tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post9216491575964531796..comments2010-01-29T17:34:19.724ZMichael Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11338398159818400930noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-44892639325773152542007-10-16T10:46:36.694+01:002007-10-16T10:46:36.694+01:00June, I wouldn't get too moist over Waterstone's efforts if I were you.<BR/><BR/>I spent quite a time having my novel 'vetted' by Waterstone's’ 'main office'. (And anyone who works in a 'main office' must know their stuff, no?)<BR/><BR/>Then, after it was 'approved' by the 'main office' I was told all I had to do was contact the shops individually. I'm not shy about these things and I called a lot of them (an awful lot). I also sent a press pack to each one then called again after they had received said pack.<BR/><BR/>The branch of Waterstone's in the area of the town where I was born (Leith) and which has very few authors (Irvine Welsh pretends he's from Leith for some reason - street cred., I suspect, for Leith is a mighty shithole) told me that their budget could not stretch to a single copy on sale or return, even though I explained that a self-published novel with fourteen major reviews (including the TLS) wasn't all that shabby. The manager actually shouted at me. I was shouted at by three Waterstone's shop managers in all. (And ignored by however many managers they employ throughout the UK minus the four or five that purchased one or two books.)<BR/><BR/>These people are paid like they were on the dole and they are instructed to plant skiploads of shit at their front doors in order to achieve their 'targets' (set by the same 'main office' that, presumably, houses the 'independent author advisor').<BR/><BR/>All this talk about independent author advisors must have missed the actual system that exists and the people within it?francis ellenhttp://www.ronak-publishing.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-79559952032998043402007-10-15T18:29:21.580+01:002007-10-15T18:29:21.580+01:00Will be interesting to see if anything changes at Borders given those comments that Luke Johnson made. Persoanlly I won't be holding my breath. What he needs to do imo is take a leaf out of Waterstones book and get an independent author advisor to work with the small presses and self publishers and help them get stocked in his stores. At the moment finding information on how to do this is well nigh impossible, with nothing on their website and a buying team who refuse to call you back ....Junehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16586833802576378185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-7623872187552486522007-10-15T17:02:00.217+01:002007-10-15T17:02:00.217+01:00I'm sorry, but I have to gloat a bit over the fact that Lessing won the Nobel on the merits of a book written 45 years ago. <BR/><BR/>Damned bad news for today's breathless young writers who see their Nobel right around the corner.Andy O'Harahttp://www.jimstonjournal.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-64517371589646438322007-10-15T14:58:22.286+01:002007-10-15T14:58:22.286+01:00To quote:<BR/>"'Writing is not a job description,' she said. 'A great deal of it is luck. Don’t do it if you are not a gambler.'"<BR/>Margaret Atwood is quite right. At least about the 'luck'. I am not a gambler but I know I am largely faced with a lottery factor If I try to get them published.<BR/>(GOB'S On the Survival of Rats in the Slush Pile, told me this ages ago.)<BR/>But it would seem the publisher has higher stakes to consider than I had imagined. To quote from Gob's today's post:<BR/><BR/>"'You ship finished volumes to booksellers who only accept them on a sale or return basis, and demand at least 55 per cent trade discount, and pay 120 days later.'"<BR/><BR/>No wonder booksellers are not interested in selling my lowly publications! ("Flick that fly away, Miss Smith.")<BR/><BR/>Hardly surprising that few unknowns get published. Thinking of my last two novels, If they reached the 'headlines' for whatever reason, or were expensively publicised, then they might be winners but otherwise? I doubt it.<BR/><BR/>Like Job, I repent in sackcloth and ashes!<BR/><BR/>I do not wish to achieve celebrity status by devious means, nor produce fodder for the masses, so I will do continue to do my own thing.<BR/><BR/>My own publishing backyard (Magpies Nest Publishing) suddenly has a charm of its own. I rest (and write) content!gladys hobsonhttp://magpiesnestpublishing.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-3964481455751307572007-10-15T11:39:34.387+01:002007-10-15T11:39:34.387+01:00Nice bit in y'days Observer by Carole Cadwalladr on the agents and publishers at Frankfurt http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2190553,00.htmlSlimwww.slimpalmer.comnoreply@blogger.com