Nemesis Publishing

We're outta here...

2010-10-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

It's not quite as stressful as the upheaval of moving house, but ditching one blog and heading to new digs does bring with it a tinge of sadness. You grow accustomed to a place, you know?

Anyway, Nemesis is leaving Blogger behind and we've settled in nicely at our new blog, which is housed on our spanking new website - www.nemesispublishing.com (my writing and reading blogs will remain with Blogger, so I won't miss the place too much)

If you have a few minutes to look around the website, please do. Feel free to sign up for our newsletter, which will keep you up-to-date with the latest Nemesis news, including new books and competitions. And do take part in our polls - we'll be updating them regularly, and while some will be just a bit of fun, most will focus on books and publishing and will act as a form of market research for us, such as the current poll about the cost of ebooks.

If you've followed this blog for the last year or two, thanks for sticking with us. If you're new, then we hope you hang around and enjoy what we have to offer.

The new blog will be updated on a much more frequent basis, and if you 'follow' this blog, you might want to make sure you're a follower on Facebook's networked blogs too, as that still links through to the new blog.

And if you've got a feed from this blog to your own blog, you'll need to go in and change the settings to take that feed from the Nemesis website instead of here.

So, to pastures new. Take care, and keep reading. And writing. Definitely keep writing.

A responsibility weighing heavy...

2010-08-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy last few weeks, and the next month or so isn't going to be any quieter. Yesterday saw the finishing touches put to the design and layout for Pocket Rocket, the autobiography of 1980s British cycling star Steve Joughin. While there are a few tweaks here and there to make, what we have now is pretty much how the finished book will look.

I'd meant to accompany this post with a pic of the front cover, but I've spotted one or two things that need smoothing out, so that has to wait for another day.

I emailed a PDF of the book to Steve and his co-author Richard Allen and then sat back, nervously checking the inbox every five minutes. In some ways, it's worse than being an author submitting a manuscript to your publisher. Both Steve and Richard are relying on us to do their book justice, which is a responsibility that can weigh heavy. As is making sure the finished product looks as fine as you can make it, because - it being our first publication - we know that it's got to sell if Nemesis is going to flourish.

Thankfully, both Steve and Richard came back to say how impressed they are with it. At first I thought they'd probably say that anyway, but then I put myself back in the writer's shoes and thought, if I wasn't happy with a draft that came my way, would I say anything at this stage? Absolutely, hell yeah.

I've a meeting tomorrow night with Richard to talk through a few minor issues, but unless anything major crops up, it should be going off to print in the next week or so, which is just as well, as we're working to a deadline.

That deadline has been fixed by Steve's annual participation in October's Cycle Show in Earl's Court, London. He takes a stand there each year for his Pro-Vision Clothing business and if you're looking to launch an autobiography of one of Britain's most popular cycling stars from its golden age of the 1980s, then where better to do it than at a four-day event that is expected to attract around 25,000 people who are, how shall I put it, somewhat enthusiastic about cycling.

In addition to finalising the layout for print, there's a backlog of other jobs that need attending to - the website needs a final polish and some additional text before going live; there is a local launch and book signings for Pocket Rocket to arrange; the final print spec needs confirming with the printer; reviews of the book to be arranged in all the leading cycling magazines, for which Richard is a regular freelance contributor (if you're a writer still confused by what an author's platform is, Steve and Richard are superb examples); and a host of other bits and pieces which eat into your time.

Ultimately, this is at once a cool and yet terrifying time. We're about to make our first big step into the dark and dangerous world of publishing, and, not to put too fine a point on it, I'm bricking it.

Ah well. To borrow a well-known advertising line, what's the worst that can happen...?

Indesign, print runs and new blog pad

2010-08-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

The final draft of Pocket Rocket, the autobiography of former British cycling champion Steve Joughin, appeared in our inbox on Wednesday morning. Other than a few final tweaks that proofing always throws up, what we have now will constitute our first official publication - and it's incredibly exciting and absolutely petrifying in equal measures.

The last two nights have been spent putting the words into the Indesign file and connecting the pages to allow the text to flow throughout. That was a slow, tedious job, but now everything is in place, I can crack on with formatting and slotting pictures into relevant spots. The cover artwork was already all but done - we've managed to source a fantastic photograph of Steve crossing the winning line, arms aloft, a look of sheer ecstasy on his face. It makes for a very simple but effective front cover and I just hope I can do the picture justice.

Design work will continue over the next week or so, while attention turns to finalising the print spec and weighing up options for the size of print run. It’s a bloody tricky balance. The more books we order, the lower the unit cost, but the higher the overall initial outlay. And, of course, there’s also the issue of gauging how many copies we think we can shift.

As we’re working to a budget tighter than my slacks after one of Mrs Q’s fine homemade pizzas, it’s going to need some careful consideration.

One other point to make, and it’s a fairly important one.

This will most likely be our last post from this blog - when our website goes live (probably mid next week), there is a new blog built into the site, so all future missives will come from there. We will, however, leave this blog in situ for a while to direct folk over to the new pad.

Right, that’s all for now folks. Take care, and we’ll see you in our new home.

Set for launch...

2010-07-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've been talking about the 'forthcoming Nemesis website' for years. Hell, maybe I have. I forget. The delays have all been my doing, but mainly we've been waiting for the right time to launch.

