Affirmation from Peers

While there are many different awards in Hollywood, the pinnacle of achievement in the motion picture industry is to receive an Oscar. That little gold statue is highly prized because the affirmation comes from peers. While there are other awards which are appreciated, the award from industry professionals makes a huge difference.

Watching this process, I started thinking about what equivalent we have in the book publishing world. In some ways, when an author get his book listed on the New York Times list, that is something they carry with them throughout their career. They are introduced as “a New York Times bestselling author.”

Ok, that is great for authors but what about publishers? The reality is that many readers aren't even aware of who published a particular book. They recall the author and the title of the book but don't remember who published it. As someone in the publishing world, I do look at a book to see who published it and if it is a publisher that I know or not.

In the publishing world, Publishers Weekly is the news magazine publishing professionals, authors, librarians and booksellers read to follow the world of books. In this week's issue (which I haven't received in the mail yet since it takes longer), Publishers Weekly compiled a list of the fast-growing independent publishers. Morgan James Publishing was the seventh publisher on the small list of 11 different companies.


For almost two years, I've been working as an acquisitions editor at Morgan James. It was exciting and an affirmation from our peers to make this small list. You can read the complete article called Shaking It Up (follow the link). The online version looks a bit different from the magazine version. You can see the magazine version here.


It has been exciting and fun for me to help other authors get their books into the bookstores through my work at Morgan James. I explained many details about Morgan James in this article or this one. You can download these interviewed to your computer and listen to them.


This coming week I will be with some of my colleagues from Morgan James at Author 101 University in Los Angeles. I look forward to meeting with many new writers at this conference. If you can't make this event, then I hope to see you at the Author 101 University in the fall (October 23–26). The fall event will also be in Los Angeles at the Westin Hotel—right down the street from the Los Angeles airport.


Many times we receive little affirmation from our peers in the publishing world. I'm celebrating that Morgan James has made this list of the Fastest-Growing Indie Publishers.