2. You must have mainstream media attention for the book to be successful If you absolutely NEED a lot of mainstream media attention for your book to be a success, then going with a traditional publisher really helps. When I say mainstream, I mean like New York Times, Wall Street Journal, media outlets like that. The types of people who fall into this category tend to be celebrities, politicians, athletes, etc. They are the type of people whose time is extremely valuable, and generally tend to be rich. By the way, they have to pay for PR to get media as well. They do the whole song and dance, mainly because they are famous but do NOT have their own platform (meaning a direct channel to their audience). Let me be very clear: doing a book with a traditional publisher does not mean it will be covered in those outlets. In fact, the odds are small, even if you do get a traditional publishing deal. Each pub- lisher puts out tens of thousands of books a year, and bookstores and retailers do not have the shelf space for all of them. The reason it helps is because, while no book reader cares who the publisher is, journalists who work for major media companies still look at the publisher as a signal of credibility. 3. You want the social signal and feeling of acceptance that comes from being “picked” by a traditional publishing house Let’s be honest—this is the primary reason most people want a deal from a traditional publisher. They want to feel like they were “picked,” that this selection is an unassailable signal of their impor- tance and relevance. I have gotten publishing deals from several major publishing com- panies (Simon & Schuster and Little Brown), so I wish so much that this was true—that these deals meant I am now unquestionably important. It doesn’t. 320 · ThE SCriBE METhOD