With our first book (other than the Arbory School book published last year, which was a community project) due out in October, that time has now arrived. The web chaps at Isle of Man Advertising & PR have done a great job (with infinite patience...) and, all being well, we're looking to launch the website within the next week or so.

They've just completed moving the site over to a new content management system and today young Dan was putting the final touches to the design for the blog - which means that, yes, this blog will soon cease to exist, to be replaced by a new one within the website.

As with any project that you're about to inflict on the public, there's some trepidation. Is the website design as cool as we think it is? Is the text pitched at the right level? Does it contain the right information - for both readers and writers? I could go on, but you get the picture.

We've studied other publishers' websites, trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. In the end, we've just got to get it out there and wait for the feedback to come in, which will, of course, be most welcome.

So, stay tuned here for now. We're almost there...

Search out bull, grab horns

2010-07-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

While submissions have continued to come in over the last few months, it's fair to say that it's been more of a trickle than a torrent, which is natural for a relatively unknown indie publisher just starting out on the road to mega-seller-dom. And of those that are coming in, non-fiction is edging fiction, which makes it even tougher to unearth that bit of fiction magic we're searching for to launch that side of Nemesis.

A few weeks back, I decided to take the bull by the old horns. If the projects won't come to us, I mused, then we'll go and find the projects. So I started watching and listening to what was being said by those I knew on blogs, forums, facebook, twitter - you name it, I was getting the skeet.

As of tonight, I have two projects that I'm interested in - one fiction, one non-fiction. The writer behind the fiction idea knows of my interest, and we're hoping to catch up in the coming weeks to discuss how things might move forward.

With the non-fiction project, the writer has no idea that I'm interested. In fact, he might not even know there is a project in the first place, as I'm considering proposing something to him - he might already have this in hand, in which case I'll bow out gracefully, but I've a feeling he will be interested.

Of course, it's far too early to say whether either of these projects will come to fruition. A few things need to happen; first, we need to be sure the projects are a good fit for us; second, the writer has to be sure we're the right people for them to work with; and, third, we've got to be sure (or as sure as we can be) that these projects are marketable. There are plenty of other considerations, but take one of those three out of the equation and the end result is the project won't go ahead, at least not with us as publisher.

When the website finally launches, and our name starts to get out there, then I'd expect submissions to increase gradually. But for now, I'm buzzing with the possibilities being conjured by keeping an open mind, digging around and being prepared to think outside the box, and I hate that bloody phrase. But in these two instances, it fits perfectly.

I'll reveal more if/when these ideas start to form into some kind of shape. Until then, if you'd be so kind, please keep your fingers crossed that they do...

Copy that, Quirky

2010-06-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

For the last week or so, we've been focusing on polishing off the copy for the Nemesis website, which we're hoping will go live in the next few weeks.

We're as good as finished, other than one or two areas that need a tweak here and there, and it's a bloody relief to finally cross it off the to-do list. It's been in stasis for a while, mainly because we didn't want to launch the site before we were ready to firm up details of our first books; it's difficult to make something sound sexy when you've got nothing concrete to back up your claims.

Writing the copy has been mighty tricky. There's an art to creating appealing website copy, hitting the right note for the type of site you're looking to develop and the kind of audience you want to attract. We are aiming for a chatty and informal approach, but one that is professional at the same time. We don't want to be a stuffy publisher, distant from readers and writers alike.

That's not what we're about, and we don't think that is what publishing is about any longer. We've looked at other indie publishers who have cool websites - Snowbooks and Salt are great examples - and, rather than just try and repeat what they've done, we've tried to use their approach to inspire ours.

When researching websites, we were horrified at some of the car crashes that are publishers' websites - and we're not just talking small indie presses here, but some of the bigger names in the industry. Online is such a huge potential market, and the use of social media so fundamental to the success of publishing, that I can't believe these businesses aren't looking at their sites, and those of their savvy rivals, and thinking, hang on, we need to pull our damn finger out and improve our online presence. Still, if they won't go down that line, it only makes it easier for us to stand out.

Have we got the look and feel of the site bang on the money? We think (hope...) we have. It's difficult to gauge, to be honest, and we'll only really know when people start firing feedback over to us. The design is pretty cool (thanks to the web guys at Isle of Man Advertising & PR), so it is all down to the copy hitting the mark. The beauty is that, if after a short while the feedback points to certain areas needing to be tightened or expanded, then it's an easy fix to amend.

The last page to be completed was, of course, the 'about us' section. Always find it difficult to write mini-bios. In fact, they are quite easy to write. It's writing one that doesn't make you sound like a pretentious arse, that's the problem.

Till next time.

Taking the fiction plunge

2010-06-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

One of the most challenging aspects facing us as we look to carve a small niche for Nemesis comes in the form of novel submissions.

With non-fiction, the subject of your book will, generally, identify your market for you. Our next book, Steve Joughin's autobiography, Pocket Rocket, is a prime example; being a local lad, the Isle of Man market should be receptive, and with Steve still being renowned and respected within the UK cycling fraternity (and further afield), we know that the market for his life story should be there. What's more, we know where we need to go and what we need to do to hit both of those markets.

