This episode is presented by Mercury, the banking platform that makes this show possible. I can’t imagine trying to run my business without them. Learn more at https://mercury.com Do you ever wonder how the book publishing industry works? How does the CEO of a top-five publishing house even think? That's what this episode is all about. My guest is Jon Yaged. He runs Macmillan, which is one of the top five publishing houses. I asked him to talk to me like I'm a young writer who has never published a book before. And that's what he did. If you're interested in improving your writing, if you want to be a super successful writer and understand how this industry works, then you're going to like this episode. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:01 Consolidation in book publishing 00:04:01 Are celebrity books the new trend 00:07:57 How many books get published 00:09:48 How to get your book published 00:10:43 Deciding what to focus on 00:14:15 Why publishing stays in New York 00:16:26 Can data and algorithms find great books 00:19:03 Predictability vs creativity 00:27:06 The problem with formulas 00:29:33 Should authors push back on publishers 00:31:11 The economics of a book deal 00:36:42 What makes sequels work 00:42:21 Why children's books are evergreen 00:47:30 Why Waterstones is so succesful 00:48:42 American vs European book covers 00:50:25 AI in publishing 00:54:40 What if AI wrote my book 01:00:57 How books get printed and shipped 01:02:53 Who should self-publish 01:04:52 What matters in book marketing 01:08:16 Finance vs cultural mission 01:09:52 What a publishing CEO does 01:11:06 AI vs human-narrated audiobooks 01:15:17 The literacy crisis 01:18:20 Are publisher catalogs like venture portfolios 01:19:08 How Macmillan makes money 01:21:17 What makes Macmillan unique *About the host* Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. *Follow me* Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell