When I was fourteen I read Mary Hoffman’s Stravaganza: City of Masks, a young adult novel set both in contemporary England and in an alternate Venice 500 years in the past. Reading that book whilst on a family holiday captured my imagination and sparked my love of Venice. It made me want to learn Italian so I could revisit the city during my gap year, and eventually live there to study at Ca’ Foscari and Venice International University during my BA Erasmus year.

Why am I talking about Venice, when myself and my peers at OICPS have recently visited Bologna for the international rights fair?

Because as an introduction to the event Brookes had arranged by complete coincidence for us to meet the author of Stravaganza! What a dream come true.

I’d expressed my happiness at the coincidence on twitter the week before, and Mary responded in turn to say how happy she was that a reader of her books would be at the meeting. In a strange coincidence she was due to meet with Laura Tosi after her jaunt at Bologna, a lady whose lecture I had attended whilst studying in Venice.

Meeting with myself, Laura and Judith in the comfortable business lounge (complete with squishy seats!) Mary Hoffman set the scene and gave us insight into this year at the fair. We discussed her findings and our own. In conversation with The Bookseller, she’d noted that picture books were on the rise. The illustrator presence at the fair was huge, with walls of example pictures and cards coating the lounge, and engaging talks with some key players. There was Big Picture Press a new sister imprint of Templar. Scholastic had a great title, The Snatcha Book in which a little creature snatches away bedtime stories for company. Emily Gravett had a promising next offering, Little Mouse’s Big Book of Beasts. In my wandering I also stumbled upon David Fickling Book's gorgeous cover for Very Little Red Riding Hood by Heapy and Heap at the Random House stand. And Salariya had reissued a childhood classic in Old Bear that had many of us feeling nostalgia pangs.

One of the biggest draws of the fair was Nosy Crow's stand, their bright red display proudly boasting the numerous awards they have scooped up in recent years particularly for their ahead of the times digital content and apps for younger readers. When we walked past them the queue was building up the aisle for the chance to talk to their team. 

There was likewise some buzz for several young adult authors, S.R. Johannes’ wilderness thriller Untraceable offering contemporary realism and romance, Walker Books’ Neverending a sinister new romance, and a lot of interest in Hot Key Books list which is expanding from 9 titles published in 2012 to 50 in 2013. They saw success with the crossover appeal of Maggot Moon, creating an adult cover for a new edition, and generated buzz over titles such as The Blue Lady with eye catching cover art adorning wall sized posters. David Fickling Books YA forensic science meets magic book Spellbinder gained a lot of word of mouth and rumours of film interest. US publisher Little Brown still proudly displayed a range of YA supernatural titles like Malinda Lo’s Inheritance and Holly Black’s The Coldest Girl in Cold Town - described as the vampire book you didn’t know you still needed to read. However there was a definite moving away from the previous years' obsession with Young Adult dystopian trilogies. 

Barrington Stoke’s rebranded list of dyslexia friendly titles has captured the attention of high profile authors including Michael Morpurgo, Gillian Cross, Malorie Blackmam, Eoin Colfer and more. Their squirrel logo and slogan ‘cracking reading’ gives the publishing house a more approachable feel.

As a whole the industry was moving towards a lot of renewed interest in Middle Grade fiction. Bonnier imprint Red Lemon Press displayed Being A Boy by James Dawson. There was also Emily Diamand’s Ways to See A Ghost, and World War One fiction such as Dog In No-Mans Land. Little Brown also had a number of middle grade fiction titles including the sequel to Chris Colfer’s The Land Of Stories, cover art covered up under sheet paper until it is no longer embargoed. Disney-Hyperion praised Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky, a middle grade book about transgender identity and gender fluidity, a book about issues that tells the story in a way that doesn’t become an “issue book”. R.J Palacio’s Wonder seemingly paving the way for a rise in engaging and stimulating books for younger readers.

We left Mary with lots to think about and keep an eye out for in our walk around the fair. And furthermore she graciously agreed to sign my copy of City of Masks with a lovely message. Maybe one day I will get to publish one of her books, as coincidences such as this chance encounter can happen when you least expect it!


Part Two

"Anxious, greedy, and deluded." 

That is how Simon Mason describes himself when wearing the cap of author, a different breed of animal entirely from "patient and wise" Mason in the role of editor. 
Talking to the Children's Publishing class at OICPS about his dual professions this afternoon, Mason drew on his experience as author of several children's and adult books as well as an editor at David Fickling Books and Random House. 

Mr Mason had three golden rules for future publishers:

* Be open and share with authors.
* Be supportive
* Be honest and realistic.

Above all the publisher's responsibility is to establish a relationship with the author in which you can successfully manage expectations in order to create the best work.

The commissioning process is a big moment in the author's life, the culmination of private work being accepted and celebrated. What does an author want in these circumstances? Mason reminds us that the author creature is "anxious, greedy and delusional" and looking for is a hodgepodge of flattery, white lies and money...remember the import of delusional in that sentence! What an editor can offer is acknowledgement of work in the form of a face to face meeting. Building a rapport from the offset. In his role of patient and wise editor, Mason views this as an opportunity to glean information about the author. Picking up clues as to work method; is this your first novel? How long have you been working on it? Why are you looking to publish this piece? What would you like us to do for you? And most importantly, are you open to constructive criticism. 

