Jo Reed: authonomist published by Wild Wolf

Here at authonomy, we love a success story. Sometimes authonomists write to us to letting us know about being picked up by an agent or publisher, and sometimes we find out for ourselves by scouring the 'Good News' thread in the forums. The latter is what happened last Friday, when we read that Ed's desk alumni Jo Reed had just had her book The Tyranny of the Blood published by Wild Wolf. Jo agreed to share her story here...

The guys at HC have asked me to say a little bit about my journey from authonomy to getting a publishing deal for my first novel, ‘The Tyranny of the Blood’ with Independent Fantasy publisher, Wild Wolf. The story, though, starts a while before that, so I hope nobody minds if I fill in a little background first!

I started writing seriously in 2002, with a vague idea for a novel about eugenics and time travel. The novel became two, and as I was writing the second, one character began to nag at me – the flawed anti-hero and cause of all the mayhem, Rendail. I just had to tell his story and so, Tyranny became the third in a trilogy. As I was writing the draft I was sending out my first efforts to agents and publishers, with predictable results. I blush when I think of some of those early query letters, and the perfunctory rejections that quite rightly slammed on the mat with depressing regularity.

It was only as I finished the first draft of Tyranny that I realised I was pitching the wrong novel, and was thinking of the trilogy in the wrong order. I took a step back, and got in touch with a professional editor who gave some invaluable advice. I rewrote the manuscript (we’ve all been there!) and within weeks knew I’d been right to take that professional advice. On the strength of the novel I was awarded an Arts Council funded ‘Apprenticeship in Fiction’. I began a year long mentoring program with scifi/fantasy author Liz Williams, and put Tyranny up on authonomy to get some idea of what people thought of it. I had no idea it would be so popular. In fact, a friend had to email me to tell me how well it was doing in the charts! Reaching the Ed’s desk last December was a great feeling, and getting such a good review was a real bonus.

Tyranny has been through another stiff edit since then. I submitted it to Wild Wolf in December 2008, and they took it on in March. It’s been a whirlwind of proofing, editing and discussion over the last two months, after which it was finally released on June 25th –a lot sooner than I had expected. The publisher has been great to work with, enthusiastic and ready to help me through any queries I have about the process. From submitting to holding the published book in my hand has been a real roller coaster ride, hard work but incredibly exciting. One of the biggest thrills has been my first signing, and meeting the people who are actually going to be reading (and judging) what I write. As well as working on getting Tyranny out there, I’ve completely rewritten that first book and it is now the sequel, ‘A Child of the Blood’, which recently got a great critique from Orion’s Natalie Braine. It is every new author’s goal to see their work in print. Now that I’m over that first hurdle, I can see that the hard work is only just beginning, and a lot of very exciting challenges lie ahead.

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The Next Level

A week today, and Avon will be publishing the first ever book to have been picked up from authonomy: The Reaper by Steven Dunne. Steven's been telling us his story in a guest series of blogs, and today he takes us right up to the point where he put his mark on the contract.


Having successfully self-published my novel Reaper and sold the majority of the 2000 print run by early 2008, I was hopeful that my efforts would catch the eye of a major publisher. I had managed to persuade Waterstone’s, on the back of decent in-store sales in Derby, to stock Reaper in around 20 stores nationally and had engineered successful signings in five of those stores. I had persuaded Borders to stock the novel on a limited basis also. I had copies for sale in leading independent book stores from Scarthin Books in Derbyshire to Murder One in London and even City Lights in San Francisco.


I had managed to sell copies of the novel from my website to customers in Ireland, Switzerland, America, Hong Kong, Australia and South Africa. Reaper was available on Play.com, Amazon and other web retailers. Customers who took the trouble to post a review of Reaper on both those sites were 100% positive and gave it 5 stars. I encouraged and collected customer reviews through my own website and posted them for visitors to read. I was delighted to read the many posts that mentioned not only how much they enjoyed Reaper but how they had almost given up on the genre until reading it.

