NEW EDITION CONTEMPORARY
PUBLISHING
MAGAZINE
ISSUE 18, SEPTEMBER 2014
Gabriella Gillespie’s self published memoir brings to light the realities of modernday child brides and has earned her a spot as a Kindle #1 Bestseller. She shares her journey to making her book a reality.
NEW EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2014
This Month
HAPPENI N GS September
5
4
#
Trending:
12
24 2
InstaBook
16
6
9
18 26
10 THINGS TO KNOW
21
28
CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
This month in New Edition, we look ahead to the world’s biggest publishing trade show, the mighty Frankfurt Book Fair, where we’ll be curating some of the first-ever Englishlanguage self publishing programming. We talk to author Gabriella Gillespie, whose memoir of life as a young child bride in Yemen is a Kindle #1 Bestseller, about the decision to self publish and her journey from manuscript to marketing. And literary agent Myrsini Stephanides explains the blogto-book craze and how the Internet has become fodder for book content.
3
HAPPENI N GS September 8|
4
Polari Literary Salon
Southbank Centre, London southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/polari-85736?dt=2014-09-08 Headlined by Joanna Briscoe, London’s celebrated LGBT literary den kicks off its autumn season with writers Carole Morin, Trudy Howson and Collin Kelley. Briscoe presents her latest novel Touched. Tickets are available for £5 through the Southbank Centre website.
19 |
Junot Diaz Reads from This Is How You Lose Her
21 |
Brooklyn Book Festival
Skylight Books, Los Angeles, CA skylightbooks.com/event/junot-diaz-reads-how-you-lose-her Acclaimed author Junot Diaz will be reading from his recent short story collection and signing books afterward. The reading is free and open to the public, but Skylight will be handing out free tickets for the signing beginning on September 5. After the 5th, anyone who purchases a copy of This Is How You Lose Her from Skylight either in store, online or by phone will receive a ticket for the signing. See Skylight’s website for more details.
Borough Hall, Brooklyn, NY brooklynbookfestival.org The largest free literary event in New York City, the Brooklyn Book Festival boasts a wide array of authors, bookstores and indie publishers. The week of lead-up activities begins on September 15 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.
S
Going to the Fair It’s that time of year again: Next month, the whole industry will be gathering in Germany for the Frankfurt Book Fair, an annual rights fair where publishing people go to do business with their counterparts in other countries. Last year, Frankfurt hosted 7275 exhibitors from over 100 nations, more than 600 literary agents and 9300 journalists, not to mention the 275,000 visitors and 170,000 professional attendees. The sheer scope of the fair is hard to imagine; there are buses to take you from one end to the other! This year, from October 8 to 12, guest of honour Finland will be presenting their Finland. Cool. programming, including a host of Finnish artists, writers and poets exploring the ways Finnish culture affects the German-speaking world. Over the course of the week of the fair, the Finnish Literature Society will be presenting talks on classic Finnish literature and modern technologies, the free and
One of the biggest publishing events of the year is held every October in Germany, and this year, Authoright will be there, hosting the first-ever Englishlanguage programming for authors. If you’re attending the Frankfurt Book Fair, stop by and say hello!
modern library system and reading culture that has culminated in one of the highest literacy rates in the world and the importance of translation of works of literature originally written in languages that dominate only small geographical areas (Finland’s native languages are Finnish and Swedish). But that’s not all that’s happening at the fair. On Friday, October 10, Authoright will be curating the first English-language Self-Publishing & Author Program. Due to the success of a similar German-language programme last year, Frankfurt will be holding a day of author-focused events in Hall 8. Authoright and other publishing insiders, from the likes of Kobo, Ingram, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, among others, will present panels on the future of publishing, discoverability and what agents are actually looking for in submissions. For authors who attend the traditionally businessfocused fair, this programming
is an amazing opportunity to rub shoulders with some of publishing’s biggest names at an evening mixer. On Saturday, October 11, Authoright will also be holding a talk for authors looking to self publish, highlighting reasons why ‘self publishing’ doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go it alone. In the complex and often confusing world of self publishing, having an ‘A-Team’ of experts on your side can be the secret to publishing success. We can’t wait to see you there! To register to attend the International Self-Publishing & Author Program, or to download the Authors Guide to the Frankfurt Book Fair, visit publishingperspectives.com/frankfurtbook-fair-2014/internationalself-publishing-author-program2014/#friday-program. More information on the Frankfurt Book Fair can be found at buchmesse.de/en/ and you can follow Frankfurt on Twitter @book_fair
At the Frankfurt Book Fair 2013, Guest of Honour Brazil created a cushioned reading area (left) in their exhibition space. Frankfurt debuted their “Here We Are” campaign (right) with their signature red. Photos courtesy of Frankfurt Book Fair.