We have other non-fiction projects in the pipeline, along with the first issue of the Vertigo anthology, which, while fiction, is being aimed at a niche market. (There's another fiction anthology we're looking at, but I can't tell you anything here. Far too top secret and all that)

But what we're really looking for is one or two novels to launch that side of Nemesis. The problem is this; fiction is so bloody subjective, it's difficult to know what might sell. And being a small publisher trying to get established, we need each project we take on to do one thing - make some money, as that's the only way we're going to grow and, in turn, be able to publish more books.

I've put aside this week to read the submissions that have built up recently, with a view to clearing the decks by this time next week, although that might be a tad ambitious. I read a lot of fiction, and review some, but when you're reading a manuscript, with a view to backing it with your hard-earned, it's somewhat tricky to be objective about something that is so subjective.

As with most fiction, you're flying blind. You can only trust your instincts, go with what you have a feel for, the kind of story and characters that hook you in the same way as all those good books you've read over the years. And even then, that's no guarantee that a particular story will be marketable. If I had a quid for every time I've heard an unpublished writer moan that agents and publishers overlook good manuscripts 'just because' it might be a tough sell, I'd be relaxing in the Maldives right now. Okay, maybe the Orkneys.

Will any of the current raft of submissions hook me? Tune in next week. Or maybe the week after that.

Time to kick ass

2010-06-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

There are times in life when good intentions and supposedly well-thought-out plans can leave you feeling somewhat embarrassed by their naivety.

Those who have followed this blog from the beginning (bless you) may recall that it was to be a quick-fire affair, regularly updated, following our adventures in establishing Nemesis as an indie publishing house. The idea was to give readers an inside look at the pitfalls facing such a venture, and sharing our small successes along the way.

Those same dedicated followers will know that, so far at least, it hasn't worked out that way. Posts have been sporadic, and it's been a frustrating time. There are several factors behind the slow progress, most having nothing to do with Nemesis whatsoever; day-to-day matters that have conspired against us (babies, day jobs, writing books, deadlines for other projects, everyday life - that kind of thing).

Yet one of the greatest things about this life we lead is the ability to look at how events have transpired in the past and say 'bugger it all to hell - today we start anew'. And so here we are. With a zesty freshness and a spring in our step, we're going to kickstart this blog from here on in. Regular updates guaranteed.

However, despite the lack of posts here, things have been quietly moving along behind the scenes - Pocket Rocket, cyclist Steve Joughin's autobiography; first issue of the Vertigo anthology; Nemesis website; calls for submissions for other projects - all of which I'll post about over the next few days.

Watch this space...

The advancing army of ebooks

2010-03-11T15:38:00.000-08:00

As a small publisher, just starting out on the road to bestsellerdom and Booker award dinners (because that's what it's all about, right?), one of the most important issues to address is the rise of the ebook.

I say rise, because even if the ebook's percentage of today's market today is relatively minor - research stats vary, but it's only a few per cent, if that - you can rest assured that the number is rising, and isn't likely to fall away any time soon.

Eighteen months ago, I shook my head and smiled mockingly when someone suggested I might want to buy an ebook reader and give them a whirl. No chance, says I. I'm a traditional kinda guy, and I know what I like and I like what I know.

Earlier today I was reading Peter Cox's column in The Bookseller, where he talks about the pricing of ebooks and the recent standoff between Amazon and Macmillan. As interesting as the column is, it was the comments it attracted that caught my interest. There are still those within the industry, or commentating on the industry, who continue to dismiss ebooks out of hand. It's their opinion, of course. But, having delved into the ebook phenomenen since I somewhat harshly dismissed them, I now find it hard to believe anyone connected with publishing can brush the ebook off like an irritating sprinkle of dandruff on the shoulder of their pristine suit.

We may still be a long way off the rule of the ebook, but today's younger generation will only further embrace them.

Pricing remains the key to ebooks. Sure, the technology needs to improve (and come down in cost, which it surely will), as does the quality and quantity of titles available as ebooks. But to my mind, if ebooks are pitched at the right level - be it by the publisher or the 'bookseller' - then the market will sit up and take note.

What is that price? If a new paperback costs £7.99, what would we pay for the same title as an ebook? £3.00? £3.50? Lower than a three...? I don't know, but everyone has a level at which they will be persuaded.

There are markets that Nemesis can look to tap into with ebooks. There are communities of Manx across the globe, throughout America, South Africa, Dubai, New Zealand and Australia. Having written a couple of books, I know the difficulty of selling to these communities when it costs so much to ship the book over, particularly if it's a somewhat weighty tome.

Ebooks could just be the answer. In fact, they are the answer; we just need to persuade our fine, upstanding potential customers around the globe that that is the case.

And so the research continues. Has anyone tried an ebook reader? How did you find the reading experience? What price would persuade you to ditch the hard copy and go with the ebook? And surely there are some authors, your favourites, for whom you'd be happy to fork out for the hard copy, regardless of how cheap the ebook might be...?

Thanks for reading
JohnQ

Pocket Rocket - the 1980s incarnation of Mark Cavendish

2010-02-25T13:48:00.000-08:00

With the first issue of our Vertigo anthology set to go to the printers in the next few weeks, we're turning our attention to the next book, the autobiography of a British cycling icon of yesteryear.

