5 - ANATOMY OF A BESTSELLER, PT 2 with Richard Swan

03/10/23 • 33 min

Publishing Rodeo: The Good, The Bad, and the Bloody Ugly

Both Richard and Sunyi hit the Sunday Times list right out the gate in the UK. How does that happen? Who gets to decide, and what does it mean? We explain how the Sunday Times lists work in the UK, the importance of crates (and other independent gatekeepers), and why the list is both hard to hit without orchestrated support. Additionally, we discuss what authors should be most afraid of, and what we wish publishers would openly say.

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4 - ANATOMY OF A BESTSELLER, PT 1 with Richard Swan

Richard Swan, Sunday Times bestselling author of JUSTICE OF KINGS, talks to us about the role that luck and timing play in publishing, and the polar opposite approaches that Sunyi and Richard take to writing.

We also deep dive into publishing contracts and clauses that debuting authors should be looking at (Richard used to be a lawyer in his dayjob). Other topics covered: marketing plans (or the lack of them), what editors mean when they talk about "having a vision" for your novel, the advantages/disadvantages of selling world rights, and the hideous invention that is Joint Accounting.

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6 - Defining Success, with Michael Mammay

Show notes and topics covered:

how to define success for you, personally
the importance of audio, and the commercial impact of a good narrator
commercial versus artistic decisions
what happens when a book underperforms, and what you can do about it
navigating option clauses for future books
how sales track-records can impact future contracts
using leverage (when you have it!)
What you can argue for in contracts, and how much you can push back
things you CAN do to help promote your book
questions from listeners! (A few).

Mike's specific advice:

Success is specific and individual, and relative to your career
Ask for audio rights reversion with 12 weeks of release
Pick 1 or 2 things in your contract you want to fight for
Research your audio narrator
Know what you want/need upfront

Sunyi and Scott's added emphasis:

your sales are not your fault!

Links:

Michael Mammay's Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/MichaelMammay
Michael Mammay's website & blog (with tons of articles about publishing and writing): https://www.michaelmammay.com/