BUSINESS OF BOOKS: FIRST, LAST, EVERYTHING – JAMES FAKTOR, PUBLISHER AT ENDEAVOUR MEDIA

Posted on June 6, 2018 by Jane Cable

What was the first publishing advice you were ever given

I think the first piece of publishing advice I received came from an agent who came to lecture at my creative writing course (I forget her name!). She made a big impression on me, and said that the hardest thing about publishing is knowing what to turn down, and that there is no room to indulge. It was great advice because it kept forcing me to think with a commercial hat on rather than just what my personal preference was. As head of our sci-fi and fantasy imprint, I am by no means the biggest fan of the genre, but having a little distance from the books helps keep me impartial to their quality.

What was the most recent publishing advice you were given or gave

Our CEO Matthew Lynn suggested that we should be keeping our eyes open to other industries outside of publishing. You never know where the next big idea will come from, but with technology changing things so quickly now, it’s likely that other industries like advertising, marketing, tech and design will offer solutions to the next jump in publishing, and will rethink how we distribute and digest stories. The recent movement by Spotify to allow some audio books onto their platform is an example of how such cross-breeding could work.

What’s the piece of advice you’d most like to pass on

Put a name to a face quickly and always have a smile. Publishing is still quite a small world and conducting yourself in the right way will really keep your options open. You never know when you may need somebody’s help in the future!

James graduated from the University of York with a BA (Hons) in English Literature, before studying for an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford. He joined Endeavour Media in 2018, and currently heads up our sci-fi imprint, as well as managing contracts.

Endeavour Media is an independent digital and print publisher based in London who work with over 800 authors, from talented debuts to top estates, to put both new and unfairly forgotten titles into the spotlight.

They specialise in championing out-of-print books by bringing them to the digital market under several different imprints, including their main list which is dedicated to thrillers, romance, historical fiction, biographies and history; a science-fiction, horror and fantasy imprint; a Western imprint; a German-language division; and a dedicated print arm.

Their mission is to publish enjoyable and important works of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as introduce new generations of readers to older classics. Find out more information at www.endeavourmedia.co.uk

A Day In the Life by Rosie Nixon Author of The Stylist and Editor-in-Chief of HELLO!

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Margaret Graham

I’m woken up from dreaming of the gentle rustling of palm leaves in the sea breeze, by the muffled sound of – no, it’s definitely not a seagull – it’s a baby squawking in his cot. My sleepy husband next to me mumbles, ‘Your turn’. I haul myself up on to my elbows and peer at my iPhone: 6.30 am. Thank God it’s past six. Clever Rex! You slept through! The day is off to a good start. Some mornings I’m bleary-eyed if I’ve been up in the night with him, cuddling, administering Calpol, soothing him back to sleep with a warm bottle. Those nights are less regular now he’s nearing age one, and I’m actually missing them a bit. They are babies for such a short time. I pad downstairs and he greets me with open arms and a big giggle, standing up in his cot, raring to go. Now I can hear chatter coming from the adjacent room. Heath is awake too. We go in and collect him before going down to the ground floor for breakfast together.

Fifteen minutes later, mushy bits of museli, Cornflakes, Oatibix, strawberries, banana, blueberries and milk all over a highchair, breakfast table and four people, we’re done. I put Rex back in his cot for his morning nap and go back upstairs to get myself ready for work. I like to look reasonably smart during the week – a patterned dress, sandals and a combination of Monica Vinader jewellery, is a staple look.

Credit Kate Gorbunova

Just before 9 I rush off to drop Heath at nursery on my way to the station. I’m lucky it’s only a short train journey to Waterloo and then a five-minute walk to HELLO! HQ on the South Bank.

The day flies as soon as I reach my office – morning conference is a chance to catch up with the HELLO! magazine team on the content for this week’s issue, we discuss features, news stories and look through the latest photos. This will be followed by management meetings discussing strategy for the brand, perhaps lunch with a showbiz PR or a star themselves to discuss an exclusive or new idea, then more meetings about online, digital and video content. HELLO! is a multi-platform brand, so there is always so much going on. Sometimes I’ll have brought my party frock and heels in to work where I’ll quickly change and head off to an awards ceremony, launch party or press event.

If I’m not going out, I’ll rush to get home for bath and bedtime with my boys. I try to switch off my phone for that precious time. We are avid readers in our house, so bedtime stories are a must and then, all going well, both boys are tucked up asleep by 8pm.

