Tyrant Books

Tyrant Books was the publishing house from which Knopf acquired the manuscript’s publication rights in February 2017. Its clearest place in the account is as the rights-holder at a pivotal moment in the book’s long, painstaking passage from draft to prospective publication.

Role in the Manuscript’s Publication

The manuscript had been assembled through an unusually laborious process: it existed as a plastic basket filled with paper rather than as a Word file, and its pages had been repeatedly rewritten on a typewriter. Gian DiTrapano was tasked with shaping the material into a coherent whole. Against this background of extensive revision and editorial work, Tyrant Books held the publication rights that Knopf later sought to acquire.

Transfer of Rights

In February 2017, almost exactly three years after work on the manuscript began, Tim O’Connell of Knopf considered the manuscript worth acquiring from Tyrant Books. The account establishes a transfer of publication rights, not that Tyrant Books itself had already published the book. Knopf’s acquisition also preceded a further round of revision: O’Connell told the author that the writing needed improvement before the manuscript could be printed.