Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Macmillan New Writing Chapter 2

It's been a while since I've written about our experimental model for discovering new fiction talent. Here's an update prepared with the help of the MNW team. Several things didn't go as planned. I wanted uniform jackets but was over-ruled. We didn't succeed in persuading Ryanair to lend us a plane in which to hold the launch party. None of the authors has won the Man Booker Prize or hit number one in the best-seller lists (yet) but neither has Jonny Geller's prediction - 'I don't think there's a hope in hell of this succeeding' - come about. Apologies for the varying typefaces/sizes below - I don't know what I did wrong.

This month sees the launch of the twelfth debut novel to be published under the New Writing imprint, Macmillan’s streamlined publishing scheme for first-time novelists. The imprint’s launch in April induced some unusually shrill denunciations from the broadsheet press – apparently, Macmillan was not only abdicating cultural responsibility but taking advantage of “vulnerable young authors” – but six months down the line, MNW has become established as part of Pan Macmillan's mainstream publishing operation, submissions continue to pour in from around the world (well over 5000 complete novels in the past year), and the list itself is going from strength to strength, with some excellent review coverage.

 

Some MNW titles have reprinted several times and have sold thousands in the UK market. A US distribution deal is to follow next year. Roger Morris (author of Taking Comfort) has – wisely or unwisely – published the contents of his first royalty statement on his blog. Audio, large print and translation rights have been sold in several titles; one is about to be optioned for film rights; and the German rights to a forthcoming title have just been sold for an advance which would have many established authors breaking out the champagne.

 

Highlights for 2007 include a crime debut by young Northern Ireland author Brian McGilloway. Borderlands (April) is set on and around the Irish border, and is the first in a projected series, “The Inspector Devlin Mysteries”. August 07 will see the publication of a novel which is already causing a buzz at Macmillan: The Great North Road, by former professional vocalist Annabel Doré, is a beautifully written literary saga set in post-war northern England.

 

Follow-up novels from authors who made their debuts with MNW will also be published by the imprint in 07. Michael Stephen Fuchs’s philosophical techno-thriller Pandora’s Sisters will be published in July, alongside a Pan mass-market paperback of his debut The Manuscript, while Edward Charles’s historical epic, In the Shadow of Lady Jane, will be followed in May 2007 by a Pan paperback, and the sequel, Daughters of the Doge, set amongst the world of artists and courtesans in a vividly imagined Renaissance Venice.

 

The truth is that agents serve a very valuable function in the publishing world, but they do not have an exclusive on good new books. It is commercially and culturally unwise to ignore the potential of unrepresented writers. For an entertaining account of how the imprint can look at over 5000 unsolicited manuscripts a year, read MNW founder Mike Barnard's book Transparent Imprint.

 

Pan Macmillan Deputy Publisher Maria Rejt has recently taken the helm in preparation for Mike’s impending retirement, working with Commissioning Editor Will Atkins. As the editor behind Richard & Judy’s “How to Get Published” scheme, run in conjunction with Macmillan, Rejt has an unparalleled reputation as a publishing innovator and champion of new writing, and so the success story promises to continue.

 

 

What the press also said . . .

 

“For lonely authors, the level playing-field now feels like a choppy shark pool. In such a climate, Macmillan's much-abused plan to publish first-time novelists in its "New Writing" series seems almost like a model of fair dealing…. These are decent novels: low-key, quietly engrossing, and more worthwhile than some of the meretricious drivel that famous houses now select.” Boyd Tonkin, “A Week in Books” 7 April, The Independent

 

“North is one of six first novels to be published by Macmillan’s New Writing, a project that has had many brickbats showered upon it, the Guardian calling it ‘Ryan Air publishing’ . . . if the other five are as entertainingly written as Martin’s the Guardian will have to eat its words.” – Digby Durrant, on Brian Martin’s North, The Spectator, 1 April 2006

 

“ Macmillan has launched its books and they are being bought by libraries, stocked by book shops and read with enjoyment.” – Charles Howard, “Macmillan Unveils First of its New Writers”, Writers Forum, May 2006

 

“I have been spending some time with my royalty statement and a calculator, and I have worked out that royalties from sales of my book are lower than they would have been under the terms of the Macmillan New Writing list. Given that MNW has been described as “the Ryanair of publishing”, and that my contract benefited from the expert negotiations of my agent and conformed roughly to industry standards, this is a surprising discovery.” – Nicholas Clee, “Dividing the spoils”, The Bookseller, 14 July 2006

 

“This ‘streamlined model’ – standard format, minimal editing, no advances – was dismissed by some as sharp practice, but it is hard to see what is wrong in giving aspiring authors a helping hand that might otherwise be denied them.” – Barry Turner, “Another Turn of the Screw”, The Times, 17 August 2006

 

“If you have a ms in your bottom drawer, you really ought to take a long hard look at the Macmillan offer, and at the Guardian article. But my personal view is that the Macmillan deal sounds like a bloody good offer, and it is the most attractive piece of new thinking that I’ve come across in a long time.” – Michael Allen, “New Thinking by Publisher – World Grinds to a Halt”. Grumpy Old Bookman has several entries on the experiment.

