Macmillan: a chance for new authors?

[aruna]

Macmillan - yes THE Macmillan - created a lot of controversy when it started their New Writers division. They are accepting unsolicited, unagented manusripts; if they decide to publish, there are no advances, a standard contract, mimimun of editing (you are advised to get a private editor), and minimum of communication. They retain all world rights. You get a nice hardback with a ribbon bookmark, returns from bookshops, 20% royalties. Another downside: they have first option on your next book.
Submission is very easy: simply send it via email. Decisions are quick: within three months.
http://www.panmacmillan.com/aboutPan/macmillannewwriting.html

The model received a lot of criticism when it first started. But on the other hand, it;s getting a lot of media attention. One author who was signed up for it said he did get editing and is happy up to now, plus they are taking the book to the Frankfurt Book Fair where subsidiary rights may be sold.
Here's his blog:

http://rogersplog.blogspot.com/
What do you think?

[aruna]

And here's a critical Guardian article:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1473765,00.html

[MadScientistMatt]

It sounds like another good example of why you should run away from any publisher claiming to "give new authors a chance." That's usually a sign that experienced authors wouldn't want the chance this publisher is offering.

I'd rather try and compete with established authors for a better contract. After all, these are the people I'll be competing with on the bookshelf floor, and if what I've written can't compete in the editor's office, it probably won't compete in sales either.

[Aconite]

What do you think?
It's a seriously crappy deal for authors (the contract is appalling and non-negotiable). Yes, there are some people who are seeing it as an opportunity to "break into publishing," but some people look at PublishAmerica that way, too, and look where it gets them.

There's a thread on this already in BABC.

[aruna]

what is BABC?

OK, I get it. Bewares etc. Haven't seen it.

[Richard]

"This is about Macmillan finding new authors," Barnard said. "Like a lot of mainstream publishers we haven't in recent years been accepting unsolicited manuscripts, but only ones sent through agents. And we are not discovering as many authors as we need.

Um... Uh...

No, this struck me as a shocking idea at the time, and I've read nothing at all that's changed my mind.

[Aconite]

Haven't seen it.
Here (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11725) it is.

[aruna]

Yes I found it with a search - but thanks.

[JANE007]

Wow, that's a crappy deal. Personally i'd rather spend years shopping around for an agent (if that's what it took) rather than sell my soul to the devil.

I can imagine how difficult it must be to get an agent to read your ms, so for some, a deal like this was probably a "last resort".

:hat: A name change perhaps?... Macmillan Pimpin.

[aka eraser]

If I couldn't land an agent who could knock on the Big Boys' doors for me, I'd do my own knocking at smaller pubs. I think, at least among the literati, books released through this program will be labeled as the "apprentice" books.

[HapiSofi]

I wouldn't be shocked if it were some small-time bottomfeeder, but this is Macmillan UK. This bit particularly bothered me:According to Michael Barnard, Macmillan executive director, it is a way of giving "a voice to talented new authors".

"I find it strange that established authors don't want new books to be published," he said. "I find that position very hard to defend."
That's just slimy. He's implying that established authors are opposed to this scheme because they don't want new books to get published -- that is, because they don't want the competition. That's not why people are objecting. The real problem is that Macmillan UK is abnegating its responsibility to choose its projects, taking the risks in return for potential profits. It's also creating an underclass of writers who have to assume additional risk, and who don't enjoy a full editorial relationship with their house.

This article is full of BS.
Macmillan will copy edit books, but if manuscripts need more detailed work, it will suggest that writers employ freelance editors. According to notes sent to authors, such editors "will charge realistic fees and this will not in itself guarantee publication".
How do they know the editors will charge realistic fees? Macmillan ought not have anything to do with referrals to outside editors. And if this edit doesn't guarantee publication, does that mean it happens before or after they go to contract? If there's a contract, there should be publication.
"This is about Macmillan finding new authors," Barnard said. "Like a lot of mainstream publishers we haven't in recent years been accepting unsolicited manuscripts, but only ones sent through agents. And we are not discovering as many authors as we need."
Rude noise here. HapiSofi is not impressed. They can't be bothered to read slush? They only take submissions through agents? Well, gosh gee whiz. No wonder they haven't been finding as many authors as they need to stay healthy. What they should do is hire some additional editors.
"There are literally tens of thousands of writers out there - and we have a responsibility to help them.
The hell they do. They have a responsibility to find, buy, package, and publish good books. The existence of thousands of unpublished writers is neither their problem nor their responsibility.

Macmillan's an established house. Why are they talking like scammers?
We can't do that by paying a half million advance to every author.
That's a startlingly disingenuous thing for them to say. Small-time newbie authors don't normally have £500,000 pricetags. They cost a few thousand apiece -- and the real cost is in the editing, packaging, production, and distribution of their books. Apparently Macmillan's going to short authors there, too.
"I feel reluctant to pass judgment from on high," said Deborah Rogers, director of the literary agency Rogers Coleridge and White. "But what worries me is where are these books going to land in a bookshop? To make any book work you've got to support it."
I very strongly suspect that Deborah Rogers feels reluctant because she's an agent who has to deal with Macmillan, not because she she's in any doubt about the worth of the program. If all the book gets is a copyedit, it doesn't have an in-house editor -- and the editor is traditionally a book's diehard supporter and most enthusiastic advocate. That's why a book whose acquiring editor has left the house is referred to as having been orphaned. There'll be no one to speak for these books. And if you don't have an editor there to explain the book to the rest of the house, the art and marketing and publicity departments won't know what to do with it.
According to Barnard: "We won't be spending as much on marketing and promotion as on novels that have had big advances; but we believe we can find new ways of promoting and selling these books."
If there were cheaper but still effective ways to promote books, publishers would already be using them. Sounds to me like these underclass titles are going to get gruel, with no seconds.
He said the books would appear in the main Pan Macmillan catalogue and would be "very posh books" with ribbon markers, sold at £15. He expected them to become "collectors' items".
GMFB. Ribbons? That's a few cents' worth of nothing. Fifteen pounds is roughly $30, for books with scant editing and less promotion. I can well believe that some of them will wind up being collectors' items; with the kind of sales they can expect, actual copies are going to be rare.

[James D. Macdonald]

As I've said elsewhere, this sounds very much like something that was dreamed up by someone in marketing and put into place with no input from editorial.

I see it going the same way as iPrint (whose books are also collectibles).