New Edition August/September 2015

PG 9 KATE APPLETON LEARNS WHAT IT TAKES TO RUN AN INDIE STORE FROM BELGRAVIA BOOKS

PG 23 DOES GO SET A WATCHMAN JUSTIFY ALL OF THE HYPE OVER ITS RELEASE?

PG 28 CLINK STREET CELEBRATES ITS AUTHORS WITH A ROARING SUMMER BASH

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ISSUE 26, AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015

We know what you read this summer. Team Authoright share their favourite beach reads.

NEW EDITION, AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015

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Welcome to the August/September issue of New Edition. This edition sees Kate Appleton catch up with the manager of her all-time favourite independent bookstore. Diana Rissetto examines the controversy behind arguably the most hotly anticipated second novel of all time: Harper Lee’s Go Set A Watchman. And Stephanie Winkler looks at the realities of a more democratic publishing industry. Plus author interviews and the books keeping us company this summer.

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HAPPENI N GS August Fringe Festival 23-30| Edinburgh http://www.literarydeathmatch.com

Literary Death Match

Four authors enter but only one can leave the victor in this competitive and hilarious series that brings together the spirit of book reading with quick-witted judgements a la The X Factor. Coming to Edinburgh Fringe for the first time, each author in a round will be given five minutes to impress the three all-star judges to earn a chance to compete in the Literary Death Match finale, a vaguely-literary game to decide the ultimate winner. Tickets are available through Literary Death Match’s website.

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Brooklyn Book Festival

Borough Hall, Brooklyn, NY brooklynbookfestival.org The largest free literary event in New York City, the Brooklyn Book Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and boasts a wide array of authors, bookstores and indie publishers. The week of lead-up activities begins on September 14 with movie screenings, literary games and author appearances. The day itself will feature all of the sponsoring exhibitors participating in event programming and meeting with the public at their booths. All events are open to the public.

London Literature Festival

Southbank Centre, London, UK www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/london-literature-festival London Literature Festival 2015 is a mixture of science, technology and art, fused together by the written and spoken word. Hightlights this year include a talk by Terry Gilliam on his life, career, art and creativity and a four-day performed reading of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. Some events will be free to the public and others can be purchased through Southbank Centre’s website.

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News In Brief Go Set a Watchman release breaks records, causes uproar After decades in hiding and months of anticipation, Harper Lee’s second novel has now seen the light of day, showing us a glimpse of the story that would eventually become a masterpiece.

For this reason, it is little surprise Go Set a Watchman topped over one million copies across all versions of the book sold in the first week of release.

Still, not everyone has been happy with the final product.

As our own Diana Rissetto will

Researchers crack the code of whodunnit Was it the butler in the drawing room with the candlestick or the colonel with the rope in the kitchen? After years of reading Agatha Christie novels and asking these questions, researchers finally have a way to answer them.

After being commissioned by UKTV channel Drama to mark the 125th anniversary of the author’s birth, a panel led by Dr. Dominique Jeannerod, senior research fellow at the Institute for Collaborative Research in the Humanities at Queens University, analysed 27 of Christie’s published works, including Death on the Nile and the Murder on the Orient Express.

They concluded that the culprit was almost always introduced within the first half of the book and was likely to be either a spouse or relative of the victim.

Other key factors determining the perpetrator were the setting of the novel and the main method of transport used.

“The method of killing and the detective in the novel also point to the sex of the killer. By bringing all of these together, you can build a picture of the killer’s identity and so discount characters from the group of suspects, finally leaving the reader with the most probable identity of the killer,” panel member Brett Jacob told The Guardian.

discuss later in the issue, many readers are unhappy about the retroactive change of Atticus Finch as a racist after falling in love with the original character.

So many are unhappy with the treatment that at least one bookstore has started offering refunds for the book.

“It is a first draft that was originally, and rightfully, rejected,” said Brilliant Books in a statement posted on its website.

John Stewart calls it quits on The Daily Show

After 16 years of hosting The Daily Show on Comedy Central, John Stewart’s final show aired August 6th, leaving the literary community worried about its place on television.

Over 20 per cent of Stewart’s guests during his time on The Daily Show were authors, according to a breakdown done by Fusion, providing a huge platform for authors to promote and discuss their books to audiences.

All may not be lost for authors hoping to make their television debut, though. In a piece for the Wall Street Journal, Sophia Hollander said Late Night host “Seth Meyers is staking out new ground in late-night TV, injecting novelists and poetry readings.”

Stewart’s old partner and also a friend of the literary world on his former programme, Stephen Colbert begins his new show, replacing David Letterman, in September.

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With the recent announcement that Scribd would cull its romance section, Josh Hamel examines the current state of literary subscription services and asks whether a boon in reader numbers may in fact be a problem.

A wide selection of unlimited books for less than $10 per month sounds like a dream scenario to many people. And for many readers, that dream was a reality for a time with the appearance of services like Scribd, Oyster and even Kindle Unlimited.

Unfortunately, it was a nightmare for the organisations offering the subscriptions. In early July, Scribd announced it was slashing the number of titles it would offer in the romance genre due to the high cost of satiating the appetite of those readers demanded.

In an interview with Wired, CEO of Scribd Trip Adler categorized the move as simply “balancing the selection for some genres such as romance to get the popular dynamics just right.”

These cuts overwhelmingly have affected independent authors and small presses.

“Effective immediately, I estimate 80-90% of Smashwords romance and erotica titles will be dropped by Scribd, including nearly all of our most popular romance titles,” Mark Coker of Smashwords said in a statement after the announcement. “The problem for Scribd is that romance readers are heavy readers, and Scribd pays publishers retailer-level margins for the books.”

Shortly after the announcement was made, Scribd made another that it would be adding over 1,000 titles from Macmillan to its catalogue, but that number pales in comparison to the amount of material removed from the service and doesn’t fix the core problem. Adding more titles from traditional publishers and to other categories doesn’t change the fact that the current wayof doing business doesn’t seem to be sustainable yet and needs to change if subscription services are going to succeed.

