June 17, 2024
ENCORE EDITION! Insider Secrets to Getting Your Book Published, with editor Erinn Pascal
ENCORE EDITION! (One of our favs from season 2!)
Erinn Pascal is the Senior Editor for Kids Books and Licensing at Andrews McMeel Universal. She has previously held editorial positions at Scholastic, Disney, and Simon & Schuster. Erinn grew up in Pembroke Pines, Florida, and holds a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College. When she's not editing, Erinn enjoys veganizing family recipes, taking her mini Bernedoodle, Obi, to the dog park, practicing Pilates, and shopping at local farmer's markets. She currently resides in Los Angeles.
Key Discussion Points
1. Making Submissions Stand Out: Erinn emphasizes the importance of thorough research into the recipient of a submission, knowing their preferences, and understanding their existing catalog. She highlights the necessity of clear communication regarding an author’s goals and vision for their book.
2. Trends in Publishing: Erinn discusses the current trends, including the popularity of manga, anime-inspired art, horror, and graphic novels. She also notes the value of niche markets and creative stories.
3. The Acquisition Process: Erinn outlines the detailed acquisition process at Andrews McMeel Universal, from initial submission reviews to final decisions, including the role of sales and marketing teams.
4. Author Platforms: The discussion touches on the importance of an author's platform, noting that while a large following can influence print runs, it is not the sole factor in acquisition decisions. The content of an author’s social media is also considered, especially for children's book authors.
5. Diversity and Inclusion: Erinn expresses her interest in acquiring books that normalize different neurodivergences and religious minorities without making them the central theme of the story.
Conclusion
Erinn Pascal offers valuable insights into the publishing industry, from crafting standout submissions to navigating current trends and understanding the acquisition process. Her emphasis on meaningful partnerships between authors and editors, along with her commitment to diversity and inclusion, provides a comprehensive view of what it takes to succeed in today's publishing landscape.
Mentioned Links
- Visit Andrews McMeel Universal
- Follow Erinn Pascal on Twitter for updated manuscript wishlists
Subscribe for updates, cheat sheets, news
Visit the Website
Twitter: @BethandLisaPod
Insta: @WritersWithWrinkles
Writers with Wrinkles Link Tree for more!
Threads: @WritersWithWrinkles
Insta: @WritersWithWrinkles
Bluesky: @bethandlisapod.bsky.social
Twitter: @BethandLisaPod
Support Writers With Wrinkles - become a subscriber
Email: Beth@BethMcMullenBooks.com
Writers with Wrinkles Link Tree for more!
Chapters
00:32 - Editorial Insights and Publishing Trends
11:27 - Publishing Process and Industry Evolution
19:32 - Author Platforms and Storytelling Success
Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:02.424 --> 00:00:03.045
Hi everyone.
00:00:03.045 --> 00:00:09.951
Lisa and I are still busy doing the summer thing, so this is the second of three Encore episodes of Writers with Wrinkles coming your way.
00:00:09.951 --> 00:00:13.884
This episode is with Erin Pascal, and it is amazing.
00:00:13.884 --> 00:00:15.307
You will be smarter at the end.
00:00:15.307 --> 00:00:22.260
I promise We'll be back with new episodes in July, including an Ask Us Anything episode that we're really excited about.
00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:27.672
Visit our social channels for all the details about that and now hope you enjoy the episode.
00:00:38.540 --> 00:00:40.445
Welcome back to Writers with Wrinkles friends.
00:00:40.445 --> 00:00:42.911
Thank you for joining us for episode 26.
00:00:42.911 --> 00:00:46.780
Today we are excited to welcome Erin Pascal to the podcast.
00:00:46.780 --> 00:00:52.253
Erin is the senior editor for kids books and licensing at Andrews McNeil Universal.
00:00:52.253 --> 00:00:58.273
Prior to AMU, she held editorial positions at Scholastic, disney and Simon Schuster.
00:00:58.273 --> 00:01:07.367
Erin grew up in Pembroke Pines, florida, and graduated with a BFA in writing literature and publishing from Emerson College in writing literature and publishing from Everson College in Boston, massachusetts.
00:01:07.367 --> 00:01:20.927
When not editing, erin can be found veganizing family Colombian and Jewish recipes, taking her mini burner doodle Obi to the dog park, doing Pilates or browsing the local farmer's market for fresh veggies.
00:01:20.927 --> 00:01:26.322
She currently lives in Los Angeles and welcomes any suggestions for laser tag in Southern California.
00:01:26.322 --> 00:01:29.468
But fair warning, she is competitive.
00:01:29.468 --> 00:01:31.799
Thank you so much for joining us, erin.
00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:33.103
We are thrilled that you're here.
00:01:34.025 --> 00:01:35.528
Thank you so much for inviting me.
00:01:35.528 --> 00:01:37.460
I am equally thrilled to be here.
00:01:37.801 --> 00:01:52.191
So full disclosure Erin is the senior editor at my Publisher and so I have been waiting for the right time to like kind of go into her DMs and say please, please, be on Writers with Wrinkles.
00:01:52.191 --> 00:02:00.123
And so I waited like the appropriate time of five to six months into the relationship and then I'm like, okay, now is the time.
00:02:00.123 --> 00:02:01.566
So welcome Erin.
00:02:01.566 --> 00:02:04.352
It's so nice to talk to you in person and see your beautiful face.
