Public Library (retired).

“The untold story of book publishing has now been told. This book should be required reading for anyone with the pluck to undertake book writing today. It’s lucid, witty, comprehensive, and sometimes frightening. I wish I’d had the benefit of Castleman’s analysis years ago.” —Frank Viviano, author of Blood Washes Blood.

The Untold Story of Books can be pre-ordered now from Amazon or Bookshop.org.

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