Navaselva, The Call of the Wild Valley

 

How we came to publish this one

Author Georgina Wright was originally a client of Debz Hobbs-Wyatt and Debz recommended this book for The Red Telephone. I agreed that the writing is beautiful and the theme very pertinent to our life today.     

The title

Navaselva is Georgina’s own invention. It is based on her a ‘not quite so wild’ region in Spain. You can read more about it here.  

Some notes about the process

Georgina had pretty well gone through a full structural edit with Debz, so our team only needed to do the copy edit, and the five usual proof-reads.  

The cover

The book is illustrated throughout by Ruth Koeningsberger, We’ve given a special  finish to the cover picture so that it looks textured.  

Some notes about style

Georgina uses a very lyrical voice. She give us a very strong sense of time and place.

Who we think the reader is

As we have published through The Red Telephone we’re primarily seeing this as a Young Adult novel. One of the main characters Jo Ray is in fact a young adult. The story could also comfortably be read by younger teens. Certainly an adult readership that is interested in ecology would also enjoy the novel.     

What else

Georgina has arranged a series of events and we’re even thinking of including one that involves a choir. This is a hot topic so is of interest to many.

Review copies

It’s always great if you can buy the book and give us a review. Just click on the link to be taken to our bookshop. If you would like to review and you are strapped for cash, just get in touch for a free PDF.

 

Grab your copy here.       

Soft Lauch, Hard Launch?

 

Three people have asked about this recently so I thought it would be useful to go over it here. You may find it interesting that in our work patterns and on tracking sheets we also name these “Pre-market” and “Post production”.

The soft launch happens as soon as the book is ready to go. Note it generally won’t really be out in the world for about four to six weeks. This is why I often suggest a launch for the final Thursday of the month in which we “hard launch”.  Thursday, early evening, is a traditional time for book launches. The last Thursday in the month is a safe bet.

By “soft launch” time the book has had two proof reads, we have seen a hard copy and the Kindle book is up and running. We’ve put it into our online bookshop. We’ve registered it with Nielsen’s – a really important step in making it available.

They used to reckon that from registration with Nielsen’s it would take up to fifteen days for the book to reach all databases. Post-Covid that has become six weeks. You may now appreciate why there is a gap.

At the point of soft launch we provide you with four different copies of the cover – small, medium, full and 3D, two files for e-readers, a PDF, an order form so that you can buy author copies and an updated version of our marketing plan for authors.

The soft launch period is an ideal time to start getting reviews and persuading friends, family, fans and followers to buy.

By the time of “hard launch” the book should be widely available on all online platforms – Amazon, Waterstones, Tesco and all book shops can order it through their normal distributor / wholesaler.  Hopefully it will already have several reviews.   

The failsafe is that customers can always order directly from us.    

Good News ...?

 

This was quite a tricky one this year. We were kind of asking you to write about good news that wasn’t perhaps good news after all. In any case, here is the final list.

Anna's Secret Mission                                    Sara Knapp

Cinderella Rising                                               Penny Rogers

Doc's Last Trip                                                    Ian Inglis

Far from the Poppy Fields                            Gillian Brown

Floored                                                                Fiona Ritchie Walker

Fran's Birthday Party                                      Veronica Robinson

Helping Angel                                                    Peter Collins

Hero                                                                      Mike Wilson

Impossible Promise                                        Barrington Gordon

Janet, More Than a Friend                           Lynne English

Mistaken Identity                                            Liz Cox

Ms Tidy                                                                Keith Willson

Once Upon a Time in America                    Nick Padron

The Changing Pool                                           Mark Tulin

The Day IInternet Died                                  Boris Glikman

The End of the Beginning                             S. Nadja Zajdman

The Hymn of the Bees                                   Andrea Stephenson

The Liberations of Cassie Youmans          Norman Thomson

The Litter                                                             Jeanne Davies

The Pursuit                                                         Michael Noonan

The Silver Card                                                  Seth Pilevsky

Time to say goodbye                                      Karítas Hrundar Pálsdóttir

Where the Land Ends                                     Clare Dean

White Elephant                                                 Tom Kirkbright

 

 Read more here about how we selected the stories.

 

Debz and I separately awarded each text points for the story, how well the story fitted the theme, the quality of writing and professionalism. The writers’ identities were hidden from us at the time.

Story: This must have a beginning, a good story arc and a satisfying ending. Is there tension and pace?  Are characters well developed? 

Theme: As many of you know we take a vaguely Christmassy theme and hope that you will subvert it. Yes, this was a little tricky this time.

Quality of writing: Does the writing flow? Is there a strong voice? Is there a good balance of longer and shorter sentences? Is there overall a good narrative balance? Does sentence structure work well?