00:02:04.371 --> 00:02:05.474
So welcome Erin.
00:02:05.474 --> 00:02:16.324
It's so nice to talk to you in person and see your beautiful face, thank you, and likewise so excited to see you and see Beth and I can't see everybody who's listening, right now but just pretend they're listening and drinking their coffee or doing whatever.
00:02:16.664 --> 00:02:31.105
So we were supposed to originally talk on Monday and Beth had to reschedule because her son they went and checked out a university in London and so that's where she was over the weekend.
00:02:31.768 --> 00:02:44.508
So that's big news and we could talk about that later, which is why I look like a corpse, because I feel like a little confused about where I am in time and space, but that's a me problem, as my teenager would like to say.
00:02:44.508 --> 00:02:52.381
So we have some great questions from you that I think our listeners are going to be very interested in hearing the answers to.
00:02:52.381 --> 00:02:53.423
I know that I am.
00:02:53.423 --> 00:03:07.483
So let's get started with those, and the first one is from an editor's perspective, what are the best things an author can do to make their submission stand out in this current climate?
00:03:07.483 --> 00:03:11.032
I love this question because I'm super curious what the answer is going to be.
00:03:11.961 --> 00:03:13.685
I love this question too, actually.
00:03:13.685 --> 00:03:23.980
So I would say, to make your submission really stand out, do research into who you're submitting to, and by that I mean, does this person accept picture books?
00:03:23.980 --> 00:03:26.911
Does this person accept romance?
00:03:26.911 --> 00:03:28.926
And also, do they have a lot of it?
00:03:28.926 --> 00:03:32.510
Because if they have a lot of something, maybe they're not looking for more.
00:03:32.510 --> 00:03:44.825
This is such a great sentence I'm about to say there is no too much research that you can do into who you're going to work with, and I should say that in editing and kind of anything you do in book publishing, it is all about a partnership.
00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:55.887
So somebody may look like they're your dream editor, dream agent, online Things might really check out, but because of bandwidth or because of anything else that's happening, they might not be the perfect agent or creator for you.
00:03:55.887 --> 00:04:03.147
So it's always really important to kind of have conversations and be open and talk to people about what your vision is.
00:04:03.147 --> 00:04:10.913
Whenever I'm kind of on a kickoff call with the creator before we signed a contract, after we signed a contract, I always say what do you want?
00:04:10.913 --> 00:04:15.360
And some people will say you know, I want to earn out my advance and make a hundred million dollars.
00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:16.423
And I mean, who doesn't?
00:04:16.504 --> 00:04:34.927
I do too, but a lot of the times people will say you know, I really want to do a library tour, or I really want to make sure that my book gets read by every kid with scoliosis, and so I think it's really cool to talk about that, because I want to best support the authors and I want to know what you guys want.
00:04:34.927 --> 00:04:38.283
So I think I like a little bit of directive.
00:04:38.283 --> 00:04:49.050
I will say that I like when people say this is what my book will do, this is what I want to reach with my book, this is how I think we're going to be good partners together and let's talk about it.
00:04:49.391 --> 00:05:14.305
I love that you are thinking about it from that perspective because it does imply that meaningful partnership, rather than I know that there are lots of authors that I've spoken to and Lisa has spoken to over the years who feel like it's a very one-sided conversation, where you say my aspiration is to do a library tour and the publisher's like yeah, yeah, yeah, great, whatever.
00:05:14.305 --> 00:05:16.470
And then you never hear about it again.
00:05:16.470 --> 00:05:20.745
Or when you bring it up again, they're like sorry, we don't have the resources for that.
00:05:20.745 --> 00:05:25.632
Or you know you're welcome to do it all on your own if you want to, but don't expect anything from us.
00:05:25.632 --> 00:05:33.927
So I I love to hear that that you are thinking about it from that partnership perspective, because that makes such a huge difference to the writer.
00:05:34.990 --> 00:05:35.932
It really does.
00:05:35.932 --> 00:05:38.990
And I think, like as editors, we want to help you.
00:05:38.990 --> 00:05:45.370
We really do, and I mean if something a library tour, just to kind of use that as an example might come out of the marketing budget.
00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:57.309
But if we have these conversations now, we can say, all right, instead of prioritizing you know, tote bags, because everybody loves their tote bags we're going to prioritize this instead, and I think that's what's really important.
00:05:58.259 --> 00:06:00.408
Well, and I think every author is so different.
00:06:00.408 --> 00:06:08.065
You know, there's some people that want to get out and do that tour and be out and do the face to face and somebody else might want that.
00:06:08.065 --> 00:06:16.312
Just, you know the swag and that help in that department and so those are all good things to know and it's great to have that relationship.
00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:19.223
Absolutely, and that's so valid too.
00:06:19.223 --> 00:06:30.680
I mean, I know so many people who say my book speaks for itself, like I'm not the greatest in crowds, I'm not the greatest talking to people, especially with different neurodivergencies and different kind of physical disability.
00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:33.009
We would never want somebody to be uncomfortable.
00:06:33.009 --> 00:06:46.661
So I think that's what's really important is to kind of find your fit, really know what you want, be open to feedback, of course, because sometimes I'll be like, okay, that's a great title, but that's been published before, so what about this?
00:06:46.661 --> 00:06:47.744
But I definitely appreciate it.
