Issue 108

InPrint
The Newsletter of the Society of Young Publishers
Kate Mosse, Co-Founder of the Orange Prize for Fiction, discusses her dbut novel and her new occupation as a proper writer.

SYP
July 2005

Society of Young
Est. 1949

Publishers

POACHER TURNED GAMEKEEPER?

changed a great deal since I left Random House in 1990. But through my television and radio work, as well as through the Orange Prize for Fiction, Ive seen how bookselling has developed, how the 3 for 2 deals and summer reading promotions you name it affect not only sales, but also how your publisher thinks of you and your chances. Its a crowded market and reps and sales forces have a hell of a time promoting their authors. My publishing experience means that when I receive emails from reps to tell me how many they have subbed into a particular shop, I know precisely how well theyve done. Happily, the news is good, but if things werent going so well, Id know that too Not many editors become authors. My insider knowledge as a publisher has helped me write but, more importantly, reviewing and teaching creative writing have been invaluable in developing my own skills as a novelist. To share this process, at the beginning of the writing process for Labyrinth, my husband and I established a creative reading and writing website. The idea was simple and the Internet was better than giving away a CD with the finished book. Firstly, I wanted to share my research material all the information I had gathered about thirteenth century France, where Labyrinth is partly set, that I couldnt use in the novel itself so that others might be inspired, and even be able to make use of it in their own work. Secondly, I wanted to find a way of giving online advice, in the same way as one might speaking at a literary festival or creative writing class. The process of writing fascinates all readers, whoever their favourite authors are. In addition to all the usual tips writing tricks, how to find an agent, how to get published I also wrote a weekly online diary, just so people could see the way in which, over time, a novelist brought a book together.

Labyrinth is my third novel and my fifth fulllength book yet I feel like a debut author about to venture into the world for the first time. Its an odd experience, although strangely exhilarating. Partly, its because it has a very different character from anything Ive done before. But, more significantly, its because the experience of researching, writing, re-writing, editing which took four years from start to finish has been an extraordinary learning process. For the first time, I feel like a proper writer, rather than a reader who also writes. For the first time I would, if asked, put writer as occupation on my passport. Its inevitable, perhaps, for someone who has spent all of her working life in and around books in one capacity or another publisher, prize administrator, reviewer, teacher, judge that there would be a certain amount of schizophrenia about adding the author label firmly to the list. In many ways, its a huge advantage knowing such a lot about the industry, even though publishing has

Contents: Kate Mosse 1-2, Kate Mosse Timeline 3, London Speaker Meeting 4 , Being A Turkish Publisher 5-6, Publishing in Ireland and the UK 7, Workshop: Getting That Job 8, Cultural Diversity in Publishing 9, Emilie Connes 10 , Gurdeeps Column 11, News and Events 12

InPrint July 2005

Thirdly, it was a helpful way of organising my own work and thoughts. Although none of my actual text for Labyrinth appears on the site, it was a way of working publicly that was exciting rather like building up your potential readership in advance. Go to the site www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk and see what you think. Add your own list of favourite books in Bookfriends, or email in your own writing tips for the Advice for Writers. So what of Labyrinth itself? Its a womens adventure story set half in medieval and half in contemporary Carcassonne. I wanted to produce a new genre, adventure writing for women. Both the main characters are women and although theres plenty of love, fun and sex, they are not the main points of the novel. I was bored with girl-meets-boy stories (or, worse, girl meets boy, then loses him ) in commercial fiction. I wanted to create determined, active female characters: Wilbur Smith for girls, as one reviewer called it! Im also very influenced by the spirit of place and setting. We bought a tiny place in Carcassonne sixteen years ago, knowing nothing about the town at all, a tiny house in the shadow of the medieval Cit. On Bastille Day, 14 July, fireworks exploded all around us, the spent casings showered down in a flurry of sparks and flames into our garden. Carcassonne is an hour from the Mediterranean and 90 minutes from the nearest Pyrenean ski resort. Its a town divided: the medieval fortified Cit sits up on the hill on one side of the River Aude; the grid of the nineteenthcentury Bastide, or lower town, is on the north bank. To the north is the Montagne Noire, to the East the vines of the Minervois and the Corbires, to the south the wilder landscape of the Arige beyond Mirepoix, Limoux and Foix. In 1989, there was no Ryanair flying twice a day into the tiny Carcassonnais airport , so you flew to Toulouse or Perpignan and made your way from there. I fell in love with the town the moment I stepped off the train and there were hardly any English tourists. It hadnt yet been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site and many monuments were in ruins. But the history of the place, both medieval and more recent, sucked me in. I became fascinated by the old language of the region (Occitan, rather than French) and the very different culture of the south-west of France. Every holiday, I learned a little more. I discovered the heretic Christian Cathars and the various legends of the city itself and the surrounding countryside. I drank chilled ros in a