# NEW EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2014
Trending:
Insta-Book
6
#
CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
Most authors struggle to get their first book deal, but Kim Kardashian isn’t one of them. She and her sisters have already released a novel, and now her newly announced coffee table book of selfies is making headlines. Jordan Koluch debates the merits of celebrity publishing—with herself. On August 8, Rizzoli, a New York-based publisher renowned for its high-quality, illustrated books, announced that it would be publishing Selfish, a coffee table compilation of Kim Kardashian’s selfies, through its Universe imprint. The Internet is laughing. As Perez Hilton pointed out, why pay $19.95 for something you can get for free on Instagram? Vulture asked, “Why is this happening?” Joanna Robinson of Vanity Fair posited, “If you stare at Kim Kardashian long enough will deeper questions of the universe reveal themselves to you?” At first, I too thought this was a ridiculous idea. I don’t hate Kim Kardashian. She’s obviously better than I am at something because more people like her. But Rizzoli has a reputation for creating beautiful art books. And while Universe is their pop culture imprint, I wondered whether it would hurt their brand to take something like this on. Would the readers who purchase their books time and again think this was a cheap publicity stunt? The situation also betrays something most of us don’t want to be true about the publishing industry. Regardless of content, an author with huge marketing reach is more likely to get published, which makes the industry less about art and more about celebrity. But… If we’re going to make an argument about art, we might as well acknowledge that while Kardashian does post a good number of “I woke up this way” selfies, much of her Instagram content is actually shot by other
people, and most certainly edited. She’s come under fire in the past for posting Photoshopped selfies, but it takes a reasonable amount of talent to edit a photo to Kardashian-level perfection. If it’s good enough for a fashion magazine, why isn’t it good enough for Rizzoli? It may also be short-sighted to limit Instagram to the realm of frivolous social media. While Kardashian’s account may be a vanity project, Instagram has what the intellectual elite would call more “valid” uses. Photographers in war zones often use the service to send pictures back to news outlets when they don’t have access to more mainstream forms of communication. David Guttenfelder, the AP’s chief Asia photographer, used his Instagram feed to share photos of North Korea with the world, arguably the first view in decades of a nation completely closed off to Western media. This is all to say that while an Instagram-picsas-art book seems like a silly idea now, in ten, twenty, fifty years, Selfish may be the first of innumerable books of this genre. If we’re not talking about art, the book is also a brilliant business move. Kardashian’s fans buy everything she touches. From clothes and perfume to novels and smartphone apps, her personal brand is a walking goldmine. With over seventeen million Instagram followers, Kardashian has a proven market of people willing to buy her book, almost guaranteed sales for a publisher that doesn’t see a lot of bestseller lists. Publishing this book had to be a no-brainer. For every dissenting voice lamenting the death of art, there are probably a thousand Kardashian fans preordering on Amazon.
7
NEW EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2014
I do, however, understand the outrage on some level. Every day, thousands of writers struggle to make their passions economically viable. Even authors who are already published frequently have to work “real jobs” to stay afloat. Kardashian’s book deal seems all too easy and all too frivolous. More than anything, though, I think this betrays a commonly held misconception about the publishing industry. Regrettable as it may be, publishing is all about selling books. Success to a publisher isn’t a debut fiction prize (though obviously meaningful to the author and perhaps useful in terms of industry visibility). It’s tens of thousands of copies of a book sold. And publishers are becoming increasingly more risk-averse, meaning that sure things are much more attractive to them than maybes. It’s not the reality that anyone is looking for, but it’s the one that exists. The good news is that there have never been more options open to writers than there are now. You can continue pushing for that traditional deal, learning the lessons you can from Kardashian’s bid for superstardom—the more reach you have, the more attractive you are to publishers. You can become Instagram-famous—doable, but perhaps not highly advisable. Or you can self-publish— find your own market and establish your own dominance there, regardless of whether a publisher sees your value or not. And probably countless other things I haven’t even thought of. The Internet loves to react vehemently to things it cannot change. I prefer the shoulder shrug. Kim Kardashian will always have better hair than I do, but I can’t spend my time envying her that. Publishing will be better when we acknowledge that these things happen, that they almost need to happen for publishers to remain economically viable and that they don’t cheapen the achievements of writers whose readers consider them artists. Though that doesn’t sound as good on Twitter.
Above: Promotional shot of cover released by Rizzoli along with the announcement of Kim Kardashian’s Selfish, to be published on April 7, 2015. Right: One of Kardashian’s infamous Instagram selfies, posted July 11, 2014, which has garnered over 612,000 likes.
8
10 THINGS TO KNOW
IF YOU WANT TO SELF PUB
Publishing a book has gone from the exclusive purview of publishing companies to a process accessible through anyone’s Internet connection. But just because it’s as easy as online shopping doesn’t mean that it only requires that much thought. Chris Sansom highlights some of the best ways to get bang for your buck while self publishing.
So you’ve finally finished the book you’ve been toiling away at for three years, tucked away in your attic office or candlelit room in the bell tower, or wherever you do your writing. Yours is a story which the rest of the world simply must read, and to do that the book must be published, and ultimately publicised. But, that’s where things get confusing. Suddenly your book takes on a completely different essence, and like it or not, you become a salesman. That is, of course, if you’re doing it right. So who do you call? Do you pursue the traditional publishing route, or go down the equally intrepid self published path touted by the modern age? If the latter is most appealing to you (and there are a number of reasons it really should be), then here are some helpful suggestions to help smooth your crossing into being a successfully self published author. 1. Shop around. There are a wealth of options for any author to get their book published, and ones to suit all budgets. For instance, if you’re doing things on a shoestring you might consider publishing through Kindle Direct Publishing, or Smashwords. These platforms are free to upload your book, and will take the hassle out of getting it listed on book retailing websites. Other authors with a slightly bigger cash flow may consider approaching self-publishing companies, who will take care of the process for you— from editing to design to distribution and marketing— at a cost of course. When making this decision, it’s key to understand your distribution options. Some services stipulate that your book only
Nothing sinks a book as quickly as an amateur-looking cover.
be available with certain sellers. There are pros and cons of this, and you should make the decision that you feel fits both your budget and your aspirations for your book. 2. Don’t skimp on editing. For the love of all things great, have your manuscript copyedited before even considering uploading or publishing it. A professionally edited manuscript levels the playing field for any book, allowing your story do the talking, not the two hundred grammatical errors interspersed throughout. Your friend Peter the accountant might be good at reading Jeffrey Deaver novels, but that does not make him a copyeditor. Professionals are trained not only in proper grammar and mechanics, but also the patience to thoroughly edit a manuscript and the knowledge of which resources to use when a convention is in question. (Em dash or en dash? A great copyeditor will know!) 3. Invest in cover design. Despite the credo that one should never judge a book by its cover, your work will need a professionally produced facade to help define its genre and help it stand side by side with the best of them. Do not, under any circumstance, design the cover yourself, unless you’re a graphic design or illustration wizard. Some self publishing companies will offer this service as part of a package, but make sure you see some samples before committing to their services.