I’m back catching up on emails once they are down, and my husband and I will cook dinner together, have a glass of wine and catch up on our days. Currently, I’m having fun mapping out my third novel in The Stylist series. Although life is busy, creative writing has become a part of my life – sometimes ideas will have been swirling around my mind all day, so I need to get them down. This is theraputic for me, and when it’s flowing well it’s a lovely way to relax.

I will try to get in to bed by 10pm, but 99% of the time it will be gone eleven. The last thing my husband and I will say to each other is ‘Please let them both sleep through.’

The Stylist by Rosie Nixon is out now (HQ, £7.99)

A Day in the Life of Rob Sinclair

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Margaret Graham

One of the hardest parts of my life as an author is actually finding the time to write. As I struggled with this realization while putting the finishing touches to my newest book, Rise of the Enemy, I wrote a blog post that was clearly tongue-in-cheek (see here). Again, on the day I’m writing this, I’ve just returned from a two week holiday so have a backlog of other tasks, starting with work in my garden which has turned into something of a jungle in the space of 14 days…

My life has changed immeasurably since I caught the writing bug some six years ago. At that time I was still working full time as a forensic accountant, but on the flip side I had no kids. Life was really quite straight forward, comparatively speaking. I drafted my first book, Dance with the Enemy, early in the morning before work, at lunch times, in the evenings and at weekends. It took a lot of dedication and commitment – I was spending every spare minute drafting and editing. Then something happened. I had two boys and my life was turn upside down – as was my house…

Both of my boys (they’re 4 and 2) go to nursery three days a week, so once they’re out the house at 7:30am it’s time for breakfast then exercise. By the time I’ve showered it’s usually about 9am before I start work. I do all of my writing sat on the sofa in the lounge with my laptop. Yes, that big dent right there is where I sit. Every day I feel like I’m a little closer to the floor.

It’s that first session, in the morning, when I always feel most productive and creative. I’ll generally blast through until about midday, with a couple of five minute breaks to make a coffee with my beloved Nespresso machine (every coffee-lover should have one)…

I break off at lunch and do a bit of housework before I get back to writing. By that point I generally feel a bit less enthused. Writing can be a mentally draining experience, particularly when you’re drafting and coming up with new ideas. The afternoon session ends about 4pm, then have an hour spare before I pick up my boys – generally more housework or checking my Twitter and Facebook accounts.

By the time the boys are in bed and my wife has come home and we’ve had tea it’s about 8pm by which point I’ll look to do another hour or two of promotional work; social media largely but also blogs/interviews if I have the mental strength left (which is rare!).

Then it’s in bed safely tucked up with a book for ten minutes (if I’m lucky) before lights-off between 10pm and 10:30pm – what a rock n’ roll lifestyle, eh?!

A day in the life of Felicity Trew – literary editor

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Margaret Graham

Newly appointed literary agent Felicity Trew describes a day in the life of one the top literary agencies, the Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency.

By the time I get on the bus in the morning, I’ve already visited 50 different worlds… through my submission inbox. I never know where it’s going to take me.

I start my day meticulously trawling through the new manuscript adventures on an iPad, my portable office and library. I get hundreds of emails from hopeful authors each week with stories ranging from lovesick demons to 14th century political deviants. There is a lot that is not suitable for my list but every now and then I find a gem.

You can sum an agent in three words: talent-spotter, advocate and counselor. Our responsibility is to find the best authors and to bring out the best in them.
And book writing is 90 per cent idea, writing and 10 per cent editing that into something really rich and attention-grabbing.

So a substantial part of my morning is spent helping authors tighten their manuscripts into a powerful punch of literature for the publishers. Sometimes that can even mean sitting down with an author lost in a plethora of ideas and choosing the strongest option.

Most outsiders think the book world is a cosy industry of coffee cups and cupcakes, but it is a crowded business – which makes it tough but exciting. So after reaching out and responding to my clients, who come first, I tackle the contracts to get the day going.

The one reason a writer needs an agent is that legal document which exists for the lifespan of the book and controls everything from advances to film, TV, radio, theatre, eBook and merchandising rights. The contract can make or break an author. Get one sentence wrong and you’ve lost everything for a lifetime.

Agents feel a huge responsibility to give authors the best chance at carving out space on that cluttered bookshelf. But it’s also a dynamic dance with the publishers. My job is to make sure all sides are happy, that the terms are clear and fair.

Lunch breaks are rarely breaks. They are spent negotiating details with publishing houses and putting forward our best and newest work – as well as tapping into what publishers and readers want.

Right now the time-tested solid trend is the saga: it is a natural development, people don’t want to feel abandoned by the characters they have grown to love after just one book. Escapism in the form of traditional fantasy and historical fiction are both definitely on the rise. But I always encourage my writers to write what they know and love irrespective of market trends.

