June 2005Issue 107

InPrint
The Newsletter of the Society of Young Publishers

SYP

Society of Young
Est. 1949

Publishers

A GRAPHIC EVENT
Th e la st L on d on Sp ea ker Meet in g w as in terest in g , in f orma t ive a n d co mica l R ebec c a Mills repo rt s b a ck. On 27 April 2005, the London SYP had the pleasure of being addressed by an excellent panel of speakers on the topic of graphic novels. Sam Leith, Literary Editor of The Telegraph, Paul Gravett, international comic curator, Nick Abadzis, a professional British graphic artist, and Nick Jones, a Senior Editor at Titan, who publish the largest number of mainstream graphic novels in the UK. All the speakers were enthusiastic and passionate about graphic novels, and offered unique perspectives on the topic. Sam Leith grew up reading comics such as X-Men and New Mutants and pointed out that there is an everwidening market for such publications. Serious topics can also be portrayed through graphic novels, such as Art Spiegelmans Maus, which depicts his fathers experience in Auschwitz through a comic strip. The cinema has also recently been inundated with comic adaptations: Hellboy, Sin City, X-Men and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to name but a few. Paul Gravett told us that the term graphic novel was created in 1964 by a man named Richard Kyle who wanted to come up with a new term for adult comics. There are many stereotypes linked to comic book readers, and the term is often used pejoratively. However, in the last two years there has been a great shift in the categorisation of graphic novels, especially in bookshops, and much of the stigma is dissipating. One of the problems that all our speakers highlighted is the difficulty young British graphic artists have in breaking into the market. British graphic novel publishing has been slow, and a lot of comics have new material without knowing where to send it. Nick Abadzis, who has been drawing and writing comics for twenty years, started out at Deadline, a comics and music magazine, and now works in mainstream publishing. He said that young cartoonists often have to either self-publish or go abroad, which is a shame, as there are many great stories waiting to be told. Nick also worked for two years on a childrens literary scheme, creating graphic novels to help children that are reluctant readers. He finds that graphic novels make reading easier and more enticing for children who otherwise find it difficult or intimidating. Nick Jones said that Titan publishes approximately twenty graphic novels a month, though it is hard to convince the book trade of their merits. The UK book trade can be stuffy and not open to new ideas, and film adaptation potential often helps to hook the book trade onto the idea. Film adaptations can be great successes, but even if they flop, people may hear that the graphic novel is better, and rush out to buy the book! Their target audience is increasingly varied and it is difficult to define who exactly reads graphic novels. Titan does still publish a lot of superhero works, and Nick said that it is a struggle even within Titan to be able to publish new talent. Many publishers think that graphic novels are easy to turn out, but in reality, a lot of work goes into them. Deadlines may be tight, and the text is as important as the graphics - even children know when they are being sold a rubbish story. There is a huge amount of potential out there, both for new artists and publishers alike, so if youre looking for a new publishing avenue, comics could just be your next novel idea.

Fo r mo re in f orma ti on o n gra p hic n o vel s a nd o p po rt un it ies wit h in th is fi eld, lo ok a t www. co micexp o. net an d Nic k Ab a d zis s own web sit e: www. nic ka ba d zis .co m.

Speakers from left to right are: Nick Abadzis, Nick Jones, Paul Gravett and Sam Leith.

Contents: Speaker Meeting 1, SPI 2-3, Turkish Publisher 4-5, Book Review 5, Russell Talbot 6-7, Oxford Speaker Meeting 8, Surviving In Publishing 9-10, Quark Vs InDesign 10-11, Events 12

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Society of Young Publishers - Society of Publishers in Ireland: I SPI a connection

Su za n n a H enry t ells u s mo re ab ou t t he o ur I rish co u nt erp art s. The Society of Publishers in Ireland, or SPI, was born when three publishers (Susan Rossney, Rachel Pierce and Emma Byrne) came together in 2002 with the idea of establishing a networking organisation for the Irish publishing industry. Its aim was to bring together employees, owners and managers of some of the many publishing houses, and publishingrelated organisations, operating independently of each other in Ireland. This would include larger publishing firms like Gill & Macmillan, smaller publishing houses such as Lilliput and Mercier, and organisations such as Childrens Books Ireland, the Ireland Literature Exchange and also the Publishers Association Cl. After a year of planning, SPI successfully launched on September 30 2003, with 200 publishers coming along on the night. Almost three years on, SPI has fulfilled its objectives and even surpassed them. It regularly holds successful publishing-related events in locations across the capital and recently the five-person committee swelled to nine when five new members joined the ranks in March. SPI will be three years old this autumn. Plans to celebrate the occasion in conjunction with the Society of Young Publishers are currently afoot. It is hoped that committee members and members of the SYP will join us when we host a party in Dublin this coming October. But before divulging any more details on the upcoming felicitations, heres an update of what SPI has been doing so far this year In February 2005, members of the SPI committee returned to NUI Galway to repeat their previous years talk to the students of the MA in Literature and Publishing. This is the only programme offering a third-level publishing qualification in Ireland, combining literature and publishing in a year-long programme. The talk went very well, with students delighted to hear that the Irish publishing industry is booming and that the prospects for jobs in the industry are good. SPIs most publicised event of 2005 was the fabulously enjoyable An Evening with Marian Keyes (pictured here). Marian, prolific author of Rachels Holiday, Sushi for Beginners and Watermelon, discussed her latest book The Other Side of the Story, which is set within the publishing industry. In the Oak Room of the Mansion House (the Dublin Lord Mayors residence), broadcaster and author Michael Scott chaired a lively discussion in which Marian answered questions about her life, work, and writing methods, as well as her penchant for designer handbags! She took questions from the floor and entertained guests with witty anecdotes on what was a delightful evening. The

