Comments on: The Friday Project and the Rules of Dating (or how to spot a lasting relationship)

By: AlexM

AlexM — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:00:07 +0000

Your blog is interesting!

Keep up the good work!

By: The Poet Laura-eate

The Poet Laura-eate — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:32:35 +0000

I guess blogs are vanity publishing in that ‘vanity’ is invariably involved to some degree but ‘vanity publishing’ as I understand it is about handing over large sums of money to someone to get your physical book published (aka ripped off) for something you are invariably unhappy with but might give to friends and family as presents perhaps.
Whereas self-publishing is about taking control and calling the shots yourself with a decent publishing facilititator who will guide you through the process for a fair price and give you various pick & mix options re their services in terms of advertising etc.

However your low percentage of advertising spend by established publishers just goes to show that they are doing the writer few favours these days.

By: ros morris

ros morris — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:21:55 +0000

Danuta, I most certainly will! If your address is not at the top here – then please email it to me. Thanks for your saying that I made your day! The power of the written word…

ros

By: Danuta

Danuta — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:30:01 +0000

Well gosh, that has really made my day Ros. Thanks for letting me know, and, more important, letting any readers out there feeling a bit bruised by the whole fight to get and agent or get published know that things can work out. I am really chuffed for you.
Let me know what happens with the book and tell Mainstream to send me a copy
Good luck
dxx

By: ros morris

ros morris — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:30:25 +0000

Dear Danuta,

I have to thank you for the power of your blog!

About 18 months ago I read a piece of yours about finding an agent/being published/how long one should wait once a manuscript has been submitted to potential agents/publishers. I wrote to you (as Alice Heath) and Patrick Janson-Smith responded. He suggested that I send him my ms. I did so; he liked it and became my agent! He subsequently found me a publisher (Mainstream) and my book ‘Don’t Wait for Me’ is being published on the 3rd July. Patrick, as you probably know, has now returned to publishing but I am still with Christopher Little.

This is all primarily thanks to you and for your foresight to have started your website.

Hope that your pregnancy is not too tiring and that everything goes well.

All the best,
Ros Morris

By: Danuta Kean

Danuta Kean — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:08:07 +0000

Ah Salt strikes me as a very happy place – I have had emails from some of your happy authors as well. I am glad that someone is doing good things with short stories. I LOVE short stories and think they are a much neglected part of the market.
MaL, I really think it is tough when dealing with a debut book – what we create is part of us and can be as precious as a child. It is no wonder we are vulnerable. I am very sympathetic to authors who go through a bad experience, whether with a publisher that goes under or an agent who turns out to be a shyster. Why should someone with no knowledge of the book world know what to ask of a potential agent or publisher? One of the reasons I put my work online is so that those without an “in” in the business will be better informed and hopefully spot any potential problems. Of course that doesn’t mean that people won’t get burned, but hopefully….The book trade has a lot of very good people in it, people who are very passionate about their authors and their publications. It is why when things go wrong so many of us feel it acutely. Good luck with the book and especially the baby.

By: Helen

Helen — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:34:35 +0000

Absolutely, Danuta, you get to the heart of the argument. It’s not worth the time/emotional/financial investment in writing a book unless you are confident it will be edited, promoted and sold effectively.

You’re so right – no book deal at all is better than wasting time on a book that’s likely to end up at the bottom of the rep’s bag – neglected and ignored, the butt of unkind jokes.

I was told I would be offered a new contract with TFP under its new owners (HC). But whenever I asked TFP for details on how the imprint would work within HC – the kind of details you outline in your comment – I was stonewalled.

In fairness, that might be because the information was – genuinely – unavailable.

I am heavily pregnant, and after suffering pregnancy problems last year, doctors advised me to avoid stress. This has proved difficult due to my involvement in the TFP collapse.

I don’t want to portray myself a victim. I plan to move on from this mess as best I can. I’m a grown-up and should have done my homework better, shopped around more, found an agent first, and not jumped at the first deal to come my way. But I think people should be aware of the potential pitfalls in publishing deals.

For weeks, I asked TFP almost every Monday when the new contract would be ready. “Soon,” came the inevitable reply. The waiting and uncertainty became a hell. I no longer trusted TFP to keep their promises.

