How to Read Like a Book Publisher

Posted on by eraserheadpress

There are many ways to read a book. Reading for enjoyment and reading for education are two approaches one might take. As a book publisher, when I read books, I analyze the qualities that sell them. With reading unpublished manuscripts and published books alike, I ask myself the following series of questions:

  1. What is this book about?
  2. How is this book unique?
  3. Is it interesting? How?
  4. What sort of emotional impact does this book have on me?
  5. What are my favorite lines from this book?
  6. What is my favorite imagery from this book?
  7. Who are my favorite characters in this book and why?
  8. What keywords, categories and genres would I use to describe this book?
  9. Who is this book for? Where can I find them? Are they the type of people I want to connect with?
  10. What is this author like? Are they easy to work with?
  11. What sort of platform does this author have? What communities are they involved in?
  12. What is the author’s previous publishing experience and sales history?
  13. How excited am I to talk to people about this book?

I find the answers to these questions help guide me when deciding what books to publish. Perhaps these questions might help you if you are a reviewer or a writer as well. What do you think? Let me know in the comments how you read books and if there are any particular questions you ask yourself.

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Rose O’Keefe is an editor, publisher, community organizer, and event director. She is the owner of Eraserhead Press, the leading publishing house of bizarro fiction and a recipient of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) Specialty Press Award. Under O’Keefe’s direction, Eraserhead Press, founded in 1999, has published over four hundred titles through four publishing imprints and developed an international cult following for its cutting-edge weird fiction which has been praised by The Guardian, The Washington Post, Boing Boing, NPR, and Cracked.com, among others. She frequently hosts writer’s gatherings, writing retreats on the Oregon Coast, writing workshops, reading events, and the convention/art event, BizarroCon. In addition to publishing, she’s loves homebrewing, ecstatic dance, Argentine tango, cult films, ukulele, punk DIY culture and creative weirdos of all types. She lives in Portland, OR.