00:06:48.324 --> 00:07:08.906
So are you seeing just this, just kind of jumping from that question, are you seeing, like, is there some big trend that you know you're you're looking at, or that you're kind of not necessarily wishlist, but is there something that's really like popping right now that people are looking for, that you're looking for?
00:07:08.906 --> 00:07:11.552
That is kind of the buzz out there.
00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:12.882
Yeah.
00:07:12.882 --> 00:07:18.990
So I think there's definitely trends in the marketplace and it's always funny because I'll say trends and then two weeks later I'll be like nevermind.
00:07:18.990 --> 00:07:37.848
But right now I think we're seeing a lot of manga, we're seeing a lot of anime-inspired art, we're seeing a lot of horror still Horror is everywhere and incredible and growing Graphic novels, of course, but graphic novels from graphic novel creators and debut creators, not people who just think, oh, I could do a graphic novel.
00:07:37.848 --> 00:07:39.980
So we're seeing a lot of buzz and build there.
00:07:39.980 --> 00:07:50.596
But what I personally love, and what I think people and kids and readers really love, is if you find a kind of niche market and go after that.
00:07:51.261 --> 00:07:57.509
So I'm working currently on a book about pin trading, and there's enamel pins everywhere.
00:07:57.509 --> 00:07:59.026
There's fan-made enamel pins.
00:07:59.026 --> 00:08:03.685
Disney has a ton of enamel pins that you can trade at the trading park enamel pins that you can trade at the trading park.
00:08:03.685 --> 00:08:20.670
And so what the author, brianna Lawrence, did is she said I'm going to create this world where kids get superpowers off this enamel pin, and it's going to be about these four preteens who have to figure out the mystery of why they got superpowers and who this pin maker is, and what I love about it so much is.
00:08:20.711 --> 00:08:25.519
It has the niche of pin trading, which has tons and tons of pin traders out there.
00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:36.328
I have my own pin board and everything, but it also really just has the elements of mystery and fun and adventure and, like fantasy, light, and there's a theme park, of course.
00:08:36.328 --> 00:08:42.769
So I love those kinds of different demographics where you can say this has everything that works in a book.
00:08:42.769 --> 00:08:55.229
And here's a really cool topic that, honestly, let's be real on Amazon, which is an everything store, if I'm searching enamel pins and I think, wow, here's a book, that's pretty cool, that's brilliant.
00:08:55.769 --> 00:08:58.503
That is great, that is really great.
00:08:58.503 --> 00:09:04.322
And they're all these, I think because we live in such a stratified entertainment universe.
00:09:04.322 --> 00:09:15.988
Now there are all these different channels that you can tune into that appeal to you and it's not like back in the nineties when every single person watched runs on Thursday evening.
00:09:15.988 --> 00:09:23.524
You've got all these little slots that you can stick yourself into and it's it talks to you more than like this generalized audience.
00:09:23.524 --> 00:09:23.924
That is.
00:09:23.924 --> 00:09:24.788
That's cool.
00:09:24.788 --> 00:09:25.450
I want to read that.
00:09:26.642 --> 00:09:28.087
It comes out in spring 24.
00:09:28.087 --> 00:09:30.609
So I will definitely make sure that you get on that list.
00:09:31.841 --> 00:09:37.539
So you also mentioned something about graphic novels, because I don't know a lot about graphic novels.
00:09:37.539 --> 00:09:38.443
It's not something.
00:09:38.443 --> 00:09:44.629
I've read a bunch of them, but I've always wondered like is there times when you'll get a story without the illustrator?
00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:52.899
There is a lot of times that you'll get a story without an illustrator or you'll have an illustrator you really want to work with and then finally find the perfect story for them.
00:09:52.899 --> 00:09:54.263
Okay, there's also.
00:09:54.263 --> 00:09:56.900
There's so much in graphic novels, you know.
00:09:56.900 --> 00:10:01.412
You can get somebody who's a colorist, who does the color for some pages or parts of it.
00:10:01.412 --> 00:10:03.265
You'll have somebody doing line work.
00:10:03.265 --> 00:10:06.875
You can have a flatterer pages or parts of it, you'll have somebody doing line work.
00:10:06.875 --> 00:10:07.620
You can have a flatterer.
00:10:07.620 --> 00:10:12.648
You can have a different letterer involved too, who will actually like physically create the type that's in the book.
00:10:12.648 --> 00:10:15.355
So there's so much that goes into a graphic novel and it's its own art form.
00:10:15.355 --> 00:10:16.846
It's like what I say with picture books.
00:10:16.846 --> 00:10:20.480
I do believe that everybody can study it and everybody can learn how to do it.
00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:21.722
But you can't just decide.
00:10:21.722 --> 00:10:23.446
Okay, I was a kid once.
00:10:23.446 --> 00:10:24.346
I can write for kids.
00:10:24.346 --> 00:10:26.009
You know, there's a craft in it.
00:10:26.769 --> 00:10:27.490
Absolutely.
00:10:27.490 --> 00:10:38.788
So that brings us to the next question and it's I think this is like the big mystery that everyone always wonders is the acquisition process, like what goes on behind the scenes?
00:10:38.788 --> 00:10:40.616
Are there, you know what are the steps?
00:10:40.616 --> 00:10:42.844
Are there things that can make or break a deal?
00:10:42.844 --> 00:10:43.586
Like what?
00:10:43.586 --> 00:10:48.072
Can you kind of pull back the curtain a little bit for us and tell us what goes on?