4. And don’t forget the interior. One area often overlooked, even by the most astute author, is the typesetting. If you’re hoping to give your book the absolute best chance of survival in the highly contested field of publishing, this is imperative. Again, it’s offered within many services, and entails ‘laying out’ the text to fit the book’s size (the trim), making everything look wonderfully clean on the printed page. If you’re taking this route, please do not be tempted to do perform a rudimentary typeset on Microsoft Word - this will complicate things far more than helping. No one notices a good typeset; everyone will notice a bad one. 5. Write cover copy to drive sales. Your book’s description is as important as anything else - after all, would you buy a book if they have no idea what it’s about? Whether it be your back cover blurb, or the slightly altered synopsis that will appear on sites like Amazon or Goodreads, you need to make sure that your story is explained as clearly and succinctly as possible. Bluntly, some authors are better at this than others, but it’s no surprise that it would be difficult to condense your hard work down to 200 words. Read other book descriptions and
find out what everyone other than your friends and family think of the story, so it’s a good idea to brace yourself for the reaction of media, should they choose to review the book. A middling review is hard on the ego but not necessarily the end of the world.
back covers to get an idea of the approach, and think about getting this text edited in the same way the interior has been. 6. Spread the word. So your book is starting to resemble the real deal, and by now you’ll have chosen just where it will be available. Now is a good time to think about how your book should be marketed, and to whom. After all, what’s the point in having a beautifully produced book if nobody knows it exists? If you can afford the extra outlay, it’s strongly advised to spring for a marketing campaign. These can vary in their approach and cost. Some services will include marketing in a package you sign up for, and will take care of writing a press release and researching contacts to distribute it to once or twice. Other more intensive campaigns can last several months, and will take care of contact with journalists and bloggers who request the books. 7. Get media savvy. Prepare yourself for potential interviews, blog posts and columns as the marketing takes place. Even if you’re naturally an introvert, having the chance to talk to a newspaper reporter or online radio host is invaluable time to talk about your book to potential readers. This is also your chance to
8. Go social. You don’t need me to tell you social media is everywhere these days, but it is a phenomenal tool in the promotion of your book. Along with creating an author website, post snippets or cover ideas to Twitter, start discussions on Facebook and build a friend base on Goodreads. This can all be done concurrently with your book’s publication, and making people aware of the process along the way can prove to be a great hook for early interest. If followers become invested in your process and your personality, it’s easy to turn them into lifelong readers. 9. Ride the wave. Throughout the process you’ll have learned a lot, and will no doubt have made plenty of mistakes along the way. But if you’re thinking of writing more books, whether in a series or otherwise, now is the time to
maintain the momentum from the first book. Tease upcoming book ideas, maintain your social media presence, and while you’re writing your latest instalment you can tell your followers and friends about progress. Most of all, begin to market yourself as much as the books you’re producing, and treat the process with an entrepreneurial approach. 10. Rinse and repeat. It’s rare that an unknown, self published author gets a break on the first outing, but that’s not to say you’ll never receive notoriety. Building momentum with a second and third book, each maintaining a strong story, can bring that fan base back again and again. Even after completing your first project, you’ll feel far more confident on how best to approach it in future, so just keep on writing!
A Daughter’s
Courage Gabriella Gillespie self published her memoir A Father’s Betrayal in July of this year and became an overnight bestseller. Gillespie received recognition from women’s world organisations and readers alike for her bravery in speaking out and writing about her life, from the murder of her mother to being sold by her father as a child bride in Yemen. Kate Appleton talks to Gillespie about why she decided now was the time to finally tell her inspirational story.
B
By the age of fifteen, Gabriella Gillespie had been sold twice by her father as a child bride in Yemen. Her first husband died suddenly after six weeks of marriage; her second would go on to abuse her both physically and emotionally for almost two decades. Only now, years after her father’s death and having fled back to the UK, does she feel safe telling her story. Originally Gillespie’s memoir was borne out of a different tragedy. “I first wrote my memoir in 2001 when I was going through a very difficult time in my life. One of my children had been in a horrific car accident and the doctors told us he wasn’t going to make it. I sat next to him in the hospital with a pen and pad and just started writing. It was something I needed to do at the time, to stay sane. When I finished I put it in the back of my cupboard and that was that. I let my best friends read it and they told me to get it published but I didn’t or rather couldn’t due to the fear I had of my father who at the time was still alive. When he died, a few years ago, I decided to revisit my book. It was horribly apparent that what had happened to my sisters and I was still happening at an alarming rate to other girls in the UK and all over the world. I felt it was my duty to lend a voice to the fight against child brides and highlight the terrifying experiences these girls go through in order to help stop these practices from happening again.” In many ways, writing her experiences also helped Gillespie heal, though the process was not without its challenges. “Transferring the memoirs into a book took me years and I was a mess to put it mildly! The chapter I struggled with the most was my sister’s suicide. While I wanted to take myself back to that time so that I could pull out my feelings and transfer them into the book, I struggled. My sister’s death is something I’ve never really fully dealt with, I just can’t. It helped me a lot writing my book, but some parts of my life are better left undealt with.” When it came time to get her book published, Gillespie entertained the idea of seeking a traditional publisher but ultimately decided that it would serve her project better to self publish. “I wanted my book to be written how I saw things, how I speak, not how others wanted it to be written. I’d had interest from traditional publishing houses but it was always the same response: ‘You need someone to write it for you,’ or something along those lines. I felt that just because I don’t have an education doesn’t mean I can’t express my feelings or transfer those feelings onto paper. I didn’t want anyone to take away my rights as an author or change anything in my book.” Having so much control over the publishing process was a benefit of self publishing but also left Gillespie to make a number of decisions she hadn’t previously considered, as often happens with first-time self publishing authors. “[Deciding on the front cover] took weeks of phone calls and lots of different ideas bouncing back and forward between myself and Authoright. We came up with the idea that the photo of me and my sisters with my father captures the innocence of our family just before we left for Yemen. Then the scarf framing the photo
CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
Top: Gillespie (left) with her five children. Above: Gillespie (third from right) with ITV’s This Morning hosts Eamonn Holmes (right) and Ruth Langsford (left). Below: Gillespie’s memoir, A Father’s Betrayal, is available now.
