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Is It Better To Be a ‘Frontlist’ or ‘Backlist’ Author?
It’s a trick question, and if you know mainstream publishing, you’ll know why
Mainstream publishers talk a lot about “lists” — and they don’t necessarily mean bestseller lists or the kind you see on Buzz Feed.
Sometimes they’re referring to the books a firm has in its pipeline. A publisher’s “fall list” consists of books coming out in the autumn and typically includes Christmas gift books. A “spring” or “spring/summer list” rounds up beach books and others, some released ahead of a holiday such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or the Fourth of July.
The terms “frontlist” and “backlist” tell you whether a book is old or new.
Frontlist
Frontlist titles are just-published or soon-to-be-published books, whether written by bestselling or little-known authors. Their authors are the most likely to have bookstore signings or to be interviewed by the press. Media such as newspapers and the trade journal Publishers Weekly generally review only frontlist books.
Bookstores typically try to stock the most important frontlist books from major publishers, or at least their “lead titles” (the top one or two). They may also…
