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Write
one…
 Harder,
in fact, than it sounds. Even the short novel runs to 47,000 words - and then
you’re barely touching 150 pages. Anything under a hundred pages isn’t worth
sending out as it falls into that betwixt and between category that publisher’s
hate. Novellas, like short stories, are hard to sell. One statistic to forget
before starting is that of all novels completed only .0025 per cent ever see
their way into print in the author’s lifetime.
Irvine
Welsh described writing as: "One per cent inspiration, 99 per cent perspiration"
and the most important aspect of creation is the proverbial ‘being there.’ Why
sit at that desk and write when your friends are having a picnic in the park?
"Financial reward," you might answer but don’t forget the author of the best-selling
Trainspotting only chucked in his day job after the film rights were
sold. The book had been in circulation five years while Welsh slogged away as
a Drug Support worker for Edinburgh council. Material, you might say, immaterial,
he might (if he were a high falutin’ ponce) which he ain’t.
Hemingway
always left off when he knew he could continue tomorrow…
Stephen
King does six pages a day and then goes to pick his kids up from school… that’s
the way to do it!
Agents…
If
you want money for your first novel, you’ve got to get an agent. In some cases
this can be more of a nightmare than achieving a publishing deal. Agents are
mates with editors and so, can get "noise" on a book going. A bidding war can
then begin with an agent sending out numerous manuscripts and playing the publishers
off each other with the phone buzzing! This is a writer’s dream. In reality
an agent takes on few clients who are not already having some success and making
money. Ed Victor did not take on Will Self out of the kindness of his heart.
Self’s first book, The Quantum Theory Of Insanity,
had done pretty well under the Bloomsbury imprint and so both parties were in
position to negotiate the next.
Many
writers approach publishers direct and this can lead somewhere but the bottom
line is, if you want to make a living at being a writer, an agent will open
doors for you. Most agent are listed in The Writers Handbook
and it’s a good idea to try and place your book with someone you think will
be sympathetic to what you’re trying to achieve, or whose existing clients write
in a style you think is similar to your own. Irving Welsh doesn’t have an agent
as he claims none were interested in him as an unknown and so he isn’t going
to share his success with them now! Some would say, fair play, Irvine! But then
he doesn’t need an agent now.
TOP
4 LIST…
(1)
Ed Victor (Will Self)
(2)
Pat Kavanagh (Julian Barnes)
(3)
Jonny Geller (Rob Newman)
(4)
Sheila Lemon (Hanif Kureishi)
Publishers…
Very
few publishers will even look at unsolicited manuscripts and so pitching straight
to the source will mostly lead to disappointment. They employ readers - usually
graduates straight out of University at first rung level - to sift through the
slush pile. If they happen to chance upon a script they like then it goes through
two further readers and then a committee stage before publication is even considered.
The author who gets offered a deal after all this is very lucky indeed! The
recession of the early- '90s hit publishers hard and many are still frugal,
though in recovery. The larger houses are conglomerating, like the record labels,
so as to stitch up the market and preserve jobs. But the death of the novel
has been forecast for the last twenty years and it’s still going strong.
Independents
And Small Presses…
The
small presses are growing, but the truly independent publisher is a rarity.
Usually successful imprints are allowed to flourish within larger houses who
can afford to take risks, such as the Sceptre line under Picador whose Disco
Biscuits collection sold over 100,000 copies in its first year. Genuine
independents such as The Do Not Press and Pulp Books have a more modest circulation
and little if no money for publicity.
These
publishers will have distribution and press contacts though, as they are likely
to be set up by ex-journalists, so word of mouth can arise and books can enter
the mainstream. Rebel Inc, an imprint of Canongate was the success story of
the '90s, under editor Jamie Myng; republishing cult classics such as Adrift
In Soho by Colin Wilson and the Alexander Trocchi trilogy enabled
them to corner a market of neglected masterpieces. Payback Press’ mission to
resurrect black writing and give writers such as Iceberg Slim a dusting down
should be admired and X Press’ success on the back of fiction such as Yardie
can only be applauded. Again, budding authors should always check each list
before pitching to a publisher - it’s incredible how many Tolkein-like novels
crime publishers get sent. Don’t waste their time, or yours.
Quarterlies
And Magazines…
As
an entrée to the more exclusive world of publishing, getting your work
into quarterlies or the small magazines will help your name to be known to the
community of editors, writers, and readers who have an interest in new fiction.
Most of the quarterlies will pay a nominal fee (The Spectator -
£75 a review) and the majority of their contributors will be academic or freelance
journalists with their fingers in many pies. The majority of small magazines
will pay nothing and hound the writer for a subscription after he’s received
his two complimentary copies! Outside of the established reviews, the life expectancy
of the average quarterly is adolescent however, there are exceptions to the
rule: Billy Liar, which surfaced over a year ago in Newcastle,
has had money pumped into it by Dazed and Confused.
TOP
4 SMALL MAGAZINES…
(1)
Billy Liar
(2)
Front and Centre
(3)
The Third Alternative
(4)
Ambit
Royalties…
Rather
than go through the long contract lecture, boring everybody, the only thing
that varies from house to house apart from the size of the advance is the royalty
rate the author receives on each book. Eight per cent (of cover price) is standard,
ten is good, twelve is exceptional. A large advance on an exceptional print
run could take this figure down to five per cent, but this is rare.
Final
Word…
Remember
persistence leads to hope kids - and hope leads to courage. Pick up that pen!
Scratch and sniff! And don’t forget these words…The End. |