Some dates for your diary

SYP events in London in 2005/6
Wednesday 29 March London Speaker Meeting Wednesday 26 April London Speaker Meeting Wednesday 31 May London Speaker Meeting Wednesday 28 June London Speaker Meeting Wednesday 26 July London Speaker Meeting Wednesday 27 September London Speaker Meeting Wednesday 25 October London Speaker Meeting November CONFERENCE - London Wednesday 29 November London Speaker Meeting Monday 13 June London Book Club Meeting Wednesday 29 June London Speaker Meeting Publishing Yesterday and Today Mon da y 4 July In Audience With Kate Mosse Monday 18 July Book Club Meeting Wednesday 27 July London Speaker Meeting Childrens Publishing Monday 15 August London Book Club Meeting Monday 19 September Oxford Book Club Meeting Wednesday 28 September Speaker Meeting Magazine Publishing Saturday 1 October The SYP meet the SPI Monday 17 October Book Club Meeting Wednesday 26 October Speaker Meeting Production Monday 2 November Book Club Meeting November Careers CONFERENCE - Oxford Wednesday 30 November Speaker Meeting Independent vs Conglomerate 2006 January London AGM/Party Wednesday 22 February London Speaker Meeting

discussion addressed many issues relating to contemporary womens fiction in Ireland, and at one stage Marian defended the genre known popularly as chick-lit, stating that it is a literary trend that emanated as a response to postfeminism. Poolbeg Press supplied gift bags containing Marians books, and these were raffled with the proceeds going to SPI. It was announced that a film adaptation of Rachels Holiday is in pre-production at the moment and Catherine Zeta Jones will play the lead role. On April 27 in the Temple Bar Hotel, SPI hosted the latest in the Lives in Publishing series. Sean OKeeffe of the Liberties Press took the stand. The Liberties Press although not long in existence has published well known titles such as: Around Ireland with a Pan, Three Days in September: When the Pope came to Ireland and Con Houlihans book More Than A Game: Selected Sporting Essays. Sean spoke about setting up the company with business partner Peter OConnell (who was also present on the night) and of their future plans to expand into poetry and fiction, although this would be largely dependent on the availability of Arts Council funding. Future Liberties Press titles include a book on setting up your own business (authored by Brody Sweeney), a social history of St James Gate Brewery and a book on autism written by Professor Michael Fitzgerald, which claims that among the many famous Irish personalities who suffered from the condition were the authors WB Yeats and James Joyce. The SPI Film Club has been to two films in 2005: Federico Fellinis La Dolce Vita, which was shown during Italian Film Week in the Irish Film Centre, and Woody Allens latest film Melinda and Melinda. The film buffs were also treated to complimentary tickets to see The Chorus, an Academy-Award nominated French film, courtesy of Path Distributors. In 2004, Path supplied tickets to SPI for a special screening of The Motorcycle Diaries in a private cinema in Dublins Denzelle Lane Cinema, which was very well received by the members (naturally enough Gael Garca Bernal was in it!) SPI does not confine itself to speaker meetings and film clubs; in February 2005, the committee used its talents to organise the launch of Documenting Irish Feminisms: The Second Wave for Dublins Woodfield Press. The venue for this high-profile launch was the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, and the attendees ranged from eminent feminist scholars and academics to well-known personalities from the Irish media, such as journalist Nell McCafferty. The SPI committee also manned the bookselling stand and earned us a percent-

age of the profits on the night. As for upcoming events, a SPI book club guest night is on the cards for May 18. Following our successful night with novelist Anne Enright in November 2004, SPI has invited Christine Dwyer Hickey, author of Tatty, to discuss her novel in Nearys pub off Grafton Street in Dublin. We anticipate a great turn-out for this ever-popular event. Plans are ongoing to have a Bloomsday Limerick competition and on July 21, SPI members will attend a wine-tasting evening, details tbc. We are also planning a book auction in aid of the Irish Red Cross, for which we have gathered a great list of titles, including signed first editions and plates. Finally, we are planning a get-together for members of SPI and the SYP for the first weekend of October. It is to be held on the Saturday night (1 October) and will be a valuable opportunity to meet and exchange knowledge with our counterparts! It will most likely be held in Caf en Seine on Dawson Street, Dublin, and any SYP members interested in attending should ask the SYP committee for more details on booking places. All are welcome! SPI is: Emma Byrne, Maria Dickenson, Ciara Doorley, Eibhlin Egan, Suzanna Henry, Rachel Pierce, Susan Rossney, Jenny Sharif, and Emma Walsh. See www.the-spi.com or e-mail spionline@eircom.net for more information. To f in d ou t more ab o ut t h e D ub lin t rip o r t o regis ter yo u r i nt erest , s end a n ema il t o c sha n ah a n@ th esyp .o rg..umnw mmsah mkdk. ...olott .noe .ep .flr w td .u ky u io rs .. g w

