For those who are interested, I've resurrected my blog. There's not much on it at the moment, but I'm hoping to add things that give some insight to my experience as a MNW guinea pig. (It's all been positive, though I don't want to become some kind of evangelist for the scheme.)

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

The link is http://rogersplog.blogspot.com

Roger
I've had a look at the blog - it's very interesting to hear your thoughts about what you wanted the book to be 'about' in a broad sense.

I felt quite envious, though, at the thought of being able to fit in some writing time at six AM - your little 'uns must be a bit older than mine! I attempted to do this recently but the youngest has taken to waking at 5.45.
Horrendous...think he's trying to thwart my publishing ambitions :-)

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oh, those bloody elusive smileys....

Roger, good to see this up and running again. It's a good blurb, and your discussion of it is interesting too. Apart from being interested in the book itself, I'm struggling with text for my own website, and it's helpful to see what other people put in theirs.

Here's to lots of hits!

Emma

Thanks Caroline and Emma.

Caroline, my kids are (1) just turned six and (2) seven soon to be eight. At the time of writing the book they would have been four and six, I think, as it was last summer when I wrote it. Luke, the youngest, is an early riser. He generally gets up at seven, even at weekends - so I always knew I had until seven. Claire would stay in bed all day if we let her.

Emma - I really don't know what to put on the blog, so I'm glad you thought it was okay.

As for getting lots of hits, any ideas how we go about doing that? I'm not sure if blogs show up in search engines. When you do get your website going, let me know. I'll put up a link from mine.

Thanks again, Roger.

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By the way, if anybody wants me to put up a link to their own blogs, let me know.

Roger,

I notice your sales rank has changed on Amazon has changed, has the money started rolling in yet?

I understand the basics of it but how does the whole royalty thing work exactly?

Have Macmillan told you how many copies they intend to print? How did they arrive at this figure? Are they keeping you in the loop or do you feel like you've passed the baton now that it's been taken up by the publisher? Have they told you how they plan to market it, beyond the details of the standard contract? Is there any provision in the contract to release it as a paperback? Do you need to fulfil a given quota, saleswise, before this happens? Do they help you line up interviews, promotion events or is that all down to you?

Strange questions I know but this side to me is almost as interesting as the whole writing aspect. Not sure if this is what you had in mind with your blog but it would make a facinating read.

Look forward to reading your blog

Geoff

has the money started rolling in yet? ...how does the whole royalty thing work exactly? ... how many copies they intend to print? How did they arrive at this figure? Are they keeping you in the loop or do you feel like you've passed the baton now that it's been taken up by the publisher? Have they told you how they plan to market it, beyond the details of the standard contract? Is there any provision in the contract to release it as a paperback? Do you need to fulfil a given quota, saleswise, before this happens? Do they help you line up interviews, promotion events or is that all down to you?

Ha, Geoff! Don't tell me you're as obsessive about that ranking as me! It did go up to 5,800 and something at one point, which was a lot higher than I ever imagined, but it seems to have settled down in the 100Ks. I'm sure it will plummet when the Christmas buying starts in earnest. (It's not available till April.) My own feeling is the amazon ranking is pretty meaningless. Don't know why I think that but I just do. I don't really know how they calculate it.

As for the questions you ask, they're not strange at all. The royalty calculation for the MNW is one of the controversial features of the scheme. It's 20% of gross, rather than the usual 10% of net. (If I've got that the right way round - sorry I'm hopeless on these things.) The point is, MNW royalties are calculated on the discounted price, rather than the full mrp. But then the percentage is higher.

