Archive for July, 2010

The Allure of the Rheingold

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

 

Drama has taken hold of the publishing world. The events that are currently unfolding might lead to the total annihilation of book publishers  – picture-rheingoldor so they say.

 

In case you haven’t followed the nail biting saga, let me fill you in – it’s a classic really with lots of big baddies.

 

The main part is played by a mega big agent, called Andrew Wylie, known as “The Jackal.” He has some 700 authors, among them mega big clients, such as Phillip Roth and John Updike,  and some of the big authors are published by the mega publisher, Random House. As you can see, it’s all very mega, very Wagnerian indeed. And everyone is after the Rheingold.

 

Wylie has now taken 20 of his big clients straight to amazon ( another mega), bypassing Random House, to sign a two-year deal for their ebooks. The deal allows amazon exclusive distribution rights for these works through its Kindle reader. Random House is outraged – rightly so – because after all they made those writers famous and they feel that they deserve to own the ebook rights instead of some online supermarket.

 

All fingers point at the Jackal. He apparently is the ultra meany in this play, the Alberich of the publishing world,  his greed drove him into the arms of amazon who are desperate to promote their little Kindle machine. It’s also the first time that a publisher has been blatantly shown it’s place in the new world order of paper free texts – with obliteration lurking around the corner.

 

That’s true. But what about the authors, are they innocent in all of this? Wylie is only their agent – more a Fafnar than a Alberich – he couldn’t have done anything if they hadn’t given him the green light. So, perhaps it is their greed that is driving it all. Shame really because I can’ t help feeling that the authors involved have already earned enough to live happily ever after. Shouldn’t they have shown some loyalty towards their publishing house? I think so.

 

However, I wouldn’t go as far as feeling sorry for Random House. For now, all that is happening up there on the big stage, is that Fafnar and Fasolt – Random and Wylie, with amazon a happy onlooker - are hitting each other around the head, each desperate for the ring. Eventually one will get killed, the other turn into a dragon and Valhalla will go up in flames and with it the publishing world as we know it.

 

But is that a bad thing? My nymph and me don’t think so. It’s high time for a good shake up. At the moment, we are sitting in the auditorium, hugely entertained by the events up on stage. By the end we will give the actors a huge applause. They will surely be totally exhausted, poor darlings. Peirene, in the meantime, will be energized, with lots of lessons learnt, ready to rebuild the publishing Valhalla. Perhaps slightly less grand. But where surely everyone will be far happier, striving towards the common goal of producing good literature and making it widely available.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Publishing in the 21century | 2 Comments »

The Second Coming of D’Artagnan

Monday, July 19th, 2010

 

It’s been a wonderful week. The Guardian Books Blog publicly called me “a D’Artagnan”. Yep, that’s right, one of the Three Musketeers – voila no-2-launch-043c’est moi – brave and clever because I set up a publishing house to challenge the UK’s homogenous reading culture. And successfully so. Because  here comes the second good news of the week: Stone in a Landslide is going into reprint.

 

And there is a third piece of good news. To reveal it, however, I have to tell you a little story.

 

About three weeks ago I got a phone call from an agent. She had just received an  English translation of a short Bulgarian novel which sounded right up Peirene’s street. Some days later I received an email from the same agent. The editors from Penguin and the likes were buzzing about the novel. Did I want to make a bid too? I declined as I know that I cannot compete against the majors. However just last week, the agent called again. The majors had sadly withdrawn their interest. While the editors had been thrilled, their sales teams weren’t – and so none of them will make an offer.

 

My ears perked up. Editors say yes, sales teams say no – all the signs are that this is a very good book which however doesn’t fit the mass market criteria. I will now definitely read it.

 

It’s Peirene, who was dead keen that I tell you this little anecdote. In her eyes that’s really the ultimate success story of the past week, as it is a proof yet again how much she values the quality of the text – and how little she rates mass-market appeal.

 

In regard to the other two news items, my nymph shows less enthusiasm. She is of course  happy about Stone’s second print  run, but she is absolutely not sure about the value of the D’Artagnan bit. She says it’s utterly childish of me to blurt it out here.

 

Frankly, I think she’s in a sulk. Because the article referred to me, the publisher, not her, the all-conquering nymph.  I’ve tried to sooth her jealousy by offering to take a picture of her all dressed up as the female version of  D’Artagnan. “Thank you very much,” she huffed “I am not being made a fool of. Do it yourself.”

 

So I did. And franchement, I make a far more stylish Musketeer than her. If she wants to go back to Greece – then let her.  Anyway I don’t need a nymph any longer. I need a horse, a white mare preferably. Then I can ride through night and fog and save poor readers from the onslaught of mediocre books.  