caf where langue doc was spoken between friends, visited the bilingual Occitan/French school, heard vibrant medieval music played by local people on authentic instruments in the streets and Occitan poets and historians reclaiming the regions past the Greeks hundreds of years before Christ; Romans in the first century BCE; the Visigoths in the fifth century CE; the Albigensian Crusade in the thirteenth century, the decline of Carcassonnes military importance in the eighteenth century; the Occupation by the Nazis in the twentieth. In 2005, there will be three million visitors to Carcassonne a third of them Englishspeaking and it is the second most visited site in France outside Paris. But, despite the industrial tourism, the spirit of place is strong. The real Carcassonne is there still, behind the ice creams and plastic swords and jousts set up in the lists of the castle during the summer. Its a story told in the rocks and the garrigue, the shadows and the storms, the street names, the landscape, going back a thousand years and more. After all, the walls of our house were built three hundred years ago with stones, like great white eggs, looted from an earlier castle In writing Labyrinth, I have tried to do justice to both the place and to the characters with which Ive peopled it: a few of them are real people from history, but theyre mostly imaginary. Soon, Ill know if Ive succeeded in sharing my love of the place and my swordwielding heroines with other people. Soon, this period of waiting will be over and my novel will be in the shops. Publication day is 7 July which happens to be, amongst other things, my husbands and my editors and, amazingly, also my PR persons birthday. If I believed in such things, Id say such synchronicity was a good sign! However, since I dont, like every other author waiting for their book to be published, Ill have to hold my nerve a while longer.

bientt Labyrinth by Kate Mosse is published by Orion on 7 July, 9.99 hardback.

Kat e Mo sse w il l be In Co nv ersat io n wi t h Tr acy Chev ali er , tal kin g abou t th e per i ls and pi tf al l s of wr it in g h i stor i cal fi ct i on , at Th e G al ler y, Fo yl es, 113 -119 Char i ng Cro ss R oad, at 6. 3 0pm o n Thu r sday 7 Ju ly. C al l 0 20 74 40 3 227 for detai l s.

InPrint July 2005

Timeline: KATE MOSSE CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Writer and broadcaster Kate Mosse was born in 1961 and lives with her husband and two children in West Sussex and Carcassonne, south-west France. The Co-Founder and Honorary Director of the Orange Prize for Fiction, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in June 2005, she presents Saturday Review for BBC Radio 4. Her commercial fiction debut, Labyrinth, is published on 7 July and has already been sold in more than fifteen countries.
1984 Graduates from New College, Oxford (BA Hons English Language & Literature) and starts in publishing as Editorial Assistant at Hodder & Stoughton 1985 After merger, becomes Editorial Assistant at Century; joins WiP 1986 Assistant Editor at new company Century Hutchinson; joins NUJ; committee member of WiP 1987 Editor at Hutchinson; elected Mother of Chapel of NUJ for Random House 1988 Becomes Chair of Book Branch of the NUJ nationally; publishing range of non-fiction authors including Sheila Hancock, Tony Benn, Clare Short, Vitali Vitaliev and historian Robert Conquest 1989 Becomes Editorial Director at Radius; authors include Croatian novelist Slavenka Drakulic 1990 Appointed as Publishing Director of Century/Ballantine 1992 Leaves publishing to write and founds Orange Prize for Fiction 1993 Becoming a Mother (Virago) published 1996 (January) Orange Prize for Fiction launched at ICA in London 1996 (May) First OPF won by Helen Dunmore 1996 (June) Eskimo Kissing (Hodder & Stoughton) published 1997 The House: Behind the Scenes at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (BBC Books) published to accompany award-winning BBC2 series 1998 Crucifix Lane (HodderHeadline) published 1998 2001 Deputy Director of Chichester Festival Theatre, West Sussex the first woman ever to hold the position 2000 Wins European Woman of Achievement for the Arts 2001 Elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts 2001 Chair of Orange Futures, a promotional initiative to highlight 21 female novelists under 35 2002 (March) Elected to the board of Arts & Business 2002 (April) Appointed to the board of Arts Council England South-East 2002-03 Presents BBC Fours flagship books programme, The Readers & Writers Roadshow (records 60 shows in 18 months!) 2002 (June) Judges Aventis Science Book of the Year Awards 2002 With husband, author and translator Greg Mosse, launches the creative reading and writing website www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk 2003 With husband Greg, sets up Mosse Associates Ltd 2003 Starts as a presenter for BBC Radio 4s Saturday Review 2004 Elected to board of South-West Sussex Arts Group 2004 Joins Board of Creative Industries Unit of British Council 2005 (January) Launches new prize, Orange Award for New Writers, in association with Arts Council of England 2005 (March) Chairs International Young Publisher of the Year Awards for British Council 2005 (June) Orange Prize for Fiction celebrates 10th Anniversary 2005 (July) Publication of commercial fiction debut, Labyrinth (Orion)

AN AUDIENCE WITH KATE MOSSE

The London SYP has the pleasure of inviting you to a talk by Kate Mosse on Monday 4 July, 7.30pm at Swedenborg Hall in Bloomsbury Way, WC1. Kate will be sharing a wealth of publishing knowledge and experience with us, and her book will be on sale at a discounted price on the evening. There is a limited amount of places email Claire at cshanahan@thesyp.org.uk with your name and contact details if you would like to attend. The evening is free to all SYP members and 3.50 for non-members.

