"Personal" question(s) to John Jarrold

[John Jarrold]

Apropos of the "Steampunk" discussion a few posts back.... there's THIS

Great stuff! You can hear the creak of metal and the splutter of steam and oil...

 

[Flemcodogmusic]

How does Robert Rankin do over there?

I know a lot of his stuff can be quite "British" - the ongoing Brentford Trilogy, for instance - but the likes of Armageddon: The Musical, didn't seem to be based in any particular country, or use any regional dialect (as far as I can remember, anyway ...)

 

[John Jarrold]

I think the UK editions of Robert's books are simply distributed in the US, as far as I'm aware he has no US publisher - same with Tom Holt.

 

[Flemcodogmusic]

It's strange how humour doesn't always travel ...

I read somewhere that when Hitchhiker's Guide was first published in the US, they really played on the fact that Douglas Adams had co-written a sketch with Graham Chapman for Monty Python's Flying Circus ... even making it seem as if he was part of the team.

Apparently, there was a quote from each Python on the dust-jacket ...

 

[John Jarrold]

Quite possibly. You tailor cover and publicity to specific markets.

There are US authors who sell very well over there, but who would never be used for quotes on a UK book, because they don't sell here and would be seen as a definite negative by the book trade - and vice versa with certain UK authors in the US. No matter how good the quote is, if it comes from an author who is perceived as having failed commercially in a given market, it will not be used.

As a publisher, you don't attach your books to anything but successful authors, in a specific market. That's basic business sense.

 

[Hilarious Joke]

I bought a book by Jude Fisher because it had a quote on the front by Robin Hobb.

Out of curiosity, do you think quotes from acclaimed, best-selling fantasy or sf authors are better than excerpts from a review in a mainstream newspaper?

 

[lin robinson]

I don't what John will say about his much wider slant on this. But speaking as a reader, I'd take the writer's endoresement every time over some clown who is writing reviews for a newspaper.

(Speaking also, by the way, as an ex film and music reviewer for a newspaper)

 

[Doctor Sax]

A cynical devil's advocate might say, though, aren't newspaper reviewers generally considered to be more impartial, while an author quote could just be the result of some mutual back-slapping among friends?

Personally, I don't get swayed more by one or the other, but I do always read the shout lines, regardless of source.

 

[Flemcodogmusic]

I think it can only be a good thing to have positive quotes from well-known authors in the genre.

During my teenage years, I discovered so many horror writers - James Herbert, Clive Barker, Richard Laymon, Dean Koontz, etc - purely because I was such a huge Stephen king fan, and he'd contributed quotes to their various books ...

 

[lin robinson]

A cynical devil's advocate might say, though, aren't newspaper reviewers generally considered to be more impartial, while an author quote could just be the result of some mutual back-slapping among friends?

I don't know about "generally considered", but I'd consider the idea that newspaper hacks are "impartial" or even knowledgeable is absurd. Maybe things are different in UK.

I'd rather take a chance on a writer I like and trust backslapping somebody.

Not that I choose my reading based on cover blurbs, anyway.

I'm rounding up blurbs right now. I'm going to hit up the head of the newspaper book review section in the area the book is set, but mostly am going for writers of similar material.

 

[Doctor Sax]

I don't know about "generally considered", but I'd consider the idea that newspaper hacks are "impartial" or even knowledgeable is absurd. Maybe things are different in UK.

They certainly are! That's Her Majesty's Press you're talking about!

 

[Havlen]

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't think that the average person puts enough thought into blurbs to consider whether or not the source was reliable or impartial. They simply read the words, and if those words are attached to a name that is familiar to them, all the better.

 

[John Jarrold]

I bought a book by Jude Fisher because it had a quote on the front by Robin Hobb.

Out of curiosity, do you think quotes from acclaimed, best-selling fantasy or sf authors are better than excerpts from a review in a mainstream newspaper?

As a publisher, you try to mix and match both. Not just for the reader, but also to involve the bookselling trade and get the book on the shelves. W H Smiths and Waterstones like a review from The Times or Guardian, as well as quotes from Robin Hobb or Iain Banks (usually when stocking the paperback edition of a previously-published hardback or trade paperback, that has been fully reviewed in the mainstream press as well as genre magazines and blogs).

 

[Kissmequick]

I've seen a couple of debut novels with blurb by famous authors. How does that happen? Are they mates, did the publisher ask as a favour? Was a Jeffrey Archer style brown envelope involved? I've often wondered.

BTW, as for the US / UK thing, I had no nibbles in the UK, but I've got several fulls out at the moment in the US.( Admittedly I trimmed the word count and tweaked my letter first.) I e-mailed one publisher before I queried, asking whether they accepted subs from the UK, and they replied saying they love UK authors, please query ASAP.

 

[John Jarrold]

No brown envelopes. Sometimes they know the writer - in some cases they have read their work over a number of years - sometimes they are published by the same company and the editor asks them to read the book, or they just know the editor. But they'll only give a puff if they like it.

As a publisher, I did the latter regularly. If you are in touch with or publishing , say, a bestselling writer in the epic fantasy field and you have a debut novel coming in that field, it would be stupid not to try to get a quote.

 

[Scarfy]

BTW, as for the US / UK thing, I had no nibbles in the UK, but I've got several fulls out at the moment in the US.( Admittedly I trimmed the word count and tweaked my letter first.) I e-mailed one publisher before I queried, asking whether they accepted subs from the UK, and they replied saying they love UK authors, please query ASAP.

Are they willing to except email partials do you know..?

 

[Kissmequick]

e-mail everything in fact. After I asked, I sent a query and first 3 chaps, seems fairly standard.

The ones I've been talking to are pretty specific in the genres they publish, but with a bit of research I'm sure you could find someone. e-mail first, and ask if they allow / like UK subs. Not one of the ones I asked had a problem with it. ( and like I said one was more than keen on UK writers)

No brown envelopes. Sometimes they know the writer - in some cases they have read their work over a number of years - sometimes they are published by the same company and the editor asks them to read the book, or they just know the editor. But they'll only give a puff if they like it.

Thanks John. I thought it might have been something like that, I just kind of wondered.

 

[John Jarrold]

When I published Maggie Furey's first novel, AURIAN, a dozen years ago, we had a cover quote from David Gemmell. This was for two reasons: Dave had worked with her at a writer's group, and he liked her writing and characters. And I'd known him for some years by this time, and he was also then published by the same imprint for which I acquired Maggie: Legend, at Random House UK. So I asked, and he gave us a good quote, having read the entire book.

 

[Scarfy]

John: I always wondered about that - Are copies sent out to guest / established readers before the final prints are made?

World War Z has a quote from Simon Pegg on the front cover and I always assumed that was a reaction to the first print run?

 

[John Jarrold]

If you have book proofs (which might be available six to eight months before publication), they are usually sent to the people you have targeted for quotes, but sometimes you send the final typescript even earlier than that. Getting quotes as early as possible is very useful, when the sales director discusses the book with W H Smiths, Waterstones, etc, at head office level over six months before publication, and also for use on the cover proofs, which are printed several months before the book is published.