InPrint June 2005

Members of the SPI enjoy drinks at last years Bloomsnight. Yes to say yes my mountain flower ...(Penelope) Treasurer: Amelia Allsop treasurer@thesyp.org.uk Inprint Liasion: Clar e Tr ut er inprintliasion@thesyp.org.uk Events Amanda Lastor ia amandalastoria@alumni.sfu.ca Promotions Co-ordinator: Be cky S imms becky.simms@oup.com Event Co-ordinator: Deb S ander s youngpublishers@fsmail.net Web Editor: Jamie Shaw oxfordweb@thesyp.org.uk Brookes Liaison Re becca Dime ny 04037273@brookes.ac.uk

Lond on

Chair: Vict or ia Nicholl chair@thesyp.org.uk Secretary: Ton ia M amai secretary@thesyp.org.uk Web Manager: Tob y Rhind- Tutt webmaster@thesyp.org.uk InPrint Editor: Re becca M ills inprint@thesyp.org.uk InPrint Production Manager: G urde ep M att u gmattu@thesyp.org.uk Membership Secretary: Doug Wallace membersec@thesyp.org.uk

Social Secretaries: Clair e S hanahan cshanahan@thesyp.org.uk Re becc a Fox rfox@thesyp.org.uk Job Database Coordinator/ M ariza O Kee ffe jobs@thesyp.org.uk Press Officer: L ou ise Rhind-T utt press@thesyp.org.uk Speaker Meeting Coordinators: T ej Sood tsood@thesyp.org.uk S uzanne Arnold sarnold@thesyp.org.uk Company Rep Co-ordinator Rac hel Land er rlander@thesyp.org.uk

Chair: Holly Mye r s hmyers@nelsonthornes.com Treasurer: Kim Hunt Kimberly_574@yahoo.co.uk Secretary: Katy Hawke r katehawker@hotmail.com Inprint Northern Correspondent Emilie Connes e.connes@lancaster.co.uk

Oxfor d

Being a Turkish Publisher

InPrint June 2005
Tanay Burcu Ural writes: When I was a little girl, I always dreamed of having a publishing house, and coming from a publishing family made it easier for my dream to come true. During an interview at the British Councils Istanbul office, before I was chosen to be an IYPY (International Young Publisher of The Year Award) finalist, one of the questions directed at me was: So, it seems to me that you are in this profession because you have to be. I know that your father is a prominent figure in Turkish Childrens Literature. Do you feel obliged to be in the publishing sector? Actually, I dont. This is not like being a butcher or having a pharmacy or a supermarket. There are some kinds of professions that pass down through families and where every family member graduates into the same faculty. You have probably all encountered a doctor family or a lawyer family etc. at some point. I could not imagine having another profession other than what I had heard, seen and experienced for 27 years. Publishing is a wide area, where you can be involved in accounting, public relations, commerce, translations, etc. and of course art. You can be as creative as you wish. You can make fantastic things. MARSIK is my company, and we specialise in publishing children books a very interesting and important area. Until a few years ago, being in the childrens business meant that you were not big enough to do an adult business. Now things have begun to change: people started to place more importance on childhood. During this period, there is too much commercial interest in childrens materials. As a child-adult (and by that I mean I observe things very closely), sometimes Im afraid to see what awaits the children of the future. In two years the age of MARSIK - we have tried to build up our portfolio. We collaborate with foreign publishers, do co-editions or buy the rights. My aim for the country is to supply Turkish children with the materials to learn their language in the best possible way. On an international scale, I focus on reaching children worldwide through every quality product published in Turkey that meets international standards; this makes us different from other Turkish childrens publishers. The biggest problem for the publishing sector in Turkey is that the government still does not consider the sector to be an industry. There is only one Ministry responsible for Culture and Tourism. Its well known that cultural success leads to a growth in tourism, but this is not enough. You cannot place these two important subjects together you need different subsidies for the two branches. The IYPY finalist trip started on 5 March 2005 when I met the finalists from other countries: Argentina (Mariana Vera), Bulgaria (Ekaterina Jordanova), Latvia (Dzintra Kalnina), Lebanon (Shereen Kreidieh), Poland (Maria Deskur), Romania (Cristian Nicolae Carstoiu), Russia (Alexander Gavrilov), South Africa (Miemie du Plessis), and Thailand (Pinyo Trisuriyatamma). As my Polish colleague always said during our visit - in the end she was the one who got the prize - we were all winners. We had twelve wonderful days that I never imagined having, and the organisation was wonderful. During our time in the UK, we visited the offices of various publishers, and after our meetings, I discussed a lot with the other finalists. It was really nice and interesting to talk about the childrens publishing sectors in Poland, Lebanon or South Africa whilst shopping on Oxford Street! The meeting with Tim Godfray, chief executive of The Booksellers Association, was very important for making comparisons with the situation in Turkey. What Tim said they are trying to do first and foremost is toimprove attitudes to reading, and thus increase sales. If parents dont read, how can children develop a positive attitude to reading? Sometimes, when parents watch TV but ask their children to read a book, children perceive this as a way of punishment. Children need to be lead by example, and in Turkey, there is a lack of role models. As everyone knows, the Christmas period is very important for the commercial side of publishing. In the UK, book catalogues are prepared especially for this period, because a book is a very valued gift. However in Turkey, a book is not considered a good gift even if you are an avid reader, you will generally not be happy to receive a book (although there are exceptions, of course). This is usually the case because you would not believe that the person

