Article from The Guardian here:

http://business.guardian.co.uk/economicdispatch/story/0,,1721766,00.html

exploring the possibilities and economics of it.

Emma

Hi Emma,
I saw this just as I posted my own topic on Lulu after listening to Radio 4.
Good article, and it really is something that might rock the foundations of the existing publishing houses...don't you think? Just like the internet shook the music industry.
Is this something you would ever consider, if say, your relationship with Headline crashed and burned etc. etc.?
E-

I wouldn't consider it because I can't do marketing and PR, and without that there's no point. Sitting in the middle of the Rolls Royce operation that's Headline, I'm realising just how much effort/time/money goes into that side of things, and I don't have the knowledge or the energy, or the money. Though I know of those who do, and self-publish not without success.

With a non-fiction book on a subject with a market you can get at directly it's different, and LuLu might be a convenient one-stop shop for all the necessary production processes. Some of the most successful self-publishers started with local books - walks, history, nature - which have a catchment they can get at themselves. Others corner the market in falconry or a particular ailment, and do it all online and through groups and specialist mags.

Having said that, there would be worse ways to get your first book out there, I think. You do need the honesty to admit that there may be sound commercial reasons why you can't find a publisher, though, and that you might be even less able to disguise the deficiencies in your work and help it sell. And even if you decide to go ahead, you need plenty of cash, energy, time... For myself I'd rather take the cash/energy/time and use it to write a novel that is good enough to get a publisher.

Emma

On the other hand, Emma, you're very lucky to be with a publisher that does any marketing at all. Julia Bryant, who writes wonderful Portsmouth-based sea novels, and has several rather good books under her belt with a major publisher, has no marketing budget at all, and is forced to do all her own publicity/trudging round shops with a copy of her book to see if they'll take it.

Not much different from the noble art of self-publishing then ...

A
xxx

<Added>

PS Or you do what I and 3 like-minded writers with quality but quirky/cross-genre (aka "unmarketable") books have done with Goldenford - and set up your own company!! It's the way forward for the "commercially unpopular" writer ...

A
xxx

No, not much different. And yes, I do think Goldenford is definitely one way forward, and I hugely admire you guys for doing it. I wish there were more setups like it.

It's a quirk of novels that there are so few outlets except purely commercial ones - where's the equivalent of a beginning-singer's recital in her local church, or the photographer's work on the walls of the local café? There will always be good work that deserves be out there and will give pleasure if it can get there.

I was talking to the agent Mark Lucas of LAW a few evenings ago about this issue, and rather to my surprise (lots of publishing people don't really know what it feels like from the outside) he felt very strongly that it was definitely bad for literature as a whole that it takes quite so much stamina to get published. He felt that some huge talents didn't make it simply because they lacked that stamina, and that it was wrong that they couldn't get their not-quite-there first couple of things published, because sometimes as a result they never managed to write the third absolutely-there one at all.

Emma

<Added>

How's Goldenford going, by the way?

Writing this quickly as I'm dashing to work… I have two friends who are writers. One is published by Piatkus (5 novels and another on the way), the other is with Orion (3 novels and another on the way), and they both say that, after the first flush, most of the marketing and publicity fall to themselves.

Catch up later

Dee

Yes, I think that's very true. The new books and authors will always command the most effort. Though I've heard of authors whose publishers have settled into letting them jog along, and a change of publisher has worked wonders - the kind of decision an agent can really help with, I suspect.

Emma

I agree - the UK scene is definitely not good for writers, and something has to change. Somewhere along the line. And I also agree that we need the writing equivalent of the local art/singing display venue - which is basically what Goldenford is trying to do.

Thanks for asking how it's going, Emma - it's a slow process of getting our name out there right now - last year's 2 novels have being doing all right (short runs only of course), and have had a couple of good reviews, one from an independent journalist just starting out, who is keen to review more Goldenford work - which is encouraging! - and one from our local branch of Ottakar's, who have given Irene's novel a special push.

This year, we've got my (in early summer) and Jennifer's (c. October) novels coming out, so it will be interesting to see how they do in the local market. We also made some good contacts at the London Book Fair recently, and have several interesting marketing ideas for the future - watch this space! One day, we hope to be the Tyndal Street Press of the south - maybe! For more news, do click onto http://www.goldenford.co.uk

)

A
xxx

Good old Ottakars. Glad you had a good Book Fair. Everybody grumbles, but everybody goes. I gather the outrageously long loo queues were good networking opportunities - but of course only with your own gender.

Very smart website, by the way!

Emma

Thanks, Emma - those loo queues were terrible!!

)

A
xxx

Emma,

You say:

For myself I'd rather take the cash/energy/time and use it to write a novel that is good enough to get a publisher.

Over the two and a half years I've been here, I've read work on WW of far superior quality to many published novels. Getting published is not as straightforward as writing something 'good' enough; it helps to have contacts simply to get the work read in the first place. The days of the gentleman publisher with a private income and a passion for words are over, never to return - he's been replaced by a team of accountants and marketing execs to whom factors like the author's potential to produce bestsellers and his/her personal marketability are arguably as important as the work itself.

Nell.

Very true, Nell!

We should form a Writewords Press - didn't someone talk about that at some stage??...

)

A
xxx

Hi Anne,

Yes, I remember. I felt at the time that it would introduce a competitive element that might disturb our WW sanctuary.

Here's a cheering list though - and who dares say their work isn't good?

Famous self-published authors

Nell...

Nell,

What an extraordinary list!

There is, it seems, still a bit of a taboo against self publishing. The attitude behind this seems to be peculiar to the publishing world. Actors and directors who start their own theatre companies are, to the large extent, applauded for the effort. I've never heard of a small theatre company being accused of putting up a 'vanity' production.

Harry

True, Nell, you're quite right (as ever!) - and great list!

I agree, Harry - the age of the writer/publisher is coming rapidly upon us and we should take advantage of it. And to your wonderful theatre analogy, I'd like to add: whoever laughed at the concept of singer/songwriter before hearing the tune??

A
xxx