In the wake of the culling, Scribd’s subscription model was compared to gyms and

buffets if all of their customers came at the same time. While those are true of the subscription model in general, neither of those comparisons reveals the true disadvantage that the unlimited consumption presents to Scribd and other digital services.

Other than the usual maintenance cost that comes with using the machines, a gym does not have to pay for a new machine every time a member walks through the door. If every member comes at once, the experience may not be exactly the same and users may get tired of waiting for space to open up, but there isn’t a direct cost to the gym owners for every person trying to exercise at that moment.

Likewise, a buffet will prepare a set amount of food for its diners, which might vary on a day-to-day-basis but is largely the same cost to the restaurant. If all of their customers come at the same time, the number of tables, and the size of the human stomach, limits how much food can go out at one time.

Neither of these natural limits are present with Scribd and other digital subscription services. With theoretically unlimited supply of each book for every customer, Scribd actually does worse financially the more people use their service. While it is true that a smaller number of extremely dedicated users cost the company much more than the majority of normal users combined, the fact remains that paying near retail prices for rental models will not work in the long term.

It would be insane for successful subscription services in other digital mediums like Netflix or Spotify to pay near the retail price of a movie or song every time it was watched or listened to by a subscriber to their service, so why do the subscription programs for books think they can continue to do so and survive for any length of

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Scribd, Oyster and Kindle Unlimited all have their own faults that prevent them from being the true Netflix of books.

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time?

In order to make these offers feasible, Scribd and Oyster must make changes to the way their services do business, whether through what they charge, how much they incentivise authors or handle their catalogue.

While Kindle Unlimited’s model of pooling an amount of money that is then distributed to all of the authors offering work through the system offers a more stable approach for retailers, it puts a cap on the amount of success authors can have using the service. This could, in turn, deter authors from listing it there and limit the amount of work users can choose from, driving down subscribers and making it even harder for the service to succeed, especially for a company that lacks Amazon’s amount of outside resources that can support a loss-leader.

In order to alleviate the effects of this change, it could also cut back on the number of titles available at any one time. By keeping a smaller number of books in constant rotation in its catalogue, it could allow authors to still draw the same audience because there would be less competition.

Another option would be to cap the number of books users could read per month and institute tiered-level system wherein the heaviest users would pay more to access a truly unlimited number of books per month. Of course, this option runs the risk of alienating their most loyal clientele and could lose their most vocal and dedicated users who may feel they are being punished for their business after paying a flat-rate for the same collection for so long.

None of these are perfect solutions, but there is not an option that will appease all parties and allow Scribd and other subscription providers to operate as they have been. Whichever option they decide to go with, change will be necessary for them to be sustainable in the future.

Lucky for them, it seems at least some of their base is willing to stick around for a bit while they figure out the solution to these problems.

“I plan to keep my subscription as long as it’s valuable to me and available,” Juli Monroe of TeleRead said.

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Best on Show Independent book stores offer a safe haven for readers wherever they set up shop and Belgravia Books is one of the finest. Our Kate Appleton practically lives there! She caught up with manager Andy Barr about how he makes this literary sanctuary one of the best in the business.

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art of me wonders why I’m sharing my book haven, but the other – louder – part of me is telling myself to stop being selfish and shout about it from the rooftops, so here we go…

Belgravia Bookshop sits a stones throw from the manic Victoria Station and Buckingham Palace Road on the quiet and beautiful Ebury Street, home to a couple of coffee shops, an Italian restaurant and a ninviting wine bar.

I was introduced to the bookshop by a fellow publicist who had read a review on my own book blog (The Friendly Shelf ) and invited me to read a wonderfully charming book The President’s Hat by Antonie Laurain – a fascinating individual who collects antique keys! – and then afterwards invited me to an event that was hosted at Belgravia books.

Wandering into the shop for the first time, I felt incredibly welcome and unhurried to make a purchase. The shop is small, but perfectly formed and primed for browsing – it’s not a snatch-and-grab affair so I recommend going with no specific book in mind, but instead, let the shelves and their eclectic array of classics, world fiction and new releases spur your imagination.

Last time I went in was a Saturday afternoon. As I wandered my way home from the Imperial War Museum, the bookshop looked nice and quiet, so I snuck in and about 45 minutes later, came out with four books – Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan being one of them and already one of my favourite books ever.

This month I took the time to talk to the bookshop manager, Andy Barr, pick his brain on the bookselling industry and to learn a more about the beautiful Belgravia Bookshop.

Bookselling as a Career What brought you into the book selling industry?

Necessity rather than design. I needed somewhere for a week of pre-GCSE work experience and so I approached my then local bookshop, and they said yes. I went back for holiday cover, then part time, then full time.

When I moved to London, I started all over again as a Christmas temp for a bigger chain, selling calendars at a kiosk in a shopping centre. Since then I’ve been bouncing from

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one bookshop to another and have been at Belgravia Bookshop for the past three years.

Do you need qualifications to become a bookseller?

No qualification as such. Reading books in your free time is essential and certain qualities are invaluable – patience and attention to detail are hugely useful. All other learning comes on the job – and there is a lot of learning.

What advice would you give to budding bookshop owners?

It can be hard work. It takes time, and it takes money, and when establishing a new shop you need a lot of patience, the ability to try and the readiness to fail. It is not something to be entered into lightly, nor without any real insight into how UK bookselling operates – rule breaking only works when you understand the rules being broken. There is no precise mould for a new shop and there is no formula for success – subscriptions, events, book clubs, salons, memberships, account sales and more can all play a part but not all of them are for everyone and irrespective of how exciting and loud a shop becomes it must at all times never lose sight of what it is about: selling books.

What do you love about running a bookshop?

I like helping people find a book that they enjoy and even more if it’s a book I love and have recommended for instance when a reader of Dan Brown thanks for me putting them on to Jon McGregor. I also love that running a bookshop is a weird mix of creativity and cyclical, repetitive work that appeals to my need to be constantly occupied. And I have books on tap at all time – which is great.

What is the best thing you’ve experienced at Belgravia Bookshop?

The website has been a fascinating experience.

Anyone who partakes in showrooming will agree (probably after they have sheepishly taken the photograph of the book they intend on one-clicking) that a bookshop is the best place to discover a book.

