The Bookseller.com

7th September 2008

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'Careless' publishers diminish the biography

30.06.08

Publishers are criticised for prefering sales over quality in a piece about biography writing in the Guardian. Though sales are holding up, "it is when you look at the quality of work produced rather than the number of books sold that you start to fear for the health of [the] genre," writes Kathryn Hughes.

Publishers are the problem. According to literary agent Andrew Lownie, who runs the Biographers' Club (a networking organisation for practitioners), it's because the power in publishing companies has decisively passed from the commissioning editors to the sales people. "Their thinking is, if something was once a hit, then let's try it again, even though clearly there's a law of diminishing returns. Anything new or different is looked on with suspicion."

Yet, despite this gloomy picture of careless publishers lashing on inexperienced writers, there are signs that something important is about to happen in biography, adds Hughes.

Guardian

Book biography Kathryn Hughes