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giving the gift bought it for you as a genuine recommendation (the opposite of its the thought that counts). The Booksellers Association also collaborates with teachers, and sends them brochures of new titles, so that teachers and pupils can have conversations about books. They also do many other useful things to promote books and reading. We organize PR days at schools, which only gives us an opportunity to sell the books, and the schools ask us for payment in order for us to be able to do this. My observations of The Booksellers Association showed me how important it is to have a sellers union. In Turkey, we only have one association for Printers, Publishers and Booksellers, and people are being encouraged to have small, professional unions. This is important for the EU as well. More than 50% of the gross sales of the Turkish publishing sector goes to piracy. Piracy is not only publisherss problem, and affects both Turkey and countries that have commercial relations with us. Having such professional unions can be an important step in working against piracy. When we met with Simon Bell from The English Publishers Association, he said: Before entering the EU, you should organise the Turkish Publishing Industry and especially find solutions to the piracy problem. Another reason why the Turkish Publishing Industry is underdeveloped is that there are no educational departments dedicated to this sector in Turkish universities. I think that there is a similar problem in a lot of countries, because Sue Pandit and Graham Smith from The Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies and The Publishing Training Centre at Book House respectively, mentioned that most of their students come from overseas countries. The government is very dominant in the Turkish publishing sector, even its not considered a real industry, and this is due to the publication of schoolbooks. The private sector still has no voice in schoolbook publications. One of the biggest petitions by Turkish publishers is for the government, instead of publishing books, to give books to libraries or give subsidies to publishers. As evidence of the declining state of libraries and book quantities, in the last ten years, the government has supported only 318 libraries (in 1993 we had 1117 public libraries and in 2003 we had 1435). During this time, the total number of books in libraries has increased from 9,817,668 to 12,684,084 so with a little calculation you will notice that the government bought only 24 new titles per library a really pathetic amount. When I heard that when an authors book is borrowed by a reader from a library, the government

pays a royalty to that writer, you can imagine how shocked I was... Tu ne In Ne xt Month for ye t mo re Tu rk is h Del igh t

BOOK REPORT
Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood Alias Grace divided opinion in the SYP Oxford Book Club. It was simultaneously declared a firm favourite by some and annoyingly indulgent by others. Some loved the complexity of the text and the evocativeness of the writing, while others were frustrated by the central character on which so much hinges. The novel tells the story of Grace Marks, who was convicted for the brutal murder of her master and his pregnant lover. Told predominantly through her own retrospective view, it covers her early life with an abusive father, her passage to Canada, the death of her mother, her life as a servant, and her existence in a mental asylum after the murder and trial have taken place. The reader develops a complex and varied picture of Grace, and different views emerge that see her as everything from an innocent and misunderstood victim to a cold blooded murderess. Striking and haunting passages make many chapters not only atmospheric, but ultimately creepy, and documentation from the real murder case, on which the story is based, extends the book beyond a safe fiction, forcing the reader to engage with the real history behind it. Yet the book also lent itself well to a more complicated discussion. The message about the lower-classes rising up and destroying those above them was more than clear. Grace seemed disingenuously simple, something that some found grating after a while despite the deliberate intentions behind it. Similarly, it explores the theme of female madness, common to books written in the Victorian period when the novel is set, as Grace is possessed, or shows signs of a split personality. Yet, frustratingly, this also allowed the central mystery, the murder itself, to remain unresolved. The supposed blank in Graces memory deliberately leaves readers to piece things together by themselves, but nothing fits and many were left unsatisfied. Alias Grace won the Booker Prize in 1996 and has since become a modern classic. It certainly created a lively debate, but whether the Book Club would recommend it is distinctly less certain. Marti Heap

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ADAPT-NATION
Russell Talbot writes about adapting books for the silver screen... The development process starts with the production companys development team. In the case of literary adaptations, it is their job to keep abreast of whats going on in the publishing industry, and to seek out hot new books that might make potential films. Development staff keep up a constant communication with book agents (the agents representing the authors of the books in question), listening to pitches and requesting copies of new manuscripts. They will then read the book, often within the space of one day, and decide whether or not it should be optioned. Since options are relatively inexpensive, and since so few films actually get made (only about 100 a year in the UK, in comparison to 125,000 books published), companies are pretty quick to buy up the rights to books that might have film potential. An option on a book tends to last between 12-18 months, by which time the company must pay the option fee again, or let the option lapse. On the whole, agents are very keen to get their clients books optioned by film companies, and they court development executives on behalf of their clients, sending them manuscripts often before the book has gone to the publisher. In fact, its not unusual for the latest Hornby or McEwan to be e-mailed as an unedited proof copy to film companies on the same day as its sent to the agency. Producers have to move fast if they are interested in a hot book, and there can often be a bidding war between production companies over the film rights. After a book has been optioned, its time to look for writers. Although some authors express an interest in adapting their own books, film producers are generally wary about letting them do this, preferring instead to hire writers with proven screen credits. Usually a producer will ask a number of screenwriters to give their take on the novel (their own view on how the book should be adapted, in terms of its plot, characters, point of view and so on), and will usually get them to write a treatment for the proposed adaptation. Depending on how the producer sees the adaptation working as a film, a writer will then be chosen on the basis of their