13
NEW EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2014
14
CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
Gillespie at ITV’s This Morning to promote her book.
and the village in the background shows what awaited us in our future. I think the result is perfect.” All of the hard work and dedication paid off in the end. “I’m over the moon with the book, I wouldn’t change a thing!” And despite all of the challenges—or maybe because of them—Gillespie would recommend that other authors look into self publishing as an option for their books. “Definitely. It was a bit daunting to me, when I first started, to approach self publishing companies. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing but I went with my gut feeling from the first phone call I had with James Wharton, who was working at Authoright at the time. It was the right choice, I’ve had great support from everyone.” Once A Father’s Betrayal was published, however, the hard work wasn’t over. Gillespie has been interviewed by such major media outlets as The Bath Chronicle and The Mail Online, contributed to the Too Young to Wed blog and appeared on ITV’s This Morning, to name a few pieces of coverage. All of the publicity is shocking for someone who for so long felt that her voice was unheard. “I’m a little overwhelmed. I can talk for England, but I’m not great with cameras. However I intend to do whatever it takes to spread the word about the issue of child brides in the UK and the world.” All of the buzz has propelled the book to Amazon’s bestseller list, which has also taken the author by surprise. “I haven’t really taken it all in yet. People keep congratulating me and I’m really chuffed, but I’m still so shocked! I think it’s going to take a while to sink in.” But sales were not Gillespie’s ultimate goal. A longtime friend of Stephanie Sinclair, the founder of child bride advocacy group Too Young to Wed, she wanted more than anything to spread this word about the continued prevalence of this atrocity in the modern world. “[I wrote the book] to bring awareness to what really happens to young girls when they are taken abroad, sold and forgotten. I hope that people who either read or hear about my story will go on to be more vigilant with young girls around them who could be at risk. We also need to start educating the very same girls about the risk, letting them know what to do if they are taken out of the country and given as child brides. There is so much more information out there now for young girls to access that wasn’t available to my sisters and me when we were taken.” She also emphasizes that the work Sinclair
and others like her have done is incredibly helpful not just to educate the masses but also potential victims. “Stephanie is, to me, one of the most amazing women I have ever met. The work she does to highlight the issues of child brides is so inspiring to me! And it’s not just Stephanie, there are many organisations working hard to eliminate this practice: Girls Not Brides, Girls Globe, UNFPA, to mention just a few. I will do whatever I can to bring their work to the attention of whoever will listen. If people could just see her photos, the faces of these young girls who are child brides, some as young as five years old! If people like her were around when my sisters and I were child brides, I believe we wouldn’t have suffered as much as we did.” Though it seems like child brides would be a thing of the past, Gillespie wants to educate people on the persistent problem, not only in Yemen, but also in the Western world. “I hope that girls and women will start to speak up about their experiences, because if we don’t use our voices we will never be heard and things will never change.” Throughout the process of writing, publishing and promoting her memoir, Gillespie’s family has been a constant system of support. “Without my family I couldn’t do this, especially my sister, she has always been my pillar of strength and support. Also my children are my biggest fans and are so proud of me and what I’m doing. It means so much to me that they are behind me 100%.” The author doesn’t discount the idea of returning to self publishing sometime soon. “I’m being inundated with requests to do a follow-up book so you never know! If I do, I hope it won’t take me as many years to write!” She also often contemplates the possibility of visiting Yemen in the future. “That’s something my sister and I have talked about for many years. We still have a sister out there who we love and miss very much, however, Yemen is in turmoil at the moment and very unstable - but we can never say never.” Until then, Gillespie continues to promote A Father’s Betrayal in the hopes that her story will touch the lives of those who read it. When asked about her intended readership, she answers excitedly, “Everyone! I can hope, can’t I!” Gaby Gillespie’s A Father’s Betrayal is published by Clink Street Publishing and is available online and from all good bookstores. She can be found on Twitter @gabyez
15
NEW EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2014
Beta Readers, Better Stories How is being an author like being a doctor or a firefighter? It takes years of training and honing your craft to do your job right. Justin Kelly explores Fictionpress, just one of the many options available to writers who want to test their skills on readers before they jump to publish.
16
CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
As with any respectable discipline, good writing requires practice. While it is possible for certain minds to possess a more natural inclination toward literary quality, the truth remains that no one is simply born with Shakespearean abilities. Those who wish to write and write well should prepare themselves for a lifetime of constant revision and refinement. Even authors of the modern era—wherein anyone can happily selfpublish their work for globalised markets—will find that, if anything, quality is even more important to readers when it comes to making purchasing decisions in a world of overwhelming options. That means that independent authors have to take responsibility for their craft and refine their skills as many of the more successful self-publishing authors have done. And it makes sense: doctors study for years before they go into public medicinal practice; police officers, firefighters, and soldiers undergo countless drills and simulations before they are actually deployed to the field. So why shouldn’t authors expose themselves to similar trial experiences before they release permanent products into the world? Fictionpress.com is just one of many destinations where authors can network with like-minded readers and writers in order to share, critique and refine their craft in a zero-risk environment—before setting out for the alternate and less forgiving league of agents and major houses. Fictionpress is the sister site of Fanfiction.net, one of the Internet’s most popular communities for fanfic writers the world over. But while Fanfiction allows passionate admirers to borrow previously imagined settings and characters for new takes on familiar stories, Fictionpress was designed for original content. Writers can upload unique poems, short stories and novels to the public site for communal reading and critique. What’s more, once writers have uploaded a piece to the site, they are given basic graphical representations of how many views their stories have received at any given time. Graphs are broken down by chapter and date, thus allowing writers to ascertain at what point they might have lost the attention of their original audience or when they might have begun to gain significant popularity. Readers are also given the opportunity to respond to their favourite (or least favourite) stories with substantial, subjective reviews that are also organised on a chapter basis. For many writers, the knowledge that their work is being read serves as a strong motivation to continue producing work. Seeing a spike in popularity could
motivate authors to continue producing, and receiving favourable reviews for certain chapters could motivate authors to duplicate successful techniques and strive for excellence in their future uploads. But despite all the positive features of the site, we would be remiss if we didn’t also draw attention to the facets of Fictionpress that could use further adjustment. The most overwhelming complaint associated with the engine (by far) is that works posted to the community are easy game for plagiarism. Due to the network’s very public nature, any reader could potentially steal the work of another author and pass it off as his or her own in another location. In response to the issue, Fictionpress has recently taken steps to curb abuse of copyright by eliminating the ability to right-click or even highlight any text uploaded to the site by another user. Admittedly, this does nothing to combat screenshotting or simply retyping, but it is a step in the right direction. There have also been a variety of unpopular content hoops and user restrictions set upon visitors to the site over the years. Registered visitors must authenticate themselves and their accounts on a regular basis, and uploaded material is subject to unannounced removal at the discretion of site administrators. Uploading to the site also grants Fictionpress the license to reproduce and distribute authors’ material as they see fit, though full ownership of intellectual property does remain with the writers. In short, the site is far from perfect. But it is an actively maintained community that has historically listened to the grievances of its users and is constantly working to refine itself as a service and creative network. At the end of the day, sites like Fictionpress provide the opportunity for writers to hone their craft in preparation for their professional careers. It should be viewed as a practice ground and as a source of motivation for authors who want to be read and critiqued. Approach the opportunity with the ultimate goal of becoming a better writer and a better critic. The product will likely be exponentially better as a direct result of your low-risk practice. And the simple fact of the matter is that viral buyer hunger for truly professional quality is never going anywhere—no matter how inclusive, crowded or accessible the literary marketplace becomes. So hunker down, pull out your keyboard and practise up in preparation for the career that awaits! For more information, visit Fictionpress online at fictionpress.com and on Twitter @FICTIONPRESS
17
NEW EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2014
It’s a Knock Out!
