Unpicking Partnership Publishing. Part One (of three)

The Book Room

It was on my sixty-first birthday as the gin and tonics were being poured and the family were cooking curry in the kitchen, that the email came through offering me a publishing deal which finished with the sentence, ‘We receive many YA submissions, but few are as unique and exciting as this.’ After months of rejections or silence from agents, I had my publishing deal. I couldn’t have had a better birthday present.

That’s what I told everyone, that I had a publishing deal, which I did, but what I kept quiet, except to a trusted few, was that it was a partnership publishing deal. The Book Guild, a subsidiary of Troubadour Publishing, offered me a publishing contract, in which I’d pay a percentage of the publishing costs, and they in return would receive a percentage of the net profits of sales.

There was a frisson of ‘not being a proper publisher’, of feeling guilt and of old age elitism in having the money to fund this, and of that old chestnut of not feeling good enough, not having managed to secure an agent or publishing deal with a ‘proper’ publisher. However, let’s unpick this…

From that acceptance email, it took less than a year to get The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn onto the shelves. With its nod to the 1649 Newcastle Witch Trials, the publication date of 28^th October, three days before Halloween, couldn’t have been better. I liked the speed of getting it out there. At 61, with lots more books planned, waiting for an agent to accept, and then pitching to a publisher seems such a lengthy process, and I’d already spent the best part of a year trying to get an agent.

The money is a thing but having left teaching with a severance pay cheque after losing the plot, I put the cash into this new chapter. However, it does need to be said that every step needs to be funded. Everything comes at a cost. I decided against going for the Net Galley reviews at £250 the book blogger’s tours, and the pop-up banner to take to events, but I did pay to get bookmarks printed, which were glorious. I skimped on the proofreading, getting friends and family to do this – I won’t be doing that next time (forgive me Harry, who will no doubt admonish me for not letting go of the typos) but this is relevant.

A couple of weeks ago I paid £300 for the team at The Book Guild to make The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn available in the EU, and worldwide, for bookshops on the continent to order from GardnersEU, and as a print-on-demand hard copy elsewhere. Molly is going global and I have some super graphics all ready to go, made on Canva, for when I get the nod that it is live across the world. Everyone knows someone living abroad, so I’ll let you all know when this is live and hope you’ll tell your friends and family. It is this personal approach, the networks and connections that are working for me, and I like it.

Then there is that awesome cover! One reason for approaching Troubador Publishing was seeing the beautiful covers they produced. I consider this to be my word art, and I want it beautifully packaged, and lithographically type set and printed on quality paper, which it is. The printers down in Cornwall, T J Books, need congratulating here on an outstanding job. I’ve had lots of comments on the quality of the production.

Now it is out there, the Rewilding of Molly McFlynn is a hit, I’m happy to say, and not just with teens. It seems it is reaching feminists of all ages: it’s found its tribe amongst those who have understood that it’s okay not to fit in, to stand up for our planet and those marginalised in society. The reviews are amazing (thank you to all those who have left theirs). It’s only been out a month and we are already looking towards the fourth print run! It beat Lee Childs as best seller in our local Waterstones for two weeks on the trot, and if I look up on Waterstones Click and Collect, I see it is available from London to Liverpool, and with independent bookshops stocking it everywhere in between and above and below. I had a lovely email from The Edinburgh Bookshop recently to say they are stocking my book, and have welcomed photos from readers sent from their local indie bookshops like this one from Sally, picking her five copies from The Book Case in Hebden Bridge. Keep those photos coming, and do ask your local bookshop if they are stocking it.

It's consistently at the top of the Amazon charts in YA Rennaissance Historical Fiction, and high in the YA Magical Realism Charts. I love seeing that those who have bought The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn have also bought Guy Shrubsole’s book on Rainforests, and Isabella Tree’s book. Rewilding, and Lia Leedertz’s Almanac. Come on Amazon, get it in the environmental lists – it isn’t even set in the Rennaissance, but who are we to understand the mysteries of algorithms?

I am booking my own events, going where I want to, or not. I have been on a couple of podcasts, such as The Northern Connection Pod, and recently had a lovely chat with Ollie at World Gardening Radio. Very soon, Lou Hamilton will be airing the podcast interview on Brave New Girl, and I’ll let you know when this is up. We had a conversation about getting Molly on the screen. With more books planned, I think The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn would make amazing TV or film and being in this partnership publishing deal, I have the film and TV rights, so if any producers out there are reading, do get in touch!

There are many reasons why I’m glad I went with this partnership publishing deal. However, still, I am looking over my shoulder at other authors, with deals with the big publishing houses, looking at their works being seen in Bookseller, being translated into different languages and with the support and backing of agents and whole teams of marketing experts. I am not in that position and am rather going it alone, making it up as I go along, and for that reason am all over social media as I promote my book.

The Book Guild’s marketing team have done their bit, but now they are on to other titles, the books being published this month, and I am my own marketing team.

I am working hard across all my social media channels, grateful to the community there, my tribe, who supported me as The Woolly Pedlar, and continue to do so now. The like-minded souls who are leaving reviews, like this one here from Anne.

Will I continue with partnership publishing for book two? I don’t know. The cover took ages to come, and there were no proofs so to speak. I wasn’t happy that the media marketing team pitched to the likes of Guardian Books and other big titles without a cover photo. They are a small team, and their marketing support is time-limited and social media reach limited. As with anything, there are pros and cons, and they have produced a damn fine cover, which with its shiny foils is even better in real life.

Tonight, I’m heading to Newcastle, with my head held high, and proud of my partnership-published book, to sign copies in Newcastle Waterstones alongside the lads from Viz Comic.

So it’s thank you to The Book Guild for all you have done.

However, if one of the big publishers offers me a publishing deal to take Molly up to another stratosphere, will I take it? You bet I will!

Will I look at partnership publishing for the sequel? Let’s see what happens in the next few months.

From now until 20th December, I’m offering free gift wrapping and personal dedication in signed copies of The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn, sent anywhere in the UK from my website, Sue Reed Writes. Just pop your requirements in the note box.