 
#    |  Comments [12]  | 
10/18/2006 9:00:00 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Richard,

It is great to see this effort coming to fruition!
Congratulations.
Eoin
Eoin Purcell
10/18/2006 9:02:35 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
I applaud you and the venture Richard. I know how hard it is. BUT would you be upfront about RETURNS ? No publisher ever is. As you know, you do not sell to bookshops firm sale, you LEND to them and no book is sold until it walks out of the door in the hands of a paid-up customer. Your figures are presumably for INTO shops. What are your returns ? And do you withold any payments from authors in lieu of returns. Most major publishers do now.
Unless you are transparent with figures of the returns it will be difficult to assess the actual success of the venture - as you know only too well.
SUSAN HILL
10/18/2006 2:40:30 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Thanks very much for the update. I have just finished reading Mike Barnard's book 'Transparent Imprint' after finding out about it here in your blog, found it fascinating, and was wondering what the current situation was. Now I'm looking forward to reading the MNW titles themselves.

Really enjoy reading the blog. For me it's a great way to keep up with the interesting things going on in other parts of the Macmillan Group. Pleased to have finally had an opportunity to post a comment.
Sheila Hutton
10/18/2006 3:49:56 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Hi, Susan. You're right, of course, that it's sell-through that matters. Current returns for the six launch novels (published in April this year) are as varied as the books themselves, ranging from around 3% to just over 40%. And no, we don’t retain any payment in respect of anticipated returns. Hope that helps.
Will Atkins, MNW
10/18/2006 6:05:24 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Returns have no part in my business module ; but then I am a minnow. SOR is bloody ridiculous because it is so grossly inefficient.

Most times I receive defective copies of books I feel sure that these are from previous returns.

Not that I will ever run a bookchain, but I know that I could run it far more efficiently (and profitably) if the chain took full responsibility for all stock from day one. Once a year there would be a clearance sale with long queues for genuine reductions.

IMVHO Waterstone's missed out on the marketing opportunity of the decade when they did have a clearance sale of the dead stock within Ottakar's (and their own branches) rather than wasting man hours, plus carrier charges, returning the "overstocks".

Calendars, diaries etc are usually all firm sale, as is POD : time to make the frontlist non-returnable !!
Clive Keeble
10/18/2006 6:08:11 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Of course I omitted the "not" from the previous comment

>>IMVHO Waterstone's missed out on the marketing opportunity of the decade when they did *not* have a clearance sale of the dead stock within Ottakar's (and their own branches) rather than wasting man hours, plus carrier charges, returning the "overstocks".<<
Clive Keeble
10/18/2006 9:32:41 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
I think you may find, Clive, that publishers wouldn`t let them.
SUSAN HILL
10/19/2006 5:41:41 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
I think most publishers would have been delighted if Waterstone's had organised a clearance sale for Ottakars stock rather than having lorries burning petrol returning the stuff for eventual pulping.
richard charkin
10/19/2006 8:42:56 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Ah.. then I was wrong. It was a terrible waste. But perhaps they were in too much of a hurry to re-brand by Christmas. Whatever the reason, all too late now.
They could have given them away to BOOK AID INTERNATIONAL and to prisons. The latter are always crying out for books and I quite often sent mine which are slightly damaged - emphasis on slightly but a tiny crease means it can`t be re-sold, whereas it is not noticeable to someone wanting to read a good book which is also a NEW book.
SUSAN HILL
10/19/2006 1:43:30 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
I might be wrong but could sale or return actually be a way for big publishers to reduce costs? I'm guessing that SoR has led to much bigger print runs due to the chains willing to take a punt by stocking loads of copies. Firm sale leads to great caution and potentially a chain only taking a fraction of what they would under SoR which would mean the printing costs for the publisher would be much higher resulting in less profit all round. If one of the big guys books take off the eventual profits from the big print run would far out weigh the damage done by large scale returns.

Isn't this how the Book People make a small fortune and can get away with their enormous discounts? (And power to them for spotting a gap in the market)
adam
10/19/2006 1:48:04 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Sorry, I should qualify that. I think the book people buy firm sale increasing the discount further. But the principle remains that their huge print runs mean that any extra copies the publisher runs out and distributes to the chains is virtually pure profit.
adam
10/19/2006 10:18:51 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Thanks to all: Richard and commenters on here. I learn more about the publishing industry, almost every day...
Thanks all, for your openness.
I really do appreciate it.
crimeficreader