00:10:48.072 --> 00:10:51.302
Because I know especially people who've never gone through it before.
00:10:51.302 --> 00:10:56.714
They hear acquisition and their heart just like seizes up because it's scary.
00:10:57.159 --> 00:11:08.374
So I'll talk about how it is at Andrews McNeil, because it is truly very different in every house I've worked at and it also changes a lot, especially I don't want to say post-pandemic, more like middle of pandemic.
00:11:08.374 --> 00:11:21.667
But so at Andrews McMeel how it works is each week we get submissions from an agent and all of our submissions go to a weekly meeting called editorial so it's called Eds for short and we all send them around.
00:11:21.667 --> 00:11:27.692
So every single editor has to look at the submissions and we bring our feedback to this editorial meeting.
00:11:27.692 --> 00:11:45.817
So I actually just came from one a few hours ago and what will happen is I might come in and I might say I got this amazing book in it's poetry about soup and I'm just saying that because I'm standing in my kitchen looking at a box of soup and somebody might say, oh yeah, that's a really good idea for these reasons.
00:11:45.817 --> 00:11:52.663
Or maybe somebody who's been at the company longer than me will say, oh well, we did a book about soup poetry before.
00:11:52.663 --> 00:11:57.662
So if we're going to do this again, we should really find a way to platform our current creator.
00:11:57.662 --> 00:12:07.765
And it's kind of a conversation between the editors first and it's also really it's a nice process because if I'm not connecting with something, maybe one of the other editors is.
00:12:07.765 --> 00:12:14.652
Or if I'm really connecting with something but don't have the bandwidth for when it should be on sale, maybe somebody else should take that on.
00:12:15.419 --> 00:12:25.110
So we kind of discuss, we discuss all different aspects of the book from an editorial perspective, if we like it, if we all agree that this is kind of a project we want to pursue.
00:12:25.110 --> 00:12:28.027
Sometimes we might get feedback over to the agent.
00:12:28.027 --> 00:12:37.517
We might say you know, we love it, but we think the characters are younger, or we think the characters are older, or would you consider a different artist, or you know, whatever kind of feedback we have.
00:12:37.517 --> 00:12:50.147
That being said, if I ever send feedback and an author says no, I also kind of love that because I want to know why, and sometimes that'll help of everything.
00:12:50.147 --> 00:13:11.083
So I love when people say, hey, I see what you're saying, but this is what I've got.
00:13:11.183 --> 00:13:20.009
So once we kind of get to a point that we agree editorially, this is a project that we want to pursue, I then send it around to my sales team, kind of as a preview.
00:13:20.009 --> 00:13:35.327
And that is a benefit of working at Andrews McNeil, which is a small independent company distributed by Simon Schuster is that I do get to send this around to kind of our sales and marketing team first and they can let me know kind of in a brief email if it's worth talking about acquisitions or not.
00:13:35.327 --> 00:13:39.701
So let's say they say that this book is worth talking at acquisitions.
00:13:39.701 --> 00:13:51.466
I'll then prepare a kind of acquisitions memo where I have to write a summary and look up comp titles just to see what has sold similarly by houses that are bigger than us and houses that are smaller than us.
00:13:51.466 --> 00:13:56.066
So we can kind of come up with a range of how we think we can best support our author.
00:13:56.066 --> 00:13:58.993
Then I take it to a weekly acquisitions meeting.
00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:05.350
At the weekly acquisitions meeting, sales will weigh in and they'll say, okay, we agree, we really like this book.
00:14:05.350 --> 00:14:07.553
This person is, maybe they're a debut.
00:14:07.553 --> 00:14:12.631
So let's talk about how we can work with them as a debut to make sure that we get their book out there.
00:14:12.631 --> 00:14:14.368
Are they interested in libraries?
00:14:14.368 --> 00:14:15.596
Are they interested in schools?
00:14:15.596 --> 00:14:17.701
Are they interested in giveaways for pre-orders?
00:14:17.701 --> 00:14:23.270
What can we do to increase buzz and kind of make people buy it on the everything store?
00:14:23.991 --> 00:14:36.927
So there is a lot that goes into it and a lot of it is us trying to make sure that we are making the right decision for the creator, because sometimes it happens that we'll say we really do love this project, we just don't think we're the house for it.
00:14:36.927 --> 00:14:41.081
Or we'll say we love this project and we're going right ahead Like.
00:14:41.081 --> 00:14:42.123
This is how it's working.
00:14:42.123 --> 00:14:58.207
So at acquisitions we're usually given a print run number which is based on the previous comps that we've pulled, as well as any kind of sales history the author has, if they have, and then from there we run some numbers which, honestly, I wish I could explain.
00:14:58.207 --> 00:14:59.932
I cannot.
00:14:59.932 --> 00:15:08.648
We run some numbers and then we hopefully move forward with an offer that's a lot yeah, and it happens every week.
00:15:09.089 --> 00:15:13.260
I don't think people appreciate how complicated it is behind the scenes.
00:15:13.260 --> 00:15:23.288
I remember the very first time that I sort of had it explained to me what goes on once the book has been submitted to an editor.
00:15:23.288 --> 00:15:27.807
I was really surprised, because you just don't hear about it, you just don't know.
00:15:27.807 --> 00:15:37.525
So it's good to understand that all of these things are going on while you're sitting there waiting and authors we're very needy, so we're panicking in the background.
