How Traditional Publishing Is Rigged to Break You (but Hannah Sward Beat the System)
This post is based on my interview with Hannah Sward for my podcast, also called Behind the Book Cover. I’d be so grateful if you could like and subscribe to the podcast (find it on your preferred platform here).
I had a confession to make to Hannah Sward when she sat down across from me to be interviewed: I'd been jealous of her.
This was ridiculous. I loved her. I’d already had book success. But she seemed to be getting so much attention, including from a podcast that had rejected me. And I am petty.
But here's what I learned when I finally stopped being a jealous a-hole and actually talked to Hannah about her journey: she didn't succeed because the system worked for her. She succeeded in spite of a system designed to crush her spirit and empty her bank account.
The Traditional Publishing Machine's Favorite Game: Breaking Writers
Hannah spent years writing her memoir after finding a mentor who worked with her three days a week. She crafted 75 short chapters because she wanted to make the book accessible to people who don't necessarily read.
When it came time to find representation, she did everything "right." She queried agents. She got some interest. She even landed representation.
Then, the process started.
Her first agent tried to sell her book but there was months of silence between emails. Rejections with feedback like "We don't know how this will land with an English audience” (the agent was British). Anyone who’s ever gotten a rejection letter (which is to say: everyone) knows the vague, deflating responses we get that make us question everything about our writing.
When that didn't work out, she found another agent. Then another. Three agents total. One retired three months after signing her. Another just... stopped responding effectively. Who hasn’t been there?
This is the traditional publishing system.
The Rejection Factory
Hannah got 100 rejections. Yes, 100. And I know people who’ve had way more.
The truth is, great books with strong writing and compelling stories get passed over while non-ideas by influencers with a million followers and nothing to say sell their books for seven figures. (Even worse: sometimes those books don’t even come close to earning out their massive advances.)
Of course, when you’re getting rejected, you 100% think it’s your fault. Of course it is…you suck!
"It's a little unorthodox," Hannah was told about her 75-chapter structure. "Hard to sell." In other words: doesn’t fit our formula and way easier to reject than try something new.
Then again, publishing professionals themselves admit that they don’t actually know what they’re looking for! As Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle said during the Penguin Random House trial, “Everything is random in publishing. Success is random. Bestsellers are random. So that is why we are the Random House!”
Oy.
How Hannah Beat Them at Their Own Game
Here's where Hannah's story gets interesting. Instead of playing by traditional publishing’s rules, she started making her own.
She already had blurbs from Nobel Prize winner John Coetzee, New York Times bestselling author Melissa Broder and other bigtime literary voices. But she wasn't leading with that in her queries because she (silly girl) thought it was about the quality of the writing.
"I needed the marketing," she told me. "I was leading with all the wrong things."
Once she figured out that traditional publishing cares more about platform than talent, she adjusted. She didn’t have to compromise her integrity; she just had to shift directions so that she was speaking their language.
Still, after going through three agents and still not getting anywhere, she did something radical: she walked away from the traditional path entirely.
She made a deal directly with a small press. No agent taking 15%. No Big Five publisher demands for platform and promotional commitments. Just her, her book and a publisher who believed in it.
The Success They Don't Want You to See
Here's what happened after Hannah "settled" for a small press and a $500 advance:
Her book found its audience. She got invited on podcasts (including the one that had rejected me!) She got a piece published in the New York Times. She built a community around her work.
She started a Substack called "Summer of Men" about sex after 50 that's so compelling I wait with literal bated breath every week for it. (Sign up for it here!)
Her book changed her life. Not because it made her rich or famous, but because it connected her with readers and opened doors she hadn't even known existed.
All of this happened outside the traditional publishing system that had spent years telling her no.
The Real Metrics of Success
"Was your book successful?" I asked Hannah.
"It depends where I am at inside myself," she said.
This is probably the most honest answer any author can provide, since success isn’t about numbers or bestseller lists or reviews in the Times. It’s about that unquantifiable feeling of having done what you set out to do.
Hannah didn't have a social media platform when her book came out. She wasn't even on Instagram until months before publication. According to traditional publishing wisdom, she should have failed spectacularly.
Instead, she had something more valuable: authentic relationships built over years of showing up in the writing community. When it came time to promote her book, she didn't have to pitch podcasts. People who knew her work invited her on.
The System vs. The Writer
Traditional publishing wants you to believe that success looks like a Big Five contract, a six-figure advance and a spot on the bestseller list. They want you to measure your worth by their metrics because it keeps you dependent on their approval.
But Hannah's story proves something different: the system needs writers more than writers need the system.
Your book doesn't need a Big Five publisher to find readers. Your advance doesn't need to be six figures to change your life. Your success doesn't need traditional publishing’s validation to be real.
Putting Down the Kool-Aid
Hannah isn’t entirely sure what her next move is; she just knows it isn’t what came before.
"I don't want to have a repeat of the same experience," she told me. "I want something new."
She's choosing her own path now. The Substack that has readers paying to follow her journey. The writing community she's built organically. The books she writes the way she wants to write them.
Book publishing success, in other words, is messier than the book tours and bestseller lists all first-time authors fantasize about…but a million times more sustainable.
The Real Revolution
The traditional publishing industry is built on scarcity—limited slots, exclusive gatekeepers, winner-take-all thinking. They want you to believe that without their stamp of approval, you're not a "real" writer.
Hannah proved them wrong with 75 short chapters, a $500 advance and the ability to define success for herself.
This isn't about burning down traditional publishing. It's about refusing to let it be the only measure of success.
So stop waiting for their permission. Do the James Altucher thing and choose yourself. Redefine success on your own terms, the way Hannah did.
Again, you can listen to this interview by subscribing to my podcast, Behind the Book Cover (a new incarnation of my podcast, On Good Authority). Click here to get it on any platform.
