Long before websites like Etsy arrived, boutique brick-and-morter stores offered eclectic selections of sundries. I’m talking about one-of-a-kind items unlikely to pop up everywhere else. People looking for a generic blanket or office chair were best served by visiting Walmart, Target, or another big-box retailer.

Consulting Parallels

I was thinking about the difference between these two types of shops the other day.

In the consulting world, Deloitte, Accenture, and massive firms can handle any project—or at least they claim they can. By contrast, boutique shops specialize in a niche and typically reject projects outside their domain expertise.

Does the same dynamic exist in publishing?

In a word, yes.

Friction With a Large Hybrid Publisher

A friend of mine recently worked with a large hybrid publisher on his forthcoming book. Long story short: It didn’t go well. Colin (not his real name) vented to me about his partner’s chronic lack of communication. In his words, he felt “bounced around.” Things got ugly, and Colin won’t be recommending that publisher in the future.

I’ve seen this movie before.

Quality matters more than quantity here.

The biggest hybrid publishers release dozens of books annually. Racket will never reach that scale—and that’s a conscious choice. When I started this little publishing outfit in 2022, I wanted to keep things small. I still do, because being great supercedes being large. (Hat tip: Small Giants.) Quality matters more than quantity. Personal attention and exceptional service are underlying principles. State-of-the-art tech and speed rank high on the list as well.

The Dangers of Disparate Documents

What You Need to Know

Startups obsess over scale—especially when venture capitalists make substantial investments. Some are successful; most aren’t.

By contrast, boutique firms can focus more on individual clients than larger ones can. This mindset suits me just fine.