Online bookselling is hugely convenient if you know what you want, but many shoppers are browsers. They are not so much looking

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as seeing. Working with the designers, the website was intended for customers to browse, to find a book they had not thought of. For me, personally, it was a new element to my job, to be directly involved in the creation and management of an online bookshop that is unique to us.

What is your favourite book?

I might have too many favourite books. The book I have been most obsessed with in the last couple of years is The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis. It is probably the most perfect novel I have ever read and if I am given the chance I make every customer buy it. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons is the only book I regularly re-read, on a near annual basis. It is absolute genius and I will never tire of it. Prior obsessions have included The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland, Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster, The Once and Future King by TH White, The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy.

And many, many others.

What would you recommend for this summer?

I read The End of Vandalism by Tom Drury in January; it was one of the first books I read in 2015 and I knew as I finished it that it was going to be my favourite book of the year. It was originally published in the US in 1994 and Tom Drury is very much one of those authors who is completely brilliant and yet for some reason does not have the massive success so many others have. Old Street Publishing are releasing all three of his Grouse County novels this year (Hunts in Dreams is just out and is every bit as good as the first). It sounds trite to say this, but The End of Vandalism is one of those sedate, precise books in which nothing appears to happen but everything happens. It is very dry, very human, funny and also sad, without being mawkish or grandiose or selfobsessed. I do not expect to read a better book this year.

I would like to highlight the new Patrick DeWitt novel, Undermajordomo Minor, but it is not out until September. When September comes it must be bought and read. I will try and get as many people as possible reading The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollack but this might not be easy. It is a truly unforgettable book but it is full on American Gothic – it is

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dark, and violent, and unrelentingly grim. He is an incredible writer and those prepared to give it a go will not be disappointed.

Miss Independent What is it like running an independent bookshop today - what are the challenges/ freedoms?

The challenges are the same – rents, rates, competition in its numerous and increasing forms. The money is a major factor and can limit the options for a new bookshop, dictating location, impacting on footfall. Competition is inevitable. The act of reading a book – physical or electronic – faces its own competition in the face of tablets and mobile devices, one stop ports of call for all manner of distractions. The market is not what is was – it has narrowed and affected what an independent bookshop can sell, but markets will always change. There remains a demand for books, and in the wake of e-books customers, shops and publishers are placing greater value on the book as an object, and rightly so.

How the UK book trade operates remains largely unchanged. Discounts from publishers favour buying power. Some publishers have made a real effort to keep independents in the loop with competitive deals and there are industry-wide initiatives exclusive to us. But the truth is that much of the talk about the value of independents to the trade remains just talk. It is not an even playing field, but that is how retail works. We compete with choice and selection, and because we are small we are nimble enough to dig out niches.

Given the volume of published books there is no excuse for bookshops to be clones of one another.

This is especially important to independents – we cannot necessarily compete on price and we cannot compete with e-books. But bookselling is an enormous market with an equally enormous degree of variety.

To survive alongside the high street chains and online behemoths we have to offer customers a different choice, books they did not know about or had not thought of. The focus on independent publishers and translated fiction has broadened because of this – we want to present customers with a different selection, be it an Italian bestseller or a reissued biography from a small press or a modern classic not spotted among a sea of a million other modern classics. Flourishing independent publishers and small presses are a real boon to this.

Because of this deciding what to stock is too easy.

There are always books. Deciding what not to stock is harder.

What is the relationship with Gallic Books?

Belgravia Books is owned by Belgravia, an independent publishing house. Belgravia’s primary imprint is Gallic Books, who specialise in publishing a selection of French books in English. The publisher’s offices are on site, off the shop floor and it makes for a lively workplace.

Belgravia Books has been around since 2011 to what would you attribute its success?

These can seem like restrictive limits but despite the inflexibility on the operational end of the business, the freedom in what we choose to sell and how we choose to sell it is as great as we want it to be. Independents can really tailor a shop to the customers and they can influence the customers.

There are a lot of factors: service, recommendations, knowledge of books, airconditioning, how a book is displayed, the impact of an onsite publisher and the traffic it brings to the shop, a Welsh Springer demanding attention on Wednesdays, our annual birthday sale. There is no one factor I could point at and claim as the key to success. And as we are still growing it might be some time before I could confidently admit to a single, strongest point.

How do you decide what books to stock? You seem to favour books in translation - why is this?

Who are your shoppers - do you find it is locals and word of mouth?

When the shop opened we specifically decided to highlight translated fiction and books from independent publishers; Gallic Books is an imprint of an independent publisher, translating books from French, so it was a logical fit.

It is probably the widest ranging profile of customers compared to any shop I have previously worked. There are plenty of local residents from Belgravia and Victoria – two very different areas.

Victoria itself has a bit of everything going on

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– offices, retail, residents, transport hubs, schools, hotels and tourists – that is a broad range of people and they all pass through. Word of mouth plays an inevitable part. We are not on a main road, so passing traffic is not what I would prefer but people do find us -and they come back bringing others with them.

Can you sum up Belgravia in three words?

Inspiring. Curated. Quirky.

Is there anything new planned for Belgravia Bookshop - a cat to accompany Baxter perhaps?

Baxter has actually handed in his notice and left.

Being a dog, he was not getting a wage. It only took him two and a half years to figure that out. In the short term it means the random cat that does like to visit the shop and demand attention has ready access all days of the week. Passing pigeons will also be undisturbed. Long-term pet options are unresolved but I am all for a tortoise, because even if it does escape it cannot get far before being missed -although that does mean several months of the year staring at a box.

There is much planned for the shop but more perhaps will be wrought by whim. The website is an ongoing project with a heavy dose of being-madeup-as-we-go-along -and I will be making up yet more. The publisher is launching a new imprint, with its first books due later this year, and given the direct link between shop and publisher I think this will have a significant impact on the shop.

-Hopefully my love and Andy’s words about the bookshop has sparked an interest in Belgravia Bookshop as it truly is a book lovers haven in a vast and bustling city that cane sometimes feel overwhelming. If so why not visit the real Belgravia Bookshop, 59 Ebury Street, London or browse its shelves online at www.belgraviabooks.com.

