Publishers based in another geography

[lizmonster]

everybody! Lovely to see you.

I'm in the US, staring down Round 2 of a sub. A couple of publishers on the list are UK-based. Their reputations are decent - I recognize books on both lists, and both have been around for a while.

Having said that...has anyone else in the US had experience publishing through the UK? (I know about Angry Robot, but they're apparently set up a bit differently - we were able to sub to them directly, without going through a UK agency.) On the one hand, it's lovely to have someone else do the heavy lifting of editing and cover design. On the other hand...if I'm not going to get much in the way of marketing/publicity there, I'm not sure it's worth taking the time. (This book is nearing the end of its sub list, and for mental health reasons I'm revisiting how much longer I want to put it through all this.)

It's the same question to ask of any small pub, I suppose; I'm just wondering if anyone knows if/how the geographical element plays into it. Anyone?

 

[Richard White]

My only experience like that was writing for Big Finish Ltd. I appeared in one of their Doctor Who Short Trip anthologies, so media tie-in/work-for-hire.

The experience itself was good and it was entertaining trying to cash the check at the credit union (watching them try to convert pounds into dollars . . . Maybe I should have hung onto it and tried to time the market to get the best conversion rate?)

 

[be frank]

On the other hand...if I'm not going to get much in the way of marketing/publicity there, I'm not sure it's worth taking the time.

<snip>

I'm just wondering if anyone knows if/how the geographical element plays into it.

I guess one thing to consider is there's no guarantee of marketing or publicity even if you're with a Big 5 (or 4 now, sigh) and in your own country.

Being in the same locale at least means you can take on some of the promo work yourself if you're so inclined, but for those of us who don't live in either the US or UK, publishing outside our geographical area (with no hope of doing school or bookshop visits in person etc) is the norm. It happens all the time.

 

[lizmonster]

Being in the same locale at least means you can take on some of the promo work yourself if you're so inclined, but for those of us who don't live in either the US or UK, publishing outside our geographical area (with no hope of doing school or bookshop visits in person etc) is the norm. It happens all the time.

Yeah, that's a good point. I am familiar with the fickle marketing system of even the biggest publishers. My first book got a decent, albeit erroneous, pre-release push; the other two got nothing. They did rattle around bookstores, though, which no doubt helped a little.

I did make the decision to ask Agent to explore the non-US possibilities. One issue is that it has to go through a different agency - they need to read the book and decide if there's a market for it there, so there's a wait before I learn if it's going to be subbed at all. How long a wait? This is publishing; who knows?

Which is my problem, of course: there are things I'd need to do if the book doesn't sell, and me being me it's hard to sit in limbo. I have less and less hope daily, and that feeds my desire to take some kind of control of the situation. I suppose seeking information is the closest thing I can get to actually doing something.

 

[Harlequin]

Fwiw I have a few acquaintences who are being published in countries other than where they're resident and seem to do okay. It's a lot of online self promo but what isn't these days lol.

I'm getting a UK release and a USA release, and those are being handled very differently. The UK side is pushing 'local' author or is planning to but the USA side is just making do without me as a physical presence.

Tours and face to face stuff tends to be limited at best of times, both in usefulness and in what a publisher will fund. I would not worry about subbing to Angry Robot - they've got authors all over the place and still seem to get sales!

 

[lizmonster]

Thanks, Harlequin - I suppose I'm mostly thinking about the reach to the US, which is (I was told) a much bigger market than the UK. But I'll ask those questions if I get an offer.

Direct author promo, I've found, is nearly useless. What the publisher spends pre-release seems to have the greatest effect, and a lot of that (maybe all of it) is determined by the time they decide what they're going to offer as an advance. Selling into distribution channels seems to me the biggest thing a trade publisher can offer over self-pub.

 

[Harlequin]

Hrm. If sales do well the books often hop the pond - happened for Jeanette Ng I think and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Shoeless was put out by Rebellion who I think are UK based, and he is in Canada. Might be another good person to ask!

 

[lizmonster]

AFAICT Tchaikovsky is published/distributed by Macmillan, in both the US and the UK (they've already turned down this book). Ng seems to be with Angry Robot, also an excellent pub.

We'll see what the UK partner agency says; my worries may all be moot.

 

[litdawg]

Another UK house that does good work is Head of Zeus. I've been discovering some Titan Books remainders in Dollar Trees here in the U.S., which is interesting. As to your question, I have no experience. I do, however, have the same question

 

[lizmonster]

Another UK house that does good work is Head of Zeus. I've been discovering some Titan Books remainders in Dollar Trees here in the U.S., which is interesting. As to your question, I have no experience. I do, however, have the same question

If I get anywhere with all this, I'll pass on what I learn.

 

[PeteMC]

I'm surprised your US agent can't sub to UK publishers, mine does.

Anyway, I can't exactly answer the question as I'm in the UK myself, but I did this the other way up - my agent is US based, and originally sold my first two books in a world rights deal to a US publisher, who then sold UK rights to a UK publisher. End result, my books in my own country were effectively a foreign rights sale, whereas my "home" territory was the US. A bit unweildly but it worked fine.

The only real issue I think you'll find is around tax. As I have discovered, the British and American tax systems are very different!

 

[lizmonster]

My agent says the subs have to go through "the UK agency," and no, I don't know what that means except that they've got to read the MS and decide if they even want to try. I have not heard back yet, but it's only been 4 weeks since I told my agent I'd like to give it a shot.

 

[PeteMC]

Oh ok, that's.... weird. Still, whatever. Independent presses in the UK that are safe: Angry Robot, Titan, Rebellion, Solaris, Head of Zeus. All the other UK names (Jo Fletcher Books, Gollancz, etc) are subsidiaries of a Big 4 house. There are smaller presses like Newcon, PS Publishing etc, but I don't know enough about them to vouch.

 

[lizmonster]

Oh ok, that's.... weird. Still, whatever. Independent presses in the UK that are safe: Angry Robot, Titan, Rebellion, Solaris, Head of Zeus. All the other UK names (Jo Fletcher Books, Gollancz, etc) are subsidiaries of a Big 4 house. There are smaller presses like Newcon, PS Publishing etc, but I don't know enough about them to vouch.

AR is different, apparently; we were able to sub to them directly. (They haven't turned it down yet. I am expecting that any day. ) I was looking mostly at Titan and Solaris; I think my agent mentioned Rebellion as well. I'll get the details if it happens.

Yeah, this has all been extremely confusing from my end. I feel like I should write a post about All The Ways Trade Pub Can Go Wrong, but I don't want to scare anybody.

 

[Introversion]

I feel like I should write a post about All The Ways Trade Pub Can Go Wrong, but I don't want to scare anybody.

As the House Teen would say: “Bestie…”

 

[lizmonster]

Update: What I've been told is that it's a "no response means no" situation, rather like a standard query. So it seems the answer is no for all of these UK pubs, because the UK agency isn't interested in becoming involved. (Although it's only been 6 weeks, which seems a short time to assume a pass, but maybe inter-agency queries work differently. Regardless, there you go.)

Ah, well. Maybe the next book.

 

[onesecondglance]

My first reaction is surprise that agencies pull the "no response means no" shit with each other - it's bad enough doing it to prospective clients, but with business relationships?

My second reaction is that I really shouldn't be surprised that publishing is so deeply, deeply messed up.

Sorry about the silence, liz.