Vintage Books Uses ‘New Approach’ to Crashing a Book Project
In order to accomplish the ambitious task, Vintage had to first convince the Iraq Study Group (ISG) of Vintage’s competence and capabilities. The publisher, known for such smash hits as Bill Clinton’s “My Life” and Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code,” bid against three other companies for the right to publish this title. Vintage won, Miller says he was informed, for “our [quick] turnaround time, and that we thought we could ship … more copies than the other [bidders]. Their goal was to get [the book] out widely, and that we gave them the best chance of doing that.” Promising quick results and widespread distribution may have won the ISG’s faith, but delivering on that pledge was an undertaking Vintage had never encountered before.
Matt Steinmetz is the publisher and brand director of Publishing Executive.