If you followed British and European cycling during the 1980s, you'll remember the name Steve Joughin.

Twice British National Road Race champion and a stage winner in the Kellog Tour of Britain, what the Manxman lacked in stature he more than made up for with a fearsome sprint, and those who watched him in his pomp now look at 10-time Tour de France stage winner (and fellow Manxman) Mark Cavendish and nod their heads in recognition.

Steve was the Cav of his time. He took on and beat some of the world's best, turning pro in 1983 and enjoying eight years at the top. He became known as the Pocket Rocket, the little guy who could beat them all in a sprint.

Not only was he one hell of a cyclist, he was (and still is) a great character, with colourful tales to tell of his time racing around the globe, from dodging guerrilla fighters in New Caledonia to winning a race in Ireland and finding out that his prize came in the shape of a skutch of gas cookers, which he had to pay to have shipped home - only to discover they didn't work on Manx Gas...

Yet, as with all glory, it didn't last. Steve retired in 1991, unable to secure a ride. In a bid to help fill the huge hole that racing, and the thrill of success, had left in his life, he turned to the bottle. By 2001, he was lying in an Italian hospital bed fighting for his life. Not one to dodge a battle, Steve began the long journey towards putting his life back together.

Today, Steve is a volunteer for Alcoholics Anonymous, helping recovering alcoholics along the road he has walked. He lives in Stoke, where he runs a successful online cycling sportswear business with his son, and regularly returns to the Island to see family and friends.

Now, having turned 50, he's put his life story down on paper, with the help of author and cycling journalist Richard Allen.

When Richard approached Nemesis to publish the book, a read of the manuscript and a look at Richard's credentials, along with the knowledge of Steve's popularity within the cycling fraternity, made the decision a fairly simple one.

Richard is the co-author of Elite Cycling Performance and is a regular freelance contributor to Cycling Weekly, the UK's biggest-selling cycling magazine. He's followed Cav during the Tour de France, and there aren't too many names in the world of cycling media that he doesn't know.
As far as author platforms go, Richard's is firmly established - plus he has Cav lined up to write the foreword.

All being well, Pocket Rocket will be published in mid-to-late June, just before the 2010 Tour de France gets underway in Rotterdam, and we'll be blogging regularly in the build-up to publication.

This book is a major step for Nemesis - it is only our third publication, and we didn't expect to have a book with such a strong platform quite so soon, and this in turn has meant a bigger print run than we would have anticipated.

Of course, with book three in the works, we're looking for book four, which we would like to be a novel. We're reading through submissions now, on the lookout for 'the one'. You'll be the first to know when we find it.

Small but perfectly formed...?

2010-02-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

A writer got in touch recently to ask if we would accept a novella as a submission - in fact, not just one, but two very loosely linked novellas.

Why not, says I. A bonus of being a new kid on the publishing block is that we're not receiving 300 submissions a week and can afford the time to indulge our whims somewhat. Naturally, we'd love to be in a position where we are receiving those kind of numbers. Of course, we'd then just complain about being too busy...

The submission arrived yesterday, and I'm hoping to read it over the next few days, along with clearing a backlog of other submissions and assorted pieces. But it got me thinking. I like a good novella. There have been some fine books published over the years that were, in truth, novellas masquerading as full-length works, or that are widely thought of as novels, largely because of their reputation. Stories such as I Am Legend - Matheson's 1954 creation had just 160 pages - and Conrad's Heart of Darkness topped the scales at just over 51,000 words.

Yet, by and large, most acclaimed novellas are old works. They don't seem to be in favour in today's publishing world, although they are still around, often as part of an anthology of shorter stories. One such example is The Reflecting Eye, John Connolly's brilliant chiller featuring Charlie Parker, the central figure in his long-running series of novels. It closes the author's Nocturnes collection, and there is barely a wasted word in his 110 pages. It also introduces readers to The Collector, an ambiguous stranger who has quickly become one of Connolly's finest creations. Surely something as beautifully-formed as The Reflecting Eye can't be all bad?

Think about it - how many epics door-stops do you see produced these days? Not that many. What time do folk these days have to commit to reading books, particularly when they're catching up on blogs/twitter/facebook? Spare time is a scarce commodity in today's society. Books, generally, have contracted in size in recent years, and maybe novellas are the way to go. Certainly ease production costs for publishers, that's for sure.

But maybe I'm biased. Do other readers enjoy novellas? Are they long enough to truly develop a story and characters? And how much cash would you be prepared to fork out for a 100 to 150-page book?

Cheers
JQ

Down, down, you bring me down...

2010-02-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

Trying to get a small indie publishing house off the ground in today's publishing climate often feels like hurtling headlong in a burning car with no brakes towards the edge of the Abyss. And I don't just mean a long drop, I mean The Abyss. You know, demons and stuff.

There's so much doom and gloom around. Whether it's traditionalists panicking about the appearance of the army of ebooks cresting the top of the mountain, supported by legions of Kindles and iPads, the Google book settlement and what it means for authors, book stores struggling to turn a profit or large publishing houses shedding jobs quicker than James Patterson churns out books, I often wonder if we're not completely off our rockers to be getting ourselves into this, if indeed we know what this is.

