The Bookseller July 2004

Aspiring writers seeking encouragement from the doyenne of crime editors at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival next week will be disappointed by what Maria Rejt (pronounced “rate”) has to say. According to her, no one wants to read their books. It’s a grenade the Macmillan and Picador publishing director lobbed at the audience in her speech to the inaugural festival last year. “I think I shocked them,” she says with a mischievous smile. But they should not be surprised: on her first day in publishing, Rejt got the knack of turning down a large number of proposals.

Her advice should be heeded. Her instincts for what readers want–even if they don’t know it–are widely acknowledged as the best in London publishing. Not only is she rated the best crime editor in the business, she is also regarded highly for publishing instincts that have been responsible for the meteoric rise of Minette Walters, Kathy Reichs and Peter Robinson. Her taste has also added spice to Picador’s list–Daniel Mason’s acclaimed début The Piano Tuner is Rejt’s acquisition, and she has developed a bijou list of translated crime fiction by authors such as Andrea Camilleri.

“She is a terrific editor,” says literary agent Peter Straus, her former boss at Macmillan. “She cares passionately and listens to her authors. She also understands the nature of the company she works for and what they need to do.”

Passion is at the heart of Rejt’s personality. She does not talk about her authors, she evangelises for them. Acquisitions are invariably “wonderful”, “beautifully written” or “breathtaking”. In a world of hype this sounds like the usual publisher gush, but it is not. Rejt knows what she is talking about: more than that, she knows how to make others feel the same way about the books.

“She is a very determined woman,” says Jane Gregory, agent for Minette Walters, whose début The Ice House was one of Rejt’s most notable acquisitions for Macmillan. Gregory adds: “She will not let go. She will keep pushing and pushing until she gets what she wants.”

It is a trait Rejt acknowledges. But without passion she cannot push. “If an author delivers a book that you are not really keen on, then you have to let them go. If you lose the passion to be that author’s messianic voice, that is when you have to say ‘No’.”

Asked what she does when an author’s disappointing sales record stands in the way of retailer support, she answers as if the idea had never been raised before. Clearly the idea of good work not beating the data is incomprehensible. “You just have to persevere until they get it, don’t you?” In another age, Rejt would be one of those pioneering women who travelled alone up the Amazon or into the heart of Africa fired by zeal and sheer bloody-mindedness.

Accidental break

A voracious reader all her life–her father taught her to read when she was two–Rejt always wanted to work in publishing. But her break came by accident. She had a temporary job at the Dutch Cheese Marketing Board, but was sacked after arriving late on her second day. Her agency found her a day’s work at Hodder, where she was asked to turn down some manuscripts. “I got through 72 on my first day.”

It led to a permanent job, “a total lucky break”, Rejt recalls. She spent six years at Hodder, working with some of the best editors in publishing, including Jeffrey Archer’s former publisher Richard Cohen. By a quirk of fate, Rejt has been reunited with Archer at Macmillan–she edited his prison diaries. According to Suzanne Baboneau, publishing director at Simon & Schuster and another former Macmillan colleague, Rejt benefited from what Baboneau calls “an old-fashioned editorial apprenticeship”. “She was raised as an editor in the days when you leaned your craft from an established editor.”

It is a point not lost on Rejt. During her time in the “Siberian salt mines”, she says: “I learned the pure editorial role, which is how you serve an author and make the script the best it can possibly be without meddling, because what you can’t do is alter the author’s voice.” It was hard work. Cohen would toss two manuscripts at her on a Friday night and ask for them by Monday. She grimaces at the memory: “I did them, and they would sit on his desk for a fortnight.”

An advantage of her training, she observes, was that she was able to concentrate entirely on editing line by line her manuscripts, working with authors and getting to know how to manage their reaction. “I didn’t feel any pressure to acquire. I didn’t have to worry about making a name for myself as an acquirer. And that is something to be grateful for.”

Authorial regard

Rejt’s reverence for the authorial voice is reciprocated in her authors’ high regard. “She is a fantastic editor,” Minette Walters says. “She is the editor’s editor,” observes author and Headline Review associate publisher Charlotte Mendelson. “Her greatest quality is her eye and ear for what is going to please the market,” says Morse creator Colin Dexter.

Rejt’s chief talent is her ability to draw the best from authors without masking their voice or offending their egos. “One of the reasons I love her is that she saved me from a bad sex scene,” Mendelson reveals. “I will always be in her debt for that.”

