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[Publisher] Bookouture

aruna

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Bookouture is now 4 years old, and has announced, on Facebook, that it has sold 7 million books.

Oliver Rhodes won the Publisher of the Year award at the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association awards ceremony, while Kim Nash, BK's publicity manager, won the Media Star award.

The final award of the evening, for Publisher of the Year, was won by Oliver Rhodes, Managing Director and Publisher, Bookouture, for his vision, drive and passion.

They began as a Women's Fiction publisher but now concentrate on Crime and Thrillers fiction as well as psychological suspense, particularly with female man characters.
 
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Pisco Sour

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Bookouture is now 4 years old, and has announced, on Facebook, that it has sold 7 million books.

Oliver Rhodes won the Publisher of the Year award at the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association awards ceremony, while Kim Nash, BK's publicity manager, won the Media Star award.



They began as a Women's Fiction publisher but now concentrate on Crime and Thrillers fiction as well as psychological suspense, particularly with female man characters.


Their website say they do YA... Do you know if they are still keen to publish this category?
 

gingerwoman

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Their website desperately needs an update.
They have published YA in the past, not so much recently.
You think they are not accepting other catagories now, or are they just primarily focusing on what's worked for them in the past and still accepting the other genres they list?
 

aruna

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You think they are not accepting other catagories now, or are they just primarily focusing on what's worked for them in the past and still accepting the other genres they list?

I don't think they are accepting new categories; the first couple years they were figuring out what works, I think, and crime has just soared ahead. They have also hired new staff with specialist experience in crime. So it seems that's the main path forward right now! They are also keeping an eagle eye on what's selling and what's not and concentrating on the latter, and that right now is crime/thrillers.
 

Pisco Sour

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I sent an e-mail to Bookouture asking whether they are still interested in publishing YA and the other genres mentioned in their submission guidelines and if they are mainly focusing on crime/thrillers. I received this response from Oliver Rhodes, who has given me permission to copy it on this forum (bolding mine):

Thanks so much for being in touch and for your interest in Bookouture. Whilst we have been very successful with our crime thriller titles, we are open to all fiction genres - including YA - and always have been.

If you'd like to submit, you can do that here: www.bookouture.com/pitch
 

aruna

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RNA interview with Oliver Rhodes.

8 million books sold to date, with 150 books.

They have updated their submission process:
We ask authors to send submissions through our website at: www.bookouture.com/submit



We have a new system which makes it easy for us to share submissions internally and make sure they find the best home. We’ve also improved our turnaround time, so all submissions should receive a response within four weeks.

and this:
What are you looking for at present and what do you think is next for Bookouture?

We’re looking for authors who create page-turning stories that will keep readers coming back for more – whether that’s romance, women’s fiction, thrillers or historical novels – or indeed any other fiction genre.
And for me, finally, my latest book made the UK Top 100 overall -- for the first time ever. It actually got up to number 33 the weekend before publication, then dropped, and now back hovering at the 100 border. I don't know how they do it!
 
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Zombie Fraggle

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Yikes,forsomereasonmylaptopwon'tusespacesbetweenwordstonight,sorry!

I had the same thing happen on here this morning, and it was the only place. It corrected itself when I cut my text then typed it in again. Weird.

8 million books sold to date, with 150 books.

I would be very interested in seeing more drilled-down data regarding that number, as an average of ~53,000 books sold per title doesn't say anything about how the average book performs. Do all Bookouture titles receive the same degree of promotion by the publisher?

On a separate note, I'm quite surprised that Amazon lets them get away with including a book's advertising tagline (e.g., "A gripping and emotional story that will make you sob your heart out" and "The Gripping Thriller that Everyone is Talking About" and "A totally gripping edge-of-your-seat thriller"*) as part of the title.

*from actual titles
 

aruna

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I would be very interested in seeing more drilled-down data regarding that number, as an average of ~53,000 books sold per title doesn't say anything about how the average book performs. Do all Bookouture titles receive the same degree of promotion by the publisher?

On a separate note, I'm quite surprised that Amazon lets them get away with including a book's advertising tagline (e.g., "A gripping and emotional story that will make you sob your heart out" and "The Gripping Thriller that Everyone is Talking About" and "A totally gripping edge-of-your-seat thriller"*) as part of the title.

*from actual titles

Of course there are huge differences. Some books have been flops. Some sell averagely well. And a few have sold millions. I would say that ALL books receive quite a bit of promotion. Here's the story of one of the most succesful, the story of her debut novel and number two. Nobody knew at the start that her first novel would do so well, but it did. I don't think it received any more or less promotion than other first-time novelists with them. Some perfectly fine books (imo) have not sold well at all. I don't think there's such a thing as an average book, and it's futile to look for one.


