What TikTok Gets Wrong About the History of Publishing

things to know for future videos:

- b&n was declining and borders was gone, but independent bookstores have been on the rise for the past few years! where people shop is shifting overall.

- so you can be hired to write a novel the same way you can write a nonfic book on partial. it's called IP, or intellectual property. you're asked to apply with a chapter sample or two and then are hired at a much lower rate to write the full book, whose idea was generated by the publisher. scholastic does this a lot for original content, for instance; and pretty much any tie-in novel for a larger entity (d&d, marvel, etc.) is an IP book.

really enjoyed the video!

All of this is precisely why self publishing becoming more accessible is absolutely the best thing that could happen.

I am also always there in the shadows watching.

There are so many awesome points in this video. I’m so frustrated about the judgement of what others enjoy reading, and also judgement about people not reading… ergh. If there was a real impact on an industry/the environment a la fast fashion, it might be worth a conversation, but really I swear half the people that moan about this stuff are just salty they’ve never been able to write a book/get published because of course theirs would be the next great gift to literature.
Love you Abby, have a wonderful festive season xx

Sing it Sister! I'm an author and if I had a dime for every time someone made a comment about the fact that I write romance fiction, (one of the male doctors I work with was absolutely scandalized that I write books that have sex in them LOL) well I'd be able to quit my day job. Thanks for another awesome video! 🙂

But oxford commas lend much needed clarity! How could they be so vile?

I congratulate you for the high quality videos you produce, especially this one. The extensive research is evident and your work as always is very high quality. Thank you for defending authors and for describing the process of publishing. Good luck with your work.😊

It's always amusing to me when people try to pretend that women weren't writing and reading novels from the start. I thought that was part of the moral panic about novels in the first place

If we are getting people reading and the publishers are making things right, I’m considering things a win. Let TikTok influence book buying. People addicted to books is a good thing even if they’re not “classic literature”

I happily read all this stuff. But I’m also a voracious consumer of AO3…you referencing ao3 tickled me 😊😅

Not to be rude but I feel like you missed the point of the “fast fashion” criticisms. And finger wagging to people by saying “you don’t understand how publishing works” to dismiss the these growing critiques against the industry is pretty condescending.

So I studied theatre with a focus on Shakespeare because apparently wanted to major in the most useless thing possible. Actually it was because I have cerebral palsy and I learned at an early age if I always show that I am quite smart I have a better chance of being treated like a real person. Also I really love Shakespeare, that being said I love fanfiction. I love that we do have a way to escape because sometimes we really that. I love your videos thank you for your work.

ooh yeah, I took a class on 19th century literature at the start of the year and the first section had a heavy focus on the equivalents of dime novels and penny dreadfuls and serialised literature. there was a really good paper I read on it too, I want to read it again now that I'm not under time pressure. there was a very similar response in the uk too, and there was a lot of pushback on serialised literature to do with its 'moral standing', as a lot of the stories featured something considered 'immoral'. which tbh, I don't think those pushing back knew how to critically think, because if the story didn't have a conflict in it it wouldn't be a story!

This sounds alot like how the comic book industry started, where they complied newspaper strips, into the "book". I think that's where Charleston Comic started, which then became DC Comics. Pleas fact me.

I'm a great lover of big, thick, epic fantasy that takes years to write and has 15 main characters interweaving plotlines over a large world and a dozen books. But it takes commitment to involve yourself in that kind of read. Sometimes it's nice to sit down to a fun book that you can reasonably trust to deliver an entertaining story line with a predictably happy ending in 200 pages.

I actually had to go on Amazon and read the synopsis of Iron Flame to remember that I had read the book. Total masterpiece, obviously :D

In fairness, the publishing industry's willingness to get behind terrible, problematic fanfic with the serial numbers filed off and then market it aggressively, directly to women does lend itself to believing this idea that bad writing, particularly from women, is being rewarded at a higher rate now than it ever has before. Frustrating to the femme authors that are still working on their writing because they don't want to submit trash, not to mention all the femme authors with other insersectional identities that make being seen in the industry so hard (ya know, cos of racism, homophobia, ableism and all the other joyous reasons).
Go read Raybearer, Redemptor and Iron Widow. THOSE are books worth buying. Besides, they're all going to be adapted into tv and film, so may as well get in on the ground floor. If Netflix does it right, Raybearer will raise their profile ENORMOUSLY. Iron Widow is destined for a film franchise, an actual good one.