I could have been forgiven then if I’d eased back on promoting Reaper, knuckled down to write the sequel and waited for the offers to pour in. But the offers didn’t appear and I realised my work was far from done. I had to keep putting the book in people’s hands and networking contacts. This was the hardest stage of all. I’d achieved everything I’d set out to do and more but was now stuck. I had dwindling amounts of stock left with which to entice agents and publishers and anyway most of the agencies had been contacted, some of them more than once.

At this point I decided it was time to get creative. I changed tack and started e-mailing TV and film companies to stimulate their interest. I created a presence on several networking websites, such as Facebook, and more specific reading sites, like bookcrossing.com and bookarmy.com and crimespace to promote the book further.

While planning the sequel I also tried to think round the problem of bypassing the logjam in the industry and come up with ways to create a demand unrelated, in a sense, to the content of the novel. For instance, I considered applying to be on Big Brother but rejected it as a long shot. A better idea seemed to be a show like Dragon’s Den which is at least predicated on sourcing products with some kind of merit so I began to put together a strategy to pitch to the producers.

I had already put the opening of the novel onto authonomy.com, without any great expectations, and had received some complimentary feedback from fellow authors, though not enough to get me into the top five and a guaranteed editorial report. Meantime the idea for Reaper 2 had hardened and I was actually almost relieved that there was nothing left to do now except write. As sod’s law would have it, as soon as I abandoned the thought of finding a mass market publisher, I received an e-mail from HarperCollins imprint Avon asking for the full manuscript of The Reaper. I was pleased without getting too excited – I’d been down this route before with agents after all. However, shortly afterwards I spoke with Maxine Hitchcock at Avon and she put an offer for Reaper on the table, all my dreams started to come together. Now Reaper is to be re-launched nationally on July 10th as The Reaper, with a 40,000 book print run, a new cover, a new price and even a TV marketing campaign on UK Living. I can’t quite believe it. Heady days.

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Covers, Edits and Pre-orders

Just when I think this crazy publishing journey can’t get any stranger, something else appears!



My book now has a sparkly cover! I saw it for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it just took my breath away… The oddest thing about it wasn’t just that my name was there on it but that it looked like a proper book cover. I know this might sound like a daft thing to say, but up until now Kowalski’s and then Fairytale of New York have just been rather large Word files on my laptop; seeing the actual book cover that my story is going to wear on the shelves made the whole thing seem even more real. Despite all the work I’m doing, the situation still feels very unreal and I think I’m half-expecting to wake up any minute. So things like seeing my book cover make me realise this is actually happening…

(And, yes, I have printed the design off and wrapped it round a book to see what it will look like!!)

My line edits arrived at last so it’s full steam ahead for the next couple of weeks. Despite my initial fears about them (let’s face it, they sound scary!) they actually haven’t been that bad. I think the most daunting aspect is the thoroughness of these edits – going through the entire novel, quite literally line by line. Whereas in the structural edits I was looking at the story, plot and characters in quite general terms, with the line edits I’m focusing on more intricate details of my novel, such as paragraphs or sentences that perhaps repeat themselves or slow the pace, finalising details about the novel’s setting and really making sure the characters are as vivid and well-rounded as possible.

I can see how it would be easy to become overprotective of your prose during this stage – and there has been a small part of me that wants to protect ‘my baby’ at all costs – but I think my experience of working as a copywriter is coming in useful here. In my day job you learn very quickly that the first thing you write probably won’t make the finished article, so I’ve learned to be open to change in my writing. To be honest, until I started this process I didn’t realise how important this would be. I think if I jealously guarded every word I would either (a) go crazy; or (b) give myself a nervous breakdown, (or, quite possibly, both) – but, most importantly, I wouldn’t grow as a writer. The bottom line for me is that I want what ends up on the shelves on 12th November to be the absolute best writing I can produce.