As for the taglines -- soon after the publication of my second novel, the publisher told me that they would be adding such taglines because they had discovered they brought in more sales. Everything they do is about bringing in more sales: covers, titles, etc. I'm not always pleased with their choices but I go along with them because, if it works -- well. At the moment I am more interested in increased sales than in aethetically pleasing promotion. I've just retired and I need money more than aesthetics. They do seem to know what works (ETA: my last book, published on 20th January 17, has already sold almost 10000 digital copies. So I won't complain about the tagline, in case that helped. It is a retitled rewrite of a HarperCollins book published back in 2001, which didn't sell a fraction of that amount, and which received very ittle promotion). Maybe one day Amazon will say "no more taglines", in which case, they'll stop.
 
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aruna

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BK has been acquired by Hachette UK. Oliver mailed us with the news a couple of hours ago and has confirmed that for us authors everything will stay they same -- royalty rates etc, and that the staff that are doing such a good job will stay.

From the Bookseller link above:
All of Bookouture's 16 staff will remain with the company, which will retain its offices in London's King's Cross.

As digital publisher for Hachette UK, Rhodes will be responsible for "steering and advising" Hachette to help it grow e-book sales across the group. He will report to David Shelley, c.e.o. of Little, Brown and Orion, and Bookouture will have a "special relationship" with Little, Brown, which will publish some of Bookouture’s authors in print.
Hachette UK chief executive Tim Hely Hutchinson hailed the acquisition as a "landmark event" for two "ambitious" companies. He said Bookouture "probably knows more about selling e-books than any other publisher in the world" and would continue to operate as a standalone business within Hachette. The businesses will pool their expertise to result in mutual growth, he added.
 
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aruna

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Bookseller article: Hachette's New Clothes

If you believe some of the gloomier analyses about the e-book market, Bookouture’s continued growth makes no sense. But that’s never worried Rhodes: nor does that the fact that its biggest customer (Amazon) is also its biggest rival (Amazon Publishing). Like the best kind of publishing businesses, it has simply (with apologies to Alan Bennett) “kept on keeping on”. In the context of Bookouture that has meant delivering strong sales for books such as Robert Bryndza’s thriller The Girl in the Ice, which hit one million sales in less than a year, and completing eye-catching deals with Kindle bestsellers such as Kerry Wilkinson and Mel Sherratt. In September the normally staid trade newspaper Publishers Weekly called BookoutureBritain's Hottest Digital Publisher”.
 

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I'm getting a good rate of agent interest in my book, but I'm really interested in submitting directly to Bookouture. Only thing that I have a worry about (other than being rejected) is the rate at which some authors are producing their books. I follow many of the Bookouture authors on Twitter and unless I'm mistaken (always a possibility where me and maths is concerned) I think some of them have new titles out every six months or so. That's a lot of pressure. Anyone know anything about that? Is this fairly standard now for digital publishers?
 

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I'm getting a good rate of agent interest in my book, but I'm really interested in submitting directly to Bookouture. Only thing that I have a worry about (other than being rejected) is the rate at which some authors are producing their books. I follow many of the Bookouture authors on Twitter and unless I'm mistaken (always a possibility where me and maths is concerned) I think some of them have new titles out every six months or so. That's a lot of pressure. Anyone know anything about that? Is this fairly standard now for digital publishers?

I have a friend who has a thriller coming out with them at the end of the year. They want the second and third books of the trilogy to release in 6 month increments. Pressure! But she says she's coping. I saw the marketing plan they gave her--it was quite extensive--and they seem to be on the ball with their plans to publicise and market the book so far. She was published by a small UK e-publisher in Romance beforehand and from her happy comparisons the difference in their approaches is like ditching the paper plates for a gold dinner service. HTH
 

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I have a friend who has a thriller coming out with them at the end of the year. They want the second and third books of the trilogy to release in 6 month increments. Pressure! But she says she's coping. I saw the marketing plan they gave her--it was quite extensive--and they seem to be on the ball with their plans to publicise and market the book so far. She was published by a small UK e-publisher in Romance beforehand and from her happy comparisons the difference in their approaches is like ditching the paper plates for a gold dinner service. HTH

That's really helpful to know, thank you. I've been watching them grow since I noticed them a couple of years back and I wish I'd have had something suitable for them earlier. I imagine because of their success the competition is fiercer now to get signed up by them. Really glad to hear their author's are not being unfairly squeezed.
 

aruna

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I'm getting a good rate of agent interest in my book, but I'm really interested in submitting directly to Bookouture. Only thing that I have a worry about (other than being rejected) is the rate at which some authors are producing their books. I follow many of the Bookouture authors on Twitter and unless I'm mistaken (always a possibility where me and maths is concerned) I think some of them have new titles out every six months or so. That's a lot of pressure. Anyone know anything about that? Is this fairly standard now for digital publishers?