00:15:37.525 --> 00:15:39.956
So it's good to know that there's stuff going on.
00:15:39.956 --> 00:15:42.503
It just doesn't necessarily involve you at that point.
00:15:42.503 --> 00:15:50.065
It's just your work is out there getting looked at and getting talked about and you just have to relax, if that's possible.
00:15:50.886 --> 00:15:53.392
Oh yeah, and sometimes it depends on the time of year too.
00:15:53.392 --> 00:16:06.554
Like Beth, when you said you were in London, I thought you were at London Book Fair, because all of our meetings were canceled last week for London Book Fair and then this week for people traveling back from London Book Fair, and I'm sure people will be calling out sick next week from London Book Fair.
00:16:06.554 --> 00:16:14.183
So sometimes I hope not, but sometimes, you know, we'll just go three weeks where I'm like I don't have an update.
00:16:14.183 --> 00:16:15.407
I'm so sorry.
00:16:16.349 --> 00:16:22.851
Yeah, I think well, and then you hear you always hear the stories about oh, it was killed in finance or it was.
00:16:22.851 --> 00:16:31.023
You know all these different avenues that that someplace along the chain that the book deal got shelved, and so that's.
00:16:31.023 --> 00:16:33.990
That's always scary and you hear that's happening.
00:16:34.611 --> 00:16:36.764
So it is happening.
00:16:36.764 --> 00:16:54.520
I do think it's getting better, just because I feel like publishing up until the pandemic was its own weird beast and then, at the start of the pandemic, evolved I think maybe 20 times, and now we're starting to see it plateau a little bit more, where we're understanding how much books cost a little better.
00:16:54.520 --> 00:16:59.032
The supply chain, which was a big one oh my goodness, that affected everything for a while.
00:16:59.032 --> 00:17:06.243
So I think we're understanding the process a bit more in terms of shipping and how the world has changed.
00:17:06.645 --> 00:17:21.332
Do you feel like it's settled down that everything's kind of evening out and you're getting back into a normal rhythm with not only just like the acquisition process but also with getting the book out and into the world printed?
00:17:22.053 --> 00:17:23.876
Yeah, and you know we're not there yet.
00:17:23.876 --> 00:17:32.084
Like I felt very confident in schedules pre-pandemic and now I'm like, well, there's so many things you know, maybe there's a ship that's stuck in the sea.
00:17:32.084 --> 00:17:34.730
That happens now, I guess Right.
00:17:34.730 --> 00:17:37.041
So everything is kind of in flux.
00:17:37.041 --> 00:17:44.582
But in good news that means prior to the pandemic I was sending a book to a printer about three months ahead of time.
00:17:44.582 --> 00:17:45.384
If it was a rush.
00:17:45.384 --> 00:17:47.249
That doesn't happen anymore.
00:17:47.249 --> 00:17:52.789
You really have to send it to the printer 11 months ahead of time to avoid all of these shipping delays.
00:17:52.789 --> 00:17:58.388
But what is really nice about that is we get a lot better sell-in materials for accounts.
00:17:58.388 --> 00:18:05.503
So 11 months ahead of time I can say here's the final manuscript, like that's what the book's going to be and we have seen it help.
00:18:05.503 --> 00:18:12.684
So it is slower, which nobody likes, but I do think it's going to be for everyone's betterment it's inch.
00:18:12.786 --> 00:18:20.209
You know it's interesting too is just to kind of circle around to when we were talking about writing to trends.
00:18:20.209 --> 00:18:33.763
That makes it even more pointless to write to a trend because the trend is long gone by the time your book, because we're writing so far in advance that by the time it comes around to your trend.
00:18:33.763 --> 00:18:39.346
Then I mean, if you want to write graphic novels, that's never going to be a trend, that's you, that's your thing.
00:18:39.346 --> 00:18:44.205
But if you're trying to, you're thinking, okay, I have to write a graphic novel because that's what's trending.
00:18:44.205 --> 00:18:46.692
And then who knows what's going to be trending in two years.
00:18:46.692 --> 00:18:48.343
I mean we can't even imagine.
00:18:48.343 --> 00:18:58.109
So I think that lengthening of the pre-publication process, kind of changes that desire to write to a trend.
00:18:58.109 --> 00:19:00.034
It's just kind of interesting to think about.
00:19:00.381 --> 00:19:01.944
Oh, I absolutely agree with that.
00:19:01.944 --> 00:19:06.685
But I think also, if it's a good story, that's not a trend, people always want a good story.
00:19:06.685 --> 00:19:17.170
You can find something kind of a niche topic, like I said with enamel pins, and then find a way to make it a really good story Like that is my catnip, that's perfect.
00:19:17.299 --> 00:19:24.653
That's the gold, and I think that, exactly, if your story is good, you're just going to tell it and that's going to be the important part.
00:19:24.653 --> 00:19:36.545
But I think I definitely hear stories of authors who say I have to write a quirky, dark romance because that's what's selling, and I was like 10 minutes from now it's going to be something else, so just don't worry.
00:19:37.580 --> 00:19:45.090
Yep, exactly, and there's also something to be said like oh, that's something that you're seeing selling, that's something you want to try out.
00:19:45.090 --> 00:19:47.421
Maybe you find out that you really do like it.
00:19:47.421 --> 00:19:57.040
Like that, I think, is also really cool, and I love learning everything I can about something different, but it's also, you know, write what you want to write, write what is in your heart to write.
