Hey everybody, thought I would drop a quick little post here today about one of the toughest parts of my job, reviewing submissions. Lots of drummers send Hudson (or me directly) ideas for books/DVDs, or sometimes a finished product for which they are seeking distribution. After authoring six books myself, and being involved with editing for several years now, I have learned a lot about the drum book and DVD market, and what sells. Of course, I still have a lot to learn, but between myself and the other guys here at Hudson, we know what has done well for us, and we have a very good overview of what is available on the market overall. So when submissions are sent to me, I look for ground that has not been covered many times in print or on DVD before. There are so many good products out now that it has become truly difficult to come up with a new and fresh idea. Sometimes I will get a submission from an author that is very well done, but is in a niche that is already filled in the market by several other excellent products that sell very well.
If you’re thinking of sending an idea for consideration, you have the best chance of success if you were to do some research as to what is available, and make sure that your idea is highly educational and highly identifiable in the market today.
Having said all this, I get lots of excellent projects across my desk that I would really like to pursue, but unfortunately we can’t publish everything that gets sent to us. Hudson is such a respected name that we are thought of by many prospective authors as a good home for their project, and we are very thankful for that. If you have an idea, spend a lot of time on developing and researching it, and best of luck!
Joe