Talking of books on shelves, the oddest thing to have happened to me so far this year was a couple of weeks ago, when I started to get excited messages from friends telling me that my book was available as a pre-order title! It started with Tesco.com, then quickly Amazon, Waterstones, WHSmith and Borders followed suit… I have to say that Bob has actually now banned me from looking at the Waterstones site because they have a little ‘Days to Publication’ counter on the Fairytale page and I was getting a little freaked out watching it go down!
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, yet quite a lot of friends have already pre-ordered my book, which seems crazy seeing as I’m still editing it! I suppose that’s just another aspect of the publishing world that I’m learning about. There’s no sign of that steep learning curve levelling out much, yet, but I’ll let you know if it does!

Right, I’ve put it off for long enough today. Back to the editing, Dickinson!

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Ask the HarperCollins editor: part 5

Last week we began collecting responses to questions you asked us, from editors from all over the company (and world). Today's answers come from an editor based in our Sydney office. Feel free to leave your thoughts at the bottom.

SUBMISSIONS PROCESS:

I assume that most of the books you first investigate with a view to taking on come to you through the hands of trusted literary agents. What are some other ways you might become aware of a book? (bluestocking/Maria Bustillos)
We all read the paper and various magazines, watch the news and so on, and often these are places where you’ll find your next book – obviously this is more for non-fiction than fiction though. Very occasionally works will come to us from fellow colleagues, ie friend of a friend, but that is rare. I follow the career of short story fantasy writers with interest, sometimes you can see the beginnings of something longer coming from what they have written and published in anthologies and magazines. And, without wanting to sound trite, Authonomy is now another great place to find new writers. I also read a lot of blogs – a large number of bloggers are now published authors, so it’s another good place to spot talent and ideas.


Are you willing to take a chance on a large novel from a new author if the voice and story are good? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Of course, I think this is something that all publishers and commissioning editors hope for! Steve Toltz is a great example of a new author who has written a large first novel – and has found great success so far, so is Gregory David Roberts (with Shantaram). And I know that with fantasy authors, we would prefer to pick up a book that has potential to be a series, rather than stand alone works, so the author can establish themselves.

Are agents worth their cut? (Mardi Johnson)
It depends on the agent – and, of course, a good agent would be worth it, simply because they already have the contacts in the industry needed to get your book on a publisher’s table and the reputation (one hopes) of having a great eye and taste. – which means a publishing house is more likely to look at what they offer. Not all agents are worth their cut, but I think that’s the case in any industry. It’s always good to do your research first, regardless.


EDITORIAL PROCESS:

Which of these would you be prepared to work with an author to get right, and which do you consider a prerequisite: structure, characterisation, pace, voice? (Sandrine/Dan Holloway)
I think we’d be prepared to work with an author on all these fronts to perfect the work, but naturally for a manuscript to attract attention from the initial reader, I’d expect some of these to be captivating already. I dare say that of this list, you’d expect to work on structure and pace most of all these things – because they can be worked on in a logical manner, whereas voice and characterisation are something more innate – these are the things that would make you want to buy the book in the first place.

Is it true that when writing a true life/non-fiction work, it doesn’t have to be complete before a publisher will accept it? (Sue1960/Sue Edwards)
There’s no hard and fast rule about this, it would depend on the writing. If we think the writing is impressive then naturally you encourage the author to finish so you can look at the work as a whole. But you could never say absolutely ‘yes, it’s true’. I think that’s one the main things about publishing – it doesn’t always follow a set of rules.

Is there equal interest from the publishers’ point of view in realistic YA fiction as opposed to that with fantasy elements? (Lallie/Laura Jarratt)
I would say so – there are fans of both out there so likewise there is interest in publishing both. The success of the Twilight series and Harry Potter don’t mean that authors like John Green (author of Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska) or the wonderful Louise Rennison (author of the Georgia Nicolson series) are any less popular. Australian author John Marsden with his Tomorrow series is a great example of realistic YA fiction that has been bestselling and continues to be. Authors like Judy Blume continue to sell too. In the end, it’s about the writing striking a resonance in readers.