00:19:57.040 --> 00:19:57.962
It's an art form.
00:19:58.243 --> 00:19:58.904
Yeah, it's.
00:19:58.904 --> 00:20:02.211
That's could not be better said than that it really is.
00:20:02.211 --> 00:20:06.000
Yeah, that could not be better said than that it really is.
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:16.279
So our last question for you is about author platforms, and we hear about this a lot from various sources on the internet saying, hey, you need an author platform.
00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:19.749
It's going to make you a multi-million copy bestseller.
00:20:19.749 --> 00:20:30.667
This is how you do it and I think for a lot of people, they get, you know, some feedback or they get they get these messages and then they panic because they have no idea what they're doing and platform seems overwhelming.
00:20:30.667 --> 00:20:42.796
Obviously, there are lots of degrees of platform that you can do, but how important is it from your perspective as the editor, when you have a new author, that you're thinking about acquiring their book?
00:20:42.796 --> 00:20:53.694
How important is it to you that they either have an established platform or they can show some evidence of being engaged with their audience and social media, or however they choose to do it?
00:20:54.237 --> 00:21:00.422
I love this question because it does kind of touch on what we talked about earlier when we're establishing print runs for something.
00:21:00.422 --> 00:21:09.930
So I will be honest, if you come to me and you have 10 million followers, you're going to have a higher print run because I know that you're going to be posting and it's going to be seen by more people.
00:21:09.930 --> 00:21:16.789
But that doesn't mean that only people with 10 million followers are getting book deals by any means at all.
00:21:16.789 --> 00:21:21.287
It just means that we have to set expectations, especially when it regards shipping.
00:21:21.287 --> 00:21:27.153
So you know, there's validity to every single book and there's validity to building a creator.
00:21:27.212 --> 00:21:31.246
Like I was saying, if they're a debut, I want to know how can we help you?
00:21:31.246 --> 00:21:32.689
What do you want to do?
00:21:32.689 --> 00:21:40.202
Are you the kind of person that will be in front of schools or are you the person who will, you know, maybe just very quietly, just sign some books at a bookstore?
00:21:40.202 --> 00:21:41.286
Like what?
00:21:41.286 --> 00:21:42.567
How can we help you?
00:21:42.567 --> 00:21:44.192
How can we make this work?
00:21:44.192 --> 00:21:46.021
And there's a lot.
00:21:46.021 --> 00:21:49.568
I think it's kind of what it goes back to with that kickoff call.
00:21:49.568 --> 00:21:52.703
What does success look like for each creator?
00:21:52.703 --> 00:21:54.531
Is success telling your story?
00:21:54.531 --> 00:21:56.981
Is success selling a million and a hundred copies?
00:21:56.981 --> 00:21:57.804
Is it both.
00:21:57.804 --> 00:21:59.367
That's totally valid too.
00:21:59.367 --> 00:22:08.311
But to answer the question of how much does it weigh in, I don't really think it does, aside from actually deciding how many books we're printing.
00:22:09.502 --> 00:22:10.887
That's an interesting answer.
00:22:10.887 --> 00:22:15.250
I didn't expect that, because I've always heard things about like.
00:22:15.250 --> 00:22:18.866
In my first book deal they actually like looked.
00:22:18.866 --> 00:22:24.826
They must have looked back through some of my social media to find something and they had a question about it.
00:22:24.826 --> 00:22:27.782
And it was nothing horrible, it was just about the publishing.
00:22:27.782 --> 00:22:37.747
You know my publishing journey and I was like, oh my God, they must have like scrolled down like two years in my Facebook, you know author page.
00:22:37.747 --> 00:22:39.671
I'm like that was crazy.
00:22:39.671 --> 00:22:41.213
So then I just you know.
00:22:41.213 --> 00:22:46.490
And then I've heard other stories where people are like, oh yeah, they, they saw something and asked me questions about it.
00:22:46.490 --> 00:22:48.920
So do you look at the content of what they're?
00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:54.893
You know what they're posting like to kind of get a feel for them as a person, etc.
00:22:56.401 --> 00:23:02.945
So that is a good question and that kind of goes away a little bit from follower count, which I was kind of answering before.
00:23:02.945 --> 00:23:05.234
We strongly believe in free speech.
00:23:05.234 --> 00:23:07.267
Andrews McNeil strongly believes in it.
00:23:07.267 --> 00:23:29.712
There comes to a point where sometimes free speech is at the detriment of other people and we've been in the news you can Google it, I don't want to talk about it here where we have severed relationships and it was not my creator, so honestly, I truly had nothing to do with this, but we have severed relationships because there is a difference between free speech and inciting hate.
00:23:29.712 --> 00:23:31.521
I'll put it that way.
00:23:31.521 --> 00:23:40.675
So if a creator whose book I otherwise like is inciting hate, then yeah, probably would factor into our decision whether or not to help platform.
00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:47.631
Hopefully nobody listening to this has any kind of instance of that, but I'm certainly aware it happens.
00:23:47.631 --> 00:23:52.526
And again, this is by no means like can we disagree A hundred percent.
00:23:52.526 --> 00:23:56.928
I disagree with my own family members all of the time and I love them dearly.