The afternoon is spent preparing for the book fairs and literary festivals.

The next big event on my calendar is the London Book Fair in April: a bustling marketplace of the international book world, where all the big deals are made and names forged. Every major publisher, book seller, literary scout and agent descends on the sprawling venue – which this year is Kensington Olympia – hoping to buy and sell their wares.
It’s months of preparation: chasing authors with their deadlines, helping them shape their work, building eye-catching presentations and then networking to set up those all-important meetings to make sure our authors get heard above the crowd.

But book festivals are my real love – as it’s a chance to meet writers face-to-face, which is ultimately why I do my job.

This year, I’ve been asked to give several talks: an opportunity to offer advice to new authors. The next is the Literary Festival in Wycombe in April at the Downley Community Centre, followed by the SCBWI retreat in May and Winchester’s Writers Conference in June.

The most frequent question I’m asked by new authors is how to approach a literary agent. The simple answer is: know your agent. Study their author lists, read their statements and their authors’ works, follow them on social media, find out what they are looking for and address that in your covering email. And do not send round robins or even worse accidentally address a rival agent (it has happened). Beware, the delete button beckons.

After a busy day rushing between appointments, lunches and meetings the long bus journey home is an opportunity to catch up on industry news, looking at the latest signings, best sellers and mergers.

And maybe – just maybe – I might just read book of my own.

A Day in the Life of Katy Seath By Katy Seath

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Margaret Graham

This week is half term so I take a break from my usual Monday – Thursday evenings running Rock Choir rehearsals. Today is going to be a busy one and in a way I realise it captures so much of what makes up my work as a musician – both as choir leader, singer and performer.

Credit: Pierre LeMond Photography Studio

I’m up and out by 9am. I’m en route to meet my friend, Darren, who has asked if I can arrange a choir flashmob performance for his colleagues at the Home Office. Instead of an open plan set up (having referred to the event as their ‘town hall meeting with 200 staff’) I instead find myself in an office with work units, chairs, photocopiers and computers. Oh dear Darren never mentioned all the ‘stuff’. We talk through how (on earth) I am going to fit in 45 choir members.

I leave a little behind schedule to attend a rehearsal with Bassistry at a studio space near Elephant and Castle. It’s miserably cold day so its not ideal that the space only has one heater. Hot tea will have to suffice. I’ve been a vocalist for the group for almost 10 years but our live performances have been very occasional. Made up of a variety of top players, the band is lead by Marcel Pusey. I describe Marcel as a music entrepreneur – working internationally running workshops in composing, designing educational music software that’s sold around the world as well as making albums and collaborating with other musicians/singers (like me!).

Some of Bassistry players. Left to Right. Katy Seath, Nicola Bull, Marcel Pusey, Sam Agard.

I love his music and am excited the new album is ready to launch. Today’s rehearsal is to prepare for the show case in a few weeks. It also allows us to ascertain how the electronic sounds can be recreated on stage. It’s the first time we’ve included this element and it becomes a little stressful. While Marcel talks with Sam on drums, I check my emails. Two more choir members wanting to do the flashmob (that’s 47 now!) Another message asks if I can do a piano/vocal gig at my usual hotel near Russell Square. Having emails on your phone can mean you’re always switched on for work and being self employed it feels like you have to.

Credit: Pierre LeMond Photography Studio

Back to the rehearsal. Cues and count ins get slightly confusing and it takes some time to put things right. But once under way, it feels so wonderful to sing with the guys. There is nothing better to experience performing with such superb instrumentalists – I’m much more in my element singing live in this way than in the recording studio.

The rehearsal ends and it’s a quick au revoir as I head into central London. It’s still cold and miserable, so this time it will be wine to warm me up.

The evening is purely for pleasure as I meet with five friends at a restaurant near the Aldwych Theatre. It’s no coincidence that we’re meeting here. Afterwards we are going to watch our amazing friend, Katie Brayben, perform as Carole King in the musical ‘Beautiful’.

We all know each other through singing as part of The Rockabellas – a vintage vocal group. My experiences with The Rockabellas have been some of the most enjoyable – dressing up in ultra feminine styles, 1940’s hair, pillar box red lipstick and glamorous venues. But by far the best thing has been to make friendships and professional links with these incredibly talented vocalists. Their backgrounds range from West End to Ronnie Scotts and beyond. I have had ‘fan’ moments with all of them. Tonight is no different. Having just laughed and cried our way through the show, we stand in the rain by the stage door waiting for Katie. I’m in heaven. Not just because I am a huge Carole King fan and would say she inspired me to be a singer pianist, but also because I get to see a friend do what she loves best on stage.