As for the print run, they have been quite coy about this from the outset and I have not asked. I assume the print run is modest. The books are being printed and bound in China. The idea is that those that sell quickly will switch to paperback (printed in the UK for speed) - the hardback is in a format that transforms to paperback without having to be reset. I think it's called B format. They are keeping the writers in the loop by sending out regular newsletters, including a pack which contained information about marketing. The marketing, sales and distribution are being handled by bods within Macmillan UK - so the MNW books have to compete for their time and enthusiasm along with all the other books the group produces. Apparently, the reps are behind the scheme and love the books. So that's promising. Mike Barnard the publisher is very approachable. I met him once and have had email communication with him. We have talked about marketing and he has been interested in my ideas, as I have a marketing background. I think they are planning to line up interviews - provided they can find anyone who wants to interview us, I suppose. Did I get all your questions, or was there anything else?

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Just realised I hadn't answered your first question. No! No money rolling in yet, and I don't expect there will be for quite some time!

Hi Rodger,

That's more than enough! It's the kind of information you always want to know but nobody seems to have the answers (not the people I know anyway!). Very interesting.

I've never seen the point in the Amazon sales ranking either. Why can't the just come straight out and give us a figure of how many units they've sold total and that week? That would make much more sense to me.

Having said that it might be a little demoralising if a sales ranking of 280,000 equates to something like 3 sales.

So the fact that you have a sales ranking means that someone has actually bought your book? Do they give you any feedback as to how many they sell? Though I guess all this sort of stuff is handled by the publisher. I guess you'd probably still like to have some hard figures, especially refreshed on a daily basis.

Geoff

I like that your Amazon write up is brief, after it's out, we'll have to get on there and add some critiques. I'm convinced that will help a little to encourage people. Whenever they see it's been read it will nudge them in the same direction..

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Sorry - by the amazon one being brief, I wrote that as I find some of them very long winded and off-putting.

Hi Alexandra - I think they took the brief pitch I wrote in my cover email when I subbed the ms to them. Hey, it would be great if people left critiques! (I think?) No seriously, that would be great!

Thanks for checking it out,

Roger.

Just to say, there's a bit about Macmillan New Writing (and my plog) in The Grumpy Old Bookman today. http://grumpyoldbookman.blogspot.com

Michael Allen (the GOB) has always been supportive of MNW. He's not too complimentary about some of the publishers' blurbs though! Does he mean mine??? Ah well, it's all good publicity.

Yes, it's getting the word out there! I enjoyed reading that.
I think those that would dare to write MNW off are probably those who are very closed off from the reality that agents and publishers are hard to snag. The modern day writer has to take a 'risk' when they get an opportunity now. At the end of the day, any writer who believes in their work knows that the risk is worth it... The industry is very contradictory at the best of times, I just read an article in msylexia yesterday which contracted 99% of a critique I paid for. What a lovely market we fight for a place in...!!

I just read an article in msylexia yesterday which contracted 99% of a critique I paid for

Alexandra, I'm intrigued. What exactly is the story here? You paid for a private critique of some writing and it (the critique) ended up being published? Maybe I've misunderstood you.

Sorry for the confusion, I just meant the market is contradictory. I had a professional critique service go through my novel and they said the opposite to what my market research did. Was just a by-the-by point..

Hi Roger,

Another question.

I've just been looking at an article in the Guardian regarding Macmillan New Writing and it states that the publisher gets is given world wide and electronic rights.

So what happens if your book sells by the shed load in the States or Europe? Does it mean that you wouldn't receive a penny from the sales?

Geoff

Geoff,

They have the rights to sell it on my behalf. I can't give or sell the rights to anyone else. The terms they offer me for this service are less favourable than industry standard, in that they will split the proceeds fifty fifty with me. Normally, I believe, if the foreign rights are sold the writer gets 80% and the agent (the publisher is acting as my agent in this case) gets 20%. That's another of the reasons why the Society of Authors are so against the contract. But, you know, I can't sell the overseas rights on my own, (though waxlyrikal did sell his first novel to a US publisher, so it is possible). And the proceeds of a book that remains unpublished, in whatever country, are zero.

If they manage to sell the foreign rights anywhere, I'll be happy to see half of the money. Next time might be different.