So what’s it like being signed up to a small publisher? It’s a question I’m often asked these days. Well, with my novel yet to hit the bookstores, I guess I’m only half way through the process, so the jury’s still out on the final verdict, but here are some thoughts so far. While most novelists, especially first-timers like myself, are so desperate to get a publishing deal they will sign on any dotted line, I still think it’s important to scrutinise who you’re signing away your book to, especially if they are cosily ensconced in a croft in the Highlands of Scotland.
What impressed me first off with TRP is their strong sense of identity – the logo is bold and confident, there is an unflinching mission statement – it’s easy to see who they are, what kind of writing intrigues and delights them, what manuscripts they don’t want to see. With a large publisher, a fledgling writer can be overwhelmed by corporate purpose, the constant talk about the bottom line, the necessity to change plots to appease commercial tastes. At least, with TRP, you know with whom you stand.
Communication is essential. A few years ago, I was signed up to a top class agent. I could boast I was in a stable of writers that included several top names and Booker prize winners. It was like signing up for Manchester United but never getting off the bench. I couldn’t get hold of her, my calls were never returned, I have never felt so humiliated in my life and to this day I still don’t know what she did – if anything – on my behalf. With TRP, the intimacy of it all means there’s always the courtesy of an immediate reply, a willingness to communicate and inform, the sense of being treated with respect. That kind of personal touch is invaluable.
I also like the fact that I have some control over my marketing destiny. OK so TRP don’t have the funds to get your book in the window at Waterstones or facing out on the bookshelves at Borders, but there is space for the author to be involved, to leverage the book’s unique content – whether that be concentration camps or kayaks – among local media outlets and relevant communities. With a larger publisher, a writer can be very dependent on the whims of a marketing staff that quickly loses interest a day after launch.
And there’s the surprise element too. TRP is a young, up-and-coming, concern with a strong portfolio of literary fiction – it might take just one big commercial seller or a short-listing on the Booker or Orange prize list and suddenly Scotland has a new heavyweight publisher on its books – and look at you, weren’t you clever, signing up with them right at the start.
One last point. When someone asked me about who the directors were at TRP, I explained that one of them was a (former) jet pilot. To which the response was – ‘well, if he’s deemed capable of flinging millions of pounds of high-tech equipment about the sky, I’d definitely think he was a safe pair of hands for your little book.’
J. David Simons
J. David Simons’ novel, The Credit Draper, is now available from Two Ravens Press. And we promise we didn’t pay him a penny to say all those nice things about us :-) – Sharon
