Written by Morgan Canaan, Writing Atlas Fellow
In early February, Plympton Story Atlas Fellows met with Helen Thomaides, Assistant Editor at W.W. Norton and former Plympton Fellow, to learn how aspiring editors and writers might breach the publishing industry’s gate-kept exterior. She detailed her career path and average day at work before graciously answering questions from Fellows.
Helen, who graduated from Stanford in 2017 with a BA in English Literature and Italian Studies, has interned at Folio Literary and New Leaf Literary. For her, it’s a thrill to be able to “read for a living,” but she advised eager Fellows to assess whether they’d be willing to read for work instead of pleasure. While reading for work, editors must gauge a book’s commercial viability alongside personal enjoyment. The market is always in mind.
A book’s value is far less romanticized once it enters the publishing marketplace; a book is worth the money it might make. When asked how to assess a manuscript’s monetary value, Helen pointed to the importance of being well-read. Editors must know the market performance of “comp titles,” contemporary books comparative in style or theme to a new manuscript, which aid in estimating the manuscript’s potential worth.
Once ready to make a bid, Helen explained how a manuscript might be acquired: if the project goes to auction, the setup might be a “best-bids” auction, in which publishing houses are blind to competing houses, or an auction in rounds, in which their competition is visible. Manuscripts which are “polished” and “current to the moment” often receive higher bids, though a lot depends on genre.
When asked if she’d ever advocate for a manuscript she didn’t enjoy but believed could be commercially successful, Helen explained that both personal investment in a story and belief in its marketability must be present. Editors typically spend too much time with a book to dislike it, but more importantly, Helen added, “You have to be enthusiastic about a title or nobody else will be.”
Helen explained that the main driving force behind the publishing industry is enthusiastic persuasion. After a writer convinces an agent of their work’s merit, the agent must convince the publishing company, the publishing company must convince the booksellers, and the booksellers must convince you, the reader.
But this advocacy often relies on shared taste, which has historically put writers of marginalized backgrounds at a disadvantage. The reality is that most of today’s published books are by white authors. Though recently there has been an increase in literary prizes awarded to writers of color, Helen pointed out that this trend may contribute to the illusion that diversity in authorship is increasing more rapidly than it is, referencing the New York Times article "Just How White Is the Book Industry?”
Beyond the question of how to enter the publishing industry practically— given the limited, underpaid, yet ever-essential internships available only to a privileged few— lies the question of how to enter the publishing industry ethically, given its failures.
But working to repair the publishing industry’s failings requires an understanding of its mechanics. With her vast publishing knowledge, Helen empowered Plympton Fellows to approach the industry with a deeper awareness of its demands and downfalls. As a former Plympton Fellow herself, she encouraged Fellows that the skills they’re honing with Plympton, specifically being able to “distill a book into a few sentences to capture its essence,” are “crucial” for editorial positions. With Helen’s insight alongside inspiration from Plympton’s own creative approach to publishing, Fellows were energized to shape a future publishing industry which is more imaginative, inclusive, and open to change.