Bestselling behaviour
I had an idea for a book based on an obscure moment in history and, frankly, it looked as if it was going to stay that way. Most literary agents ignored the idea, a few replied (to reject it), one or two bought me a coffee but disappeared like the froth on their cappuccino.
Called The Scattered, it involves the ethnic cleansing of a small colony of French-speaking people called the Acadians. They are descendants of French settlers in Nova Scotia and lived there peaceably until they were subjected to British rule and driven out in October 1755 at the start of the Seven Years War. Some were sent to prisoner-of-war camps in England where hundreds died of smallpox and starvation. Even at the end of the war they were not allowed to return to their homeland and sent to France.
It’s a love story too. The story is based on one – real – character whose wife died in a Liverpool prison and who was left with two children. Even though he found new happiness with a second wife and a new family, he and his fellow victims had to endure a total of 30 years in exile. Eventually the Acadians were sent to Louisiana where, in time, their descendants became known as the Cajuns.
When I got my 19th rejection slip – or was it 119th? – I decided to publish it myself.
There are several DIY outfits, such as Lulu or Blurb, but because Amazon’s own CreateSpace took the trouble to phone me – shrewd marketing – and because they are the most powerful, I went with them. In the US , CreateSpace is behind the creation of 58,412 titles, or 39 per cent of all self-published print books.
The process starts with a questionnaire in which the writer outlines the plot and identifies the potential audience. If you opt for an editing service you upload the manuscript in, say, an A4 format, and it is delivered to an editor.
All the ePublishers stress the free’n’easy nature of the project but it can prove expensive. Comprehensive copy-editing costs 10 pence per word, which would have been more than £1,100 in my case, and it offers only one critique, with no further discussion.
Their cover costs an extra £217. I had a long conversation with the designer and said I had something apocalyptic in mind. I was surprised to be offered a cover with flying bombs and lurid explosions – not exactly 18th century. In the end I roughed out my own design.
Such is my computer incompetence that I opted for the basic formatting option, which, for £93, ensures the work meets ‘submission requirements’.
I thought it meant they would iron out untidy pages if, say, there was a line short at the bottom of a page, or help get the spacing correct on chapter headings. Not so. Nor does it help with typefaces for the body copy or the size of chapter headings. I opted for the familiar Times New Roman face but it was surprising how much work is involved in getting the pages to look attractive – or at least, clear and readable. It took me more than two laborious months to get the format right, which involved Kafka-esque exchanges with ‘Member Support’ and expensive phone calls to the US command centre to seek advice from the likes of Kandys and Mariana. Delightful, by the way.
I found it so tricky to meet the submission requirements that I used up the allowance of two sets of marks per nal manuscript and had to pay another £93 just to get the pages numbered. Perhaps you have to be more computer-friendly than I am. De nitely more patient.
If writers opt for a package, which includes the formatting, editing and the cover, they are given 20 free books – essential for review copies, though I have had good response from potential reviewers by sending a PDF and a copy of the cover.
Optimists say that DIY authors can make a generous living wage, but according to The Guardian, half make less than £312.
Well, my book has been on sale for a few weeks and the publicity machine – ie, me writing to newspaper editors and book editors here and in North America – has had some encouraging reactions.
But it’s been hard work. I don’t know about The Scattered – the way I feel, it should be The Shattered.
www.createspace.com www.lulu.com or www.blurb.co.uk
The Scattered by Richard Holledge is available from Amazon, priced £8.54, and on Kindle, priced £5.14
Self-published stars…
NEVER FORGET: GEORGE FS BOWLES, A BIOGRAPHY, Julia Budworth, 2001
Julia, whose grandfather founded The Lady, privately published this book for family and friends only, at a cost of less than £3,000, plus £1,000 for the editing.
THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT, Beatrix Potter, 1901
This was turned down by six publishers so Potter self-published 250 copies.
WHAT COLOUR IS YOUR PARACHUTE, Richard Nelson Bolles, 1970
A book, by Episcopal clergyman Richard Nelson Bolles, which has sold more than six million copies in 11 languages.
A TIME TO KILL, John Grisham, 1989
Grisham sold his first work out of the boot of his car.
THE JOY OF COOKING, Irma Rombauer, 1931
The author used money from her late husband’s estate to self-publish, as part of a project for the First Unitarian Women’s Alliance in St Louis. Sales now top 100,000 copies per year.
ACROSS ASIA ON THE CHEAP, Tony and Maureen Wheeler, 1973
The Wheelers subsequently founded Lonely Planet, which now publishes titles about places all over the world.
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, EL James, 2011
A work of erotic fiction that forms part of a trilogy, which was first released as an eBook.
WHEN I AM AN OLD WOMAN I SHALL WEAR PURPLE, edited by Sandra Haldeman Martz
A collection of stories and poems that has sold more than 4 million copies, enabling Martz to start her own publishing house – Papier-Mâché Press.
50 SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE THE EARTH, John Javna, 1989
Just in time to catch the environmental awareness movement of the 1980s, Javna’s book topped bestseller lists for months and has sold more than 4.5 million copies.
THE CHRISTMAS BOX, Richard Paul Evans, 1993
An 87- page book that took Evans six weeks to write. It did so well that Simon & Schuster snapped it up for more than $4m.