Your points on first to second novel are spot on! The hope of the publisher is that after gaining experience in the writing, editing, and revisions on the first book, the author will have increased their skills and critical eye so it will take less time to edit/push through the next novel.

On George R.R. Martin.: He has always been a slow writer. He said before that he wouldn't announce he was writing a book, even to his friends until it was done because he was that slow. The HBO thing simply outpaced his writing speed.

I work at a historical society in the press/publishing department and let me tell you…it’s a ton of work. We do non-fiction and historical fiction children’s books, and I have massive respect for smaller indie publishers. It’s totally a predatory business sometimes, but the work that an author puts into a book is insane.

We getting video game patches for movies AND books now. DANG.

The snobbery part of the video ("weakens the intellect" etc) is the exact tone one of my Literature(!) professors in university explained the concept of the dime novel to us, that they were "trashy books for poor and lower class people, mostly women". The implied classism (and misogyny) in that was obviously lost on him, but since this is the same professor who told us about women regularly fainting because of the torture device that is the corset, we shall take his input with a heap of salt.

Thank you so much for this video. Over the past few months my #4 son and i have talked about turning his "worlds" into books. He is a 15 year old high functioning autistic child with ADHD and mild cerebral palsy. While he scores very high on iq test...because of his other peculiarities more mainstream jobs are not going to work for him. BUT he has AMAZING world building and storytelling abilities. We homeschool so i have been looking into programs that teach writing and if you research publishing...well you will be 2 times more confused. We were talking about really getting down to business after the first of the year chaos ends.. and here you are...
Thank you again.

Amazing. Love your deep dives. And your memes. This is what I am here for.

The author of The Hardy Boys books, FW Dixon, was a pseudonym. My husband's great uncle Leslie MacFarlane wrote the first 14 books under a contract with the publisher. He received $150 per book and NO ROYALITIES. Those books sold millions of copies and nobody ever knew. True story.

can anyone help me identify the music in the first minute and a half of this video?

If a book, or really any product, explodes over the Internet I am automatically put off.

History doesn't repeat, but it does often rhyme or so I'm told. 😮‍💨

As an only historical Romance, paranormal romance and romantasy reader I prefer indie self published authors. They will put out books every few months vs 1 book per year. Yes there may be a typo or 2 but in general they are well written and of decent length. I am voracious and will read a full book in a day or 2. I don’t want to wait an entire year for 1 book. I always look specifically for romance authors that have a large catalogue and all the stories are intertwined. Major publishing companies dont and won’t do that. Indie publishing has changed the game and for voracious reader like me who don’t watch tv or movies at all but spend all their time in a book it is perfect. Also KU is fantastic for certain genres and although I may have found an author on KU if I like them I will end up reading their entire backlog in order then buying all future books they come out with.

Sure Ice Planet Barbarians is formulaic but the world-building really rivals anything written in sci-fi. It's like the smut is just a vector for a really imaginative world.

I fell like this is a good place to bring up Jill Bearup accidental, written by peer pressure book 'Just Stab Me Now'🤣

Torture Dumpster is the icon of this video. That said, maybe someone will turn interpret the Milliner’s Apprentice into a web series

This is all very valid and interesting, I think the main thing people were complaining about though about the rushed release of Iron Flame was the fact that 75% of the books were misprints, and there were like 8 DIFFERENT kinds of misprints. Missing chapters, repeating chapters, crooked spine titles (as in halfway across the front cover crooked), flat out the wrong title on the spine, etc etc etc...

Am I the only one who thinks we need a Trashy Victorian Dime Novel Book Club?

where can i find The Spring Street Milliner's Apprentice online?

