I just found a great (albeit grim) overview of publishing finances from the publisher's point of view here: [link]

'suela, that's pretty scary.

Anna Louise includes a link to another article, written a few years ago, that covers much of the same ground here.

Looking at all this, provokes a me-me-me question on my part. What are the sales a first time non-fiction book has to make to be considered successful (i.e. at least somewhat profitable for the publisher.) Are they different for a small and large house?

Steph, Deb and Raq got my drabble. It's all about how smart women can't be part of the in crowd unless they're willing to hide how smart they are. The guy that said this to me? I've known him 10 years. We've been part of the same "crowd" the whole time. Still...

Gar, I'm-a sit back and wait for the answer to that one, same as you. Since all my non-fiction has been reviews and crit (yes, I know, but I take them out occasionally to remind myself why I don't write tht stuff anymore, seeing as how I SUCK at it), I've never had to approach a publisher with a proposal. I'm as curious as you are.

I would guess, though, that yes, the reqs and whatnot would be different between large and small houses - they certainly are in fiction.

“It was just luck, process of elimination, it’s what being stationed in Spain did for me.” It wasn’t bragging.

“Will you, for God’s sake, SHUT UP?”

It's all about how smart women can't be part of the in crowd unless they're willing to hide how smart they are.

Huh. Interesting. I guess I should have seen it that way from the fact that you indicated it was autobiographical ("...I'ma bleed a little myself.") and the harshness of the last line, but it came across to me as gender neutral, and more along the lines of "Stop apologizing for doing well, it's more annoying than being outscored," or even "You're just saying that to rub salt in the wound, aren't you?"

Are they different for a small and large house?

A lot of what I knew about this has disappeared from the sieve of my brain, but you have to remember there are very few truly "small" houses left. Most "small" imprints are part of a bigger corporate entity these days, and benefit from that entity's deeper pockets. So stuff that's not expected to become a bestseller is still published if it's considered important or it's going to garner good reviews or be nominated for prizes.

Also, hardcover and mass market print runs are different. Of course, there's not a lot of original non-fiction mass market books out there (there are trade-sized paperbacks, though), but for instance, a print run of 5,000 for a fiction hardcover isn't bad, while no one would bother doing anything under 30,000 for a mass market paperback.

Then there's really scholarly non-fiction published by really little presses (mostly college or university) and that's a ballgame I know nothing about, aside from surmising that those books are, again, published because of their value, not necessarily their profitability.

Going back to the dialogue thing. If you read a novel like "Something Happened" by Joseph Heller, you read quotes in a more realistic "voice" than is ordinary in fiction.

The context of the quotes, in that case, is left entirely up to the reader.

Here is my present -- malleable -- theory about quotes. If you are confident that the reader is firmly in the scene -- "hearing" the dialogue -- unleash the quotes. If, however, the speaker is serving as a pseudo-narrator, back off and build the scene more clearly.

The In Crowd

He speaks in a voice loud enough for the whole world to hear, but I listen for what he is saying only to me. I laugh at him, semaphoring to me in secret shorthand and in jokes. I do not look up, even though I can feel his gaze on me. He doesn't need me to.

The next time he looks at me from across the room I meet his eyes. We lock there for a moment, pausing to fall for each other again.

I do not know how we look to those around us. I have forgotten to care.