Eric Lane of Dedalus Books discusses the ways writers can improve their chance of being published
Eric Lane
As the third in our series of interviews with publishing houses we meet Eric Lane, the managing director of Dedalus Books, a publishing company specialising in books that offer a different take on reality. Eric started the company in 1983, providing an outlet for authors ranging from Robert Irwin to Sylvie Germain. Eric talks to EssentialWriters.com about his motivation for running Dedalus Books, and their recent cut in Arts Council Funding.
What made you decide to set up Dedalus Books?
I chose to be a publisher as I saw it like any other activity and I learnt as I went along. I was interested in books and I couldn’t think of anything I would rather do. I had trained as a lawyer and had worked for 10 years in the travel industry. If I’m honest, literary publishing proved more difficult than I expected.
What makes Dedalus Books different to other publishing houses?
Our mission is to be unique - an exciting, innovative and distinctive alternative to commercial publishing; to find new talent and put British publishing at the heart of Europe.
We also take huge risks.
What made you decide to apply for Arts Council funding?
It was available and we were committed to translation and new writing, which were Arts Council priorities.
We were at the bottom of the Arts Council funding ladder so we needed to make most of our turnover ourselves but the £24,950 we got in 2007/8 was needed to balance our budget and leaves a hole which we must fill if we are to remain what we are - an alternative to commercial publishing.
We replaced the Arts Council money with sponsorship from Informa plc and now we must replace this from other sources.
Why do you think so many Arts Council funding cuts are being made at the moment?
The Arts Council wants to reduce its admin costs by cutting down the number of its clients. This trend will continue. At the moment large is beautiful.
What effect do you think this will have on the future of publishing in the UK?
Not a lot because independent publishers do not publish a lot of books. It will reduce the number of the books which are different and make it harder for new writers to get published.
Publishing will become increasingly a fashion industry and authors who do not write fashionable products and who are not easy to promote will find life difficult. The marketplace will narrow down further the range of books available.
What kind of books does Dedalus publish?
Dedalus has invented its own distinctive genre, which we term distorted reality, where the bizarre, the unusual, the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction which is very European. Our authors include Robert Irwin, Andrew Crumey, David Madsen, Andy Oakes, Sylvie Germain, Yuri Buida and Yoryis Yatromanolakis.
Are you still able to accept submissions?
We are entering a hiatus as our sponsorship ends in March 2010 and our programme is in place to October 2010. Before buying more titles we must put in place funding equivalent to what we previously received from Informa plc.
What happens to a submission once it reaches your office?
It gets into a pile if it is and then eventually gets looked at and if it seems a possibility for us, it is sent off to someone to read. Normally we read a book three to four times before making an offer. If one of the readings isn’t positive, we do not make an offer.
We look for originality and a book which fits our list.
How can a new author get past the slush pile?
Send the right submission to the right publisher. Most of what we have been sent is just unsuitable for our list so the writer wastes his time as it would be impossible for us to publish it
A good covering letter which makes the author seem interesting is a very big help. If an author can’t make himself seem interesting why read his book?
It also helps to make sure what you send is well presented - we prefer a sample of three chapters in a clean jiffy bag with return SAE. Also make sure you check the publisher’s submission guidelines. We have never accepted unsolicited manuscripts by email.
Once you have accepted a manuscript for publication, how do you prepare it for publication?
It gets copyedited and sometimes this takes a lot of time. We do spend a lot of time making sure our books have the best chance possible. We get a cover designed and ask the writer to write a blurb for his book - some authors are very good at this, some are very bad and in those cases we end up doing it.
Six months before publication the book is presented to our reps and offered to bookshops and the head office of the chains. We also try and sell foreign rights at the Frankfurt Bookfair in October and to lesser extent at The London Bookfair in April.
Our success record in selling foreign rights is better than most publishers, especially when you consider we publish non-commercial fiction. As our new titles are European in style they often do better outside the UK than inside.
The book will go on our website about six months in advance of the launch and will appear in our annual catalogue. We will have a launch event in London and in the author’s home town. We send out about 80 review copies for a first novel.
What is your favourite part of this process?
Reading a book which gives you a buzz and thinking we will be publishing this book next year - for example Andrew Killeen’s The Father of Locks.
What is the most challenging part of it?
Making sure that a book is not ignored by the media and by the book trade.
Whose writing has excited you recently?
Andrew Killeen and Jeremy Weingard, author of Made in Yaroslavl.
What would you say the main challenges are for an aspiring author?
Finding and getting published by the right publisher.
What advice would you offer an aspiring writer?
Expect to spend as much time in marketing your work as writing it.
For further information, please visit www.dedalusbooks.com
Other publishing houses interviewed for this series include Parthian Books, Tonto Books, Alcemi Books, Gomer Press, Trapdoor Books and Seren Books, The Friday Project, Chicken House and Wild Wolf Publishing
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Mr. Lane states that the reduction in Arts Council funding will have “not a lot (of impact) because independent publishers do not publish a lot of books. It will reduce the number of the books which are different and make it harder for new writers to get published.”
I have to disagree. As you’ll see on my web site in an article on the future of book publishing (http://thefutureofpublishing.com/industries/the_future_of_book_publishing.html), in 2005 U.K. publishers issued 206,000 new books, the highest number of new books per capita in the world. The big publishers may take the lion’s share of the industry’s revenue, but the smaller publisher provide the enormous diversity in number of titles published.