Was there someone at HC I could speak to? Oh, no. TFP were ‘looking after’ authors. Had I not noticed that there were people worse off than myself? Such as the creditors and authors owed royalties? What right had I to be upset?

I’m sure other people were indeed worse off than me – and one reason I won’t be signing with HC is that I don’t like what I’ve seen of how TFP treat business associates – but that didn’t stop me having valid concerns of my own.

Whenever I expressed annoyance or frustration at TFP for signing me up to months of work on my book (non-fiction parenting) last autumn, just months before they went bust, they acted as if it was me that had the problem.

After all, I was assured, I would be one of the ‘fortunate’ few to be honoured with an HC contract.

Yesterday, I told TFP I would not accept a new contract from them and that I’ve asked my agent to find me another publisher. It’s difficult to give up my first book deal. I was so excited back in the autumn when I was first signed.

But the trouble is, you see, that after everything that’s happened at TFP I wouldn’t have felt ‘fortunate’ to be published by them.

I know we all have to look out for ourselves in this world, make compromises etc, but self-respect is important too. So are time, money and career.

Last night, I slept properly for the first time in months.

By: Jen Hamilton-Emery

Jen Hamilton-Emery — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:36:45 +0000

This is a really interesting article, Danuta. Just a quick point of clarification about Salt’s publishing model. We started off using POD and quickly grew out of it as our sales rose. Now the majority of our UK and Australian titles are quality hardbacks, printed in batches (some are paperback but none are printed by POD).

Plus, we specialise in poetry AND short fiction. And I think we’re the happiest publisher in the world

By: Danuta

Danuta — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:56:27 +0000

Thank you everyone for your feedback.
Helen, that’s a good point about grasping at the first deal that comes along. It is very hard t say no or to ask awkward questions, which is why I wrote this: forewarned is forearmed, as they say.
Regarding royalties on the contract: as I understand it, some TFP authors did get advances and regarding better than average royalties, well if the book sells nothing or very little then that better than average is worth practically nothing. So a better than average offer on paper hosud never be taken at face value, but questioned along with everything else: how will they promote the book? Where will it be distributed – can they show you any guarantees that it is to appear in wholesalers catalogues, booksellers promotions etc? Things that will mean that you have a chance of earning something for your work. The main thing is that regardless of the size of the publisher, you are entering into a BUSINESS contract with them and should have the same rigorous attitude to the small print as you would in any other scenario.

By: nmj

nmj — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:24:42 +0000

Hey Emma, I love the cover and it has been greatly admired. I was closely involved in the feedback at different stages of the design. I had asked for a sleeping woman, bleak but sexy, and that is exactly what you gave me. It sums the book up perfectly. I am sorry you have not yet been paid.

And re. TFP contracts, can I just say that the Society of Authors vetted my contract thoroughly, and though there was no advance – not unusual for a small publisher – they told me that the royalties were better than many they see!

By: Helen

Helen — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:51:22 +0000

Great piece, Danuta. I was discouraged from acquiring an agent when I signed with TFP. Then when I later acquired an agent and showed him my TFP contract (which I had by then signed) he was horrified at its terms. There was talk of TFP funding my membership of the SoA but that turned out to be…. well, just talk.
I agree with all the points you make. It’s hard, though, to have the confidence as an aspiring writer not to clutch at the first book deal that comes your way. I admit I was naive! But as a first-time writer, what did I know? I guess this is what people mean by hard-won experience.
Hope you and Bumplet are keeping well.

By: Stewart Ferris

Stewart Ferris — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:20:25 +0000

I think you’ve put the whole issue of potentially unsound publishing into focus, Danuta. I know what it’s like to start a publishing company with lttle more than coins, and the lesson from TFP seems not unlike the craziness of the dotcom boom when huge amounts of money were raised (and spent) on businesses with no real substance. It really is a shame for the authors and suppliers who suffer in these circumstances.

By: Hazel Cushion

Hazel Cushion — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:47:45 +0000

Great piece and very interesting – as a small publisher we have found working with a London agent (Pollinger Ltd) gives our unagented authors the opportunity to be professionally represented for translation and film/tv rights. It’s an expert field and I openly admit that I do not have the time or experience to do well for them. Plus the Pollinger agents can spot rising stars from our list and move them on to larger houses when they feel the time is right for them. The satisfaction of offering a launch pad to a writer’s career is immense.
I would suggest a propective author contact other people who are already published by a company (via the author’s website) to get their feedback before signing a contract. Most authors have their own website and they are a friendly bunch.
Also remember the Society of Authors will vet any contracts and I suggest unagented authors avail themselves of this important facility.