Regarding the use of recycled paper, that reduces the longevity of books. It’s adding unknown and potentially acidic content that will break down the book over time. If I’m not thinking about the conservation of a book, that’s not an issue. However, there are often books I buy to last a lifetime or longer. Everything is cyclical, using different paper was tried in the 70s and 80s and was mostly abandoned.

Hey Abby. Big fan for years, but after 20+ books published and a Masters in Publishing this video contains such inaccurate information (not about Shien - I trust your expertise on fadt fashion for certain) that I don't know where to begin. Here is American Publishing heading for a dangerous monopsony and all is well in fiction? This video is misleading in many places, and appealing to 'I have a friend who speaks Gaelic' sort of logic is beneath you, girl! Ouch.

I was under the impression when I read the title that this would be about how readers just... Mindlessly read, if that makes any sense? Like example, I've seen booktokers who put self-imposed quotas on themselves just so they can say "I've read this many in one week." Such speed often results to mischaracterizations and misunderstanding the plot in general (and sometimes overhyping low quality writing), which for me as a fandom person just... IRKS me. I don't like it when people treat reading books like numbers and not for the genuine love of reading and exploring those worlds.

I'm still glad the video discussed what it did, Abby, because comparing indie publishers to fast fashion IS DEFINITELY unfair, especially in an industry that's significantly reduced its carbon footprint. And you do touch on the predatory publishing practices which does connect it to my initial impression haha.

Anyway my tldr here is basically as a consumer of books I simply don't like it when books are treated as metrics even if it helps publishers know what the current trends are, and not much comment on the industry itself on my end. But the video definitely is enlightening on how it works.

It sounds like the new Fourth Wing book (like most booktok books) isn't "fast fashion", but "junk food". It's not killing the book publishing industry, but you're probably not going to get much from reading it, just like countless books that came before.

I have issue with "AI" written books, and I'm a bit put out by premium special edition books at premium prices with spelling errors and misprints in them (my precious discworld books, I'm looking at you). That sucks, but I'm all for ANYTHING that gets books into hands. Read what makes you happy!

Also physical books are a massive carbon sink (I mean, until they're eaten by bugs or rot). I'm saving the world by hoarding books! Trees are planted, grow, absorb carbon, then they cut down trees (thinking about sustainable forestry here) and turn them into paper, where the carbon stays, they live on my shelf foreverandeverandever and the forestry company plants more trees! Ta da! Depending on where the paper is made it might be made using sustainable power (solar, wind etc) so then you just have the hideous amount of water and bleach needed and the ink to think about. In fast fashion, they're making clothes out of plastic, and for the lifetime of that garment (not long) it sheds microplastics and when it's thrown away it's just a big ol' plastic cloth.

That all ignores the human aspect in the manufacture, but it's really not comparable even without it, and super not comparable with it!

And it's like the world has forgotten mills and boon! My sister used to run a second hand book shop and the number of those things donated was WILD.

"To act like a mass publication of a mediocre work of fiction . . . is somehow single-handedly destroying the publishing industry, as well as the American literature legacy as a whole—It's so [clearly the most traditional thing of all]."

ftfy XD

I came for the clothing history, but today I was treated to book history too. It was really interesting to hear about your experience in publishing. I co-authored a book that came out back in 2022 called Talking Threads: Costume Design for Entertainment Art - we did not get an advance nor have I seen a royalty check yet even though I know for a fact we sold out of our first print run. Definitely going to have to go back and look at my contract now.

1. I love the hair
2. "Shameless" = 100% perfect
3. Jill Bearup's "Just Stab Me Now" saga
4. Ice Planet Barbarians 💙

I am living for the spoon mike. Its such a nice little thing.

I have more issue with a few high profile authors who use ghostwriters but won't admit it and plop their name on someone else's work.
I think some of the "fast fashion" aspects of publishing always happens. Hunger Games is a hit- tons of quickly put out dystopian books. Twilights hot- vampire ya galore.

Why is everything a series nowadays? i want to read standalones by a variety of authors and different stories/themes instead of being commited to a single author and series for years!

I love the mini-mic on a random item look, that's going around! 😝😁❤️

I can't tell how you look different but you are looking lovely at the moment