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The Democratisation of Publishing

In the past, publishing was run by a number of gatekeepers who had the ulimate say on whether or not a book made the publishing cut. Not so today, when writer and reader would appear to call the shots. Stephanie Winkler looks at the popularisation of the book trade.

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ccording to Nielsen, a data provider for the book publishing industry in the UK and around the world, self publishing is responsible for £58 million in sales and 5 per cent of the UK book market in 2014. The sector grew 16 per cent in the first quarter of 2015 and has leapt 77 per cent since 2012. The figures were presented by Nielsen Book’s UK Research Director Steve Bohme at the inaugural Summer Digital Book Party. Though everyone in the publishing business is well aware of the growth and importance of self publishing in recent years, having the confirmation from Nielsen makes it slightly more legitimate. The numbers lead us to believe that self publishing is heading towards a mainstream path (and is developing a more traditional publishing look). Even for the most cynical and orthodox publishers out there, there is no arguing with statistics.

With this in mind, we can conclude that self publishing has now moved away from the sidelines of the publishing world and is catering to a market where conventional publishing dares not go. Conventional publishers - that is, publishers that do not concentrate on scholarly monographs - became risk-averse, concentrating their energies on books that they are confident will guarantee bestsellers and profit makers. This is where self publishing, also known as ‘vanity publishing’, steps up to the challenge and thrives.

Vanity Publishing is a term that originated in the United States in the 1920s and it was used

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to refer to companies that published works for a determined fee.

This alternative publishing route allows writers to creatively express their thoughts and publish their ideas without the pressures of profit, turnovers and success. This more humane solution does not demand newcoming authors to become overnight bestsellers yet brings an equal chance for them to compete in the market. This democratic approach to publishing has not only challenged the traditional publishing landscape but made a direct impact in its modus operandi.

It is important to bare in mind that the idea of self publishing would have perhaps remained vanity publishing and kept its amateur status had it not been for two key factors: the rise of social media and digital publishing. We can account these two items for the rise and validity of self publishing in recent years due to the simple fact that they have changed the way we produce content.

Before social media gained its importance and recognition as a relevant publishing outlet, one was only viewed as an author if the traditional publishing route had been taken. An author was only considered one if they had a publisher and a contract to bind the legal implications of publishing a book.

Now, the story has changed. The social media revolution has enabled just about anyone to share and create content without having to follow the traditional publishing protocol. You do not need to have a publisher to prove you are an author or, even more, to become one.

You no longer need to become a writer. You automatically are one.

Social media has allowed everyone to share content immediately - and it is this immediacy that has caused an exponential impact on those who create and share their ideas with the world.

Outreach is now wider and more accessible, and consequently, caused a permanent change in our cultural, reading and writing habits. We currently live in a world where information exchange is extremely fast-paced and the feedback you get from the content you put out is equally just as fast. We can now know exactly what the readership wants, thinks and expects and this is a direct reflection of social media showing us that there is a market ready to read content regardless of a traditional publisher’s name.

The digital element of publishing has equally revolutionised the industry. The socalled digital revolution has had a positive

effect and has made self publishing into a more sophisticated and professional sphere within the publishing world. When self publishing was still in its very early stages, critics were very quick to judge it as a sloppy realm of publishing run by amateur authors who did not understood the business clearly.

Now, with cutting-edge print-on-demand companies, self publishing has changed its

“You no longer need to become a writer. You automatically are one.” front cover and has taken on the challenge to change its reputation.

Authoright’s Clink Street is a perfect example of where publishing is perhaps going towards in the foreseeable future.

Clink Street Publishing is a new publishing house that combines the best of both publishing worlds: a traditional and self publishing hybrid model that while allowing authors to have creative freedom, has a team of experts guiding them through every step of the publishing process. It won’t be long until a new form of publishing, or better yet, a more democratic version, emerges and combines the most intelligent aspects of both publishing models.

It seems all of a sudden that mainstream publishing has become a bit outdated, a bit slow in keeping up with modern times when compared to the world of non-conventional publishing. All statistics show a shift in the way our mind used to be set in regards to self publishing, that perhaps this new approach to publishing books will not be considered so revolutionary in a couple of years.

Perhaps it is just wishful thinking, but it might just be that one day we will not think of publishing in terms of conventional and non-conventional, but just as publishing. -

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Be sure to join us for our special tasting event:

A Taste of Murder

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Specials today include two eggs savagedly beaten and a carrot detective with a side of other various talking fruits and vegetables. Josh Hamel talks with the chef of this delcious dish, Matthew Redford,.on Addicted to Death, his favourite meals.and more.

*A twenty per cent gratuity is automatically added for your convenience..

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Lunch

It may be normal for us to murder our food every time we sit down for a meal, but foodon-food crime is unheard of. I got the chance to interview Matthew Redford, author of new Clink Street release Addicted to Death: A Food Related Crime Investigation about this startling new trend and go inside the food underworld.

Describe your book.

I would describe Addicted to Death as a traditional crime fiction story with the twist being that the characters include not just Homo Sapiens but importantly Food Sapiens.

And when I talk about Food Sapiens I mean just that - everyday food items which following genetic modification now live, work, breathe and pay their taxes as integrated members of the community.

Addicted to Death introduces Detective Inspector Willie Wortel, carrot, as his team investigates the savage murder of two eggs beaten to death on their doorstep. And when the only Food Sapiens member of the Government is murdered could their be a link between the cases? And on top of this four celebrity chefs have received death threats...is another murderer on the prowl?

Where did you get the idea to blend crime fiction with food?

I have always wanted to write a crime fiction book, but I recognised I would not be able to create a thriller in the nature of a Patricia Cornwell or a Ian Harvey. This meant I was looking for an angle that would allow me to write a crime fiction book in my style arguably one which is slightly bonkers and which mixes humour with crime.

I came up with the idea of Food Sapiens after wondering what would happen if two eggs were beaten to death. If you found two eggs in the street who would you call? Who would investigate? Why would someone target two eggs? And so the Food Related Crime Division was created.

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What is your writing process like?