Dexter recalls a similar kill-your-darlings moment. “I wrote a book which started off in Lyme Regis and gave this wonderful description of the sea, the waves crashing on the beach and the sea gulls swooping down. She said it was well written, but added, ‘I just want you to get on with the story.’ She has an extremely good ear for pace and is good at getting you to finish a chapter on the right note.” Walters regards her as a first-class motivator. “You want to give her your best as a writer. You do not want to be in the position of her having to say: ‘This is terrible, take it out.’”

Add psychologist to the list, and you have the recipe for a good editor, according to Rejt. “I think one of the fundamental things that you need as an editor is not an English degree but an interest in human nature and an interest in psychology.” She mentions a recent acquisition, bought on one chapter, which is now on its fourth edit. “It is nothing big, but I know every time I go back I coax out a little bit more and get the author to agree to certain cuts–cutting is one of the most important things that an author does. I won’t let things go. You owe it to a new writer especially to make sure that the book is as glorious as it can be.”

Balancing functions

Rejt admits that it can be tough to balance the conflicting demands of her two roles as editor and publisher. (Her office–manuscripts and proofs strewn across the floor, sofa and spare table–reveals that this is a woman with no time for filing.) The publishing function, she says, is the broad strategy of taking the book to market and getting booksellers to push it as hard as possible.

She excels at this role, says close friend Sue Freestone, Hutchinson publishing director: “She understands that if you do not win the sales people and booksellers it’s quite difficult to get a book taken seriously. And you have to do that, because without them you can’t make a book happen.”

Minette Walters agrees: “One of the first things she does is tell an author about the importance of sales reps. She encourages authors to go out with reps and down to the Macmillan depot, where everyone knows her name. She understands the selling machine and works with it.”

Hooking readers

Rejt appreciates the work of booksellers and is fascinated by their understanding of their market. She is also a supporter of multibuys, and admits to a recent “heated discussion” with literary agent Jonny Geller, an outspoken critic of three-for-twos. “I completely understand his point of view that if you give someone a free book it takes even longer for them to go back to the shop and spend money,” she acknowledges. “But I think that if the customer is taking a punt on an author completely unknown to them, then they will get hooked and carry on reading that author.”

But she does question retailers’ use of frontlist rather than backlist to fill multibuy promotions. “The balance is out of kilter,” she claims. But, unlike some doomsayers, she does not believe that backlist is dying. “Backlist will never die,” she asserts, citing Donna Leon. Leon moved with Rejt to Random House (see box opposite), but Macmillan retained Leon’s backlist. Leon’s breakthrough Acqua Alta, published in 1996, sold 30,000 copies last year, and her other Macmillan backlist titles still sell strongly. “I love it when you crack an author at some point in their career,” Rejt says.

Rejt’s passion for the publishing process is exemplified by her attitude to the publication of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, despite its presence on another publisher’s list. On publication she bought copies to give away to friends, encouraging them to read it.

But she is said to be less generous about publishers who poach her authors. She admits that she was “very upset” when Hodder coaxed Peter Robinson away in January. “It is hurtful, but it is business,” she comments. Would she do it? “If I thought an author was badly published elsewhere, then yes. But I would have to convince myself first that we could do much better.”

She regards it as ironic that Macmillan has done an excellent job with Robinson, taking him high up the charts. “We could have kept him if we had decided to value his books differently, but we didn’t,” she adds. “We have his backlist and a novel remaining that we will publish very vigorously.”

Crime in Harrogate

As she prepares for the second annual Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, such troubles are far from her mind. The festival was the brainchild of organiser Jane Bradish Ellames and Jane Gregory. Rejt and crime writer Val McDermid were brought on board because of their connections and because all four get on well–board meetings are raucous, according to Rejt.

The festival, because of its association with the prestigious Harrogate Music Festival, adds cachet to a genre that can sometimes be looked down upon, Rejt says. The line-up is blue chip: Dexter, Walters, Stella Rimington and Karin Slaughter are due to appear. The panel has an enviable contact book, Gregory says: “Between us we have read absolutely everybody and know everybody we need to appear.”

Rejt hopes that the event will give fans a chance to meet their favourite authors. Will she be less pessimistic about the work of would-be crime writers? No. But they will be cheered by the conclusion to what she told them last year: no one wants to read their writing, but it is her job to make them want to read it. And if anyone can do that, Rejt can.