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An interview with Kate Nash of Myrmidon Books

9/7/2012

4 Comments

 
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Q     How does a small independent publisher make its mark on the world?


A     From the start Myrmidon Books has always aimed to publish commercial books that stand up against those published by the major players in the industry. Both in terms of the quality of the writing and in our production values. We don't aim to be a boutique or specialist press and a reader picking up any of our books in a bookshop will see nothing in the finished product that suggests "small press". We're are a small publisher but we produce big books. Tan Twan Eng has now been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize twice and we've done very well with our commercial fiction too. The Stone Gallows by C. David Ingram was picked by the Daily Record as one of its top three books of the year, and Craig Smith has been shortlisted for the CWA Best Thriller of the Year for Cold Rain.


Q     Writers stress about their audience with all sorts of preconceived ideas about what readers want, what agents want and what publishers want. As a sales and marketing director you address yet another audience: retail buyers. Who are these people? What makes them tick? How can a writer gain a better understanding of the many audiences they must address before reaching “The Reader”?


A     I wouldn't advise writers to worry about anything much apart from writing the best book they possibly can. An old piece of advice is to "write for yourself" as then you're guaranteed at least one reader in the world! The book trade is changing more than ever since the arrival of ebooks to support the commercial publication of a much wider range of fiction. And none of the "market-changing" bestsellers like J K Rowling, Stieg Larsson, Dan Brown and E L James were ever predicted by anyone in publishing. At Myrmidon we look to acquire great stories irrespective of genre, on the basis that if we love them, then readers will too.


Q     What does your job involve, Kate? Who do you meet, where do you meet them and how do you communicate the attraction of your wares?


A     Most of my job is spent sitting in front of my computer. We have a fantastic sales agency who represent us to the trade so I tend to work more in marketing, publicity and planning, and also I look after our digital side. This involves more spreadsheets than I would like. When I get out of the office it is to attend trade events such as book fairs where we have a chance to meet overseas partners and publishers. For the rest of the year we communicate by email. We have a number of audiences we have to communicate with: not just UK retailers and readers but our overseas distributors and publishers who we sell rights onto. At trade fairs I think we have done exceptionally well for a small publisher because we invest so much in our book covers that passers by are impressed enough to stop for a chat.


Q     How do your authors assist you in your work? What is it you expect of them?


A     It has become more important than ever for authors to help with the publicity of their own books. We don't force our authors to be involved in social media or do book signings if they don't want to but we have published a number of books where the authors willingness to get out to book shops and do events or be active online has certainly helped build their readership.


Q     How has social media changed your approach  - and that of other publishers - to marketing?


A     I think the most important thing is the involvement of authors themselves. Without them it is actually very hard to promote a book online. Social media works when readers can feel they are connected directly with authors. They are not so interested in broadcasts from a publisher.


Q     Doing a bit of research for this interview, I found this (slightly elderly) post: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/publisher/oftheweek/name/myrmidon-books. I was intrigued to learn that small publishers have the same frustrations with gate-keepers as authors seem to have, albeit further up the food chain. Has that changed for the better / worse? How early on does a marketing strategy change if the traditional distributors are not interested, and the net seems the better means of distribution?


A     Our marketing strategy is completely dependent on the reaction of the major retailers to our titles. We will change the cover to please them but ultimately if they are not enthusiastic about a title it makes it much more difficult to gain visibility in the UK market and will mean for that title that we are more reliant on export sales and selling overseas rights to make that book a viable publishing proposition. There are fewer gatekeepers for ebooks however, and it will be disappointing if the trade shapes up towards making it harder for small publishers to access promotions in this area.


Q     How much do initiatives such as New Writing North (http://www.newwritingnorth.com/) help in bringing new authors to light, and bringing new material to swell the lists of publishers such as Myrmidon Books? Are there other initiatives to investigate that you could recommend?


A     I don't know how they work with other publishers but New Writing North don't direct submissions to us, we get them direct from writers and also from literary agents. We're a commercial, international publisher, not a regional press in terms of the material we publish but we are always delighted to be invited to events to meet aspiring authors in the North East or across the UK. In reality we are constantly deluged with material and now having a stable of existing authors, we are unlikely to publish more than one debut author per year. This year we published Harmattan by Gavin Weston, a beautiful story about a young girl growing up in Niger, which I picked up from our "slush pile" of submissions and was so moved by the story we couldn't not publish it.


Footnote: both the interviewer and interviewee are based in Newcastle upon Tyne.