I’m quite an orderly person - I like structure, I like being organised - so once I had the idea for Addicted to Death, I sketched the plotline on a storyboard so I had a direction for where the narrative should lead. Only I subsequently discovered that when I started writing I am much more disorganised that I ever imagined, and in fact one of the first chapters of Addicted to Death I wrote was the ending! So I then had to work backwards which I am not sure was something I had anticipated.

I also discovered that when I write, other ideas pop up and there were a few occasions where I took the story off down a path I had never imagined. But, actually, that has made my debut crime fiction book all the more enjoyable. My creative writing path ended up being completely unpredictable and I think I have ended up being better for that experience.

What was the toughest part of writing your book? The food puns?

The food puns were actually quite straightforward.

I do try to find humour in all circumstances and so food related puns and jokes came quite easily.

For me, the toughest part was keeping momentum. I am at work all week and don’t get home until gone 7pm most evenings, so the thought of then sitting down and writing did not appeal one jot. I get most writing done on a Sunday morning, which can be tough when the warmth of the bed is so comforting. So I kick myself out of bed, take myself off to a Costa Coffee shop at the back of Waterstones at the Bluewater shopping centre, find a quiet table and force myself to write something even if I delete it from the ipad at a later stage.

How have you found the self-publishing process?

I was nervous about the self-publishing route but looking back on the process I am so pleased I have gone down this route. I have really enjoyed being part of the decision making process and

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being involved with a team who have bought into the idea of Food Sapiens running around solving murders!

Looking back, are there any parts of the book you’d change?

I’m really very pleased with the way Addicted to Death has turned out. Maybe I will look back in a few years and think that I could have written certain parts of the book differently, but at the moment, I would describe it like a new love.

I can’t see any imperfections and I’m not sure that I particularly want to either!

How has the response been from readers so far?

The feedback I have so far has been very positive and warm. And after writing about murder involving Food Sapiens I think I have confirmed all of the suspicions that I am ever so slightly bonkers. I just need to encourage someone to be the first to post their thoughts on Amazon as a review.

Outside of the book, does food play a large role in your life? Do you like to cook?

Yes it does. But in a funny way, it’s less about the food itself and more about the company and social interaction associated with food. As a child my family always came together over the dinner table. We sat, talked, laughed and that has always stayed with me. And now, I get great satisfaction from cooking, especially when the family come to me and I prepare the meal.

There’s something joyous about providing a meal for a loved one.

What’s your favourite meal?

Now that depends on my mood. If it’s been a bad day I can comfort eat with the best of them! But assuming all is good in the world, I would be torn between a bacon and pea risotto accompanied by a glass of wine, or a classic Sunday roast dinner...you’ll have to give me more time to choose...

Is there any advice you’d like to give to other aspiring authors?

Trust yourself and don’t give up. If you believe in your idea, then stick with it and it will come together in the end.

Do you have any other projects coming up?

At the start of writing Addicted to Death I thought that I had one book in me and that would be it. After completing the novel and seeing it available for people to buy, I suddenly don’t think we have seen the last of the Food Related Crime Division and Detective Inspector Willie Wortel. Watch this space!

You can find more about Matthew Redford at www. matthewredford.com and order Addicted to Death, available now, from Amazon.co.uk and all good bookstores.

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Engineering a crime From his own family tree to the aboriginal Australians, Stephen Childs has always been fascinated with history. Kate Appleton speaks with the author of On Track for Murder about his past life working in film and television and his love of crime and mystery fiction.

Unfortunately due to a modern technology called email it wasn’t required to send me on location to Australia in order to interview new Clink Street author Stephen Childs on his forthcoming murder mystery book On Track for Murder - so no flights or aeroplane food but instead a few pings of electronic correspondence later I was ready with my exclusive author interview.

Where did the premise for On Track for Murder come from?

On Track for Murder grew as an idea after I began to forage through my own family history. As a child I would formulate bizarre stories to add drama to mundane and everyday occurrences.

More recently, while exploring the generations of my family tree, I found myself inventing fantastical tales to explain discrepancies in the records. While these fanciful musings caused much amusement, they also sowed the seed of interest in the Victorian era and in the exploits of those who lived at that time. Added to that, my childhood move to New Zealand and more recently my move to Australia, began an intrigue into the early ‘down under’ migrants that drove my imagination, and eventually the story line.

my being a middle aged male, but bear with me. I used to consider myself a shy person. Then I took up employment on a television news crew. That time saw me flung into situations that very much took me out of my comfort zone: helicopters into remote areas, climbing from ships at sea onto small tugboats, and uncovering dead bodies, all things that I really had no choice in accepting - if I wanted to keep my job. Abigail’s exploits, in an odd way, mirror my own feelings of being driven beyond my abilities yet coming through unscathed and having grown in maturity.

How did you find writing the thoughts and feelings of a female character?

I found this to be a much more emotional experience than I had expected. I went into the project feeling that my role in the news media had furnished me with a reasonable understanding of how people react under stress. But as I delved deeper into Abigail’s life I uncovered feelings that can only have been born out of unacknowledged empathy for the victims and survivors of tragedy that I had previously reported upon. This discovery helped me immensely as I explored Abigail’s range of emotions.

Is the character of Abigail based on someone in your own life?

Who are your creative inspirations - fellow authors or otherwise?

I would love to be able to pull an Abigail type character from my family tree. Alas, I have uncovered no such heroics - yet! In a way, Abigail is based on myself. I know that sounds bizarre,

I love Hitchcock movies. I also find inspiration in Agatha Christie’s works, particularly her Poirot series of novels. On the more adventurous side I am strongly influenced by Matthew Reilly’s

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CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE

novels. In my perfect world I would combine Christie and Reilly, with a little of Hitchcock’s imagery thrown in for good measure.

Did your background in film and TV help you write a book and if so how?

I see my television career as an exercise in observation: of listening, watching, and trying to understand. I became fascinated by people’s reactions and emotions when they were unexpectedly torn from their comfort zones.

I believe that such observation of people, and how they cope, gave me a great foundation upon which to build fictional stories.

Will readers recognise any of the places in the book if they visited Western Australia?