Russell Talbot

Theres an ad out at the moment: dont judge a book by its film. If youve ever been disappointed by a big-screen version of one of your favourite novels, youd probably be inclined to agree. However, although film adaptations are often a poor substitute for the real McCoy, theres no getting away from the fact that they are big business. In 2004, the highest grossing UK films, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, were both adaptations of best-selling books. The numbers speak for themselves - hundred of millions of dollars in combined box-office receipts, and probably many times that with DVD and video sales. But although the results may be worth it, getting a book to the screen can often be a lengthy and tortuous process. Films spend a long time in whats known as development: a gestation period beginning with the acquisition of the source book and finishing, hopefully, with a final draft screenplay which can be greenlit for production. Inevitably, many projects never get through this development gauntlet: the script might not work, the writer might quit or be fired, the option might lapse, or another film might come out that is too similar and effectively kill the project. Thats why production companies tend to have a number of projects on their slate at any one time; if one project dies, for whatever reason, there is always a back-up plan. The bigger the production company, the more scripts they will be developing simultaneously (Working Title, the biggest production company in Britain, currently has close to 60 projects in development).

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treatment. It has to be said that film producers option novels for a variety of reasons, and their plan for an adaptation will vary as a result. Some merely want to reproduce the novel on screen, and will try to remain as faithful as possible to the book. Others may only have been piqued by one aspect of the book - a character, perhaps, or part of the plot - and the treatment will reflect this.

These are books. Old ones. My bet is you love them.

Once a writer has been chosen and the first draft has been delivered, script meetings will take place to assess the state of the script. Its very unusual for a first draft to be entirely free of problems, and the script meeting is a chance for the producer, development staff and possibly the financial backers to discuss the direction of the script and suggest any changes. Sometimes these can be easily resolved, but sometimes there are more fundamental problems, which often require the script to be rewritten by a new writer. Weve all seen feature film credits where the list of writers goes on and on - this is because, unlike theatre, film is not a writers medium. The development of a screenplay is an accretive process, and scripts are often built by many hands. Aside from complete redrafts, there are also what is known as script doctors in the film industry. These are screenwriters (usually very successful ones) who are put onto existing scripts to soupe them up, i.e. to ramp up the dialogue, make the jokes funnier, and generally make the script more commercially viable. All this means that when the script is finally in a position that the company is happy with, it may be far removed from the novel on which it is based. By and large, most of the production companies in the UK are engaged in this

process of adapting literary material. In fact, most of the development time in the UK is spent searching out new novels to adapt (development offices sometimes feel more like libraries than cinematic hotbeds). This is not necessarily the same in the US, where there is a bigger spec (original) script culture. It is a distinction of the UK film industry that its best screenwriters are working not on original projects of their own, but on adaptations of existing material. One of the main reasons for films reliance on the book industry for its material is economic: films are notoriously expensive to make, and because no-one can ever predict which films will do well, they are also very risky. Adaptations provide a way to mitigate the risk entailed in producing expensive films and published books have a market value. A successful novel already comes freighted with its readership, which means there is already a built-in audience for adaptations, the upshot being that they are a less risky proposition to film producers and studio heads. After all, its not hard to predict that a film of Bridget Joness Diary, or the latest Richard and Judy book club favourite, will do well at the box office. Aside from this, the creative fecundity of the book world provides an invaluable source of new and original stories for movie producers desperate for the next great idea. However, while the film industry in the UK is indebted to books for much of its material, it is important to recognize the huge differences in the two mediums. Great books, as we often see, do not necessarily make great movies. Sometimes what makes a book great is specific to its prose, and cannot be recreated on the screen. Nevertheless, so long as there are successful adaptations out there, producers will continue to plumb the publishing industry for new material. Meanwhile, with the fourth Harry Potter just wrapped, pre-production is already starting on number five, and it doesnt look like the Hogwarts Express will be stopping any time soon!
Russell Talbot is a part-time assistant at Heyday Films, the production company of film producer David Heyman. Heyday make the Harry Potter films, and have the rights to several literary novels including Mark Haddons The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and the forthcoming Nicole Krauss novel The History of Love. They are also adapting Homers epic The Odyssey.

