"Personal" question(s) to John Jarrold

[John Jarrold]

1 - It varies. I haven't yet met around half-a-dozen of my forty-odd clients. But I've known others for the best part of twenty years.

2 - UK publishers can be less involved with their own country. For instance, Scott Lynch and Robert V S Redick (I represent the latter, which answers the other part of your question) were two US authors first published recently in the UK.

3 - I've done eleven deals for debut novelists in the last three years (nine UK, one US, one Canadian). So far, five of them have US deals. And various other clients also have US deals. But being published in the US isn't seen as the be-all and end-all, by any means.

[John Jarrold]

Oh, and several of those debuts have not yet been published! Again, there is no template in the regard of the timing of a US deal. Sometimes they are not done until after the first or second book is published in the UK, sometimes they are done pre-publication - and sometimes you never get a US deal...

[Scarfy]

Originally Posted by John Jarrold

and sometimes you never get a US deal...

Really? Why's that? Tastes?

[John Jarrold]

Many, many reasons. Not every book works both sides of the Atlantic, for one thing. About 80% of the books published in the US are never published in the UK. The US publishers of Brandon Sanderson, for instance, are amazed that no one in the UK has picked up his fantasy novels, but obviously no UK genre editor has a real feeling for the writing yet or believes they will sell in large enough numbers in the UK to take them on. Like everything else relating to the subjectivity of publishing, there is no simple answer to your question...

[Scarfy]

I'll confess right now that I've never heard of Brandon Sanderson! His website says he writing the last Wheel of Time book though, so that might be a boost for his own work.

By the way, what is considered good sales for a first time novelist? I know that's a rather broad question, but are we talking 3,000 - 7,000 copies?

[John Jarrold]

Too broad. Every book varies. In paperback, if you sell 3000 copies on publication date, that's a failure, in the UK. It depends entirely on the expectations - and thus on how much was paid for the book.

[John Jarrold]

Selling 7000 paperbacks of a book of which you budgeted to sell 7000 paperbacks is fine. But if you budgeted 25,000 paperbacks, then it's obviously a disaster... I've paid £1500 for a debut novel, as a publisher, and £25,000 for another debut. You base the advance on your knowledge of the market, your gut reaction to the book and on discussions with your colleagues in Sales and Marketing regarding printruns and the editions you all feel work for a specific project (paperback original; hardback and paperback; hardback, trade paperback and mass-market paperback...). The expectations are obviously different in those two examples of advances paid above...again, there is no one template that works for every book. That should be imprinted on the brain of every new author. There is no 'absolute'...

[Scarfy]

Which brings everything nicely round to: Write for the enjoyment of it

And I do like telling stories, even if I'm not very good at it...

[John Jarrold]

Onwards!

[John Jarrold]

Originally Posted by Scarfy

I'll confess right now that I've never heard of Brandon Sanderson! His website says he writing the last Wheel of Time book though, so that might be a boost for his own work.

By the way, what is considered good sales for a first time novelist? I know that's a rather broad question, but are we talking 3,000 - 7,000 copies?

His books have done well in the US, but that doesn't mean they would work in a big way commercially in the UK. They are different markets (not always, but some of the time). As a publisher I certainly turned down major US SF and Fantasy sellers over the years, because I couldn't see them working in the UK. So has every other genre editor in London. And the same is true in reverse, with US editors.

[Scarfy]

Gotcha. So US publications deals are quite a big deal then for us UK guys, then.

Would be interesting to try and find out what the magic ingredient is...

[John Jarrold]

Originally Posted by Scarfy

Gotcha. So US publications deals are quite a big deal then for us UK guys, then.

Would be interesting to try and find out what the magic ingredient is...

As with everything else in writing and publishing fiction: there isn't one!

[Scarfy]

Luck?

[John Jarrold]

No, absolutely not! But you must have the right book at the right place at the right time. Which is why - as I've said before - new authors need to be aware of the areas of the market that are working commercially. It's basic intelligence and common sense, not rocket science. And it's also something that many authors discuss with their agents...

And of course it's also about your writing and how terrific it is. Two people could work for a year writing exactly the same story with the same characters and one will be taken on, while the other might be turned down in the first ten pages - because the second writer simply can't write fiction, can't tell a story wonderfully, can't make the characters live.

Anyone who does believe that getting published is really about luck first and foremost should spend ten pounds a week on the National Lottery and stop writing.

[SJAB]

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson was published over here, or at least it was available through the Fantasy and SF book club. I think it was printed by BCA, they used to have their own print run of books, at least I seem to remember something like that. I thought the premise was good, but the book itself didn't quite work for me, towards the end it felt a bit like solving a rubik cube.

As to luck playing a part in getting an agent/publisher, it is more a case of hard work, being as stubborn as a mule, and studying the industry. Most of the time you feel you are hitting your head against a brick wall, then suddenly things begin to happen, sample chapters are requested, even full manuscripts. You might say it's luck, but after ten years of slogging at this I believe it is the result of hard work. Taking the time to get out there and study the market.

To be honest I learned more over three days at my first Eastercon than I had from a couple of years poking round the internet.