Bookwitch

8 responses so far ↓

• 

  Nick // March 17, 2008 at 16:27

  Seems to have generated quite a lot of comment! Feel self-conscious now. The chap who says the book’s in a lot of Waterstones shops does have a point, of course. It’s good that they are there. The only problem is that they appear to be *staying* there. Less good. Still, it is salutory to be reminded that I am still probably one of the luckier debut authors, and that most probably get far more raw deals.

• 

  bookwitch // March 17, 2008 at 16:37

  But would they know to recommend it? No.

  Besides, staff at Waterstones aren’t allowed to recommend books.

• 

  Ian // March 18, 2008 at 13:27

  Exciting comments section to that blog =-)

• 

  David Cunningham // April 4, 2008 at 13:18

  I just about fell of my chair when I read your book blog on the Guardian’s website. Nick’s experience almost exactly mirrors my own:

  Towards the end of 2003 I had a children’s novel called “CloudWorld” accepted by Faber (I’ve been writing children’s fantasy fiction – amongst other things – since 1993 and had two previous books rejected everywhere, albeit with encouraging comments.) In January 2004 I sat in my editor’s office at 3 Queen Square to go through the manuscript. Her first comment surprised me. “CloudWorld” was a single volume book, but she felt that its plot was rushed in places. So she suggested focusing on the first two-thirds and cutting the final third, with the intention of expanding it into a full-length sequel. I was a bit startled by this. I didn’t really like the idea of “book one” (as it was suddenly known) having a cliff-hanger ending. But, thrilled to be published by Faber in the first place, I agreed. No mention was made of my one-book contract becoming a two-book contract.

  I returned to Glasgow, where I was staying in a friend’s cupboard-like spare room in order to be able to concentrate on my writing. Over the following year, I completed rewrites on “CloudWorld”. Then, after spending some time finding a new job and a proper place to live, I dutifully embarked on the sequel. For the next couple of years I rose at six every morning to write before going to work. During this period “CloudWorld” itself was published. It received some excellent reviews (www.cloudworldthenovel.com/Reviews.htm) and was nominated for the Manchester Book Award. By September 2007, I’d completed “CloudWorld At War”. But Faber rejected it, arguing that too much time had passed since the publication of “CloudWorld”, which had, according to them, sold beneath expectations.

  “So what?” you may think, and in a way you’d be right. When a publisher rejects a book it isn’t personal. But if you’ve written the book in question – and devoted five years of your life to it and its predecessor – it’s personal to you. And this particular book was based on material the publisher had previously accepted, so they have, to some extent, gone back on their word.

  Like Nick, I’ve decided to publish “CloudWorld” At War through lulu.com and I draw consolation from the people who’ve recently e-mailed me from Canada, France and Australia, wanting to know how the “CloudWorld” story ends. My latest royalty statement indicates that the first has sold 8,500 copies out of 10,359 originally printed, so hopefully there’s still a readership out there. After all, what have I got to lose?

• 

  bookwitch // April 4, 2008 at 15:06

  Hope you didn’t hurt yourself in that fall, David.

  I think 8,500 copies sounds pretty good. That’s a lot of readers, and close-ish to what was printed.

  Time delay; hmm. We had an awfully long wait for the fifth Harry Potter, and not once did I lose interest in what was coming next.

  My witchery doesn’t stretch to force publication of books from publishers. That should clearly be my next step in magic.

  But seriously, I’d like to think that it’s possible to do something. Nick had some attention through my Guardian blog, but that doesn’t even begin to help anybody else. And it might look like it’s Faber that does this, but I assume other publishers do too. Or maybe Faber had a bad year last year, and had to economise. It’s the GPT factor that bothers me, though.

• 

  David Cunningham // April 4, 2008 at 15:28

  Thanks for the kind words. And congratulations on a wonderful site, which I’ve visited with enjoyment before.

  I’ve contacted Nick and suggested that we form a publishing company called FAB (Faber-Abandoned Books). Or perhaps even FABER (Faber-Abandoned Books Electronically Republished)!

• 

  Julie Bertagna // April 4, 2008 at 16:47

  That’s a shocking story, David. I remember lots of great reviews for CloudWorld. It used to be that an author was nurtured and grown by an editor, who would stand by them shoulder to shoulder to the death (just about). That’s until the suits with calculators took over. Of course publishing needs to make profits, but there’s a lot more at stake than ££££s.

  At least cyberspace gives authors a power base we never used to have, so the very best of luck to you, and to Nick.

• 

  bookwitch // April 4, 2008 at 17:10

  FAB for fab books. Excellent. Did you see David Thorpe’s similar woes in his comment to About The Bookwitch?

Leave a Comment