AUTHONOMY:

Do you search through books on the site besides simply waiting to see what it kicks out? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Definitely, that’s one of the best parts about Authonomy – being able to look outside of the Editor’s Desk Top Five – when time permits – and getting impressions from people’s reviews and feedback. As everyone knows, sometimes the best books don’t make it to the top of the pile, it’s a fact of life, so it’s always good to have a look through – and it’s also just plain interesting reading the reviews.

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Ask the HarperCollins editor: part 4

Today's 'Ask the Editor' answers come from an editor based in our New York office, who works on an adult fiction list.

Are you more biased towards British authors? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
As an American editor, I'm not biased towards certain authors, but I do know that stories not set in America have to be pretty exceptional to succeed in the U.S. market. People like reading about what they're familiar with.

How do you feel about books that have already been self-published? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Depends. Self-publishing definitely has a stigma attached to it, but there have been great books that were originally self-published. If an author is talented, it won't matter if he was self-published first.

How long does the acquisition process for fiction take and at what point is the author contacted? (Anthony Saunders)
It varies. Sometimes it can be a day or two if the submission is read right away and the editor likes it. But it's normally pretty slow. Editors get a staggering amount of submissions, at a faster rate than they can read them, so manuscripts can sit on a desk for up to a year before they're read. If something is deemed worthy of publishing, though, contact will occur right away. Agents definitely help with this process.

Is there still room in the market for Frontier Literary Fiction or have Proulx and McCarthy got it wrapped up? (Windy Two Rivers/Christy Jordan)
This is a tough area. It has to be brilliant. A book in this area would probably have to be good enough to be a publisher's lead title for it to work.

How do you approach novels with controversial topical themes – or do you prefer to avoid them? (Freddie Omm)
If it's controversial for the sake of being controversial or to be sensational, it's a tougher sell. But if it's thoughtful/meaningful/has a point, it's definitely worth considering. Stepping on toes isn't bad; spitting in someone's face is.

Do you agree that it is the role of the literary agent to perform, or demand, substantive market-oriented editing of the book before the publisher’s editor has seen the manuscript? (Seamus33/George LeCas)
It definitely helps. It's only good for the author if the manuscript is in the best possible shape when it lands on the editor's desk.

Is it true that when writing a true life/non-fiction work, it doesn’t have to be complete before a publisher will accept it? (Sue1960/Sue Edwards)
Yes

There is a great deal of rumour flying around in the current economic climate. In your opinion, will it be harder for unknown authors to get published before the economy picks up again? (Lallie/Laura Jarrett)
Yep. Publishers are taking a much more limited approach these days. There's just not the money to throw around that there has been in the past, so we're taking fewer chances.

Would you ever take the risk of publishing a work you loved but that did not fit a pre-existing marketing niche? (Lord Biro/Kevin Lester)
As an editor, I love these types of books. It's hard to convince the publisher, though. This is a business, after all, and the bottom line rules all. It takes a big vision and a lot of passion to sell these types of books to publishers.

Could you try to pin down what you mean by ‘voice’? (Freddie Omm)
"Voice" is the tone/feeling/sensibilities that emerge from a narrative and hold it together.

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Ask the HarperCollins editor: part 3

The latest editor to answer a selection of your questions (compiled over on the forum) works up in Nottingham on one of HarperCollins' latest impints: Angry Robot.

SUBMISSIONS PROCESS:

I assume that most of the books you first investigate with a view to taking on come to you through the hands of trusted literary agents. What are some other ways you might become aware of a book? (bluestocking/Maria Bustillos)
I’m a big fan of the small press, and every now and then we find a book there that seems to have slipped through the fingers of the bigger publishers. Sometimes we don’t find a book we particularly like, but if a writer shows promise we will sometimes contact them and enquire about their future plans.