Forget confusing (often hidden) entrances, strict dress codes and expensive door fees; it’s time to step into the welcoming arms of London’s first and best literary nightclub where top writers, lyrical gangsters and acid tongues join hands to entertain audiences, including Authoright’s Kate Appleton. Yes, it’s Book Slam. On a school night (Tuesday) I ventured into York Hall, a historic boxing venue in the east end of London. The line-up for that night’s sold-out Book Slam event included a veritable smorgasbord of literary talent from all walks of life, from Chicago-born gang member Bill Hillman to the indomitable Irvine Welsh and unforgiving poet Kate Tempest. Drinks bought and circular table secured (close enough to offer a good view, not so close as to be in the firing line of crowd heckling), I was ready to be entertained. The evening was being refereed by an ex-battle rapper by the name of Doc Brown. Armed with both sarcasm and quick wit he knocked out a few great punches that had the crowd warmed up and laughing, ready for the first act to enter the ring. This came in the form of Bill Hillman, author of The Old Neighbourhood, a gangland coming-of-age tale based on his own experiences as a one-time gang member, drug dealer and convict. The extract he chose was dark, disturbing and brutal in its honesty, and his deep Chicago accent dragged you right into the scene and stayed even after he had left the ring.
18
The next act, however, didn’t really follow suit. Hillman was followed by a really quite random piece of theatre from the Hype Dance Company which included a sequence of sparring in the boxing ring. Scanning the room I realised I wasn’t the only one to be slightly confused; thankfully, it didn’t last that long. After another brief cameo from Brown, we were introduced to one-time punk singer (her band was called The Slits) turned author, Viv Albertine. The audience was treated to three extracts from her memoir, Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys., and with it an extremely frank portrayal of a woman growing up and getting older. It also came across as almost a self-help book as she freely admitted that at times she was ridiculous, but that if it’s only fear that’s stopping you from changing your life then it’s time you started ‘Saying yes to nothing.’ Complementing the strong female presence at the event was poet and playwright Kate Tempest, who will be releasing her album Everybody Down in October. If you don’t know her already, look her up now! She’s brilliant, shocking, unashamed and brutally honest
CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
in her words, whose maturity belie her age. You feel like you’re being hit with bullets (in a good way?) and it’s unrelenting. When her poetry stops she’s shy and almost shocked at the audience’s positive, bring-thehouse-down reaction, which is refreshing. Quick toilet break and we were seated and ready for the final heavyweight himself. Weighing in from Edinburgh, Scotland, the man behind Trainspotting, Porno and now The Sex Lives Of Siamese Twins, Irvine Welsh. In a word, magnificent. He was reading from his current manuscript which was an extract dealing with a conversation between a sexually deviant taxi driver and his fare, a girl wanting to go and commit suicide. Foul-mouthed and controversial, with a layer of his iconic dark humour, he was in fine form and without a hint of arrogance or ego. After having my brain tickled I caught up with Book Slam’s main promoter man, Elliott Jack, to talk a bit more about London’s (best) literary night club and why ‘Slam’ is becoming cool. What does Book Slam aim to achieve? Our aim is to celebrate story telling in all its forms - prose, poetry, comedy and songwriting, typically inviting underground talent to share a stage with household names. Describe a typical Book Slam working day. Eat, sleep, read, repeat. How do you go about seeking out new talent to invite to participate in the events? I read as much as possible. I go out as much as my body lets me and I generally keep my eyes and ears open. How do you decide who you want to feature in the events?
he...was dark, disturbing and brutal in his honesty, and his deep chicago accent dragged you right into the scene and stayed even after he had left the ring.
I always start with the author and try and programme the event around them. Sometimes it works really well and other times I fail miserably. I’ve been booking (primarily) music events for more than twenty years so think I’ve got a good ear for what sounds good and what will work with an author and / or poet. Who has been the biggest surprise as a Book Slam speaker - and why? The first time Will Self read for us was a surprise. He’s got such a powerful mind and is such a literary force churning out books at a ridiculous rate, suffice to say – I was a little intimidated and wasn’t sure what to expect (because authors are the new rock stars) but when he arrived – he was one of the coolest and
19
NEW EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2014
Book Slam promoter Elliott Jack at a Book Slam event with British novelist Hari Kunzru
relaxed authors we’ve ever hosted. A pleasure to work with.