Be sure to visit the site: http://www.myrmidonbooks.com/

4 Comments

An interview with Scott Pack of Authonomy (part two)

7/15/2012

5 Comments

 
Q     How does a complete noob best approach a publishing career? Are networking events such as book fairs and conferences better value than hours spent tweeting and liking?

A     Noobs had better do their bloody research, basically. There is loads of material out there from books to websites to forums to blogs that outline the dos and don'ts of self-publishing and many of them are pretty good. You need to know the basics and the good news is that as long as you are able to read then you should be OK if you track down some decent material to swot up on. I am not convinced by the value of fairs and conferences for a noob or self-published authors in general. I am not that convinced of their value for me either. I do think Twitter is as good a place to connect as any other.

Q     What defines marketability these days? Is it seizing the zeitgeist, unveiling universal truths, coming up with true originality, giving a better spin on a tried and trusted theme, having an easily recognizable name, or yet something other?

A      "Promotable" and "marketable" have long been publishers' shorthand for "are they a bit fit?" Good-looking authors look better in magazine photoshoots and all that. But I know plenty of successful authors who are butt ugly so I don't think it matters all that much. What does matter, or what helps, is if you have a bit of an interesting story to tell. If you have a unique angle - I wrote my book while skydiving, I have three heads, that sort of thing - then it helps. Otherwise it can be a bit of a hard slog.

Q     Do bloggers and reviewers hold any real influence? Do agents and publishers listen out for an internet “buzz”?

A     Individually very few bloggers have any real clout but if enough of them start shouting about your book then it can be as useful, if not more so, than a great newspaper review. Agents and publisher probably pay more attention to the Amazon ranking though.

Q     To what extent does the author’s “internet presence” or “brand” matter to a publisher and what would you include in that presence or brand?

A      It helps if you can come with a ready-made audience - "I have 5,000 Twitter followers and 3,000 likes on Facebook" - but that is an added bonus rather than a requirement.

Q     There’s a plethora of sources of information and advice out there. Do you have any recommendations as to just where a noob should place their ear to the ground?

A      I may not be the best person to ask as I am not really the target market for that info and advice but http://howpublishingreallyworks.com/ and Nicola Morgan's books for writers are a good start.
5 Comments

Self-publishing Q&A with Ice Queen Lisa

7/12/2012

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Question  from Emily Rebecca ( http://theabsenteeblogger.blogspot.co.uk/ ) :


Question for you self-pubbers - what is the average turnaround from submitting the MS to getting a final product? I'm going over time lines with my illustrator in order to get my book out in time for Christmas. I don't want to rush her and I don't want to rush with the final product. Advice would be greatly appreciated.


Answer from Ice Queen Lisa ( http://www.lisawiedmeier.com/ ) :


I'm assuming when you say submitting a manuscript, that's it's ready from your standpoint to head to the copy editor. So if this is the case then a timeline would go something like this: 

3 months prior to submitting with copy editor, you contact and schedule dates. As the time gets closer you adjust based on their schedule. 

3 months before you should also be working on your final cover for both ebook and print. 

From the time you submit to your copy editor - 1 month before you'll see it again at a minimum. They should first read the story to get the storyline, plot and details in order. Second, they should then start the editing process, correcting grammar issues and leaving comments for you as to where they might have issues and where more or less details are needed. They should also suggested changes for anything major, anything else they should fix. They review it a third time and then they write up a review of the overall story. 

Once you get it back from your copy editor - anywhere from 1-2 weeks to a month to make the changes and depending on the arrangement you have with your copy editor, you may need to submit changes to have them re-edited again. Or, you make changes and then re-edit changes yourself. DON'T ASSUME WHEN YOU GET YOUR MANUSCRIPT BACK FROM THE COPY EDITOR IT WILL BE READY FOR PRINT. I made that mistake...they're human, it's not gonna be perfect. 

Formatting - 1-2 weeks. You'll have to format for ebook differently than print. 

Final Edit - 1-2 weeks. I'd highly suggested that you have your computer read your manuscript back to you. You'll catch more errors because you listen with a different part of your brain. Believe me, I didn't listen when Sam suggested it with Cheyenne and when I finally did...there were a ton of mistakes that were missed. 

Upload to Amazon - 1-3 days. You'll probably need to tweak things until you get it right with their previewer and then you've got about 24-48 hours after upload till it will show up on Amazon. 

Print Version - 1-3 weeks. You'll upload to your printing source (Lightning Source or Createspace), wait for their approval and order a print proof. I'd highly suggest this since it would be your first go around. You'll catch the mistakes before you go to print and avoid the re-do (which is about $40 per each upload-cover/interior) 

Once you've approved your proof you've got 1-2 weeks before it will show up on Amazon US (1 week) even longer for Amazon UK (2 weeks). From there you'll need to contact help through the Author Central and request that the ebook and print version are linked. 

