'919 copies.'
There was an audible gasp across the crowded room when Terri Ann White from UWA Publishing announced this number.
That's the average number of Australian Fiction copies sold. A book is considered to have a good print run if it sells 3000 copies.
Interesting.
Even more interesting was the cost breakdown she shared with us.
However, before I share that I wanted to follow on from my previous post by saying that part 2 of the day saw agent Lyn Tranter from talking to us. This is the kind of person who clearly takes no prisoners. In the industry she's in she can't afford to.
As Melanie Ostell an editor at UWA Publishing pithily said: 'This is an industry where you kill your darlings.'
I lost count of the number of people I have seen this week who've stood up at various panels I've been to and said plaintively that they simply can't seem to get an agent or get their MS in front of well, anybody.
What Lyn said made sense to me. You simply have to find ways round that. She joked about being an agent's dogwalker and remaining persistent throughout.
Interesting points she raised included:
-just because it's true doesn't make it interesting
-what will drive you with your MS is that you love your story with a passion
-make sure your dialogue has single quotes rather than double quotes. Double space your MS and use a sans serif type face
-she's looking for a voice that's going to go out and do magic for her
-send in a synopsis and 2 sample chapters and your writing in the first few pages has to be immaculate.
I can't underline enough the importance of getting a structural edit on your MS and trying to score yourself an agent before approaching a publishing house. It was made very clear to me that these two things are pretty crucial to getting published.
There were other fantastic speakers who made some great points. If your MS is accepted you have to be prepared to work collaboratively with your Editor at the publishing house. Over the weekend I was in a workshop with a woman who refused to work with the editor at the publishing house, because she simply refused to alter the nature of her characters ever so slightly. That had been several years ago and she'd been unable to find a new agent or editor since. She was obviously very bitter and it was a salutary lesson in the need to show flexibility when working with your editor. Amanda Curtin former editor turned author of The Sinkings (brilliant book btw) made the following points:
-editors ask LOTS of questions. Try not to be defensive in the editorial process.
-as a writer keep good records
-plan a style sheet with a family tree, chronology of events and record of people and places. This is very helpful for you and your editor.
Once you've got your book to publication stage then the fun starts. Kind of. Emma Morris the publicist from Scribe explained the days of book tours have changed. Instead they try to get their authors to book festivals. She also advised people to do any and all publicity they can and to make themselves available during release time.
I learned this week that most books have a shelf life of 2 months, so those early days you should do everything from local paper interviews through to radio if you're lucky enough to get a spot. And if you aren't using Social Media already then get going!
And the numbers?
When a consumer buys your book, you get 10%.
20-27.5% goes to the book distributor; 40% to the book seller and the rest to the publisher (Printing, design, editing, are all costs deducted from here too)
Uh huh.