To hear some examples of Katy’s work, visit katyseath.com

Bassistry’s Album ‘What The Hell Do You Call This’ can be ordered through www.bassistry.com. Their album launch is at The Hoxton Bar and Kitchen on Tuesday, 10^th March, 8pm . Tickets can be purchased through ticketweb.co.uk or on the door.

Learn more about The Rockabellas and look out for their new album through www.theRockabellas.com

A Day in the Life of Lorna Windham

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Margaret Graham

I live in Northumberland. With the Cheviots Hills, Rivers Tweed, Coquet and Wansbeck and endless beaches, I have plenty of choice about where to walk and think about writing. When I won the North Tyneside Short Story Competition with ‘Spirit of the Age’ and my children’s novel ‘Toby’s Secret’ was long listed in the Times Chicken House competition in 2008, I was hooked.

Spurred on by this success, I’m now the author of three local history books ‘Crime and Punishment’, ‘Deaths Disasters & Dastardly Deeds’ and ‘Murder, Mystery & Mayhem’ and in November I was invited to BBC Radio Newcastle to chat with Jonathan Miles about my latest effort.

I often promote my writing by doing power point presentations for local history societies. One talk I did was about ‘Deaths, Disasters and Dastardly Deeds’. It was a catastrophe.

Waking at 3am with a razor blade-throat, I used an old operasingers’ trick and gargled with gin. Numbness crept over my vocal chords. I slept. Hours later I was sure someone had performed surgery with a cheese grater. I grabbed a whisky bottle and gargled. My throat was completely anaesthetised. Success.

By that evening I had a dull headache and my eyes had more bags than Louis Vuitton. It was flu, but I had promised to do the talk.

“Something’s up with the heating again,” said the perspiring IT gent as I rehearsed the presentation.

“Really?” I croaked.

The audience trooped in at 5.00 pm. Thirty minutes later I pointed the IT gent’s laser repeatedly at the screen. Nothing happened. The audience groaned. “It’ll be the USB port, we’ve had difficulties with it before,” he said as he fiddled with leads.

Should I kill him? I took a deep breath; at least he wasn’t piloting a plane. We began again. Everything worked, the audience clapped in anticipation. By 6.15 pm the talk was going really well. Emboldened by my success I started to move forwards, but couldn’t because my heel was stuck in a hole in the rostra. I was now attached to the stage. “Well,” I said wrenching myself free, “my talk is about disasters.”

Ten minutes later I was on the final furlong. My throat was raw, my head was about to explode and I was perspiring like a woman in labour. However, I was sure I’d delivered a talk which had mesmerised the audience by its sheer brilliance.

I glanced at the front row. One man’s eyelids were going down like blinds, his partner’s were closed and the woman beside him had her head on her chest. I finished quickly and thanked ‘EVERYONE’ for listening. They limped out adjusting whistling hearing aids, leaning on sticks and sucking teeth. Ah well, that’s what you get when you give a talk to octogenarians in an overheated auditorium.

TAKE FOUR WRITERS: JUGGLING, REVEALING, PARTYING, BALANCING

Posted on May 30, 2018 by Jane Cable

CLAIRE DYER… JUGGLING

This month I want to talk about loyalty; not to our nearest and dearest, nor our publishers and/or agents but to our books.

Consider this: I have a book that’s just been published and I’m busy talking about it on social media, to library audiences and writers’ groups. I love this book. I have also written another one which is with my agent and which we’re still discussing and editing. I love this book too. And, I’m writing a new book and am at the brick wall that is 60,000 words. I don’t love this book very much at the moment but I should do, and hopefully I will when I’ve climbed over the wall and seen what’s on the other side.

So I’m carrying three books in my head all the time and this isn’t unusual, it’s par for the course for authors. Indeed, some carry even more and/or are different stages of the above process which will require them to concentrate on the intricacies of multiple novels at the same time.

And what does this mean in reality? It means we’re constantly torn; we juggle characters and settings, we have to remember who has which pet, what our heroine’s favourite food is, her deepest fear. Not only this but we have to remember with pinpoint clarity our plot lines and at all times believe in the magic: the alchemy that is writing. There are some days when my brain feels like scrambled egg, but then when it’s just me and screen and I’m back in the zone and it’s making sense, then it’s all worthwhile, believe me.

JACKIE BALDWIN… REVEALING

Hello, lots of excitement for me to report this month! First of all there was the Killer Reads Cover Reveal for Perfect Dead. I absolutely love the design! I’ve been getting ready for my Blog Tour, organised by Love Books Group so I’ve been busy writing guest posts, providing extracts etc.

