Publishing

No Such Thing as a Perfect Book

The Not-So-Perfect Book

When you talk to an editor inevitably you will find that he or sheold books is trying desperately to make the perfect book. It takes a while to convince an editor that perfection is in the eye of the beholder–

  • to an editor, a perfect book is one with no language errors
  • to a designer, a perfect book is aesthetically pleasing
  • to a sales rep, a perfect book is one that sells and stays sold
  • to the finance folks, it’s one that sells and makes money at the same time
  • to the company president, a perfect book is one that does all of those things
  • to the only one who counts–the customer–it’s a book that meets his or her needs.

There’s no such thing as a perfect book. There’s only a book that serves our customers. If it serves the customer then it’s perfect to me.

Liz Strauss

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