00:00:02.424 --> 00:00:03.045
00:00:03.045 --> 00:00:09.951
00:00:09.951 --> 00:00:13.884
00:00:13.884 --> 00:00:15.307
00:00:15.307 --> 00:00:22.260
00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:27.672
00:00:38.540 --> 00:00:40.445
00:00:40.445 --> 00:00:42.911
00:00:42.911 --> 00:00:46.780
00:00:46.780 --> 00:00:52.253
00:00:52.253 --> 00:00:58.273
00:00:58.273 --> 00:01:07.367
00:01:07.367 --> 00:01:20.927
00:01:20.927 --> 00:01:26.322
00:01:26.322 --> 00:01:29.468
00:01:29.468 --> 00:01:31.799
00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:33.103
00:01:34.025 --> 00:01:35.528
00:01:35.528 --> 00:01:37.460
00:01:37.801 --> 00:01:52.191
00:01:52.191 --> 00:02:00.123
00:02:00.123 --> 00:02:01.566
00:02:01.566 --> 00:02:04.352
00:02:04.371 --> 00:02:05.474
00:02:05.474 --> 00:02:16.324
00:02:16.664 --> 00:02:31.105
00:02:31.768 --> 00:02:44.508
00:02:44.508 --> 00:02:52.381
00:02:52.381 --> 00:02:53.423
00:02:53.423 --> 00:03:07.483
00:03:07.483 --> 00:03:11.032
00:03:11.961 --> 00:03:13.685
00:03:13.685 --> 00:03:23.980
00:03:23.980 --> 00:03:26.911
00:03:26.911 --> 00:03:28.926
00:03:28.926 --> 00:03:32.510
00:03:32.510 --> 00:03:44.825
00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:55.887
00:03:55.887 --> 00:04:03.147
00:04:03.147 --> 00:04:10.913
00:04:10.913 --> 00:04:15.360
00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:16.423
00:04:16.504 --> 00:04:34.927
00:04:34.927 --> 00:04:38.283
00:04:38.283 --> 00:04:49.050
00:04:49.391 --> 00:05:14.305
00:05:14.305 --> 00:05:16.470
00:05:16.470 --> 00:05:20.745
00:05:20.745 --> 00:05:25.632
00:05:25.632 --> 00:05:33.927
00:05:34.990 --> 00:05:35.932
00:05:35.932 --> 00:05:38.990
00:05:38.990 --> 00:05:45.370
00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:57.309
00:05:58.259 --> 00:06:00.408
00:06:00.408 --> 00:06:08.065
00:06:08.065 --> 00:06:16.312
00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:19.223
00:06:19.223 --> 00:06:30.680
00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:33.009
00:06:33.009 --> 00:06:46.661
00:06:46.661 --> 00:06:47.744
00:06:48.324 --> 00:07:08.906
00:07:08.906 --> 00:07:11.552
00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:12.882
00:07:12.882 --> 00:07:18.990
00:07:18.990 --> 00:07:37.848
00:07:37.848 --> 00:07:39.980
00:07:39.980 --> 00:07:50.596
00:07:51.261 --> 00:07:57.509
00:07:57.509 --> 00:07:59.026
00:07:59.026 --> 00:08:03.685
00:08:03.685 --> 00:08:20.670
00:08:20.711 --> 00:08:25.519
00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:36.328
00:08:36.328 --> 00:08:42.769
00:08:42.769 --> 00:08:55.229
00:08:55.769 --> 00:08:58.503
00:08:58.503 --> 00:09:04.322
00:09:04.322 --> 00:09:15.988
00:09:15.988 --> 00:09:23.524
00:09:23.524 --> 00:09:23.924
00:09:23.924 --> 00:09:24.788
00:09:24.788 --> 00:09:25.450
00:09:26.642 --> 00:09:28.087
00:09:28.087 --> 00:09:30.609
00:09:31.841 --> 00:09:37.539
00:09:37.539 --> 00:09:38.443
00:09:38.443 --> 00:09:44.629
00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:52.899
00:09:52.899 --> 00:09:54.263
00:09:54.263 --> 00:09:56.900
00:09:56.900 --> 00:10:01.412
00:10:01.412 --> 00:10:03.265
00:10:03.265 --> 00:10:06.875
00:10:06.875 --> 00:10:07.620
00:10:07.620 --> 00:10:12.648
00:10:12.648 --> 00:10:15.355
00:10:15.355 --> 00:10:16.846
00:10:16.846 --> 00:10:20.480
00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:21.722
00:10:21.722 --> 00:10:23.446
00:10:23.446 --> 00:10:24.346
00:10:24.346 --> 00:10:26.009
00:10:26.769 --> 00:10:27.490
00:10:27.490 --> 00:10:38.788
00:10:38.788 --> 00:10:40.616
00:10:40.616 --> 00:10:42.844
00:10:42.844 --> 00:10:43.586
00:10:43.586 --> 00:10:48.072
00:10:48.072 --> 00:10:51.302
00:10:51.302 --> 00:10:56.714
00:10:57.159 --> 00:11:08.374
00:11:08.374 --> 00:11:21.667
00:11:21.667 --> 00:11:27.692
00:11:27.692 --> 00:11:45.817