By: dulwichmum

dulwichmum — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:40:56 +0000

Dear Danuta,

Well done, great piece. I was a TFP author until I broke my contract with them in January. I was told by Clare Christian that TFP were loved by their authors and that many did not have the need for an agent as she managed them so very well and was so incredibly fair handed. Clare repeated this claim on every occasion that I spoke to her, right up until I broke my contract with TFP because of their inertia based attitude, lack of communication and inexperienced editorial support. I am very lucky to have found a super agent and I would actively discourage anyone from signing a contract with a publisher without an agent.

By: SUSAN HILL

SUSAN HILL — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:39:18 +0000

Excellent piece Danuta.. many very good point about small indie publishers – I am one, with my other hat on of course. There is one point… hyping oneself can never work ultimately because anyone in the Trade can get access to real sales figures via Nielsen. Now of course these do not include special sales (i.e. non-booktrade sales) and etc but they are a good guide… don`t look up one title from a small indie publisher look up half a dozen. One book with poor sales is not representative and a lot of the large corporate publishers have books out there which have sold 200 copies. But if you look up half a dozen or so books published by, say, HarperCollins, you won`t find many in there which have sold 200. If you look up a Inde publisher`s figures and find 10 of their books have sold between 50 and 200 copies, then you know to run away !
It is fine to put your best foot forward and tell the world what great books you have – you`d be an idiot to say ‘our titles are a bit iffy’. but to say ‘we are doing wonderfully’ when a. you are not and b the rest of the trade is not and to say ‘we`re making loadsa money’ and ‘we get very few returns’ and ‘we are on course to turnover 6 million next year’ when none of this is true is dishonest and also silly as you are bound to get found out. And when you do, boy are you going to get stick.
Agents. Two of Long Barn`s author, with books out in 2009, have found a top agent as a result of our taking them on and they have found them through me. No small publisher can get foreign rights to the extent that a top agent can and not only the rights but the top money for each individual country. We do not have the expertise, the foreign rights specialists etc. But these authors have got a good number of really good foreign deals as a result of having an agent.
Long Barn pays its authors a flat advance of 1,000. No negotiation. I cannot afford to give out more upfront but this means that we try to promote and get behind our authors equally. We don`t let those we have paid little for sink or swim by themselves. Also, if you have a modest advance you are likely to earn it out quickly and start getting real money in. Agents do not send me their books because they know they are not going to be able to negotiate a big advance, on which they will get commission. But the ones who do send know that I will put everything i can behind each book I publish and in the end this may mean they actually earn more money – just not off the back of the advance. I paid £500 advance seven years ago for COUNTING MY CHICKENS by Debo Devonshire. Her agent was perfectly OK about this. We have sold 85,000 copies as of this month.
Re TFP. You are dead right that web-to-book, which was how they began ( and their original idea was not ONLY to do with blogs) was an original idea and with care and attention to BOOK publishing, might have worked quite well. BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEA, about a paramedic`s life, did. But they veered right away from their original business proposal and started to churn out far too many books which had nothing to do with that. They tried to turn themselves into general publishers, without a focus or a strategy, publishing more and more books when they should have been publishing fewer and fewer just to try and buy themselves out of trouble. That never works. Care and editorial attention went out of the window – if they had ever come in – the truth was never told to authors and creditors and I think that was because it was not being told to themselves. Self-deception when you are in a financial hole is as bad as when you are in the grip of an addiction.
The sad thing is that there are so many would-be authors out there clutching at any straw to get published and never looking to see if the straw will hold water. If only, if only, if only, they could see that getting your book taken by a publisher and put into print between covers is NO GUARANTEE OF ANYTHING WHATSOEVER. I read a blog-comment yesterday from an author published by a small publisher (not TFP, not LBB). I checked their sales out. They had sold – this is truly terrible to report but through the tills, in a bag, to a customer they had sold ONE COPY.