Great analogy! I hadn't thought about the element of being part of a brand. Maybe you don't own the rights, but the credit can't be taken away. I'm somewhat interested in that line of thought concerning writers in film and TV. I have a friend, Rich Hosek, who wrote for The Fresh Prince of Bel Air among other shows, and I wish he was compensated for his talents rather than the industry standard. Writers settle. I settle. It's complex.
"Writers settle" [for less pay than we might have gotten] "...it's complex."
Ouch. I feel ya. That's one reason it's risky to try to build a career with book packagers and even with a single traditional publisher. One of my mentors, Art Holcomb, emphasizes the importance of developing multiple income streams as a writer. He's got at least seven different kinds of residual income himself, from different kinds of writing (books, plays, film & TV, he's amazing, I'm trying to get him onto Substack).
I'm still perfectly happy with Medium and will be publishing more here in the coming year, because I see it as part of my platform, not an income source. Although it would be great to see a little something from Medium at some point, and if Medium loosens up its revenue sharing with writers, I won't complain!
Working Partners is another big packager! They’ve done Warrior Cats, Beast Quest, The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers, etc. They do take samples from writers!
I’m not sure what exactly happened to Full Fathom Five, but their books are now managed by 3 Black Dot (https://www.3blackdot.com/publishing). Good article abt a relatively unknown part of the business!
Probably one of the best known writers for hire is LJ Smith, author of the Vampire Diaries. She wrote most of the books, but when Alloy wanted to go one way with the TV show and Smith wanted to go another way with the books, she was released from her contract.
My first job out of college was for a book packager on Stuyvesant Place. We did the Best of Gourmet books, some decor books for House and Garden, The Glamour Food book, and a lot of series for people like Silver Burdett. It was fun! Pay sucked though, even more than regular publishing pay, so I wound up leaving NYC. But good times.
Ooops! I wish I'd read this before sending an email to a book publisher this morning! I thought book packagers were companies that worked with other publishers to co-publish their books under the packager's brand name. (So, that is probably one wasted email that I'll never get back!) But thanks for clarifying anyway. I won't make the same mistake again! :) Actually, I don't know if you respond to questions here but, in a nutshell, I'm retired from my award-winning animation career and now self-publishing books (prolifically!) relating to my lifetime experiences relating to Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit. For that I've established my own publishing brand, HIPPYDIPPYGURU, and have produced something like 18 books via KDP over the past 12 months. However, I've done virtually no marketing or promotion with them - as my real passion is in writing, illustrating and (hopefully one day) animated my ideas. So, I'm wondering how/if I might find an agent or distributor for my books, so I can keep on creating? I'm very new to all this you see, and my energies are definitely all creative, not marketing. So, any thoughts, Kate? To check out what I'm talking about... http://www.hippydippyguru.com/books.html Thanks! :)
Would you consider outfits like Stratemeyer Syndicate (Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew) to have been a packager? I remember a friend of mine did a bunch of "Sweet Valley High" books when she was starting her career (she's now a successful author under her own name.) What about "shared universe" publishers like Mountaindale & Chris Kennedy? Where do they fall on the spectrum?
Well, according to Wikipedia, the Stratemeyer Syndicate was the first book packager! You learn something new every day. In general, though, some things like the Hardy Boys etc are franchises and sometimes a specific company or a traditional publisher has the license to make more of those books. Random House just bought the Boxcar Children IP from Albert Whitman Co. The content doesn't make a venue a book packager--it's function does, if that makes sense.
It does. I was approached by a packager (who shall remain nameless) to create graphic novels from their extremely niche IP, but although they are VERY successful with it (which astonishes me, but shows what I know) I couldn't figure out how to convert it into a compelling visual format. So I had to turn them down. This is the SECOND time this has happened to me, by the way. Everyone wants to turn their IP into a graphic novel, but reality quickly sets in when I explain the costs and time involved.
From 1992 to approximately 2005, my wife and I were “book packagers” putting together biographical and subject matter encyclopedias for publishers ... a very different operation than what you’re describing. We’d get a concept and a deadline and a contract with fixed payments at intervals, and we basically did the rest: found an advisory board, built the topic list, and then hired (and edited) all the writers who contributed. It was a really great gig for a while. When Wikipedia came along we thought, oh crap, we’re done for, but we weren’t at least not yet. Publishers were still selling our books to libraries, and the rising tide of the internet choked out this market slower than we expected. But eventually it became an impossible game, competing against free, and we got out.
It kinda sounds awful to work for a book packager. I want to own my books!
I hear you!! That's my default, too. But it's a little like an illustrator drawing Batman. They don't own Batman, but it might be a good gig for them.