Perth is a city that has undergone significant growth over the last century. The money from mining in Western Australia has seen much expansion in the area. That said, a visitor would still be able to locate most of the features Abigail encounters from the book. Fremantle is the main port for the Perth region, however the long wooden jetty where Abigail and Bertrand first disembark has long since gone. Remnants are still visible in Bathers Bay. Guildford, further up the Swan river, has retained a lot of its victorian architecture and the visitor can still easily imagine life there over a hundred years ago. Travelling down to Albany, one can still see the railway line entering the port area, and can stroll along Sterling Terrace.

Where did your interest in the Swan River Colony come from?

I find looking at history provides great insight into why things are the way they are. Most people see Australia as the land of convicts, where whole towns were carved out by British criminals. When I moved to Perth I was intrigued to find this wasn’t the case here.

The initial settlers to the west were motivated by commercial enterprise and a desire to populate the region before the French could do so. My interest grew from there, to the time when the region was experiencing high growth and people were beginning to gain real independence. I was particularly fascinated by the difficulties they faced putting in place technology which most Victorians took for granted, such as the railway and telegraph services.

Is crime fiction/murder mystery what you enjoy reading?

I very much enjoy reading crime fiction/murder mystery, however it is by no means my sole choice. My true love is a good twist, and a plot line that stretches the imagination. I will head for good imaginative, yet believable, writing ahead of any particular genre. My criteria is that I have to believe a story ‘could’ happen, however unlikely the plot, and that there are a few twists I don’t see coming.

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How did you find the publishing process?

I very much enjoyed the publishing process. In my previous executive role I used to push for greater exposure to international markets with material that we produced ourselves. Now, with my writing, I have the opportunity to do just that for myself. I see writing as my business, and the self publishing model aligns well with my business ideals. Were I starting any other business I would put in as much time and money as I could to provide the best chance of success.

To me, writing is no different. The ability to leverage global markets with electronic books and demand based delivery is a great way of building a readership. And the opportunity to work with professional publishers and marketers allows for the optimum chance of success.

Was there anything that came as a surprise?

One thing that surprised me, as I wrote, was the way the story and the characters seemed to take on a life of their own. I would often finish a session and wonder ‘where on earth did that come from?’ Sometimes, it was as if the story were being told to me for the first time, and I became just as surprised when things happened as any reader or listener would. I found myself eager to get to the next writing session to see where the story would go next, despite all my planning and ‘supposed’ knowledge of what was going to happen. I love that a writer can know exactly where a story is to end up, yet can be so surprised by the journey it takes to get there.

Are there more books for Abigail Sergeant?

Abigail Sergeant has started investigating another murder. In this next book she gets herself into trouble after using some new electrical equipment for a purpose other than that intended. I also have plans for another story in which she realises her dream to pilot an aeroplane.

My computer files, and my head, contain many new plot lines and new characters. I only hope I get the opportunity bring them to fruition over the coming years.

What’s your method of writing?

I like to plan my stories. When I say ‘like to’, that is how I set out. I find, though, that the characters and plots take on a life of their own as the writing progresses. I constantly find myself looking for ways to extract a character from

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an unforeseen hole. There are certain must have ‘hit points’ that I manage to steer events towards, and the inevitable ending manages to play out as planned. But I do enjoy the way the journey unfolds. I write in my office at home overlooking the pool. It gets a bit hot in summer, though, and I can often be found under the air-conditioning outlet in the lounge, laptop balanced on my lap. I am assisted in my writing by two cats, who delight in filling in pages of their own work every time I take a break. They are cute, though.

What’s your favourite writing snack?

When it comes to snacking while I write, I have to be very disciplined. If I allowed myself, I would gorge on toast and marmalade all day.

As I am trying to not expand my (stomach) horizons, I mostly settle for a constantly refilled glass of water. If I do succumb to the toast fix, I need to head out to the beach and walk it off as soon as possible. I do a lot of walking!

And finally have you ever come across a Drop Bear whilst walking around the Australian Outback?

Some studies have suggested that Drop Bears prefer people with foreign accents. Others have stated that the bears don’t like the smell of people who have eaten Vegemite (a down under form of the English, Marmite). Either way, it seems that tourists are most at risk from the mythical bear. If you do come to visit, learn the local vernacular, and eat plenty of Vegemite. Then you’ll only be at risk from the copious spiders and snakes. Easy!

You can find more about Stephen Childs at www. stenichi.com and preorder On Track For Murder, available 1 September, 2015 from Amazon. co.uk and all good bookstores.

The Go Ultimate Set a Sin? Watchman

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n Harper Lee’s timeless novel To Kill a Mockingbird, young Scout Finch learns that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

The novel has been read and reread, quoted and wept over, loved and passed onto children and friends, since its publication in 1960, winning the Pulitzer prize and later being made into a classic film starring Gregory Peck.

The novel would be Harper Lee’s only published work. There have even been lingering rumours through the years that Lee didn’t even actually write the book, or that it was heavily influenced by her good friend, Truman Capote’s editing. And To Kill a Mockingbird would remain alone on the shelf, with many wondering what else Harper Lee could have written, and questioning why she didn’t pursue her writing.

Until now.

In 2011, Lee’s lawyer found a manuscript in her safe-deposit box, a lost jewel for the literary community, though she would later say she assumed it to just be an earlier draft of the classic.

Harper Lee is still alive, and is 89 years old. Her health and ability to make decisions for herself

CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE

No one could quite believe it when a second Harper Lee novel was announced, some fifty-five years after her legendary debut To Kill A Mockingbird. The reception? Perhaps more heated than expected.

Diana Rissetto filters through the noise and looks at whether it’s justified.

have been questioned, but after concerns were raised by the book’a announcement, she was ultimately found fit by the state of Alabama and the book was finally published by Harper Collins in July.

Whereas the original story talks about the killing of an innocent mockingbird, many feel that Harper Lee’s follow-up book does something way worse—it actually kills To Kill a Mockingbird, the legendary father and the ideals in the novel itself.

When Go Set a Watchman, the very longawaited sequel To Kill a Mockingbird, was released earlier this year, it was met with serious and immediate backlash, with readers becoming extremely emotional, and feeling almost betrayed.