Professionalism: We often find that writers who present their work professionally are easy to work with. Have you followed the instructions on formatting? Is dialogue set out correctly? Are there no or very few typos, grammatical mistakes and spelling mistakes? Is the paragraphing  correct?      

 

We then both did a rank order. Every story that appeared in both of our top twenty-four made it into the anthology. That was fourteen in total. Then we took the next off mine, then the next off Debz’s and so on. All of these stories were in our top forty-eight. When we deanonymised the texts we found we had two stories by one writer so we picked the next one in the list to replace the lower ranked one.

And there we have it. We are now into editing the texts and a handful of stories have already been filed in the “Final” box.    

Gifted

 

How we came to publish this one

This was our annual 2023 anthology. The call always goes out at our celebration event, usually the first Saturday in December. We always choose a vaguely Christmassy theme but hope that our writers will subvert it somewhat.   

The title

Yes, gifts are to do with Christmas but the word here can be interpreted as talented. Quite a few of our writers interpreted the theme that way but there were also some stories built on the idea of gifting something.   

Some notes about the process

We allowed people to submit until 28 February and then two of us awarded points for  story, interpretation of the theme, writing and professionalism. We published the  twenty-four stories that scored the most.    

The cover

We used a stock image for this, available copyright free and free from pixabay.com. It represents a more literal interpretation of the theme; it is obviously a nicely wrapped gift!   

Some notes about style

Our stories are never too much like those that would appear in a women’s magazine. They tend toward the literary but not too much so.    

Who we think the reader is

Obviously we now have a few fans and followers and each person who has contributed a story to the collection will have friends, family, fans and followers.

What else

As ever, and this brings us a great deal of joy, we have a mixture of old friends and new writers.

Review copies

It’s always great if you can buy the book and give us a review. Just click on the link to be taken to our bookshop. If you would like to review and you are strapped for cash, just get in touch for a free PDF.

 

Grab your copy here.       

Creative Writing Tip Sheets

 

How we came to publish this one

I originally created these tip sheets for my U3A creative writing group. It seemed sensible to publish them. Note, they are only available via Kofi. Amazon has not got them!    

The title

This resource is exactly what it says it is. Plain and simple: Creative Writing Tip Sheets = tip sheets for creative writers.

Some notes about the process

I just gathered together information that was useful for my creative writing learners.

The cover

We used a stock image for this, available copyright free and free from pixabay.com.  We hope it captures the essence of the community creative writing group.

Some notes about style

We hope to speak directly to people relatively new to creative wring.  

Who we think the reader is

This is for those people who are just embarking on their writing career but we think it will also be useful for teachers of creative writing.

What else

This is all of my understanding of creative writing reduced to a nutshell.

Review copies

It’s always great if you can buy the book and give us a review. Just click on the link to be taken to our bookshop. If you would like to review and you are strapped for cash, just get in touch for a free PDF. 

Find your copy here     

 

Renascentia - getting your out of print books back into print

 A little more about this imprint. 

You can see it at Duosuma : https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/renascentia-riUS4 

Please submit the whole of your script.

Put the history of the script in the cover letter, confirming that you have the rights back. 

Please provide a full bio. 

Please provide a double-spaced text in common font e.g. Times New Roman font. T

his is for writers we know; i.e. those who have already been published by us or are recommended by one of our freelancers. 

It is about republishing your book that has gone out of print. 

You must be able to guarantee that you have the rights back. 

If we accept your submission: 

We design your book 

We design your cover 

We can issue the book with an ISBN (which means any book shop can find copies) 

We can hook it up to distributors which makes it visible to retailers and it will appear on web sites world-wide 

We do some marketing. 

You receive 50% of the profit for the first 200 books and 75% thereafter Y

ou can always buy books from us at 75% RRP rising to 65% if you can buy 51+ in one go.

 The main difference here with how we produce other books is that there would be no editorial input in other than a proof read. You would of course be given the opportunity to proof-read your own text. 

You may find it more advantageous to self-publish. You would have 100% of the profit. We could help you with any of the issues above but would charge a small fee. 

However, there are two routes to publication. See: https://apublishersperspective.blogspot.com/2024/05/amazon-kdp-or-lightning-source-for-your_10.html Another advantage for you would be that Amazon KDP will provide an ISBN. 

 However, a couple of important points are the ISBN – buying individual ones is expensive – and not having the advantage of our distribution and marketing.

Seen Through a Glass of Red

 

How we came to publish this one

This is one of our “ fast track” books. All of the stories in this we have pre-published either on CafeLit or in one of our annual or themed anthologies.

 

The title

So, that’s what life looks like when you see it under the influence of red wine? Is red wine part of the Mediterranean diet?    

 

Some notes about the process

The way this version of fast-track works: the writer puts together the stories in the order they wish them to be published. We do acknowledge where they were first published. We do no more editing at this stage. However we offer a camera ready proof to the author and after we’ve applied their alterations we give it a final proof-read.