London Chair: Victoria Nicholl chair@thesyp.org.uk Secr e tar y: Tonia Mamai secretary@thesyp.org.uk Web Manager : Toby Rhind-Tutt webmaster@thesyp.org.uk InPrint Edit or: Rebecca Mills inprint@thesyp.org.uk InPrint Produ ction Man ager : Gurdeep Mattu gmattu@thesyp.org.uk Memb er sh ip Secr e tar y: Doug Wallace membersec@thesyp.org.uk

Social Se cr eta rie s: Claire Shanahan cshanahan@thesyp.org.uk Rebecca Fox rfox@thesyp.org.uk Job Data base Coor dinator Mariza OKeeffe jobs@thesyp.org.uk Pre ss Of ficer : Louise Rhind-Tutt press@thesyp.org.uk Spe ake r M ee ting Coor dinator s: Tej Sood tsood@thesyp.org.uk Suzanne Arnold sarnold@thesyp.org.uk Company Rep Co- ordinat or Rachel Lander rlander@thesyp.org.uk

T re asure r: Amelia Allsop treasurer@thesyp.org.uk Ox ford Ch air: Holly Myers hmyers@nelsonthornes.com T re asure r: Kim Hunt Kimberly_574@yahoo.co.uk S ecr et ary : Katy Hawker katehawker@hotmail.com In print Nort her n Cor re spondent Emilie Connes e.connes@lancaster.co.uk In print Liasion: Clar e T rut er inprintliasion@thesyp.org.uk

E ve nts A manda Last or ia amandalastoria@alumni.sfu.ca Pr omotions Co- ordinat or: Becky Simms becky.simms@oup.com E ve nt Co- ordinat or: Deb Sanders youngpublishers@fsmail.net W eb E ditor : Jamie Shaw oxfordweb@thesyp.org.uk B rook es Liaison Rebecca Dimeny 04037273@brookes.ac.uk k

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A VINDICATION OF THE FOREIGN RIGHTS OF THE WRITTEN WORD

The impression gained from the May speaker meeting on foreign rights was that in order to be successful, you need to have something of a split personality. One side of you must be a hard-nosed, business-like cynic with a meticulous eye for detail and a firm line in negotiation. The other must have a passion for ideas and a love of books. No wonder the field of foreign rights is so often misunderstood. In order to promote rights awareness one speaker professed her long-standing, personal crusade to enlighten editors on the issue the SYP invited Isabel la Steer, Rights Director at IB Tauris, Pau l Marsh of the Marsh Literary Agency, which specialises in selling translation rights, and Clar e Ho dder , Rights Manger at Palgrave Macmillan to discuss the topic in May. that 80% of sales in Europe are fiction, whilst in Japan, 80% are non-fiction. Clare outlined the tried and tested rules that normally dictate which books will be the most successful overseas. Firstly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, short books are favoured over long ones, as these are cheaper to translate, with the exception of China where the price of the book is dictated by the number of pages. Cultural differences can affect a sale and international books work best. Despite cautiously following these rules, some surprises always crop up: Clare recounted how her team sold the Nepalese rights to a book called Swiss Democracy! When asked if you need to know many languages to be successful in the field of rights, it became evident that the language proficiency of the speakers varied hugely. Clare, who had accidentally fallen into rights, told the audience that her knowledge of a foreign language amounts to a Spanish GCSE, while Isabella speaks every European language except German. Paul speaks very good German, which was beneficial when his agency expanded into this territory. The panel agreed that the skill of a foreign language is not a necessary prerequisite for a career in foreign rights (although it helps establish and impress contacts), demonstrated by Isabellas anecdote about pretending not to know the language in order to put the foreign publisher at a disadvantage! When asked how important it was to them that they sold literary rights instead of, for example, shares or cars, Isabella responded by citing her interest in selling ideas and creating worlds, but she admitted that an enthusiasm for ideas was not enough to sell the product. For this reason, a rights manager needs to be commercialy -minded. Clare agreed, telling the audience that although she might not always understand the content of a hefty academic tome, the ability to communicate the selling points and a passion for the product are essential. Ar e yo u lo oki n g for w or k ex peri en ce in Ri gh t s? P alg rav e Macm il lan is alw ays lo oki ng for keen w or k ex peri en ce assi stan ts for m or e detai l s, c on tac t Clar e H o dder at c .h o dder @pal gr av e. c om .

Isabella began the discussion by explaining why foreign rights are sold and their importance within the industry. She described it as an area that is involved in every aspect of publishing; where content meets commerce in a constantly changing environment. It was, as she put it, the intellectual glue of the business. The importance of foreign sales was made clear, from profilebuilding to the publicity generated by foreign sales (according to Clare, foreign rights are Palgrave Macmillans second biggest earner after photocopying rights sales), as was the nurturing of relationships and contacts with other like-minded foreign publishers. The risks, as well as the hopes, of finding the next super hit are what makes the job challenging and fun. Unfortunately, it isnt all kudos and excitement. Paul, who described himself as a glorified sub-agent, emphasised that the fundamentals of selling translation rights were attention to detail and paper work (involving a mass of grim tax redemption forms), as well as a working knowledge of the basic publishing contract. Market know-how is also essential, as Paul cites

