Since starting my very first job in publishing in the mid 2000s, the thing that’s always left me a bit dumbstruck when I think about it is how crazy it is as a business. Seriously, think about how publishing works for a moment and ask yourself, does this sound like a sound business model?

First, someone comes to you with a book idea. You think, hey, I like that idea, maybe there’s a book there. You do P&Ls, you analyze author track records (if they have any), you scrutinize their platform for reaching readers (again, if they have any), you consult colleagues in-house to see what they think, you might ask your book reps and a few booksellers you trust what they think and then, if all of that stuff ads up, you decide to make an offer to an author, likely in the neighborhood of several thousand dollars. Before even the first page is printed, you have spent vast amounts of time and sums of money without any guarantee that anyone will like–much less buy–your book.

While all this sounds kind of reasonable in terms of how we evaluate the risk, the truth is publishers rely as much on their gut instincts as anything else. Each book you decide to publish is a leap of faith. Sometimes you get it right. Sometimes you don’t. And at the end of the day if you can keep your return rate in the low double digits you’re happy. All of which seems totally insane and unscientific from a business standpoint, but that’s partly what makes publishing a thrilling business in which to work.

So, with that in mind, I was really excited to see (via Casual Optimist) that next month MOMA will be screening a new documentary about publishing titled How to Make a Book with Steidl, featuring German book publisher Gerhard Steidl (publisher of Robert Frank, Karl Lagerfeld and Günter Grass). Here’s the trailer.