Samantha Fanaken works as part of Random House’s sales team as a Senior Key Account Manager, and here she discusses selling literary fiction into bookshops. One of the most enjoyable parts of working for a literary publisher like CCV is reading large piles of paper that will one day turn into books. Reading a book…
Category Archives: trios
Trios: The Third Sign, by Gregory A Wilson: Cover Art
We’ve heard already from Gregory A Wilson, author of The Third Sign, and from his editor at Five Star, John Helfers. Now it’s Joshua David McClurg-Genevese’s turn in the spotlight as he reveals how he created this stunning cover image. I first met Greg at a gaming convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was there as…
Trios: Beachcombing, by Maggie Dana: What Editors Want
Maggie Dana began this particular trio of articles with an account of her potholed path to publication; then Will Atkins, her editor took over and discussed Macmillan New Writing. This time Will considers the role of the author in the publication process, and nails down what authors can do to imrpove their chances of success….
Trios: The Einstein Girl, by Philip Sington: Waterstone’s Perspective
Last time The Einstein Girl appeared here, we learned how its cover was created; today, Rodney Troubridge (the Fiction Marketing Planner at Waterstone’s) reveals how he makes his decisions; and next time, a key account manager at Random House will discuss selling this sort of literary fiction to booksellers. As a lucky retailer who gets…
Trios: The Third Sign, by Gregory A Wilson: The Editor's View
Although Gregory A Wilson has already told us how he found a publisher, it’s interesting to read a corresponding view from the other side of the fence. Here, Greg’s editor at Five Star, John Helfers, discusses what he looks for in a writer, and how writers can improve the editing process. Next time we’ll hear…
Trios: The Einstein Girl, by Philip Sington: Cover Design
Matt Broughton began designing book covers for the academic publisher Routledge in 1997, and moved to Random House in 2001. He is now a senior designer and continues to design covers for Random House’s literary imprints, including Harvill Secker. Lily Richards has worked as a picture researcher at Random House for nine years, mainly working…
Trios: Beachcombing, by Maggie Dana: Macmillan New Writing
Last week we heard about Maggie Dana’s potholed path to the publication of her first adult novel Beachcombing; this week Maggie’s editor, Will Atkins, discusses the imprint which finally took her into print: Macmillan New Writing. You might remember that there was a bit of a fuss when Macmillan New Writing launched back in 2006…
Trios: The Third Sign, by Gregory A Wilson: Getting Published
My thanks to Gregory A Wilson for this candid account of his route to publication, and for persisting with this series despite my hopeless lack of organisation! Contributions from Greg’s editor and his cover artist will appear over the coming weeks, and if you’d like information about his upcoming readings, convention appearances and other events,…
Trios: Beachcombing, by Maggie Dana: My Potholed Path To Publication
Maggie Dana, author of Beachcombing, comments regularly on this blog; she wrote a wonderful piece about typesetting for me a few weeks ago, which resulted in a spectacular spike in my reading statistics; and she’s recently had her first grown-up novel* published. Here’s her own account of her tortured path to publication, in which she…
Trios: Diary Of An On-Call Girl, By PC Bloggs: From Blog To Book
This is the final piece in the Trios series about Diary of an On-Call Girl: True Stories from the Front Line, the memoirs of an anonymous police officer, P. C. Bloggs. A couple of weeks ago Dan Collins, the publisher at Monday Books, discussed TV options and rights sales; last week, he looked at the…
Trios: Deathwatch, by Nicola Morgan: Book Launches
Nicola Morgan writes for teenagers and has the unusual habit of involving them in the marketing of her novels. Her new thriller, Deathwatch, is being launched by pupils from The Mary Erskine School in Edinburgh, who also helped write the book and appear in the story. One of those pupils, Ailsa Innes, wrote the following…
Trios: Diary Of An On-Call Girl, by E E Bloggs: Cover Story
Here’s the latest installment in the Trios series about Diary of an On-Call Girl: True Stories from the Front Line, the memoirs of an anonymous police officer, P. C. Bloggs. Following on from his discussion of TV options and rights sales, today Dan Collins (Bloggs’ publisher at Monday Books) examines the importance of good title…
Trios: Deathwatch, by Nicola Morgan: The Joys Of Promotion
Nicola Morgan writes for teenagers and has the unusual habit of involving them in the marketing of her novels. Her new thriller, Deathwatch, is being launched by pupils from The Mary Erskine School in Edinburgh, who not only helped write the book but also appear in the story, by name. Later, one of the girls…
Trios: The White Road And Other Stories, by Tania Hershman
Following the lovely response to her appearance in my Trios series, Tania Hershman is feeling particularly generous: she has offered to give away not just one copy of her lovely book, The White Road and Other Stories, but two. Step forward, Cindy Caldon and Miriam Drori: you’ll each be getting a copy in due course…
Trios: Diary Of An On-Call Girl, by E E Bloggs: Selling TV Rights
This latest Trios offering looks at Diary of an On-call Girl: True Stories from the Front Line, the memoirs of an anonymous police officer, P. C. Bloggs. This week Dan Collins, Bloggs’ publisher at Monday Books, discusses how TV rights to her book were sold; the next piece in the series looks at the importance…
Trios: The White Road and Other Stories, by Tania Hershman: The Bookseller’s View
Sara Crowley has had fiction published by Pulp.Net, 3:AM, elimae, flashquake, Litro, Cella’s Round Trip, Dogmatika, Red Peter, Better Non Sequitur, and a variety of other lovely places. “Salted”, her novel in progress, was shortlisted for the 2007 Faber/Book Tokens Not Yet Published Award. She is, among many other things, a bookseller at Waterstones and…
Trios: Devil’s Gold, by Julie Korzenco
Congratulations to Eric Stallsworth, whose name has just been pulled out of a virtual hat over at Julie Korzenko’s house. He’ll soon be receiving a copy of Julie’s novel Devil’s Gold, which kicked off my Trios series a few weeks ago. Commiserations to those of you who weren’t lucky this time round: all is not…
Trios: The White Road and Other Stories, by Tania Hershman: The Publisher’s View
Salt Publishing is a tiny independent press which specialises in publishing strong literary fiction and poetry. As is so often the case for independent presses, Salt has struggled to remain in business: but, thanks to the determination of its proprietors and their incredible ability to find exceptional authors, Salt Publishing now has an established and…
Trios: The White Road and Other Stories, by Tania Hershman: Self-Promotion
Tania Hershman is a former science journalist who has recently been commended by the judges of the 2009 Orange Award for New Writers. Her first short story collection, The White Road and Other Stories, is published by Salt Modern Fiction (and has been very favourably reviewed by Sally Zigmond, who comments here regularly). Her short…