Being from Yorkshire it would be nice to see it travel north!
What event made you realise the Book Slam was a success?
I wish I could say yes but it’s unlikely. We’ve branched out to Bristol and have one-offs every now and again in Manchester, Edinburgh, etc but it really depends on time. Book Slam’s run by a very small, dedicated team and we beg, borrow and steal to make each one happen.
When we moved from the tiny Cherry Jam [80 capacity] venue in Royal Oak to Neighbourhood [~400 capacity] under the Westway in Notting Hill and sold out the first night. There was and still is a hunger for what we do. Do you see the likes of Lost Lectures and Sofar Sounds as competition or after a common cause? The idea of a ‘literary event’ or ‘live literature’ is now commonplace (in London, at least) with all sorts of readings, talks, Q&As and the like happening on a regular basis. However, this wasn’t the case when Book Slam began a decade ago and we genuinely don’t think it too self-aggrandising to suggest that this explosion has been driven, at least in part, by our success (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say – we are, sincerely, very flattered). Nonetheless, Book Slam was always different and it remains so, precisely because of our commitment to excellence. Who would make your dream guest line-up? Ralph Ellison: author Maya Angelou: poet Richard Pryor: host John Coltrane: music Will we be seeing Book Slam go nationwide?
20
Book Slam is off to Wilderness Festival this year. What should festival goers expect to experience? Book Slam rarely pops up at festivals. We tried years ago and decided against it...We’re really particular about sound and acoustics which is almost impossible to get right in a field or a vacuous tent but Wilderness is cool and we love what they do so are really happy to be there. What are Ben and Patrick setting their sights on today? Ben’s writing and playing music. Patrick’s writing and hanging out in Zimbabwe. Finally, can you sum up Book Slam in three words? We run things. If you fancy checking out a Book Slam event you can find their literary schedule here www.bookslam.com or on Twitter @bookslam
CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
Posts Pages
to
The rise of the Internet has caused media experts to decry the death of books for decades. But it has also given rise to a whole new genre of printed work—the blog-to-book phenomenon. Literary agent Myrsini Stephanides represents a number of bloggers-turned-authors and talks to Jordan Koluch about the fun of making the digital permanent. 21
NEW EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2014
e
Everyone has a favourite blogger—someone whose thoughts you’re happy to consume in bite-sized pieces while you’re procrastinating at work. You may like the voice, the art, the jokes. But when Myrsini Stephanides reads blogs, it’s with something different in mind—will people want to read this as a book? “There’s no magic formula, really, because there’s so much subjectivity involved in the traditional publishing process. For the most part I represent projects that I would buy as a book consumer, so I need to feel some kind of emotional response to the material, whether it’s the writing, the subject matter, or the art (in the case of illustrated blogs). I’m drawn to humorous illustrated blogs, and as such, two of my most successful blog-tobook clients are Matthew Inman (TheOatmeal.com) and Claire Belton (Pusheen.com). In both cases I was instantly hooked and ended up spending hours on their sites—going through every single comic, illustration and post, reading comments, etc. Both authors had dedicated and growing online followings when we started working together, and I felt in my gut that they would work in print.” Finding just the right content for a blog-to-book project is a lot of hard work. While Stephanides reads her slush regularly, she also solicits projects she thinks would be a good fit for her list. “I search for them. For example, I found The Oatmeal after someone I follow tweeted a link to his comic ‘How to Use an Apostrophe’; a former intern sent me a link to Pusheen because I had a fat tabby cat at home. While I do read all my queries and enjoy that process, I’m a big fan of actively seeking out talent. So I keep my eyes and ears peeled when I’m listing to podcasts, watching YouTube, flicking through Instagram and pay attention when my gut tells me to.” That’s not to say that every blog is going to be the right fit for Stephanides’s list, or even for a book at all. The blog form is naturally ephemeral, with readers checking in every day for new content, while books are much more permanent. “It’s true that some, maybe even most, blogs are ephemeral. And most blogs should not be books. The bloggers that I gravitate towards are artists and writers who are constantly honing their craft and producing work from the heart. I know that Matt has spent upwards of a hundred hours from concept to final art of a single (albeit epic) comic that’s featured in his upcoming book The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances. I read it on screen when he sent final PDFs and loved it. But when I got an advance copy of the finished book and curled up with it on the couch, turning physical pages, away from all screens and devices, reading it was a truly immersive and moving experience. Holding a book in your lap is an intimate sensory experience that you can’t get from your laptop or iPad.” As an agent at the Carol Mann Agency, Stephanides’s job is
22
CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
to convince publishers that the blogs she loves should make the jump to print. Her pitches in these circumstances are specifically tailored to what publishers want to know about blogs—who’s already reading? “Platform is key with blog-to-books and nonfiction in general; with fiction, it doesn’t matter nearly as much. A blog pitch/proposal comes with data (pageviews, subscribers, etc) and important information about the existing readership of the blog. Over the last few years trade publishers have come to rely on (and value) what bloggers and ‘ceWEBrities’ bring to the table in terms of online reach and direct line of communication with the fan base. When there’s an existing and active fan base online, publishers will tailor publicity/marketing strategies to capitalise on these networks and to (hopefully) create an offline analogue to the online success.” And even though the content is specialised, the work required of an agent in the case of a blog-to-book project is much like that of other, more traditional, nonfiction projects. Stephanides says, “For most of my blog-to-book clients I create a traditional proposal after doing some preliminary brainstorming with them about the overall idea. We then work collaboratively to refine the document and make sure it includes everything a publisher will need in order to assess the project (overview, table of contents, sample pages, key platform data, competitive and comparable titles, etc).” What is different about blog projects is that they contain many more images than most nonfiction books, which is an extra consideration for both agent and publisher. “If the blogger is an artist, then they already control all rights to their work. In the case of aggregate blogs that feature photos by others, permissions clearing and obtaining releases becomes part of the process of preparing the book proposal. There are publishers who specialise in illustrated books, but I’m finding that more and more trade publishers who haven’t customarily been in the illustrated book business are testing these waters. As ebooks continue to become a bigger slice of the revenue pie, one way to keep print books relevant and make them desirable as ‘objects’ is to invest in the design and packaging. Adapting illustrated blogs into print format is definitely a creative challenge but it’s also leading to some beautiful and groundbreaking books. For example Humans of New York (which I don’t represent but am a huge fan of ) is a hugely popular site, and St. Martin’s did a brilliant job creating a beautiful and irresistible package that is reaching an offline audience that’s never heard of the site.” Ultimately, this new genre is another way of sourcing authors with great ideas and great talent, and that’s exciting for any literary agent. In particular, Stephanides has a few projects in the works that she’s very passionate about. “I’m really excited about Matt’s [The Oatmeal’s] fifth book, The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances, which I mentioned earlier. It’s a subject that’s very close to his heart and I think this shines through in the quality of the storytelling. The book is also gorgeous!”