Do you ever take a book from any source and tell the author to make specific changes in order to get a contract? (Jemstone/J E Murphy)
Absolutely, No matter how good the book, if it doesn’t meet the imprint’s criteria, it’s never going to get published by that particular imprint.

Will you only consider completed MSS – or, if the author has a strong ‘voice’, would you consider a work in progress? (Ali Mair)
We will only commission on an uncompleted manuscript if the author has a very strong track record, but if we find a new writer whose style we think suits the imprint, we might help and encourage them through the process. In this instance, though, there is no guarantee of publication, and it’s also very difficult for an unpublished writer to have an unfinished manuscript read by an editor, as the editor has so many finished ones to read.

Are you willing to take a chance on a large novel from a new author if the voice and story are good? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Absolutely.

Why, when an author has researched the huge potential market for a book (mine has 1 million at least in UK CCs alone) do they still completely ignore it? (hallyally/Allie Sommerville)
The size of the potential market is only one consideration when buying a book. Others are: is the book any good? Is the author someone we can work with? Does the author have other books in them? Do we have anything else on our list that may be too similar? Also, it is easy to overestimate the potential market for a book, which is why publishers subscribe to specialist services that tell them how many books were sold by similar authors/similar titles.

Are agents worth their cut? (Mardi Johnson)
Bad agents are not; average ones, maybe; good ones are worth more.

Are you more biased towards British authors? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
No. Indeed, of Angry Robot’s first six titles, for instance, only one of the authors is British.

Does HC (UK) publish American books? (RobRow/Robert P Rowley)
Yes.

How do you feel about books that have already been self-published? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Warm and fuzzy. It is an amazing achievement to sit down and write 100,000 words of fiction, to actually complete a novel. It is true that self-published books are generally – though not always – of a lesser quality, but that isn’t necessarily due to a lack of talent by the writer, but self-published books rarely get the full editorial treatment that is applied to books published by traditional publishers.

EDITORIAL PROCESS:

Do you agree that it is the role of the literary agent to perform, or demand, substantive market-oriented editing of the book before the publisher’s editor has seen the manuscript? (Seamus33/George LeCas)
Agents should – in my opinion – not perform or demand anything regarding the text. It doesn’t belong to them, and remember, they work for you, not the other way around. A good editor will make suggestions as to how you might be able to improve your manuscript’s chances with a publisher, and ideally this should be done before it gets to the editor’s desk.

CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE:

There is a great deal of rumour flying around in the current economic climate. In your opinion, will it be harder for unknown authors to get published before the economy picks up again? (Lallie/Laura Jarrett)
That will vary considerably from imprint to imprint. At Angry Robot, for instance, our first two titles (which launch next month) are by first-time novelists, and they have both been contracted for multi-book deals. At the start of 2010 we have another 3 authors publishing their first novels with us. Talent will out.

WHAT IS HARPERCOLLINS LOOKING FOR?

What are you actively looking for at the moment? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Good ideas, supported by excellent writing from writers with more good ideas for their next books, and (preferably) with the knack of self-promotion.

How much is your present catalogue of authors and books an indication of what you’re looking for in new submissions? (Alexandra Marell)
It’s a very good indication, but lists evolve.

Would you ever take the risk of publishing a work you loved but that did not fit a pre-existing marketing niche? (Lord Biro/Kevin Lester)
Yes, but it would have to be exceptional. As well as loving the book, we have to convince the retailers to sell it, so a book that doesn’t have a natural home in the bookshop takes a lot more work to sell (both to the bookshops, and to the book-buying public).

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Ask the HarperCollins editor: part 2

You asked the questions, we passed 'em on and nudged gently until we got some answers. This set come from a Senior Editor who works for Press Books, based in our UK office...