Can we build a mutual bond to bring about the creative best in each other?

Money is important, an author will be enticed by a higher offer of advance, however it is not the be all and end all. Non-monetary value can be found in the questions; does the publisher offer a vision, how would they approach publishing the novel, is there a personal approach and good reputation?

Will they offer 'good news sandwiches', building the editing process around honest criticism without shattering egos in their wake? Are they clear, bold, direct? How can editors encourage the author to improve upon their own work?

Keeping the author informed is key; during the editorial process, explain the whys. In designing the cover and giving the expressive heart of the book a face, listen to their aesthetic and utilise their ideas building the author into the process in conjunction with Marketing and Sales to create something pleasing to author and end user. Mason described the process of redesigning the cover of his novel Moon Pie in the reprint between hardback and paperback, to better suit a 9-11 year old market. Selecting designs passed on by the editors at David Fickling Books to create a more mature front.

Publicists work intensively with the author, getting the word out about their work on blogs, radio, signings at fairs. Here is where the author will expect amazing things, and the publicist may have to work carefully to bring them back down to Earth and celebrate their work in a way that is both realistic and beneficial. Passing on mentions to the author to show that their work is being received and appreciated within it's niche adds a real world demonstration of results. 

Literary agents offer a perspective to authors that bridges the gap between the intimacy of working directly on the text with an editor, often better preparing them for the world of book publishing. A gateway of realism to bolster the anxious authorial beast.

As editor and author, Mason demonstrates the balance between both worlds.

My week with David Fickling Books was the perfect quiet introduction into the practical world of publishing.

Hopping on a bus to Oxford in the snow, I (carefully) made my way each morning to their little offices on Beaumont Street. This being my first official internship, I was somewhat nervous. However the welcoming warm library in the reception, filled with recognisable and well loved titles, instantly put me at ease. DFB is a small imprint of Random House and their offices are home to the editorial staff and of course David Fickling himself.

I'd spoked to Matilda Johnson, who manages David's office as well as submissions and editorial responsibilities, both via twitter and when arranging my internship. She was the first person I met in the office on Monday. She showed me around and made me feel at home (leading me to the all important coffee making facilities - although rather than the usual cliche of the interns making the rounds I was generously offered drinks throughout the day, how lovely!) and set me to work reading manuscripts submitted into the slush pile that week.

The author's work came with a cover letter and a couple of chapters, or a full picture book text often accompanied by a doodled idea of illustration potential. These texts came from authors without literary agents, as DFB is open to finding the diamond in the rough and allows open submissions. Some of these were very rough, not in keeping with the DFB line, or simply needed more work before becoming ready for a publisher to take it on. I did find one chapter book for 8-12s that looked like it had potential. As well as a few barmy ideas that made me smile. On Friday I had the responsibility of sending out rejection letters, something that seemed strange at first, but you soon realise that for a small publisher which accepts 12-20 titles a year, this is a key component of the job.

Throughout the week I was asked to read a manuscript of a book currently going through the editorial process, an upcoming novel entitled The Waking World by Tom Huddleston, and the chapter summaries for the sequel. A fantasy, post-apocalyptic, Arthurian adventure, I found the book incredibly enjoyable and look forward to seeing what becomes of it once it is published in October 2013. 

I did this again for a chapter book for younger readers. Throughout both readings, I found the best way to absorb the story was to read it carefully and jot down notes in my notebook as I went along. It was important to not be afraid of being critical, or saying what changes I believed would be appropriate. Once finished reading, I looked over my notes, considered the overall arch of the story and wrote a document on the changes I would make for review by the editors. On Thursday I had a meeting with David to discuss my thoughts, and he gave me the advice that my opinions were valid, as I am a reader, and that an editor must establish a friendly but firm rapport with their authors and have mutual trust that the comments provided intend to produce the best piece of work possible. The chapter book would need more work, and it was very interesting to hear the editorial comments that showed why it would not be chosen for publication yet.

Matilda also showed me through the process of selecting potential cover designs, and the stages of development and approval. The editorial team works with the author's vision and works with sales to settle on the final cover. Issues such as font, shadows, cropping, colours and design all come in to play when trying to create an eye catching and appropriate design. 

I very much enjoyed my week interning at David Fickling Books, and would love to return in the future.

Best of luck to the team and especially to Mr Huddleston with his The Waking World.

- Charlie

P.S. thank you for my beautiful copy of The Feathered Man, I look forward to reading it!

Busy month has been extremely busy! I've been awfully quiet this December - but hard at work over here in Oxford. Our assignments have been ticked off one by one. Farewell editorial report and presentation, farewell design and production sample chapters and BLAD, farewell marketing plan. You were a hoot.

(I'm now nocturnal.)