Matthew Inman’s [The Oatmeal’s] The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances and Claire Belton’s I am Pusheen the Cat are two of literary agent Myrsini Stephanides’s recent blog-to-book projects.
Myrsini Stephanides is a literary agent with the Carol Mann Agency, representing an eclectic mix of humorous fiction and nonfiction authors, including Matt Inman [The Oatmeal] and Claire Belton (creator of Pusheen the Cat). Follow her on Twitter @myrrr
23
NEW EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2014
SYSTEM OVERLOAD Given the glut of content readily available in our digital world—social media, blogs, news sites, not to mention serial print publications and books—industry insiders often lament that there’s too much to read. Ed Roberts takes on the assertion that readers might not survive the onslaught.
24
CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
The average person posts on Facebook three times a day. With 829 million daily active users, that means that every twenty-four hours, 2.5 billion pieces of content are swirling around on our Newsfeeds, and that doesn’t even begin to allow for other Internet content providers. This leads us to the inevitable question: Is there too much to read? It’s a question that seems to be quite relevant recently, as each new book published has to fight hundreds of thousands of other titles for promotion time and readership. It doesn’t matter if you are working as an editor, a buyer, an advertiser, or a marketer. The question definitely affects your work in the publishing industry. How much content is too much? And how do we sort the quality from the drivel? With the age of blogging, content has never been easier or cheaper to disseminate, but that doesn’t mean all of it is of the same quality. Blogging services are most often free to join and offer no guidelines or rules that content has to follow, or support to writers who publish through the service. While some of the content can be very informative and accurate, there’s no system of oversight requiring it to be factual. This issue first rose to public consciousness with the founding of Wikipedia in 2001. The debate rages on as to whether the benefits of an open-source, free online encyclopaedia outweigh the potential pitfalls of unchecked contributor content. This led to the rise of a new reading culture—readers could know more about anything than ever before, but most resources had to be read with a grain of salt. In the case of credible online content, a hierarchy of sorts has emerged. Journalists, students and lay readers have come to know which sources are factchecked and have limited bias. Other sources serve their own purposes, but aren’t considered useful for writing essays or informed party banter. The rise of self publishing has again brought the struggle to the fore. The number of books coming out of traditional publishers every season seemed staggering as it was; access to the fairly simple tools required to publish caused authors to create another influx of content. Whether this is ‘too much’ is really a question of how you look at things. From the author’s perspective, it depends on what you’re expectations are for your book. If there were only three books published a year, they would all likely be bestsellers. But less-than-stellar sales don’t necessarily mean that a book should have never been published. Some authors feel that if just one passage from one of their books can touch one reader’s life or make a difference to someone, then that book has been a success. For some authors, getting drowned out in the sea of mass market media isn’t a problem if their voice is heard by one, ten or a hundred readers. When blogs, social media, and self publishing took off, the world was hit with an influx of content all available at our fingertips. Whether it is reading a 140-character tweet or a 700-page novel, you are still reading. Yes, you will have to sift through some meaningless content until you get what you are looking for, but that’s something we’ve become accustomed to in the digital age. We have already seen the likes of Hulu, Netflix and other video subscription services take over TV and movie viewership. The most common problem that you hear is that the majority of the viewer’s time is spent browsing the selections and it is hard to just pick out exactly what you intended. But on the whole, customers are happier for the convenience of on-demand viewing than they are irritated by the plethora of content to sift through. The new digital landscape requires more focus and dedication from the reader and better attention to classifications and categories (metadata) from writers and publishers. Whether you feel the influx is ‘too much’ or not, there’s no question that discoverability is the new name of the game. When it comes to the decision to self-publish, you are giving yourself a chance to get your book out there. It is a beautiful thing to know that even after countless rejections from traditional publishers, there is still a light at the end of the tunnel. No one can read every book out there, no one will like every book out there, but everyone has their unique tastes. I honestly don’t think there is too much to read. There are just more options for people looking for the content that’s right for them.