BEING A TURKISH PUBLISHER Part II

InPrint July 2005
Tanay Burcu Ural continues her account of publishing in Turkey...
'When a translator submits the value of a piece of translation, should they count the number of words in the original text or the number of words in the translation?' I began to ponder this question the other day when I gave someone a piece to be translated. We agreed on a word count-based fee, but when she had finished it we had this exact disagreement: she was counting the translated words while I was counting the words of the original text - almost half the number. Usually when we ask someone to translate something, we agree on a flat fee or on a royalty. To be commercially aware, you should always know the costs before you build your business. For example, if you do a translation from Italian, English or any other well-known language, according to the aforementioned basis, you would earn a different amount each time. In addition, less widely-spoken languages will have their own price; it's a difficult situation. Sometimes it seems like translators earn almost the same amount as writers do from royalties. I'm not sure how it works in other countries, but in Turkey you earn almost the same amount translating a piece for a magazine as you do writing an article or short story. As in other countries, writers, translators and illustrators in Turkey all work on a royalty basis and the percentage depends on their bargain ability derived from their popularity in the sector. If you are new to publishing you have to accept the conditions that companies propose to you, which often force you to accept a flat fee (this does not apply to writers). During our International Young Publisher of the Year visits, we discussed the problems that independent publishers have with Bridget Shine from the Independent Publishers Guild, Gary Pulsifer from Arcadia Books, Rosemarie Hudson from BlackAmber Books and Bill Godber from Turnaround Publisher Services. I discovered that an independent publisher in the developed UK publishing industry has almost the same problems as a counterpart in the small Turkish publishing sector when it comes to distribution. The distribution network in Turkish publishing is not widespread and the book reaches the reader in different ways: The publishing houses either distribute their books to booksellers themselves or via distributors. Existing distributors work wherever they are located -generally in big cities. If you work on your own, it is not possible for your books to be sold in big stores because they usually ask for a substantial amount of money to register your books' barcodes on their computer system. Even if you do succeed in getting your books to them, there is no way of exhibiting your books in a democratic way. If you work with a big distributor, there can be even more problems. Larger distributors usually have their own publishing houses and therefore focus more on distributing their own products. Initially, they might not even publish books, but after a few years they move into the publishing sector and use their own distribution networks. Even if you have a small boutique book store or a chain store with numerous branches, considering that in general you only earn 30% of the retail price and books might not sell too quickly, you will be forced to sell other products such as CDs, DVDs, toys, and stationery accessories. The advantage of small book stores is the quality of the relationship between the reader (the customer) and the employee (the salesperson); someone working in a small book store has more of an idea of what they are selling. However in chain book stores, there is a higher staff turnover and they have much less information about the products. Nevertheless, one advantage of the chain book stores is discounts: these stores base discounts on retail prices and may also offer their customers better payment facilities, such as paying in instalments. The most exciting stop of the IYPY tour was at TBS, a high-tech wholesaler. It is worth taking the time to visit, if you ever get the opportunity. TBS only works with 13 publishing houses and has 26,000 titles in stock. They use an automation system to prepare orders, which are controlled by barcodes, so if an order is wrong, the machine recognises this by the weight of the box. In Turkey, there is no such big wholesaler for books. Occasionally the distributor receives a big discount for some products from a publisher and, in that instance, it will play the role of a wholesaler. The most active marketing in Turkey is 'door-to-door' marketing. Salesmen go to offices, houses or schools and sell books directly to customers. Products sold in this way are usually different from the books distributed to sales

points. In Turkey, the 'door-to-door' sales technique results in a large has a big share of sales, and without it, the publishing sector could not exist. We also have street markets in Turkey where books are sold. In some countries, these street exhibitions are organised periodically for second-hand books. However, in Turkey, these stands are not temporary but permanent. After some time, many of these markets metamorphose into centres where pirated books are sold. In Turkey, book fairs are organised where books are sold at discount prices. Our book fairs do not have such a commercial role as in the other countries where the publisher-distributorbookseller relationship is established, where the artists meet the publishers and where the international publications and copyright commerce takes place. Our book fairs highlight the poor setup of the distribution network: readers who buy the discounted books at fairs have often waited a year to buy their listed books. I have visited most of the main book fairs several times, but this year I attended the London Book Fair for the first time. It was great to meet the English publishers, and many told me that LBF has developed a lot over the years. Note for children's publishers: Have you seen a book by Simon Bartram entitled

InPrint July 2005

Bob's 1 2 3 ( and 4 to 10 too!), published by Templar Publishing? It's a fantastic book - in Turkey the children love to count the apples, balls, toys, etc.
See the September issue of InPrint for our third, and final, instalment from Burcu.

SYP CAREERS CONFERENCE 12 November 2005 Beyond the Book: Publishing in the 21st Century
Generously hosted by Oxford Brookes University This year, the SYPs annual Careers Conference will uncover the richness of publishing at the dawn of the 21st century. After a morning spent exploring the traditional book production process, delegates will break into smaller groups to learn, in more depth, about the other areas of publishing and career development that interest them. With sessions led by experienced professionals from across the industry, there will also be the chance to talk one-to-one with advisors from a variety of sectors. Further details will be published as they become available, in InPrint and on the website at http://thesyp.org.uk/oxford. Saturday 12 November 2005, 10am-5pm. Oxford Brookes University, Headington campus, Oxford.

