Releasing a new novel into the wild

I wonder how truly seasoned writers feel about releasing a new novel. Do the Will Self’s, Jeffrey Archer’s and Jilly Cooper’s of the world feel a mix of trepidation, excitement and naked terror when releasing a new book? Over the last day or two it has become apparent that the publication of a new book can be scary. Perhaps this comes down to one naked fact. These days, any publisher and agent can look up how many copies your books have sold. I am told that 1,000 copies is seen a good show. Beyond that people start making real money. If you have an advance you need to be making that back before any profits come in- but advances are rarer and rarer these days so this can be less of a problem. It seems that book chains- such as WH Smith- make an early choice over whether or not they will stock the book, and publishers have more than once passed on the news that a book of mine has been deemed ‘too literary.’ The chains that are more sympathetic to less commercial works- such as Waterstones- tend to make the choice about whether to stock a novel based on how well that book sold in each individual branch last time. The store in the authors’ home town will probably stock a few, and replenish if they sell. Your book is by no means in every Waterstones in the country just because it’s been published. That is a fallacy that some readers tend to believe. Yesterday someone was kind enough to get in touch and ask if I’d sign a copy of an old book of mine, Letters from Yelena, if they bought it from the Waterstones near them. I suggested that they’d need to turn to Amazon now to make that happen.
On 22 October a novel that has been seven years in the making, An Honest Deceit, was published, by Urbane. Publisher’s these days seem to take the view that the author must be capable, and keen, of promoting their own work. Not just turning up to scheduled interviews, but setting up interviews too. Authors seem to agree that a novel has about three months from its release where it needs to make an impact, or the dreaded phrase ‘dead in the water’ starts to be used. Thankfully, life isn’t that simple. A well-placed promotional campaign, a seasonal offer, or merely just momentum built by word of mouth can, I am sure, more than resuscitate a novel. Give it a second or third wind. But it seems indisputable that in the months running up to the release of a book, and in the three months after, there is all to play for.
I have been trying to make the most of this time by contacting journalists, local newspapers and magazines and doing what I can. Raising the profile. A new column here, a book review there, the promise of an interview if the editor can find room somewhere in between. In my experience an indie publisher assigns a publicist to a novel for a couple of days at most. The publicist will put together a press report, send in out to newspapers, radio, TV and magazines and see who picks up on the book. The books themes, any content that relates to contemporary issues, and any interesting details about the authors past are all part of the currency that is weighed as they decide whether to feature you or not. Magazines tend to need to be approached at least two months before release, and newspapers in the weeks before. This time round, An Honest Deceit seems to have a bit of a head start in the promotional side because a deal has been agreed for it to be released on Audible. I understand voice-over artists are currently being hired. The book therefore has two lives going on, which is positive. But it is the books first life- as a paperback- that I worry about the most.
To that end, I have come to see the books launch party as an important event in making sure this baby of yours gets a good chance at a life. As time has gone on I’ve put more and more energy into book launches, in the hope of ensuring that a new novel makes a splash. For a novel on ballet I accepted a vague offer from a choreographer to have a scene from the book adapted for a dance, that would be performed at the launch. For a book about music, I hired a popular local venue and put on a bill of bands and comedians I loved, and somewhere amongst the din I tried to sign books. But ‘An Honest Deceit’ novel contains themes that are more diffuse, and so I struggled to think what to do with the launch. It’s a novel about family life, but also about corruption, cover-ups, and how social media can expose them. It didn’t lend itself readily to an event! So after much deliberation I teamed up with an artist (Rebecca Reed, of The Candy Vortex) who came up with an ingenious idea. For the launch party she will be creating various forms of artwork that will plant seeds about the novel. Seeds that will only make sense once the book has been read. During long conversations in her gallery we’ve teased out how best we can do this, to make the abstract content of the novel palpable- a landscape people can walk amongst- for one night. To try and make the experience as potent as possible we’re adding music to the mix too. All to try and engage the reader with this new work for the few moments that we can.
If this all sounds quite fun, you may be wondering where the terror about releasing a new book comes from. I think any author reading this will agree that it comes down to two words. Online reviews. To me, the real acid test is what total strangers think of the book. I’m talking about reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Think they’re not important? I know an author who was considered for The Guardians’ Not The Booker Prize but was told in the end the judges decided not to shortlist her work because ‘the Amazon reviews weren’t great.’
It can be a scary time.