Writing Blog Number 2

20240505 Publisher Q&A

A Meeting With A Publisher

So, this morning I had my usual Skype call with my friend in Florida, then, as I was doing some work for a local group, remembered I had an invite to a Q&A with a representative of Random House Australia.

I logged on, waited 15 minutes, then found I was one of over 100 people listening in. We had all submitted to RHA in the past 2 years and had reached second round, but got no further; that was the idea of this - to help us reach final round, to help those who are close maybe get a Big-5 contract.

The two women who spoke to us said we had done the right things - edited before submission, followed the genre dictates, put story first. They then went on to state the things we (in general) may have fallen down on: characterisation being either weak or dominating, pushing an overt message, under-writing. When asked to explain what under-writing is, they said it was using simplistic language. Yes, that meant I felt called out.

Then came Q&A.

Questions I noted:
* If I revise, should I resubmit? No, unless you completely rewrite the work and change the title.
* Is any genre off-limits? No, but the extremes of any genre are not appreciated.
         Additional question: But I don't see a lot of humour in your listings? Answer: Humour is a hard sell universally. What's funny here [Australia] is not necessarily going to translate internationally. But we do have some humour books in our store.
* Do you accept collections of works? No, they just don't sell unless you already have a name.
* Do you accept books that are chasing current trends? (Example given, Hunger Games and Harry Potter styled works.) Yes, but they have to be amazingly well-written and not just pastiches, and they need to hit different story beats.
* Do you accept previously published works? No. What about if it is on Wattpad or something first? Only if it is not visible to the general public at large.
         She then went on to add:If you have previously self-published a work of fiction, we will be very unlikely to accept any other work except in exceptional circumstances.
* Why don't you publish children's books? The cost of picture books and short page count early reader books does not make them financially viable. Specialist companies have a much better system generally.
* Do you publish fan fiction? No, and any author worth their salt knows why. (This was genuinely the only time they seemed pissed off with a question.)
* Can we have our own covers designed? We encourage input into cover design, but we prefer to work with in-house designers. Of course, this is not a hard and fast rule.
* Do you do audiobooks? If so, can we choose our own narrators? Yes, we do. And we prefer the author to be the narrator if at all possible. Otherwise, this is something we are willing to negotiate with the writer. We do not have a list of preferred narrators.
* What do you see is the future of books and publishing? Good question. Ten, fifteen years ago, I would have said digital all the way. COVID saw a rise in audiobooks and post-COVID physical books have come back. So, the future? I don't think anyone knows, and we are just going to give all formats equal time.

I got bored about then, but there weren't many more questions.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.