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Publishing in the 21century | 3 Comments »

Lady-like Promotion

Monday, July 12th, 2010

 

Peirene is a high maintenance young lady, she is ambitious and intelligent too. And she has understood one vital ingredient of aiming for no-2-launch-037success. Promotion.

 

I recently went to an evening of women writers and publishers. The topic of discussion was Self-Promotion. I was delighted to be invited and thought the topic interesting. Peirene on the other hand was unhappy from the start. “Why do we sit here and talk about Self-Promotion?” she hissed into my ear. “Men would never talk about Self-Promotion. They would talk about promotion, constructive promotion of a concrete commodity.” I told her to be quiet and sit still.

 

A few days later, however, she came to me with a great beam of a smile all over her face. “I’ve found us a Marketing Director,” she announced.  “You’ve done what?” She responded with some well targeted comments: “Well, you have to admit, you haven’t really succeeded in expanding the 24 hour day to a 30 hour day, have you?” I shook my head. “So, I guess there is a limit to what you alone can achieve for me?” I nodded. The nymph knew by then that she had me around her little finger. “Why don’t you meet Maddy Pickard for a coffee, “ she cooed. “She worked for the Arts Council and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.”

 

And so it came that Peirene acquired her first ever Marketing Director. My nymph is over the moon. Maddy has already ensured that we are totally up-to-date with the relevant prize entries and is currently introducing us to all the lit festivals. I am thrilled too because for  two days a week I have now someone with whom I can discuss publishing strategy. And jointly we are taking the twitter world by storm.

 

Ok, perhaps not by storm. But definitely in a steady lady-like  pace. Which can’t be said of another publisher, Quercus, who decided to appear on the twitter scene the same day Maddy and I made a bit to step up our presence. Quercus shot passed us like a comet, acquiring over 600 followers within a couple of hours. It took me a day to understand who was behind it – Mark Thwaite from ReadySteadyBook. He has just taken on the position of Digital Manager.

 

I am trying to hide this insider information from my nymph though. In case she gets wild ideas of wooing Mark away from Quercus to join Maddy and myself. I hate to tell her that we really would need to sell first a few more books in order to afford him. But, having said that, now with Maddy on board and a no-nonsense plan of promotion in place, Quercus should watch out. 

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Marketing Pains | 2 Comments »

Temptation

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010

 

Long term relationships are hard work. I’ve known my husband now for 17 years. So I guess a bit of extra marital fun ought to be allowed.no-2-launch-042 Don’t you agree? Just a bit of smiling and laughing and a twinkle in the eye. C’est tout. Nothing more.

 

He understands. It’s Peirene who’s kicking up a fuss.

 

On Thursday I went to a conference. Independent publishers meet head buyers of  Waterstone’s, Amazon, Book Depository, Foyles, and the book wholesalers Bertrams and Gardeners. Most of these gentlemen – yes indeed, the buyers are all men - I’ve met before. At first Peirene was very happy with the afternoon. The gentlemen remembered us from the meetings at the London Bookfair in April. She concluded with satisfaction that we must have made an impression. It was only when I started to talk to Choc Lit that my nymph became concerned.

 

Choc Lit publishes chick lit. Their logo is a chocolate heart. When they send out  pre-pub copies to booksellers they include a heart made of real chocolate. And their tag line, too,  goes straight to the heart: “Choc Lit – Where heroes are like chocolate – irresistible.” Call me fickle but it all sounds like huge fun. But don’t judge too quickly – Choc lit is no light weight. She’s only a year older than Peirene but has already managed to get to the top - WHSmith stocks her books at airports and she has sold 10 000 copies of her first title alone. A figure Peirene doesn’t even dare dream of.

 

In short – Choc lit has got what Peirene just hasn’t – mass appeal. I was quite taken.

 

On my way home from the conference I indulged in wild phantasies. How about sending out chocolate Peirenes or plastic ones to impress not only WH Smith but Asda and Tesco, too. I even was wondering if I should abandon European lit all together and go for the more shallow stuff.

 

That night Peirene made a huge scene, beside herself with jealousy, accusing me of betrayal, even adultery.  I consoled her and insisted that it was nothing really, just flirting. Of course I prefer her depth and artistry. “But” she wept, “given half a chance you hanker after superficial commercial success. How can you do that to me?”

 

My poor little darling, she’s still a bit young to understand that there’s nothing wrong with a little flirtatious encounter. I’d quickly tire of publishing books about sugar-sweet heroines and chocolate hunks. Although - frankly – such literature does pay the bills. And THAT is quite important in life.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Marketing Pains | 5 Comments »