I work for a publisher. Ask me anything.

[isthatapugunicorn]

I’m a senior sales bod at a global publisher... involved in everything from proposal thru to promo.

Zilla1 - Judgment and experience mostly, and for non-fiction in particular looking at what sells. Mindfulness for example, 15 years ago there was nothing but now look...
It's all a bit of a punt! It comes down to the same thing - is it well written? Is it a great story or topic? How well known is the author in their field - is this woman writing a CBT book respected in that field for example.
IS there a market for it? That market can be high street or specialist. Uni or businesses. Students or academics.

IrmaFayLear - you needed worry, the Jilly Coopers of the world aren't going anywhere. You go go online and find endless reports of how BAME and LGBT and WC writers are endlessly ignored and rejected.

LittleWalnutTree

Well, discovered is probably not the word but yes I have had some hugely successful writers that I happened to be lucky enough to back!

OccidentalPurist

Publishers DO NOT do this! It's theft and theft is illegal. Not to mention, we're a bunch of literature grads for the most part, and yes publishing is a business but it's not Wolf of Wall Street...

Is the hunt for "authentic voices" turning books into memoirs only? I thoroughly agree that there is a dearth of books specifically for certain groups, but the fact that the author has lived the experience shouldn't be the main driver.

I heard a woman in publishing on Radio 4 saying they were looking for interesting/unusual backstories of authors and didn't want any more creative writing course middle-aged women. Fair enough, but I think anyone wants a story and not an endless parade of issues . This is particularly true of YA fiction.

Interesting point, @Irma. I'm querying agents with my first novel. I'm working-class, foreign and from an impoverished background, but you would not know this from my pitch, and I don't write about my own early life, because it's not the sort of thing I have any interest in writing. Plus my family would really not appreciate our poverty and poor education being some kind of cute author backstory.

Irma no it’s not quite frankly. But, if for example you’re a gay woman, you might quite like to read a story - ghost story, whatever, that has a lesbian character in it. ( preferably one that doesn’t fall to the ‘Bury your gays’ trope) or a love story that isn’t boy-meets-girl. I’ve spent close to 40 years reading, seeing, hearing boy-meets-girl stories. I want the occasional Gentleman Jack thanks!
I’m not saying a straight writer CAN’T write a good gay character - I’m saying that they often DON’T or they write them then ‘bury’ them.
I’m not saying white writers cant have great black characters, i’m saying they rarely include them. Hogwarts, that is one white, straight school isn’t it?

Ponti - about 3 Singaporean women, and a horror movie - would a white, MC author have written this or set it in Singapore? Maybe but they didn't. Hugely original book.
My sister, the Serial Killer - would a white, MC author have set this in Lagos? Been able to weave the city and it's people into the story? Maybe, but didn't.
Tipping the Velvet - Lesbian bodice ripper/thriller/mystery. Sarah Waters was the first as far as I'm aware to make such a huge hit with this, - could a heterosexual author have written a book like this? Yes, but they didn't
See the pattern??
Milkman - set in NI, written by a NI writer who live through the Troubles - honestly, could an English writer have written this book? Well, they didn't.

Your background shapes you, therefore shapes your voice, your stories. It doesn't need to be memoir to carry authenticity but what these books all have in common, other than being written by women, is that they are brilliant,different, and original stories wonderfully executed. And if you are a white, MC, writer worry that no-one cares about you now

1. blatantly not true - go into Waterstones and look at the books at the front of the shop and their author bios
2. if you write a brilliant, original yarn and are a great writer you will get published regardless of your background.Use your voice and make your story great.

Hogwarts, that is one white, straight school isn’t it?.

To her credit, JK Rowling has addressed this; both the Lego Harry Potter game and Wizards Unite now feature a really diverse range of students.

Sooo, the bad track. I had a non-fiction book published last year; lots of publicity and amazing reviews (incl LRB) and nominated for biog prize. But sales not great. What are my chances?

for a next book, that is. I can write, honestly...

Onsen - i’d say that her creative team addressed it but we can differ in opinion on that! I’m not having a pop at her, I remember reading the proof of HP and thinking wow! I’m just showing that representation isn’t at the foremost of many white writers minds.
I’d say your chances are good actually - what you need to understand, or your next Editor needs to understand is why the sales aren’t great and how to rectify that next time.
I’d take a highly reviewed book over a newbie anyway - and an Editor who wants your next book will blame the last publisher/editor anyway!

Nonfiction is what I mainly do now and it’s a funny beast...