Dates for your diary

Mon da y 13 Jun e Lon don Bo ok Club M ee ting We dne sd ay 29 June Lon don S pe ak er Me e ting Publi shin g Yes ter day and Toda y Mon da y 4 July A n Aud ienc e W ith Ka te Mo ss e Mon da y 18 Jul y Book Club Me et ing We dne sd ay 27 July Lon don S pe ak er Me e ting Chi ldre ns Publis hing Mon da y 15 Au gust Lon don Bo ok Club M ee ting Mon da y 19 S ep temb er Ox fo rd Book C lub Me et ing We dne s day 28 Se pte mbe r S pe ake r Me etin g Ma ga zine Pub lish ing

SYP events in London and Oxford in 2005 and 2006

Sa turda y 1 Oc tobe r - DUBL IN The S YP me et th e S PI Mond ay 1 7 O ctob er Book Club Mee ting Wed ne sda y 26 Oc tobe r Sp ea ker M ee ting Pro ducti on Sa turda y 12 Nov emb er CARE ERS CONFE RENCE - O xf ord Mond ay 2 1 No ve mber Book Club Mee ting Wed ne sda y 30 Nov emb er Sp ea ker M ee ting Ind epe nd ent v s Con glome rate 2006 Jan uary Lond on AG M/ Party Wed ne sda y 22 F ebr uary Lond on Sp ea ke r Me etin g We dne sd ay 2 9 Mar ch Lon don S pe ake r Me eti ng We dne sd ay 2 6 Apr il Lon don S pe ake r Me eti ng We dne sd ay 3 1 May Lon don S pe ake r Me eti ng We dne sd ay 2 8 June Lon don S pe ake r Me eti ng We dne sd ay 2 6 July Lon don S pe ake r Me eti ng We dne sd ay 2 7 Se pte mbe r Lon don S pe ake r Me eti ng We dne sd ay 2 5 Octob er Lon don S pe ake r Me eti ng S aturd ay 1 1 Nove mbe r CARE ERS CONF ERENC E - Lond on We dne sd ay 2 9 Nove mbe r Lon don S pe ake r Me eti ng

InPrint July 2005

PUBLISHING IN IRELAND AND THE UK

Jaimee Biggins relates her experiences and compares the industry in the two countries.
I began my publishing career in September 2001, after completing an M.A. in Literature and Publishing at the National University of Ireland in Galway. I had always had a strong sense that I wanted to work with books, but it became clear that the prospects of getting a publishing job in Ireland were limited. Ireland has a number of successful publishing companies, including small presses such as OBrien, New Island and Gallery Press. However, larger UK publishers, who can offer bigger advances and more publicity to authors, also producing at lower costs, have typically overshadowed them. It seemed that a move to one of the publishing capitals London or New York would be inevitable. Despite these discouraging realities, I endeavoured to find an internship in Ireland. Armed with a copy of The Writers and Artists Yearbook, I sent my CV to every publisher in the country. With some companies only employing four or five staff, I wasnt very hopeful. However, I was called for an interview at Gill & Macmillan in Dublin. In 1968, M.H. Gill & Son formed an association with Macmillan of London, and became Gill & Macmillan. I was lucky at the time, as the company were involved in a massive project, The Encyclopaedia of Ireland, and were eager to get some help. The publication was six years in the making, with hundreds of contributors, and represented one of the biggest investments they had made in a book. I jumped at the chance to get into my dream job! There were ups and downs, as with any job. I felt humbled to be involved in such a big and important project and having my name included in the acknowledgements of the book when it was published made all the stress worthwhile! I soon learned the truth behind the get-your-foot-in-thedoor advice. When the position of Editorial Assistant became vacant, I applied and was accepted to my first real job, and climbed the first step on the career ladder. My job included assisting the managing editors in various ways. I enjoyed the broad list of books and attending book launches, but there was the less glamorous side to it, such as the admin; although it gave me a vital taste of publishing, the Editorial Assistant role was quite limited. As much as I loved the company, I always felt there was a barrier to how far I could work my way up: I was in the biggest company in Ireland, with no way of getting promoted internally unless someone left. I was disheartened by the lack of other opportunities. Few jobs are advertised, and when they are competition is tough, so I eventually decided to make the move. I was told that in Ireland there are 500 jobs in publishing, whereas in London alone, there are 20,000 the figures spoke for themselves. I launched into the process, checking The Bookseller online and the Guardian creative/media sections, as well as specialist recruitment agencies. However, the fact that I was still based in Ireland was holding me back and after several fruitless months searching I decided with apprehension to move without having a job set up. Luckily, I received a timely phone call from Hodder Headline in London, in response to my application for the job of Assistant Editor in their Religious division. I was offered the job at Hodder Religious, and in September 2004 began my venture into Bible publishing! This was to be a short-lived position when the role of Desk Editor at Hodder Education was advertised, I decided to go for it (one of the advantages of UK publishing is that in a big company it is quite easy to move around). I have been in this job for the last three months, and am enjoying it. I have a list of academic business and law books to manage. This position has a lot more responsibility and I am in contact with freelancers, designers and editors. Having worked in publishing in both Ireland and the UK, I can see advantages and disadvantages to both. I gained practical experience in Ireland, and feel that because of the companys smaller scale, I was involved in lots of different aspects of the job. My advice to anyone hoping to get into publishing in Ireland would be to persevere. Ireland has such a strong literary heritage, as well as new talent emerging, (for example New Island author Christine Dwyer Hickey, who has been long-listed for the Orange prize this year), I am sure that publishing will continue to thrive. Other trends include the expansion into Ireland of UK companies Hodder and Penguin. UK publishing houses have more vacancies and tend to offer more training and greater job security for people starting their careers. I think the most important thing when working in publishing is determination, and with that you will succeed anywhere! T he SYP i s plan n in g a tr ip to Du bl i n on th e fi r st w eeken d of Oct ober . .. see fu rt her on i n t he i ssu e fo r c ompr ehen siv e det ail s.

