Publishers cancelling books to cut costs

Carol

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/96189-publishers-cancelling-books-to-cut-costs.html

flyingtart

Eek! More bad news. :-(

Carol

But hardly a surprise, surely?

dorothyd

it's not surprising at all. The news from Nexus/Black Lace confirms the market is in some ways imploding but ... they should be careful and look to the future, there are people waiting and eager to leap into their slot. My publishers are to doing just that. Smiths Travel, among others, need books to sell and are actively acquiring them, hence my series taken by them. The company I am with is second only to Nexus in airports, etc. and with them going out of the picture, they move up to being first. Can't be bad, can't it? I connected with the right company at the right time, the whole team is entirely behind my series, even those who don't read historical stuff.

It really does mean that people will need to be sure that what they send in is absolutely right, though. Anyone see that Philippa Gregory's latest book has at least two major mistakes in it which no one picked up? She mentions the Palace of Whitehall and Nonsuch. Neither were in existence at the time Elizabeth Woodville walked this earth plane. Nonsuch was Henry's pride and joy ... these errors damage historical writers' reputations generally. (I also happen to know that Elizabeth did not meet Edward by standing on the side of the road, either...)

caro

I suppose the books that are being cancelled are written by midlist authors. I'll bet they won't be cancelling anything by Lee Child, Martina Cole, and other bestselling authors. It's sad, but perhaps makes sense commercially.

dorothyd

my partner commented today, when I told him about this, that the books being cancelled may have been all right in a time of glut and high spending but were not up to standard in a time when everyone is watching pennies. It is something to consider.

Stirling

It makes me think that not rushing and waiting for things to settle down will be the best option.

I abandoned the book after a few chapters Dorothy. For being a strong character, for me the way Gregory drew Elizabeth Woodville was a woman who is very changeable at the whim of others. I found it difficult to see this as a strong and independent woman, who knew her own mind.

dorothyd

my editor commented today that there will be room for a proper book on Elizabeth Woodville in the future. She inherited much of her mother's strength and her mother was one hell of a woman. I've not read this, not sure I am going to, have to see. So far I am not impressed by reviews - although the one which picked up the appalling errors called it good storytelling, after the disastrous 'Other Boleyn Girl' - Ms Gregory does not have that good a reputation.

Carol

A published writer I know was saying that he knew of a publisher- in the States I think it was- who has dropped writers who haven't sold x thousands with their last book- some who had been selling for years have even been axed.

Stirling

It almost happened to Ian Rankin. Until he wrote Black and Blue he would sell 'only' 10,000 copies. If B&B had performed the same he was going to be dropped.

RichardS

Philip Roth's first three books sold less that 15,000 between them. Then his fourth, Portnoy's Complaint, was the best selling book of 1969. If he'd had those three books today, there probably wouldn't have been a fourth.

His next is his 30th.

dorothyd

the publishing world has changed so much since Philip Roth and others began writing. Now companies demand huge sales, which is why my books are being marketed before being printed. Everything has turned around. Money is everything and I think some people have to come into the real world. Stories of academic books on history getting £30.000 advances make the whole thing seem unreal. They have to come into the real world. Everything is narrowed down to profitability and some books simply aren't profitable and never will be. Some of the unutterably dull historical books I have bought for research make me wonder how they ever got into print, (errors and all.)
HarperCollins did say in one rejection I had a while back, if they can't be sure of a minimum sale of 5000 copies, they will not take the chance. That figure has probably increased considerably by now.
So, where does that leave us, the new struggling writers? We have to make sure we have THE perfect book to send out, in every way, characters, plotline, description, dialogue, the lot.
That's why, right now, I am taking time out of revisions to Henry's book to get that one right. We wrote it straight off, now comes the hard work ...

Carol

Publishers are too taken with going with the latest thing- like the celebrity memoirs a couple of years ago. Eventually the book buyer gets fed up and wants something new and at the moment that is limited.

caro

Dorothy, don't big publishers send printed copies of their books to the press to start the marketing campaign? Don't want to seem like a Cassandra, but are you sure you're publisher is telling you the truth? It seems strange that they won't print any copies. Is this also the reason why I can't find any references to your book on Amazon, etc? As mentioned before, I've seen lots of books advertised on Amazon that won't be published until next year.

dorothyd

I think the big guys do send the books out. The reason my publishers have not yet printed anything is because they want to get it right. And, because the editor, who I speak to several times a week, has more than one job, as in more than just my books to deal with. He has several imprints on the go at the same time - at least three others. I don't mind in the least that nothing has been printed yet. The cover has yet to be settled on, among other things! Smiths Travel threw out the last one so they have to go back to them yet again with a new one. No point in printing a pile of books and finding Smiths don't want them as they don't like the cover! Equally, they can't put anything on Amazon until the cover issue is settled, either.

I had this with Smiths Retail many years ago. The publisher I had then (coincidentally the same company I am with now, but a different owner) went ahead and commissioned a cover and printed my books. Smiths rejected it, they all had to be recalled and re-covered... in this climate, everything has to be right BEFORE they go ahead. Incidentally, the current cover being considered is on the duke's writing thread, take a look. I'm canvassing for opinions whilst we wait on Smiths Travel to say yea or nay. Meantime I can tell you that they in particular want the entire series, not just this book. The buyer has taken to it big time, has been sending them his own ideas for fonts, etc. This book was accepted just about a year ago. Most books take 18 months to hit the shelves. We are on course for an earlier release than that, the AI's are going out next week.

I've pre-ordered a book on Amazon that won't be released until January next year, but I have seen the cover at least! (The sixth book in the Earth Children saga.)

One last thing. The spirits who are with me and writing their books would not give me their time and energy or demand this of me either if it wasn't going to happen. They have negotiated this between them. The reason for the delay is obvious now, Philippa Gregory has done the ground breaking bit for us. It's all we needed to go full steam ahead.

caro

What a shame there are all these delays. It must be terribly frustrating for you! Especially as Amazon, Fantastic Fiction, etc, do put books up on their sites well before the publishers have finalised the covers.

But the most important thing for you is that it looks as if your series is really up and running, and will soon be out there. I hope you got a HUGE advance.

dorothyd

Gives me a chance to work on, Guy's book is way behind schedule. It should have been done in July to allow me time to get the half finished book on Charles I done before December so I can start on Arthur in January ... it didn't happen, as Guy has proved to be much harder work than I thought. Still, I am getting rave reviews on what has been written already so we must be doing something right.

So, Henry's book, half revised, is at 91,000 words, Guy's book, 2/3rds written, is at 48,000 words, the Earl's book, ongoing, is at 42,000 words, Charles I's book is at 40,000 words and we are coming up to Edgehill...

I'll settle for royalties right now, especially as a percentage of this book in particular is going to the Abbey where the duke is buried. Advances are nice but royalties mean the various charities we are going to support will benefit more from them. I've already got my contract and advance for this book. Not tremendous but enough.

Stirling

Found this quote (made me laugh!)

"Lloyd called the issue of a book’s quality a “grey area” in publishers’ contracts. “Who decides if a book is publishable? There are books on the bestseller lists that people say are rubbish. What publishers are meaning [when they say a book is not up to standard] is ‘We’re not going to sell as many copies as thought when we commissioned the book,’” he said."

Welcome back to the world of the unagented author!

"Who decides if a book is publishable?"
Erm, the publisher? How soon the published forget . . .

dorothyd

like that, Stirling, and yes, there will be more unagented authors before long.