Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Men at work and women who publish

You can all breathe a sigh of relief; the heating’s on. What bliss to be able to go from room to room with an electric fire in tow, which still didn’t do the job properly. And if any of you are thinking I’m a wimp to need heating in this bright sunny weather, I can tell you that in our neck of the woods, the temperature drops by as much as 2 to 3 degrees on Guildford’s temperature, which is already lower than London, and last night there was a frost. Nevertheless, the forsythia is in bloom.



Yesterday, I spent most of the day cleaning. M is the messiest workman I know. Thank goodness, most of his work is in an industrial setting where they don’t mind a trail of oil, or dirty fingerprints. I’ve been sweeping, hoovering and wiping off marks, all over the house – and this is despite the fact that the new boiler was installed in the utility room. I still haven’t finished, but office work takes the priority this morning, as my desk is getting full. Thank goodness, one of M’s regulars called him out this morning; he couldn’t wait to get out of the house, not even pausing for a cuppa. And I have the house to myself for the first time in a week. What bliss.

Last week, I was happy to get out when I could. A speedily arranged trip to the hairdresser was a brief escape. (In any case, my hair looked an absolute mess, and is now somewhat improved.) I also went to London on Friday to meet my friend, Pam, although this didn’t turn out as planned. My friend had a call for an important medical procedure (a cancellation had occurred) just as she was leaving the house, and couldn’t reach me in time to cancel. I have to confess that I never have my mobile turned on, which probably gives an indication of my true age. I got to Charing Cross and only then, when a few moments had passed after our meeting time, did I switch it on and discover that I’d made the journey in vain. I immediately returned home, but the trip was not wasted, as I spent the journey writing a story for a Writers’ News (http://www.writers.co.uk/) competition. Title: Life was going nowhere.

Last night a Goldenford meeting with my fellow directors, Jennifer, Irene (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/blacks.house/) and Anne (http://www.annebrooke.com/). We discussed our future books.

I am still in a quandary about giving up on a mainstream publisher. Now I know that Anne has said - What’s the quandary? Why is it a bigger step to go with Goldenford than to try a well-known publisher. I have been published by a mainstream publisher and I have self published. I know that once I was in the hands of a mainstream publisher, I could relax and let them get on with the work, whereas when I was trying to get The Fruit of the Tree off the ground, it was a constant effort. I enjoyed being published by Thorsons, my first publisher. I enjoyed being passed from the commissioning editor to another editor; then when the book was published, put in the hands of the publicity department. I enjoyed the fact that I was sent to radio stations all over the country for a four week period and that press cuttings were sent to me for several months. We at Goldenford cannot command that sort of interest, and neither could I when I published Fruit. What’s more, I enjoyed receiving royalty statements from Thorsons and knowing, in the end, that several thousand copies of my book had been sold. Publishers are telling their authors these days that they must assist with marketing. And of course, I’m prepared to do that. But I don’t want to carry the whole weight on my shoulders. Neither do I want my favourite book (favourite of those I’ve written, I mean) to have a smaller readership than it deserves.

3 comments:

Anne Brooke said...

Ah, the difference between fiction and non-fiction, Jackie! - a case in point!!

A
xxx

Jackie Luben said...

But is this the difference between fiction and non-fiction, or the difference between mainstream and small publishers or self publishers? What I want to achieve is to have my books sold without me having to know the recipient.

Anne Brooke said...

Both, I think. And what you want may not, at first, be possible, I'm afraid - not in the current UK climate at least. These days, it's just as wise to start small and then build up your brand so that a few books down the line someone might see.

But even if they don't, you've still had the deep writers' pleasure of actually communicating. I get a big thrill from someone I know looking at me with astonished surprise at what I've actually written - it's the best!

A
xxx