InPrint July 2005

WORKSHOP: Getting that Job

If you havent yet come across a particular problem/experience, dont be afraid to say that just make sure that you add how you would handle the situation should you come across it in the future. Think about the following for responding to questions: Situation Task Actions Results (these can be financial or numerical, e.g. increased productivity by 10%) Some interviewers use the contrary evidence technique they play devils advocate to check whether candidates can stand their ground and argue their case assertively. Some reasons for rejection are: another candidate fulfilled the criteria better than you; you had less relevant experience on your CV; you failed to do justice to your experience In short, make sure that you are wellprepared by researching the company and, if possible, the department or subject area in which you would be working. Use the interview to your advantage interviewers will want to hear all about your experiences so make sure you tell them. Dont be afraid to talk about yourself and about your achievements and most of all GOOD LUCK! Clare Truter
P UNT ING PA RT Y Enjoy a long summer evening on the River Cherwell with convivial company. Demonstrate your punting prowess as we take to the water using Oxfords traditional mode of transport. Refreshments provided. Saturday 23 July 2005, Assemble from 5.45pm, punting 6-9.30pm. Cherwell Boat House, Bardwell Road, Oxford. Members free, non-members 3.50. Keep an eye on the website...

On Wednesday 18 May 2005, the Oxford SYP welcomed Michael Heath from Michael Heath Consulting to talk on the topic of interviews and CVs. Some of you may remember Michael from our Assertiveness Workshop last year. Michael talked us through the daunting topic of interviews and how to impress at them. He commented on the three main styles of interview competency based, behavioural and panel interviews. Those of us who had previously had interviewing experience were able to add to Michaels talk with anecdotes and stories of nightmare situations. We discussed the approach one should have towards an interview from basic things such as a suitable dress code, to more complex body language techniques, such as maintaining a level of eye contact (without frightening the interviewer by persistent staring) and sounding confident at the same time as looking confident, so that you dont have a verbal/non-verbal mismatch. Michael stressed the importance of the legal side of an interview situation and made sure that we were all aware that discrimination was something that would not be tolerated into an interview room. A few top tips from the many that were discussed at the workshop: List your achievements and not your duties on a CV Dress appropriately for the style of the company try and arrange going to the company beforehand to see what everyone is wearing Think of all the questions that you think interviewers are looking for and match these with examples from your own experience.

InPrint July 2005

CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN PUBLISHING

Lucie Barnes recounts the Oxford Speaker Meeting on 11 May 2005
For 12 years, Becky Clarke worked on the AfricanCaribbean list at Heinemann Publishing, at which point Heinemann dropped the series. Becky cited the reason for the list being shelved as financial, but after questioning the popularity of the series it being a market leader, made a sizeable profit for Heinemann, was a wellrespected product and was on the Curriculum she could not conclude on the primary reason. In 2003, Becky, encouraged by her friends and publishing contacts, began her own publishing company, focusing on African writers, their loves, lives and experiences. In t he be ginni ng was man (white) at the top, middle-class, and female (white), middle-class, under his supervision. Becky elaborated a lot on this topic and the blatant barriers that stood in the way of cultural change within publishing, especially when she first started in the industry. The question was raised of whether or not there was a need for a physical change in publishing, i.e. does the name of the child in a story, or the colour of their skin really matter? Yes, black children are unaware of their heritage, in the sense of what their Caribbean forefathers did in the two world wars, because its not discussed in the books currently published for the school curriculum. Becky described it as if they had been airbrushed out of the history books. With this, Becky drew on research done by Diane Abbot, the Labour MP, which has looked at black boys failing in the British school system and the reasons why. The problem hypothesised was that publishers were predominantly white, middle-class and (now) female. Therefore, black boys could not identify with books written by women on any level at all. The old boy s netw ork The discussion led onto interviews and the hierarchy of the publishing industry. Becky was interested to find that most SYP members at the meeting had gone through proper interview processes and that they were from outside sources, not internal vacancies. She stated that there are barriers against improving cultural diversity, because publishing appears a closed industry to those outside it, especially those from ethnic minorities. In her time at Heinemann, Becky came to understand that most vacancies were filled by people who were friends of friends, or contacts of those doing the employing. Becky raised the view of psychologists that people employ people who are like them. Whether done intentionally or not, people discriminate, because they feel uncomfortable with those who are unlike them. The statistic quoted from the Discrimination Survey, showed 47% said that publishing was not diverse. How to change When the question was raised of how publishers could make positive steps to improve cultural diversity, the point was stressed that the onus is on the publishers to do the changing. The current situation is that publishing jobs are advertised primarily in The Guardian newspaper. Becky joked about the demographics of those who read The Guardian newspaper - yes, black people do read it, but not many. Publishers need to advertise in the ethnic minority newspapers and magazines, such as Voice. In addition, we need to think about the medias role in the manipulation of childrens thoughts, opinions and discriminatory views people need to be concerned about the negative role models being portrayed in the media, and the resulting damaging opinions of black people. Everyone laughed when the discussion turned to the Spice Girls and how strange it was that the only black girl in the group was named Scary Spice, and how nobody blinked an eyelid at the time. But when it was revealed that her name was changed to Sexy Spice when the Spice Girls were promoted in America, due to the racist and discriminatory overtures that scary has, Beckys discussion on a need for change became a reality. T he f uture The ethnic market is growing at a fast pace. Reference to the first black book club was made and the TV programme made about it was watched by over eight million viewers. Publishers need to do more to keep up with the demand. Ethnic communities must also change their attitudes, by encouraging their children not to become lawyers and doctors as is the case in the Asian community but to go into publishing. It was discussed whether the SYP could start advertising in the ethnic newspapers and magazines. Ultimately, it must be remembered that publishing is about more than profit, it is about empowering people and spreading knowledge to all sectors of society. I f you w oul d li ke to dis cuss thi s, or any other is sue, w ith SY P m em bers , l og on to the SY P Forum s a t http: // w ww .the syp. org.uk /m is c/f orum. html a nd voice your op inion.