We've officially proposed our Online Dating Guide for the Young Professional (Click Online Dating in the City), and although we didn't win the Pan Macmillan editorial prize (which went to the extremely deserving team who created Happy Hedgehogs a Gluten-free cookbook for kids with 'prickly tummies') we probably won with the world's most co-operative and peaceful team building experience. It was great working with you team 11!

Karly and I spent many an afternoon with wicked witches and dastardly devils trying to get to grips with the ins and outs of InDesign to redesign Monsters in the Movies into a new paperback format, with revised text and layout. Vampires and Werewolves, ghosts, fairytales and modern monsters were all scanned, edited and reformatted. And eventually we even figured out how to do the preflight checks (tip: do this as you go along and spot mistakes on the way!) My most successful accomplishment was learning how to do clipping paths on photoshop. I'll be reading my InDesign guide back to front this Christmas break to try and figure it all out at home.

And Beth and I have literally just this minute submitted our Marketing Plan for a series of four 'Living With...' titles under the Jessica Kingsley Publishers brand list. 

FREEDOM!

In other news I've managed to stumble my happy way into three upcoming internships in 2013. The first you already know about, David Fickling Books, which starts in January. I've been reading lots of wonderful DFB titles in preparation, and am particularly fond of Richard Coleridge's beautiful winter picturebook When it Snows. 

The second is a week in May with the sales and marketing department of an up and coming Childrens and Young Adult trade fiction imprint called Hot Key Books, who have signed Sally Gardner's fabulously trippy tale Maggot Moon, and one of my favourite American teen writers, Maureen Johnson. I'm hoping to build my dissertation/major project around the idea of social media and community building with marketing and PR in Young Adult markets, so am particularly excited at this amazing opportunity.

And finally I am incredibly happy to have been offered a month internship at Headline books immediately following my week at Hot Key. I can't wait to follow up the book signing event with Eowyn Ivey and Sam Eades with the chance to peek behind the scenes at the build up to such a campaign.

So I hope you all enjoy your winter holidays.

I shall be reading:

Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey (I'm half way through and it is beautiful, a definite must read!)
Divergent - Veronica Roth
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairytale Land In A Ship Of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente
The Feathered Man - Jeremy de Quidt
A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness 
Heart-Shaped Bruise - Tanya Byrne

This blog comes in two parts.

Part One: Dazzle

On Tuesday morning we at OICPS learnt all about website marketing via an informative talk by Kimberley Manning, former fellow student, now the web marketing manager at OUP.

She shared some of her insights into site layout. Useful tips such as; the human eye tends to skim read web pages in an ‘F’ formation, searching out navigation and key information along the top and to the right hand side of a page. Bucketing similar information into groups and providing bitesize chunks of 20 words or less allows the reader to digest the facts without getting overwhelmed. Remember to ensure that your website works on different devices in this fast moving technological age.

And my favourite lesson: use appropriate dazzle.

Dazzle is all those fancy things that a website can do beyond provide pure copy. Today I added a bit of dazzle to the front page of my own charlieinabook site, by adding some widgets connecting to Goodreads, Twitter and LinkedIn. If I were to embed a video or animate my site, that would be dazzle.

Here, watch this fabulous trailer for an upcoming Christmas title 'When It Snows.'

Which leads me to the second part of today’s post; Mr. Fickling of David Fickling Books...

Part Two: 

As a sales assistant at The Book House I was aware of DFB through titles such as Kenneth Oppel’s ‘Half Brother’, the comic books series ‘The Phoenix’, and Nick Sharratt’s wonderful picture book ‘Socks.’ A DFB title was one that grabbed the eye and told a good story. I know that a DFB title has a strong reputation in the industry for quirky and original content. The publishing team based in Oxford picks twenty titles a year for their special attention. 

Their website is sleek, informative and efficient. It is also bright, playful and engaging. Ms. Manning would approve of their brilliant bucketing techniques.


I had been hoping to get an opportunity to gain work experience with the publishing firm. So when I heard that the SYP (Society of Young Publishers) would be holding their October speakers event with Mr. Fickling on Tuesday evening, I was very excited to attend.

Mr. Fickling dazzled in person.

With his famous red bowtie and buckets of personality that had the entire room clutching their sides in helpless giggles, we were let in to the secrets of the industry from his wonderful eye. “Have you ever read a book which changes you?” The theme was introduced as the publisher and the author. “The job of the publisher is to add energy.” There is no one method to build a relationship with an author, it is up to us as publishers to adapt and find a way to work to the best of our ability with each unique text. There have sometimes been mistakes made. Mr. Fickling told us an anecdote of a wrong path he’d taken with a title, and how he corrected it. A choreographed dance, using patience and collaboration to achieve the best end result.

“Authors are like the magical elves in a fairy story. I think of my mistakes as authors whom I’ve managed to scare out of the garden.”

As to how to find the unique content and great stories his publishing company is famous for commissioning, Mr Fickling had the following advice:

“Trust your own views and have the courage to make decisions based on them.”

We finished the evening with the three principles of publishing: “Legacy. Share. Autonomy.”

I returned home to discover an email, and will be interning for DFB in late January.

Cannot wait!!!


- Charlie