Great analogy! I hadn't thought about the element of being part of a brand. Maybe you don't own the rights, but the credit can't be taken away. I'm somewhat interested in that line of thought concerning writers in film and TV. I have a friend, Rich Hosek, who wrote for The Fresh Prince of Bel Air among other shows, and I wish he was compensated for his talents rather than the industry standard. Writers settle. I settle. It's complex.
"Writers settle" [for less pay than we might have gotten] "...it's complex."
Ouch. I feel ya. That's one reason it's risky to try to build a career with book packagers and even with a single traditional publisher. One of my mentors, Art Holcomb, emphasizes the importance of developing multiple income streams as a writer. He's got at least seven different kinds of residual income himself, from different kinds of writing (books, plays, film & TV, he's amazing, I'm trying to get him onto Substack).
I'm still perfectly happy with Medium and will be publishing more here in the coming year, because I see it as part of my platform, not an income source. Although it would be great to see a little something from Medium at some point, and if Medium loosens up its revenue sharing with writers, I won't complain!
Working Partners is another big packager! They’ve done Warrior Cats, Beast Quest, The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers, etc. They do take samples from writers!
I’m not sure what exactly happened to Full Fathom Five, but their books are now managed by 3 Black Dot (https://www.3blackdot.com/publishing). Good article abt a relatively unknown part of the business!
Working for a book packager sounds like translating a book; you may not get your name on the cover, work for hire, etc.
Yep, lots of overlap there
Probably one of the best known writers for hire is LJ Smith, author of the Vampire Diaries. She wrote most of the books, but when Alloy wanted to go one way with the TV show and Smith wanted to go another way with the books, she was released from her contract.
My first job out of college was for a book packager on Stuyvesant Place. We did the Best of Gourmet books, some decor books for House and Garden, The Glamour Food book, and a lot of series for people like Silver Burdett. It was fun! Pay sucked though, even more than regular publishing pay, so I wound up leaving NYC. But good times.
Fascinating. I’ve never heard of this terminology as a book packager. Thanks for sharing.
Ooops! I wish I'd read this before sending an email to a book publisher this morning! I thought book packagers were companies that worked with other publishers to co-publish their books under the packager's brand name. (So, that is probably one wasted email that I'll never get back!) But thanks for clarifying anyway. I won't make the same mistake again! :) Actually, I don't know if you respond to questions here but, in a nutshell, I'm retired from my award-winning animation career and now self-publishing books (prolifically!) relating to my lifetime experiences relating to Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit. For that I've established my own publishing brand, HIPPYDIPPYGURU, and have produced something like 18 books via KDP over the past 12 months. However, I've done virtually no marketing or promotion with them - as my real passion is in writing, illustrating and (hopefully one day) animated my ideas. So, I'm wondering how/if I might find an agent or distributor for my books, so I can keep on creating? I'm very new to all this you see, and my energies are definitely all creative, not marketing. So, any thoughts, Kate? To check out what I'm talking about... http://www.hippydippyguru.com/books.html Thanks! :)
Hi Kate:
Great article. Do you know where I can find a form of book packager agreement to answer my further questions about the business model? -Connie
I'm sorry, I don't. These aren't usually publicly available.
Would you consider outfits like Stratemeyer Syndicate (Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew) to have been a packager? I remember a friend of mine did a bunch of "Sweet Valley High" books when she was starting her career (she's now a successful author under her own name.) What about "shared universe" publishers like Mountaindale & Chris Kennedy? Where do they fall on the spectrum?
Well, according to Wikipedia, the Stratemeyer Syndicate was the first book packager! You learn something new every day. In general, though, some things like the Hardy Boys etc are franchises and sometimes a specific company or a traditional publisher has the license to make more of those books. Random House just bought the Boxcar Children IP from Albert Whitman Co. The content doesn't make a venue a book packager--it's function does, if that makes sense.
It does. I was approached by a packager (who shall remain nameless) to create graphic novels from their extremely niche IP, but although they are VERY successful with it (which astonishes me, but shows what I know) I couldn't figure out how to convert it into a compelling visual format. So I had to turn them down. This is the SECOND time this has happened to me, by the way. Everyone wants to turn their IP into a graphic novel, but reality quickly sets in when I explain the costs and time involved.
That is the TRUTH. GNs are a HUGE undertaking and not everything can be made into sequential art!!
From 1992 to approximately 2005, my wife and I were “book packagers” putting together biographical and subject matter encyclopedias for publishers ... a very different operation than what you’re describing. We’d get a concept and a deadline and a contract with fixed payments at intervals, and we basically did the rest: found an advisory board, built the topic list, and then hired (and edited) all the writers who contributed. It was a really great gig for a while. When Wikipedia came along we thought, oh crap, we’re done for, but we weren’t at least not yet. Publishers were still selling our books to libraries, and the rising tide of the internet choked out this market slower than we expected. But eventually it became an impossible game, competing against free, and we got out.
Such a helpful article! I'm thinking of starting my own book packaging business.