SUBMISSIONS PROCESS:

I assume that most of the books you first investigate with a view to taking on come to you through the hands of trusted literary agents. What are some other ways you might become aware of a book? (bluestocking/Maria Bustillos)
We look at journalists who are writing well about interesting subjects, at blogs, at writers' festivals and creative writing programs, at possible TV tie-ins and at recommendations.

Do you ever take a book from any source and tell the author to make specific changes in order to get a contract? (Jemstone/J E Murphy)
Yes, we do. We often suggest changes to proposals - either 'beefing them up' or adding elements that will make the book more saleable.

Will you only consider completed MSS – or, if the author has a strong ‘voice’, would you consider a work in progress? (Ali Mair)
For a first time author and a work of fiction, I would definitely want to see the full MSS. We need a guarantee that the author can actually follow through and deliver, completing the character and narrative arcs, tying up any plot threads that need to be resolved and leaving the reader satisfied.

Are you willing to take a chance on a large novel from a new author if the voice and story are good? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Yes, as long as it's compelling throughout and the pace is sufficiently well-judged that it doesn't drag.

Why, when an author has researched the huge potential market for a book (mine has 1 million at least in UK CCs alone) do they still completely ignore it? (hallyally/Allie Sommerville)
Not sure who 'they' is but, if it's editors, we don't ignore potential markets if these are presented to us. Unfortunately, though, the existence of a large group of people with an interest in a particular subject is no guarantee that they'll actually buy a book on said subject. We have experience of buying books where the potential market was demonstrably huge, and where sales have failed to reach even a fraction of this.

Are agents worth their cut? (Mardi Johnson)
Yes, I think so, particularly for newer writers. They search out exciting new material, they represent authors through the often torturous process of negotiation and make sure that they are getting the best possible deal, and they step in repeatedly throughout the publishing process to make sure the author's views are being sufficiently represented, to confirm that the publisher is continuing to invest in the project as promised and to help explain the publishing process to the author where necessary. Good agents make the whole process smoother, more professional, more productive and more enjoyable.

Are you more biased towards British authors? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Yes, I'm afraid so. It is much easier to publish and publicize books that are recognizable to a UK readership. It is also much easier to generate publicity for a book in the UK if the author is available for interviews, feature articles, etc.

Does HC (UK) publish American books? (RobRow/Robert P Rowley)
Yes, we do. We publish books from all over the world.

How do you feel about books that have already been self-published? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Some are terrific success stories - e.g. Brunonia Barry's The Lace Reader which was self-published, had terrific reviews, went on to be picked up by HarperCollins in the US and the UK, and was a New York Times bestseller. Others can tend more towards vanity publishing, which obviously has a smaller potential readership and is of less interest to publishers.

How long does the acquisition process for fiction take and at what point is the author contacted? (Anthony Saunders)
Totally depends on the book, the author, the agent and the editor. Some books take months, others take days. It varies wildly.

Publishers tend to (traditionally) offer extremely succinct letters of rejection which are usually no help to the author at all. In cases where the manuscript has been received by a publisher and then been sent to the readers for assessment, is it true that the readers provide a report to the publisher/editor? If so, why can this report not be passed onto the author? (JamesG/James Guiney)
We sometimes commission readers' reports, though we mostly try to read everything ourselves (which is why it sometimes takes a while to get a response as we chew our way through our reading piles). The readers' reports are written for the publisher, rather than the author, so they don't usually contain editorial advice. They should point out strengths and weaknesses of the submission, in which case we try to convey these to the author with our rejection letter - but for the most part readers' reports would be of little use to authors looking to improve their MSS.

How do you approach novels with controversial topical themes – or do you prefer to avoid them? (Freddie Omm)
A little bit of controversy is never a bad thing if it's going to inspire debate or create publicity. This can backfire, of course, but if the editor believes strongly enough in the book he or she will usually be prepared to take the risk. It depends very much on the topic or theme and how solid the book's argument is.