 

The cover

The cover illustration concept was supplied by the writer. We used and manipulated stock images to get this one.

 

Some notes about style

The stories veer a little towards the literary. They all also have a firm story structure.      

 

Who we think the reader is

As so many of the stories here come from CafeLit, this book is ideally suitable for  reading whilst you sip your favourite brew when you’re on a break. They are at once thought-provoking, relaxing and entertaining.

 

 

What else

Author Liz is also one of our editors. That’s often makes the editing and design processes easier.  

 

Review copies

It’s always great if you can buy the book and give us a review. Just click on the link to be taken to our bookshop. If you would like to review and you are strapped for cash, just get in touch for a free PDF. 

Find your copy here     

 

Amazon KDP or Lightning Source for your paperback?

 

Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) and Lightning Source are two prominent platforms used by authors to print paperbacks, each offering unique features and benefits

 

Amazon KDP

Advantages	Disadvantages
It makes distribution in other countries that have Amazon stores easier. Stock control is better and no customs to worry about.	You can’t get books into book shops without paying a much higher fee.
It’s cheaper- no set up fees, no annual fees.	Less choice in formats than with Lightning source.
Amazon gets these titles out quicker than it does Lightning Source’s.	Other retailers can’t buy the books.
	Once we take the book out of print we can’t still offer author copies.

 

 

Lightning Source

Advantages	Disadvantages
It’s easier to get book into book shops. The ISBN tells the retailer how to order it.	You can incur import charges and high transport charges.
More choice of formats and better quality.	We have to pay set up costs, fees for alterations and an annual distribution fee.
Once we take the book out of print we can still offer author copies.

 

There are a few things to consider here:

Even though Amazon KDP can distribute to a country where there is an Amazon, we have to open an account with that country. This isn’t always straightforward.

We can in fact work directly with bookshops though it is more work for us.  

We pay an annual fee per book of £8.50 for distribution via Lightning Source. Yet retailers sometimes can’t source the books. Ingram’s shrugs its shoulders. I have managed to penetrate this and it comes down to a middle man not understanding how print-on –demand really works. I’ve had some success with The Hive and Waterstones. Amazon is rather Kafkaesque.

We may now start involving authors in deciding which method to use. Some will be uncertain. And if they are happy to take our advice we’re happy to give it.

The crucial point may be about what happens after the book goes out of print. Note though, we have to take a book out of distribution once the term is finished and if the book isn’t covering its distribution fee.  We can leave it in short run which means we can still obtain author copies and even sell to bookshops. But at that point the book wouldn’t be visible to the public except in our own online bookshop.  

Fast Track

 

Fast track 1

Gather together all of your pre-edited-by-us stories. They may have appeared on CafeLit, in one of our annual anthologies or one of our special books. You gather the edited version into one word document.  You are looking at between 30,000 and 70,000 words, the sweet spot being 46,000. You may like to include an introduction and you should also include a bio, 250 – 500 words, and links to up to three of your other publications  See Seen Through a Glass of Red by Liz Cox and Old Man Jasperson and other stories by Jim Bates. All of the editing is completed on this so we only need to design the books, proof read twice and market. In both cases we actually published a couple of months ahead of schedule.  Use https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/form.aspx?id=O5TCxfX-6CXux-a0E6ElR-g7gG4x4c7

Fast track 2

If you have used one of our editors and they agree that the book is good to go we can leave out one or more of the editorial processes.  See our list here: http://www.gilljameswriter.com/p/my-dream-team.html   Use   https://apublishersperspective.blogspot.com/2023/03/submissions.html but mention in your cover letter that you have used one of our editors and outline which sort of edit(s) they’ve completed.                                                                                                                                

Fast track 3

Do you have a collection of stories to which you have the rights back? Put them together in one Word document, acknowledging where each was first published. Again, you are looking at between 30,000 and 70,000 words, the sweet spot being 46,000. You will have just the two proof reads. Also include an introduction if you would like one, and supply a bio, a blurb and link to up to three of your previous publications. Submit as usual via: https://apublishersperspective.blogspot.com/2023/03/submissions.html

Fast track 4

This will have to stay in the queue, I’m afraid BUT if we approve of it we can miss out the editorial stages. This is where we can bring your out of print book back to life. We may even take it on if we think it needs editorial input. Submit in the normal way. https://apublishersperspective.blogspot.com/2023/03/submissions.html 

Crowd Funded project

If you are willing to work with us on crowd-funding your project, please indicate that in your submission. We will run a crowd-funding project for two months and use whatever funds we raise to, in this order,:

·         Shorten your publishing schedule

·         Give you a more dynamic launch

·         Get you on to higher royalties faster