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WINNING WORDS, BOOTY-FUL BOOKS

Cl ar e Tru ter r epor ts ba ck fr om th e la st Ox fo rd s pe ake r me eti ng. On 13 April 2005, the Oxford SYP met up with Lisa Gee, Website Editor for the Orange Prize for Fiction, to discuss the prize, which is coincidently celebrating its tenth Anniversary this year. The Orange Prize for Fiction, for those of you who werent able to make the talk, is a prize solely for women writers, sponsored by the mobile phone giant, Orange, and is now considered to be one of the three main literary prizes in the UK. Lisa explained how the prize was originally set up following an all-male shortlist for another award - it was decided that there was a gap in the market and a female-only competition was needed. Both men and women from the publishing industry, along with celebrities, are involved in the Orange Prize. Orange provides the sponsorship for the award and is unique amongst the mobile phone companies for doing so - no other company sponsors a literary award. The prize money of 30,000(!) is donated anonymously and the sculpture awarded to the winner (otherwise known as the Bessie) is made in a different shade of bronze each year. There is a Womens Committee that is appointed by invitation, and a management committee such as people from Orange, and these two committees approve the judges for the competition. Judges are chosen on the basis of being high profile and eminent in their field. There are three main criteria for the prize - originality, accessibility and excellence; this naturally leads to many different opinions about who the winner is, and judging can be a very long process, as it is hard not to be subjective over the choice of a winner. Each year, a group of men is asked to write reviews of the short-listed titles, and with six on the shortlist this year, the footballer David James got to write a review. The judges are, however, all women and this remains faithful to the original nature of the prize. It is not just the winner who benefits from the Orange Prize for Fiction. Orange spends a lot of money promoting the prize in libraries with party packs and also by giving ideas to reading groups, all of which helps to spread the written word and give writing the limelight it deserves. Needless to say, the winning author receives media coverage, a higher advance for her next work and a real boost for her career. Lisa ended her talk with a discussion about the new Orange Award for New Writers: once again a women-only award that shows the commitment Orange has made to writing and the importance it places on the written word. Lisas enthusiasm for the subject made it clear to all of us that she thoroughly enjoys her work and we are all really grateful to her for giving up some of her time to come and explain the Orange Prize for Fiction to us.

See Page 12 for An Audience With Kate Mosse, the founder of the Orange Prize for Fiction.

A small amount of feedback was garnered from last months column, most of it concerning about how I was obsessed with being a writer and a publisher. In fact, all of it. Of course, I know that! Pah! Did I tell you I work in publishing by the way? Time and time again of course, we deliver selfadmonishments, but it is often those that arrive from our most trusted friends that really jar, that spur us into action, and that actually penetrate the fog that surrounds us in our day-to-day routine lives: getting up, eating, going to work and then coming home. It was when my friend turned round and said, You are such an idiot that I took notice of his admonishing phrase. I turned back and said, But Im a writer! He shrugged his shoulders. Thats okay then. Dont worry about it, man. Gurdeep Mattu

N UM L CO

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Getting Started or Staying Alive in the Big Bad Publishing Industry

Six months ago, Helen McGlasson of Kendal, Cumbria, made a big decision. After attending a day organised and financed by CREA (Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency), Helen made up her mind to start publishing her own books. Sniff and Wag publishing was born. The headquarters are No. 4 Nether Street, a small terraced house on the edge of the River Kent. The head office is on the first floor in the converted childrens bedroom. On a purpose built, room-length desk are lined up four laser printers constantly churning out hundreds of copies of Sniff and Wags latest release: Frog The Dog and the Broken Bone. Out of the office window you can see the Cumbrian hills, green as always, and at your feet lies a black and white dog that looks far too intelligent for comfort. Running your own publishing house sound idyllic? Read on, because it might be more hard work than you think Helen writes for children in the 8-12 age group. Her stories are based on her much loved collie, Frog. The Frog the Dog books were first printed to be read in the schools Helen visits in the Lancashire and Cumbrian areas. The collection, however, which now comprises six titles, has become a record seller with local bookshops as well as larger chains. In case youre wondering how much work starting up your own business can be, dont. Helen does everything. A one-woman team she is, simultaneously and at all hours of the day; author, illustrator, editor, printer, publicist, web-editor and even distributor. She is also a part-time tutor for Lancaster Universitys Department of Continued Education, teaching creative writing for children and adults. Frog himself is, of course, an immense publicity asset. He loves children and is very photogenic, which would explain why he is on the back cover of all his books alongside Helen. She still visits local schools to read her books and talk about being an author. This has helped considerably to raise her profile, and the sixth titles tie-in with National Pet Week is putting her in the national media spotlight. Helen and Frog recently attended a national press conference at Crufts with National Pet Week. Sniff and Wag also awards certificates to local child-friendly and dogfriendly tearooms, and is now approached regularly to give talks to local business groups and at literary festivals. Helen not only sells her books herself at her