Yet I can't help but feel we're at the start of someting, if not beautiful, then bloody exciting. Sure, it's a period of uncertainty for the publishing industry; and those who claim to know how things will pan out over the next five to ten are speculators at best, deluded at worst. But it is reassuring when respected voices such as agents Peter Cox, with this column in The Bookseller, and Nathan Bransford, with this blog post, say it how I see it.

Cynics will say it's a natural reaction from agents - to try and put a positive spin on events, given that they make their living by representing authors, and trying to find The Next Big Name, and a positive, optimistic unpublished writer will (generally) produce a better manuscript than one who's depressed because they think the world that they so desperately want to conquer is crumbling before their eyes.

I don't know Nathan, but I do know Peter through Litopia, and I don't believe he's bigging the future of publishing up because, well, it's his job. The impression I get is one of true excitement, and Peter is doing everything he can, both for his authors and the members of Litopia, to be at the cutting edge of publishing. It's a similar emotion that radiates from Nathan's blog; these guys love publishing, writing and, yes, even unpublished authors.

And that enthusiam is infectious. I feel sorry for anyone who can't share in it.

For us at Nemesis, one of the most important tasks we face over the coming few months is to learn everything there is to know about ebooks, and look to position ourselves to exploit the market, where possible. There are niche markets - such as the overseas Manx - where we know ebooks will likely present a more financially attractive proposition than a hard copy, which is handicapped by delivery costs to the US and elsewhere.

Now, if I could figure out how to bottle the enthusiasm emanating from these agents, we'd be quids in.

Till next time
JQ

Here's my submission. I'm still editing it, mind you...

2010-01-25T13:40:00.000-08:00

A submission pinged in our inbox yesterday, with synopsis and first three chapters attached. All looking good so far. Then I started reading the covering letter and had to pull hard on the reins after a couple of lines. This, the author said, was his novel. Which he wanted us to consider for publication. And then he dropped that immortal line: 'I'm in the process of editing it...'

Chaps and chapesses - given the size of our little enterprise, and the fact that we're still relatively new to this publishing malarkey, we can afford the luxury of indulging this author, at least for the time being. There will, we hope, come a time when I'm having to pull all-nighters just to keep up with emails and submissions. At that point, 'I'm still editing it' might be struggling.

No doubt there are a few agents and publishers out there who are happy to accept submissions that aren't yet polished and shiny, trusting their instinct as to whether they can work with the author to produce a knockout book. I can think of one agent who does this, and it is something that we might be prepared to do, at least while the business is growing.

But if you're a writer firing submissions out into the world, the vast majority of agents and publishers will reach for the polite rejection stamp the moment they read 'I'm still editing'. If you're not submitting work that you think is as good as it gets, then they won't want to know.

Get it polished.

Regular spot on Litopia

2010-01-17T14:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks to literary agent Peter Cox, who runs the Redhammer agency, our antics here at Nemesis Publishing will be catalogued over the coming months on the Litopia Daily podcast.

Peter has kindly invited me, on a monthly basis, to talk all things publishing and to chart how the development of Nemesis is progressing. We recorded the first piece this evening - watch this space for details on when it will air.

As with all these things, the moment the Skype call ended, I thought of several points I didn't mention, or should have explained better, but I' ve been a semi-regular guest panellist on the Litopia After Dark podcast for a while now, and know that Peter is very skilled in editing and preventing me from sounding like a halfwit, or at least a complete halfwit.

One thing I didn't touch on, but hopefully will in future updates, is the influence Peter's Litopia writing colony has had on me during the last two years. It's fair to say that, if I hadn't stumbled across Litopia, and made a cracking bunch of friends and contacts, and digested the advice and info they impart, Nemesis wouldn't be anywhere near the stage that it is now.

So, thanks Litopia, and thanks to Peter. If you have any interest in developing yourself as a writer, you could do a lot worse with an hour or so of your time to register on Litopia and spend a while finding out whether it is the kind of place for you.

Now, back to editing....

Cool news - part two

2010-01-12T12:51:00.000-08:00

As with all the best sequels, there's been a bit of time between our last post and this follow-up. Call it being a tease. Call it building suspense. Call it being downright slack...

But we're back now, folks, with this, our first blog post of 2010. To be honest, I've held off for a reason. The back end of last year was stupidly busy, with us publishing our first book, me finishing writing and then doing publicity for The Manx Giant, and then there was a short break away, the usual Christmas panic and mayhem. You know the sort of thing.

However, the overriding thing was this - we needed to wait for confirmation on cool news part two, and indeed, cool news part three.

Part two is now in, and here you have it. We have been approached by an acquaintance who is very supportive of what we're trying to do, which, for new readers of this here blog, is get an indie publishing house off the ground from a standing start. Absolute ground zero.

Anyway, this acquaintance/benefactor has offered to support us financially on a project by project basis - which means, in a nutshell, that as and when we need it, we can call in extra funds. This might be to secure a larger than usual print run, should we feel it warrants it; or it could be to secure a book where the design and print work is complex.

It's a good position for us - we retain full control of the business, including the decision on whether or not to publish a book, and the only proviso is an obvious one - if we put a particular project to our benefactor, and they aren't convinced, then they step away from it. No problem.

