Progress

Publisher GoH: Tom Doherty
There’s a reason why Tor is the dominant force in SF
publishing today. Yes, Tor has excellent editors; yes, Tor has
attracted many (some say most) of the best authors in the
field. But why do good editors and writers come to Tor and
stay with Tor? Tom Doherty is the complete answer.
At Tor he has created a standard of excellence and
integrity. When Tom gives his word, that’s better than any
other company’s contract. He also knows what he’s doing
— nobody sells books better than Tom. One of his great
“secrets” of bookselling is that he actually reads the books
he publishes. What a thought! Then he handsells these
products that he actually knows to people who realize that
he remembers and cares about them as human beings.
Tom is never faking it. He says what he means, he means
what he says. I remember back in 1983, talking to Tom at
the ABA. “I’ve realized I can’t write Speaker for the Dead
unless I first expand the short story Ender’s Game into a
novel.” Tom nodded, said, “Same terms as the Speaker
contract?” and I said “yes” and it was done.
Please remember, he was talking, not to the author of
the Ender series and dozens of other books, but to a writer
whose books had never earned out the advances paid by
other publishers. Tom believed in my ability, and he believed
he could do a better job of selling my books. I have tried to
measure up to his trust, and he has done his job brilliantly.
Over the years, Tom has become a family friend. He not
only raised my standards in fine dining by taking us to eat at
restaurants that made it impossible for us to return to the iffier
fare we were used to — which has changed the lives of the
entire family — but his concern for us as human beings is real.
He has stood by us at the funerals of two children. No
one expected him to come, except himself, and so he was
there. He includes his own family in his work, to the degree
they want to be involved in it, and so I have come to see
him in his natural habitat, surrounded by his extraordinary
children and his warm and gracious wife.
He has talked with me earnestly about my stories and
sometimes pled with me to change an artistic decision.
When I believed he was right, I changed the text; when
I believed I was right, I left it as it stood — but in either
case, he published the book, never trying to force me to do
anything I didn’t believe in.
He can also swim in the ocean for miles, his powerful
torso ripping him through the waves. When I see him swim,
I think: This is how he lives his whole life. He takes great
handfuls of something so fluid other people can hardly hold
any of it; he pushes against something in which other people
sink. And as he moves forward, he draws everyone else with
him. A powerful tugboat of a man, moving upstream. I’m
glad to be in his tow.
– Orson Scott Card
10 Anticipation – Rapport préparatoire 4