readings, but also through local bookshops, as well as through the local Ottakars outlets. The tearooms at which she reads distribute copies of Frog the Dog books, and they are also available through the interactive website and on Amazon. Setting up your own business is considered risky at the best of times, but all the hard work seems to have paid off. 60% of Sniff and Wags first four titles (published in November 2004) were sold on to the public by December 31st. Negotiations are currently taking place with Ottakars to sell the books in Scottish branches. Three of the Frog the Dog titles have been nominated for The Lakeland Book of the Year Award. Frogs very own e-club for his growing fan base has quadrupled since January, and Helens new book, Frog the Dog and the Broken Bone is due for publication on 30 April 2005. In April alone, Frog the Dog had a full page article in Cumbria Life magazine, an article and photo in one of the local papers, The Lancaster and Morecambe Citizen, and another big article and photo in The Sunday Post (Post Plus) Magazine. Sniff and Wag publishing is an ambitious company which, considering its success, is justifiable. Events planned so far for the latest book publication launch include book signings, Frog Fun sessions, guest appearances at a Vets Open Day and at Family Fun Days. School children she is reading to are asking Helen to write more Frog stories for them, so an Extreme Frog series, written especially for schools, is currently being planned for the future. Emi li e Conne s He re ar e some q ues tio ns He le n ans wer ed on s etti ng up her o wn comp any. 1. H ow h ard was it to g et sta rte d? How mu ch sup port did y ou ini tial ly ge t? There was more to think about than just getting the books through the publishing process. I had to form my own company, with all that entails; a suitable name, a logo, a brand image and so on. It also meant leaving my comfort zone. I had to give up a small but fixed income in order to go self-employed, and that felt like quite a responsibility. I knew I had to make that leap in order to become better known and get the book sales, but it only started to feel scary once I started spending money to buy the equipment I needed. The Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency run business start-up courses, and having attended I was eligible to apply for a POINT grant, a

InPrint June 2005

thousand pounds, paid in instalments to help startup companies get established. Apart from my car and computer, thats all I had to start the business. Undoubtedly, in business, the more capital one has to start with, the more scope one has, but Ive always found that working to a tight budget helps me to think creatively. For example, I have a company policy of never paying for advertising; there is a lot of free publicity to be had out there. I am very fortunate to have the wholehearted support of my family; I would not want to be in business without that kind of back up. I think it is as important as having financial security. 2. H ow h ard was i t to l ea rn ev ery thi ng you ne ede d to k now? I like to be well prepared in whatever Im doing, so I researched as thoroughly as I could. But I rather think the best way to learn is to actually do it. I had to learn how to run a business, as well as the publishing itself, but there was help available. The Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency has been extremely helpful with business start-up advice, and Nielsens are very approachable and happy to explain the procedures for publishing. I wasnt afraid to say that it was the first time I had been through the process, and asked them to explain various aspects that I was unsure of. Its a continuing learning curve - very fast and steep - but thats part of the fun! 3. Did y ou encou nte r mu ch pre jud ice wi thin th e i ndus tr y fr om b ei ng a s mal l publ is he r, e spe cia ll y amon g th e book se ll er s/ ret ail er s? There has been some prejudice, but not necessarily where I expected it. All the independent bookshops I approached have been enthusiastic, supportive and interested, taking time to look through the books and ask me details on how I work; the chain bookshops are only really interested in how many units they can sell. The Head Buyer of such a chain described my books as this sort of book, implying that it could only be of local interest. Selfpublishing seems to be regarded in some quarters as a form of vanity publishing, which it is most definitely not. Self-publishing falls wherever it is convenient for it to be - in competitions, for example, I will not be eligible for non-published work, because I am published, but I am also barred from entering competitions asking for published work, because selfpublished does not count. No-one has a box to put us in! 4. What woul d be yo ur ke y advi ce to some one th ink ing of found ing the ir own pu bli sh ing hou se ? You have to be able to run a business, and

have a business mindset. You need to be utterly professional and focussed on your goals, and you need to know what your publishing house is going to offer that others dont.

How to get in touch with Helen McGlasson: Sniff and Wag Publishing 4 Nether Street Kendal Cumbria, LA9 7DS Sniff and Wag website: www.frogthedog.com. CREA website: www.crea.co.uk.

QUARK vs. INDESIGN

Jamie Shaw investigates the merits of the two programs. Whatever your favoured area of publishing, you've probably heard of QuarkXPress. For the past decade it has been the de facto page layout program for magazines, books and many other types of print publication. By the mid-nineties PageMaker, once Quark's larger rival, was lagging behind. Adobe is another familiar name in design circles as the company produces software such as Photoshop (image manipulation), Illustrator (drawing) and Acrobat (PDF). A few years ago, they decided to tackle Quark's dominance in the DTP market, not just by updating PageMaker but by producing a brand new program: InDesign. Several versions later, it's now a true competitor to Quark. So which is best?

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Th e argu ment for InDe si gn InDesign has many features that just don't exist in QuarkXPress. The mundane ones are often the most useful: you can copy a headline in your document and paste it in to some body text without bringing the headline style with you, for example, or reset a paragraph's style (leading, perhaps) without affecting additional character styles applied in that paragraph (bold). Unicode is also supported - a benefit to foreign language documents such as Polish or Japanese - and unusual characters are stored in one font and transfer properly between PCs and Macs. InDesign provides comprehensive options for creating tables (want every other line shaded and a header at the top of each page? No problem) and nested styles. Nested styles are potentially a huge timesaver, as you can specify, to use an example you might see in a magazine, that the first two words in a paragraph should be in a different and bold font. Quark users have to manually apply such formatting. InDesign offers many other features, some of them briefly listed here: ability to preview separations onscreen; edit text in a word processor-like window (to avoid other distractions); better control over importing Word documents; ability to add transparency to objects; speed due to numerous keyboard shortcuts; and similarity to Photoshop. Most of the people who have made the switch say they'd never go back to Quark. It's also worth pointing out that InDesign's technical support is better and the product is much cheaper. Staying with QuarkXpress InDesign may offer many features not present in Quark, but they're utterly

