"Personal" question(s) to John Jarrold

It does. We have two Waterstones stores in Lincoln. The one that used to be an Ottakars still fights to have tailored stock, is proactive and is far better for authors and events. The Waterstones that has always been Waterstones is a clone of any other Waterstones, often doesn't take Book of the Month as seriously (especially if it isn't price promoted) and I don't use it.
 
Should be useful for all new writers, I think! As I've said elsewhere, writing the book and getting a sale to a publisher is the beginning of an author's work, not the end...
 
Hi John,

Only joined this site yesterday and it's great, can't believe that I can talk to so many people about writing, fantasy and Lord of the Rings. I will no longer have to bore my friends and family. I will be sending you some more to read on Monday for editing, sorry about that. Thanks again for your input, it's given me the drive to get it finished.

Sara
 
Onwards! Us Lincolnshire inhabitants got to stick together...

I really enjoy seeing all the posts here. It's like the first time I went to an SF convention in 1973, and realised I was part of a huge family.
 
Hi, John. I'm getting word that thrillers are a pretty hot ticket with English publishers. I'm wondering if that applies to paranormal thrillers, as well. Or, what might be the English 'cup of tea' for an entertaining thriller?

I have a DNA experiment that produces a hybrid female wolf that gets chased through the Wyoming (backwoods) countryside. It is not the typical lycanthropy tale that involes shape-shifting (werewolves), silver bullets, or howling at the moon. So I think that it could be classified as a straight thriller, without the paranormal conotation. In fact, my agent said it was a Crichton-esque type thriller.

Anything like that appeal to the English markets? If so, could you direct me to a list of such publishers, or a link perhaps?

Much thanks for all you do. You're very accessible here and we appreciate your participation--more than you would know.

Yours,

Tri (Chris)
 
It sounds like something Orbit, Bantam or Gollancz might be interested in, Tri - I'd still class it as a supernatural/scientific thriller, if werewolves are involved. Sounds like a Stephen Gallagher style novel.

'Thrillers' takes in a huge market - from John Le Carre to Lee Child and many others. I couldn't pinpoint an area other than post-Da Vinci historical conspiracy thrillers that jumps out at me. But remember that for every one of those published, hundreds will be turned down (this is also true of supernatural thrillers, of course).
 
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Thanks, John, that's good to know. I completely forgot about orbit, and it's certainly one of largest over there. I believe you are correct in that it does have a certain supernatural flavor to it. As much as I'd like to distance myself from it, or give it a different spin, I'm afraid it's still werewolf tale.

Tri
 
Royalties kick in after the advance has earned out - they are usually something like 10% of the cover price on hardbacks and 7.5% of the cover price on paperbacks (although there are other arcane percentages involved too). And yes, once the advance has earned out, the author gets a royalty on every sale.
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What is the industry standard royalty rate? 10 % for the first 5000 book sold, 12.5% for the next 5000 book sold and 15% from the rest? How does the translation rights and royalties work?
 
From the self-publishing thread:

garycompton said:
As i have said before I was inspired to start writing when I watched a BBC documentary on Sheila Quigley in 2004 I think it was, she was with the Darley Anderson Agency. Her advance was for £300,000 - how did she get so much? is it to do with the genre she is writing in?
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Hmm. I really hope it wasn't the £300 grand advance that inspired you to start writing, because the odds are you (and me, and all of us on this board) are going to be sorely disappointed.
 
The hardback escalator rates vary, but that wouldn't be far off, and a paperback escalator can come in at different levels too (it can rise from 7.5% to 10% after 25,000 copies) - and if the UK publisher has world rights, US and translation rights will be split roughly 75/25 or 80/20 in the author's favour.

Of course, the great majority of books published never sell enough copies to reach the first escalator, in hardback or paperback!

Have a nice weekend, eveyrone...
 
Doctor Sax said:
From the self-publishing thread:



Hmm. I really hope it wasn't the £300 grand advance that inspired you to start writing, because the odds are you (and me, and all of us on this board) are going to be sorely disappointed.
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Too right.
 
In many ways, writing is the bread and getting published is the jam on the bread. Of course many authors want commercial publication, but most will be eternally disappointed and should concentrate on loving their writing. Because those who start to write simply for commercial gain often lose their enthusiasm, and that comes through in their writing...
 
Doctor Sax said:
From the self-publishing thread:



Hmm. I really hope it wasn't the £300 grand advance that inspired you to start writing, because the odds are you (and me, and all of us on this board) are going to be sorely disappointed.
Click to expand...

No it wasn't the 300K actually - it was because she seemed so down to earth and wasn't particularly eloquent and because I am also as common as muck :) I thought I could do that...no problem.

Unfortunately I found out that it isn’t that easy but I am persevering. Just one thing though I don’t think talking about financial reward should be a taboo subject after all publishing is a commercial business.
 
No, too right - it's just I don't want anyone to think that getting to the point of an offer being made for their novel is a likely occurence for most of them. 99% (or more) of writers who submit their work to publishers will never, ever see their book in print from a mainstream publisher.

So thinking about the actual writing, refining it, working on the prose, the characters, the setting, the dialogue - these are all the areas that need to be looked at first.
 
I understand that totally, you have seen my work so you know that I have no chance of being published at the moment but hopefully taking on board your comments and what I have learned at a writing course that I have been attending you will see an improvement on the next draft. Whether it moves me to the 'Getting Published' category we will have to wait and see.

Surely learning to write and to do it well enough for a publisher to want your book is a long process and also its maximizing whatever talent you have got. Speaking for myself I believe I have a great imagination but lack writing skills but I also believe rightly or wrongly that those skills can be learnt and that's what I am trying to do. I am motivated primarily by wanting to write well and secondly by wanting to acquire a huge mountain of cash for my work :)and spend my days writing successful books for years to come.
 
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