Great post and very timely for me! I self-published a book last year and have had great feedback from a number of people including a well-known parenting authority, government departments who have been trying to seek funding for it and the Head Book buyer at a major retailer said it looked interesting but that I needed to align with a distributor that they work with.
I have sought out a distributor who wants to take the book on board but I am hesitating. My book is out and in circulation. Is signing up to a distributor a good option, or should I be approaching publishers to take it on board? I would get a lower cut, but also cut out the logistics. My biggest concern is that the book might be taken out of circulation, they may want it revised and it may be delayed a significant time?
Do you have any advice? (I am located in Australia)

That’s exciting! Well - where do YOU want to go with it?? You could take what you have now to a publisher and see if they’d consider it... are the sales good? What would that publisher bring? Will your book travel outside of Oz? Then look for a global publisher who might be able to bring it to other English speaking markets - our Oz books often do well in the U.K.
And the distributor - presumably you’ll be keeping the copyright as they aren’t a publisher so why would they take it out of circulation? If they drop it and you have the rights then you go back to doing what you’re doing now. Look at the numbers - what reach does the distributor have? Is it a wholesaler? Most libraries buy from a wholesaler... most wholesalers present new books to retailer head buyers. Will the reach and uplift in sales make up for what you’re losing in profit? Will it make the book more visible? Will it get sold to retailers who use Bookscan so that your sales are recorded and other retailers pay attention??

I'm sure you're right about it being her team, but even so - my daughter plays Wizards Unite, and I've noticed the change.

And thank you, I'll carry on (and hope that I actually win the prize...)

I love the questions that are making me think! Sorry, my post wasn't clear, I meant that if I approached a publisher to take it on then they may take it out of circulation if they want changes.
In terms of the distributor, it is a wholesaler. The way I view it is that I am taking on a little risk (in terms of money as I will need to get bulk overseas printing done rather than POD to make the margins work) but the gain is that they can access markets that I simply cannot... and I think we need to give the book justice and opportunity to flourish, so I am prepared to take that risk.
My sales are good for a small reach. I have not had any negative reviews and seem to get most sales through word of mouth but as someone who has an exhausting day job as well as 2 small kids, I simply don't have the time (or experience) for full market penetration on my own. I see the distributor as a means to accessing markets (ie. major retailers and book stores) that I cannot access myself (although I appreciate I still have a part to play in marketing). I guess I am just running the numbers and feel like, with the direct to distributor option, I am taking on a lot more of logistical headache without much more financial benefit than being published!
Seems like there is a lot to consider - I dont even know about Bookscan and hadn't considered an international publisher. I think the book has universal appeal in english speaking countries, particularly the UK, and I have had some incidental sales there purely from Word of Mouth, however I haven't even tried to target it because I am already spread so thin!
Thankyou so much! You have made me ponder the (good) situation from a different angle and shown me I have a few more things to consider!

Alice - sounds like you’ve answered your own question!

Hi isthatapugunicorn. Could I ask if you think that certain disabilities might hinder someone from getting a publishing deal?

I was diagnosed with autism last year (which was a shock to no one that knows me ). Part of my diagnosis involved talking about my 'obsessions', particularly my lifelong obession with writing children's stories. As I am essentially a hermit I've managed to amass quite a collection of them, ranging from short stories to series of books.

The psychologist who diagnosed me asked me to bring some in for her to see. She got quite excited when she read the latest series I am working on, and told me I should try and get some published.

After looking in to it last year I decided it wasn't for me. The advice I saw seemed to rely on a confident personality, getting agents to like you and doing your own marketing. As I'd be hopeless at any kind of pitching or talking at schools I forgot about it.

The lady who diagnosed me called up earlier today to ask how I was getting on. She urged me again to at least try and put myself out there a bit more. Which is how I came upon this thread this afternoon.

Is it truly as scary as the advice I read last year led me to believe?

Hermitta - GO for it! I can’t tell you the number of authors We have who have all sorts of ‘disabilities ‘ if you even want to call them that. The self confident, out there author is quite frankly a rare beast, that’s why we have marketing and PR.
How dull would the world be, and the world of books be if the only authors were all charming,
Self promoters ...
You have found your people, Hermitta, go for it. If you have a good story and a good idea and you can write then get it out there.

You can help promote your book in other ways, behind a blog eg. You don’t have to be on stage at a literary festival, and i’m Sure you can find an Editor who likes you for just exactly who you are.

And Hermitta, the very thing that you say is a ‘disability’ is actually the thing that may make you stand out. Diversity and all that...

Thank you isthatapugunicorn. I will take another look at it all. 👍

@HermittaHobbe, the only thing I’d say is to consider how you deal with rejection. Even getting an agent can involve a lot of one-sentence rejection emails, or no response at all.

StressToy now rejection I am an expert at!

I'd still write every day either way. It's people around me that are convinced I need to 'do something' with it. If I had a stack of rejection notes to show them then maybe they'd leave me to write in peace

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to answer all these questions, I think that we’re all finding it very useful.

Can I ask about age! Are publishers put off writers (unpublished!) after a certain age? I’m mid 40’s and write children’s fiction. I am a KS2 and KS3 teacher so have a lot of experience of this age group and in teaching writing but I’m not sure if I’m past the age that would be considered marketable. Thank you!