pointless if you don't need them. If Quark does the job, why go to the hassle of learning a brand new program? Besides, features such as Unicode font support are due in the next version (7) anyway. In addition, the current version does have some new tricks not present in InDesign: linked tables and picture editing. The first lets you import an Excel spreadsheet (if you were producing a catalogue of prices, say) but remain linked to it so any updates made to the spreadsheet are automatically reflected in Quark. Picture editing provides useful Photoshop-like tools for adjusting the colour of images, cropping, resizing and so on, whilst keeping the original file unaffected. Another addition, multiple layouts and synchronised text, allow several formats of a document in one file (leaflet, business card, web page, say) with text automatically remaining consistent between them. Whi ch o ne is bes t? A look at the features confirms InDesign as better all round and people who have made the switch (which includes BBC magazines, Cond Nast and The Guardian) certainly agree. The issue is more to do with training and the conversion of existing documents, and if that will cost too much or be too time-consuming, then staying with the familiar Quark may be the better option. However, this isn't without problems, as QuarkXpress 6 (the current version) cannot save to version 4, still used by many designers. At Oxford University Press, the standard is Quark 6 but Quark 4 files are still the most common. A few copies of InDesign have been tentatively purchased so things may change over time.

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L ONDON SPEAKER MEETIN G

InPrint June 2005 Book publ ishing: TO DAY AND YESTERDAY
Books entertain, educate, inform and inspire. They are also an important commercial market, and UK publishers are responsible for a world-leading export trade. British book publishing has undergone deep changes in the past decades that could threaten its success, quality and pre-eminence as a world-class brand: increasing control by US-based conglomerates, growing dominance of commercially-minded bookselling chains and supermarkets, new global competition, electronic publishing, and new threats to its lifeblood. We will be joined by a distinguished panel who will discuss how the industry has changed from yesteryear and how it is responding to these challenges.

OXF ORD SPEA KER MEETING

P L EASE G IVE G ENEROUSLY : P ublishing fo r Charit ies Leaflets in the Sunday supplements, websites, supporter magazines and newsletters - what goes into creating the public face of charities? Are the dynamics different when youre not publishing for profit? Come and find out about this fascinating part of the industry. Speakers tbc. Wednesday 8 June 2005 in the Richard Hamilton Building, Headington Hill Campus, Oxford Brookes University, Headington Hill, Oxford 7pm [note later starting time] drinks and nibbles, 7.30pm talk. Members free, nonmembers 3.50.
OXF ORD INT ERNAT IONAL CENT RE FOR PU BLIS HING STU DIE S This centre runs day courses at the Headington Campus of Oxford Brookes University. Course options include classes in QuarkXPress, InDesign, Photoshop, Textbook Marketing, Writing for the Internet and Acrobat. For more information and a booking form, please visit www.brookes.ac.uk/publishing and click on Short Courses or contact Eva Oliver on: 01865 484 957 eoliver@brookes.ac.uk

Wednesday 29 June in the Gallery, 2nd Floor, Foyles Bookshop, Charing Cross Road. 6:30pm for 6:45pm wine provided. 3.50 for non-members, free for SYP members. Join us afterwards for drinks, 8pm onwards in the Pitcher and Piano, Dean Street, Soho. Pr e-subm it questions for our speaker s email them to questions@thesyp.org.uk.

S Y P C AREE RS CON FERE NCE Nove mber 2005 This will be taking place in Oxford in October. Last year's conference was such a great success, don't miss out this time! See www.thesyp.org.uk for further details in the near future.

A N AU DIENC E WI TH KAT E M OSSE 4th J uly The London SYP has the pleasure of inviting you to a talk by Kate Mosse, founder of the Orange Prize for Fiction, on Monday 4 July, 7:30pm at Swedenborg Hall in Bloomsbury Way. Kate will be sharing a wealth of publishing knowledge and experience with us, and her books will be on sale at a discounted price on the evening. There will be a limited amount of places - em ail C la ir e at c sh anahan@t hesy p.org.uk wit h your name and cont act de tails if y ou w ould like to at te nd. The ev ening is fr ee for all SY P membe r s an d 3.50 f or non- membe r s.

Society of Young Publishers

c/o The Bookseller Endeavour House 189 Shaftesbury Avenue London WC2H 8TJ E-mail : mail@thesyp.org.uk Website: www.thesyp.org.uk

Ed itors Rebecca Mills Gurdeep Mattu Con trib utors

Suzanna Henry Emilie Connes Rebecca Mills Marti Heap Russell Talbot Tanay Burcu Ural Clare Truter Claire Shanahan Jamie Shaw Victoria Nicholl

Printed by: Abbey Green, Old Woking, Surrey

SYP

Society of Young
Est. 1949

Publishers

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Disclaimer: The Society of Young Publishers would like readers to note that any views expressed herein do not represent the opinions of the society as a whole and only reflect the opinions of the individuals who have submitted material.