I’m Lou Aronica, a New York Times bestselling co-author, novelist, former Publisher of Avon Books and Berkley Books, and current Publisher of The Story Plant and Fiction Studio Books. The Fiction Studio, now in its tenth year, is a full-service creative development company. In my career, I have edited dozens of New York Times bestsellers and published hundreds more. I have dedicated my 30-year-plus career to working closely with writers in a wide variety of fields of fiction and nonfiction and to the unflagging belief that readers will always be hungry for honest books written with passion and authority.

The book business is undergoing enormous changes right now. In some ways, it has never been easier to be published. In many ways, though, it has never been tougher to be published well. Big publishers are being increasingly more selective and putting more of the burden for success on writers. This is leading to unprecedented levels of stress on writers and the need for writers to learn skills they’ve never needed to learn before. All of us, from the CEO of the largest house to the fledgling author, need to explore new avenues to success and to master tools outside of our comfort zones.

What has not changed, however (and I believe will never change) are the desires of the reader. Regardless of where readers buy books and regardless of format, they want books to offer them an immersive experience. Whether they are reading for entertainment or illumination, they want writers to pull them into the writer’s world and for the writer to make that world a place where the reader can live for a while. I don’t believe this will ever change, whether we read on printed pages, computer screens, dedicated reading devices, our cell phones, or have the books transmitted directly to our cortexes.

So if the publishing world is changing while what the reader wants from the writer remains the same, how does a writer deal with this? That, in many ways, is where I come in. When I work with writers, I offer not only the full range of my more than thirty years of experience as an editor. I also offer everything I have learned in that time as a student of the industry. As you’ll see in my bio, I’ve had leadership positions at some very large houses, and in my role as editor and writer now, I maintain close connections to the highest levels of the industry. In addition, I’m currently President of Novelists Inc., one of the leading writers organizations in the world, so I’m very actively plugged in to what concerns professional writers. Writers who work with me have access to everything I know about the business. In addition, because I am a writer myself, riding the same roller coaster that you’re on, I can both empathize and offer you the benefit of my perspective. 

If you think I might be able to help you, e-mail me at laronica@fictionstudio.com.