Magic Words at Work by Howard Kaminsky & Alexandra Penney

Author:Howard Kaminsky & Alexandra Penney
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780767918060
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2004-02-09T16:00:00+00:00

THUMBS CAN BE

PRETTY GOOD RULERS

Some years back, when Howard was the president of a publishing company, he got involved in a big auction for a first novel. Everybody in the house loved the book. So did the people in four other publishing houses, who wanted it badly enough to push up the price. For two days, the bids went back and forth and the price climbed higher and higher. Finally, the price went over a million dollars.

While Howard's company bid up the book, he had been constantly revising the profit-and-loss statements to reflect the ever-increasing advance. Toward the end of the second day, he began to think they'd have to pull out. He called a meeting of his key associates in the conference room.

“I don't want to let this book go,” he said, “but the numbers are too tough.” He passed around copies of the latest P&L.

Then Ben, the editorial director, made a suggestion. Ben had been a top editor at three publishing houses and had more experience than anyone else at the company. He had also been the first person Howard had hired after landing the top job. Ben picked up the P&L statement and suggested, “Throw this piece of paper out.”

Ben pointed out that the numbers were meaningless. “We've been flying blind since yesterday afternoon,” he said. “This is all about the collective instinct and wisdom of this group. I believe that this book will be a huge seller. We all do. And none of us think that this is a one-book author. We can't afford to lose the book, so here's what I suggest. We bump up our last offer by two hundred thousand and knock out the competition. And we add a clause giving a five-hundred-thousand floor with ten percent topping on the author's next book.”

After clearing the offer with the chairman, Howard made the bid. His company won the book, and it was the year's biggest seller. Their bid also made it possible for them to buy the author's next book, which had even higher sales.

Workmen often use their thumb to make rough measurements. The more experienced the worker, the more likely that the rule of thumb was as good as the inches carefully marked out on a strip of wood. Just as there's nothing mystical about the ability to gauge length with a thumb, there's nothing otherworldly about what people call instinct. They can't explain the source of their conviction, because it doesn't come from one thing—it comes from years of experience about how best to do their job. Howard, surrounded by editors who had spent years learning their craft, decided to follow their instincts—and his own. The outcome taught him that the thumb can be a pretty good ruler.

Alexandra had a similar experience when she was editing a major magazine. The cover she had chosen for a particular issue was questioned by the business side. “Too controversial,” they said. And they sent the cover out to a firm that conducted focus groups. The focus groups did not weigh in with Alexandra.

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