MARKETING & PUBLICITY CONFERENCE 2018 Q&A
KATY GUEST
Describe your role at Unbound I’m a new projects editor, which means that I commission new books. Those can be from agents, or the submissions pile, or from contacts of my own… My remit is very wide; my first two books to be published were an anthology of essays about the transgender rights movement, called Trans Britain, and a collection of sharp, funny short stories about women who don’t end up happily ever after with a man, called Bad Romance.
What are the best examples of Unbound author campaigns you’ve seen for getting interest in their books? The record-breaking, fastest-funded novel is called The Madonna of Bolton, by Matt Cain. Other publishers had turned it down, saying that commercial fiction wasn’t a suitable genre for gay characters and themes, and that he should re-write it as a “serious, literary novel”. When Unbound asked readers if they thought a book could be too gay to be a beach read, you can imagine what happened…
As a longstanding literary editor in your previous job on a national newspaper, what were your best examples of approaches from book publicists? There’s standard good practice (send a proof copy in good time; make the publication date clear; let me know why it will appeal to my readers…) and there’s standing out from the crowd. I particularly remember a press release for a novel called Things We Have In Common by Tasha Kavanagh, which was told in the voice of a slightly obsessive teenage girl. The publicist had copied out an extract in her best teenage handwriting, and once I
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KATY GUEST IS A COMMISSIONING EDITOR AT THE CROWDFUNDING PUBLISHER UNBOUND AND CONTRIBUTING EDITOR TO THE ONLINE
LITERARY MAGAZINE BOUNDLESS. SHE ALSO WORKS AS A FREELANCE EDITOR, REVIEWER, JOURNALIST AND EVENTS CHAIR. SHE WAS THE
LITERARY EDITOR OF THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY FOR SEVEN YEARS, AND A JOURNALIST AT THE INDEPENDENT TITLES FOR 18.
have something new and different, and be dedicated to making that a success.
What advice does Unbound give its authors around engaging with audiences before, during and after publication? Unbound is unusual in that we help authors to crowdfund the costs of publishing their books, and then do everything that a traditional publisher would do in terms of editing, publicity, cover design, distribution… So for Unbound authors, reader engagement starts at the crowdfunding stage, long before the book is published. We offer crowdfunding workshops to all our authors, and help them understand how to work with the networks they already have. Engagement is key, and perhaps one of the most important aspects in running a strong crowdfunding campaign. The more engaged an audience is, the more likely they will feel emotionally invested and more likely to act as an author’s advocate. By the time the book is published, it already has its own set of cheerleaders in the people who have pledged to make it a reality.
started reading it, I couldn’t stop.
What advantages (if any) do you feel independent publishers have in reaching reader audiences? Smaller independent publishers seem to be the ones breaking the mould, again and again. They can be more nimble and responsive, but what they seem to do best is take risks on authors who
Which digital or communications trends do you think will be the most important for book publishers to consider over the next 12 months when launching titles? The best way to promote any book is by starting genuine conversations about it. Digital channels provide all sorts of new ways to do that, but nothing really beats direct conversations between readers, or readers and authors. Just look at the endless success of literary festivals, where people gather in damp fields and pay good money to talk to authors and each other about books.
26th June 2018
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