Ultimately, what this does give us is a bit of flexibility. Without it, we would have had to work from the ground up, with each book (potentially) having to do well before we could move up a grade in publishing terms.

With the benefactor in place, we can climb a couple of rungs on the ladder, which is what we are doing for our third book, which will follow the first issue of Vertigo, now set for an Easter launch.

Book three will be a biography. And that, of course, is where cool news part three comes in. But you'll have to wait for that. It won't be as long a wait as it was for this post, I promise...

And don't get me started on cool news part four. That's just too much.

Cool news - part one

2009-10-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

A month? Has it seriously been a month since we last met? That is very remiss of me, and I don't even have an excuse. Well, not one you'd believe, anyway.

So what's been happening? We're close to finishing the design on both the Arbory School book and the first issue of the Vertigo anthology. There's another week or so of work to do, but we're close. I can almost smell the print.

There have been a few things happening behind the scenes these last few weeks - three cool snippets of news, in fact, but I'll just tell you the first for now. Always keep something in reserve, Quirky, that's what my old cross-country coach used to tell me. (And I did. It was a bag of cakes. And very nice they were too)

The first news is that author Chris Ewan has kindly agreed to pen a foreword for Vertigo. Chris is the creator of Charlie Howard, the cool novelist/thief/reluctant hero of The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam and its sequel, The Good Thief's Guide to Paris. If you've not experienced Charlie Howard yet, give them a shot - they're fast, entertaining capers, with some deliciously dark and violent moments.

With the first issue of Vertigo almost in the bag, attention is turning to the second issue, and we'll be opening the floodgates for submissions soon. Watch this space.

For now, it's on with the design. Stay tuned for cool news part two and three...

Give us all your money...

2009-09-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

One of the many dilemmas facing any new small publisher is how to get your name out there and generate submissions, from which you hope to find projects with real potential. It's a catch-22 situation - if you have no reputation to speak of, how can you expect writers to submit their query packages to you; but without those submissions, how are you going to build that reputation?

Many small publishers use competitions to generate submissions. You know the ones - advertised as the XYZ Publishing's Debut Novel Competition, or something similar. They are looking for previously unpublished writers and ask for the first several thousand words or first three chapters, and promise to launch the career of the winning entry. So, writers bundle their packages up, or attach them to emails, and off they go, accompanied by the entry fee.

That's right, entry fee. £10 usually does it, sometimes lower, sometimes higher.

This is where I have a problem. This kind of competition has potential, and we're considering it. But to charge a fee? I understand the so-called reasoning behind it - to cover administration etc. And some publishers might even suggest that charging a reasonable fee will weed out the serious writers from the fair weather scribblers.

I'm not convinced. If you charge a tenner a time, and generate, say, fifty entries, that's five hundred quid in your back pocket. A nice little earner, I guess. But it doesn't sit right with me.
If it is a 'writing competiton', with prizes etc, then entry fees go towards generating, or supplementing, the prize fund. No problem.

But what is this tenner actually for? Reading time? We're publishers. Reading submissions is part of the job. Administration? A few stamps for letters to tell all but one of the writers that they're out of luck? Most entries, I imagine, will come in by email these days.

So I'm still not sure what writers are forking out for. Maybe I'm missing something. Will we opt for such a competition? Very possibly. We'll keep you posted on this blog, and on the website, which, all being well, should be live by early to mid-October.

So, writers - have you entered these competitions run by publishers? Did you hand over any cash? Do you think we should charge an entry fee for a similar competition...? Okay, redundant question, perhaps. But I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

It's crunch time. Big time

2009-08-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a long gestation period for Nemesis. Three years, or thereabouts. Sometimes feels like ten. We've had to wait for the right moment, taking work, weddings and babies into account, but we've kept beavering away behind the scenes.

The submission process for the Vertigo anthology brought in 40-plus stories, which were whittled down to ten, followed by edits for each, meetings with the authors, rewrites and more editing. Meanwhile, we agreed to publish a book marking the 175th anniversary of our local school, Arbory, which the young fella attends, and Mrs Q has been heavily involved with the school's PTA to gather the extensive research together. I guess 'facilitating' would be a better word than publishing in this instance; we're looking after design and printing, but all profits from the book will go to the school.

But now the waiting is almost over. Both Vertigo and the Arbory book have to be with the printers by mid-October at the latest (although Vertigo can probably wait a little longer) and there are just two months to go.

Work on Vertigo is, generally, on hold until I've finishing writing the final draft of The Manx Giant, which is being published by the Manx Heritage Foundation. However, there have been a couple of cool developments in recent weeks.

First, the template for the Nemesis website has been agreed with the designers, and it looks excellent. Once the pages have been created, they'll be handed over to us to insert the text ahead of the site going live. I'm hoping that will happen by mid-September at the latest.

Second, an up-and-coming author who is creating some serious buzz with a series of crime novels has provisionally agreed to write a foreword for Vertigo. He's asked to see a couple of the stories to give him a taste of what the anthology is about, and they should be with him in the next week or so after further edits. But I'll keep our power dry until then as to his identity...

It's an exciting time. And also a bloody daunting one. There's no time to waste now. For the next two months, it's going to be all hands to the pump. Late nights and early mornings. And yet finishing the design and getting the manuscripts to print is only half the battle - the publicity campaign for both books will start to roll into action over the next month and gather pace towards Christmas.

