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Nov 14
2010
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THE ROAD TO PUBLICATION...Posted by Stewart Gemmill |
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- 01/10/10 Update
Recently Davie suggested I submit a treatment / synopsis to Penguin, who are opening their doors to new writers till the end of October i.e. they'll accept unsolicited manuscripts. He did this even though it would effectively shut him out of his online promotion campaign for THE TREASURES OF DRUMORY that we originally planned to run alongside the launch of this novel.
Since then, I've emailed around 30 other UK publishers with the same details, what the hell. Might as well close that IF ONLY idea in mind before moving on. Today too, I posted a proposal on Glasgow School of Art's forum page, offering someone the chance to design my book cover for £75. It's a small amount of course but I've played on the point that if this novel is as successful as I hope it will be - indeed predict! Then it will offer them a springboard to success, since their name will be mentioned on the inside title page together with any URL linking to an online gallery of their other works. I plan to do this for as many colleges around the country.
Having posted this offer on the Arts forum, I realised many students would search for details about me on Google. So I created a new website that Google offer free of charge to all businesses and duly posted more details about me and the forthcoming website for Drumory at www.thetreasuresofdrumory.co.uk
So now we wait...
Raider has reassured me that they can produce the product I need but to do that properly I would need to up my investment from £599 to c£3000. Eh, no.
So, it would seem my options now are limited. Going with Davie's suggestion, of producing an ebook at the risk of unlimited software piracy abuse and offereing it for download off our proposed website. It could work of couse, especially with the competition prize of £20,000 being dependent on whether or not they buy the book (we issue a unique one-off book number for each copy sold). But you know what? It really is true that your books are like children. Agreeing to this outright feels like I'm abusing them, deserting them. I don't think I can do it. And to think that one day the book could be renowned all over yet I haven't earned a penny due to ebook piracy....
Of course Davie prompts the commendable arguement that if the book is popular anyway, abusers will simply scan in every page to their computer and there's your torrent good to go anyway. JK Rowling banned her latest book from ebook format yet it's in the top 25 of most popular ebook torrent files. So, it seems I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't.
What should I do?
0 Comments 2 weeks
A friend asked me a question last week: How do you know this Raider Publishing International,won't sell 10,000 copies of your books and tell you that they sold 5,000? I was aware that the company provides a tally table for each Writer to check as and when they please but that doesn't answer my friend's question. So I emailed them about it and unfortunately they have gone quiet on me. I think I may even have offended them. Thing is, it was a perfectly valid question to ask from a business perspective and if they were not willing to answer it then I am certainly not going to sign a publishing contract with them.
But I do not dispair. I know what I am in possession of and wasted no time in sending out an intro letter, a synopsis, and sample chapters to a host of traditional publishers. I now await the inevitable bunch of standard rejections before some intelligent, insightful, imaginative publisher takes a chance with me and in the process, changes all our lives forever.
0 Comments 3 weeks
The purpose of this ongoing blog, is to inform readers of my progress in making a fortune out of publishing a novel.
First of all, the book is called THE TREASURES OF DRUMORY.
On the 28/6/10, I submitted extracts of the book together with a synopsis, to Raider Publishing International. They are what I'd describe as a half-way house in the publishing world. That is to say, they publish authors whom they think will be successful but rather than paying out 10% royalties to authors they ask for a financial contribution from the author in return for a 51% share of royalties (as apposed to 10% from traditional publishers).
The reason I approached them is not because I don't think a traditional publlisher will take on my work but because I truly believe I have a CULT saga novel on my hands which will make me a fortune someday; and it makes sense therefore to try and secure as much money from the sale of every book as possible. Moreover, I have a brilliant marketing plan that I believe will offset the power of the these conventional publishing houses.
How will I do it?
Well, for that prized information you're just going to have to follow my story.
0 Comments 