The Business Logic Behind Midlist and Lead Titles

How positioning shapes support, expectations and why publishing feels so weird (because it's really weird)

“Is this a lead title or a midlist book?”

That question comes up constantly in publishing meetings. Authors hear it. Agents hear it. Marketing teams live by it. And yet very few people ever explain what it actually means in practice, or how much it shapes a book’s life before it even exists.

This isn’t about quality. It isn’t about talent. And it definite…