StreetLib USA welcomes Megan Hustad,
a guide for the publishing professionals behind StreetLib Market
Have you read about StreetLib Market? Isn’t that the best news!? We’ve been working hard on this solution. Turning this idea into reality also involved welcoming a new member in our tribe: Megan Hustad. She’ll be sharing with you the evolution of our newest tool, and also support and lead the community of publishing pros alongside StreetLib Market’s project manager, Stefano Tombolini.
She joined our US team, working closely with its CEO, Giacomo D’Angelo, bringing with her a deep understanding of the editing world in the United States. Megan worked as an editor in-house for five years, starting as an editorial assistant at Random House and working her way up to full editor. Her last position at a traditional publisher was at Basic Books and Counterpoint Press. Basic Books is still going strong, Counterpoint was spun off from the Perseus Books Group that owned it at the time. For the last twelve years she’s worked with author clients who hire her independently; about half already have book deals when they hire her, the other half do not.
Megan is now answering our questions for you to get to know her a little better.
What lead you from editing in traditional publishing houses to working with us today on StreetLib Market?
I left my job at Basic because I wanted to write books and edit freelance. I didn’t realize at the time that I was part of a larger movement toward more book publishing professionals choosing to work independently. At the time all I wanted was to spend more time actually editing books and working with authors, and not deal with chasing acquisitions, writing marketing pitches, debating colleagues about the right titles for my books, etc. All those tasks can be valuable. I just didn’t want to do them anymore.
So for the last ten years I’ve run Wherewithal Press, a small editorial services company. I’ve published two books with truly wonderful traditional publishing houses — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Farrar, Straus and Giroux. But I can honestly say that when I get around to my third book, I’m not sure I’d go that route again. I’m also in that bedeviling category of author who has received good reviews, but whose books have never sold well. So I’m not likely to be offered a third deal. I’ve decided to embrace that freedom.
Long story short: I know what authors need from their partners in collaboration — not just their editors, but also their publicists, etc. The right help, at the right time, on the right project, can be life-changing. That’s no exaggeration.
What changed your mind about self-publishing?
Well, big publishers are increasingly risk-averse these days. Self-publishing gives authors who don’t quite fit what publishers want today another option.
Self-publishing used to be what you did if you had no other options. That’s no longer true. Within five years, I think, you’ll see more traditionally published authors start opting for self-publishing because it gives them control over packaging, price, and promotional plans. We’re used to having that level of creative control in many aspects of our productive (and online) lives now. More and more people won’t want to give that up, even if it means foregoing a publisher advance.
How do you see editing work fitting into the current publishing landscape?
It’s more important now than ever. I think it’s important that we band together to raise editing’s profile. Developmental editing is not cheap labor, and it’s not something that can be left to AI. You need living, breathing humans to edit well.
I have friends whom I first met when they hired me to work on their book, and five, ten, twelve years later we’re still in touch. I’d love for more people to have that experience — and not just writers lucky enough to get a book deal.
So, StreetLib Market?
My hope is that it will help people who need highly skilled publishing help find it.
The fact is that all publishing functions — the editor, copy editor, marketer, cover designer, and so on — can be done beautifully by people working independently. And it’s fun that you, as the author, get to choose your people.
In my fantasy of StreetLib Market 2.0, it is a trusted platform where teams come together for repeat collaborations. Maybe we’ll have an IMDB-like matrix where you can track all the relationships and collaborations over years and various projects.
There are some sites that I’d love to put out of business, honestly. I mean the sites that take advantage of wannabe authors and freelancers both. Some are scams. Others deliver editing services from genuinely qualified professionals, but take a HUGE cut of the fee. I mean how-can-they-sleep-at-night huge. So there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors, a lot of exploitation, and taking advantage of people’s fears. We have an opportunity to do it better, to introduce greater transparency and accountability for all parties.
Thanks Megan for answering our questions! You’ll get to read more of her tips and thoughts on this blog, starting with the post linked in this article.