EDITORIAL PROCESS:

Do you agree that it is the role of the literary agent to perform, or demand, substantive market-oriented editing of the book before the publisher’s editor has seen the manuscript? (Seamus33/George LeCas)
I think any work the agent can do or encourage to facilitate a sale is to the author's advantage. Editors have a lot of books on their plates and are less likely to commission something that is going to need substantive reworking. There can be a fine line, though, between editing the work in good conscience and reworking it to such an extent that it could be construed as a misrepresentation of the author's actual abilities. This I am very much against, and I think does no one any favours.

Which of these would you be prepared to work with an author to get right, and which do you consider a prerequisite: structure, characterisation, pace, voice? (Sandrine/Dan Holloway)
I'd be prepared to work with an author on all four, but the one I think is hardest to 'fix' is voice, so if that wasn't there from the outset I'd be less inclined to take the book on.

Why does HC not take up many manuscripts on Authonomy that, whilst full of colour and great ideas, still need a polish? Why do they have to be perfect to be considered? I thought that was part of an editor’s job, to knock a good book into a great one? (Mechanical/R L Jones)
They don't need to be perfect to be considered and yes, an editor does work with his or her authors to polish any elements that need improving. But we simply don't have time to spend days and weeks working on books that may or may not work out - though I am always happy to reread something if the author has taken editorial suggestions on board and reworked an MS.

Will you simply bin my book because I cannot polish it to your standards or do you genuinely look for potential and advise? (Patrick Barrett)
We genuinely look for potential. As an editor, there is nothing more frustrating that finding a book that you're keen on then being denied the chance to try to address the editorial issues that you have with it. There is a limit, obviously, to the amount of time we can invest in uncommissioned manuscripts, and we are more likely to advise more fully on books that are closer to what we're looking for, but we all want to find great books - whether they're ready-made or diamonds in the rough.

Is it true that when writing a true life/non-fiction work, it doesn’t have to be complete before a publisher will accept it? (Sue1960/Sue Edwards)
We often buy non-fiction books on proposal and sample chapters, the assumption being that the author needs the advance at an earlier stage than a novelist would, in order to fund his or her research.

CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE:

There is a great deal of rumour flying around in the current economic climate. In your opinion, will it be harder for unknown authors to get published before the economy picks up again? (Lallie/Laura Jarrett)
I'm afraid I think it will... Debuts are not easy to publish - it's hard to get reviews and it's tough to get unproven authors into retailers in any real quantity or in the promotions that drive sales. That said, if we can see real commercial potential, or a possible award-winner, or if we believe very strongly in the quality of the writing and the author's future, then we're still going to go for it. Publishing is an optimist's game.

The media stated that during the last economic recession, book purchases did not suffer. Why are publishers insisting that they cannot take on new writers in light of this fact? (hallyally/Allie Sommerville)
Books sales are already suffering in the current recession. Most of the big publishers have lost market share (see http://www.thebookseller.com/news/86954-first-quarter-hitting-the-big-publishers-hardest.html) and have had to make several people redundant.

WHAT IS HARPERCOLLINS LOOKING FOR?

What are you actively looking for at the moment? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Great fiction with a strong voice and compelling storyline that either has obvious commercial potential or is of a high literary calibre. Non-fiction that is contemporary, intelligent and engaging - books to appeal to smart young things who want to be entertained and educated on their tube rides home.

How much is your present catalogue of authors and books an indication of what you’re looking for in new submissions? (Alexandra Marell)
Our catalogue reflects the breadth of our list, as well as our historic strengths. However it's always useful, too, to look at the gaps in publishers lists - if a non-fiction list is very heavy in military history by established authors, e.g., they probably don't need to commission another five books on WWII from first-time writers.

Would you ever take the risk of publishing a work you loved but that did not fit a pre-existing marketing niche? (Lord Biro/Kevin Lester)
We do it fairly frequently, but it's tough. It means arguing passionately in house for a tiny advance, then trying to squeeze it into a marketable category so that the retailers are prepared to take it on, then clamouring for the next year to make sure the book gets the attention you think it deserves.