It's true: many authors have a very tight schedule. This year I'm having three books published! However, two of them were rewrites from books previously published by HarperCollins -- quite extensive rewrites, but still.

The book coming out in October is brand new, frm scratch. I've never written a book so quickly! From 1st April first word, to 14th August delivery of the final proofs checked by me. But you know what, I'm getting better and quicker under pressure. I always try to keep to my deadlines and somehow it's worked out. I actually enjoy it, but glad that I'm about to have a longer pause without a book in the pipeline. I know some authors who have agreed to one book a year, so it's not always such pressure.

I do write best under pressure. There were days during the first draft when I simply DID NOT want to write but I had to. I submitted a first draft to my editor without even rereading it. She loved it and there were only a few changes to be made.

I also know that this is the time where I really really want to be out there as a writer, since the more your name circulates the more sales you get; and being a retiree now, I could do with good and better sales.

Not that I'm complaining -- I'm very happy with my royalties to date, but I'd like to have a backlog of books to keep me going financially over the years.

- - - Updated - - -
 
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NotForUsThanks

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Thanks aruna. Come to think of it, I'd actually prefer pressure and deadlines to the listless waiting around for replies from agents that may or may not come and that may or may not be a rejection. I'm very much feeling like I just want to get on with it now.
 

aruna

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Thanks aruna. Come to think of it, I'd actually prefer pressure and deadlines to the listless waiting around for replies from agents that may or may not come and that may or may not be a rejection. I'm very much feeling like I just want to get on with it now.

Sorry, missed this earlier. I absolutely agree. I do tend to write better under (reasonable) pressure. I got the edits to that book done in six weeks, which I spent at a villa in Sri Lanka with nothing else to distcart me, and it was wonderful! When I say all edits, I mean everything, from content edits to line edits to proofreading. IN between each edit I had a few days to recover, but it was basically full power ahead and I loved it. I couldn't do that while holding down a day job, though.
Now that another book has just been published, I have a little spave to recover before starting the next book. I have two partials on submission to them, novels that were written back in 2004-2007 and couldn't find a publisher. I'm hoping this is their chance; otherwise I'll have to write something from scratch.
In the meantime they have a really super team of editors and others, mostly poached from big publishers. And crime still pays best.
 

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Just to update (I contributed to this post way back when I was first published with Bookouture). I have now published my last book with them and are moving forward with Amazon Publishing who have offered me a fantastic deal for my new crime thriller series. I've just finished the first draft of my this new series, my tenth book. My first fiction novel was published with Bookouture in 2015 so I'm really looking forward to 'slowing down' to writing a book every six months! It's been a blast but the pressure of quick turnarounds was taking the enjoyment out of it all. My earliest series sold the best with them. There are a LOT of new crime authors being taken on with Bookouture now, so if you write in that genre, I'd look up some of the newly recruited editors on their site if you want to submit. I'm very grateful that I was able to give up my job in the police to write full time and very excited about what the future holds. Good luck to everyone still waiting to hear back. It's not for the faint hearted but can be very rewarding. :)
 
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Preacher'sWife

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Just to update (I contributed to this post way back when I was first published with Bookouture). I have now published my last book with them and are moving forward with Amazon Publishing who have offered me a fantastic deal for my new crime thriller series. I've just finished the first draft of my this new series, my tenth book. My first fiction novel was published with Bookouture in 2015 so I'm really looking forward to 'slowing down' to writing a book every six months! It's been a blast but the pressure of quick turnarounds was taking the enjoyment out of it all. My earliest series sold the best with them. There are a LOT of new crime authors being taken on with Bookouture now, so if you write in that genre, I'd look up some of the newly recruited editors on their site if you want to submit. I'm very grateful that I was able to give up my job in the police to write full time and very excited about what the future holds. Good luck to everyone still waiting to hear back. It's not for the faint hearted but can be very rewarding. :)

Woo-hoo!! Congrats on the fantastic, well-deserved turn of events!