Publishing in 2023 with Anne Perry

09/19/23 • 52 min

1 Listener

Chronscast - The Fantasy, Science Fiction & Horror Podcast

Peat and Dan are joined by Anne Perry, publishing director at Jo Fletcher Books. Anne talks with us about the state of the publishing market in 2023, and what authors ought to consider when positioning their book in the market.

We talk about the rising prices of books, the price differential between different regions, subscription-based business models, printing-on-demand, and how the high street retail mode, has changed in the face of internet growth.

Elsewhere, Lieutenant returns from the Corridors of Time (time, time, time etc) and brings back disturbing news about the future of humanity.

Thinking of setting up your own podcast? Use our special link https://zen.ai/7rS13A_Wf6fgo3aS8_WrKw to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan.

Elsewhere, Lieutenant returns from the Corridors of Time (time, time, time etc) and brings back disturbing news about the future of humanity.

Thinking of setting up your own podcast? Use our special link https://zen.ai/7rS13A_Wf6fgo3aS8_WrKw to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan.

Previous Episode

Uprooted with Anne Perry Part 1

1 Recommendations

We're back after the summer break, and are joined by Anne Perry, the publishing director at Jo Fletcher Books, to talk about Naomi Novik's 2015 fantasy bestseller, Uprooted. Based upon aspects of rural Polish folklore, Uprooted follows Agnieszka, a plain village girl who is shocked to learn that she is to be taken away to live with The Dragon, a powerful and distant wizard who lives in a tower at the edge of the valley, and protects them from a malevolent and expanding forest.

Anne, Peat and Dan discuss the feminine voice and perspectives the book offers, from friendship to romance, and why this was unusual when it was initially sold in 2014. We talk about the malevolent Wood, its echoing of Mythago Wood, and how it spawned an era of new, female oriented fantasy. We also discuss the various aspects of the male characters, and how outward hostility can hide redemptive transformation, when the female enters into their domain in the correct way.

The Judge offers a brilliant talk on a topic very relevant to writers of all stripes, namely the issue of copyright of characters, showing cases as diverse as Sherlock Holmes, Only Fools And Horses, Discworld, and Spawn.

Lastly, Captain Halfmilkcarton insists that Lt Bungalow clean up his mess, without much success.

Join us next time when we'll continue our talk with Anne Perry, talking about the state of publishing in 2023, how this affects authors, booksellers, bookshops, and the pros and cons and indie and self-publishing.

Index

Anne Perry Interview [0:00:00 - 55:37]
Skit (55:45 - 58:37]
The Judge's Corner [58:38 - 1:14:36]
Credits and close [1:14:37 - 1:15:12]

Next Episode

Gone Fishin' With John Langan

Ahoy ahoy! When the Beanstalker and I were drawing up our wish list for guests on the podcast, there was one name that @Phyrebrat was adamant that we try and get. That was the American author John Langan, who joins us for this episode. John is one of the masters of modern horror and whose seminal book The Fisherman, an exploration of guilt, diaspora history, and weird cosmic horror, won the prestigious Bram Stoker Award.

So we finally got hold of John and he joins us this month to celebrate the UK launch of The Fisherman (a full 7 years after its original publication!), and we talk all things horror. We discuss the book, of course, and the trends in horror, both modern and throughout the ages. We touch on Lovecraft, King, and some of the other heavyweights of the genre, but also the modern writers who form the "Brat Pack" of contemporary horror such as Paul Tremblay, Laird Barron, and our Chronscast friend Alison Littlewood.

John's a big-hearted bear of a man with a huge, barrelsome laugh, and he was great fun to talk with - we hope you enjoy the episode!

This episode features the first half of our talk with John, with the second half to follow in a couple of weeks.

Elsewhere, @The Judge casts her line far and wide and reels in a juicy talk about fish and fishing, and your perpetually inept hosts of Mars Radio 14 discover that the core essence of reality itself is magic. Or logic. Or a really big fish.

Index:

[0:00:00 - 1:05:51] - John Langan interview

[1:05:52 - 1:10:52] - Skit

[1:10:53 - 1:31:06] - The Judge's Corner

2nqhs38x5ZYM9Bb356IC