I also had the most unexpected thing happen this month. My first novel, Dead Man’s Prayer had a one day Book Bub promotion and, to my surprise and delight, became an Amazon UK Kindle bestseller in two categories. I was absolutely over the moon! As I write this it is only three weeks until publication day on 15^th June. This is always a nail-biting time for an author as you wait with baited breath for those reviews to start trickling in. Wish me luck!

See you next month!

LUCY COLEMAN… PARTYING

May has been an exciting month! The Romantic Novelists’ Association Summer Party prompted a trip to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. It was great to meet up with writerly friends old and new. Which, I might add, included fellow Frost Musketeer, lovely Claire Dyer.

A pre-party meet-up with a group of Aria Fiction authors, my lovely editor – Lucy Gilmore – and Melanie Price (who is a whizz on social media) was accompanied by Prosecco. It was a great start to the evening.

The week prior to that, structural edits arrived for the second manuscript in my four-book contract with Aria fiction, writing as Lucy Coleman. I despatched those very quickly and I’m now waiting to see the cover for this Christmas novel, set in Caswell Bay on the Gower coast.

Then back to work on book no. 4 which currently stands at around fifty-thousand words. Never a dull moment!

ANGELA PETCH… BALANCING

On May Bank Holiday, we loaded our car and set off for our six-month stay in our Tuscan home, stopping overnight in beautiful Alsace (I am itching to include this location in my next Tuscan novel … bizarre, but I have an idea).

May has been productive. “Mavis and Dot” are with my editor and while I wait for feedback, I have sent off a serial to The People’s Friend. My wonderful editor there instils calm, reiterating that good writing comes when you are at peace with yourself. Tomorrow I should receive my illustrator’s first designs for M and D. I have organised new covers for my two earlier novels. I have an appointment with a special Museum of the Diary in the valley for research for my third Tuscan novel. And, finally, I have been approached by a publisher for my Italian books. Decisions, decisions… but, ringing in my ears are my husband’s words: “Don’t take all the fun out of your writing.” Watch this space.

A Day in The Life of Sandy Hogarth

Posted on May 29, 2018 by Margaret Graham

Sandy Hogarth is the acclaimed Indie author of The Glass Girl which Frost will be reviewing shortly.

Breakfast and a beautiful day. Perfect for the Nidderdale Show – an arch temptress. I have a lot to do today. The Glass Girl must go off tonight. I will feel a little lost when Ruth, my protagonist, goes. She has a troubled life but she’s tough.

‘Say thank you to your sister for me were his words. So Ruth fled, first to Australia, then to the outback.

Sisters. I am fascinated by families; by their honesty, their brutality, their love. And fascinated also by only-ones, so I have made Ruth’s lover an only-one: gorgeous Daniel. Everything she is not.

Music and voices from the loudspeaker drift up the hill, scrambled. Enticing

I give in, cease checking my MS and hurry down the hill with Ruth still in my head. And her sister Alexis.

Cars are queuing. I Pay my £10 and walk through the ancient turnstile.

In the first judging arena I come to is a magnificent bull with curls behind his horns. I wonder if it will win.

I remind myself that I must not stay long.

I pass a pig that is bored or asleep. They say pigs are the most intelligent of animals.

My head is still with Ruth. I especially loved writing the early part: Ruth’s time in the Australian desert. I love the deserts there with their dunes of red dirt scattered with spinifex, and occasional wild camels.

I try not to laugh out loud when I see a cow receiving a final back-combing to the last 8 or 9 inches of its tail.

Some of the sheep waiting in pens are shivering. It’s a hot day so it must be fear.

One puts up its head to me to have her curls admired.

In the next tent, I find the winner of my ‘best hairdo competition’.

Odd, this fixation on hairdos. From one who often forgets to brush her own.

I’m hungry so I get fish and chips from a van. We are almost as far from the sea as it is possible to be but they taste great.

The sisters take over my head again. And the glass girl. An old man in the desert gives it to Ruth.

“an exquisite glass girl, a dancer, with straight back and proud posture. Her body is draped in a mid-calf-length pink dress, the folds caress her long legs and her feet are encased in delicate oyster pink ballet shoes, the ribbons winding round her slender ankles. Her dark hair is shoulder length, her face tranquil and her hazel eyes as fathomless as the ocean. A brittle beauty. He says that it carries the desert within itself.’

The Glass Girl calls. I walk/run back up the hill.

The Glass Girl is available here.

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