How do you feel about books that do not fit any genre? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
I love to read them, but they can be very difficult to publish. Books get presented to buyers at book retailers on a monthly basis, and it's terrifying to see how quickly decisions are made. If a book is difficult to communicate, it makes getting retailers on board that much harder.

VOICE:
What does a ‘fresh voice’ mean to you? (And is this really THE one thing you look for?). Please could you illustrate with an example – by that I mean could you tell us someone who’s burst onto the scene as being fresh and new, and explain, by referring to what was around at the time, why they are fresh and new. The example we hear so often is Zadie Smith – could you say WHY she was fresh? Was it her style, her subject matter, her slant on things? (Sandrine/Dan Holloway)
It's one of the main things I look for, along with great characterization and a compelling plotline. I guess what is meant is a voice that rings true from the first page, that reads unlike anything else either because of the voice itself (its cadences, accents, idioms, etc) or because it provides a new viewpoint on a subject that previously seemed familiar. I loved Ross Raisin's book, God's Own Country, for this reason. The narrator's voice is different from anything else I've read, the idiom totally idiosyncratic, and his point of view very, very different (thank god) from those we're usually presented with.

Could you try to pin down what you mean by ‘voice’? (Freddie Omm)
To me, it's the voice you hear in your head as you're reading. It sets the tone for the book, establishes the truth of the characters and is, I think, the backbone of any good story.

POD:

I know academic presses like OUP use POD because they can keep manuscripts constantly updated with new references etc. As an editor, do you think the possibility of updating a manuscript as easily as POD allows an exciting new development because a book can grow and change and evolve, or do you think it squeezes/changes your role because publishers will be more tempted to let a book through with less editing on the grounds it can easily be fixed? (Sandrine/Dan Holloway)
I think it's a real opportunity for publishers. It means, as you say, we can continually update our more topical books, we can keep books in print, and we can print quickly and efficiently when orders come in. However although technically we could alter the files every time we print, we certainly wouldn't want to - every change to the text costs money and takes time, so unless changes materially add to the value of the book or are absolutely vital to correct an egregious error, we try to avoid this. In any case, we can't afford to be any less rigorous with our editorial process not only because we have a reputation to uphold, but also because the books that we send out for reviews have to be the best we can make them, or they're not going to get the reception they deserve.

AUTHONOMY:

Do HC editors have input into how Authonomy works? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Yes, we were consulted at the early stages while Authonomy was being built, and continue to feed back to the Authonomy team.

How well do you think it is working for you? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
I have yet to commission a book from Authonomy but I know others have and I'm continually impressed by the calibre of work up there. The main difficulty for editors is finding the time to read as much as we want to, so the fact that Authonomy 'pre-filters' submissions for us is enormously useful and, to be honest, a great relief.

Do you search through books on the site besides simply waiting to see what it kicks out? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Yes, I do, although not as much as I should or would like to.

PROMOTION & MARKETING

Given that personality (or maybe public persona) counts towards an author's success, and therefore attractiveness to a publisher; do editors want a chance to edit that public persona (e.g. encourage more outspokenness or confrontation)? (Robin Helweg-Larson)
I don't think most editors are that calculated, to be honest. Obviously it is a boon if an author is happy to publicize his or her book and confident doing so - but the main thing is the book.

Where on the scale from philosophical discussion to obnoxious confrontation does a publisher want an author to be? (Robin Helweg-Larson)
Definitely not obnoxious! As with any colleague, I'm sure most editors hope that their authors are intelligent, amenable, courteous and engaging, not merely in terms of publicity but because we work closely together over the course of the publication

How much is a book tour expected to be a flamboyant act? (Robin Helweg-Larson)
I think intelligence and genuine charm win out over flamboyance any day.

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