MARY ELLEN’S BEST OF HELPFUL HINTS, Mary Ellen Pinkham, 1979
Queen of all things domestic, Pinkham’s book very quickly became a bestseller.
THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, William Strunk and EB White, 1918
Originally published for his classes at Cornell University, it has now sold more than 10 million copies.
REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST, Marcel Proust, 1913
So many publishers rejected this that Proust decided to pay the publication costs himself.
By Katie De Klee
Called The Scattered, it involves the ethnic cleansing of a small colony of French-speaking people called the Acadians. They are descendants of French settlers in Nova Scotia and lived there peaceably until they were subjected to British rule and driven out in October 1755 at the start of the Seven Years War. Some were sent to prisoner-of-war camps in England where hundreds died of smallpox and starvation. Even at the end of the war they were not allowed to return to their homeland and sent to France.
It’s a love story too. The story is based on one – real – character whose wife died in a Liverpool prison and who was left with two children. Even though he found new happiness with a second wife and a new family, he and his fellow victims had to endure a total of 30 years in exile. Eventually the Acadians were sent to Louisiana where, in time, their descendants became known as the Cajuns.
When I got my 19th rejection slip – or was it 119th? – I decided to publish it myself.
There are several DIY outfits, such as Lulu or Blurb, but because Amazon’s own CreateSpace took the trouble to phone me – shrewd marketing – and because they are the most powerful, I went with them. In the US , CreateSpace is behind the creation of 58,412 titles, or 39 per cent of all self-published print books.
The process starts with a questionnaire in which the writer outlines the plot and identifies the potential audience. If you opt for an editing service you upload the manuscript in, say, an A4 format, and it is delivered to an editor.
All the ePublishers stress the free’n’easy nature of the project but it can prove expensive. Comprehensive copy-editing costs 10 pence per word, which would have been more than £1,100 in my case, and it offers only one critique, with no further discussion.
Their cover costs an extra £217. I had a long conversation with the designer and said I had something apocalyptic in mind. I was surprised to be offered a cover with flying bombs and lurid explosions – not exactly 18th century. In the end I roughed out my own design.
Such is my computer incompetence that I opted for the basic formatting option, which, for £93, ensures the work meets ‘submission requirements’.
I found it so tricky to meet the submission requirements that I used up the allowance of two sets of marks per nal manuscript and had to pay another £93 just to get the pages numbered. Perhaps you have to be more computer-friendly than I am. De nitely more patient.
If writers opt for a package, which includes the formatting, editing and the cover, they are given 20 free books – essential for review copies, though I have had good response from potential reviewers by sending a PDF and a copy of the cover.
Optimists say that DIY authors can make a generous living wage, but according to The Guardian, half make less than £312.
Well, my book has been on sale for a few weeks and the publicity machine – ie, me writing to newspaper editors and book editors here and in North America – has had some encouraging reactions.
But it’s been hard work. I don’t know about The Scattered – the way I feel, it should be The Shattered.
www.createspace.com www.lulu.com or www.blurb.co.uk
The Scattered by Richard Holledge is available from Amazon, priced £8.54, and on Kindle, priced £5.14
Self-published stars…
NEVER FORGET: GEORGE FS BOWLES, A BIOGRAPHY, Julia Budworth, 2001Julia, whose grandfather founded The Lady, privately published this book for family and friends only, at a cost of less than £3,000, plus £1,000 for the editing.
THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT, Beatrix Potter, 1901
This was turned down by six publishers so Potter self-published 250 copies.
WHAT COLOUR IS YOUR PARACHUTE, Richard Nelson Bolles, 1970
A book, by Episcopal clergyman Richard Nelson Bolles, which has sold more than six million copies in 11 languages.
A TIME TO KILL, John Grisham, 1989
Grisham sold his first work out of the boot of his car.
THE JOY OF COOKING, Irma Rombauer, 1931
The author used money from her late husband’s estate to self-publish, as part of a project for the First Unitarian Women’s Alliance in St Louis. Sales now top 100,000 copies per year.
ACROSS ASIA ON THE CHEAP, Tony and Maureen Wheeler, 1973
The Wheelers subsequently founded Lonely Planet, which now publishes titles about places all over the world.
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, EL James, 2011
A work of erotic fiction that forms part of a trilogy, which was first released as an eBook.
WHEN I AM AN OLD WOMAN I SHALL WEAR PURPLE, edited by Sandra Haldeman Martz
A collection of stories and poems that has sold more than 4 million copies, enabling Martz to start her own publishing house – Papier-Mâché Press.
50 SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE THE EARTH, John Javna, 1989
Just in time to catch the environmental awareness movement of the 1980s, Javna’s book topped bestseller lists for months and has sold more than 4.5 million copies.
THE CHRISTMAS BOX, Richard Paul Evans, 1993
An 87- page book that took Evans six weeks to write. It did so well that Simon & Schuster snapped it up for more than $4m.
MARY ELLEN’S BEST OF HELPFUL HINTS, Mary Ellen Pinkham, 1979
Queen of all things domestic, Pinkham’s book very quickly became a bestseller.
THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, William Strunk and EB White, 1918
Originally published for his classes at Cornell University, it has now sold more than 10 million copies.
REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST, Marcel Proust, 1913
So many publishers rejected this that Proust decided to pay the publication costs himself.
By Katie De Klee