Nigel 
August 31st,2010Established publishers are busy.
They know what their job is and how to do it. They have authors who consistently make them money. Taking on an unknown writer is a big risk.
So when a submissions editor reaches for the next unrequested manuscript they’re mainly looking for a reason,any reason,to reject it. And reject with as little time wasted as possible. It’s hardly surprising that some gems slip past unnoticed. One famous example of this is Joanne Rowling when her agent tried to sell the first Harry Potter novel to a publisher. Twelve rejected it. Later it was offered to Bloomsbury,and their shrewd chairman passed the first chapter to his eight year old daughter for comment. She promptly requested the next chapter. Good for her.
We are looking to publish non-fiction that is readable and in some ways fun,but has a point. We’ll be looking for material that has potential,but may well require significant editing in partnership with the writer. No doubt we’ll be offered stuff other publishers have rejected,and that’s fine. Hopefully some manuscripts will be sent to us first.
There is a publisher which already does this sort of thing for fiction. They’re not exactly what we want to be,but do show the way. They are called BeWrite Books and you can find them here.
In the previous post I mentioned getting involved with YouWriteOn (web site here) and as a result being contacted by Liza Granville,an up and coming author with considerable talent. She has three books published by BeWrite Books,and they’re working with her on editing a fourth. She referred me to their web site,and as a result I’ve been chatting a little by e-mail with a couple of their team. They’re warm and friendly,as we hope to be. Judging by the Liza Granville book I’ve bought and read they do an excellent job of production,including having a unique cover created –Liza got to work with her cover designer.
They do not offer any royalty advances. Actually other publishers are moving in that direction. Doubleday won the bidding war for Joanne Harris’Chocolat partly by offering her £75,000 up front,which was enough for her to risk leaving her job as a French teacher. That kind of thing is happening less often,and it looks likely will become rare indeed. We authors need to get used to waiting for the book to sell before we get any financial return,and that’s the model BeWrite use. If they accept a book they work hard to create a high-quality product for the market place,but you’re paid a percentage on sales only after the sale.
However they have limitations,and are quick to point these out to authors browsing their site. As with all publishers launching most books,the publisher is not strong on publicity and promotion;the old model for launching a successful book is prohibitively expensive. BeWrite advise prospective clients to exhaust all mainstream possibilities first,which is an admirable thing for them to say. What they do,they do well. But they know their limitations. What an author gets is warm,friendly,professional help in refining the book,and then creating a final product available both online and to high-street bookshops. It is then up to the author,mainly,to promote the book.
That’s something most writers are ill-equipped to do. They need guidance,and someone to chat through with them what approaches suit them and their book.
We will be creating over a period of years a book of suggestions and advice to authors on what they should be doing at various stages of book development if they want to sell a reasonable quantity. And let’s be honest,that’s what we writers create for:people to read and enjoy our work. Mind you,some cash is not unwelcome.
I’m thinking we should make this publicity guide available to BeWrite’s authors as well as to our own. Of course,a bad book won’t sell. And a book with no real market won’t either. But that’s part of the job of the publisher:to find good books that are worth reading. We also plan to work with each author on how the author will be promoting their book.
BeWrite do not charge to publish your book. They are NOT a vanity publisher,they’re serious about what they publish. They’re highly selective. But check their limitations and submission instructions (on the web site) before sending off your opus.
In the next post I’ll be reviewing Liza’s book Until The Skies Fall.
Meanwhile I would value comments,particularly from any of the team at BeWrite.
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