Iraq Study Group Report gets out in a hurry
Most authors complain about the long, slow torture that is the publishing process, with publishers committed to their spring and fall seasons like farmers, and the lag between signed contract and finished book often resembling the painful copying of sacred texts by 10th century monks.
When the book is important and newsworthy enough, however — not to mention a guaranteed bestseller — that process can be significantly condensed. Like, down to 24 hours.
According to the Los Angeles Times, that’s the amount of time it took Vintage in the U.S. to proofread and typeset The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward — A New Approach and get it into print. They got the hotly anticipated report on Friday, and had books by Saturday afternoon.
By midafternoon, Vintage had gone back to press for a second printing. Random House does not release numbers on its print runs, but a spokesman said by e-mail that many stores in the Washington, D.C., area had sold out of the book “instantly and ordered more.”
The lesson here? When it comes to publishing fast, war can be an excellent motivator.
Related links:
Read the Los Angeles Times story here
Read the entire Iraq Study Group report here