Th e SYP is plan ni n g a tr ip to Du bl i n on th e fi rst w eeken d o f O cto ber to m eet member s o f t he So ci ety o f Publ ish er s i n Irel and (SP I) . It wi ll be l ot s o f fu n an d a val uable oppor tu n it y t o meet an d ex ch ang e kn o wl edg e w i th o ur cou n ter par ts! A get -to get her wi ll m ost l ikel y be h el d i n Caf en Sei ne on Daw son St reet , and any SYP member s i n ter est ed i n att endi n g sho ul d em ail c shan ahan @th esyp. or g .u k to fi nd ou t mo re. Al l ar e w elc ome!

InPrint July 2005

Northern Correspondent Emilie Connes

Tired of surfing the endless virtual space that is the Internet, in search of something that might be of use to you? Fear no more your literary Google-ing days are over! This month our Northern Correspondent looks into Publishing websites that could be of use to you all Book Industry News/Info
The Bookseller http://www.thebookseller.com Essential tool for publishing news. You get to do more with the website if you sign up as a member. However, you wont have access to their jobs database that is, from what Ive heard, one of the most comprehensive, unless youve got a sign-in name and password. If youre a subscriber you can sign up for free. BookWire www.bookwire.com Basically, The Booksellers competition. A bit too much advertising and product placement for my liking. Book Zone Pro www.bookzonepro.com The Bookseller in less commercial and more esoteric terms author centred. Also boasts an index of the industrys resource links. Brilliant site. Book2Book http://forums.booktrade.info/booktrade.php The book industrys equivalent to Heat magazine. Sensationalistic news stories that actually make the publishing world sound cool and back-stabbing. The British Council www.britishcouncil.org/ism-ukpublishing.htm A mixed jumble of information. Best bit is the FAQ. If youre new to publishing, or have just accepted a job as an Editor and havent got a clue, its a good place to start.

Careers Websites
Inspired Selection Recruitment Agency www.inspiredselection.co.uk Sign up to their email database. You get vacancies every day. Every day (literally)!!!! The staff are friendly, approachable, and easy to email/talk to. The Guardian Jobs Database www.guardianjobmatch.co.uk/press-and-publishing Its worth signing up to their jobs database. You also get vacancies every day in the Press and Publishing sector. Meridian Recruit www.meridian-recruit.com Good, clear guide to searching their jobs database online. Worth a look. JFL Recruitment Agency www.jflrecruit.com Provide an online jobs search of what they have on their books. The Hints and Tips section is definitely worth having a read of if youre doing some serious job hunting.

Freelancing
Freelancer in the UK www.freelancersintheuk.co.uk Core website for anybody thinking of becoming a freelancer. A wealth of information. Recruit Media www.recruitmedia.co.uk Impressive jobs database for people seeking both permanent and freelance jobs in every sector of the media industry. Biz-BananaTT www.biz-banana.com Motivational website if youre thinking of working from home. Its not supposed to be funits Publishing! www.bizmark.net/Articles/article17.htm Check out this article by Stephen Kerr. If you ever thought of setting up your own publishing company, this will deter you. Some refreshing straight-talking.

Services
Publishing Services www.publishing-services.co.uk The place to look for key services if youre a small publisher. They specialise in non-fiction and educational. Still quite unclear exactly what services they provide The British Library Catalogue http://catalogue.bl.uk No link any self-respecting (posh) publisher would omit on their favourites list. The Electric Editors www.electriceditors.net Fun, quirky website for content editors. Has link to all essential editing tools like online dictionaries and style guides. Brilliant if the office Websters gone missing.