Scout Finch is now twenty-six-years old and has returned from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Scout learns troubling truths about her family and her childhood and struggles to comes to terms with them. The book was originally written in the mid 1950’s, and had been remained untouched since.

Devoted fans of the original novel met the new book with scepticism from the start, wondering if Harper Lee had even truly written the book. Shortly after it was released, it was apparent that many were not pleased with the way the iconic characters they knew and loved

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“If we can recognise the faults in somebody like Atticus Finch and challenge his prejudices, it can only serve to strengthen our own integrity.”

were portrayed.

One bookstore, Brilliant Books in Traverse City, Michigan, is actually offering customers a refund on their purchase, admitting that they feel the marketing for the book was misleading.

“Go Set a Watchman is not a sequel or prequel to To Kill A Mockingbird,” the store said on its website. “Neither is it a new book. It is a first draft that was originally, and rightfully, rejected.”

Readers are also in an uproar over the revelation on the beloved patriarch of the Finch family, Atticus, is a racist. In the original novel, Atticus defends black man Tom Robinson of raping a white woman, and is viewed as a hero among the black community.

In Go Set a Watchman, Atticus is revealed to attend Ku Klux Klan meetings and denounces desegregation. “Do you want Negroes by the carload in our schools and churches and theaters? Do you want them in our world?”

Finch asks Scout in the book.

Atticus had been a popular boy’s name for decades because of Atticus Finch. Earlier this year, American TV star Jennifer Love Hewitt even chose the name for her new son.

However, expect to see the name fall down the list of popular baby names in the wake of Go Set a Watchman. Or even current names if one Colrado family who named their son Atticus when he was born a year-and-a-half ago are to be seen as evidence. The family chose the

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name because they “wanted to see the ideals of Atticus Finch” instilled in their son. Reading the newly published novel led them to not only change their views of the character, but also the child’s name to Lucas. Overreacting or understandable?

The 1 star reviews of the book on Amazon find various creative ways to express their disappointment. A sampling of reviews are titled “To Fill a Bank Account,” “Rejected First Draft finds Second Life as a Novel” and “A Stab to the Heart.”

Some readers feel that our hearts should be broken with disappointment and despair over the revelations about Atticus Finch.

Harper Lee, perhaps, is illustrating a point that as wonderful as our heroes are, nobody is ever perfect, and if we can recognise the faults in somebody like Atticus Finch and challenge his prejudices, it can only serve to strengthen our own integrity. Each generation should learn from those that came before.

When we discover the truth about Atticus Finch, it is representative of the end of innocence, and just as Scout will continue to love her father despite his flaws, we can still love Atticus as well. He is not perfect, and neither is Go Set a Watchman, but that is okay.

CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE

Literary Lion The Lion Trees is an epic work of literary fiction, spanning over 1,600 pages and two volumes. Josh Hamel interviews author Owen Thomas on how he found the time and the book’s award-winning reception.

When you think lawyer, you don’t automatically jump to the artist type, slaving away over a keyboard for hours on end, but Owen Thomas is not your normal lawyer. I got the chance to talk with Owen about how he juggles law and writing and more.

How do you describe your book?

This is a strangely difficult question to answer and I wrestle with it every time someone asks. The Lion Trees defies any sort of clear characterisation other than to say it is a long work of literary fiction about a family of five living in 2005 Columbus Ohio and coming to terms with their true identities as individuals. “The Lion Trees” is equal parts drama and humour, part family saga, part social satire, and part courtroom drama with a strain of Bradburian science fiction thrown in for good measure.

Who or what inspired you to write The Lion Trees?

Hallucinogenic mushrooms. Kidding. In the most general sense, my purpose is to entertain. As a fiction writer, I want to provide readers with an enjoyable and meaningful diversion that they will carry around with them for a while. On top of that, however, my motivation in writing this particular book was to elucidate the psychological phenomenon at the core of the story and which propels each of the characters along their various arcs. In a nutshell, that psychological phenomenon is this: we tend to work very hard to shape our lives in a way that reaffirms what we think about ourselves.

With your full-time work of running a law firm, how did you find the time to write?

My “writing schedule” includes trying to find as many spare minutes lying around to string together and actually be creative. Sometimes that is quite difficult.

I wrote a great deal of The Lion Trees sitting in my car in the middle of fast-food restaurant parking lots between meetings and court appearances. If I could avoid working on the weekends, I would try to use as much of that time as possible to work on the book.

Fortunately for my clients and colleagues, it proved to be impossible to actually write anything while I was at the office. Lawyering and creative writing are, to me anyway, mutually exclusive endeavours.

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have read the book and loved it. I now have readers on every continent except Antarctica. I am very pleased at the success so far. I’m coming for you Antarctica.

Who do you hope is reading your book?

What is your writing process like?

In an ideal week, I am able to devote Saturday and Sunday mornings to writing; maybe four to five hours each day. On those days I try not to do anything before writing – I do not open the newspaper. I do not turn on the radio or television. I avoid conversation. The less of the everyday world that is in my head, the better I am able to immerse myself in the world of whatever I am writing. If I am able to write in the afternoons and evenings, I tend to spend that time editing simply because by then the real world has invaded my thoughts.

It is probably worth noting that, for me anyway, the process of “writing” involves more than the process of typing. Writing for me requires a lot of pondering and problem-solving and, to that extent, I spend a lot of time “writing” as I walk around a lake near where I live or sit in some public place staring out into space. Put to good use, all of that time is integral to my creative process. Not put to good use, all of that time starts to look a lot like idle daydreaming. Or suspicious loitreing.

Your book has been recognised by a dozen international bodies. How do you feel about the reaction to your book so far?

Very gratified and a little gob-smacked. The Lion Trees breaks a lot of conventions. From the perspective of the mainstream publishing industry, it is not a mainstream novel. So it has been very gratifying to have panels of professional readers read it and conclude that it is worthy of recognition and a wide readership. Even more gratifying than that has been the experience of connecting with readers all over the globe who

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Oprah. Also, people who are respiring; I’m really hoping to command the devotion of everyone who is breathing in and out. Seriously, I would like to think my readers are people who are serious about reading. Not that what they read must be “serious” – it can just as easily be uproariously funny. Rather, I am looking for readers who think of reading as an important part of living. I would like them to be able to carry the book around in their heads for awhile after they have finished. I think this book is fabulous for book clubs; there is a huge amount to discuss and people who sign up for book clubs tend to really enjoy reading. Well, and drinking wine.