25
NEW EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2014
WRITING
Elizabeth Upton’s new novel The Shaman and the Mafia blends spirituality, romance and intrigue in the thrilling story of a woman caught in the middle of a murder investigation. Diana Rissetto talks to Upton about her nurturing nature, the rapidly evolving publishing industry and her time as a nun. 26
At the age of sixteen, Elizabeth Upton gave up her dreams of competing in the Olympics and entered a convent. By then, she had already lived more than many people would in eighty years. Looking back, Upton recalls, “Although I entered the convent when I turned sixteen, I felt like a young woman in my twenties. The problems of children, and the sufferings of people in the world, and the fact that by becoming a nun in a social work contemplative religious order I could make a difference inspired me to leave home.” Her childhood was a happy one—until her mother placed Upton and her sister in an orphanage, giving them the explanation that they were very bad children who could not be handled. As adults, Upton would learn the cold, heartbreaking truth: her mother had remarried and her stepfather had no interest in raising two children. Her mother’s rejection would subconsciously haunt Upton forever. While Upton was in the orphanage, she found herself with the overwhelming need to help the scared and lonely children that were also left there. As she grew up, becoming a nun, where she could devote all of her time to helping others, seemed to be the next natural step. However, what was waiting for Upton at the convent was not what she expected. “I left the convent mainly because I had grown out of the religious nun life, and I no longer believed in much of the Catholic doctrine or in the areas of divorce, birth control, and the infallibility of the Pope and the fact that women are not allowed to become priests. Worse yet, I was seriously alarmed at how bishops continued to hide priests who sexually abused children, including the fact they often lived high off the hog. I hope to go far more into all of this when I republish the third edition of Secrets Of A Nun in the fall.” The book Upton mentions was originally published twenty-five years ago. It examines all of her conflicting emotions during that period, and even includes a forbidden love affair. Although she is no longer religious in the Catholic sense, Upton remains very spiritual. She has tirelessly studied mysticism, reincarnation and spirituality,
CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
G HABITS which have all helped her write her current novel The Shaman and the Mafia, which was released this summer. In The Shaman and the Mafia, we meet Marietta, who, just like Upton, is a former nun, striving to help others as she runs a drug rehab centre for young people. When her close friend, a local drug informant, is brutally murdered in what appears to be a mafia hit, Marietta teams up with her dead friend’s brother, who works for the FBI, and another FBI agent—who was raised on a Cherokee reservation—and what follows is an unexpected love triangle, wracked with guilt and conflicted emotions. The book was certainly inspired by many of Upton’s real life experiences, both as a former nun and as a counsellor who worked with young people struggling with drugs and alcohol, but she also depends on her wild and vivid imagination when writing her books. What’s next for this versatile author? “Presently I am working on At Home Among Sinners. I do have three more fiction books coming out in the future and I would love to see some of my books become movies!” As a writer who has seen several decades of change in the industry, how does Upton feel about them? “I feel for the most part that the publishing world has not been way ahead of the curve, reminding me of when audio books first came out. Writers and authors today have discovered that they can get their work published faster and more efficiently with Amazon Kindle and in print. Those writers who are most successful have put money aside for PR or know how to market their books.” All of these factors drove Upton to self publish, a decision she’s been very happy with. Having control over her own books has made Upton that much prouder of the final products, inspiring her to share them with the world. “If I saw someone reading my book would I approach them?—Only if the circumstances were favourable, and it would be fun and a pleasure.”
Elizabeth’s Favourites
Find out more about Elizabeth Upton, including how to purchase The Shaman and the Mafia at elizabethaupton.com
27
NEW EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2014
What’s in a Name?
The title of a book almost matters more than its content—after all, who will ever see the inside of a book if the title doesn’t entice the reader to open it in the first place? Here are some of our favourite book titles and why they stand out.
28
Born Weird by Andrew Kaufman Kate’s pick I hold my hands up and shout that I love all things weird, eccentric, batty or strange so this title immediately caught my eye and threw itself off the bookshelf and into my arms and there, I am happy to say, is where it has stayed. This novella comprising a mere 266 pages combines inspiration, sarcasm and distinctive characters that will satisfy many a literary craving and also make you want to become a member of the Weird family.
CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
This Side of Paradise by F Scott Fitzgerald Jordan’s pick
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith Diana’s pick I love this book! My copy from childhood completely fell apart. The title is a reference to the Tree of Heaven, which used to grow in vacant lots throughout New York City. (Such trees no longer grow here.) To quote the book: “There’s a tree that grows in Brooklyn, some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky. It grew in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps and it was the only tree that grew out of cement. It grew lushly, but only in the tenements district.” The main character, Francie, represents that tree, growing up with her very poor family in a Brooklyn tenement at the turn of the 20th century. Francie wants more from life and wonders if it is possible. The book ends with Francie leaving for college. While she’s on her way out the door, the symbolic tree is larger than ever and has bloomed. The tree is just like Francie and her family; they will not be destroyed and now that Francie will get an education, she will go on to great things. Francie notices a little girl sitting on the fire escape reading a book, and bids her old life goodbye as she moves on. And I am crying right now just remembering it.
A good title is so many things: memorable, pithy, evocative, foreshadowing. Few titles do this like that of Fitzgerald’s mostly autobiographical first novel. A line from Rupert Brookes’s poem ‘Tiare Tahiti’ (bonus points for allusion!), This Side of Paradise holds the perfect sense of desire and longing that appears in all of Fitzgerald’s work. The insinuation that we’re on ‘this side’ of paradise (spoiler alert: not the fun side) and that the characters will remain there throughout the novel just drips of the disillusion Fitzgerald is uniquely capable of idealising. Amory and his friends lose all sense of the beauty they thought existed in the world, but Fitzgerald leaves his title echoing, ringing in our ears, allowing the last little bit of poetry to remain. Treasure Island exemplifies the rare book that’s become such a cultural icon that its title alone by Robert Louis is able to conjure all the wonder and emotion of the story it Stevenson represents. Is it even possible to Justin’s pick hear those two words together without detecting at least the hint of a salty breeze or the distant slap of waves against a wooden bow? Jim Hawkins’s timeless coming of age in the company of Long John Silver, Captain Smollett and the most ruthless crew of scallywags to have ever sailed the seven seas has been reproduced and rebooted more times than we can count, but it’s Stevenson’s original masterpiece and its evocative title that will always stand as the definitive tale that launched an entire subsequent genre of swashbuckling pluck and adventure.
Treasure Island
A good title is so many things.
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Ed’s pick I may be biased, but Tuesdays with Morrie has always been a great book title in my mind, however simplistic. Albom has always been a fixture in American sports journalism but stepped away from that when he wrote Tuesdays with Morrie. The book was just as the title suggested as Albom spent his Tuesdays with his old college professor, Morrie Schwartz, when he learned he was living with ALS. Albom felt guilty for not keeping in touch and made up for it every Tuesday with his discussions on life, death and the world. With the title being so simple, so precise and the book being so heartwarming, it has garnered my vote for great book title.
29
NEW EDITION CONTEMPORARY ISSUE
18,
PUBLISHING
SEPTEMBER
MAGAZINE
2014