Meanwhile, we still have one eye on next year, and how to follow up what we hope will be a successful end to 2009. Watch this space.

What's that, authors? You want to be paid, as well?

2009-08-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

I had the rather cool pleasure to be a guest panellist on the Litopia After Dark podcast at the weekend, alongside Martin Daniels, who, amongst other things, blogs for The Bookseller. There's not a whole lot he doesn't know, or have an opinion about, in the world of publishing.

If you’re not familiar with the podcast (and if you’re serious about books, you should be), each panellist raises an issue they want to talk (or rant) about. The ebook phenomenon has been a regular feature in recent months, and Friday night’s show was no exception.

We started with a look at the threatened boycott of Amazon's Kindle ebook reader by independent publisher Antellus, who has been riled by the fact that ebook editions published for the Kindle, and subsequently retired and taken off-line, are still being sold, not to mention claims about Amazon's seller agreement, which it says allows Amazon to modify and sell books from its suppliers in whatever format it chooses.

Martyn then weighed in on the issue of royalties from ebooks - and whether authors are being screwed. With advances going down, at all levels but the very top, and with a market where the recommended retail price often has little relevance, where is an author's money coming from - and how will authors be paid for ebook sales?

He suggested that, rather than an across the board contract between publisher and author, a publisher could have separate digital rights for each sales avenue - eg Amazon, Google - and on renewable contracts, allowing for changes. On the face of it, these suggestions sound reasonable.

The whole ebook industry remains an entirely unpredictable business. Its share of the book market is advancing year-on-year, but quite how that growth is going to continue over the next five, ten or twenty years is difficult to predict. The likes of the Kindle are increasing in popularity, yet I've yet to speak to one person who would ever consider going for an ebook over a traditional slab of paper, other than some agents, who like the flexibility of being able to take a couple of hundred manuscripts to the gym with them for a good read on the treadmill.

One thing is sure - as a new publisher, it's an area in which we need to keep our eye on the ball, starting now. I'm woefully ignorant about ebooks and their implications for the publishing industry, and I don't think I'm alone. It's going to mean a tonne of research and trying to understand an area that is complex to say the least. And we'll be considering Martyn's suggestions for when we enter the ebook market.

But it's equally important for authors to keep abreast of developments, to ensure they understand the implications for their profession. If ebooks are here to stay, then it's better to be in from the start than trying to play catch-up when the ebook industry is well and truly cooking.

It won't hang around for you.

Waiting for the right stuff

2009-07-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

With Vertigo out later this year, and one or two other non-fiction and short fiction collections in the pipeline, our thoughts recently turned to the big one – the first published novel. With the website in development, it would be ideal to have details of our first novel ready for when the site goes live.

We’ve received several manuscripts, which is pleasing, considering they arrived before we’d started putting our name out there. Some have been better than others, although at this stage there’s nothing which jumps out and screams ‘Publish me!’ One or two could be interesting with some work, but right now we have nothing ready to go.

As a new publisher, it’s a bit of a chicken and egg – with no back catalogue, you have no track record with which to convince writers that they should be submitting to you. However, if you go too early and publish something which isn’t up to scratch, you run the risk of soiling whatever reputation you may have.

So what to do? How long do you play the waiting game? Do you hold out for something utterly brilliant to thud onto your desk? Or do you take a chance on something that you think could work, having asked for rewrites and edits and the like?

With this in mind, I sought out the advice of Lynn Price, editorial director of California-based Behler Publications and resident editor within Litopia. If I had a pound for each time I’ve seen Lynn thanked by writers for the advice she offers, I’d have… hell, I don’t know, but I’d be damn rich.

‘You're certainly right that books build your reputation,’ Lynn told me. ‘And it's smart to have a bang-on book to open your gates. In my case, I knew a lot of writers, so I came out with several books at around the same time.

‘As to how long to wait till you're sure? That's hard to say. It's a gut feel in your radar that pings because you feel confident about promoting the book, the author has a good platform, you have a solid, identifiable readership, and the content is unique to everything currently in the store shelves. Fiction is hard to sell, and it's vital to understand the fiction marketplace.

‘My litmus test is, it has to be beautifully written, and I know I can sell it, given all the other parameters. I won't take something that needs a lot of work because it's too easy for the work to fall apart during the editing process. I'll make recommendations to the author about what I love and what I feel needs work. If they want to fix it and resubmit six months later, I'm good with that.

‘I won't/can't take something that I feel I'm taking a chance on because it's too expensive. I have to feel 100% committed. I wouldn't worry too much about not seeing great manuscripts yet; you haven't put your company name out there. Once you begin publicizing your company, you'll have a lot more to choose from.

‘The most important thing is not to make a round hole fit a square peg. Wait for the right book to come to you.’

Quite often, when you ask for advice, you already know the answer – you just can’t see the wood for the trees. Reading Lynn’s words, it became blindingly obvious.

So, the challenge to all you writers out there is this. We’re waiting for the ‘right book’. Get writing, get editing, get polishing and get submitting.

Cover story

2009-07-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

While editing continues on the stories that will make up the first edition of our Vertigo anthology, we've got a big decision to make - how to pitch the cover art.