Do you have any other projects up your sleeve?

Most definitely. I am on the verge of releasing a collection of short fiction called Signs of Passing.

The book is comprised of four short stories and six novellas, all loosely connected to each other through characters and all organised around the theme of knowing when your life is no longer working and having the insight and courage to pick another direction. I am also about halfway through an as yet untitled novel set in south Texas, a second collection of short fiction entitled Tiny Points of Life, and an odd political-vampireadventure-romp called Henry & Biggs, starring a New York literary agent and his pet Beagle.

What is your advice for other aspiring authors?

My advice would be this: don’t worry about selling.

Kick the commerce part of it out of the room for the writing phase and lock the door. Don’t write what the market expects you to write. Don’t write something you think will sell. Write with the sole purpose of doing justice to the creative vision in your head. Write something good. Write something authentic. Write something that moves you and you will move others. Have fun. Worry about selling later.

You can find more of Thomas’ work at www. owenthomasfiction.com and follow him on Twitter at @OTFiction.

CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE

Published by July and August Addicted to Death

By Matthew Redford

As two eggs are beaten to death by an assailant brandishing a metal spoon, and four London chefs receive death threats, it will fall to tenacious carrot Detective Inspector Willie Wortel and his stall of humans, fruits and vegetables, to avert a recipe for disaster.

RRP £8.99 paperback, £4.99 ebook

Rules For Thursday Lovers

By Yana Stajno

Two friends, on the brink of midlife crisis, embark on a nostrings attached love affair with a major twist: they will share just one lucky man between them.

RRP £8.99 paperback, £5.99 ebook

Zein: The Homecoming

By Graham Wood

The second novel in epic sci-fi trilogy in which a lost planet’s hope and the lives of many rests on the actions of the brave few who faced and beat adversity on Earth, not knowing a secretive evil sect undermines all.

RRP £10.99 paperback, £7.50 ebook

Foothold

By Mannah Pierce His ship destroyed and in the hands of his enemies, fourteenyear-old Jax faces the challenge of reuniting his crew before creating a foothold on a strange space station in the second instalment of this exhilarating new science fiction saga.

RRP £11.99 paperback ,£3.99 ebook

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Clinking Glasses with

A

t the end of July, Clink Street Publishing held its very first Summer Party. Or “lock in,” if you want to run with the prison analogy. We were thrilled to host fifty authors, journalists, bloggers and publishing industry friends at the glorious Belgravia Book Shop in central London, to celebrate them stocking four of our writers’ books over the summer months. Matthew Redford, Lindy Henny, Graham Wood and Yana Stajno are being sold in store as we speak!

This marks the beginning of a beautiful literary relationship with Belgravia, as they feature a selection of our Clink Street titles as part of their Indie Highlights section.

Clink Street is a new publishing house aiming to blend the great elements of traditional publishing with the best bits of self publishing. As the publishing industry evolves, we want to create an imprint that gives authors creative freedom, generous royalty returns and complete ownership of every inch of their books, whilst providing support and guidance, strong design and editorial values, brilliant distribution and expert publicity and marketing. Our authors deserve to have

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quality books with commercial appeal, editorial integrity, excellent branding and design, and for them to be creatively and throughly promoted.

We’re working on partnerships with other independent bookstores, in both the UK and the US, so that our authors’ books can be bought in bricks-and-mortar stores, something which we know is really important to them - as it is to us - but still tough for indie writers to achieve without the support of a publisher.

Thanks again to everyone who joined us, to Belgravia for hosting us, to Nick for the photographs and to Kate and Stephanie for organising the event.

We hope you’ll all join us again during the festive season for our Christmas party!

CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE

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Toes in the sand,

Nose in a book.

Who needs to get in the water when you’ve got a perfectly good book handy?

Check out the titles that have helped keep the sun out of our faces all summer long.

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Diana

Love in a World of Sorrow: A Teenage Girl’s Holocaust Memoirs

By Fanya Heller

Kate Bonjour Tristesse

By Françoise Sagan - translated by Irene Ash A novella that will fit in your back pocket, handbag or simply your hand as you stroll off to the park I would recommend reading this to everyone - it’s a triumph and just so…French.

A Year in the Merde

By Stephen Clarke This book has been around a while but I only became aware as I rifled through my Rough Guide and saw it as a recommended read. Going old school I borrowed it off a friend and happily whiled away a few hours laughing to myself like a lunatic as I read Young’s acerbic and witty experiences and descriptions of the French way of life. If you offend easily or want a travel book along the lines of say Bill Bryson this is definitely not for your summer.

I often try to read any new books on the Holocaust that are released. It is the second edition of the book, with a really thoughtful introduction from the other telling why she chose to share her story with the world.

The Holocaust, she thinks, many consider “ancient history”, but as so few survivors remain, it is more important than ever to record these stories.

Josh

Station Eleven

By Emily St. John Mandel The perfect book to make you panic every time someone coughs on your commute. At least we can rest easy knowing that Shakespeare manages to survive the apocalypse.

You’re Not Doing It Right

By Michael Ian Black Take a comedian who has built his career on irony and deadpan humour and make him sincerely confront all of the anxiety that comes with starting a family and this is the book you get.

Summer Sisters

By Judy Blume I make it a point to reread Summer Sisters by Judy Blume every summer. There is something about that book that makes me feel so nostalgic for a time I never even experienced.

Stephanie

The Rise and Fall of Great Powers

By Tom Rachman

Perfect summer read as it makes you both think about life and want to enjoy it to the fullest. A smart and fast-paced read that will make you accompany Tooly until the end.

Merchants of Culture

By John B. Thompson A very interesting read for anyone who is interested in publishing and the publishing market.

Authors and readers alike will delight in understanding how the industry behaves in the twentyfirst century.

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