I hope this answered your question, however, if you're working with an illustrator, it might have to be tweaked slightly. I don't know how much time they require to complete the work, but I'd guess at least a month. 
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An interview with Scott Pack of Authonomy (part one)

7/12/2012

5 Comments

 
To kick off a series of interviews of people in publishing, where better to start than the site where the Alliance of Worldbuilders was founded, Authonomy.com, and the guy in charge, Scott Pack?

Q     For most members of the Alliance of Worldbuilders, writing is a passion but no more than a hobby squeezed into the little spare time left aside work and family duties. How can that time be best used to “grow up” from hobbyist to professional?

A      I think you are describing the lifestyle of most writers there, both published and unpublished. The majority of the ‘professional’ authors I know have to juggle writing with raising a family and often some other form of paid work as well. It is bloody hard work.

        Your question assumes a difference between hobbyist and professional and I get what you mean by that but the reality is that there often isn’t a difference apart from the fact that the latter gets paid, and even then it might not be very much. In my experience, if there is a difference it is that the professional often treats their writing as a job and gives over a block of time each day to work on their current project and, usually, only their current project. They focus on that, put in X hours a day or week and, once a first draft is complete, they rework it and refine it to get it right. Sometimes the hobbyist can be so pleased at getting a book finished (i.e. the whole thing written) that they do not spend as much time rewriting and refining it. Lots do, but some don’t. I read a lot of manuscripts on authonomy that are clearly several rewrites away from being close to finished. That’s not a bad thing, authonomy is a place to get feedback on works in progress, but it is noticeable.

        Oh, and another difference is that professionals often have other professionals – publishers, editors, copy editors, proofreaders, designers etc. – work on their books once they hand them over. So, thinking about it, if the hobbyist wants to spend time ‘growing up’ then it might be an idea to spend some of that time working with other people who are experts in their field and can help. 

Q     How do agents/ publishers feel about working with a writer who has a job with such long and high commitment (e.g. medicine) that deadlines would need to be prolonged? Or would they rather such a writer had completed a set of novels first?

A     Usually agents and/or publishers only take authors on once their work is complete, or in a reasonably advanced state, so I don’t think it would be a massive concern. I actually publish books by more than one doctor, seeing as you mention medicine in your question, and I have had to be patient (pun noted but not intended) when it comes to sequels and follow-up books but the initial books were pretty much written when they came to me. For big mass-market commercial fiction publishers are often looking for authors who can write a book a year, so that may be a concern, but in most other genres and areas of publishing that sort of frequency is not required.

Q     We are often told the world is changing, but it still seems agents and publishers remain the gatekeepers for novels. Has there truly been any change within “traditional” publishing in the face of the new digital free-for-all, or are we being hoodwinked by excitable technophiles?

A     It used to be pretty much impossible for a self-published author to break through to the mainstream but the digital revolution has changed that and such authors can not only secure traditional book deals on the back of their self-published sales but can also carve out a successful career without needing a traditional publisher at all. I do believe, but then I would, that publishers can bring a lot to the table but they are no longer 100% essential in every case. Having said that, even the most ardent supporter of self-publishing would privately admit that it is easy to tell the difference between a self-pub ebook or print book and one from a traditional publisher most of the time.

Q     As I understand it, new published authors are asked to do as much self promotion as a self publishing author does (or more to the point should do). So what’s the true “added value” of a traditional publisher?

A     PR and promotion is interesting. You will struggle to find anyone better connected that a book publicist and a good one can take a book to another level but they have lots of projects to work on and can only concentrate on a new title for a certain period of time. Outside of that it really helps to be a good self-promoter or even to take on your own PR people if resources allow.

        The true added value of a traditional publisher is significant and would result in a lengthy list but highlights would include great design, a proper edit, a proper proof read, the ability to plug into the sales, marketing and PR teams, the decades of experience, the connections, the relationships with retailers. I could go on.

Q     What do you seek in your relationship with the “perfect book”?

A     As a publisher I am looking for a book which a) I believe readers will enjoy and hopefully love, b) that they’ll tell other people about and c) from an author who I think has more to come.

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    The AWB interview blog

    The AWB are a bunch of writers, some published, some not yet published. Writers are all interesting types, but the aim of this page is to gather together information about the publishing world. What makes agents and publishers tick. Trying to find out what the current state of play is. This could then form a knowledge bank for all those seeking a career in print or e-ink.

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