| Sumario: | According to the Book Industry Study Group, the overall book market relies significantly on the sales of fiction books, especially on bestsellers. As raised by leading UK publisher Macmillan, a major problem lies in finding talented authors; a paradox, given that authors typically struggle to get published. This paradox of supply and demand shortage lies at the very heart of fiction book publishing. This becomes clear when we look at the organisational processes of generating novels. The way in which titles get accepted within the community of publishing professionals remains an important question for organisational theorists. This issue should be examined more thoroughly in order to challenge prevailing explanations, i.e., the idea of the male überpublisher, that impede on a productive relationship amongst the actors involved in the field of publishing. This paper presents research findings based on 52 qualitative interviews with publishing professionals in the US, UK, Germany and Switzerland. It proposes to reframe the problem by focussing on the creation of value, the making of aesthetic artefacts and the careers of individuals. The study draws on Actor-Network Theory (Latour, Callon, Law) and on aesthetic engineering, a concept referring to the bundle of social practices which generate aesthetic artefacts. The results will highlight: (a) highly fragmented production processes that are based on specific socio-aesthetic mechanisms and practices and (b) five socio-aesthetic issues that are especially relevant for the publishing of fiction books.
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