00:11:45.817 --> 00:11:52.663
00:11:52.663 --> 00:11:57.662
00:11:57.662 --> 00:12:07.765
00:12:07.765 --> 00:12:14.652
00:12:15.419 --> 00:12:25.110
00:12:25.110 --> 00:12:28.027
00:12:28.027 --> 00:12:37.517
00:12:37.517 --> 00:12:50.147
00:12:50.147 --> 00:13:11.083
00:13:11.183 --> 00:13:20.009
00:13:20.009 --> 00:13:35.327
00:13:35.327 --> 00:13:39.701
00:13:39.701 --> 00:13:51.466
00:13:51.466 --> 00:13:56.066
00:13:56.066 --> 00:13:58.993
00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:05.350
00:14:05.350 --> 00:14:07.553
00:14:07.553 --> 00:14:12.631
00:14:12.631 --> 00:14:14.368
00:14:14.368 --> 00:14:15.596
00:14:15.596 --> 00:14:17.701
00:14:17.701 --> 00:14:23.270
00:14:23.991 --> 00:14:36.927
00:14:36.927 --> 00:14:41.081
00:14:41.081 --> 00:14:42.123
00:14:42.123 --> 00:14:58.207
00:14:58.207 --> 00:14:59.932
00:14:59.932 --> 00:15:08.648
00:15:09.089 --> 00:15:13.260
00:15:13.260 --> 00:15:23.288
00:15:23.288 --> 00:15:27.807
00:15:27.807 --> 00:15:37.525
00:15:37.525 --> 00:15:39.956
00:15:39.956 --> 00:15:42.503
00:15:42.503 --> 00:15:50.065
00:15:50.886 --> 00:15:53.392
00:15:53.392 --> 00:16:06.554
00:16:06.554 --> 00:16:14.183
00:16:14.183 --> 00:16:15.407
00:16:16.349 --> 00:16:22.851
00:16:22.851 --> 00:16:31.023
00:16:31.023 --> 00:16:33.990
00:16:34.611 --> 00:16:36.764
00:16:36.764 --> 00:16:54.520
00:16:54.520 --> 00:16:59.032
00:16:59.032 --> 00:17:06.243
00:17:06.645 --> 00:17:21.332
00:17:22.053 --> 00:17:23.876
00:17:23.876 --> 00:17:32.084
00:17:32.084 --> 00:17:34.730
00:17:34.730 --> 00:17:37.041
00:17:37.041 --> 00:17:44.582
00:17:44.582 --> 00:17:45.384
00:17:45.384 --> 00:17:47.249
00:17:47.249 --> 00:17:52.789
00:17:52.789 --> 00:17:58.388
00:17:58.388 --> 00:18:05.503
00:18:05.503 --> 00:18:12.684
00:18:12.786 --> 00:18:20.209
00:18:20.209 --> 00:18:33.763
00:18:33.763 --> 00:18:39.346
00:18:39.346 --> 00:18:44.205
00:18:44.205 --> 00:18:46.692
00:18:46.692 --> 00:18:48.343
00:18:48.343 --> 00:18:58.109
00:18:58.109 --> 00:19:00.034
00:19:00.381 --> 00:19:01.944
00:19:01.944 --> 00:19:06.685
00:19:06.685 --> 00:19:17.170
00:19:17.299 --> 00:19:24.653
00:19:24.653 --> 00:19:36.545
00:19:37.580 --> 00:19:45.090
00:19:45.090 --> 00:19:47.421
00:19:47.421 --> 00:19:57.040
00:19:57.040 --> 00:19:57.962
00:19:58.243 --> 00:19:58.904
00:19:58.904 --> 00:20:02.211
00:20:02.211 --> 00:20:06.000
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:16.279
00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:19.749
00:20:19.749 --> 00:20:30.667
00:20:30.667 --> 00:20:42.796
00:20:42.796 --> 00:20:53.694
00:20:54.237 --> 00:21:00.422
00:21:00.422 --> 00:21:09.930
00:21:09.930 --> 00:21:16.789
00:21:16.789 --> 00:21:21.287
00:21:21.287 --> 00:21:27.153
00:21:27.212 --> 00:21:31.246
00:21:31.246 --> 00:21:32.689
00:21:32.689 --> 00:21:40.202
00:21:40.202 --> 00:21:41.286
00:21:41.286 --> 00:21:42.567
00:21:42.567 --> 00:21:44.192
00:21:44.192 --> 00:21:46.021
00:21:46.021 --> 00:21:49.568
00:21:49.568 --> 00:21:52.703
00:21:52.703 --> 00:21:54.531
00:21:54.531 --> 00:21:56.981
00:21:56.981 --> 00:21:57.804
00:21:57.804 --> 00:21:59.367
00:21:59.367 --> 00:22:08.311
00:22:09.502 --> 00:22:10.887
00:22:10.887 --> 00:22:15.250
00:22:15.250 --> 00:22:18.866
00:22:18.866 --> 00:22:24.826
00:22:24.826 --> 00:22:27.782
00:22:27.782 --> 00:22:37.747
00:22:37.747 --> 00:22:39.671
00:22:39.671 --> 00:22:41.213
00:22:41.213 --> 00:22:46.490
00:22:46.490 --> 00:22:48.920
00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:54.893
00:22:56.401 --> 00:23:02.945
00:23:02.945 --> 00:23:05.234
00:23:05.234 --> 00:23:07.267
00:23:07.267 --> 00:23:29.712
00:23:29.712 --> 00:23:31.521
00:23:31.521 --> 00:23:40.675
00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:47.631
00:23:47.631 --> 00:23:52.526
00:23:52.526 --> 00:23:56.928