Regardless of the saying, people do judge a book by its cover. Okay, the final decision on whether to purchase might come down to other factors, maybe the back cover blurb or the first few lines of page one, but the cover can either hook a browser or confine your book to a long life on the shelves.

I received five uncorrected proofs in the post today to review, none of which I'd heard a word about. Of those five, one jumped out a mile - Prophecy of the Sisters, by Michelle Zink. It had by far the most striking cover art and it was the one to which my attention was drawn. Sure, I checked out the others and read the blurbs, but Zink's novel had its hook into me.

We need Vertigo to be a success. We're starting Nemesis from scratch, and that goes for finance too. Vertigo has to sell, in order to generate cash for future projects. What's more, we want this to be a regular anthology, and for that reason alone it's important that the first editon is well-received.

The reasoning behind the title of the anthology is that these are stories that will leave you feeling uneasy, disorientated, out of kilter with life. The artwork needs to reflect that, and look damn cool doing it.

So the choice of cover art for Vertigo is vital. Obviously, the stories have got to kick ass. But to get folk to buy the thing in the first place, we need a knockout front cover. Easily said, not so easily done.

Quirky by name, quirky by nature

2009-07-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me the other day why, given our surname, we hadn’t gone for a name like 'Quirk Publishing', or 'Quirk Books'. We did think about it. But there were two problems.

First, we didn’t want it to appear that this was a self-publishing venture to get my work into print. It most certainly isn't, but folk often put two and two together and make whatever damn number suits their theory.

The second reason is that there is already a successful independent publisher going by the name Quirk Books, who up until recently dealt mainly with non-fiction. I've been following their adventures for the last couple of years and they hit the big time earlier this year with a novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

There are 600,000 copies of P&P&Z in circulation, and the follow-up has been announced - Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Makes sense, I guess. The cross between period drama and zombies caught the imagination of both readers and the publishing world and the chaps at Quirk Books pounced on the publicity generated, and good luck to them.

Was P&P&Z merely a gimmick of an idea? Or is there something more substantial beyond the concept? I can't say, as I've not read the book yet. But it has worked, that's for sure, and it's a soaring success story that gives hope to a small publishing house trying to find its wings.

On another note, a quick word of thanks to everyone who has wished us well with Nemesis. There are exciting times ahead, and we're glad you're along for the ride.

And on yet another note, talking of success stories, Our Kid seems to have suddenly become obsessed with Harry Potter. He's six, and was hooked on the first movie from the age of two, but fell out of love with young Harry when he discovered 601 on the Sky remote and Power Rangers: Jungle Fury and Ben 10 soon ruled.

But he now has Harry Potter tapes on what appears to be a continual loop in his bedroom and has started to ask to see the films again. I even found him watching Philosopher's Stone earlier while wearing his glasses. We usually have to glue his glasses to his face to keep them on.*

What's more, he actually seems to know what is going on now. We have a few of the books, so that's the next step. You have another fan, JK.

Till next time.

(* A slight use of poetic licence here. Of course we don't glue his glasses to his face. That would be cruel. We just nail them on)

Adventures in publishing. Warts and all

2009-07-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome, one and all, to the blog of Nemesis Publishing.

We’re about to set off on a long (and, frankly, petrifying) journey into the world of books, as we try to get a small publishing house off the ground and fight for a seat at what appears to be an already crowded dinner table of crazed zombies ripping each other’s heads off in search of the tastiest morsel of flesh.

But we want in there.

We want to get a foot on that first rung of the ladder. And keep climbing. And we want you along for the ride.

We’ll be updating this blog regularly – daily, when feasible – and it will be a warts and all look at how the business develops. Your input is welcome; if there’s anything you want to ask about Nemesis, or publishing in general, leave a comment and we’ll endeavour to answer. If you have an idea for a blog topic, let us know.

Right, let’s rewind a little.

Nemesis began to take shape a couple of years back, when we had the idea of providing a platform for Isle of Man fiction writers. The plan was to publish a regular anthology, in typical paperback format, featuring long ‘short stories’ – 5,000 words or so, give or take the odd thousand.

And thus, Vertigo was born. The concept was simple – hard-edged, gritty and dark stories, in any genre, from crime to kitchen-sink drama to fantasy. We got the publicity machine rolling and the submissions started coming in.

Now here we are, in July 2009, with the first edition of Vertigo set to be in shops for Christmas this year, and a second in the pipeline.

But we’re not stopping there.

We have several non-fiction projects in the pipeline, and, through word of mouth, some full-length fiction manuscripts have been turning up on our doorstep and in our inbox.

We won’t be flooding the market with half-baked ideas in order to make a quick buck. We aim to start slowly, a book or two for the first couple of years, and build from there.

Our website is being developed, under the care of the crack web team at Isle of Man Advertising & PR, and until that is up and running, submissions can be sent to us at nemesispublishing(at)gmail.com – for fiction, a cover letter, one-page synopsis, first three chapters, Times New Roman and double-spaced. You know the drill.

What else?

You can follow Nemesis on facebook here

You can follow this blog on facebook here

You can follow us on twitter here

And that's about it for now, folks. Thanks for reading. We hope you stick around and enjoy the ride.

Cheers
Emma and John Quirk