Associations/Societies
The Publishers Association www.publishers.org.uk Claims to be the leading organisation in the book industry whose aim is to ensure our secure future. Seem very politically active etc, etc. The SYP is undoubtedly a lot more fun! Women in Publishing www.WiPub.org.uk A society that works to promote the status of women working in publishing and related trades by helping them to develop their careers and push through the glass ceiling. Society of Editors and Proofreaders www.sfep.org.uk The societys self-professed two aims are: to promote high editorial standards and to achieve recognition of the professional status of its members and associates.

Training/Courses
The Publishing Training Centre www.train4publishing.co.uk One of the leading centres offering training to publishers who lack the key skills that will get them their dream job. Also a wealth of information on how to go about setting up your career in publishing. Chapterhouse www.chapterhousepublishing.co.uk Proofreading and editing skills training. Oxford Brookes University http://ah.brookes.ac.uk/publishing/index.php Undoubtedly one of the most popular colleges for publishing studies there is in the UK. The London College of Communication http://www.arts.ac.uk Offers a variety of renowned part-time and full-time courses in publishing and associated media.

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InPrint July 2005

Do You Remember The First Time?

G URDEEPS COL UM N: VEXED I N T HE CI TY Well, my fears were eventually allayed everyone is being very nice and helpful. We have filter coffee and there are cans of Perrier in the vending machine. But the feelings the feelings remain. They circle and filter, percolate and distil, every year of my life. The alienation and

Ive started a new job this month, and with that has come a whole heady rush of feelings that I thought (wrongly) were to be left behind in those days when you were moving from Year 6 to Year 7, taking the step up to secondary school. To recap for those amongst you who are very confident and have no need for slightly limp accounts of school days, they were testing times. You were plunged into a sea of new faces, and into a place where first impressions count for a lot. You may not realise it that much, but the people that you met in the first few weeks probably stayed friends or enemies with you right throughout your time at school. Were you a nerd or a jock, an indie kid or a swot? What was it going to be then, eh? (For explanation of this particular literary reference, please await the SYP costumes in the 2005 BTBS walkies) Well, I felt a little lost at work. People had networks of friends already and what makes it worse is that most wellbalanced publishers (and most people in editorial are fairly normal) have extended lives outside of work: this is even worse than the first day at school. Its like being a Year 7 plunged new into a class of Year 11s just before they sit their exams. They need nothing from you

the boredom, the culture and despair, as spoken by my teenage heroes. Of course, a lot of that was melodrama: the glitter-sprayed motto weilding of a guitar band grafted onto a much more complicated set of circumstances called everyday life. It comes down to this: it wasnt so much what the new job made me feel, it was what I brought to the new job, and if I bought a sunny smile and a good attitude, then people would recognise this. If I stayed slumped at my computer staring at the bottom of the cup of coffee Id just drank, then theyd tag me as the miserable one. The same guitar band has one song that went, Life is lead weights, pendulum died. This rather disheartening lyric is something that is easy to relate to in the darker hour of a new job, but it is something of a crutch too. Being in publishing, or trying to get into publishing, well probably change jobs more often than wed like to, to move ahead and up on the career ladder. There will be plenty of new kid on the block days:chew some gum, drink a cup, smile and crack a joke.

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but you want things from them.

SYP events in London and Oxford

InPrint July 2005

OXF OR D SP EAKER MEET IN G Multi- Sensory Perce ption: M ore tha n Mee ts the Eye
Many of us read without thinking twice about the physiological processes involved. But people with sight problems access published information with more than just their eyes. Come and learn how to meet the needs of this section of the market from Charles Gainsford, Senior Publishing Officer at the Royal National Institute for the Blind. Wednesday 6 July 2005, 6.30pm drinks and nibbles, 7pm talk. Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford Gallery

L OND ON SPEAKER MEET ING Child re ns Publis hing

Join the London SYP and a distinguished panel who will be discussing the general state of childrens publishing, whether the current market is weak or strong, whether there are too many or too few books and other issues, such as the ongoing debate over whether books should be ageranged. Speakers include Cally Poplak, Director at Egmont Books, Amanda Wood, Managing Director of Templar Publishing, and Brenda Gardner, Managing Director and Publisher at Piccadilly Press. Wednesday 27 July in the Meeting Room, 3rd 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.

Room. Members free, non-members 3.50. For more details, contact oxfordevents@thesyp.org.uk or visit http://thesyp.org.uk/oxford.

OXF OR D BOO K CL UB
To be held on Thursday 28th July - details to follow on the Book Club pages of the website.

LONDON BOOK CLU B

Will be held on 18 July. Title and venue tbc see website nearer the time for details.

BTBS W AL KI ES
Come and join the SYPs walking team on Tuesday 5 July from 6pm onwards (with a party afterwards) for a walk through London in aid of the publishing trades own charity. The SYP will also have a stand with Yale UP in Bedford Square. Themed costumes tbc. Contact Rebecca at rfox@thesyp.org.uk or look on the website http://www.booktradecharity.demon.co.uk.

Issue 108

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

Edi tors Rebecca Mills Gurdeep Mattu Con tri butors

Kate Mosse Claire Shanahan Rebecca Mills Gurdeep Mattu Victoria Nicholl Emilie Connes Claire Truter Tanay Burcu Ural Becky Clarke Jaimee Biggins

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.