Bluemoose Books

I was really excited to hear Kevin Duffy from Bluemoose Books speak this month, especially because Bluemoose is based in West Yorkshire (yay!) and I've happened on their books by chance in the Leeds branch of Waterstones, and on a few occasions while I've been researching publishers based in the area.

They're an independent publisher and a member of the Independent Publishers Guild. I have heard a lot about the IPG but mostly about the Faber and Faber involvement from other guest speakers on the course, so I'm really interested to learn more. The last eight books that have won the Man Booker Prize have been from independent publishers.

Kevin is a novelist and Bluemoose specialises in literary fiction, publishing five to eight books a year. Their most recent title The Secret to Not Drowing has reviewed extremely well on Amazon (5*) and Goodreads (4.4*), which attests to the great emphasis on story writing which became clear during Kevin's session. The Secret to Not Drowing also won the Arts Council Fiction book last month (September 2015). I have a real interest in contemporary literary fiction so I scribbled away illegibly on my phone for the duration of the class, which I now regret. See:

an example of coherent,
legible MA notes

Content

Another feature of the Bluemoose list is the appearence of working class and Nothern characters and settings in their list, which is nice. We're all not up here wearing flat caps and eating pies. It's bloody important to be represented in the novels we read, for the sake of sales alone. The population in the North do read, and buy, an awful lot of books.

Backlist

One of the most prominent lessons I took from Kevin's lecture was the importance of a backlist. Publishers typically make 80% of their revenue from list, so strong titles that have lasting appeal and readership is a priority. While it is important to listen closely to your audience and commission accordingly, a weak backlist would be one that is made up of fashionable and trend-bending novels, written to satisfy the market at that particular time without much focus on whether it will continue to sell in the future. 

Digital 

Metadata was raised as an important point again, and it is easy to understand why. The discoverability of your new novel as a relatively small publisher is extremely important during online searches. The 7 metawords can affect the sales of your book, and catagorising it accordingly in order to get the most reader exposure is key. Nielsen is also an important tool in the marketing and catagorising process, and after the book is conceived, all of the information must be inputted and an ISBN generated in order for the market to discover your book. The information you have to fill in is generally:

• The Authors Name 
• Rights Info
• Page Number 
• Price
• Publication Date
• A 350 Character Bio
• Cover Image

Timescale 

Bluemoose's timescale from commission to sale is also very interesting

I was surprised by the amount of time that is spent editing the novel, but the team fine comb each setting, character and word to make sure that the story is consistent and error-free. This is the USP of the company from what I could gather from Kevin's session, and no sacrifices are made in the timescale for editing. There are usually quite good author relations at Bluemoose, and the author is involved in every step of the book development, from changes in the text to cover design. This communication takes some man hours.

The review timescale surprised me because at this point I wasn't aware that books are given out to reviewers, bloggers and journalists two to three months early, or how important the review process was with regard to marketing and book sales. 

Marketing 

Creative marketing was a highlight of Kevin's talk, and quirky social media hits like the one book bookshop (pictured) which generated coverage in the Guardian. Events at festivals, universities and libraries are also key part of the way Bluemoose publicises novels, and the proximity to Ilkley Literature Festival is a bonus. The importance of funding for libraries that Kevin stressed is also a sentiment that I share, and I hope for a future full of books free for everyone.

Bluemoose's one book bookshop - a viral hit

commissioning editing 101

Today’s session with Toby Mason from Manchester University Press was a really eye-opening insight into the logistics and everyday workings of both an academic publisher and Tony’s role as a commissioning editor. I feel like a sapling at this point, drinking in all of the information. 

Selfie

Academic Publishing

The fact that MUP has traded for 101 years was a really fascinating starting fact, and although I hadn’t specifically thought about a career in academic publishing on application to this course, the longevity of presses like Manchester, Edinburgh and Oxford is an attractive feat.

The types of books published by an academic press like Manchester (monographs, textbooks) are exclusively non-fiction and often very specialist. It was comforting to learn that an inside knowledge of every piece of published material wasn’t necessary in the editing or commissioning process. This is because peer-reviewers, experts in the respective field, will read, fact check and critique the book from an expert’s standpoint, for a small fee and also a bit of kudos. This works as a back-and-forth between academics.

We were also informed that monographs in hardback are only usually printed in around 200 copies in order to appeal to journals, libraries and specialist buyers, but currently nearly always slowly transition into paperback in order to sell more widely and sell to bookshops. 

Commissioning

Tony Mason then told us about the structure of the commissioning process. Some of the tasks involved in this role are as follows:

• Signing books and authors, deciding what titles to pursue, and convincing colleagues to that end
• Working to a target of around fifty books per year (for an academic publisher like MUP)
• Making sure the title picked up is sellable, marketable and profitable
• Working closely with the author, voicing their concerns and questions to the team and acting accordingly to maintain a solid relationship
• Extensively and effectively networking with authors, reviewers, press and the consumer
• Working with all of the departments to ensure a well-rounded, consumer product. 

Tony then spoke about different approaches to the role, which break down into three main categories, named Proactive, Reactive and Collaborative:

• Proactive commissioning is defined by a commissioner who uses forward-thinking techniques like extensive market research and approaching authors pre-emptively in order to secure a title before another company. This style is quite labour-intensive.
• Reactive commissioning is a more passive approach than the role described above, and would refer to a commissioner who waited for a proposal to be readily packaged and dropped on their desk by an author before acting on behalf of the market.
• Collaborative commissioning is a mixture of the above two styles, and is generally referred to as the ‘sweet spot’ to prevent editorial burn-out, and to maintain a healthy relationship in which the authors and the publishers give an appropriate amount of effort. This commissioning style also involves a good amount of networking, to allow author-editor relations to flow, and good recommendations and reputations to flourish.

With regard to networking, Tony Mason also detailed a number of important external and internal contacts that a commissioning editor must maintain in order to do their job effectively, here are just a few of the examples:

• External: The Author, Literary Agents, Series Editors, Peer-reviewers, The Press, Other Publishing Companies.
• Internal: Marketing, Sales, Rights, Editorial, Finance, Production.

While there was a lot to take in during the first session, I felt pretty enlightened and more prepared for a career in publishing when I walked out of the room. Commissioning books would be an interesting role and it is something I would consider as a career path – especially if I were to learn more about commissioning fiction - but at the moment my interests lie in production, and possibly also in sales and marketing (but we’ll have to see). 

look at me flourish