DEAN PARK PRESS & COMELY BANK PUBLISHING
  • Welcome
  • Dean Park Press
    • History
  • Our Current Authors
  • Blog/News
  • Resources for Talented New Authors
    • Submissions
    • Style Guidelines
    • Formatting
    • Covers
    • Dealing with Writer's Block
    • Sequels Advice
    • A Guide to Scrivener
  • 'Legacy' Comely Bank Publishing Authors
    • T D Burke >
      • The Man From Outremer
    • Gordon Lawrie >
      • Four Old Geezers and a Valkyrie
      • The Discreet Charm of Mary Maxwell-Hume
      • The Blogger Who Came in from the Cold
      • The Piano Exam
      • Recipes
      • 100 Not Out
    • Lucy Lloyd >
      • Russian Doll
    • Jane Tulloch >
      • Our Best Attention
      • Assured Attention
      • Christmas At Murrays
    • Roland Tye >
      • Weekender
  • Bookshop
  • Info for Booksellers
  • Terms & Conditions
  • About Us
  • Contact
Community Publishing for the community

Jane Tulloch Features in the Sunday Post!

12/11/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture
Comely Bank Publishing author Jane Tulloch features in today's Sunday Post, discussing the lost social history of Edinburgh's lost department stores. (You should be able to read it full-size by clicking on the page above.)

Jane is now in considerable demand as a local historian, and you can go along and hear her speak at Previously..., Scotland's History Festival, which this year runs from 17th-26th November. Jane's slot is on Friday 24th November, 15.30-16.30 in the City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, priced £3.00.

Find out more, or book online, at:

​

http://www.historyfest.co.uk/events/jane-tulloch-lost-department-stores-edinburgh
1 Comment

How Long Should a Typical Novel Be?

2/11/2017

0 Comments

 
This article by Danielle Zigner at the excellent Writers&Artists website caught my attention this morning. Zigner is a literary agent with LBA Books, and it's always useful to read what those in the industry have to say.

https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/writers/advice/33/preparing-for-submission/how-to-find-a-literary-agent/how-long-should-my-ms-be

However, it's a question only first-time authors ask, because of course the real answer is "as long as it takes to tell the story and no more". You should read the full thing (see the link above), but the crux of her answer is: around 100,000 words for adult fiction.

Now that figure of 80K-120K gets bandied about a lot. But it ignores the fact that the person asking the question was that undiscovered first-time author. I'd suggest that Zigner's sums are wrong for two reasons, at least in the UK.


First, very few new writers get contracts with one of the big five publishers. Instead they're picked up by smaller publishers or even publishing collectives such as ourselves. For small publishers, books either have to be bought by wholesalers in bulk, or – much more likely – they're stocked and sold by booksellers in bits and pieces. Small publishers then have to send out books by post individually.

The point is that, in the UK, anything under 25mm thickness can be sent as a "large letter" for around £1.60. Anything thicker than that is classed as "small parcel" and costs around £2.90. That extra £1.30 comes straight out of the profit margin for author and publisher. Typically, a bookseller will expect £4.00 profit margin ("discount") from a £9.99 book. If it costs £2.90 to send the book on top of that, the publisher is left with just £3.00 to produce the book – not very much. The "large letter" option is much better as it leaves £4.30 to play with. Very roughly, a 300-page paperback is around 25mm thick. In my experience, printed in something like Minion or Garamond at 11pt, that's approximately 75K-80K words.

The second factor is easier to understand. If a reader is new to an author, then they're more likely to read a short example of their work first – it's common sense. Here at Comely Bank Publishing we call these "breakthrough titles", and at the foot of the blog you'll see a raft of examples of short novels which are likely to be the first books by those authors that you've read. I know that Zigner makes exceptions for literary fiction, but I think it applies to all adult fiction really. Once you've read one of the author's works, there's every chance you might go back and read a longer one, but then you're in a different league altogether.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

    News

    Latest news from
    ​Comely Bank Publishing


    ARCHIVED Posts

    PLEASE NOTE That links in archived posts may no longer be valid

    October 2023
    August 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Picture
    Click here for more about author Roland Tye
    Picture
    Click here for more about author T.D.Burke
    Picture
    Click here for Gordon Lawrie author page
    Picture
    Click here for more about Jane Tulloch
    Picture
    Click here for more about Lucy Lloyd

    Picture
    proud sponsors of
    ​
    Friday Flash Fiction

    Picture
Picture

Website by Platform 36
Photo from gianandreap